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Doug Jones’ surprise win in Alabama may also boost the national fortunes of the Democratic Party
This week saw Democrat Doug Jones win Alabama’s US Senate special election against Republican Roy Moore. Andrée E. Reeves of The University of Alabama in Huntsville writes that Jones was able to clinch this upset victory by avoiding personal attacks and energizing turnout, especially among African Americans, young people, and women. She comments that the Democratic Party’s base has now been similarly animated, while those like Donald Trump and Steve Bannon, who had endorsed Roy Moore despite the allegations of sexual abuse against him, have emerged from the contest with even more political baggage.
In car-dominated cities, encouraging bicycle commuting may first mean providing more opportunities to ride for fun.
The vast majority of Americans who commute to work do so by car, and many policymakers in America’s towns and cities are trying to change this by encouraging more healthy alternatives such as cycling. To look at how this might be achieved, Robert Boyer of UNC Charlotte examined cycling habits in Charlotte, North Carolina. He finds that riding a bike for recreation can be a ‘gateway activity’, making it more likely that a bicycle will also be used for utility purposes such as commuting to work. In combination with infrastructure improvements – such as bike lanes – policymakers, can promote cycle commuting by inspiring more recreational cycling, thus allowing riders to safely improve their skills.
A nearby meth lab can mean a big price hit for homeowners- even after they’ve been cleaned up.
Methamphetamine (or meth) is widely associated with negative outcomes for those that use it, but there can also be costs to those who live close to where it’s produced. In new research, Bern Dealy of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Brady P. Horn and Robert P. Berrens of The University of New Mexico - UNM examine the effects of discovering that a meth lab is located nearby on house prices. They find that having a meth lab within one tenth of a mile decreases a home’s value by 6.5 percent, a decline that is not completely offset when meth labs are decontaminated.
Evidence from Oregon shows that Citizens’ Initiative Reviews can improve voters’ decision-making about ballot measures
Citizens in many US states practice direct democracy through voting on statewide ballot measures. But do voters actually have all the information they need to make judgments about a measure’s likely effects? In 2011, Oregon adopted a Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) process, where randomly-selected citizen review boards evaluate ballot proposals to improve their fellow voters’ decision-making. In new research, John Gastil of Penn State finds that reading one such statement on proposed criminal justice legislation increased voters’ opposition to the measure, though it did not prevent its passage.
In Alabama’s deeply divided Senate election, Democrat Doug Jones faces an uphill battle
Voters in the Yellowhammer State go to the polls tomorrow in a Special Election for one of the state’s US Senate seats. Andrée Reeves of The University of Alabama in Huntsville gives an overview of the state of the race, and argues that despite the controversies surrounding the Republican candidate, Judge Roy Moore, the Democratic candidate, Doug Jones, is a long shot to win in deeply conservative Alabama.
Why redistricting should not be left to a mathematical formula alone
With Wisconsin’s Gill v. Whitford case now before the Supreme Court, gerrymandering and its effects are now back in the public consciousness. One response to state legislature’s gerrymandering of Congressional districts has been to promote a redistricting formula based on the idea of wasted votes. In new research, Micah Altman and Michael P. McDonald find that there are limitations to such a formula based approach, especially given that here is no consensus on which one is a good measure of representation. Instead, they propose that formulas are used alongside open and transparent systems that support public participation in the redistricting process.
Book Review: Humiliation in International Relations: A Pathology of Contemporary International Systems by Bertrand Badie
In Humiliation in International Relations: A Pathology of Contemporary International Systems, Bertrand Badie addresses the longstanding use of humiliation as a systemic practice wielded by dominant powers within the international state system. While Badie’s optimism regarding the capacity of greater social integration to quell the consequences of humiliation may not convince all readers, this important book and its fascinating historical examples are more relevant than ever, writes Caroline Varin.
