Can the U.S. pressure Israel to end the war? Jeremy Pressman - February 12, 2024 The U.S. government has a long history of trying to restrain Israel, with mixed success.
How Native women in state legislatures are changing politics Nadia E. Brown and Elise Blasingame - November 30, 2023 From tribal sovereignty to missing and murdered Indigenous women, they’re responding to Native concerns.
Why does Biden want Saudi-Israeli normalization so badly? Marc Lynch - September 20, 2023 The Abraham Accords may define a new regional order.
Afro-Latino politicians could bridge the African American-Latino divide Yalidy Matos, Michelle Bueno Vásquez, and Domingo Morel - October 24, 2022 In the U.S., Dominicans are the Hispanic group with the largest Black population. Many are pressured to identify as either Black or Latino, not both.
What Mary Peltola’s win in Alaska may mean for Indian country Elise Blasingame - September 12, 2022 Rep.-elect Peltola joins the U.S. House of Representatives this week and is on the ballot again in November
Most Republicans ignored constituents’ opinions on marriage equality Andrew R. Flores - August 15, 2022 In roughly 90 percent of U.S. congressional districts, a majority support marriage rights for same-sex couples, my research finds. So why didn’t more Republicans vote in favor?
Will Biden’s age keep him from being reelected? Jennifer Wolak and Damon C. Roberts - July 20, 2022 Young people are the most critical of older politicians, our research finds
If Democrats listen to AOC, they’re going to lose seats David Brady and Bruce Cain - July 12, 2022 Here’s why controlling the presidency and both houses of Congress means losing control in the next election
The new Supreme Court doctrine against religious discrimination Andrew Lewis - July 6, 2022 Conservative justices favor religious liberty over the separation of church and state.
Supreme Court justices aren’t pretending to respect each other Julie Novkov - June 26, 2022 The justices like to present themselves as collegial. The Dobbs opinions suggest that collegiality is cracking.
Can activists stop AT&T from donating to antiabortion politicians? Jane L. Sumner - June 21, 2022 Yes, but companies turn to more subtle ways of influencing policy, research shows
How will the end of Roe affect IVF? Nicole Kalaf-Hughes, Heather Mohamed, and Erin Heidt-Forsythe - June 16, 2022 Our research suggests that Republicans and Democrats want to preserve infertility care – although some laws could have unintended consequences.
How the U.S. census ignores Afro-Latinos Michelle Bueno Vásquez - June 2, 2022 Afro-Latinos are the most vulnerable to discrimination, but their official invisibility makes them harder to serve
Evangelicals opposed abortion long before their leaders caught up Neil O’Brian - May 17, 2022 Before Roe v. Wade, Catholic leaders were more vocal about their opposition — but rank-and-file evangelicals mostly agreed with them.
Can Congress resurrect Roe if it’s overturned? Well, it could try. Amanda Hollis-Brusky - May 4, 2022 The Supreme Court might well strike that down, too.
Condemning Putin will make it harder to end the conflict with Russia Samuel Helfont - March 30, 2022 Consider how hard it was to lift sanctions after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait
The House might pass a long-ignored bill to study reparations for slavery. Why now? Katherine Tate - March 22, 2022 My research looks at how Black legislators changed the Democratic Party — and how becoming party insiders changed them.
The Ukraine conflict has Persian Gulf monarchies hedging their bets Cinzia Bianco - March 14, 2022 Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates haven’t been aligning with the U.S. — or Russia
The Canadian truckers’ ‘freedom convoy’ disrupted life and blockaded borders. Did the protest succeed? David Meyer - February 24, 2022 The trick, for activists, is to get authorities and other audiences to focus on their issues as well as their tactics.
Americans are more polarized than ever. Giving states more political power might ease the anger. Michael Hechter - January 27, 2022 Citizens are more willing to coexist when they feel in control of their own destinies
What do Manchin and Sinema want? Neilan S. Chaturvedi - January 26, 2022 ‘Moderate’ senators have to satisfy both red and blue voters. But Democrats can still reach them.
The U.S. seems ready for tougher sanctions against Russia. But is Europe? Maria Shagina - January 14, 2022 It’s not clear that sweeping sanctions are credible
Would Americans ever support a coup? 40 percent now say yes. Noam Lupu, Luke Plutowski, and Elizabeth Zechmeister - January 3, 2022 That percentage jumped significantly since 2017 and includes more than half the Republicans we surveyed.
