Latest posts

  • Permalink Gallery

    Institutions are withstanding Trump, but it is America’s systemic problems which are the real threat to democracy.

Institutions are withstanding Trump, but it is America’s systemic problems which are the real threat to democracy.

Share this:

Since Donald Trump’s election in 2016, there has been growing concern among commentators over the apparent erosion of US institutions and democratic norms, with some drawing comparisons with interwar Europe and current day Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Turkey. But, write Hadas Aron and Emily Holland, the ongoing impeachment hearings and the robustness of the Supreme Court illustrate the […]

November 21st, 2019|Democracy and culture, Emily Holland, Featured, Hadas Aron|0 Comments|
Read More
  • Permalink Gallery

    Primary Primers: Why Super Tuesday will be the most important date in the 2020 election calendar

Primary Primers: Why Super Tuesday will be the most important date in the 2020 election calendar

Share this:

On March 3rd, 2020, 14 states will hold primary elections to determine their preferred presidential candidates. Barbara Norrander writes that these contests – which will select 34 percent of the Democrats’ convention delegates – will be the one of the most important days of the primary election calendar, and may mark the beginning of the end of the 2020 […]

November 20th, 2019|2020 Primary Primers, Barbara Norrander, Elections and party politics across the US, Featured|0 Comments|
Read More
  • Permalink Sacramento, CaliforniaGallery

    Red light cameras don’t mean fewer traffic accidents, they just reshuffle what types occur.

Red light cameras don’t mean fewer traffic accidents, they just reshuffle what types occur.

Share this:

As part of efforts to reduce traffic accidents, many cities and towns in the US have introduced red light cameras which electronically assign fines to drivers who break the law. But new research from Justin Gallagher and Paul J. Fisher finds that these cameras don’t reduce accident numbers at all. Instead, they write, the behavior changes caused by red […]

November 20th, 2019|Featured, Justin Gallagher, Paul J. Fisher, Urban, rural and regional policies|0 Comments|
Read More
  • Permalink Gallery

    The Democrats’ Kentucky win is an outlier which tells us little about 2020

The Democrats’ Kentucky win is an outlier which tells us little about 2020

Share this:

Earlier this month Democrat Andy Beshear beat incumbent Matt Bevin to win Kentucky’s gubernatorial race by about 5,000 votes. While Beshear’s victory in a generally Republican state may lead some to speculate that the GOP will face a difficult 2020 in Kentucky and even beyond, Anne Cizmar suggests caution. Matt Bevin’s loss, she writes, can mostly be attributed to […]

November 18th, 2019|Anne Cizmar, Elections and party politics across the US, Featured|1 Comment|
Read More
  • Permalink Gallery

    Book Review: America’s Covert War in East Africa: Surveillance, Rendition, Assassination by Clara Usiskin

Book Review: America’s Covert War in East Africa: Surveillance, Rendition, Assassination by Clara Usiskin

Share this:

In America’s Covert War in East Africa: Surveillance, Rendition, Assassination, Clara Usiskin offers an analysis of the impact of the ‘War on Terror’ in East Africa, painting a grave picture of its effects. This is an informative and well-written read that shows how counterterrorism operations and policies have created national and regional security apparatuses that have become tools of authoritarian regimes […]

November 17th, 2019|Book Reviews, US foreign affairs and the North American neighbourhood|0 Comments|
Read More
  • Permalink Gallery

    Book Review: Bluster: Donald Trump’s War on Terror by Peter Neumann

Book Review: Bluster: Donald Trump’s War on Terror by Peter Neumann

Share this:

A puzzle surrounds the Donald Trump presidency: for all of his rhetoric surrounding terrorism and counterterrorism, little appears to have changed when it comes to actual policy. In Bluster: Donald Trump’s War on Terror, Peter Neumann delves into this paradox in his comprehensive account of US foreign policymaking under Trump. Jonny Hall finds this an admirable review of the Trump administration’s […]

November 17th, 2019|Book Reviews, US foreign affairs and the North American neighbourhood|0 Comments|
Read More
  • Permalink Gallery

    Who has to ‘lean in’ for equal gender representation in leadership roles?

Who has to ‘lean in’ for equal gender representation in leadership roles?

Share this:

Individually, women have done enough; now senior leaders must fix the system, write Kara A. Arnold and Catherine Loughlin.

Even though women surpass men in university graduation rates and other skill-based gains, the Conference Board of Canada (2011) found it will take over 151 years for women and men to achieve parity in middle management, let alone senior leadership. Sheryl […]

November 16th, 2019|Catherine Loughlin, Democracy and culture, Kara A. Arnold|0 Comments|
Read More
  • Permalink Gallery

    Primary Primers: How Libertarians could be the kingmakers of the 2020 presidential election

Primary Primers: How Libertarians could be the kingmakers of the 2020 presidential election

Share this:

Though still a relatively small group, Libertarians have had a growing political presence in the US in recent decades. Olivier Lewis and Jeffrey Michels write that while the Republican Party has historically been closely aligned with libertarians, George W. Bush-era curtailments on civil liberties and the rise of Donald Trump has pushed the movement away from that traditional alliance. […]

November 15th, 2019|2020 Primary Primers, Jeffrey Michels, Olivier Lewis|2 Comments|
Read More
  • Permalink Gallery

    The House is poised to impeach Donald Trump, but conviction in the Senate may be an uphill battle

The House is poised to impeach Donald Trump, but conviction in the Senate may be an uphill battle

Share this:

After months of build-up, at the end of October the US House voted to begin an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. Scott Fischer and Elizabeth Freund Larus give an overview of the impeachment process, as well as its history, dating back to the near-removal of President Andrew Johnson in 1868. They argue that Trump’s impeachment will likely most closely resemble […]

November 15th, 2019|Elections and party politics across the US, Elizabeth Freund Larus, Scott Fischer|0 Comments|
Read More
  • Permalink Gallery

    As impeachment hearings begin, Trump’s approval ratings may determine whether Republicans stay or break with the President.

As impeachment hearings begin, Trump’s approval ratings may determine whether Republicans stay or break with the President.

Share this:

Yesterday, the US House Intelligence Committee began its first public hearings into impeaching President Donald Trump, with Ambassador Bill Taylor’s testimony suggesting that Trump was more involved with pressuring Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden than he had previously claimed. US Centre Director, Professor Peter Trubowitz writes that as these hearings continue, Trump’s approval ratings will be […]

November 14th, 2019|Elections and party politics across the US, LSE Comment, Peter Trubowitz|0 Comments|
Read More
This work by LSE USAPP blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported.