The Idea Lobby

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.

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.

Despite the fervent hopes of its boosters, the Internet by its lonesome doesn’t drive democratic change, but it can reinforce existing impulses.

Researchers are crafting studies to see whether cash incentives might be a better way to spend money to ensure people lead healthy lives.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A push from USAID to cut costs and develop better solutions to international problems produces a more effective way to monitor elections.

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 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.

Researchers looking at federal government spending on states discover that having a powerful, long-tenured legislator in D.C. actually hurts the local economy.

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.

Military training seems to permanently make a grunt less agreeable, which both surprises and reassures traditionally minded psychologists.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Researchers looking at how we fixate on threats uncover more evidence of a biological component to the red-blue divide.

A report from The Sentencing Project argues that a primary driver for privatizing corrections isn’t really paying off.