… Worldwide, anger has been brewing towards politicians, banking executives, and corporate leaders, with over 10 million people protesting to express their dissatisfaction with current efforts to address climate change. Surveys suggest anger among young adults is particularly acute, with a majority (58%) of those polled in 10 nations reporting […] Read more »
Trust issues: Dealing with distrust in politics
Liberal democracy across the West is under strain. The causes of these democratic challenges are many and complex but there is a common thread: a decline in political trust. Growing distrust in politicians should be of particular concern to democrats and progressives. A lack of trust matters for two main […] Read more »
Who *doesn’t* have an opinion about Roe v Wade?
Given its prominence in political and legal debate for nearly 50 years, you might think everyone has an opinion about Roe v Wade. But there is variation in opinion holding that may surprise you. Most telephone surveys ask about Roe without offering a “Don’t know” option, though if the respondent […] Read more »
Voters Don’t Often Reward What They Like…But They Do Punish What They Don’t Like
… Voters are tough to satisfy and have short memories, especially for success. (In May 1945, Winston Churchill and the other Allied leaders declared victory in the European theater of World War II; two months later, Churchill’s party lost 189 seats and control of Parliament to the opposition.) Americans happily […] Read more »
Democrats Shouldn’t Panic. They Should Go Into Shock.
The rise of inflation, supply chain shortages, a surge in illegal border crossings, the persistence of Covid, mayhem in Afghanistan and the uproar over “critical race theory” — all of these developments, individually and collectively, have taken their toll on President Biden and Democratic candidates, so much so that Democrats […] Read more »
Peak Polarization? The Rise of Partisan-Ideological Consistency and its Consequences
This paper presents evidence from American National Election Studies surveys showing that party identification, ideological identification and issue positions have become much more closely connected over the past half century. As a result, the ideological divide between Democratic and Republican identifiers has widened considerably. … These findings indicate that polarization […] Read more »