Voting and Participation

Compared to other democracies, the United States has a mediocre record of voter participation. Our interest usually peaks during presidential elections, but even then we rarely find 65 percent of eligible voters showing up at the polls. For local elections and ballot measures, voter participation...

Threats to Democracy

Our democracy depends on honest, clean, and fair elections in which all eligible adults are free to participate. But there are plenty of ways that our democratic systems have been undermined, from lack of citizen involvement, to disparagement of the free press, the influence...

Inner Workings of Modern Campaigns

Major political campaigns, everything from big-city mayoral contests to presidential campaigns, rely on a battery of professional campaign consultants and operatives. Without these professionals, candidates would have a very difficult time navigating through the landmines and pitfalls of campaigns.

Presidential Elections

Presidential elections are the crown jewel of American electoral democracy, but there are some very important issues looming. Is the electoral college the most reliable way to measure a presidential election, or should we be looking at other systems? The primary and pre-primary phases...

How Campaigns Have Changed

Although the fundamentals of modern campaigning remain intact, there have been enormous changes since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Most of those changes spring from advances in technology, the penetration of social media, and the Wild West of digital communication. Campaigns, up and...

Direct Democracy

Many campaigns have no candidates involved, just issues. Ballot campaigns have become an integral part of American policymaking, and immigration reform, tax increases, marijuana legalization, and other hot-button issues are decided directly by the citizenry. Running a ballot issue campaign involves petition gatherers, legal...

Money, Mega-Donors, and Wide-Open Spending

“Money is the mother’s milk of politics.” That old saying seemed quaint in 1971 when Congress enacted the first important campaign-finance laws that regulated and limited how much could be contributed and spent in elections. But so much has changed since then. In recent...

Political Parties and Elections

At one time, the political party was the central vehicle for organizing and executing political campaigns. But by the 1960s, the party had been replaced by professional consultants, and campaigns became more candidate focused than party focused. The policies and allegiances of the two...

Carving Out Legislative Districts

Congressional districts are reapportioned every ten years. In recent years there has been a great deal of criticism of overt partisanship and even charges of racial gerrymandering. What have the courts said about redistricting plans, and is there a better, fairer way to create...

Statewide, Local, and Congressional Elections

The vast majority of campaigns and elections in the United States occur at the state and local levels, and include everything from gubernatorial and big-city mayoral contests to local ordinances to electing dogcatchers. Although much of our attention is on presidential contests, it is...