All posts by Richard Pildes
What a Difference a Headline Makes
Online front-page Washington Post Headline: FBI backs CIA view that Russia helped Trump win election.
When clicking through to the full article, the headline becomes: FBI backs CIA view that Russia intervened to help Trump win election.
Still not… Continue reading
How Will Congress and the Separation of Powers Function Under a Trump Administration?
Christopher DeMuth, former head of OIRA in the Reagan OMB and former President of AEI, has a long, thoughtful essay in the weekend Wall Street Journal in which he explores whether the separation of powers might see a revival in… Continue reading
The New Political Realism: Transactional Politics and Earmarks
Last week, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post reported that there was “significant support” within the House Republican conference for bringing back earmarks. Republicans eliminated earmarks when they took the House majority in 2010 as part of “political reforms” that… Continue reading
The New Political Realism: Resisting Inappropriate Transparency Demands
This piece, from a few days ago in the Washington Post, puts FBI Director Jim Comey’s real-time updates of the Clinton investigation into a broader framework involving the ever-increasing demands for greater governmental transparency. Leaving aside the provocative title… Continue reading
Restrictive Voter ID Laws and Turnout: What We Might Learn from Texas
Whether the various new voter-ID laws have a significant effect on voter turnout has been notoriously difficult to assess empirically. The recent election results from Texas, however, might provide a way to get some insight into this question not previously… Continue reading
More Total Votes Cast in 2016 Than in 2012
We have now reached the point at which we can say that more votes have been cast this year than in 2012, according to the Cook Report. I wonder if the media narrative will be able to assimilate the… Continue reading
Voter Turnout in 2016 Appears About the Same as in 2012
Yes, that’s right. One fact obscured by analysis that focuses only on the Trump and Clinton vote totals is that overall turnout this year is likely to end up being essentially the same as in 2012. A big difference is… Continue reading
Unusual Ad in Utah’s Major Paper
Obama Got Zero Votes in At Least 38 Precincts in 2012
Mitt Romney’s failure to receive any reported votes in 49 Philadelphia election precincts in 2012 has been viewed suspiciously by some commentators, including Donald Trump, who recently said: “Philadelphia is one that’s mentioned. I think Romney got no votes… Continue reading
Justice Thomas’ 25 Years on the Supreme Court
At the Balkinization blog, I recently posted this, which might be of interest to some on this blog:
This month marks the 25th year that Justice Clarence Thomas has been on the Supreme Court, which means he has now… Continue reading
Turnout and Perceptions of Electoral Integrity
This chart, showing a strong relationship between voter turnout and perceptions of electoral integrity, comes from a recent paper, here, by Pippa Norris, as part of her work with the international Electoral Integrity Project. The data is taken from… Continue reading
Money in Politics: How Far Does the Egalitarian Position Go?
Cross-posted from Balkinization:
Egalitarian arguments in the US for regulating campaign spending almost always stop at regulating money in the context of elections. But why don’t the same arguments also extend to regulating spending in the context of public debate… Continue reading
More on Withdrawal of a Presidential Nominee
I’m posting this two-minute video segment I did on what happens if a presidential nominee withdraws, from the very good website Talks on Law, mostly for the amusement of my friends. This is the first time I’ve worked with a… Continue reading