… Who is Donald Trump? Ask Americans and many of them will describe a self-made billionaire, a business tycoon of unfathomable success. In research recently published in Political Behavior, we found that voters are not simply uninformed about President Trump’s biographical background, but misinformed—and that misinformation has serious political consequences. […] Read more »
The Disturbing, Surprisingly Complex Relationship Between White Identity Politics and Racism
In her new book, “White Identity Politics,” the Duke political scientist Ashley Jardina examines the increasing relevance of white identity in America. Drawing on data from American National Election Studies surveys and her own research, Jardina finds that about thirty to forty per cent of white Americans say that white […] Read more »
Many Americans say they want politicians to compromise. But maybe they don’t.
The lengthy government shutdown seems likely to end only when one or both political parties is willing to compromise. But the question Democratic and Republican lawmakers have to confront is how to sell that compromise to their supporters. If that compromise involves immigration policy, it’s clear why that’s hard: Democratic […] Read more »
Troll Watch: Study Shows Older Americans Share The Most Fake News
NPR’s Sarah McCammon speaks with Andy Guess of Princeton University about a new study that finds that older Americans are more likely to share fake news than their younger counterparts. NPR News Read more »
Tennessee Politics: From Boss Crump to Howard Baker to . . . Marsha Blackburn?
Only one chapter in V.O. Key’s classic 1949 book Southern Politics in State and Nation named an individual in its title: “Tennessee: The Civil War and Mr. Crump.” Key described an era in Tennessee history when the Democratic primary decided who controlled statewide politics and Memphis political boss E.H. Crump […] Read more »
The Wandering Voters: How 2018’s gubernatorial results reflected 2016’s presidential trends
In 2018, Democrats won over suburban voters to cruise to a roughly 8.5-point win in the national House vote, even as the rural areas remained red. In the following writeup, I look at where each party made gains this past cycle. I also look at how third-party performance in 2016 […] Read more »