Some say the U.S. is headed toward civil war. History suggests something else. Julie Novkov - January 3, 2022 A year after the Jan. 6 insurrection, political scientists largely agree that U.S. partisanship has become deeply toxic, even dangerous
These were our 10 most popular posts of 2021 E.J. Graff - December 29, 2021 Readers were very interested in Jan. 6, the former guy’s hold on the Republican Party, and race
Biden has resettled the fewest refugees in the history of the U.S. program. What could change that? Reva Dhingra, Olivia Woldemikael, and Mitchell Kilborn - November 2, 2021 Refugees bring communities a net financial gain, research finds
The Supreme Court faces more pandemic questions this term. Here are 4 takeaways from last year’s rulings. Kyle Thomson, Herschel Nachlis, Annika Begley, and Amy Park - September 23, 2021 The court is skeptical about restrictions on religion and about mandates from ‘the administrative state’
There’s a deeper story behind the World Bank’s ratings scandal Judith Kelley - September 19, 2021 The more prominent a global scorecard is, the more governments want to game it
What’s the big ruckus over the new defense partnership with the U.K. and Australia? Sophie Meunier - September 17, 2021 France isn’t happy about being sidelined by the new U.S. alliance for Indo-Pacific security.
20 years after 9/11, the U.S. is again in a great power confrontation James Goldgeier - September 9, 2021 The end of the Cold War scrambled U.S. foreign policy — and then 9/11 scrambled it again. Here’s what remains the same.
The U.S. is more racially diverse than ever. Will people of color unify politically? Efrén Pérez - August 30, 2021 African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos have very different concerns — until you remind them of their common experiences as people of color
Why aren’t there more Republican women in Congress? Laurel Elder - August 18, 2021 Congress has far more Democratic than Republican women. That’s not likely to change.
Has Japan’s policy toward the Taiwan Strait changed? Adam P. Liff - August 17, 2021 Its approach is far more stable and nuanced than recent headlines suggest
5 ways the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan will hurt Pakistan Fahd Humayun - August 16, 2021 Pakistan’s relationship with its own religious groups — and with Washington — just got more complicated
The Taliban has seized more cities, despite U.S. efforts to build a strong Afghan military. What happened? Rachel Tecott - August 8, 2021 Persuading partners to emulate the U.S. military approach doesn’t necessarily work, new research finds
The Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol hurt the Republican Party, new research finds Peter Thisted Dinesen, Gregory Eady, and Frederik Hjorth - July 16, 2021 We found a sharp and persistent drop in Twitter users identifying as Republicans.
Does ‘faith-based’ include people without a religious faith? Mark Brockway - July 11, 2021 Secularists are organizing. Their activism could begin to influence the Democratic Party.
Experimental Aircraft, ‘Suspended’: The Week in One Song Christopher Federico - June 25, 2021 Rudy is suspended.
Not all of last year’s Black Lives Matter protesters supported Black Lives Matter Maneesh Arora and LaGina Gause - June 23, 2021 The largest, broadest and most sustained protests in U.S. history brought out many people who were protesting other things, our research found
Biden wants to tap friends and party loyalists to fill high-level ambassadorships. That’s nothing new. Paul K. MacDonald - June 21, 2021 New research explains why these political appointees actually perform better than expected
Iran elected a hard-liner president. What does that mean for the nuclear deal? Henry Rome - June 21, 2021 Ebrahim Raisi’s anti-Western views may limit the benefits that many Iranians hope to see under a revival of the deal
Biden’s in Europe to reassure nervous allies. When does reassurance work? Brian Blankenship - June 10, 2021 Reinforcing alliances is a useful foreign policy tool, research finds
4 reasons the GOP wouldn’t vote for a Jan. 6 commission Sarah Binder - May 27, 2021 It wasn’t the first filibuster of the year, and it won’t be the last
House Republicans kept a woman in their third-highest post. What stops GOP women from climbing higher? Catherine Wineinger - May 19, 2021 Let us count the obstacles that keep women from rising in the party hierarchy
Biden is considering overhauling the Supreme Court. That’s happened during every crisis in U.S. democracy. Thomas Keck - April 13, 2021 During six major crises in U.S. history, debates over reshaping the court were linked to debates over whether democracy could survive
Biden’s commission is examining Supreme Court term limits. Those could have unintended consequences. Maya Sen, Kyle Rozema, Daniel Epps, and Adam Chilton - March 31, 2021 Congress — and the states — won’t easily support the idea.
Anti-Asian bias isn’t just an American problem Xiao Tan, Rennie Lee, and Leah Ruppanner - March 25, 2021 The pandemic has revived old stereotypes around the world
Biden wants to reassure allies that the U.S. is still interested in their security Brian Blankenship - March 3, 2021 Here’s why reassurances work.
Biden reversed Trump ban on transgender people serving in military. Expect backlash in states. Zein Murib - February 2, 2021 More than 20 bills restricting transgender freedoms have already been introduced.
