Does the 2016 presidential campaign seem chaotic? For good or ill, that’s because it is. The rise of Donald Trump on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left is proof that the country’s two major political parties have lost their grip on the nominating process. They can still provide […] Read more »
Dumbing Down American Politics: Lawrence Lessig and the Presidency
Donald Trump and the Amen chorus of Republican presidential aspirants may have appeared to monopolize the capacity to make fantastical claims about what’s wrong with America and how to fix it. But a rival has appeared on the scene, outlining a very different fantasy plan to run for president on […] Read more »
Maybe This Time Really Is Different
… This election season provides a fascinating frame to see if the polarization in politics, from Washington to the states to the public, is no different than what we have seen in the past; if the angry populism evident especially on the right but also to some degree on the […] Read more »
What Donald Trump gets about the electorate
… What if Trump actually represents a sizable electorate that Beltway elites have marginalized? The data on this is pretty clear. Put simply: While most elite-funded and elite-supported Republicans want to increase immigration and decrease Social Security, a significant number of voters (across both parties) want precisely the opposite — […] Read more »
Don’t Assess 2016 with Assumptions
A lot of conventional wisdom floating out there about 2016 is grounded more in opinion and assumption than in facts or data. And, as your teacher or mom may have taught you, “assumption makes an A.S.S. out of you and me.” Here are some of the most prevalent and pervasive […] Read more »
Whose Party Is It Anyway?
… The conflict between a pro-free-trade presidential wing of the Democratic Party and an anti-free-trade congressional wing has the potential to become a permanent fixture of the center-left. The conflict gives expression to both the downscale forces in the party that lean against trade and the pro-trade upscale forces. At […] Read more »