U.S. democracy passed a milestone on January 20, 2021 with the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Donald Trump’s presidency presented unprecedented challenges to this country’s democratic norms and practices. His role in a violent insurrection, sparking a second impeachment has fueled further debate over how to preserve American […] Read more »
Some Capitol rioters believed they answered God’s call, not just Trump’s
… In Trump’s final days in the White House, it was often difficult to tell where puffery ended and the putsch began, but the religious framing of the effort to keep him in office was always clear. The question of who would occupy the White House after Jan. 20 had […] Read more »
After the ballots are counted: Conspiracies, political violence, and American exceptionalism
Americans have experienced one of the most turbulent postelection periods in recent memory. The 2020 presidential election was marked by record turnout amid new voting procedures in many parts of the country, a response to the coronavirus outbreak. In all, more than 155 million voters cast a ballot in the […] Read more »
Republicans’ Biggest Problem is That They Need Trump Supporters’ and Extremists’ Votes
The divisions within the Republican Party have been on clear display in the wake of the tumultuous end to Donald Trump’s presidency, which included a violent insurrectionist takeover of the U.S. Capitol on January 6. In the aftermath, will the party remain loyal to Trump and embrace its more extremist […] Read more »
Politics & Polls: How the Religious Right May Have Provoked the Insurrection
At the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, religious messaging echoed through the streets as Christian-right activists protested the 2020 presidential election. What role did the religious right play in the uprising at the Capitol? And will they continue to be emboldened despite President Donald Trump’s departure? Katherine Stewart […] Read more »
How Democrats Found Thousands Of New Voters And Flipped Georgia’s Senate Seats
It’s been about a month since Democrats flipped Georgia’s two Senate seats in high profile January runoffs, sending Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to Washington and handing the party narrow control of the chamber. One key to the stunning upsets were the roughly 225,000 new voters who didn’t vote in […] Read more »