John Sides

My GW colleague Danny Hayes in the Polisci Perspective feature at Wonkblog: This phenomenon – the media’s intense interest in, and subsequent boredom with, a public policy problem – is known as the “issue-attention cycle.” A dramatic event, such as a shooting, brings an issue to the media’s attention, prompts an avalanche of news, and […]

People feel passionately about redistricting.  They don’t like how it’s done, or how it’s disadvantaged their party, or both.  So when political scientists come along to say “redistricting might matter less than you think”—for the outcomes of the 2012 House elections, for party polarization, for declining electoral competitiveness—people get cranky.  For example:  Suck on it […]

It’s already been noted that Jim DeMint’s departure to head up the Heritage Foundation brings with it much greener pastures: as president, he will likely make upwards of $1 million.  And though DeMint will likely not register as a lobbyist, there is no doubt that much of his work will involve influencing public policy. In […]

…Graham has been moving to the right over his career in in the Senate… I suspect this movement is especially pronounced in the current Senate (we don’t have the data yet) and will only accelerate in the coming 113th (see yesterday’s post simulating the Disability Treaty Vote for some more evidence)…the reality is that Graham has been […]

Speaking to donors after the election, Mitt Romney attributed his loss to President Obama to the administration’s strategy of “giving a lot of stuff” to blacks and Latinos, citing in particular “free healthcare” and “amnesty for the children of illegals.” But data show a more plausible explanation: Black, Latino and Asian American voters, who overwhelmingly […]

In the election for President of the United States, the Electoral College is the body whose members vote to elect the President directly. Each state sends a number of delegates equal to its total number of representatives and senators in Congress; all but two states (Nebraska and Maine) assign electors pledged to the candidate that […]

John Patty: In a nutshell, the uncertainty about Boehner’s bargaining position relative to his own caucus can generate sufficient incentives for him to “act the diva,” and seem to hold court in a fashion befitting LeBron’s act leading up to “The Decision.”  The simple explanation of the strategic incentives underlying this is that Boehner can […]

In late September, I was involved in an email exchange in which a historian stated that “Someone should do a piece cataloging down all the poli sci consensi being undone this season.”  Now I can write with some confidence that the findings of the political science canon were largely confirmed by the 2012 election. And […]

Michael LaCour sends the following graph, which is fun to look at and puzzle over—e.g., the pro-Obama swing in Alaska. [Cross-posted at The Monkey Cage]