Editor’s note: This piece, originally posted on Dec 11, 2015, is being reposted in light of the shootings today in Alexandria, Va. … In 2010, I fielded two national surveys that asked respondents their opinions about the following statements: “When politicians are damaging the country, citizens should send threats to […] Read more »
Making the Facts Not Matter
People get a clearer picture if you tell them what someone or something is rather than telling them what it isn’t. I’ve said that a few times in this blog. … But it’s something that Donald Trump seems to know instinctively. … When the news or opponents point out that […] Read more »
Trump is His Own Worst Spokesperson; Spicer, Conway Not Much Better
President Trump may not be well-served by his primary spokespeople, but he is probably his own worst mouthpiece, according to the latest Monmouth University Poll. More Americans say that Donald Trump, press secretary Sean Spicer, and counselor Kellyanne Conway tend to hurt rather than help the administration’s cause when they […] Read more »
Trump’s crisis of legitimacy
… Politicians can and do change their minds. The view from Air Force One differs from the panorama visible on the campaign plane. But democracy requires some important correlation between words uttered on the campaign trail and actions taken in the Oval Office. Without such linkage, elections are a farce. […] Read more »
Democracy in America, 2017
The results of our May 2017 survey (covering American political leaders from January-May 2017) indicate a great deal of pessimism about American democracy. In brief, we polled 68 democracy experts on threats to American democracy, the significance of recent events, and the likelihood of democratic breakdown in the U.S. … […] Read more »
21st-century propaganda: A guide to interpreting and confronting the dark arts of persuasion
… The belief, or rather hope, that humankind is ultimately rational has gripped Western politics at least since Descartes, and inspired such 19th-century optimists as Thomas Jefferson and John Stuart Mill. “Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe,” Jefferson famously wrote. But in […] Read more »