Category Archives: political parties

“A Primary Cause of Partisanship? Nomination Systems and Legislator Ideology”

October 31, 2013, 3:57 pmlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarization, primariesRick Hasen

McGhee, Masket, Shor, Rogers and McCarty have written this article for AJPS. Here is the abstract: Many theoretical and empirical accounts of representation argue that primary elections are a polarizing influence. Likewise, many reformers advocate opening party nominations to nonmembers… Continue reading

“Will nuclear winter come to the Senate this fall?”

October 31, 2013, 3:30 pmlegislation and legislatures, political partiesRick Hasen

Must-read Sarah Binder on the filibuster nuclear threat.

“Behind Roar of Politics, Whispers of Race Persist”

October 30, 2013, 11:30 ampolitical partiesRick Hasen

Important John Harwood NYT column.

“Democrats: It’s the states, stupid (Part 2)”

October 30, 2013, 8:10 ampolitical parties, political polarization, redistrictingRick Hasen

Herman Schwartz writes for Reuters Opinion.

“The political middle is dying. But it’s not redistricting’s fault.”

October 29, 2013, 7:39 pmpolitical parties, political polarization, redistrictingRick Hasen

The Fix with some great illustrations from Alan Abramowitz.

“This Voting Reform Could Save the Republican Party from Itself”

October 20, 2013, 4:33 pmcampaigns, political parties, political polarization, primariesRick Hasen

Reihan Salam: Rather than an outright divorce, Republicans ought to consider a different approach. Right now, Tea Party activists are pledging to launch a new round of primary challenges against Republicans deemed “squishy.” The big problem with primary elections,… Continue reading

About FairVote’s “Crossover Districts”….

October 19, 2013, 4:02 pmpolitical parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

A reader from Texas writes: Fair Vote cites 116 “crossover” representatives in 1992 representing 27% of the House. To the extent that figure represents some sort of idealistic “good ol’ days” for Congress, it is terribly misleading. The overwhelming reason… Continue reading

“Political Polarization at Its Peak? Not All Agree”

October 19, 2013, 3:48 pmpolitical parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

WSJ’s “The Numbers Guy” reports.

“For post-shutdown reform ideas, many look to California”

October 18, 2013, 7:40 pmpolitical parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

The Los Angeles Times reports. Regardless of who draws the lines, the electorate remains polarized politically and geographically, with liberal Democrats concentrated in parts of the state and conservative Republicans in others. The number of districts actually open to… Continue reading

“Disappearing ‘Crossover Legislators’ Key to Resolving the Shutdown”

October 18, 2013, 4:40 pmpolitical parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

FairVote: Amid the shutdown-inspired talk of polarization and dysfunction in Congress, it is encouraging to see examples of real bipartisan cooperation. A group of twelve senators – six Republicans and six senators who caucus with Democrats – played a… Continue reading

“It’s Top-Two Friday!”

October 18, 2013, 4:15 pmpolitical parties, political polarization, primariesRick Hasen

Seth Masket: Thanks to Richard Skinner and Rick Hasen for pointing out that the reformers are out in force today. The New York Times‘ Adam Nagourney and the Washington Post‘s Reid Wilson both have articles up today talking up… Continue reading

NYT Top Story Says CA Dysfunction Getting Better Because of Top Two Primary and Redistricting Reform

October 18, 2013, 1:08 pmpolitical parties, political polarization, primariesRick Hasen

Article here. I was surprised to see that the article did not quote from more skeptical political scientists who have looked at the question. Some of that literature summarized in this post at The Monkey Cage.

“Don’t Blame Safe Seats for the Tea Party”

October 18, 2013, 7:26 ampolitical parties, political polarization, redistrictingRick Hasen

Frank Wilkinson writes for Bloomberg View.

“A ranked-choice voting system for Congress”

October 17, 2013, 8:07 pmalternative voting systems, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Rob Richie and Devin McCarthy writing in WaPo: “It’s easy to blame politicians for the federal government shutdown, but the dysfunction will continue until Americans understand how our voting laws reward confrontation and realize which steps are necessary for… Continue reading