Election 2016

Social Media: Great Campaign Tool, but Bad News for Democracy

By now, we have all read about and analyzed Donald Trump’s (in)famous Cinco de Mayo tweet, which featured a picture of him grinning broadly while eating a taco bowl, with the following tweet: “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!” Twitter and…


Sir Edmund and Hillary: A Surprisingly Likely Pair

Mainstream political scientists often struggle with the subfield called political theory. Otherwise known as normative theory or political philosophy, theory is the study of history, philosophy, and values. It made up the bulk of political science before the data-driven “behavioral revolution”…


Tough Enough? National Security Issues Could Affect the 2016 U.S. Presidential Race

NEW YORK CITY - MARCH 2, 2016: Hillary Rodham Clinton affirmed her status as front-runner for the Democratic presidential nominations with a speech at Jacob Javits Center. Following the November 2015 Paris and Beirut terrorist attacks, and the more recent bombings in Brussels and Pakistan,…


Will the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election Be a Realigning Election?

In his classic book Dynamics of the Party System, James L. Sundquist developed a theory of how party alignments change around new issues. As a winner-take-all system, (also called “first past the post” or FPTP), the U.S. is hard-wired to have only two dominant parties at a time. However, one party…


Primaries and Caucuses 2016: Experiencing the Energy and Demystifying the Math

INDIANOLA, IA - FEBRUARY 1, 2016: Indianola mayor Kelly Shaw (second from right) and Smith's Emporia State University students at the Iowa caucus. (Photo courtesy: Michael A. Smith) The 2016 Primary/Caucus season started this week in snowy Iowa, and my students and I were there to see it. Eight…


Gender and Emotions on the Campaign Trail

WASHINGTON - JANUARY 13, 2009: U.S. Secretary of State Nominee and incumbent U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) During a recent interview, when Christian…