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Fox relies on polls too much in planning GOP debate

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imagePoor polls results have pushed Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee off the main debate stage.REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (l), Mike Blake (r)

Polling is more important than ever in US presidential politics.

In the 2016 campaign, the polls now function as a primary election of their own, forcing candidates out of the race and influencing which candidates the...

Read more: Fox relies on polls too much in planning GOP debate

How ratings-driven presidential debates are weakening American democracy

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageAs Donald Trump knows all too well, sensationalism sells.Rick Wilking/Reuters

Anyone curious about the state of American democracy should simply tune into the GOP debate series, whose next episode airs Tuesday night on Fox Business Network.

If the first two debates are any indication, advertisers will be clamoring to buy up commercial spots,...

Read more: How ratings-driven presidential debates are weakening American democracy

Academic print books are dying. What's the future?

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageNumbered days of the print form of scholar's book?quattrostagioni, CC BY

The print-format scholarly book, a bulwark of academia’s publish-or-perish culture, is an endangered species. The market that has sustained it over the years is collapsing.

Sales of scholarly books in print format have hit record lows. Per-copy prices are at record highs....

Read more: Academic print books are dying. What's the future?

US and Chinese tempers rise in the South China Sea

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageUS Secretary of Defense Ash Carter observes the destroyer USS Lassen in the South China Sea. US Navy

US defense officials are open about the fact they sent a guided-missile destroyer within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese artificial island in the South China Sea on October 27.

In response, Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted “islands in the...

Read more: US and Chinese tempers rise in the South China Sea

Businesses can actually sue you for posting negative reviews – and now Congress is fighting back

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageUpon purchasing a product, many consumers will sign contracts that contain gag clauses in the fine print.'Zipper' via www.shutterstock.com

In late September, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against two marketers of weight-loss supplements – Roca Labs, Inc and Roca Labs Nutraceutical USA, Inc.

According to the FTC, Roca...

Read more: Businesses can actually sue you for posting negative reviews – and now Congress is fighting back

If the US had price on carbon, would Keystone XL have made sense?

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageWhat would an environmental economist do? iip-photo-archive/flickr, CC BY-NC

In announcing the State Department’s decision to reject the permit application for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, President Obama focused on how this decision fits into the broader context of international negotiations on climate change.

With this decision made,...

Read more: If the US had price on carbon, would Keystone XL have made sense?

As the US heads to climate talks, it seeks a plan to 'trust but verify'

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageCrucial to Paris is a system to monitor and verify countries' pledges to reduce emissions.Kacper Pempel/Reuters

The United States, like many other countries, has been participating in negotiations in the lead-up to the United Nations' conference on climate change in Paris. The goal is to craft a policy framework that is going to engage all...

Read more: As the US heads to climate talks, it seeks a plan to 'trust but verify'

How the science of human behavior is beginning to reshape the US government

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageBehavioral research shows that federal employees are more likely to click on an email if it's sent at lunchtime.Reuters

Back in September, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that marked a major turning point in the role that behavioral science plays in helping the federal government achieve policy goals.

The order, which directs...

Read more: How the science of human behavior is beginning to reshape the US government

Teaching assistants like me? Here's what could change

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageWhat difference can a teaching assistant make?https://www.flickr.com/photos/vandycft/, CC BY-NC

From 1995 to 2012, the rate of college completion in the United States has steadily fallen relative to other developed countries. Over this short period of time, the US went from having the highest young-adult college completion rate among OECD countries...

Read more: Teaching assistants like me? Here's what could change

More Articles ...

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  2. Fitness versus fatness: which matters more?
  3. The activists' playbook behind Obama's Keystone rejection
  4. The Keystone XL pipeline debate is over, but our infrastructure needs are not
  5. Hollywood shines a spotlight on real journalism
  6. Jobs report shows why it's time Speaker Ryan and President Obama sat down for a beer
  7. Black Panthers and Black Lives Matter -- parallels and progress
  8. Labor's rank and file still believe in collective bargaining's power to bolster middle class
  9. Think you're reading the news for free? New research shows you're likely paying with your privacy
  10. It's not rocket science: we need a better way to get to space
  11. Will the Arctic shift from a carbon sink to a carbon source?
  12. 'Powerpoint was not his thing': a poem on teaching and technology
  13. On the 120th anniversary of the X-ray, a look at how it changed our view of the world
  14. Ben Carson: token candidate
  15. How we got to now: why the US and Europe went different ways on GMOs
  16. How do our brains reconstruct the visual world?
  17. Here are some more reasons why liberal arts matter
  18. Labs make new, dangerous synthetic cannabinoid drugs faster than we can ban them
  19. How campaign finance disenfranchises America's silent majority of socialists
  20. Do refugees have a 'right' to hospitality?
  21. Sam Smith's ambitious attempt to reshape the Bond song lands with a whimper
  22. Ted Cruz's birther problem
  23. Delayed or killed, Keystone pipeline will live on as political touchstone
  24. What is the legacy of Yitzhak Rabin?
  25. Ohio strikes blow against gerrymandering
  26. If a solar plant uses natural gas, is it still green?
  27. Lessons from Newark: why school reforms will not work without addressing poverty
  28. Wedding bells or single again: psychology predicts where your relationship is headed
  29. In the verses of Jordan's most popular poet, the hopes and fears of the Arab world
  30. Eleven body fluids we couldn’t live without
  31. Some find redemption on death row, but few find mercy
  32. In our Wi-Fi world, the internet still depends on undersea cables
  33. As US shutters aging nuclear plants, cutting emissions will become more costly
  34. What Grantland's demise says about ESPN's past and future ambitions
  35. Why Asian Americans don't vote Republican
  36. 'Rise' of China's yuan is much ado about little
  37. The biggest sticking point in Paris climate talks: money
  38. Look what is being sold to kids when they are in school
  39. What do the new breast cancer screening guidelines recommend about when to start yearly mammograms?
  40. It turns out clothes really do make the man
  41. Cities are booming but progress is uneven and, to some, too costly
  42. Hearing ghost voices relies on pseudoscience and fallibility of human perception
  43. Is one of the largest real estate deals in American history a requiem for middle-class New York?
  44. Why mayors are looking for ideas outside the city limits
  45. Can innovators build a future that's both disruptive and just?
  46. They might sound gross, but intestinal worms can actually be good for you
  47. What gets students motivated to work harder? Not money
  48. Paul Ryan just accepted the worst job in politics
  49. Breaking the link between a conservative worldview and climate skepticism
  50. What should we make of Paul Ryan’s fondness for Ayn Rand?