Emily Badger
Why Patients Leave Hospitals With a Bad Taste In Their Mouths
There's one big reason that we often overlook, a Harvard professor says.
Rejecting Term Limits for the Supreme Court
Political scientists studying the U.S. Supreme Court say the problem isn’t how long justices serve overall but that there’s no short-termers in the mix.
Can We Make College Cheaper?
The authors of “Why Does College Cost So Much?” take a look at the root causes and determine that we can reduce the price of higher education, but not dramatically.
Not Twitter Revolutions, But Twitter-Assisted Revolutions
Despite the fervent hopes of its boosters, the Internet by its lonesome doesn’t drive democratic change, but it can reinforce existing impulses.
Is It Worth Paying People to Be Healthy?
Researchers are crafting studies to see whether cash incentives might be a better way to spend money to ensure people lead healthy lives.
‘Stand Your Ground’ Stats Point to High Costs
An Urban Institute examination of U.S. homicides where self-defense was claimed suggests that the possible costs of “Stand Your Ground” laws exceed their benefits.
WikiLeaks Has Not Ushered in New Era of Transparency
Legal scholar Alasdair Roberts argues that any changes in government transparency wrought by the hordes of data revealed by WikiLeaks is more evolutionary than revolutionary.
Talmud, Internet Unlock James Madison
Combing elements of Talmudic debate and modern possibilities of crowdsourcing, scholars are taking a new look at one of the ignored building blocks of the U.S. Constitution.
Accepting Climate Change an Economic Luxury
Shifts in opinion on climate change have had more to do with the state of the economy than the weather outside, partisan politics, or the media’s influence, according to new research.
Spotting Election Fraud Gets Smarter, Cheaper
A push from USAID to cut costs and develop better solutions to international problems produces a more effective way to monitor elections.
Great Debate: Will Politicians Answer the Question?
American political campaigners are primed to deliver talking points regardless of the question they’ve actually been asked. Two professors offer tips for more on-target debates going forward.
In ‘Open Government Data,’ What’s Really Open?
In parsing the meaning of “open government,” citizens weigh the availability of information against the transparency of creating it. It’s a rare grammar debate that affects the course of democracy.
How Incumbents in Washington Hurt the Economy
Researchers looking at federal government spending on states discover that having a powerful, long-tenured legislator in D.C. actually hurts the local economy.
Housing Crisis Hits Poor Renters Hard
As the middle class sidles out of the houses it can no longer pay for, the migration is making it harder for the poorest renters to find a place.
How the Military Can Change Personalities, Slightly
Military training seems to permanently make a grunt less agreeable, which both surprises and reassures traditionally minded psychologists.
Public Schools Good for People Without Kids, Too
What makes communities strong and vibrant? Researchers say local schools bring a raft of positives to town — even for the childless — beyond creating an educated populace.
Think Think Tanks Are Nonpartisan? Think Again
Once seen as non-ideological “universities without students,” the American think tank has, in many cases, become a partisan stalking horse that devalues the sector’s scholarship.
Surplus Government Property: Homeless Help vs. Revenue
Turning unloved federal property into homeless services centers has been federal law for a quarter century, but tough times have bureaucrats hoping to shove that tradition into the cold.
Gender Wage Gap Skewed By Survey Flaws
The wage gap between the sexes in America has been closing much faster than anyone realized, but that’s tempered by learning it’s been much wider than measurements had shown.
House Bill Puts Transportation in Partisan Crossfire
Transportation used to be one of the few guaranteed areas of agreement when pragmatism trumped ideology in D.C. But that’s no longer the case.
Better Super Bowl Makes for Better Ads
A lot of people say they watch the Super Bowl mostly for the ads. But it turns out a good game surrounding those ads makes them seem better.
Overseas Troops Finally Get Fair Shot at Voting
After decades of obstacles hindering the voting process, new laws will allow overseas and military voters to submit their votes in time for the 2012 election.
Traffic Solution: Make Drivers Less Lonely
Rather than moaning about too many cars on the road, the Ridesharing Institute says the real key to battling traffic congestion and pollution is filling empty passenger seats.
Conservatives' Politics of Fear a Biological Response
Researchers looking at how we fixate on threats uncover more evidence of a biological component to the red-blue divide.
