Tag: Gretchen Helmke
How to make sense of 2020’s unusual election season
Rochester political scientists say concerns about this year’s electoral process are challenging some fundamental ideas about the nation.
Déjà vu: What happens to America when one candidate wins the popular vote but not the Electoral College?
Political scientists explore how the November election will be viewed if there’s a split between the popular vote and the Electoral College count.
Watchdog report: US democratic indicators plummet amid racial justice protests and pandemic
Latest Bright Line Watch analysis finds erosion “across the board” on measures of democratic principles and how well the US is abiding by them.
Perception of US democracy tanks after Trump impeachment
The nonpartisan Bright Line Watch research group finds that perceptions of the health of US democracy clearly declined after the president’s impeachment.
Watching for ‘bright lines’ during the Trump presidency
In a study spanning the first 18 months of the Donald Trump presidency, the non-partisan Bright Line Watch research group found large areas of agreement as to what constitutes critical democratic principles, but little agreement over which have been violated.
Would you vote for a Democrat who behaves like a Republican?
In a recent experiment, a group of political scientists has found that when choosing a candidate, party affiliation outweighs a candidate’s policy positions and their support for democratic norms for both Democrats and Republicans surveyed.
Drawing a ‘bright line’ on democracy
With colleagues at Yale and Dartmouth, Rochester professor Gretchen Helmke has launched Bright Line Watch, an initiative to survey opinions about democracy, both among the public and political scientists.
US democratic performance declines on most measures
Both the general public and political science experts rate the performance of US democratic institutions significantly lower than half a year ago, according to the fifth and latest survey from Bright Line Watch.
Political scientists monitor threats to US democratic institutions
“One of the greatest threats to democracy is the idea that it is unassailable.” That’s the tagline of Bright Line Watch, which neatly sums up the group’s motivation. Made up of four political scientists including University of Rochester professor Gretchen Helmke, the non-partisan initiative has set out to monitor democratic institutions in the United States and potential threats to those practices.
Political experts say U.S. democracy healthier than public thinks
The third Bright Line Watch survey, co-authored by Rochester political scientist Gretchen Helmke, focuses on the health of U.S. democratic institutions and compares the results from thousands of political professionals with the general public.