Volume 136 - Number 2 - Summer 2021
Economic Sectionalism, Executive-Centered Partisanship, and the Politics of the State and Local Tax Deduction Nicholas F. Jacobs examines the partisan implications of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and its reform of the state and local tax deduction. He argues that fundamental changes in the geographic composition of the electorate and the centrality of presidential politics in the party system explain why the Republican Party reduced one of the most unequal features of the U.S. tax code, but chose not to emphasize its egalitarian consequences.
Volume 136 - Number 1 - Spring 2021
How the 1976 Election Reshaped American Politics: A Review Essay Kathryn Cramer Brownell reviews two recently published books on Jimmy Carter: The Election of the Evangelical: Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and the Presidential Contest of 1976 and Jimmy Carter and the Birth of the Marathon Media Campaign . She argues that the discussion of the 1976 election put forth in these two books contributes to our understanding of modern political realignment and polarization.
Volume 136 - Number 1 - Spring 2021
America’s Crisis of Democracy William G. Howell and TERRY M. MOE explain how the populist threat to American democracy has been fueled by our government’s ineffective responses to the disruptive economic and cultural problems of modernity. They argue that saving democracy calls for aggressive policy actions and institutional reforms that balance the promise and the fear of presidential power.
Volume 136 - Number 1 - Spring 2021
Policy or Pique? Trump and the Turn to Great Power Competition Deborah Welch Larson analyzes Donald Trump’s policy toward China and Russia and the return of great power competition. She argues that Trump’s personalization of foreign policy undermined his trade war with China, and efforts to improve relations with Russia and that the Joe Biden administration will continue to compete but seek cooperation in areas of shared interests.
Volume 136 - Number 1 - Spring 2021
The Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2020: A National Referendum on the Trump Presidency Gary C. Jacobson discusses the 2020 presidential and congressional elections. He argues that the elections were above all a referendum on Donald Trump’s presidency, which provoked extreme levels of party loyalty, partisan polarization, and partisan animosity in the electorate, as well as the highest voter turnout in more than a century.
Volume 135 - Number 4 - Winter 2020-21
Conflict Aggravation or Alleviation? A Cross-National Examination of U.S. Military Aid’s Effect on Conflict Dynamics with Insights from Pakistan Amira Jadoon analyzes the effects of U.S. military aid on conflict dynamics and violence within recipient states. She argues that higher levels of U.S. military aid to states with weak governance structures can inadvertently result in a diffusion rather than elimination of militant organizations and fail to constrain retaliatory attacks.
Volume 135 - Number 4 - Winter 2020-21
The Twitter Presidency: How Donald Trump’s Tweets Undermine Democracy and Threaten Us All Brian L. Ott and Greg Dickinson discuss Donald Trump’s use of Twitter. They argue that this ability to leverage the structural biases of Twitter has eroded the democratic norms and principles that protect against the slide into authoritarianism.
Volume 136 - Number 1 - Spring 2021
U.S. Geopolitics and Nuclear Deterrence in the Era of Great Power Competitions Peter Rudolf argues that in the new era of great power competitions the United States is faced with the question of whether to seek some form of geopolitical accommodation based on de facto spheres of influence and buffer zones or to push ahead with strategic rivalries overshadowed by the risk of a military conflict with a nuclear dimension.
Volume 136 - Number 1 - Spring 2021
Loyalists and Switchers: Characterizing Voters’ Responses to Donald Trump’s Campaign and Presidency Meredith Dost , Ryan Enos , and Jennifer Hochschild look at the crucial segment of American voters who have changed their views about Donald Trump since the 2016 presidential election. Using two original surveys, they find that attitudes on race and immigration, populism and authoritarianism, and the nation’s and their own economic well-being are all associated with loyalty to and switching from this divisive president.
Volume 135 - Number 4 - Winter 2020-21
Perception and Misperception in U.S.-China Relations Andrew Scobell assesses contemporary U.S.-China relations. He concludes that bilateral ties are best characterized as full-blown greatpower rivalry. He argues that heightened intensity and persistent hostility is likely due to the powerful impact of pervasive misperceptions and enduring negative images of each other.
