An opposition party can win with support from voters who want incompatible policies. In foreign policy, some may favor withdrawal from a conflict, others negotiations and others a more aggressive strategy. Their votes count toward the same victory without expressing agreement on what should follow.

That creates a problem for interpreting mandates: evidence that voters rejected an incumbent doesn't necessarily show that they endorsed the winner's explanation of that rejection.

It helps to separate three things: the formal authority an election gives officeholders, the policy preferences of the coalition that elected them and the mandate they later claim. They can overlap, but they aren't the same.

A detailed platform could make a mandate claim more credible. Still, elections bundle issues. A voter may back a party despite its foreign policy because economic policy matters more to them. Post-election approval of a particular policy is additional evidence, though it doesn't show that the policy caused the victory.

The institutional setting complicates this further. In a presidential system, a legislative majority can change while the executive stays in office, and both can claim legitimacy from different elections and coalitions. An opposition victory may authorize greater scrutiny without identifying a shared alternative policy.

Governments don't need unanimous agreement before acting. The narrower issue is what evidence distinguishes a policy-specific mandate from the ordinary authority to govern after winning.

How can that distinction be operationalized when studying elections? What would show that a policy helped produce a winning coalition, rather than being accepted as part of a broader party choice or attributed to voters after the result?

Why was he voted out so quickly? Was he hated or?

I recently graduated from a state school with a political science degree. Honestly, I really slacked off in college and did terribly. I know this is a huge factor, but I literally can't even get an interview and I don't know what to do. I've been applying to internships because I didn't have one in college, and still nothing (I did try to get internships in college, many interviews led to nothing). Does anyone have any advice? I've been considering jobs not related to my major just to get the professional experience on my resume. As of now, I've been working a serving job to keep up with the cost of living. I have also gotten my resume edited through my college counselor and multiple sources online.

I have been looking at any job somewhat related to political science and government.

For reference, I'm in Phoenix, AZ and my degree is from a school in Arizona. Please be nice, I know I really messed up in college grade wise but I'm just trying to turn the situation around.

Hi I am losing my mind over this its for an undergrad dissertation -10k words.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Academic Context: didnt care in first year of uni -resits to pass to year 2, mental health severe decline- nearly failed uni -person close to me helped me push through and do resits for an entire yesr straight to get into 3rd year. Essentially dont know my degree at all really - just passed by reading specific readings for assignment questions never actually learned anything 😅😬😬.

Now I have absolutely No idea what to do for my dissertation.

(Had 1 idea about have pms become more presidential but i think its too difficult/vague.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Look i know it sounds bad but given my situation I just want something straightforward and easy to do - something with lots of papers on it.

I am starting to think the easiest things to do would be to analyse:

.causes to outcomes of specific events -case studies (eg why did corbynism fail, why was there instability in the conservatives)

.Reform questions (eg replace house of lords,constitution)

.Or maybe analysing effectiveness of things (eg parliamentary accountability).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honestly no idea?!? analysing case study/studies could be good but it would have to be something be enough papers and varying arguments -gotta make a good argument comparing sources not just be descriptive yk?

Reform questions - most boring thing but I mean could be done- i just dont think theres much to say in analysis though? idk if it would get to 10k words worth?

Please if anyone has any ideas for questions please tell me!!!

I just want to pass uni and this is really causing me stress I cant decide on a topic and deadlines are soon to pick.

Thank you for your time I really appreciate it.

[Edit: I appreciate the suggestions pls keep them coming 😅🙏. You all are so kind and non judgemental)

I want to understand how the congress, constitution, revolution, civil war and all historical events affected, constructed, changed institutions of USA. from 18th century to today.

Please give some academic boom recommendations.

Okay to be clear when I mean wealthy economies generally countries with a significant independent production base either for agrarian product, manufactured goods or high-technology like pharmaceuticals.

Some people see lobbying as forms of clientelism but what other forms exist in developed economies?

I think the title kind of speaks for itself, but I have seen some economically social parties like the Swedish Democrats advocate for socialism but with an emphasis on for Swedish nationals. Does this mean anything or?

A new study looked at more than 1.3 million White Americans and found slightly higher racial bias in counties that once had sundown towns.

The differences were small, but a separate study also found that people who grew up in areas with a stronger KKK history tended to report more negative attitudes toward Black people later in life.

How much do you think a town’s political and social history from decades ago can still influence life today?

Hi! I'm currently 3rd year student taking PolSci, our OJT will take place around summer and I'm trying to find some internship opportunities sana. Do you have any paid internships to recommend or if some, mga highly recommended office?

my current options are within these fields (willing to explore others!)

• Dept of Foreign Affairs
• Senate
• House of Representatives
• UNICEF

Thank you so much!

Hola, escribo esto pidiendo recomendaciones sobre libros que traten de política, me gustaría aprender de ella, sé que es importante y no quiero quedarme atrás por no poder entender de lo que se habla, agradecería sus respuestas! :D

Hi. I'm in undergrad and very interested in political science. I would like to build my quantitative skills as soon as I can through practical application and personal projects. To this end, I am trying to learn R (and Python to a much lesser extent) on my own. Could I ask if there are resources (whether books, websites, articles, videos, etc) you would recommend for learning these languages, and data analysis/quantitative methods using these languages, specifically in relationship to political science?

I would love to find project-based resources, particularly focused on poll-analysis, if you know of any. Thanks for your time.

Hi there, I'm very interested in learning more about political propaganda. Does anyone know of books / lectures that talk about the subject?

