The confirmation battle over the nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has left the country as it was before President Trump selected him: deeply divided, politically polarized and with many people hostile toward those of opposing views. But that hardly means everything has reverted to the […] Read more »
Five myths about the 2016 election
The 2016 election is nearly two years behind us, but debates continue to rage over what lifted Donald Trump to a victory that surprised so many political observers. All elections generate narratives that try to explain the outcome, but often those do not square with polling and other political science […] Read more »
Understanding ‘the white women thing’
Donald Trump likes to brag that most women in America voted for him for president. Like many things the president says, that’s just not true. Most women, 54 percent, voted for Hillary Clinton. However, 52 percent of white women did vote for Trump — and that’s the cohort that drives […] Read more »
Socialism in the U.S.: Two Competing Perspectives
Socialism is enjoying a renaissance in U.S. political discourse — even though candidates who espouse a socialist policy perspective have had mixed results in primary elections and while Americans, as a whole, remain negative about socialism. Gallup recently updated a 1949 question asking how Americans define socialism. In this episode, […] Read more »
Here’s why confirming Kavanaugh could seriously undermine the Supreme Court’s public standing
Could Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination undermine the public standing of the Supreme Court? Observers such as the Atlantic’s Ron Brownstein think so. “Every time [Chief Justice John] Roberts would lean on Kavanaugh to construct a majority,” Brownstein writes, “the chief justice could further erode the Court’s already eroding public confidence.” In […] Read more »
Authoritarian Warning Survey: Ratings worsening on all six dimensions of democratic performance
Our expert survey results in August and September 2018 demonstrate increased threat levels compared to July, with ratings worsening on all six dimensions of democratic performance. This represents a reversal from the improving condition from June to July 2018. Experts rate a 16.5% chance of democratic breakdown in the U.S. […] Read more »