About

James Henson is the director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. His work involves conducting regular, non-partisan, statewide polls of registered voters in Texas, and making the results and data available for public use. His research focuses on public opinion, political behavior, and electoral dynamics within Texas, providing insights into voter concerns, political trends, and the shifting landscape of Texas politics. Henson's contributions include analyzing polling data related to key issues such as gas prices, U.S. foreign policy, and state and national elections, as well as producing educational resources, courses, and publications that inform both the academic community and the public about Texas government and politics.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Law and economics
• Law
• Social Science
• Computer Science
• Environmental ethics
• Philosophy
• Epistemology
• Economics
• Business
• Medicine

Selected publications

• Constraining Unaccountable AI with the Militant Pragmatism of Everyday Institutions

  Philosophy & Technology · 2026-02-19

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  I assess Ayşe Aslı Bozdağ’s account of AI as political infrastructure, situating it at the intersection of Bratton’s Stack theory and Dussel’s ethics of exteriority. Bratton supplies a systems-level diagnosis of how AI governs through layered forms of power, while Dussel provides a normative standpoint to judge this governance, as the lived experience of persons excluded or harmed by dominant systems. Bozdağ’s originality lies in translating this dual framework into a political ethics of contestation through “valves” that interrupt system-wide closures by enforcing opacity, hesitation, redistribution, and proximity, thereby designing AI to remain deliberately partial and uncompleted. I argue that this approach under-specifies mechanisms of implementation, agents of change, and existing sites of resistance. In response, I propose a militant pragmatism that leverages adversarial litigation, prescriptive regulation, antitrust intervention, and labor organizing to constrain unaccountable AI through existing institutions. Such institutional counter-power is a necessary precondition for making Bozdağ’s more radical design-based interventions politically feasible at scale.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Humanity’s Moral Burden: As AI Advances, Responsibility Escalates

  2026-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Parochialism of Principlism: The Case for Context-Sensitive Authorization of Informed Consent Waivers

  The American Journal of Bioethics · 2026-03-04

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Can You Forget a War Crime? Modifying Postcombat Memories While Preserving Moral Accountability

  AJOB Neuroscience · 2025-10-02

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Indigeneity as Social Construct and Political Tool

  2025-12-15 · 1 citations

  book1st authorCorresponding

  Indigeneity as Social Construct and Political Tool  shows that indigeneity is neither a static identity nor a vestige of the past but a dynamic and evolving framework capable of shaping the future through political imagination, technological innovation, and environmental stewardship. While indigenous identity is often perceived as fixed, natural, or objective, political theorist Benjamin Gregg reconceptualizes it as a practice —a social construct that, when critically examined and strategically reconstructed, functions as a powerful political tool. Through this lens, Indigenous communities can reclaim history, assert sovereignty, influence technological futures, and exercise environmental leadership. Indigeneity then is not merely a category of analysis but a generative proposition for the twenty-first century: a capacity to reimagine politics, equity, empowerment, and resilience, alongside ecological responsibility on a globally interconnected scale. Gregg not only establishes this theoretical foundation by reinterpreting classical thinkers such as Vitoria and Rousseau but also illuminates the tangible potentials and real-world impacts that emerge at the intersection of modern science and Indigenous experience.

  PublisherDOI

• The Structure of Ideas: Mapping A New Theory of Free Expression in the AI Era <i>by Jared Schroeder</i>

  Political Science Quarterly · 2025-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Human Death as Biological Reality and Social Construct

  The American Journal of Bioethics · 2025-08-18 · 1 citations

  letter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Navigating Ethical and Political Barriers to Climate-Responsive Clinical Practice

  The American Journal of Bioethics · 2025-07-03

  letter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Regulatory barriers to US-China collaboration for generative AI development in genomic research

  Cell Genomics · 2024-05-24 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  Here, we examine the challenges posed by laws in the United States and China for generative-AI-assisted genomic research collaboration. We recommend renewing the Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology to promote responsible principles for sharing human genomic data and to enhance transparency in research. Here, we examine the challenges posed by laws in the United States and China for generative-AI-assisted genomic research collaboration. We recommend renewing the Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology to promote responsible principles for sharing human genomic data and to enhance transparency in research.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Human genetic engineering: Biotic justice in the anthropocene?

  Elsevier eBooks · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Michael Cambridge

  Harvard University Press

  9 shared

• Sebastian J. Langdell

  1 shared

• Peter Mohanty

  1 shared

• John W. Troutman

  1 shared

• Joel Dinerstein

  1 shared

• Lisa A. Knobloch

  The Ohio State University

  1 shared

• Ben Lisle

  The University of Texas at Austin

  1 shared

• Li Du

  Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center

  1 shared

Labs

• The Texas Politics ProjectPI

  The Texas Politics Project conducts regular, non-partisan, statewide polls of registered voters in Texas, and makes the results and data available for public use.

Education

• B.A., Philosophy

  Yale University

• Ph.D., Philosophie

  Freie Universität Berlin

• Ph.D., Politics

  Princeton University