In The News: Department of Political Science
It’s the system to “save America,” to some experts. To Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, it’s a “scam.” The ever-so-eloquent wordsmith Donald Trump called it “crap voting” and a “total rigged deal.” Its backers see it as a path back to political diversity. So do its opponents. None of them are right. It’s ranked-choice voting, Alaska-style.
Russian forces have reportedly penetrated the eastern lines of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region, though its overarching impact is perceived by experts to be minimal on a tactical level and mostly symbolic.
Nevada's rise to No. 2 in the Democratic presidential primary schedule was cause for celebration but also reflects intra-party turmoil from the results.
In Taiwan's nine-in-one election that just ended, the DPP lost a lot of land. In the capital city of Taipei, Chen Shizhong, who was favored at the beginning of the nomination, was reversed by Jiang Wanan of the Kuomintang; big cities such as Taoyuan, Keelung, and Hsinchu, whose municipalities were rated as five-star by the media, were unable to continue to govern, and the result shocked Taiwan's political circles.
While Nevada gave its best argument as to why it should hold the first Democratic presidential primary in 2024, South Carolina appears poised to get that honor after President Joe Biden briefed Democrats of his plan on Thursday.
Nevada Democrats want the Silver State to be the first in the nation to choose the party's 2024 presidential nominee.
Nevada’s Democrats want the Silver State to be the first in the nation to pick the party’s 2024 presidential nominee.
Voters turned against the ruling DPP due to their dissatisfaction with the party’s domestic performance, not because of their love for China.
Taiwan held local elections for mayor/county magistrates and city council members on November 26. As many had predicted, the ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), did not fare well. The number of DPP-controlled cities and counties narrowed further, from six to five, and its vote share drooped by around 5 percent compared to the party’s performance in the last midterm election in 2018.
The 2022 local elections are also the day when a referendum on constitutional amendments for 18-year-old citizens will be held. Although this referendum was unanimously approved by all parties in the Legislative Yuan, President Tsai Ing-wen strongly appealed before the election, and the former Kuomintang opponent Han Guoyu also shouted for it the day before the election. The final result of the referendum was 5.65 million votes in favor and more than 5.02 million votes against votes, but because it is far below the threshold of 9 million (a total of 18 million legitimate voters, half of which need to come out to vote in favor), the referendum case did not pass.
Despite efforts by Republicans to make inroads with Nevada’s Latino voters, early CNN exit polls show that outreach was largely unsuccessful.
It didn’t take long for Nevada Democrats’ redistricting maneuvering to pay off. A year after the Democrat-controlled Legislature redrew the state’s political boundaries, Democrats defended all three of the competitive congressional districts in Southern Nevada while also expanding their majorities in both chambers, including regaining a supermajority in the state Assembly.
