the weaker party

Story in NYT . What is a recall election again? Is this an example of a excess of democracy or was this a legitimate action on the part of ...

Some fodder for 2302 as we get ready to plunge into the legislature. Story in the NYT , here's the vote, largely party line . The name o...

Consider this a required read - and this might help some students with their paper topics. For 25 years the Pew Research Center has studi...

From the Houston Chronicle, a warning on efforts underway to purge voter rolls - which has to be done from time to time, but can lead to le...

I want all my government students to look at the 1000 word written assignment (you'll find it on the syllabus) and send me a specific to...

Nice to have you aboard. This is the site where you'll find the written material for the class as well as posts on current topics that r...

I thought we had a good little bunch of students for the three week mini and I'm glad some of you will signing up for round two this sum...

This a great question, and it highlights a commonly noted - if problematic - reality. People who identify with different political parties l...

They're trying . The author suggests they are building a "libertarian machine."

His post on the Democrats is here , and on the Republicans is here .

Below you'll find links to the Elections Divisions of area County Clerks offices. They are responsible for running state and national el...

Here's a look into the current state of campaigning , at least on Obama's side. It involves randomized tests, data, and empirical an...

Charles Blow highlights two recent polls . One from MSNBC and one from Gallup .

In the interest of time management (yours), this is the last short written assignment. Like the other's its tied into the paper. I want ...

I ran across a couple stories that illustrate something we covered in class - presidents can impact civil rights policies by the choices the...

Here is a topic that straddles our recent discussion of both Civil Rights and our upcoming one on elections: The DC appellate court upheld t...

Today we discussed factions and the inevitability of diverse interests in a civilized society. This can apply to Texas - more or less. I wan...

The director of health policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center says it is, and that government payments for health care should be based on q...

From the National Journal , an argument that the upcoming general election will be won or lost based on which side can turnout the vote. The...

This will be the last short written assignment for this week, I'll cancel the fourth in order to free up some of your time. Again, this ...

Robert Miller's blog today - he's a public law guy at Locke Lord - has a post pointing out that many many Republican Texas Legisla...

White births accounted for less than half of all births over the past 12 months . “This is an important tipping point,” said William H. Frey...

Take note. I still haven't received proposals from some of you.

now you know

Expect a handful of these in the next few days. This may be a bit dated, but Burnt Orange Report (which tilts a bit left) has two separate p...

Just released by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (the gubernatorially appointed board that makes policy recommondations for ...

I mentioned in class that you can get analyses of the Texas House and Senate districts by going to their respective websites - specifically ...

The Texas Business Roundtables website contains a handy chart that makes it easy to find them.

Jeffrey Rosen of the New Republic thinks that a recent opinion written by Janice Rogers Brown indicates that the Constitution in Exile Mo...

I'm going to keep asking you questions designed to get going on the 1000 word paper. This one ties the topic into something we discussed...

Students have claimed the following races, so you'll have to find something else to write up. - HD 75 - two democrats are running agains...

Total city spending is $4.5 billion .

Again from the HC , a story that raises questions about eyewitness procedures in cases that could lead to the death penalty and whether Texa...

From today's HC , a story that helps us walk through the personnel that manage - or mismanage - elections.

For the first daily written assignment I want you to refer to the syllabus and tell me what race you plan on writing about for your 1000 wor...

Now comes the 3 week mini. Welcome brave souls. We are going to try to cover 16 weeks worth of material in 15 calendar days. Notice the syll...

As things pile up toward the end of the semester I tend to stop posting items relevant to the class. I don't intend to, but I get overwh...

From the Onion : 

For 2301s and 2302s, The deadline for written work was today at noon - about ten minutes ago. I've already heard of problems with blackb...

A great extended interview in Salon . The author blows away some assumptions about what factors led to the development of the American econo...

Paul Burka's surprisin g answer is no. He responds to a Houston Chronicle article wondering why Houston's business leaders don'...

A worthwhile review of two books on the subject. It would be useful to consider, every step in take in this class, about why compromise is ...

The National Journal has a lengthy piece that points out that trust in all institutions in society - not just government - is at a low poin...

Two posts from the Monkey Cage. First : The cause of increased distrust - which is not related to distrust in other institutions - are relat...

According to the Onion, every potential 2040 presidential candidate is already ineligible because of something they posted on Facebook. Thi...

Good question . Apparently many convicts in Virginia have been proven innocent, but the state is not in a hurry to let them know about it. ...

This ought to help 2301 and 2302 students get ready for the upcoming finals - I'll add a few things so don't limit your studying jus...

Slate has an interesting story on the problem of obtaining justice in cases involving misdemeanors. The misdemeanor machine has inspired a s...

