USAPP - American Politics and Policy at LSECollege & University
- Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, SOASCommunity College
- Women Innovating Labor LeadershipNonprofit Organization
- Sanford School of Public PolicyCollege & University
Term limits boost turnout in state legislative elections
In recent years, some commentators have proposed introducing Congressional term limits as a way of decreasing gridlock in the US House and to increase the public’s trust for politicians. But would such limits actually be effective in re-energizing the democratic process? Daniel C. Lewis of Siena College and Robynn Kuhlmann of the University of Central Missouri examine the effects of term limits in the 15 US states that have introduced them since the 1990s. They find that term limits can significantly increase voter turnout as well as encouraging people to vote in down-ballot races.
The rhetorical attacks against the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School illustrate the breakdown of civil discourse in US politics.
In the wake of the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on February 14th, many of the school’s students have pushed hard for more stringent gun control legislation, only to be met with vitriolic attacks from the right, often accusing them of being ‘crisis actors’. Ben Margulies of the University of Warwick writes that the treatment of these students echoes the way whites treat non-white political opponents: often as ‘enemies’ or ‘aliens’ who are unworthy of civil discourse.
Just like previous presidents, Donald Trump’s political fortunes rise and fall with the economy
In spite of an ever-growing list of scandals and criminal indictments, President Trump’s job approval rating has rallied from its December nadir. Trump’s approval rating is now in the low 40’s – where Reagan’s and Clinton’s approval stood around the time of their first midterm elections. Given Trump’s controversial statements and the various crises which have gripped the White Hous...e since the inauguration, why is the 45th president’s approval rating so high? Matthew D. Atkinson, Darin DeWitt, and Joseph E. Uscinski find that, as has been the case with past US presidents, Trump’s approval rate ebbs and flows with the public’s perception of the economy. A relatively buoyant economy, they write, is keeping Trump’s approval rating higher than it might otherwise be. This says something particularly damning not just about approval ratings, but about voters, elections, and democracy as well.
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Still got #Oscars fever? Check out this 2015 article by Michelle C. Pautz of the University of Dayton on how films can have a major influence on how people view government
Book Review: Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
When was the last time you heard a person of colour challenge structural racism – the role of government policies, organisational practices and popular representations in reinforcing racial inequalities – and, in so doing, be widely supported, listened to and heeded? Racial inequalities are stark, yet normalised. White people are privileged yet complacent, and refuse to listen. In her phenomenally brilliant new book, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race, Reni Eddo-Lodge catalyses an urgent conversation about race in Britain, writes Alice Evans.
Book Review: Militarised Responses to Transnational Organised Crime: The War on Crime edited by Tuesday Reitano, Lucia Bird Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo and Sasha Jesperson
In Militarised Responses to Transnational Organised Crime: The War on Crime, Tuesday Reitano, Lucia Bird Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo and Sasha Jesperson offer a collection addressing the issue of militarisation in the context of illicit wildlife trafficking, maritime piracy, human smuggling and drug dealing. Examining the many faces of militarisation and the controversies surrounding its use, this is a valuable and thought-provoking contribution to the literature, finds Anton Moiseienko, full of high-quality essays that are rich in detail.
When interest rates hit the zero lower bound: a discussion on uncertainty
When the Fed is constrained by the ZLB, there’s greater uncertainty and the relationship between uncertainty and economic activity is stronger, write Michael Plante, Alexander Richter and Nathaniel Throckmorton.
Why “sex” may not be the best way to understand the gender gap in political behavior
Election coverage often refers to a “gender gap”, meaning different vote choices between women and men. But such references are in fact talking about differences by sex. But does how we measure gender influence what we can say about people’s political preferences? In new research, Amanda Bittner and Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant used surveys to capture people’s subjective gender identity, and then examined respondents’ attitudes based on these reported identities. They find that not all women are the same, and neither are men: people’s idea of their own gender does not always fit with their sex, and their political attitudes are also based on where they consider themselves to be on the gender scale.
