Political Science

Things I Wish I Knew Before I Chose My Major

Chelse Hensley | Posted 05.29.2012

Read More: College Students, Fairmont State University, College Classes, College Majors, Political Science, Journalism, College News

By the time I realized I didn't truly want to go into politics, I had backed myself into a corner and had to choose between finishing my degree a semester early or switching majors that would delay graduation for a year.

Read Post

Ideology in the Classroom: Teaching Politics During a Presidential Election

Lindsay Hoffman | Posted 04.05.2012

Read More: Ideology in the Classroom, Politics College, College Politics, Political Science, Teaching Politics, Politics in the Classroom, College News

But as a political communication scholar, I know that many students look to faculty like me to make sense of a complex and often contradictory political world. But how do we make sure that politics don't enter the conversation about, well, politics?

Read Post

Stephen Colbert, Scientific Pioneer

Chris Mooney | Posted 04.05.2012

Read More: Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, Conservatives, Truthiness, Political Science, Liberals, Science of Politics, Liberal Voters, Conservative Voters, Democrats, Republicans, Science News

Truthiness is the quality of knowing something in your gut or your heart, as opposed to in your head. Colbert didn't just diagnose a deep malady in American political discourse. He also used phrases that anticipated research results on the differences between liberals and conservatives.

Read Post

Obama Faces "The Crunch"

Ken Blackwell | Posted 05.19.2012

Read More: Obama Administration, Iran, Obama Iran, War With Iran, Obama Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, President Obama, Political History, Presidential History, Political Science, Politics News

It was Winston Churchill who first used that term, "the crunch," in that way. It means, of course, that crisis when a leader has to make a judgment. It is when lives, perhaps millions of them, hang on the outcome of the decision the leader makes.

Read Post

'Broken Windows' Theorist Dies

AP | By JAY LINDSAY | Posted 05.02.2012

Read More: Wilson, Video, James Q Wilson Obit, Political Science, James Q Wilson Dead, James Q Wilson, Wilson Dead, Broken Windows, James Q Wilson Political Science, Politics News

BOSTON -- Political scientist James Q. Wilson, whose "broken windows" theory on crime-fighting helped trigger a nationwide move toward community polic...

Read Whole Story

The Brokered Convention Nightmare: Can the GOP Match the Democrats' Historic Ineptitude in Choosing Presidential Candidates‏?

Joshua Spivak | Posted 04.16.2012

Read More: Elections 2012, Republican Primary, 2012 Republican Primary, Republican Convention, 2012 Election, Republican Presidential Candidates, Republicans, Brokered Convention, Presidential History, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Democrats, Political History, Mitt Romney, Political Science, Newt Gingrich, Politics News

Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul all have reasons to not drop out. With each passing primary, there's a chance the Republican nominee will have to deal with the fallout from the first brokered convention since primaries and caucuses became the critical method of choosing nominees.

Read Post

Early Summer 2012 and Americans Elect

Curtis Gans | Posted 02.28.2012

Read More: Third Party, Political History, Americans Elect, Presidential History, Political Science, 2012 Election, Elections 2012, Independent Candidate, Politics News

This time the conventional wisdom may turn out to be wrong, and the independent candidacies the Americans Elect online delegates select might win.

Read Post

Iowa Not A Completely Terrible Place To Stage The First Contest Of The Primary Season, According To Math

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 02.20.2012

Read More: Iowa Caucus, Iowa, 2012 Speculatron, Video, Political Science, 2012 Election, 2012 Primary Calendar, Iowa Caucuses, Elections 2012, 2012, Politics News

The Iowa Caucuses are mere days away, and that means two things. First, it means we all get to say, "the Iowa Caucuses are mere days away." And second, it means that we get to stage the perennial argument over whether Iowa is representative enough of the country at large for it to have such an outsized role in determining the eventual winner of the presidential primary season. Ultimately, there are a lot of reasons we have this argument, but there are also a lot of reasons for why the argument doesn't go anywhere.

Read Whole Story

Will The Senate's 'Secret Santa' Effort Solve America's Problems?

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 01.31.2012

Read More: Eat the Press, Broken System, Mike Johanns, Video, U.S. Senate, Political Science, Al Franken, Secret Santa, Media Criticism, Politics News

I wish our senators all the best in their attempt to manufacture Christmas cheer, but what I'd really like to know is how I can get hooked up with the Federal Reserve's "Secret Santa" exchange, which seems much, much cooler.

Read Whole Story

The Progressive Case for Moving Backward

Justin Zorn | Posted 01.21.2012

Read More: Progressive Movement, #Occupywallstreet, Occupy Wall Street, Progressives, Politics, Political History, Political Science, Glass-Steagall, Politics News

Don't let the dreadlocks fool you: There's a profound conservatism about Occupy Wall Street.

Read Post

The Attack on Election Forecasting Straw Men

Brendan Nyhan | Posted 01.16.2012

Read More: Election Forecasting, Political Science, 2012 Election, Poll Forecasting Elections, Flawed Political Polls, Obama Polling, Presidential Election Polls, Opinion Polling, Pollster Analysis, Politics News

In recent days, journalists, bloggers, and commentators have reared up to bash a fictitious conventional wisdom about election forecasting.