A depressing story I suppose , but it shows how legislation aimed at the public good is easily undermined when doing so cuts into profits: ...

2301 students wrote about the Post Office, and its recent problems, a few months back. Here's a take on why it ought to be preserved . C...

Interesting question : The U.S. economy looms large over November's general election in a basic way for strapped cities and counties:...

The Washington post report s on the Senator's proposal for an alternative Dream Act - which would offer chances for the children of ille...

Cars didn't always rule the roads. pedestrians did. Cars were always at fault when there was an accident. Pedestrians could use streets...

For future reference when covering the judiciary, and especially trials: - The HC's coverage of the Roger Clemens trial . - The Huffingt...

This AAS story hits multiple points made in both 2301 and 2302. Members of the Texas Senate's Criminal Justice Committee and the Hou...

We've spent time discussing how the Republican base has been pulling the party to the right, but here's evidence that the same dynam...

I didn't intend to take a break - but I got bogged down in class work so it happened anyway. If you are not all aware - the last assessm...

A useful description of t he job ahead of him and the problems it poses : Romney, after all, managed to secure the nomination only by stre...

Perhaps : Debtor’s prisons are supposed to be illegal in the United States but today poor people who fail to pay even small criminal justi...

Here's a suggestion that one problem Romney might face with independents is that the Republican brand has suffered in recent years in th...

While Romney has problems with Latinos and Women, Obama has problems with men, and a couple articles suggest that Romney's advantage w...

Brendan Nyhan takes campaign reporters to task for giving too much - or any - attention to superficial news events like the etch a sketch co...

There is empirical proof that the Republican Party has veered far to the right . Keith Poole of the University of Georgia, with his collabo...

An appropriate story since 2302s are covering the criminal justice system in Texas, even though it deals with national government. The FBI...

Here's an exhaustive post - embedded with comments from various law types - that probable cause was likely not sufficient to justify th...

The Committee to Protect Journalists details the number of journalists around the world who have been killed, and the countries that are un...

We discussed stereotypes and schemas in last week's 2301. Public opinion tends to form around them, and they also influence how we each ...

I promise this isn't just gratuitous, but this pretty impressive hologram of Tupac Shakur is likely to go on tour soon, Over a decade a...

A law professor sees a parallel between the arguments against Obamacare and against child labor laws in the early 20th Century: . . . then ...

Several newspapers have written up a recent talk made by the reporters who broke the Watergate story - Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward - th...

Mohamed Keita , the Africa advocacy coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists , argues that China's increased influence in Af...

Read all about it here . Jonathon Burns was the lead researcher in the study. “We took 100 soldiers. 25 were Special Forces qualified and ha...

Interesting topic raised in yesterday's 8am 2302. We were discussing how easy it is now to record things through cell phones and a stude...

In order to free you up to finish the 1000 word essay and get ready for the final, there will be no more weekly written assignments. 8 week ...

The full range of social media will apparently be used in the campaigns of Romney and Obama, as well as in other races. This is new territor...

Justice of the Peace and Municipal Court judges come under fire for inesperience : Last year, complaints against justices of the peace repre...

Patricia Kilday Hart reports on an effort to divide the Democratic Party in Harris Count. We've noted similar efforts elsewhere around ...

From State Impact : A new ruling this week from Travis County District Judge John Dietz this week could cost the state of Texas billions in ...

In 2302 we discussed how crisis management - especially in a time of war - is good for a president's reputation. Historians tend to give...

Ruy Teixeira argues that it is more appropriate to think of swing voters as those who are persuadable , not necessarily just independent : F...

In case you need it .

From the NYT : Farmers and ranchers will for the first time need a prescription from a veterinarian before using antibiotics in farm anima...

Every year the Thomas Jefferson Center highlights egregious examples of stifling free speech by giving them their own award: The Muzzle . - ...

A great article from way back about how the Houston Chronicle - back when newspapers really mattered - was controlled by the city's eli...

As 2301s look at freedom of speech and what it does and does not cover, what is it about art that makes it covered? A law article and a br...

The Justice Department is set to find ou t. It is suing publishers (in the United States District Court for the Southern District in New Yor...

Now that Romney seems to have the nomination in hand, commentary has focused on his expected pivot to the middle and whether he can do this ...

A good story for 2302 as we continue looking at the judiciary, and the criminal justice process in general. 2301s shoudl consider this case ...

This is a follow up to previous post and it explains where regulatory rules come from : Air race pilots should take their modified aircraft ...

David Brooks points to an article written by Tyler Cowen which predicts that the export sectors will drive the American economy forward, bu...

I asked 2301 students to speculate on how well Romney might pivot to the center once he - or now that he - has the nomination wrapped up, an...