Once again, polls forecasting the outcome of a U.S. election were way off target. Why are pollsters so often wrong? Can polls be made more accurate? A 1947 survey for the Gallup Poll at the University of Iowa library in Iowa City, Iowa, 11 December 2012 (AP Photo/Ryan...
A candidate can win the U.S. presidency without winning the most votes. Americans don’t like the Electoral College, but it seems here to stay. Senate pages carry presidential electoral ballots to a joint session of Congress, Washington, DC, 6 January 2017....
To understand our world of today, students need to know where we came from. But history in a vacuum can be a turnoff if it’s not connected to current events. Bernd Debusmann’s decoder offers a historical look at the curious institution of the U.S. Electoral College, while connecting the dots to today’s political events in that country. The article links to documents that open the door to further study and poses three questions at the end that are fodder for classroom discussion.
Jews were blamed by some for spreading the Black Death plague in the Middle Ages. Now, incidents of antisemitism are on the rise during COVID-19. Only the word “masks” can still be read from an inscription that was formerly “Jews = mask...
COVID-19 has stifled economic activity, leading to a drop in carbon emissions and clearer skies. But don’t count on the pandemic saving our planet. India Gate in New Delhi, India, pictured on 28 October 2019 (top) and on 20 April 2020 (bottom), showing improved...
Some rich nations are making progress in slowing the spread of COVID-19. But a lack of global cooperation threatens the developing world. Homeless people wait in line for food during a COVID-19 lockdown in Johannesburg, South Africa, 13 April 2020. (EPA-EFE/KIM...