Category Archives: political polarization

“Vote to oust McCarthy is a warning sign for democracy, scholars say”

October 4, 2023, 10:57 ampolitical polarizationRick Hasen

WaPo: When the House of Representatives voted to oustKevin McCarthy as Speaker on Tuesday, it was the first such removal in American history, a vividrebuke of his leadership and an escalation of the civil strife withinthe Republican Party. But historians… Continue reading

“Wisconsin Supreme Court flips liberal, creating a ‘seismic shift’”

August 27, 2023, 7:47 amjudicial elections, political polarizationRick Hasen

Patrick Marley for WaPo: Liberal groups, long accustomed to seeing the court as hostile terrain, quickly maneuvered for potential victories on a string of major issues. They filed lawsuits to try to redraw the state’s legislative districts, which heavily… Continue reading

“Why Tribalism Took Over Our Politics”

August 27, 2023, 7:43 ampolitical polarization, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

WSJ: Ahead of his arrest on Thursday in Georgia, Donald Trump repeatedly told his supporters about the legal peril he faced from charges of election interference. But the danger wasn’t his alone, he said. “In the end, they’re not coming after… Continue reading

“G.O.P. Contenders Feed Voter Distrust in Courts, Schools and Military”

August 8, 2023, 7:11 ampolitical polarizationRick Hasen

NYT: Ron DeSantis says the military is more interested in global warming and “gender ideology” initiatives than in national security. Tim Scott says the Justice Department “continues to hunt Republicans.” Vivek Ramaswamy has vowed to “shut down the deep state,”… Continue reading

“Changing Facebook’s algorithm won’t fix polarization, new study finds”

July 28, 2023, 4:45 amcheap speech, political polarizationDan Tokaji

WaPo: For years, regulators and activists have worried that social media companies’ algorithms were dividing the United States with politically toxic posts and conspiracies. The concern was so widespread that in 2020, Meta flung open troves of internal data… Continue reading

“The numbers behind Trump’s confidence the Jan. 6 indictment won’t matter”

July 22, 2023, 5:56 amelection subversion risk, political polarizationDan Tokaji

Politico dives into GOP opinion on January 6: The most common sentiment from Republican voters about Jan. 6, 2021, isn’t that it was an assault on democracy or that Donald Trump is the true winner of the 2020 election. It’s… Continue reading

New ELJ Article: “Voter Perceptions of Secrecy in the 2020 Election”

July 22, 2023, 3:26 amelection administration, political polarizationDan Tokaji

Here’s the abstract of the article by Lonna Rae Atkeson, Eli McKown-Dawson, M.V. Hood, and Robert Stein, finding that Republicans are more concerned about the secrecy of their ballots since 2020: Modern democracies pride themselves on enacting and implementing laws… Continue reading

“After fitful starts, Trump Jan. 6 investigations hurtle toward charges”

July 20, 2023, 5:32 amelection subversion risk, political polarizationDan Tokaji

WaPo on recent developments in the federal, Georgia, and Arizona investigations, as well as this week’s charges in Michigan: The proliferation of charges and expected charges marks the most extensive effort yet to hold accountable those who attempted to help… Continue reading

“Donald Trump promises a post-democratic second term”

July 18, 2023, 4:40 ampolitical polarizationDan Tokaji

Philip Bump in WaPo, riffing off yesterday’s NYT story and the recent AP-NORC poll: “What Trump proposes … is a collapse of the idea of a democratic government with temporary stewards, an extension of his own misunderstanding of… Continue reading

“No Labels taking next steps in search for presidential candidates for third-party ticket”

May 12, 2023, 11:46 ampolitical polarization, third partiesTabatha Abu El-Haj

Fox News reports that the emergent centrist, No Labels party will be forming a committee to start vetting potential presidential candidates. “No Labels is aiming to get on the ballot in all 50 states in order to be in the… Continue reading

Lone Judicial Voice Supporting Trump’s Extraordinary Theories Running for PA Supreme Court Seat

May 12, 2023, 4:26 amjudicial elections, political polarizationTabatha Abu El-Haj

Bolts Magazine has an in depth report on the candidacy of Pennsylvania, Appellate Judge Patricia McCullough, entitled “The ‘Stop the Steal’ Judge Who Wants a Seat on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court.” “‘Republican judges across the country stood up and… Continue reading

“Virginia becomes the latest GOP-governed state to quit a voter data partnership”

May 12, 2023, 4:16 amelection administration, political polarizationTabatha Abu El-Haj

NPR: Virginia on Thursday joined several other Republican-led state in withdrawing from a multistate partnership (ERIC) that until recently was viewed as a bipartisan effort to share voter information. The shift came after “[a] far-right website targeted the organization… Continue reading

Emerging Fight Over Party Control of Nominees

May 9, 2023, 5:05 ampolitical parties, political polarization, primariesnomination procedures, party rulesTabatha Abu El-Haj

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein reports this morning on efforts by the Georgia Republican Assembly, a conservative faction within the state GOP, to change the party’s rules to permit the state party to block candidates from qualifying to run as… Continue reading