Analysis: Latest Reports from The Washington Posts ‘Monkey Cage’

Congo’s newly reelected government is arresting the opposition. Here’s why.

Did incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso win reelection in Congo? As reported here in the Monkey Cage, activists claim Nguesso’s total votes were far short of the official government tally. Activists stayed at voting sites across the country to monitor the final counts for the nine candidates on the ballot, and then posted the results on […]

What’s really wrong with the U.S.-Saudi relationship

President Obama arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday to join a Gulf Cooperation Council summit. The visit has been widely portrayed as a bid to rebuild America’s currently contentious relations with its Gulf allies. Much of the discussion of U.S.-Saudi tensions has focused on Gulf regime grievances over the nuclear deal with Iran and the American […]

Why Hillary Clinton’s lavish Hollywood fundraiser was smart politics

Last Friday, Hillary Clinton hosted an expensive fundraiser in California. How expensive? A seat at the main table with Clinton, actor George Clooney and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin Clooney cost $353,400 per couple. While Clinton and Clooney argue that the money will go to down-ballot Democratic candidates for the House and Senate, others are skeptical. […]

Is the impeachment trial of Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff a coup?

Supporters of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached Sunday night, have been calling the proceedings a “coup.” Héctor Perla suggested here on Saturday that it constitutes a “soft coup.” Is Sunday’s vote actually a coup? The short answer: No. The long answer: No, but it’s not exactly democratic either. Let’s discuss what a coup […]

Here’s why it’s so hard to pull Greece out of its economic crisis

In early April, a leaked conversation between International Monetary Fund staff and the angry back-and-forth that followed were reminders that the Greek economic crisis is still here — and has kept the country in misery for over seven years. Here are five things to understand about the Greek crisis. When the options are costly, leaders avoid […]

This is why Bernie Sanders’s criticism of Israel won’t hurt him in today’s New York primary

The comments made by Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) at last week’s Democratic Party debate drew praise for breaking American political taboos about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Criticizing Israel’s military actions as “disproportionate” and calling for Palestinians to be treated with “respect and dignity” is certainly not what we’ve come to expect from American politicians, especially in […]

Holding hearings for Merrick Garland would actually help Senate Republicans. Here’s how.

According to some polls, nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the Senate should consider President Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Antonin Scalia’s death. Senate Republicans have refused to do so, marking the first time that opponents of a president’s Supreme Court nominee have blocked hearings entirely. Is […]

How the European Central Bank calmed Europe’s social unrest

Did European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policies bring calm in Europe? A few short years ago, mass demonstrations across Europe protested cuts in wages, pensions and other benefits. When Greece, Italy, Spain and other European countries could not cover their debt payments after the 2008-2009 global economic crisis, a number of E.U. governments imposed harsh […]

We did the math. Cruz was smart to campaign in a Bronx district with almost no Republican voters.

When Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz came to the Bronx to campaign in the run-up to the New York primary, ridicule was not far away. After all, what is a Republican candidate doing in the staunchly Democratic, minority-majority northern part of New York City? What is he doing in New York State at all, […]

Will Yemen’s latest round of negotiations reflect learning from past failures?

Negotiations to end the war in Yemen slated to begin Monday in Kuwait have been delayed. Will the third time be a charm or yet another flop? The first two attempts failed abysmally, because none of the parties involved were willing to accept anything other than total military victory. This time, things could be different. […]

The North Carolina bathroom bill could trigger a health crisis among transgender youth, research shows

In 2014, Blake Brockington was celebrated as the homecoming king of East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, N.C. When interviewed about this achievement, he noted that what was the “single-handedly hardest part of [his] trans journey” was that “really hateful things were said on the Internet. … I saw how narrow-minded the world really is. […]

How the U.S. tax system disadvantages racial minorities

As Americans rush to file their taxes by today’s deadline, many of them will take advantage of the tax breaks afforded them by the U.S. government. The government allows us to reduce our tax burden by taking deductions for things such as home mortgage interest and individual retirement accounts. But these benefits won’t help all […]

Why would Poland make its already strict abortion law draconian?  

Since 1993, Poland has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe: abortion is only available in cases of grave fetal defect, rape/incest, or threat to the life of the mother, and only within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.  This law replaced communist-era laws that made abortion widely available for four decades, and […]

Bernie Sanders thinks the Democratic primary process ‘distorts reality.’ Does history back this up?

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont recently said his party’s presidential primary process “distorts reality.” Specifically, Sanders criticized the timing of the Democrats’ primary schedule, which front-loads a considerable number of Southern state primary contests. In Sanders’s view, this schedule’s problem lies in the fact that states unlikely to vote Democratic in the general […]

4 things you should know about Niger’s recent elections

Niger held concurrent presidential and legislative elections on Feb. 21. Incumbent Mahamadou Issoufou won the first round just shy of a majority, while challenger Hama Amadou — campaigning from prison under charges of baby trafficking — came in second. Issoufou’s PNDS party won 36 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. In a runoff […]

Guatemala’s civil war ended 20 years ago today. Here are 4 things to know about its path to democracy.

Twenty years ago, Guatemala came to the end of its bloody, 36-year-long civil war. Here are four things to know about Guatemala’s steps towards democracy since then. 1. Getting to democracy has been rocky In 1954, Col. Carlos Castillo Arma ousted Jacob Arbenz, a democratically elected president. CIA archives reveal that the U.S. government backed this […]

Here’s why some people think Brazil is in the middle of a ‘soft coup’

Brazil’s elected government is in the news, but is it in the middle of a coup? Unlike Latin American coups in the 20th century, Brazil’s current turmoil involves no armies and no bloodshed — but Brazil could see a regime change, a “soft coup.” I’ve been studying Latin American politics for the past 20 years, […]

The Clash, ‘Cheat’: The Week In One Song

This week: Donald Trump alleges that the Republican Party nomination process is “rigged,” allowing elites to cheat him out of the nomination (even though some have argued that it is in fact the other way around).

If Sweden and Germany became U.S. states, would they be among the poorest?

Debates about economics often represent debates about politics. Within the United States, we see arguments pitting Democratic-leaning, high-tax states, such as New York and California, against Republican-led, low-tax states, such as Texas. When it comes to cross-national comparisons, the United States is often pitted against the social democratic countries of Northern Europe. The latest shot […]

This research from Nigeria shows us how a government can build a tax base

Like most of Nigeria’s states, tiny Osun in southwestern Nigeria relies a lot on transfers of oil revenues from the federal government. In 2014, these transfers accounted for more than 85 percent of the state’s annual budget. While signing into law a new bill that expanded the state’s collection of property taxes earlier this month, […]

If Hillary Clinton is running for Obama’s ‘third term,’ she faces these challenges

So it looks as if Hillary Clinton is on her way to winning the Democratic presidential nomination. Despite speed bumps, her efforts to position herself as President Obama’s heir apparent seem to be paying off. That brings with it some challenges, which we can study in the presidencies of two previous “heirs”: George H.W. Bush, […]