An Ideological Mapping of South Carolina’s Senate Candidates
When it comes to politics, South Carolina is full of intrigue. From Lee Atwater’s Southern Strategy and the 2000 Republican primary to Joe Wilson’s “You Lie!” and Stephen Colbert’s… Read More
Why the Logic of “Throwing the Bums Out” is Wrong
As the election season ramps up, Americans offer dozens of claims about the “problems” facing our country and their purported “solutions.” But while many of these claims are amenable to… Read More
Are Career Politicians “Out of Touch” with Constituents?
On Tuesday, Republican voters in South Carolina head to the polls to elect a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by Lindsey Graham. Graham, who’s held the position since 2002,… Read More
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