To delay or not to delay?
House Republicans wrestle with an age-old dilemma: cooperation versus confrontation.
MISCHIEFS OF FACTION
Reflections on Parties and Their Place in Politics
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Integrity versus Democracy: the battle for voting rights in 2021
You can have a democratic system with weakly defined sovereignty, but you can’t have a sovereign democracy that excludes groups of people.
Covid Offers a Brief Glimpse of a World Without Lobbyists
Covid restrictions have kicked lobbyists out of some state legislatures, and that's both a relief and a loss for legislators.
Are voters' preferences over stimulus checks driven by party loyalty or financial gain?
Experiment shows Republicans' fealty to Trump overrides their desire for stimulus money
The Freedom Caucus is not just a D.C. phenomenon
The House Freedom Caucus is not only highly influential in Congress; it has inspired state lawmakers to form caucuses of their own. Why?
Does a Party Lose for Doing Too Much or Too Little?
Majority party members often get punished for being part of a productive party, not rewarded.
The politicization of covid
By Dominik Stecula After over 9 months of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the United States and over 400,00 lost Americans, the initial...
Trump’s failures could illuminate a path for Bolsonaro’s success
By Amy Erica Smith [Note: This is the English version of an essay that appeared in the 18 January 2021 issue of the Brazilian...
Does the U.S. Really Resemble Latin America?
How does the US compare to so-called "banana republics"? Public opinion data show the US is not exceptional.
Impeachment Puts Presidential Power on Trial
Trump is more likely to "go public" in dealing with senators of his own party than to use presidential "soft power."
From freedom to sedition
How the House Freedom Caucus abandoned its constitutional conservatism and led an effort to subvert the 2020 presidential election.
Who is "we" the people?
Guest post by Carolyn Holmes At 1:24 PM on Wednesday, Congressman Steve Scalise stood to speak on the floor of the House of...
We Freaking Warned You
Political scientists have been taking Trump seriously and literally since 2015. We told you this would happen.
Remove Trump Immediately
The person inciting insurrections can not also be the person in charge of federal law enforcement. This is how democracies die.
We all live in the America Trump has made. Normal politics isn't enough.
At around 2pm eastern time yesterday, I watched the speeches on the Senate floor, both struck by the contrast between Pat Toomey and Ted...
A dark day
The violent attack on the U.S. Congress put a glaring spotlight on two disturbing features of contemporary American politics.
The Origins of the 1887 Election Count Act
The 1877 filibuster of the electoral vote count exposed a flaw in the presidential election process. The Electoral Count Act was the result.
The year everything changed, and nothing did
In 2020, the year in review genre feels especially challenging and fraught, with high stakes for being either too depressing or too glib....
They're in power. They *are* power.
The "V" miniseries reminded us of those who are happy to help authoritarians seize and remain in power.
The politics of governing with a tiny majority
Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats will be tested by their party’s smaller size.