On June 24, 2018, incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, despite what nearly every polling statistic said, won the election, reestablishing himself as the nation’s authoritative figure. Erd…
What Really Happened to Egyptian Democracy?
Egyptians went to the polls on March 24th of this year. El-Sisi, Egypt’s current President ran for a second term in an election described by Human Rights Watch as “farcical.” Following the 2011 Tunisi…
Voter Turnout is Too Low in the U.S. – Here’s How to Fix It
It’s no secret — voter turnout is too low, and it doesn’t need to be. To increase voter turnout, two important changes should be made to the election. First, an option to select “None of the Above” sh…
The Crisis of the African National Congress: The Coming Intraparty Conflict
Upon assuming the South African presidency, Nelson Mandela proclaimed, “The time for the healing of the wounds has come.” At the time, South Africans hoped that the end of apartheid would also bring a…
Fake News is Real: The Rise of Computational Propaganda and Its Political Ramifications
“Fake News” — two words that have become synonymous with Donald Trump and his 2016 bid for the presidency. Some wholeheartedly believed it, some cast it aside as irrelevant, and others avi…
A Matter of Pride and Prejudice: The Firing of FBI Director James Comey
It all began as an October surprise. On October 30, 2016, just days before the Presidential election that would cause an upset of historical proportions as Donald Trump was elected the 45th President …
The Recession of the Pink Tide
Empty shelves in Venezuela Lenin Moreno’s April victory in the Ecuadorian presidential election must have brought sighs of relief to socialists across the continent, who have been buffeted by scandals…
The Third Time’s Not the Charm: Corruption in Somalia’s Election
On February 8th, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed was elected President of Somalia, defeating the incumbent Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. This was the culmination of the third election cycle since 2009. In 1991, th…
Hillary Clinton’s Brand of Nationalism
In the February of 1942, a mere two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 127,000 people of Japanese descent were rounded up from all along the west coast, and were subsequently marched into Americ…
An Open Letter to President-Elect Donald Trump
Dear President-Elect Trump, I’d like to start this off by offering my congratulations on a well-fought campaign. While you did not have my support before the election, I recognize that you are now my …
The Race to Turn the Senate Blue: The Top Senate Contests in the 2016 Election
Though the presidential race has taken up much of the electoral coverage thus far, there are also many close U.S. Senate seats up for grabs that could tilt the Senate in the Democrats favor. Democrats…
Macho or Bust: Today’s Voters Still Want a Machismo President
Marco Rubio, a Republican candidate seeking to gain traction in the race for becoming the next U.S. president, recently has been seen brandishing guns during his campaign photo ops, along with pepperi…
Motor Voter: As California Goes, Will the Country?
The 2014 midterm election represented a new low for California politics. With a record-low 42% voter turnout, political involvement in California looked dim. The cynical adage of millennial political …
The Election Effect
Every election year, the fate of the American people is up for grabs. Tensions run high, and nearly half of the nation is bound to be unsatisfied by the result. Uncertainty plagues the months leading …
Guatemala’s new president, the comedian—Morales’ Morality Campaign
Beginning in April, Guatemala’s streets swelled with massive weekly protests calling for two goals: for President Otto Perez Molina to step down, and to end political impunity and corruption, two trai…
The Gift That Keeps On Giving: Why Trump Fever Is Here to Stay
The man is all over national airwaves, newspapers, and internet memes. He is a presidential candidate, yes. But perhaps more than that, Donald Trump is a social phenomenon: a real-life hashtag, nation…
Eric Cantor or Eric “Can’t Win”?
It didn’t matter that David Brat was an unknown economics professor. It wasn’t enough that Eric Cantor had spent nearly $5.4 million on his campaign. And it certainly made no difference that Cantor br…