Are Partisan Elites Polarized?
Nolan McCarty
in Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know®
One of the signature achievements of Barack Obama’s presidency was the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010. Because the bill received almost no Republican support, its passage ...
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The Big Lie and Its Aftermath
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns, Elections, and the Threat to Democracy: What Everyone Needs to Know®
The president of the United States, defeated in his bid for re-election, lashed out at his detractors, refused to concede, refused to congratulate his successor, and tried to use the power ...
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Carving Out Legislative Districts
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns and Elections: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Congressional districts are reapportioned every ten years. In recent years there has been a great deal of criticism of overt partisanship and even charges of racial
...
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Carving Out Legislative Districts
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns, Elections, and the Threat to Democracy: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Reapportionment and redistricting are defined and discussed. Congressional districts are reapportioned every ten years. Then comes redistricting, drawing district lines so that districts ...
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Direct Democracy: Ballot Campaigns
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns and Elections: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Many campaigns have no candidates involved, just issues. Ballot campaigns have become an integral part of American policymaking, and immigration reform, tax increases, ...
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Direct Democracy—Ballot Campaigns
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns, Elections, and the Threat to Democracy: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Many campaigns have no candidates involved, just issues. Since the early twentieth century and especially in the past forty years, ballot campaigns have become an integral part of American ...
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How Campaigns Have Changed
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns and Elections: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Although the fundamentals of modern campaigning remain intact, there have been enormous changes since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Most of those changes spring ...
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How Campaigns Have Changed
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns, Elections, and the Threat to Democracy: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Although the fundamentals of modern campaigning remain intact, there have been enormous changes since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Most of those changes spring from advances ...
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How Does Electoral Law Affect Legislative Polarization?
Nolan McCarty
in Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know®
In recent years, journalists and activists have also become interested in reforms that might reduce the level of polarization in Congress.1 The most common prescriptions for reducing ...
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Inner Workings of Modern Campaigns
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns and Elections: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Major political campaigns, everything from big-city mayoral contests to presidential campaigns, rely on a battery of professional campaign consultants
and ...
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Inner Workings of Modern Campaigns
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns, Elections, and the Threat to Democracy: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Why can’t candidates just run on their own, without the need for consultants or handlers? Major political campaigns, everything from big-city mayoral contests to presidential campaigns, ...
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Introduction
Nolan McCarty
in Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know®
The months following the election and inauguration of Donald J. Trump have been a time for reflection about the state of American politics and its deep ideological, cultural, racial, ...
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Is the Public Polarized?
Nolan McCarty
in Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Given the widespread belief that the American public is deeply divided into Red and Blue camps who view each other with disdain and distrust, many readers may be surprised to learn that ...
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Is the Trump Presidency a New Normal or More of the Same?
Nolan McCarty
in Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Perhaps the most important question in American politics in 2019 is what to make of Donald Trump’s emergence as a presidential candidate and his subsequent electoral victory. Ever since he ...
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Money, Mega-Donors, and Wide-Open Spending
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns and Elections: What Everyone Needs to Know®
“Money is the mother’s milk of politics.” That old saying seemed quaint in 1971 when Congress enacted the first important campaign-finance laws that regulated and limited how ...
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Money, Mega-Donors, and Wide-Open Spending
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns, Elections, and the Threat to Democracy: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Congress enacted the first important campaign-finance law in 1971 that regulated and limited how much could be contributed and spent in federal elections. But so much has changed since ...
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Political Parties and Elections
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns and Elections: What Everyone Needs to Know®
At one time, the political party was the central vehicle for organizing and executing political campaigns. But by the 1960s, the party had been replaced by professional ...
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Political Parties and Elections
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns, Elections, and the Threat to Democracy: What Everyone Needs to Know®
At one time, the political party was the central vehicle for organizing and executing political campaigns. But by the 1960s, the party had been replaced by professional consultants, and ...
More
Presidential Elections
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns and Elections: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Presidential elections are the crown jewel of American electoral democracy, but there are some very important issues looming. Is the electoral college the most reliable way to ...
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Presidential Elections
Dennis W. Johnson
in Campaigns, Elections, and the Threat to Democracy: What Everyone Needs to Know®
Presidential elections are the crown jewel of American electoral democracy, but many important issues are looming. Is the Electoral College the most reliable way to measure a presidential ...
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