Partisanship and Polarization Archives

Campaigns and Elections Executive Branch Partisanship and Polarization US History

Election 2020: The Electoral College – Wise or Outdated?

October 15, 2020

What is the Electoral College? In 2016, more than 138 million people voted in the general election, but only 538 of them directly voted for president and vice president.1 The reason that both of these statements can be true is the existence of the Electoral College. The Constitution says that rather than voting directly for […]

Political Violence and the 2020 Election

October 13, 2020

Journaling Task: Reflecting On Political Violence On October 8, the FBI announced that it had thwarted a plot led by a right-wing militia to kidnap and potentially assassinate Governor Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich.1 Whitmer, in an op-ed published in the Washington Post, laid some of the blame at the feet of President Donald Trump, writing: I’m […]

The Supreme Court Fight and the Election

October 02, 2020

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on September 18. Nominated to the Court in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton, she served on the bench for the next 27 years. Justice Ginsburg was a hero to liberals and progressives, due to both the work that she did before serving on the Court and the […]

Election 2020: Guides for Watching and Discussing the Debates

September 23, 2020

There are three presidential debates scheduled for September 29, October 15, and October 22, as well as a vice presidential debate taking place on October 7. For many voters, the debates are the best chance to see the differences between the candidates as they decide how to cast their vote in November. Campaigns put a […]

Summer Round-Up #3: Protests, Police Reform, and Civil Unrest

September 09, 2020

This summer has been more dramatic and more tumultuous than any other in recent memory. To help teachers and students explore key issues from this summer, we have done a series of summer round-up articles. You can find our look back at developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic here, and our review of the 2020 […]

Summer Round-Up #2: Campaigns, Conventions, and the Race to Election Day

August 31, 2020

Over the course of the summer, the 2020 election has taken shape. Most primaries for congressional office have concluded, and the parties and presidential candidates were able to showcase their respective visions during their conventions. In this second summer round-up, we take a look at the state of the 2020 election. Our first summer round-up […]

Protests, Riots, Justice, and the Rule of Law

June 04, 2020

On Monday, May 25, a Minneapolis police officer named Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for over eight minutes.1 The next day, video of the killing went viral; by the end of the day, large groups had begun protesting in Minneapolis. In the week since, protests have spread to many major […]

Discussing Race & Racism with Students

June 02, 2020

Over the past week, we have witnessed an outpouring of grief and rage that reminds us—again—that democracy is always in the making and that we have a responsibility both to reflect and to act. As civic educators, we naturally turn our attention to what we can do, and what we can teach, that might further […]

Executive Privilege and the Supreme Court

May 18, 2020

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases involving President Donald Trump’s tax returns and financial records, Trump v. Mazars and Trump v. Deutsche Bank. During the 2016 election, then-candidate Trump broke with tradition and refused to release many of his financial records and tax returns. The president is suing his accountants and […]

Calm or Chaos: The Role of the Media During a Crisis

May 05, 2020

As the novel coronavirus continues to dominate the headlines, the American public is facing an onslaught of information about the pandemic. Social and traditional media are covering developments, spreading opinions, and broadcasting statistics about COVID-19. There has been a strong association between coronavirus media coverage and an increase in public attention on the virus itself […]