Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Podcast: What decisions do political parties make after losing an election?

Podcast: What decisions do political parties make after losing an election?

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Seth Masket's name.

In this episode of "Politics In Question," Seth Masket joins Julia and James to consider how losing an election affects partisans.


Market is a professor of political science and the director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver. He is the author of several books and articles on political parties, campaigns and elections, and state legislatures. His most recent book is "Learning from Loss: The Democrats 2016-2020" (Cambridge 2020). Masket contributes regularly at FiveThirtyEight, Mischiefs of Faction, and the Denver Post.

He is currently working on a book project examining the Republican Party’s interpretations of the 2020 election and its preparations for 2024.Who holds power in the Democratic and Republican parties after an election defeat? Does the location of power vary between the two parties? How do partisans explain losing an election? And how do party leaders and partisan activists try to frame election defeats to gain leverage on their intra-party rivals? These are some of the questions Seth, Julia, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

https://open.spotify.com


Read More

Overreach Abroad, Silence at Home
low light photography of armchairs in front of desk

Overreach Abroad, Silence at Home

In March 2024, the Department of Justice secured a hard-won conviction against Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, for trafficking tons of cocaine into the United States. After years of investigation and months of trial preparation, he was formally sentenced on June 26, 2024. Yet on December 1, 2025 — with a single stroke of a pen, and after receiving a flattering letter from prison — President Trump erased the conviction entirely, issuing a full pardon (Congress.gov).

Defending the pardon, the president dismissed the Hernández prosecution as a politically motivated case pursued by the previous administration. But the evidence presented in court — including years of trafficking and tons of cocaine — was not political. It was factual, documented, and proven beyond a reasonable doubt. If the president’s goal is truly to rid the country of drugs, the Hernández pardon is impossible to reconcile with that mission. It was not only a contradiction — it was a betrayal of the justice system itself.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ending the Cycle of Violence After Oct. 7

People visit the Nova festival memorial site on January 23, 2025 in Reim, Israel.

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Ending the Cycle of Violence After Oct. 7

The United States and Israel maintain a "special relationship" founded on shared security interests, democratic values, and deep-rooted cultural ties. As a major non-NATO ally, Israel receives significant annual U.S. security assistance—roughly $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing and $500 million for missile defense—to maintain its technological edge.

BINYAMINA, NORTHERN ISRAEL — The Oct. 7 attack altered life across Israel, leaving few untouched by loss. In its aftermath, grief has often turned into anger, deepening divisions that have existed for generations. But amid the devastation, some Israelis and Palestinians are choosing a different response — one rooted not in vengeance, but in peace.

Keep ReadingShow less
America’s Operating System Needs an Update

Congress 202

J. Scott Applewhite/Getty Images

America’s Operating System Needs an Update

As July 4, 2026, approaches, our country’s upcoming Semiquincentennial is less and less of an anniversary party than a stress test. The United States is a 21st-century superpower attempting to navigate a digitized, polarized world with an operating system that hasn’t been meaningfully updated since the mid-20th century.

From my seat on the Ladue School Board in St. Louis County, Missouri, I see the alternative to our national dysfunction daily. I am privileged to witness that effective governance requires—and incentivizes—compromise.

Keep ReadingShow less