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The Gerrymandering Project at 538 has begun an interesting conversation by producing eight sets of national congressional maps, each with a distinct goal.They demonstrate what maps would look like with a GOP or a Democratic lean, and then also zero in on other objectives often sought by mapmakers, such as compactness, competitiveness, maximizing majority-minority seats, or matching the likely statewide outcome to the state’s partisan breakdown.One of the great contributions of this giant effort

Vermont is poised to become the 30th U.S. state to legalize marijuana for medical or recreational consumption, and the first state to legalize adults’ possession and limited cultivation of marijuana through an act of the legislature, rather than by popular ballot proposition. A bill that would make marijuana legal for adults in Vermont received final approval Wednesday from the Vermont Senate and will soon make its way to the desk of Gov. Phil Scott, who vetoed a similar bill in 2017. In Decem

A lot of people feel pretty strongly about their political opinions. Often we feel like they are quite set in stone; based on some very deep values that won't change much. A lot of people also feel like their opinions are based on well-thought-out logic and reasoning, from gathering evidence. However, there's substantial evidence to suggest that when another tribe's opinions solidify on an issue, our tribe runs away--and we join them. Our opinions on important issues are often fluid and fickle

Supporters of a 2018 ballot initiative to legalize psychedelic mushrooms in California were given the green light by the state attorney general's office earlier this month to circulate petitions and gather signatures. They now have until April 30 to gather and submit 365,880 valid signatures from registered voters in the first state to ever legalize medical marijuana under Proposition 215 in 1996. That ballot proposition, as well as Prop. 64 -- the 2016 voter initiative titled "The Adult Use o

Mass-Care is the name of the Bay State’s campaign to bring affordable health care to all Massachusetts residents under a single-payer system. Such a system could serve as the archetype for all of the US. However, even making strides at the state level can be difficult in the current political climate. Massachusetts lawmakers seem open to the idea. The State Senate recently voted 33-6 (with all Republican senators dissenting) to further explore the single-payer option after prolonged debate and

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

The subject of health care reform is a battle that has been raging since the 1990s. This issue erupted when the cost of health care began to rise. Coincidentally, the increase in costs rose around the time Healthcare Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) made their appearance. The actual format of HMOs -- which were first established in 1929 with Ross-Loos Medical Group in Los Angeles, California -- did not take shape until 1977 when HMO health care plans were established by the Fallon Clinic and B

Dr. Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, and a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, recently had some sobering words for the two major political parties in the United States. On a Washington Post podcast, Dean said, "The most reliable demographic of our voters are the young people across the board, across racial and ethnic lines," but added that this is a major problem for the DNC, because: "These people are not Democrats." Dean went on to explain: "Th

Statistics are pointing to a another steep rise in opioid deaths within the next 10 years. To illustrate the point of just how critical the crisis has become, in the state of Massachusetts, 90% of all drug overdoses are attributed to opioids. In Connecticut, the figure stands at 86%. Days after his administration said it wasn't ready to declare it an emergency, President Trump said he’s drafting paperwork to declare the opioid crisis a "national emergency." In an announcement on Thursday, the

President Trump tweeted about his new chief of staff friday afternoon, writing "Reince Preibus is a good guy, John Kelly is a star." Four stars actually. John Kelly, the new White House chief of staff, is a retired four-star Marine general who served with distinction in the military for over four decades. Maybe most importantly, Kelly was not involved in the 2016 campaign and didn't support any of the candidates. His history is very impressive. In 1970, Kelly enlisted in the Marines, two ye