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We are professors of political science sharing academic research relevant to Utah. Posts are not peer reviewed and may discuss work in progress that is subject to future revision. Learn more. Each post reflects only its author’s views.
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Author Archives: Adam Brown
How educated are Utah’s legislators?
How do Utah’s two chambers rank in terms of legislators’ education? The Utah Senate is above average. The Utah House is well below average. There are 99 state legislative bodies in the United States. That is, there are 49 states … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged education, legislature
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How educated are Utah’s legislators?
Why do county parties have platforms?
Recently I wanted to dig up all the county-level Republican and Democratic platforms here in Utah. My interest came from the pro-life plank in the surprisingly conservative Utah County Democratic platform–I wanted to see how many other county platforms in … Continue reading
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Tagged county parties, partisanship, platforms
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Why do county parties have platforms?
Is Rep. Dougall the same (ideologically) as Rep. Frank?
Utah news has been aflutter for the past week about an error made by the Utah County Clerk’s office that results in Rep. Craig Frank losing his seat. Seems that a couple thousand Utahns–including Frank–who thought they lived in Frank’s … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged ideology, legislature, partisanship, redistricting, utah county
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Do Mormons really glow? A scientific study
Turns out Mormon radar is real. Even without the leggings and layered tops, you can spot a Mormon a mile off. Maybe you’ve heard something like this before: There was this sense of “glow” from him, which I heard about … Continue reading
An easy way to boost midterm-year turnout in Utah
We could expect a permanent 6.7% boost in Utah’s midterm-year turnout levels if we permanently moved gubernatorial elections to midterm years. Utah’s lieutenant governor declared that 2010 had the best turnout for a midterm election in Utah since 1994. Although … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged turnout
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An easy way to boost midterm-year turnout in Utah
More on whether good Mormons can be good Democrats
If it’s hard to persuade Mormon Republicans to cross party lines and vote for a Democrat, that’s because it’s hard to persuade anybody to cross party lines. Sometimes, people lie to pollsters. Not always, of course. But if you ask … Continue reading
Can a good Mormon be a good Democrat?
It’s true that most Utah Mormons are Republicans, but it’s not true that most Utah Mormons think good Mormons cannot be good Democrats. On election day, BYU cooperated with other universities to field the Utah Colleges Exit Poll. On the … Continue reading
Is Utah’s turnout low because it has so many young voters?
Utah’s youth are not to blame for Utah’s lower-than-average turnout. In my last post, I showed that voter turnout in Utah is worse than the lieutenant governor’s statistics imply. I admit that the graph I used then was a bit … Continue reading
Is Utah’s turnout up or is it down?
When measured correctly, Utah’s voter turnout was a paltry 35%, and it wasn’t the best for a midterm since 1994. The official word from the lieutenant governor’s office is that turnout was great in 2010, the highest for a midterm … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged greg bell, measurement, turnout
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Is Utah’s turnout up or is it down?
Why is Becky Lockhart the new speaker?
Don’t be too quick to conclude that leadership style alone decided the Speaker’s race, or that outside actors were decisive, or that money bought the Speaker’s race. It looks like Lockhart could have won on ideology alone. Officially, the battle … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged ideology, leadership, legislature, median voter theorem, speaker of the house
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Why is Becky Lockhart the new speaker?