How Capitalism and Consumerism Swallowed Democracy
May 3, 2019
If viewed in this way, then voters turn into nothing more than profit maximizers, and the vote is just one more buck to spend. Josh Pasek, an assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan, in an interview with journalist Patrick Kiger, said that viewing citizens as consumers¶¶Seems…
In memory of Darrell Donakowski
May 2, 2019
Darrell Donakowski, past Director of Studies of the American National Election Studies (ANES), passed away suddenly on Saturday, April 27, 2019. Darrell’s colleagues remember him fondly. ICPSR Director Maggie Levenstein shares that “Darrell was a warm, caring, enthusiastic person. He will be missed by his many friends and colleagues in…
Remembering ISR Staff Member Darrell Donakowski
April 30, 2019
Darrell Donakowski (February 23, 1968 – April 27, 2019)Darrell Donakowski, past Director of Studies of the American National Election Studies (ANES) and former employee of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan, passed away suddenly on Saturday, April 27, 2019. He was 51…
Judges Rule Michigan Congressional Districts Are Unconstitutionally Gerrymandered
April 25, 2019
In one instance, Jowei Chen of the University of Michigan, a political-science professor and expert witness for the plaintiffs, produced 1,000 simulated political maps drawn randomly according to the state’s standards, and compared them to the maps drawn by Republicans.¶¶“Not a single one of Dr. Chen’s simulated 1,000 plans created…
Why Jaitley’s Defence of Electoral Bonds Doesn’t Hold Water
April 12, 2019
“The most profound challenge is that what may appear to be the result of frauds may actually be produced by the kinds of strategic behaviour that is the stuff of politics. So frauds may not have occurred, or frauds may hide behind what appears to be normal,” says Walter Mebane,…
SRC Researchers at the 2019 Population Association of America Annual Meeting
April 9, 2019
While at the 2019 Population Association of America Annual Meeting, be sure to stop by the Health and Retirement Study and Panel Study of Income Dynamics exhibits in booths 21 and 22. Schedules by date of the presentations and posters using HRS and PSID data are available to download: the…
Trump and Netanyahu: the challenges at the polls of two of Bolsonaro’s leading international allies
April 6, 2019
Political scientist Mark Tessler, a professor at the University of Michigan in the United States, notes that the emergence of center parties that stand out in certain elections is not new on the Israeli political scene.¶¶”These center parties usually come and go. Sometimes, when they do well at the polls,…
Americans Are Smart About Science
April 5, 2019
Pew isn’t the only organization that does these kinds of surveys. University of Michigan political scientist Jon Miller and the National Science Foundation have, separately, run similar polls going back decades. And all three sets of data — Pew’s, Miller’s and NSF — suggest that our national grasp of scientific…
How Trump Could Lose the Election and Remain President
April 5, 2019
The U.S. also lacks the kind of politicized military that lets some discredited autocrats, like Venezuela’s Nicholás Maduro, hang on. “I can’t imagine the military accepting an effort to turn them into a partisan arm of the executive,” said Robert Mickey, a political scientist at the University of Michigan who…
Vincent Hutchings discusses the difficult terrain black presidential candidates face after Barack Obama
April 3, 2019
“After Barack Obama, they are facing voters that want more than symbols when it comes to race. … As a black person trying to become president, it’s a difficult terrain to travel that is bound up in questions about your background, history and policies. They are talking about race more…