Ruth Bader Ginsburg had some advice on Constitution drafting for Egyptians

Once again, the punditocracy is bemoaning the rise of so-called “negative campaigning.”

American politics is as polarized as ever, and it shows no signs of changing regardless of who wins in November.

People who ought to know better are now concocting absurd scenarios to get around a really weak Republican presidential field.

This year’s Iowa Caucuses stand as Exhibit A for an argument against Iowa being first in the nation.

A record number of Americans don’t consider themselves a member of either party.

Rick Santorum’s good day in Iowa doesn’t change the truth about his campaign.

Since the adoption of the current rules for delegate allocations only twice has either party nominated someone who did not win either IA or NH.

Has Iowa “blown its special claim as the first state” in the nomination process? No, it never had any special claim in the first place.

Via the BBC:  Brazil economy overtakes UK, says CEBR Brazil has overtaken the UK as the world’s sixth largest economy, an economic research group has said. [...] Brazil has a population of about 200 million, more than three times the population of the UK. Brazil’s economy grew by 7.5% last year, but the government has [...]

Several candidates did not submit a completed application on time to qualify for Virginia’s Republican primary ballot.

Dan Drezner has some interesting thoughts on the subject:  The partisan politics of threat assessment

There is a fundamental problem with the feedback loop in American politics.

The Washington Examiner’s Timothy Carney offers some good practical advice on how to read all the polls that are going to be coming out over the next 11 months: 1) Never put too much weight on any one poll. If the latest poll tells you something different from the previous ones, wait to see if [...]

I was listening to On Point this morning, and the topic of conversation in the first hour was the candidacy of Ron Paul.  One of the guests was Ben Levine, a Drake University student and an Iowa precinct captain Paul.  In his conversation with the host about Paul, Levine drew the following comparison (this is [...]

No, some mythical candidate will not swoop in and save the day for the Republican Party.

Is technology making retail politics less important?

Nate Silver has an excellent post up this afternoon about the relationship between economic indicators and the outcome of Presidential elections that’s definitely worth a look. In short, Silver takes 43 separate economic statistics and the results of every Presidential election since 1948 and, well, it turns out that unemployment rates don’t correlate with election [...]

Apparently, we should be more like China. Or something.

From across the pond, an observation that the way we pick Presidents isn’t really that bad after all.

At least among the male population: H/T: My friend Vingeviciute on Twitter

The Electoral College doesn’t matter in the way pundits think it does.

Herman Cain’s promise to rely on “experts” should raise eyebrows everywhere.

Are America’s political parties become irrelevant?

For the most part, all those plans the candidates release are barely worth the paper they’re written on.

Via The Hill: "I just want to remind you, that I won the Iowa straw poll in less time than any other candidate, and the first woman to ever win the Iowa straw poll," Bachmann said on ABC’s "This Week."

If you are taking 9-9-9 seriously, then you don’t understand the way the US government works. Herman Cain, I am looking at you.

Do we place too much importance on performance in presidential debates?

Yes, again with the EC.

Via Gallup:  Americans Would Swap Electoral College for Popular Vote     Most interesting—of course, despite such a popularity of such a position, there is no serious push for such an amendment.

Cain (like a lot of people) is confused about what the words “conservative” and “liberal” mean.

Have Republicans been co-opted by the Big Government they claim to hate?

Via the CBC:  Voting system affects outcome, simulation finds A simulated election that examined different voting methods during last week’s Ontario election shows that for at least some voters, how they cast their ballot depends on the voting system presented to them. [...] Using the online tool, visitors to the site were asked to vote [...]

Elizabeth Warren has a deeply flawed view of our social contract.

Where should we look to understand the failings of the government?

Like clockwork, the arguments for creation of a third party are popping up again.

When the old rules don’t apply anymore, the system breaks down.

Does America have a social contract? If so, is it broken?

Far from being an existential crisis, the recent rise in public distrust in government is easily explained.

A book could be written on this subject, but let me suggest the following as a good place to start

Of the institutions designed by the Framers, the electoral college is the one that deserves the least amount of defense if one’s defense is predicated on assumptions of the genius of said framers.

Why even have an electoral college?

Allocating Electoral Votes by Congressional District is an idea whose time has come.

Republicans have a plan to wrest half of the Keystone State’s electors from Obama.

Is there a trade-off in being polite?

Oz provides an excuse for some comparative politics.

Madison argued that the people were the ultimate authority.

No matter how weak he becomes, no President will ever be completely irrelevant to the political process.

Many seem to forget that it was the states that had to ratify the 17th Amendment.

Let’s see if there is evidence to support the assertion.