The U.S. and Russia kept a bilateral nuclear weapons deal alive. The harder part comes next. James J. Cameron - February 1, 2021 These five developments make arms control agreements even more complicated
Biden can’t instruct the new U.S. attorneys on how to prosecute the Capitol rioters. But they’ll listen to his signals. Michael J. Nelson, Ian Ostrander, Ethan D. Boldt, and Christina L. Boyd - January 31, 2021 That’s been true at least since the 1990s, our research finds
Biden reverses Trump’s ‘Muslim ban.’ Americans support the decision. Nazita Lajevardi, Loren Collingwood, and Kassra AR Oskooii - January 26, 2021 In 2017, rallies and protests persuaded a big proportion of citizens that the ban was ‘un-American'
McConnell wants the impeachment trial to be about Congress’s authority — not about loyalty to Trump Jeffery Jenkins and Eric M. Patashnik - January 24, 2021 Let’s look closely at what words he used to blame the former president for provoking the Capitol attack.
With Democrats in charge in Washington, expect red states’ policies to get redder Stella Rouse and Nicholas Miras - January 21, 2021 That’s what our research finds
There’s a double standard in how news media cover liberal and conservative protests Summer Harlow - January 13, 2021 But the Capitol riot might change that.
New research shows the connection between political victimhood and White support for Trump Miles T. Armaly and Adam M. Enders - January 13, 2021 Victims feel like victims regardless of their actual privilege.
Why so many House Republicans co-signed Texas’s lawsuit to overturn the election Sarah Binder - December 15, 2020 For some, that meant trying to overturn thousands of their own constituents’ votes.
When do voters support Black Lives Matter or the Green New Deal? Michael W. Wagner, Lewis A. Friedland, Jianing Li, and Dhavan V. Shah - December 8, 2020 Our research finds that more moderate rhetoric wins more support among both Democrats and Republicans
Puerto Ricans voted to become the 51st U.S. state — again Alexander Kustov, Ali Valenzuela, and Abdiel Santiago - November 12, 2020 What would persuade mainland Americans to support their bid?
Arizona may go for Biden. That took 20 years of grassroots organizing. Erin Mayo-Adam - November 12, 2020 My research examines what brought together Latino, immigrant, labor and LGBTQ community organizers into a coalition that gets out votes
Openly LGBTQ candidates are running in record numbers — again Gabriele Magni and Andrew Reynolds - October 27, 2020 Numbers and diversity are increasing every election cycle. Here’s why.
China is getting tough with Taiwan. How will that affect U.S. policy? Steven M. Goldstein - October 1, 2020 The U.S. posture of “strategic ambiguity” has helped keep the peace for decades
Republicans’ Supreme Court gambit may backfire. Here’s how. Robinson Woodward-Burns - September 23, 2020 Democrats can play constitutional hardball, too
Trump allegedly disparaged America’s war dead. The backlash probably won’t decide the election. Jim Golby - September 9, 2020 But both campaigns want the public to think the military is on their side.
How the media describes Kamala Harris’s ethnicity doesn’t affect what voters think of her Yusaku Horiuchi, Katherine Clayton, and Charles D. Crabtree - September 1, 2020 Americans may have already formed their opinions about the two tickets and candidates
Members of Congress have lost control over spending Molly Reynolds - August 26, 2020 Package deals over budgets mean that individual members find it hard to make a mark.
Europe’s new privacy ruling will help fragment the global economy Daniel S. Hamilton - July 22, 2020 Companies may soon scramble to shift certain kinds of data from the U.S. to the E.U.
A simple forecast suggests a Democratic sweep in 2020 Olivia Quinn, Eric Smith, and Amanda Brush - July 6, 2020 Low presidential-approval ratings and the covid-19 recession are key factors to watch.
The Supreme Court just took aim at Congress’s ability to protect federal agencies from partisan politics Patrick Schmidt and Margaret Moran - July 1, 2020 The conservative legal community has been playing a long game aimed at overturning New Deal decisions.
Trump fired a federal prosecutor investigating his allies. Can he do that? Anne Joseph O’Connell - June 24, 2020 Here’s what you need to know about this Friday night massacre — and why it matters
The George Floyd protests will not help Trump win reelection. Here’s why. Michael Tesler - June 2, 2020 Let’s check the polling.
Trump officials have talked about resuming nuclear testing. Here’s why that would hurt the U.S. Or Rabinowitz and James Cameron - May 29, 2020 Maintaining existing nuclear norms is in everyone’s interest.
The U.S. plans to withdraw from the Open Skies treaty. That’s a miscalculation. James J. Cameron - May 24, 2020 The transparency of monitoring flights helps avoid military conflict
Why ‘constitutionalist sheriffs’ won’t enforce coronavirus restrictions Zoe Nemerever - April 22, 2020 For years, these locally elected officials have been leading rebellions against government authority.
