Ian Anson, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Many Americans think they know much more about politics than they really do. That overconfidence can thwart democratic politics.
While academic freedom itself might sound like a unique notion, granting special tools or rights to specific professions is rather commonplace.
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Academic freedom is increasingly caught up in partisan debates around freedom of speech. But the idea behind it is not only vital but shared across many other professions.
A Fetterman campaign billboard on the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border.
Fetterman campaign/Twitter
In Pennsylvania, one Senate candidate is pounding the other for his lack of local roots. A political scientist studied accusations of carpetbagging – and found there is a home field advantage.
People vote in the primary election at the civic center in Silver Spring, Md., on July 19, 2022.
Robb Hill for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Ian Anson, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Bottom line: Political endorsements are overrated.
Nine of the 48 candidates for Alaska’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives participate in a debate on May 12, 2022, at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage.
Loren Holmes / ADN
The number of candidates running in party primaries has ballooned since 2010. That may result in extreme, inexperienced or controversial nominees who do not represent a majority of voters.
The American flag flies at half-staff at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 14, 2022, after President Biden ordered flags lowered to commemorate 1 million American dead due to COVID-19.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Even before the pandemic, divisive politics was affecting mental health, and political topics were being raised in therapy. Now, patients want therapists that share their views.
Protesters and counter-protesters face off at a political rally in September 2021.
AP Photo/Nathan Howard
Deep-seated disagreement is healthy for a democracy. But when people lose the ability to navigate those differences, they risk seeking anti-democratic unity of thought.
People wait in line to get their ballot to vote in the 2020 general election in Detroit, Michigan.
Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
The accusation of bias is like kryptonite for responsible news organizations: the stronger their piety to the ideal of objectivity, the more vulnerable they are to complaints made in bad faith.
President Trump frequently and loudly disagreed with scientists.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
Politics always influences what questions scientists ask. Their intertwined relationship becomes a problem when politics dictates what answers science is allowed to find.
The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have widened the partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans on health care.
John M. Lund Photography/Getty Images
Cross-partisanship co-operation among political leaders doesn’t neatly translate into a similar consensus among the Canadian public, including those with disabilities or chronic health conditions.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, launches a filibuster in 2016.
Senate Television via AP
The US system was designed with more checks and balances than many other successful democracies – the filibuster’s main function is to give undue power to a vocal minority.
A Trump supporter and an anti-Trump demonstrator shout at each other near Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., Nov. 14, 2020.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
Biden’s winning campaign message was one of unity. But even the people who study polarization can’t agree on whether it’s possible to unify the United States.
President Donald Trump plays a round of golf on July 15, 2018 in Turnberry, Scotland.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Though hypocrites seemingly relinquish their moral authority, the trial against Socrates shows us that our favoritism for public figures is stronger than our judgments of their hypocrisy.
As vice president, Joe Biden – seen here on left, in 2016 – had a working relationship with the Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. Is that possible now?
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
A survey of 800 foreign policy experts identified four international issues where Republicans and Democrats may actually cooperate to get something done – and one area of severe disagreement.
Tucker Carlson is a big fan of the phrase ‘they hate.’ Usually, he’s talking about Democrats.
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The conservative cable news channel particularly favors the term when explaining opposition to Donald Trump. This framing of the news can lead Fox viewers to see the world as us versus them.
Demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 21 called on the Republican-controlled Senate not to confirm a new justice until the next president is in office.
Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images
The Supreme Court doesn’t have to be so polarized. Many European countries make judicial appointments in a term-limited, intentionally depoliticized way to promote consensus and compromise.