Read Post

Comfort for Obama: History Is on His Side in 2012

Helmut Norpoth | Posted 11.22.2011

Read More: Elections 2012, Presidential Elections, Elections, Political History, Presidential History, Political Science, Barack Obama, Pollster Analysis, Politics News

The pattern is quite clear. When the White House party was in its first term, it has won reelection in five of six cases since 1960, with an average share of 55.5% of the two-party vote.

Read Post

The Credit Downgrade and the Congress: Why Polarized Politics Paralyze Public Policy

Robert Stavins | Posted 10.11.2011

No matter how one feels about the wisdom of Standard & Poor's downgrading of long-term U.S. debt, the issue of greater concern should be their assessment of the state of the U.S. body politic.

Read Post

Congressional Approval Tanks: What Can Turn It Around?

HuffingtonPost.com | Mark Blumenthal | Posted 10.04.2011

Read More: Elections 2012, 112th Congress, Congressional Approval, Pollster Analysis, Political Science, Congressional Approval Rating, President Obama, Video, Politics News

This article has been updated to include a new New York Times/CBS News poll released Thursday night. WASHINGTON -- The new CNN/ORC International po...

Read Whole Story

History Suggests That We're Still Months Away From Needing To Take Presidential Polling Seriously

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 07.31.2011

Read More: Polls, 2012 Speculatron, 2012 Speculation, Polling, John Sides, 2012 Election, Political Science, Elections 2012, Media Criticism, 2012, Politics News

John Sides and his blog The Monkey Cage were recently honored by The Week, who named Sides' poli-sci outpost the "Blog of the Year." It's well deserve...

Read Whole Story

Asking Nicholas Kristof to "Get Real" on Aid

Victoria Peng | Posted 07.26.2011

Read More: Foreign Aid, Nicholas Kristof, Political Science, Economic Crisis, College News

Social scientists are whistle blowing because Kristof undermined the interdisciplinary nature of international development by creating an academic pedestal for economists.

Read Post

How Political Science Can Help Journalism

Brendan Nyhan | Posted 06.18.2011

Read More: Polls, Reporters, Events, Political Science, Journalism, Pollster, Pollster Analysis, Politics News

I have an article in the new issue of The Forum with John Sides of George Washington University and The Monkey Cage about how reporters can use politi...

Read Post

Note to the Rich: Very Large Taxes = Very Large Benefits

Elizabeth Rigby | Posted 05.25.2011

There is no question that rising inequality stems from macro-level changes in our global economy. Yet, there is also a growing consensus that government decisions play a key role too.

Read Post

The Fabled Prince of Iran, Ali-Reza Pahlavi

Angella Nazarian | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Royalty, Prince Alireza Pahlavi, Alireza Pahlavi Suicide, Iran, Grief, Shah, World News, Boston, David Whyte, Princeton, Farah Pahlavi, Political Science, Columbia, World News

Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi was no different than anyone else who feels the aftershocks of loss. Sadly, his family will now tread that well-traveled, all-too-familiar inner landscape of grief as well.

Read Post

Does A Physically Active Lifestyle Make Better Citizens?

Wray Herbert | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Citizenship, Fitness, Politics, Political Psychology, Inactive, Active, Political Science, Political Social Psychology, Political Studies, Political, Psychology Political Science, Healthy Living News

Is it possible that political engagement is just another form of movement and energy and physical activity? Could something as simple as an active lifestyle explain good and bad citizenship?

Read Post

Is Political Science Irrelevant?

Inside Higher Ed | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Political Science Irrelevant, American Political Science Association, Political Science, Political Science Relevancy, College News

Gerry Stoker shared "a wicked thought" he had when planning a session held Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Associatio...

Read Whole Story

Why You Should Read Meghan McCain's Dirty Sexy Politics

Jamie Hughes | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Politics, Campaigns, College, Political Science, Reading, Family, Meghan McCain, Books, Chelsea Handler, College News

She didn't fit the bill of a presidential hopeful's daughter, and it had become a problem. Her hair was too blonde, too much like a stripper's, she says, and her clothes and language weren't refined enough.

Read Post

Surviving an American Economic Crisis: Tax Credit for Volunteering?

Curtis Valentine | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Volunteering, Third World America, Political Science, President Barack Obama, Economy, George W. Bush, Economic Crisis, American Red Cross, Community Organizing, Economic Recovery, Ymca, We've Got Time to Help, Peace Corps, Salvation Army, Politics News

Americans are already volunteering in record numbers, but the need for volunteers continues to rise as the recession persists and rainy-day savings become exhausted. Tax policy should accommodate this shift.

Read Post

Adventures in China Watching

Jeffrey Wasserstrom | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Communism, Internet, Political Science, Beijing, Hong Kong, Memoir, Academics, China, Books News

I've been paying a lot of attention lately to the general interest books on the PRC that have been coming out. In the crowded field of recent publications, the hardest to categorize is probably Richard Baum's latest, China Watcher: Confessions of a Peking Tom.

Read Post

Could House Health Care Votes Be Predicted?

D. Brad Wright | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Politics, House of Representatives, Econometrics, Political Science, Health Care, Politics News

In my analysis of the House vote on the health care bill, I learned that either campaign contributions don't matter at all, or the enormous sums spent on both sides of the aisle offset each other.

Read Post