Private Prisons Can’t Lock In Savings
A report from The Sentencing Project argues that a primary driver for privatizing corrections isn’t really paying off.
Who Owns Government-Funded Research Papers?
The Research Works Act would prevent publicly funded research from automatically being available to the public for free. Private publishers back the bill, while open-access partisans are appalled.
Should We Buy Options on Presidential Candidates?
For decades, academics have been running a lively prediction market in political aspirations. But now commodities traders have proposed actually selling options on presidential candidates.
Republicans Like Candidates Who Look Republican
Although they can’t put their finger on what a Republican looks like, when GOP voters think someone looks Republican, that candidate gets more votes.
SOPA Debate Highlights Congress's Ignorance
The divide between new technology and what the government understands about it threatens the U.S., says Clay Johnson of Expert Labs.
Time for a More Sensible, Permanent Calendar?
An astronomer and an economist suggest the world would be a more sensible place if it dropped floating days of the week and leap years by switching to their Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar.
Rating LA's Safety Levels by ZIP Code
A new scorecard for violence prevention in Los Angeles puts hard numbers on hard problems, and does it for every ZIP code in the sprawling city.
Feds Poke Hole in Needle Exchange Funding
Despite evidence that needle exchange programs for drug users slow the spread of AIDS, the new U.S. government spending bill once again defunds such programs.
Why a Democracy Needs Uninformed People
In a lesson taught by schools of fish, researchers determine that uninformed individuals are actually a benefit to democracy by sanding off extreme views.
Scientists Deflated by Obama's Policy Decisions
After swooning over promises that science would always trump politics in his administration, some observers are troubled by President Obama’s decisions on smog and contraception.
Don’t Tax Soda, Tax Sweeteners
Efforts to slow obesity by taxing sodas hit the wrong target, argue three economists who propose a better-aimed tax on sugar and syrup that even they admit still sidesteps the real problem.
Tarring Opponents as Extremists Really Can Work
Political scientists have determined that labeling supporters of stands that otherwise might be unassailable can have a sleazy efficacy, although not everyone falls for tactic.
Despite Bad Marks, For-Profit Colleges Still Passing
While for-profit higher education draws federal ire over student loans and unrealistic promises, the sector still fills an important vocational niche.
Imagine There's No Law; It's Easy If You Try
Law professor David Friedman offers a libertarian thought experiment in which the concept of law — i.e. rights enforcement — is determined by the marketplace, and not the political process.
Employer Health Costs Rise Faster Than Medicare
The upward spiral in U.S. health insurance costs is especially acute for employers that offer the benefit and employees shouldering more of their own costs.
Recession Forces Mobile Americans to Stay Put
For years Americans having been moving long distances less and less, but the current bad times are pushing the percentages to post-World War II lows.
Making a Case for Televising the Supreme Court
The upcoming U.S. Supreme Court debate on health-care reform offers a prime time to start televising its hearings and allowing cameras in the courtroom.
The Price of a Fumble by the Super Committee
An experiment demonstrates the death by a thousand cuts that could result from across-the-board cuts that would follow a deadline fumble by the U.S. deficit "super committee."
Improved Poverty Metrics Show Aid Does Help
A better reading of American poverty by the Census Bureau shows more are poor than thought, but also that aid programs and tax credits can make a difference.
Political Fact Checking That Doesn’t Amplify the Lie
The next generation of political fact checking will offer humor and quicker turnarounds without further propagating the underlying deception.
Ultimate Weapon: Knowing a War Zone’s Culture
The U.S. military is paying more attention to the culture of the places where it fights, putting a new weapon in its arsenal, according to both soldiers and academics.
Cash for Clunkers Was a Clunker
In a discouraging post mortem, it turns out neither the U.S. economy nor the environment really benefited from the 2009 “cash for clunkers” car-trading scheme.
Patchwork of Gun Laws Assists Traffickers
Decentralized regulation in the gun-friendly U.S. creates ample opportunities for guns to leech from lightly regulated areas to stricter locales.
US, EU in Dogfight Over Airline Emissions
Europe forges ahead on tackling greenhouse gas emissions, but the U.S. wants to ground certain rules that affect its airlines.
Real Utility: Accounting for Energy Costs Makes Mortgage Sense
Backers of a move to add utility bills into home-loan considerations say it will boost energy conservation and create lots of jobs that can't be exported.