The Bankruptcy of Authenticity
Every presidential candidate is essentially playing some sort of role. That doesn't mean that they're lying.
What Matters in Mid-Term Elections?
It's not that the Bowe Bergdahl story isn't important; it's just unlikely to influence voters in November. So what will?
A Lesson From Eric Cantor’s Loss: It’s Time to Prepare for the Weird Stuff
Primaries are forcing officeholders into increasingly extreme positions.
Political Parties Are Networks, and You Want Them on Your Side
Even a very loose network of candidates, activists, donors, and interest groups can exert a powerful influence over elections.
Don’t Fear the Network: The Internet Is Changing the Way We Communicate for the Better
Panic about the rise of social media is largely overhyped and misplaced.
How Not to Close the Gender Gap in Politics
As long as the Republican Party resists the welfare state, it's going to have trouble attracting more female voters.
Fetishizing All the Pretty Districts
Creating nice-looking congressional districts can often undermine their far more important political qualities—but that hasn't stopped people from trying.
Why Polarize?
Why are state legislatures and voters both growing more polarized when it's clear that almost no one gets into politics with the goal of driving the parties further apart? Presenters at a recent conference proposed some answers.
Different Parties, Different Cultures
Fearing bias, and because the differences are difficult to measure with reliability, most—but not all—political scientists shy away from describing the cultural differences between Democrats and Republicans.
What the Decline of Partisanship Would Look Like
Our current Republican-Democrat divide is so durable because it lines up with the conservative-liberal divide. To undermine that would require a major shift in today's ideological coalitions.