Clik here to view.
The true cost of Voter ID: Everything you need to know about the monumental...
In my recent report, “Why Voting Matters,” I show the dramatic differences in opinion between voters and nonvoters, and argue that more voter turnout would lead to more progressive policies. One of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How voter registration could give us debt-free college
As the first Presidential election without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act approaches, boosting voter registration and turnout is the best cure for what ails American democracy. My recent...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The evidence is overwhelming: Americans should be automatically registered to...
Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that would automatically register eligible citizens to vote when they interacted with the DMV. This is the second such law, following...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Democratic primary’s ugly truth: Hillary vs. Bernie doesn’t matter until...
Over the last few months, various factions on the left side of the political spectrum have been in heated debate on the comparative merits of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. The debate has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How superdonors are gutting America: Here’s the research that helps explain a...
How has the rise of big donors affected our policies? Conventional wisdom suggests that it’s pushing our politics to the right. However, in a recent post over at Vox, political scientist Seth Masket,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Political science suggests a way to get Republicans behind redistribution
Recently, political scientist Larry Bartels produced a stunning chart showing the dramatically different impacts that Republican and Democratic Presidents have on income distribution: But how? Two new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How public financing can win back democracy
This week’s elections featured a number of losses for progressive politics, but there was at least one silver lining: They showed that when voters have an opportunity to reject big donor politics, they...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Medicaid expansion is a question of politics, not economics
Conservative opposition to the Medicaid expansion is killing Americans and costing states money. Carter Price, a mathematician at RAND Corp. found in a study of Pennsylvania that expanding Medicaid...
View ArticleClik here to view.
PC culture isn’t the problem; the far-right is
Over the last week, students protesting racism at Yale and Mizzou (and other campuses) became national news. The backlash has been vociferous, both from the right and from many liberals. To take...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The great GOP subplot: how donors are setting the agenda
This election cycle has dominated by a populist backlash in the GOP between the Republican elite donor class and the activist base. While many have suggested that immigration lies at the heart of this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to break the GOP governors’ destructive Obamacare resistance
One of the most important public policy battles in America today is the Medicaid-expansion provision of the Affordable Care Act, which 20 states still refuse to exercise. As Carter Price, a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How the overwhelmingly white donor class prevents action on climate change
Although the Paris Climate Deal certainly represents a step forward for the international community, there are still many potential pitfalls to addressing climate change. New data suggest that the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
These 5 charts prove that the economy does better under Democratic presidents
As the 2016 election cycle heats up, the key question at stake for most Americans is economic growth and jobs. The debate, then, will center around what to do with the fragile recovery that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How racism prevents action on inequality
This piece was co-written with Jason McDaniel. As income inequality has climbed higher and higher in America, government action has stalled. This lack of policy attention persists despite public...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How upward mobility prevents action on inequality
This essay is modified from an essay published in “What Do We Do About Inequality?” by the Wicked Problems Collaborative. The book is available for pre-order here. Inequality, President Obama has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In 2016, Democrats need to embrace ‘Obamacare’
The Affordable Care Act is probably the most progressive policy Americans born after the Great Society will witness in their lifetimes. It has saved tens of thousands of Americans from premature death...
View ArticleClik here to view.
America slouches toward plutocracy
Over the last few years, political scientists have warned about a worrying trend in American democracy: Voter preferences don’t have much sway over presidents’ policy choices. New research suggests...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Taking down the Confederate flag isn’t enough
In the wake of the June 17 mass shooting by Dylann Storm Roof in Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, the nation has debated the pervasive influence of racism throughout American society. In addition,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Inequality is a disease, voter turnout the cure
The 2016 election will be decided not just by who votes but by who stays home. Voters were for a long time assumed to be a carbon copy of the electorate, but new research suggests turnout is tilted...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Republican Donor Class Is Abandoning Its Opposition to Gay Rights. Will...
This piece was co-written with Jesse Rhodes. The race for the 2016 presidential nomination is increasingly serving to highlight key divisions between the powerful Republican donor class and the...
View Article