Bergdahl, Benghazi, and Beyond: The Politics of Congressional Investigations
Is Bowe Bergdahl the new Benghazi? It would certainly seem so. Several Republicans are calling for investigations into the now infamous prisoner swap. Calls for impeachment… Read More
Why Americans “Tune Out” the State of the Union
With the State of the Union just a few hours away, the political science blog-o-sphere is all abuzz. The essential reading list includes: Can presidential speeches sway public opinion? … Read More
Yes, Elections are Cultivating Polarization. But…
Competition for power, gerrymandering, disappearing marginal districts define Congress’s electoral landscape. Today, the American electorate is both closely divided and increasingly uncompetitive. In other words, partisan majorities are narrower today… Read More
Our Very Unproductive Congress: Why Today’s Gridlock is Different and more Devastating
One of President Truman’s most repeated lines, the “Do Nothing Congress,” is increasingly being used less as a metaphor and more as a statement of fact. The 112th Congress was… Read More
Party Competition and the Supression of Minority Rights
This blog post has been in the back of my mind for some time, but is especially relevant given today’s events in the Senate. I don’t have some profound… Read More
Do Veterans Decrease Polarization in Congress?
If the timing of this post doesn’t make it obvious, the use of “veteran” refers to lawmakers with prior military experience, not the length of one’s tenure… Read More
What’s Missing in the Polarization Debate? Congress.
Currently, the debate over American polarization is dominated by electoral considerations: gerrymandering, sorting, PACs, campaign finance, etc. Most of these arguments are based on underlying assumption that the American people,… Read More
Voting Against the Debt Limit Is for Losers!
Greg Koger at the political science blog Mischiefs of Faction has an interesting post this morning entitled “Fiscal Conservatism is for Losers.” In his post, Koger uses… Read More
How Can We Explain the Amash Vote to Defund the NSA?
A peculiar thing happened in the House last week. An amendment offered by Justin Amash (R-MI) narrowly failed on the floor, with a majority Democrats voting for the amendment (offered… Read More
Are Members of Congress “Truthful?” A Response to the PolitiFact Study
The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) at George Mason University released a report examining PolitiFact ratings gauging Republicans’ and Democrats’ “truthfulness.” PolitiFact developed their so-called… Read More