Outside the Beltway

Thoughts on how we think.

The difference is politics, not reason.

American cheese will henceforth be known as liberté cheese. And not because of the metric system.

It hasn’t changed in over 100 years (but the population sure has).

Most aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

He will challenge Greg Abbott for the GOP nomination.

Public health shouldn’t be made into a partisan issue.

Discussing the filibuster.

The post really isn’t about Sinema as much as it about a theory of poltiics.

Are we thinking about job training all wrong?

National Review’s Kevin D. Williamson advocates for less democracy in America.

Another entry in the “stunning, but not surprising” category of political observations.

And, really, all of this current wave of election legislation.

Yes, partisanship is real. And it influences more than just voting behavior.

An explanation to a question you likely weren’t asking.

America’s institutions are undemocratic but only some of them are a product of the Constitution.

Some reflections

Most Americans have never even heard of it.

It is not a tool to foster compromise. It is tool of obstruction, plain and simple.

The bane of the Trump presidency is already thwarting President Biden.

Let me point you to a reform proposal.

Granted, there are more than two. But from a political science/political history POV, these two stick out in my mind.

Was Trump’s attempt to overturn the outcome a one-off or a sign of things to come?

But, still very bad.

A reminder that narratives are narratives and data are data.

Some thoughts on voter enthusiasm and EV scenarios.

The two parties learned different lessons from the last contested election.

What meanings might the Founders have had? How should we understand the term?

The rules for counting votes matter.

Some numbers from PA and a CNN poll that gives Biden a huge lead.

Having the topic of political reform start to seep into pop culture is a good thing.

A fundamental building block of our system makes it nearly impossible to fix.

A partial response in the context of a complex topic.

The convergence of design flaws in the constitution and a flawed leader have brought us to brink of an electoral crisis.

Having failed to prevent or contain it, aggressive stupidity is now washing over us.

A too-long discourse on how courts should function.

Lee Drutman’s Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop

Not that one. The other one.

How to translate understandable frustration at injustice into tangible reform?

The conversation continues. (Warning: it is over 3000 words).

A further attempt to explain how party is such a key variable.

Who can keep count?

Cable news “experts” frequently aren’t.

Schools were going to be open today. They’re closing after parent pressure.

A law professor makes a bad argument in favor of a pet policy.

It comports with the polling.

How Iowa works.

The literature on term limits is not a favorable one.