Gaps in state funding mean that liberal cities in conservative states are more likely to lobby the federal government
When we hear the term ‘lobbying’ we tend to think mostly in terms of corporations and ideological groups working to influence policy outcomes at the state and federal level. But cities are often lobbyists too. In new research, Rebecca Goldstein and Hye Young You examine the causes and consequences of lobbying the federal government by American cities. They find that liberal cities in conservative states such as New Orleans, Tucson, and Houston were the most likely to lobby, a trend that they explain may be down to gaps between how much these cities and their states spend on public services and infrastructure.
Why do lawmakers shutdown the government? Evidence from California shows we should ‘follow the money.’
The US government has shut down three times since 2013, with two of those budget impasses falling in the last two months. But given the political risks inherent in not funding the government, why would lawmakers choose to cause a shutdown? In new research which examines California’s many state government shutdowns in the 1980s through the 2000s, Stan Oklobdzija of UC San Diego finds that Republican legislators on the far right of their party saw their campaign contributions increase by as much as 40 percent in the final week of a shutdown. For these hyper-partisan lawmakers, he writes, shutdowns can be a real boon for fundraising.
How a cultural revolt against “political correctness” helped launch Trump into the presidency
Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory in part reflected deep cultural opposition to Political Correctness (PC) norms. People dislike being told that they are not allowed to speak their mind, and Donald Trump represented a cultural foil to express that frustration. New research from Lucian Gideon Conway III of the University of Montana, which studies the 2016 election campaign, shows ...that a sample of moderate Americans were influenced to support Trump by a brief mention of the PC movement, even though the PC movement was framed positively and the discussion had nothing directly to do with either candidate. Taken together, these results suggest that we need to look beyond simple markers of ideology to understand the Trump phenomenon – part of his support stems from a cultural revolt against Political Correctness.
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State of the States for 23 February: Pennsylvania’s special election debate, South Carolina’s “parody marriage” bill, and California’s “bell ringer” candidate
USAPP Managing Editor, Chris Gilson of LSE United States, looks at the week in US state blogging.
Why has the US opioid crisis not spread to the UK? Thank the NHS
The US is currently experiencing an epidemic of opioid use – a crisis which has yet to cross the Atlantic to the United Kingdom. But why has opioid use reached crisis point in the US but not in the UK? Diarmuid Denneny and Silvie Cooper argue that the US crisis has its roots in the promotion of opioids for chronic pain management more than 20 years ago which led to a culture of attempting to end chronic pain rather than to manage it. The National Health Service in the UK, by contrast, made pain management services universally accessible and offers pain-management strategies beyond opioids.
Book Review: Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence by Rachel Sherman
In Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence, Rachel Sherman undertakes 50 in-depth interviews with rich New Yorkers to consider how they navigate their anxieties and the negative connotations surrounding extreme wealth. The frank accounts offered in the book provide a complex picture of elite consumption and the attempt to reconcile affluence and moral legitimacy, finds Jonathan Yong Tienxhi.
Book Review: The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century by
In The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century, Walter Scheidel offers an account of how ‘Four Horsemen’ – warfare; revolution; state collapse; and pandemics – have been the primary mode through which income levelling has occurred throughout history. While this is a key contribution to the study of inequality, Roberto Iacono hopes it will inspire scholars to highlight alternative paths and interpretations based on peaceful levelling.
The power to nudge: can we democratise choice environments?
Governments around the world have adopted ‘nudge’ strategies to change public behaviors and so implement policy goals. For some commentators, this creates concerns about transparency and democratic control. However, writes Andreas T. Schmidt, within an environment where private companies frequently adopt nudge strategies, public policy nudges need not have greater implications for democracy and transparency than other forms of government intervention, and can be one tool in exerting democratic control over private sector nudge tactics.
Income inequality and its effects has become a pressing concern for politicians across the political spectrum. But what makes people sit up and take notice of the inequality that may surround them? In new research which focuses on income diversity in New York, Scott Minkoff and Jeffrey Lyons find that those who live in areas with a greater diversity of incomes are more likely to perceive that there is a larger income gap compared to those who live in areas which tend to be generally poor or generally wealthy.
