Perspectives on Politics

Reforming to Avoid Reform: Strategic Policy Substitution and the Reform Gap in Policing By Yanilda María González, Harvard University Institutional reforms often diverge from substantive problems and societal demands that originally prompted reform, raising questions […]

Persuasive and Unpersuasive Critiques of Torture By Ron E. Hassner, University of California, Berkeley Torture critics have offered two types of arguments in the hope of swaying public opinion against torture: A pragmatic (consequentialist) argument […]

Party Types in the Age of Personalized Politics By Gideon Rahat, University of Jerusalem Democracies in general and political parties in particular have undergone political personalization in recent decades. The power balance between politicians (one […]

Motivation Alignment, Historical Cleavages, and Women’s Suffrage in Latin America By Isabel Castillo, Northwestern University Calculations of the electoral effects of incorporating new voters and beliefs on how inclusion alters gender hierarchies constitute two central […]

Metapolitics and Demographic Anxiety on the New Right: Using and Abusing the Language of Equality By Michael Feola, University of California, Berkeley The recent politics of demographic anxiety has been shaped by an influential New […]

Inverting the Lens: White Privilege Denial in Evaluations of Politicians and Policy By Reagan Dobbs and Stephen P. Nicholson, University of California, Merced Public understandings of race in the United States have evolved, at least […]

Engaged Pluralism: The Importance of Commitment By Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier, Ohio State University Engaged pluralism entails active interaction, debate, and learning from each other. I argue that individuals need to undertake the challenges arising from […]

When Does Backsliding Lead to Breakdown? Uncertainty and Opposition Strategies in Democracies at Risk By Matthew R. Cleary, Syracuse University and Aykut Öztürk, University of Glasgow In recent decades, prominent national leaders like Turkey’s Recep […]