Volume 2, Issue 1 (2021)

Letter from the Editors

Dear Readers, A great deal has happened in our campus community since the last time that we wrote to you. In March, the Multi-Identity Based Union (MIBU) published a list of demands calling for the University of Puget Sound to address the needs of marginalized students. Over half of the student body signed the petition in support of the MIBU demands, showing up to organized protests across campus. The Class of 2021 graduated in an in-person ceremony on campus, re-uniting for a last goodbye with friends and professors. Over the summer, the West Coast experienced an unprecedented heat dome, which resulted in temperatures well above 100 F. Wildfires have continued to rage while the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant has caused a significant increase in COVID-related casualties across the country and the globe. The State of Washington has since reinstated indoor mask mandates, as well as instituted vaccination mandates for some of the state’s workforce, in response to the rise in cases. Despite this, our campus community has been able to move from virtual to in-person learning, with a reduced amount of testing and open vaccination clinics. Our goal has been to deliver a journal that showcases the work and ideas that our peers have been able to produce regardless of the challenges that learning during a pandemic present. In this issue, you will see Melanie Siacotos discuss the nuances of populism in international relations. Eli Schwanitz analyzes the instabilities of the French electoral system as revealed in their 2017 election. Lastly, Zachary Andrews uses Turkey as a case study to bring forth an academic conversation on competitive authoritarianism. We hope these papers inspire curiosity in the pursuit of a better understanding of the world around us. On a personal note, we are excited to pass this journal onto future scholars who will continue this new legacy of The Commons. As founding members of this undergraduate journal, we remember sitting around the table in the Wyatt second floor conference room imagining what the possibilities of this journal could be. We are proud of the three issues we have published and look forward to the many more to come. To our amazing team of editors, thank you for your efforts, flexibility, and for simply showing up.