A WSU professor asks: do facts still matter in the United States? Ten years ago, Washington State University political science professor Steven Stehr got involved in a large-scale National Science Foundation project, training doctoral students in the sciences about how their work could affect, or be affected by, public policy. The idea was to create […]
From the probing plaintiff’s attorney to the deft defense counsel, students in Mock Trial at Washington State University play a variety of roles and gain valuable experience in preparing for careers in law. Adding powerful authenticity to their experience, this year’s Mock Trial team recently got the rare opportunity to practice their skills in an […]
By: Travis Ridout, WSU professor of political science, Erika Franklin Fowler, and Michael Franz The 2018 midterm elections are in the books, the winners have been declared and the 30-second attack ads are—finally—over. As co-directors of the Wesleyan Media Project, which has tracked and analyzed campaign advertising since 2010, we spend a lot of time […]
The notion of splitting Washington state in two has been around for decades. But the idea has attracted renewed attention since the election, when the state once again split ideologically along geographic and urban-rural lines. The role of some extremists “sort of legitimizes what we would otherwise call these hair-brained ideas,” said Cornell Clayton, a […]
By Erika Franklin Fowler, Wesleyan University; Michael Franz, Bowdoin College, and Travis N. Ridout, professor of political science, Washington State University The 2018 midterm elections are in the books, the winners have been declared and the 30-second attack ads are—finally—over. As co-directors of the Wesleyan Media Project, which has tracked and analyzed campaign advertising since […]
Washington elections officials might be duly proud that the 2018 midterm had near-record voter turnout and more ballots cast than any other elections save the last two presidential contests. Behind the positive news that nearly 72 percent of the voters cast some 3.1 million ballots, however, there’s a negative: Almost 30 percent didn’t vote, and […]
Washington attorney general has gone 15-0 against the Trump administration in federal court decisions Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson takes great pride in his legal staff, but he credits President Donald Trump with much of the state’s recent success in suing the federal government. Speaking to a packed house at Washington State University’s Foley Institute […]
As election season simmers down, data rolls in. This year, nearly half of eligible U.S. voters cast ballots. That may not sound like much, but it is the highest voter turnout for a midterm election since the 1960s. In Washington, most counties saw higher than average voter turnout this year. Except two. Yakima County had […]
Political science professors offer their takes on this year’s election at WSU discussion. There is no denying the midterm elections were heavily influenced by President Donald Trump, and while Democrats earned victories, the night ended better than Republicans feared, political experts said during a forum Wednesday at Washington State University. Mark Stephan and Travis Ridout, […]
Ten million dollars, hours of television ads, truckloads of mailers and a handful of national news media stories later, Eastern Washington continues to be represented by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Republicans and political observers said Wednesday, after the dust settled, that the result shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Brown had been the presumptive Democratic […]