A Dutch parliamentarian, Kees van der Staaij, thought it was a good idea to echo Todd Akin and pronounce on Dutch television that it is a “fact” that women almost never become pregnant after rape. He went as far as to put a specific number on it: 0.5% (The Dutch newspaper NRC went through the trouble […]
Blog: The Monkey Cage
Making Voters Count: Field Experiments with Domestic Election Observers
This following is a guest-post from Fredrik M Sjoberg, a Postdoctoral Scholar at Columbia University (who is still disappointed about not being able to present these findings at APSA….). The paper on which this post is based is here. *********** Why is it that voters in autocratic states report a higher confidence in the honesty […]
5 Things the Polls Tell Us about Paul Ryan
On the eve of Ryan’s speech at the Republican National Convention, here is a recap of several key findings: When he was picked, a large fraction of Americans did not know who Paul Ryan was, or at least could not evaluate him. Among those that could, unfavorable views were more prevalent than favorable views. This […]
Carrots AND Sticks Necessary for Counterterrorism?
This is a guest post by Scott Weiner, a PhD student at George Washington University. ——— Last week, Political Violence @ A Glance ran a summary of a fascinating new academic paper in the American Sociological Review by Erica Chenoweth and Laura Dugan. The paper argues that conciliatory actions – those which reward non-participation in terrorism – […]
Karl Marx, Republican
Turns out the father of communism and Honest Abe were pen pals.
No, the GOP Is Not “Winning the Battle over Paul Ryan”
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post’s The Fix blog: Say what you want about Paul Ryan’s politics; even Democrats in Congress struggle to find a negative word to say about him. At least, that’s what Republicans have been arguing for the last two weeks. And when it comes to the American public, it appears to […]
The Key to Surviving Natural Disasters
Hurricane Isaac, which made landfall in Louisiana last night, has not only disrupted the Republican National Convention but also brought back painful memories of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast seven years ago this week. In August 2005, my wife and our small children and I evacuated to Houston just before the storm destroyed […]
“No Revision” Journal Policy – Thoughts?
Here’s something for all of you political scientists who suddenly have extra time on your hands today to ponder. The journal Economic Inquiry has adopted a “no revisions” option when you submit papers to the journal. Here’s how the process works: Under this policy, an author can submit under a ‘no revisions’ policy. This policy […]
Call for Papers for Last Minute Conference at Stony Brook on Thursday and Friday
Matthew Lebo of SUNY Stony Brook sends along the following announcement for anyone in the NYC area who was planning on going to APSA and would like a chance to present their paper and get some feedback: The Long Island Political Science Associates (we aren’t an association) will have (potentially) a two-day mini conference this […]
Mitt Romney: The Surprisingly Strong Presidential Candidate
Ezra Klein: Romney isn’t always the best speaker. He can be wooden on the stump and gaffe-prone off of it. But his very public weaknesses can obscure the fact that he’s a very, very good politician. He’s an incredible fundraiser. He’s a strong debater. He’s disciplined in his message. He’s strategic. He’s good at picking […]

