Vote! The Importance of Local Elections

Vote! The Importance of Local Elections

Did you know that “the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November” is not the only day that you can vote? Voting for state and local elections, along with special elections for federal, state, and local offices, can happen throughout the year. These...
Political Equality

Political Equality

Equality by Nick Youngson, CC BY-SA 3.0, Alpha Stock Images The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project is gearing up for its next annual survey of the politics of 202 countries across the world. Since 2014, I have been invited to contribute to the award-winning V-Dem...
Democracy Was On the Ballot—And Democracy Won

Democracy Was On the Ballot—And Democracy Won

Image of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, by TapTheForwardAssist, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons “Democracy is a system in which parties lose elections.” These are concise words of wisdom from one of my favorite political scientists, Adam Przeworski, in his...
51 Seats Versus 50 in the US Senate: Why It Matters

51 Seats Versus 50 in the US Senate: Why It Matters

New York Times, “U.S. Senate Election Results: Democrats Win” Does the Georgia runoff election for the last remaining US Senate seat matter? Considering that Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto’s recent win in Nevada means that the Democrats control 50 seats in the US...
The 2022 Race for the US Senate: Pennsylvania

The 2022 Race for the US Senate: Pennsylvania

Profile pictures of US Senate Pennsylvania candidates John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz from BallotPedia Welcome to the race for the US Senate seat for Pennsylvania! This race for an open seat pits the Democrat John Fetterman, the current Lieutenant Governor of the state,...