Americans are most likely to say a president’s ability to manage the government is the biggest factor in their evaluations of him, of three possible leadership characteristics. CONT. Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup Read more »
The Maps That Show That City vs. Country Is Not Our Political Fault Line
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the most significant and abiding divide in American politics isn’t between city and countryside, but rather among regional cultures. Rural and urban places certainly have distinct interests and priorities, but in our awkward federation their differences have taken a back seat to the broader struggle between […] Read more »
Who Do We Think We Are?
According to a new study, Americans’ perceptions of the opposing political party tend to skew far from the truth. … Perry Bacon, senior writer for FiveThirtyEight, wrote about the study for his column “Secret Identity.” He says that there was a time when we assumed some diversity within the parties, […] Read more »
Why evangelical voters support Trump’s policy on refugees — even though evangelical leaders object
… We might expect that evangelical leaders’ Bible-based arguments would lead rank-and-file evangelicals to welcome refugees. That’s not what’s happened. Instead, white evangelicals have supported President Trump’s closed-door policies wholeheartedly. … Why are lay evangelicals broadly opposed to allowing refugees into the country, defying their leaders? My research shows their […] Read more »
Justice delayed: The Supreme Court is often behind the country
With Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court, the America of 1950 is now positioned to write the legal rules for the America of 2050. That may slightly overstate the likely longevity of the five-member conservative Supreme Court majority that will lock into place if and when the Senate […] Read more »
Trump’s ‘Purple’ Family Values
… In their book “Red Families v. Blue Families,” Naomi Cahn and June Carbone popularized the idea of “blue” and “red” family models. Blue families prize equality and companionship between spouses while putting a low value on childbearing. Red families tend to be inegalitarian or complementarian, viewing the man as […] Read more »