American voters rate the economy as the most important issue to their vote for Congress this year, and give the Republicans in Congress a slight edge over the Democrats as best able to handle it. Voters give four other issues lower, but still above-average, importance — the federal deficit, taxes, […] Read more »
Parties Are More Consequential than Clever Framing: Estate Tax Edition
… Framing effects, while real, are not as powerful and omnipresent as people sometimes imagine. In experiments, framing in news reports and survey questions can change opinions. But while framing can change mass opinion on an issue, it often doesn’t in practice. The reason is that framing effects are much […] Read more »
Focus on Growth to Frame Priorities
Republicans define Democrats as a party for the 47% who are takers. Democrats define Republicans as a party for the 1% who are wealthiest. And meanwhile, a majority of voters questions who is looking out for their interests, and an increasing number concludes the answer is no one. Narrowly focusing […] Read more »
Taxpayers troubled by inequity
It’s a refrain that troubles me: “Nobody likes paying taxes.” Especially for people like me who never served in the military, taxes are the contribution we make to our country, the dues we pay for membership in the enterprise we call America Despite my personal misgivings, I’m willing to agree […] Read more »
Why wouldn’t people want to reduce inequality?
… Political scientists Kenneth Scheve and David Stasavage offer four reasons here for why democracy has not saved us from inequality. They end with the one to which they appear to give the most credence: mass opinion. In short, for democracy to reduce inequality, it must be the case that […] Read more »
Populism? Where are the pitchforks?
Americans are in a surly mood, confronting rules they feel are rigged against them. President Barack Obama captured this populist temper in his re-election campaign. He then launched his second term declaring that inequality is the “most pressing challenge of our time,” and laying out a popular agenda to raise […] Read more »