It Takes More Than a Naked Katy Perry to Get Out the Vote

Ranking Candidates Gives People What They Want: a Choice, a Party, and Tighter Elections

Katy Perry’s new Rock the Vote video offers a great strategy for encouraging engagement in democracy—prurient interest. She tries to vote naked, and ends up being arrested and taken away. But a strong message is left: You can vote wearing whatever you want—“Just wear clothes.”

Perry’s home state, California, is full of celebrity calls to get to the polls, clothed and unclothed. But such stunts obscure the essential problem with voting in the United States—too often our electoral rules actually discourage participation in elections.

I know something both about publicity, and about …

By Krist Novoselic | November 3, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s Negative Ad Campaign Style Is Vintage

It's Known as Lyndon B. Johnson's Enduring 1964 "Frontlash" Strategy

By KC Johnson | October 17, 2016

The recent report that George H.W. Bush plans to vote for Hillary Clinton made the former President the highest-profile Republican to repudiate the party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump. The list …

The Untold Story of the Presidential Candidate Once Named ‘Our Other Franklin’

Massive Rallies, an Emulated Style, and Votes From Both Democrats and Republicans Couldn’t Save This Quixotic Candidate’s Campaign—Or His Life

By R. Craig Sautter | October 10, 2016

A populist desire for “reform” runs deep in the psyche of American voters. Every few decades, a presidential candidate channels this rebellious spirit. Andrew Jackson was such a candidate …

Think the Press Is Partisan? It Was Much Worse for Our Founding Fathers

A Scheming and Salacious Newspaper Reporter Targeted Hamilton and Jefferson—and Nearly Ruined Them

By Christopher B. Daly | October 10, 2016

It is a common complaint that the drive for traffic at news sites in the digital age has debased our political dialogue, turning a responsible press into a media …

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