Reubin O'D. Askew Department of Government

Reubin O'D. Askew Department of Government

Departmental programs challenge students to become informed citizens of both their community and larger world as they apply theoretical and empirical knowledge to better understand contemporary issues. Students gain skills that today’s job market demands in critical thinking, analysis, clear communication of ideas, and problem-solving through our programs.

These programs challenge students to think about contemporary policy and issues as well as timeless questions pertaining to the governance of human societies. These include

• - the origin and evolution of law and justice,
• - the workings of political institutions and processes,
• - the exercise of political leadership,
• - the comparative performance of regimes,
• - problems of war and peace and
• - contemporary political issues.

Post Election Roundtable

Constitution Day 2022

Dr. Postell was the featured speaker of the 2022 Constitution Day event. View the lecture, here.

Sept. 12th, The Reubin D. Askew Department of Government welcomed Dr. Joseph Postell, associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College, as he presented "Is Administrative Law Constitutional?" Postell's lecture was the featured event for UWF's 2022 Constitution Day. The lecture was the third in a series of three supported by the Jack Miller Center, which dedicated funding to support statesmenship, constitutionalism and culture. 

Dr. Postell's teaches political theory. His research interests focus on understanding the political institutions that determine how politics works in America and the modern administrative state, Congress, and political parties.  

Watch, Here

UWF International Studies Student Mentors in National Security Problem Solving Experience

Ty Faist is a UWF student majoring in International Studies with a concentration in Security and Diplomacy.  Ty has already taken part in an internship with the Federal Government and worked on projects with the U.S. Military. He says his time at UWF has been incredible, with hardly a dull moment to be found. 

In the Spring of 2019, Ty was invited to take part in the second iteration of UWF’s Hacking for Defense course (H4D). H4D takes teams of students and gives them the task of solving real-world problems for military units within the U.S. armed forces, as well as other government entities. At the end of the project, Ty and his team had the opportunity to see their solution tested in a realistic environment and have it meet with the approval of the project sponsors.

In May 2020, Ty became a team mentor for this year’s iteration of H4D while interning for the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), where he works as an Applied Science Research Assistant working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He is also currently preparing for another internship that will have him spending multiple months working for the U.S. State Department at an embassy overseas.  Ty says, “Both of these internships have only been made possible by the experience and skills I have gained here at UWF.”

Dr. Jacob Shively's Newest Publication

Dr. Jacob Shively is an associate professor in the Reubin O'D. Askew Department of Government.  His 2016 book is entitled Hope, Change, Pragmatism: Analyzing Obama's Grand Strategy.

Donald Trump seemed to scramble American grand strategy. In his first years in office, he sought to break old frameworks, adopt unpredictable plans, and build a more nationalist foreign policy. Did he achieve his goals, or was he constrained by even greater forces than the presidency itself? Dr Shively examines these issues in his 2020 book, Make America First Again: Grand Strategy Analysis and the Trump Administration.