Michael A. Smith
The Loss Lab
“Trump was an alternative to interchangeable robots whose goal is to avoid saying anything interesting.” - Molly Ball, political reporter, The Atlantic “If you wanted to write a playbook for how to lose an election, Trump did that and he won anyway.” - Steve Peoples, AP reporter What rotten luck…
Election 2016: Did New Voting Laws Tip the Balance?
Since the early 2000s, a flurry of new voting laws have passed in the states. There is a marked Democrat-Republican divide. Democratic-leaning states, such as California, Oregon, and Massachusetts, have passed laws making access to the ballot easier. Oregon now automatically registers citizens to…
Polling for the 2016 Presidential Election: What Went Wrong?
As I write, Donald Trump is less than two weeks from being inaugurated as President of the…
MPSA Blog: Top 10 Posts from 2016
Regardless of your research interests, your academic (or Alt-Ac) role, or…
Political Science: The Cure for Election Anxiety
Reporters are discovering a new phenomenon this year: election anxiety. This year’s contests, particularly the one for President, have Americans worried and minds racing. The cure is right here: political science. It is the key to calming mental chatter, reducing stress, re-centering energy, and…
Bernie Goldwater: What Sanders Supporters Can Learn from Young Americans for Freedom
Supporters were crestfallen, but their resolve was firm. Their candidate had refused to buckle to the pressure from party elite—the usual pressure from political managers, to move to the political center and tone down strong rhetoric, seeking to enlist the support of middle-of-the-road voters and…
If Political Science Ruled the World (and We Were on Our Best Behavior)
Once, as a graduate student at the University of Missouri, I wisecracked, "the entire world should be turned over to political scientists for experimental purposes." I was joking and everyone knew it... but I never lived down that moment. The world should not be turned over to political scientists…
Political Science: The Final Frontier
Can science fiction teach us about political institutions? A group of political scientists says yes. James Endersby of the University of Missouri-Columbia is spearheading a project with several of his former students, now colleagues, to show how science fiction illustrates the importance of…
Sir Edmund and Hillary: A Surprisingly Likely Pair
Mainstream political scientists often struggle with the subfield called political theory. Otherwise known as…
Will the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election Be a Realigning Election?
In his classic book Dynamics of the Party System, James L. Sundquist developed a…