Research record
Read the scholarship.
Six representative publications across climate politics, institutional authority, state formation, and teaching. The linked journal pages hold the published abstracts; the overviews here are concise editorial summaries, not reproduced publisher text.
2022Climate politics · political behavior
Who Are the 3 Per Cent? The Connections Among Climate Change Contrarians
Laura D. Young and Erin B. Fitz · British Journal of Political Science 52(4): 1503–1522
Published article · Publisher abstract available
This study examines who signs prominent statements disputing the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change. The authors combine information about signatories' scientific expertise with connections to organizations and industries associated with the countermovement. Only a small minority of the people in the documents examined meet the study's criteria for climate expertise. The article also considers how age, political commitments, and formative experiences may help explain participation in organized climate dissent.
Research overview written for this website. Use the publisher link for the official abstract and full publication.
2013Presidency · institutions
Unilateral Presidential Policy Making and the Impact of Crises
Laura D. Young · Presidential Studies Quarterly 43(2): 328–352
Published article · Publisher abstract available
This article investigates whether crises create opportunities for presidents to act unilaterally. Its central finding is that foreign-policy crises offer the strongest openings for expanded presidential action, while economic shocks and most natural disasters have much smaller effects. Epidemic events show a more limited association. The analysis also examines how such openings interact with the constraints and political circumstances facing a president.
Research overview written for this website. Use the publisher link for the official abstract and full publication.
2025Scholarship of teaching
An Assessment of Scaffolding in Senior Capstone Courses
Laura D. Young, Marie Ratchford, L. Lea Bourland, and Dovilė Budrytė · Journal of Political Science Education · first online 2025
Published article · Publisher abstract available
Drawing on twelve years of senior capstone teaching in political science and criminal justice, this coauthored study compares structured, staged approaches to teaching research writing with more conventional course formats. It finds stronger writing outcomes in highly scaffolded courses and offers longitudinal, multi-instructor evidence about how research projects can be broken into teachable, revisable stages at an access-oriented college.
Research overview written for this website. Use the publisher link for the official abstract and full publication.
2022State formation · comparative history
Testing Tilly: Does War Really Make States?
Laura D. Young · Social Evolution & History 21(1)
Published article · Journal abstract and text
This quantitative historical study evaluates Charles Tilly's proposition that warfare fosters state development. It combines historical information about wars with measures of state antiquity to assess the relationship between conflict and institutional capacity over long historical periods. The results support an important role for war while also identifying geography and foreign occupation as relevant factors.
Research overview written for this website. Use the publisher link for the official abstract and full publication.
2018Teaching · international relations
Using Game of Thrones to Teach International Relations
Laura D. Young, Ñusta Carranza Ko, and Michael Perrin · Journal of Political Science Education 14(3): 360–375
Published article · Publisher abstract available
This article explains how a sustained, role-based political simulation can help students apply international relations theory. Rather than treating a simulation as a brief activity, the course design gives students time to develop histories of negotiation, conflict, alliance-building, and institutional choices. The article details a classroom framework adaptable to other political science courses.
Research overview written for this website. Use the publisher link for the official abstract and full publication.
2023State formation · environmental conflict
Confirming Carneiro: Resource Scarcity and Pre-Modern Warfare
Laura D. Young · Global Journal of Human-Social Science, Political Science, 23(1)
Published article · Journal abstract and text
This study revisits Robert Carneiro's theory that environmental circumscription influences the likelihood of conflict in premodern societies. It places environmental conditions at the center of a comparative test and reports findings consistent with the argument that these conditions help explain variation in warfare. The project forms part of a wider interest in the relationship among resource scarcity, conflict, and political institutions.
Research overview written for this website. Use the publisher link for the official abstract and full publication.
These are representative publications, not a complete bibliography. Unpublished manuscripts and book projects remain listed on the Publications page under their actual status.
