What happened in Vegas
This year, I'm taking Georgetown students on a tour of early state nomination contests. In Nevada, we visited the first-in-the-west...
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MISCHIEFS OF FACTION
Reflections on Parties and Their Place in Politics
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The Staff
- Feb 21, 2020
- 5 min
What should the opposition do in authoritarian regimes? Here are lessons from Bolivia.
In Bolivia, the opposition made strategic choices that shaped the outcome. Here are lessons from their experience.
Seth Masket
- Feb 19, 2020
- 5 min
Fine, Dems are in Disarray. Here's Why.
The normal calculations a party makes when deciding on a nominee have been short-circuited this cycle.
Hans Noel
- Feb 11, 2020
- 9 min
Candidates flying around New Hampshire like the snow.
This year, I'm taking Georgetown students on a tour of early state nomination contests. While in New Hampshire, we stopped by the debate...
Julia Azari
- Feb 8, 2020
- 6 min
It was a bad week for unwritten rules. What does this mean?
The decline of norms has become a common criticism of Trump era politics. The violation of unwritten rules ties together some of the...
Hans Noel
- Feb 6, 2020
- 2 min
Realignment in the precinct caucuses can be more arbitrary than an Electoral College reversal
By now, the comparisons between the Iowa Caucuses and the Electoral College are becoming apparent. Bernie Sanders has been leading in...
Hans Noel
- Feb 5, 2020
- 14 min
The Iowa Caucuses look crazy from a distance, but you should see them up close...
This year, I took a group of Georgetown's best students to Iowa to see the nation's first caucuses unfold. (I'm taking groups to New...
Matthew Green
- Feb 5, 2020
- 3 min
Trump, Pelosi, and the Decline of Institutional Roles
Bad behavior at yesterday's State of the Union address signals a continuing decline in the respect that our leaders have for institutions.
Seth Masket
- Feb 3, 2020
- 3 min
At the end of the invisible primary
As the invisible primary comes to an end, a look at how much work the party has already done.
Amy Erica Smith
- Jan 31, 2020
- 4 min
When It Comes to Impeachment, False Negatives are More Dangerous for Democracy than False Positives
Here's what we learn about impeachment from statistics, democratic theory, and a tour through Latin America. It bodes ill for US democracy.
Julia Azari
- Jan 29, 2020
- 5 min
Bernie Sanders is the logical successor to the Trump presidency
As the Iowa caucuses approach, there’s been lots of talk on the internet about whether Bernie Sanders can win. He’s gained support in the...
Seth Masket
- Jan 27, 2020
- 4 min
The Case for Covering Bernie Differently
Sanders has significant strengths, but may have a harder time than other candidates in translating those into a majority of delegates.
Matthew Green
- Jan 27, 2020
- 5 min
What Andrew Johnson’s impeachment may tell us about Trump’s
Brenda Wiseapple's book The Impeachers suggests ways that Trump's impeachment is not so different from Andrew Johnson's.
Seth Masket
- Jan 20, 2020
- 4 min
Why Political Science Doesn't Like Term Limits
The political science literature on term limits is almost uniformly negative.
Hans Noel
- Dec 19, 2019
- 2 min
Impeachment fits Trump's populist strategy perfectly.
Donald Trump’s electoral appeal is populist. It is populist in the specific sense in which Cas Mudde and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser...
Matthew Green
- Dec 17, 2019
- 3 min
Most House Democrats will vote to impeach Trump. Is pressure from party leaders the reason why?
Pelosi says she is not whipping this week’s impeachment vote. The truth is more complicated.
Matthew Green
- Dec 13, 2019
- 3 min
How Star Wars Reflects – and Shapes – Real-World Politics
The Star Wars universe not only tells us things about politics, but reflects and even shapes politics in the real world.
Seth Masket
- Dec 12, 2019
- 4 min
Yes, parties can become less democratic, too
Want to make parties less democratic? It turns out state parties do this quite a bit.
Seth Masket
- Dec 11, 2019
- 3 min
The Mandalorian, and when government fails
How "The Mandalorian" shows the problems of Imperial decline.
The Staff
- Dec 10, 2019
- 2 min
Political beings are we, not this crude matter.
Announcing some political "Star Wars" content as we await the new film.
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