During a time of deep political dysfunction in the United States, it is easy to assume that American democracy has gone off the rails, perhaps for good. But if Americans can look past the slow-motion travesty unfolding in Washington, DC, they will find that it is still within their power to effect meaningful change. BERKELEY – It has been one year since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, and America’s democratic institutions are clearly under strain. A mere 20% of American...

By definition, conventional wisdom is convention. It often has the added value of being right. I read a commentary by Joe Matthews recently that argued California’s Top Two primary works against centrists and actually increases the advantage of t­he more ideological candidates of the left and right. He argued that the pending primary battle between U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and her progressive Democratic challenger Kevin De Leon would force the five-time Senator to run to the left. Matthe...