Book Review: Private Government: How Employers Rule our Lives (and Why We Don’t Talk about It) by Elizabeth Anderson
In Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don’t Talk about It), Elizabeth Anderson argues that beneath the facades of market freedom and contractual equality, contemporary firms are actually akin to authoritarian private governments. While this is a compelling and provocative analysis that sheds important light on the coercive and hierarchical facets of modern workplaces, Abraham Singer wonders whether the rise of the gig economy might demand new concepts for understanding the firm today.
To overcome gender bias, objective performance metrics are not enough
Hiding gender-related information may be key for evaluators to focus on performance, write Tristan L. Botelho and Mabel Abraham.
Unlike Bush and Obama, Trump’s zero-sum worldview is severely hampering America’s counterterrorism efforts
In his inaugural address in January, President Trump vowed to “eradicate completely… Radical Islamic Terrorism”. Jonny Hall of LSE International Relations writes that while Trump’s rhetoric against terrorism is not an enormous change from that of the Bush or Obama administration, what is very different is how Trump’s perspective informs American counterterrorism policy. Trump’s zero-sum worldview, he argues, largely ignores the ’causes’ of terrorism, and instead seeks to apply brute force to end the problem, which in the long run may end up making it worse.
“Gay” or “Homosexual”: the words we use can divide public opinion on civil rights
Words matter; different terms and phrases can be a huge influence on how the public things about important issues. For example, the term “homosexual” is more likely to be used to identify a group who some feel are outside of society, while “gay and lesbian” are much more inclusive terms. In new research, Brianna A. Smith of the University of Minnesota and colleagues examines how these words can shape how people feel about civil rights policies. They find that compared to “gay and lesbian,” “homosexual” cues certain people to increase their opposition to civil rights policies that benefit gay men and lesbians.
Partisanship was not the only factor in how Obamacare exchanges were adopted by the states.
Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, many US states adopted their own Obamacare health insurance exchanges, many did not, and some opted for partial administration. In new research, Shihyun Noh of The College at Brockport State University of New York argues that states were more likely to run health insurance exchanges in partnership with the federal government when they received financial incentives, had fewer state health personnel, and had divided government.
How Donald Trump’s populism may threaten the US-UK Special Relationship
Last week saw President Trump promote the rhetoric of the far-right Britain First organization, which prompted an angry response from the UK’s Prime Minister, Theresa May. Ben Margulies of University of Warwick writes that the transatlantic Twitter spat shows that Trump’s appeal to populism and anti-elitism may also draw it against the liberal world order that the US-UK Special Relationship exemplifies.
Why we need to change the way we think about federalism
The US federal system of government historically allowed America’s political parties and governance to be decentralized at the state and often local levels. Timothy Conlan of George Mason University writes that several trends in recent decades have worked to undermine that decentralization. Now, he argues that the rise of nationalization and polarization, and the declining perceived legitimacy of the federal government, means that politics are increasingly national, partisan, and suffering from declining trust.
Trump is not the first president to play fast and loose with the truth – but he may be the biggest fabulist.
The term “trumped up” has become ironically relevant to the behavior of the 45th US president, as evidence of brazen dishonesty continues to mount. Ron Pruessen of the Munk School of Global Affairs considers how Donald Trump has utilized a mold inherited from predecessors – and how he is on the way to spectacularly breaking it.
We are happy to announce that, thanks to Sage Journals, Eric Stokan’s article ‘Accounting for State Authorization in Local Economic Development Policy Usage’, in State and Local Government Review, is now ungated until March 2018.
Read it here: http://journals.sagepub.com/d…/full/10.1177/0160323X17728780 and the USAPP blog summary, here: http://bit.ly/2AqP4Wo
Even city councils with non-partisan elections can’t escape party politics
While the American political party system seems entrenched at the national level, can other parts of government escape it? In order to encourage elected officials to pursue policies in the public, rather than partisan, interest, some local governments have adopted non-partisan elections. In new research, Craig Burnett of Hofstra University, examines the partisanship of votes made by nonpartisan lawmakers in San Diego’s city council. He finds that, despite non-partisan elections, partisanship is still the strongest predictor of voting behavior.
