Category: 2020 Election Sparks
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2020 Elections & The Presidency: Reelection
There are many things about the presidency that help a president when they run for reelection. As the center of government, the media and the public pay attention to the president more than any other public official. This puts the president in a good position to influence how people think about the job the president […]
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2020 Elections & Voting and Campaigns: Division
Voting in 2020 saw some familiar divides in the electorate and some that are new. Many observed there is a “diploma divide”, as college educated voters were more likely to vote Democratic than non-college educated voters. However, the diploma divide only exists among white voters. While Joe Biden narrowly won college-educated white voters, he lost […]
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2020 Elections & The Media: Disinformation
The 2020 election showed a rise in the power of social media, as well as the problems with social media. Campaigns spent hundreds of millions of dollars advertising on social media. However, there were questions about whether social media companies were simply allowing candidates to spread false information. At the same time, foreign operatives and […]
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2020 Elections & COVID: Voting in a Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic forced states to quickly adapt how they vote. Americans casted nearly twice as many votes by mail in 2020 as they did in 2016. Some states handled this flood of mail ballots very well, while other were forced to quickly make changes to handle these mail ballots. However, mail-in balloting is not […]
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2020 Elections & The Constitution: The Popular Vote
The 2020 election saw attempts by the Trump campaign to convince state legislative leaders to overturn the results of the popular vote in that state. This happened because of the electoral college. The Constitution grants state legislatures the power to decide how their electors will be selected. While each state has decided its electors will […]
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2020 Elections & The Supreme Court: Voting Rights
The Supreme Court had more work than usual dealing with elections in 2020 than it does in normal years. With the ongoing pandemic, many groups sought help in federal court to force states to make changes to voting procedures. Generally the Supreme Court rejected these requests. At the same time, other groups challenged voting procedure […]
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2020 Elections & Representation: Women and Racial Minorities
Historically both women and racial minorities have been underrepresented in American government. While that is still true, 2020 features some important gains for women and minority candidates. A record number of women were elected to Congress. For the first time in history, over 30% of state legislators will be women. Kamala Harris, a woman of […]
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2020 Elections & Economic Policy: Housing Policy
As usual, the election of 2020 had plenty of emphasis on economic policy. Among the economic policies discussed were housing policy and canceling student debt. Housing costs have risen dramatically in the United States the last several decades, making housing unaffordable for many Americans. Joe Biden made several proposals to make housing more affordable. Donald […]