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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (standing) talks with volunteers who are phone-banking against the recall on Aug. 13, 2021, in San Francisco. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California recall: There’s a method to what looks like madness

It’s easy to make fun of California politics. But a longtime scholar of those politics says the attempt to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom is part of a long-running attempt to hold government accountable.
Nurses in November 2016 expressed support for a ballot proposition to limit what California state agencies pay for prescription drugs. AP/Nick Ut, file

Expanding direct democracy won’t make Americans feel better about politics

Citizens voting directly on policy seems like a good idea. But that led to the Brexit mess in the UK. In the US, two scholars say direct democracy deepens distrust of politics and government.
An 1894 cartoon by Frederick Burr Opper criticizes American newspapers’ elasticity with the truth. Library of Congress

A century ago, progressives were the ones shouting ‘fake news’

The practice of calling attention to false stories – with actual fakers then levying the charge on their accusers – dates back to battles between progressive reformers and corporate media outlets.
The grave of women’s suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony is covered with ‘I Voted’ stickers. REUTERS/Adam Fenster

100 years of the ‘gender gap’ in American politics

Clinton won women by 12 points and lost men by 12 – creating a 24-point ‘gender gap.’ While that’s the largest gender gap in history, the record shows that female voters were always different.
Immigrant faces from the early 1900s watch Ellis Island visitors pick their way through a crumbling hospital. Aimee VonBokel

Artists’ installations raise questions about abandoned buildings

This fall, French street artist JR and American cinematographer Bradford Young each installed a series of portraits in crumbling New York buildings. The two projects were not coordinated, but together…

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