The Conversation

What's the best way to get out the vote in a pandemic?

Written by Lisa García Bedolla, Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate Division, Professor of Education, University of California, Berkeley

Virtual neighborhood meetings, like this Democratic effort in Reedsburg, Wis., are among the latest efforts to get people to vote.AP Photo/Tom Beaumont

Identifying supporters and getting them to the polls are key parts of any political campaign. The pandemic, however, creates new challenges for candidates trying to convey their messages and...

Election 2020 sees record $11 billion in campaign spending, mostly from a handful of super-rich donors

Written by Richard Briffault, Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation, Columbia University

Money can't buy you love, but it may be able to buy you political influence.Marius Faust / EyeEm via Getty

Total spending in the 2020 federal elections is projected to set a new record of almost US$11 billion by November.

When adjusted for inflation, that’s over 50% higher than 2016 election spending. This year’s federal election...

Pandemic presents an opportunity for small liberal arts colleges to change

Written by Beth D. Benedix, Professor of World Literature, Religious Studies and Community Engagement, DePauw University

Colgate University is a small liberal arts college in upstate New York.John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

In their newly released book, “The Post-Pandemic Liberal Arts College,” Steven Volk, emeritus professor of history at Oberlin College, and Beth D. Benedix, professor of world literature, religious studies and community...

Appealing to evangelicals, Trump uses religious words and references to God at a higher rate than previous presidents

Written by Ceri Hughes, Knight Research Fellow of Communication and Civic Renewal, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Reading material or preparing a speech?Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty

Speaking from the hospital while undergoing treatment for COVID-19, Donald Trump faced the camera and touted therapeutics that “look like miracles coming down from God.”

The choice of words shouldn’t come as a surprise. President Trump has used religious...

Will it be a 'V' or a 'K'? The many shapes of recessions and recoveries

Written by William Hauk, Associate Professor of Economics, University of South Carolina

A 'V' recovery is seen as the best way to bounce back from a recession. Steve Stone/Moment via Getty Images

Recessions – typically defined as two consecutive quarters of declining economic output – are always painful in terms of how they affect our economic well-being. Like all bad things, fortunately, they eventually end and a recovery...

Yes, more and more young adults are living with their parents – but is that necessarily bad?

Written by Jeffrey Arnett, Senior Research Scholar, Department of Psychology, Clark University

Millions of college students have been living at home since their campuses closed due to the coronavirus.FG Trade via Getty Images

When the Pew Research Center recently reported that the proportion of 18-to-29-year-old Americans who live with their parents has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps you saw some of the breathless headlines hy...

Getting kids – and their caregivers – to practice STEM at home

Written by Amber M. Simpson, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Researchers take a closer look at how activities that engage the whole family can help young distance learners build STEM skills. MoMo Productions/Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Many educators, caregivers and students have been struggling with remote learning during the pandemic,...

Plot to kidnap Michigan's governor grew from the militia movement's toxic mix of constitutional falsehoods and half-truths

Written by John E. Finn, Professor Emeritus of Government, Wesleyan University

Pete Musico, left, is one of the founding members of the Wolverine Watchmen, as is Joseph Morrison, right. Both were charged in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (Jackson County Sheriff’s Office via AP)Jackson County Sheriff’s Office via AP

The U.S. militia movement has long been steeped in a peculiar – and...

Why males may have a worse response to COVID-19

Written by Meghan E. Rebuli, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Is COVID-19 hitting men harder than women?UpperCut Images/Getty Images

If you ask most women about how their male relatives, partners and friends respond to being sick, they’ll often tell you with an accompanying eye roll, “He’s such a baby.” “He’s extra whiny.” Or “he exaggerates so much.” But...

Packing the Court: Amid national crises, Lincoln and his Republicans remade the Supreme Court to fit their agenda

Written by Calvin Schermerhorn, Professor of History, Arizona State University

The 9-member Chase Court in 1867, dominated by Northern Republicans.Alexander Gardner/The U.S. Supreme Court

As a political battle over the Supreme Court’s direction rages in Washington with President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, history shows that political contests over the ideological slant of the Court are nothing...