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Griffiths Piece on Worsening Political Polarization, National Divorce Published in The Conversation

“There is no way to disentangle red and blue America without tremendous violence. Additionally, a large and increasingly ignored percentage of Americans hold moderate views,” says Ryan Griffiths, professor of political science. “There is no doubt that polarization in America is a problem that is getting worse, but a national divorce is simply not the solution.”

October 31, 2025

Griffiths Article on a National Divorce in America Published in The Hill

“The truth is that a national divorce would require a dangerous unmixing and re-sorting of Americans. Imagine trying to draw a new map that is coherent yet still satisfies the greatest number of people,” writes Ryan Griffiths, professor of political science.

September 26, 2025

Griffiths Speaks With HuffPost About Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Call for a National Divorce

The “idea that irreconcilable differences justify secession ignores the violent history of such efforts, including the Civil War, and overlooks the reality that Americans are deeply intermixed—politically, geographically and ideologically,” says Ryan Griffiths, professor of political science.

September 18, 2025

Before Colonization: Non-Western States and Systems in the Nineteenth Century

Ryan Griffiths, Charles R. Butcher

Ryan Griffiths, professor of political science, has co-written a new book, Before Colonization: Non-Western States and Systems in the Nineteenth Century (Columbia University Press, 2025). The book, written with Charles R. Butcher, challenges the Eurocentric view of the world by offering a comparative analysis of non-Western state systems in the 19th century, supported by an original dataset.

July 23, 2025

The Disunited States: Threats of Secession in Red and Blue America and Why They Won't Work

Ryan Griffiths

Written by Professor of Political Science Ryan Griffiths, the book examines polarization and division in the United States and explores the possibility of American secession.

June 24, 2025

Griffiths Talks to USA Today About Eastern Oregon’s Secession Effort

"It's a pipe dream, in a way. What they're doing is partly performative, for ideological purposes," says Ryan Griffiths, professor of political science. "A lot of time, secessionist movements are really just bargaining efforts."

May 21, 2024

From Sovereignty to Mortality: Tenth Decade Awards Support Research Across Disciplines

Funded by gifts from hundreds of individual donors, including a lead gift from long-time Maxwell supporters Gerry and Daphna Cramer, the project has since awarded funds for dozens of faculty-led projects that have explored topics related to citizenship—from labor policy to free speech jurisprudence to climate change.

May 15, 2024

See related: Centennial, Giving, Grant Awards, School History

Ryan Griffiths Receives NSF Grant to Research Global War Patterns

The professor of political science will focus on historical trends of intrastate and interstate battles since the 18th century.

August 17, 2023

Maxwell School Announces 2023 Faculty Promotions

Six faculty members were granted tenure and promoted to associate professor and three were promoted to professor.

July 31, 2023

See related: Promotions & Appointments

Griffiths Piece on Why Secession Won’t Work for the US Published in the Hill

"Simply put, secession is a political solution for an ethnonational problem among regionally concentrated populations. The problem in America is one of political polarization," writes Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science.

April 20, 2023

See related: Political Parties, United States

Griffiths Contributes to New Book on Self-Determination and Secession

Ryan Griffiths, Aleksandar Pavković, Peter Radan

Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science, has contributed to and co-edited “The Routledge Handbook of Self-Determination and Secession” (Routledge, 2023). It investigates debates surrounding issues of self-determination and secession as well as the legal, political and normative implications they give rise to.

March 10, 2023

Griffiths Speaks with Pluribus News About American Secessionist Movements

“Those processes, they’re hard to pull off. You need to have both sides in agreement. It just doesn’t happen that much,” says Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science. “The thresholds for success are just too high to make it work.”

February 28, 2023

Griffiths Talks to New York Post About East Oregon Voting on Joining Idaho

“This is not the kind of thing that is done unilaterally by people in counties,” Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science, tells the New York Post. “They have to get the state of Oregon on board and the state of Idaho, and that’s a very high bar.”

November 8, 2022

Griffiths Weighs in on Texas Seceding from the US in Newsweek Article

Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science, was featured in the Newsweek article, "Could Texas Really Secede? Experts Weigh in."

June 22, 2022

See related: Government, United States

Griffiths Comments on Secession Movements in the US in CSM Article

Rarely has there been a time in American history without some kind of active secession movement, but calls for separation today are often more fragmented. Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science, says many of these groups are too small even for his database.

February 3, 2022

See related: Government, United States

In the Washington Post, Griffiths Discusses Secessionist Movements

In the Washington Post article, “Secession might seem like the lesser of two evils. It’s also the less likely,” Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science, says, “In the long run, there will be another secessionist movement in the United States. It will just happen. No country is permanent. It will change. It will break apart in some way.”

January 3, 2022

In the News: Ryan Griffiths