No, voting by mail does not give either party an advantage. Here’s how we know. Jennifer Wu, Jesse Yoder, Daniel M. Thompson, and Andrew B. Hall - April 16, 2020 We examined data from California, Utah and Washington
Trump says the U.S. will pull out of the World Health Organization. China will happily fill the void. Daniel Nexon and Alexander Cooley - April 14, 2020 Trump complains that China has “total control” over the WHO, but his action will probably increase China’s influence.
Should U.S. states be free to close their borders to other U.S. citizens? Wallace Goodman - April 3, 2020 Without federal leadership, governors and mayors are handling the pandemic very differently.
Apparently, Trump ignored early coronavirus warnings. That has consequences. Michael Poznansky - March 22, 2020 Other presidents distrusted their intelligence teams — often with dire results.
The House moved quickly on a covid-19 response bill. These 4 takeaways explain what’s likely to happen next. Sarah Binder - March 14, 2020 Here’s why the legislative road ahead will be rockier.
Why Trump and the RNC are spending $10 million to fight Democrats’ voting rights lawsuits Richard Hasen - March 5, 2020 It’s part of a long trend of election litigation that is likely to hit an all-time high in 2020
Does the World Health Organization have the freedom to do what it needs to do about covid-19? Jeremy Youde - March 4, 2020 Health diplomacy is tricky.
What will happen to Iraqi Shiite militias after one key leader’s death? Ranj Alaaldin - February 28, 2020 This won’t help U.S.-Iran tensions
Trump attacked the Supreme Court again. Here are 4 things to know. Paul Collins and Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha - February 26, 2020 Previous presidents treated the court quite differently — even when they attacked its decisions.
Trump and Modi will meet in India this week. Here’s what to expect. Christopher Clary - February 23, 2020 India is a key strategic partner — but trade, Kashmir and Pakistan complicate the relationship
Marvin Gaye, ‘Can I Get a Witness’: The Week In One Song Christopher Federico - January 31, 2020 Will the Senate get a witness?
Is Trump admitting defeat with his new U.S. visa rules? Anna Law - January 27, 2020 President is making it harder for pregnant women to visit, but birthright citizenship remains untouched
Trump has given quid pro quos a bad rap. Here’s where they actually help. Desha Girod - January 21, 2020 In development funding, donor countries say they expect aid recipients to shape up
Trump threatens ‘sanctions like they’ve never seen’ if Iraq evicts U.S. forces. Can Iraq do it? Stacie L. Pettyjohn - January 6, 2020 It’s likely that Iraq will expel U.S. forces.
2020 is the year to worry about nuclear weapons Malfrid Braut-Hegghammer - January 5, 2020 The confrontation between the United States and Iran is just the beginning
Will a signed trade deal ease U.S.-China tensions? Probably not. Donglin Han - January 2, 2020 White House tweets and comments also shape how Chinese people view the United States.
‘The Resistance’ built grass-roots groups across the U.S. Will the Democratic Party put that energy to work in 2020? Leah E. Gose - December 31, 2019 Here’s what these women — and they’re mostly women — are doing in swing states.
The U.S. finally released military aid to Lebanon. Here’s what it will — and won’t — achieve. Zachary Karabatak - December 8, 2019 Don’t expect direct influence over Hezbollah
U.S. ambassadorships are destination tourism for the mega-rich Henry Farrell - November 27, 2019 Want to be ambassador in Tokyo, Paris or Rome? You’ll need deep pockets and friends in high places.
Muddy Waters, ‘Canary Bird’: The Week In One Song Christopher Federico - November 21, 2019 Sondland sings.
Was Rep. Katie Hill held to a higher standard than men in Congress? This research suggests she was. Michael Tesler - November 4, 2019 Society expects women to be more honest and ethical than men — and punishes them more when they’re not
Boeing just got grilled in Congress. Here are 3 takeaways. Ashley Nunes - November 1, 2019 Grandstanding in the hearings is easy. Beyond that, it’s not clear how politicians will respond.
When a World Series crowd booed Trump, some cringed – and some celebrated. That’s not just partisanship. Emily Sydnor - October 31, 2019 Some people run toward conflict. Some run away.
Trump’s mismanagement of the withdrawal from Syria hurt alliances — not the withdrawal itself Ronald Krebs and Jennifer Spindel - October 29, 2019 Our research suggests that withdrawals can hearten allies if handled properly.
No, the Trump impeachment inquiry is not a coup Joseph Wright, John Chin, and David Carter - October 15, 2019 There were four coups attempted in 2019. Trump supported one of them.
The U.N. has a cash crunch. Almost a third of members have yet to pay their 2019 dues. David Bosco - October 15, 2019 This isn’t the first time the U.S. has been slow to chip in