The most surprising political development of the 21st century was that Donald Trump became president of the United States. The least surprising development was that he turned out to be bad at the job. … So what if we tried for a moment to give Trump the benefit of the […] Read more »
We Freaking Warned You
… Political science research doesn’t typically get a ton of attention or respect. Yes, college graduates often value the education they get in their political science classes, but policymakers, parties, and others in the political world tend to be fairly dismissive of the recommendations political scientists make. … Well, political […] Read more »
Two Weaknesses Exposed on Capitol Hill
… The past five years have been especially valuable in revealing where power within the Republican Party does and doesn’t reside. Republican members of Congress enjoy substantial internal influence in certain areas: they largely controlled the party’s legislative agenda and shaped much of the policy-making during the tenure of the […] Read more »
‘This is not who we are’: Actually, the Capitol riot was quintessentially American
… There’s no disputing that the assault was remarkable. But “un-American” is the wrong adjective. A better way to make sense of the news of the past few days — not only the violent occupation in Washington but also the historic Senate victories by Democrats in Georgia — is as […] Read more »
The politics of governing with a tiny majority
Though Democrats are enormously relieved that the Trump presidency is coming to an end, the 2020 elections were also a disappointment. They not only failed to win outright control of the U.S. Senate but also lost ground in the House of Representatives. House Democrats are presently on track to control […] Read more »
Lessons from 2020 (that I can’t yet prove)
The year 2020 threw a lot at us. While (hopefully) the year will remain a fairly unique one in our history, surely there are some useful political lessons we can draw from it. So what follows is an incomplete list of lessons we’ve learned that I’m pretty sure are true […] Read more »