“Bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission unanimously chooses Democrat as chair for 2 years”
Even small bipartisan steps upstream in the process of certifying legitimate elections are good bipartisan steps.
Category Archives: political polarization
“He Said He Was Ashamed of Storming the Capitol. Now He’s Running for Office.”
This NYT piece profiles the dynamics of a primary for a South Carolina House race, in a district without a major-party opponent.
“Far-right gains in EU election deal stunning defeats to France’s Macron and Germany’s Scholz”
EU parliamentary elections took place yesterday, with some significant wins by “far-right” parties — sufficiently significant in France to drive President Macron to dissolve the parliament and call a snap national election. (Counterpart: in Hungary, Prime Minister Orbán’s… Continue reading
“Misunderstanding the harms of online misinformation”
Ceren Budak, Brendan Nyhan, David M. Rothschild, Emily Thorson & Duncan J. Watts in Nature:
The controversy over online misinformation and social media has opened a gap between public discourse and scientific research. Public intellectuals and… Continue reading
“Courting Risk: Corporate Underwrites & State Attorneys General”
New report from CPA.
From the foreword by Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson:
Political spending to support controversial policies and leaders thrives in darkness. And no spending has defied necessary scrutiny more than the bigger and bigger donations that public… Continue reading
Must-Read Andy Kroll: “Scenes From a MAGA Meltdown: Inside the ‘America First’ Movement’s War Over Democracy”
Kroll deep dive in ProPublica:
What divides the Republican Party of 2024 is not any one policy or ideology. It is not whether to support Donald Trump. The most important fault line in the party now is democracy itself. Today’s… Continue reading
Republican Party of Nebraska Fails to Oust Incumbents
AP News reported recently that after being taken over by loyalists to Trump, “[t]he Nebraska GOP . . . refused to endorse any of the Republican incumbents who hold all five of the state’s congressional seats.” In three instances, it… Continue reading
“In Electoral Disputes, State Justices Are Less Reliable GOP Allies than the U.S. Supreme Court—That’s the ‘Problem’ the Independent State Legislature Claim Hopes to Solve”
Rebecca L. Brown, Lee Epstein, and Michael J. Nelson have this new article in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Here is the abstract:
Scholars have identified serious drawbacks to the independent state… Continue reading
“Political Parties and Loser’s Consent in American Politics”
Geoffrey Layman , Frances Lee, and Christina Wolbrecht have this new article in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Abstract:
Social science has established that political parties have been indispensable to American democracy and… Continue reading
“Murkowski Won’t Vote for Trump and Declines Ruling Out Leaving the G.O.P.”
NYT:
Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said in an interview released on Sunday that she would not vote for former President Donald J. Trump. She also did not rule out the possibility of leaving the Republican Party.
In the… Continue reading
“Ranked-Choice Voting is MAGA’s Latest Target; Leonard Leo and other far-right power players are attacking a bipartisan election reform.”
Brendan Fischer writes for Documented (here’s the version at Rolling Stone):
An organized and well-funded network of right-wing groups is spending countless millions attacking a bipartisan election reform that could threaten the MAGA political project.
Ranked-choice voting — which… Continue reading
“The winner-take-all incentives that have racially polarized America – and led to Trump”
Steven Hill:
Amidst all the ink and electrons reporting on the bitter partisan divisions that gnaw at America today, what has been missing is due recognition of how extreme policy positions and failure to compromise are incited by certain fundamental… Continue reading
Ned Foley-Ben Ginsberg-Rick Hasen Amicus Brief Warns SCOTUS of Political Instability, Potential Violence, and Voter Disenfranchisement If It Avoids Deciding Merits in Trump Disqualification Case
Thanks to the excellent work of Michael Kimberly and Charles Seidell of the McDermott Firm, Ned Foley, Ben Ginsberg and I have filed this amicus brief supporting neither party in the Trump disqualification case at the Supreme Court. Below is… Continue reading
“Democracy Hypocrisy: Examining America’s Fragile Democratic Convictions”
New report via the Democracy Fund by Joe Goldman, Lee Drutman, and Oscar Pocasangre:
Key Findings
While the vast majority of Americans claim to support democracy (more than 80 percent say democracy is a fairly or very good political system… Continue reading