So who will be in charge in Washington next year? Right now, The Cook Political Report is forecasting that the most likely midterm-election outcome in the House is Democrats picking up between 20 and 40 seats, with a 30-seat net gain a plausible guess. A Democratic gain of 23 seats […] Read more »
Erosion, polarization, and norm violations: Bright Line Watch Survey Report
Donald Trump is a disruptor. Few would disagree that his actions and style of political combat set him apart from past presidents. There is less consensus about the implications of Trump’s distinctive governing style for the health of American democracy, however. To understand how Americans rate their democracy in the […] Read more »
Politics & Polls podcast: The Trump Presidency
In this special 100th episode of Politics & Polls, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang reflect on aspects of Donald Trump’s presidency that have surprised them both individually. Zelizer is surprised by public tolerance of Trump’s most controversial actions, especially his immigration policies and behavior during the Helsinki summit with Vladimir […] Read more »
Americans Strongly Support Term Limits for Judges
Whatever price elected Republicans eventually pay for standing by President Donald J. Trump — and every party eventually pays at least some price for holding the White House — one could argue that Republicans have already gotten enough from Trump to justify backing him. In his always-interesting quarterly report, GOP […] Read more »
If the Supreme Court is Nakedly Political, Can It Be Just?
President Trump was always going to pick a conservative for the Supreme Court. The only question has been whether to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy with a “business conservative” or a “religious conservative.” No one seriously thought that he would consider a moderate, a liberal or an ideologically ambiguous replacement. The […] Read more »
Justice delayed: The Supreme Court is often behind the country
With Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court, the America of 1950 is now positioned to write the legal rules for the America of 2050. That may slightly overstate the likely longevity of the five-member conservative Supreme Court majority that will lock into place if and when the Senate […] Read more »