News
Iacovone Wins Outstanding Paper Award
April 25, 2023
Ryan Iacovone’s paper, “The Rise of Authoritarianism in the 21st Century,” is this year’s winner of the Outstanding Paper Award in Political Science and International Relations. The award honors one research paper per year written for a Political Science or International Relations class.
Written for the International Relations Capstone under the direction of Professor John Constantelos, Ryan’s paper investigated the factors contributing to the rise in authoritarian governments around the world during the 21st century. He finds that value changes across society due to changing socioeconomic conditions produced a backlash leading to the support of populist leaders. Once in office, these leaders use their power to remove the institutional guardrails of democracy, transforming democratic regimes into authoritarian-populists regimes.
Ryan graduated with a B.A. in International Relations and a minor Psychology. While at GVSU, Ryan was chosen to participate in the Library Summer Scholars Program, which pairs students with a librarian mentor in order to develop a project that enhances their library knowledge and skills while contributing to the library and engaging in a disciplinary, scholarly conversation.
Congratulations to Ryan!