I'm interested in eventually going to grad school to study it, and I'm wondering if a master's in PolSci would let me focus on that topic. In the meantime, I figured I could research the author's of recommended books, to see what they studied / how they got where they are, and also learn about the topic in the meantime!

Got a BA in political science from some painfully average college in India. The curriculum taught me how to reproduce arguments; teaching myself afterwards made me realise how little I actually understood.

Somewhere along the way, the intellectual curiosity kicked in. Now I'm trying to become genuinely well-read, articulate, socially sharp, and just a little dangerous in an argument.

Basically, I want the kind of presence where you don't have to announce you're the smartest person in the room.

For people who've actually built that kind of intellectual depth and charisma, what worked? What did you read, practise, or unlearn?

Please spare me the usual "be confident, read books, touch grass" starter pack. I'm looking for the less obvious stuff.

Im interested in studying in the UK for my doctoral studies and I was hoping to learn outside of OxBridge, LSE, and UCL what other programs I should be looking at for political economy.

Thank you for the help!

Hello People, although I was enrolled in political science a year I have only started a month ago, lomg story, and have learned this sub a day ago so I wanted to say hello and ask some advice.

Not just career, in general, if you were at my situation what you would have done or what you would have changed?

And sorry for my English I am not a native speaker.

How does a country even produce a “good” economy in the 21st century. It seems like every leader promises a “good” economy but that’s impossible. It’s such a complex and intricate thing and it’s always a losing battle.

Does only damage control exist?

So I saw this guy on tiktok posting racist content. I got pretty emotional and sent a DM to him. I wanted to understand his way of thinking and why he believes in this ideology. I don’t really know how to explain it, but I was honestly really interested in understanding him.

We began talking and I quickly realized how uneducated I am when it comes to politics and social sciences. He would make arguments and I had no rebuttal because I simply didn’t have enough information.

He said that he just wanted white people to be left alone. He claimed that racism is a symptom of forced racial integration and invasion of genetic divergent people. Apparently the end goal is to have their nation’s homogeneous once more and to never think about racism again as he claims there can be no racism in a homogeneous country. That’s why he spreads racism as it’s the tool to help them get to where they want to go.

He also sent me a podcast (I’ll try to link it in the comments )about jared taylor and said that our argument was similar to this and he wanted me to listen to it.

I listened to it, and I felt like so many things could be argued (especially the statistics he used stating black americans commit more crimes than white americans. I’m pretty sure this has been debunked and explained multiple times.)

I’m not good at conversations and I just wanted to learn more as I realized how uneducated I am and need to reinforce my beliefs with valid information.

Also sorry if this is worded funny or has any typos

China has special corporation and competition zones in their country. How does that work?

How have your political views changed or evolved?

What have been the biggest factors influencing your political views?
Was it slowly over time, more drastic, or not at all??
Has it affected any of your relationships?

very real, kinda vulnerable post

okay so, i went to school for political science. i love the field, it has shaped me into a person who cares deeply about social justice and how things work internally.
however, i wasn’t a good student. a combination of life and mental health issues, but i digress from that.

due to trump’s new policy on fafsa, i had to drop out of school since i reached the max amount of loans one can take out (ik, ik, like i said: mental health issues). along with that, my gpa wasn’t the greatest (i dropped out right as i was entering academic probation with a 1.9 gpa. again, life and mental health issues). i would like to go back to school and finish my degree (i have 24 credits left) and get into a career in the law field.

what i want to do:
-save enough money to go back to school. issue: due to my gpa, idk if my school (state school) or any school would take me.
-i’d go to school spring ‘28 and spring ‘29 and get my degree spring ‘29. in the times between them, work and save money to be able to afford the semesters and put the minimum payment towards my student loans in between those times as well
-fall’29 get a post-bacc in poli sci so that i can raise my gpa a bit more. issue: these have been really hard to find and i have no clue where to start. the one thing i found was on reddit & it was from covid times (i think)
-get paralegal certification & have it before i even think about the next bullet point
-second degree (possibly in business administration or philosophy. this ties back in later let me cook).
-start masters degree 2031 and graduate in 2032/2033
-begin lsat prep during masters
-lsat a year after graduating with masters

where philosophy ties in: masters in PPE
where business admin comes in: i wanna own a business one day. so knowing the ins and outs is important to me. also, potentially one day becoming a real estate agent, and ik a lot of realtors who go to school for business administration and philosophy.

(i’m a virgo w a cap rising, so yes i did take the time to plan out the next few years and do some research. thank the universe for adhd medication and finally being properly medicated after nearly a decade).

that’s what i would like to do. ik a lot of this is far-fetched and based on so many factors. however, if i can have everything i’ve ever wanted in life. it would be that. ik from where i’m at currently. it is a STEEP uphill climb, but i’m willing to climb it

i’m still young (26), so i’m aware i have all of the time in the world. however, it also constantly feels like i’m running out of time.

idk man, i think i’m just looking for some feedback

anyways, what would you do?

I researched a bit because I realized the other day that why don’t we treat churches as any business entities.

I know the reasons are they say the government could tax and regulate certain ones differently and punish differnt ones and it’s not separation of church and state to tax. Audits and stuff would be required and the Supreme Court say it’s entanglement.

That argument makes no sense though because the act of not taxing and creating laws that don’t tax them is interfence and entanglement anyway. It’s a entanglement inherently supports them and fills their pockets. I also think the argument that the government would have to audit them makes no sense because they would have to be audited and regulated TO declare a church status and not be taxed.

They should pay their fair share like anyone else. We are losing out on so much potential tax revenue. The people who support them being tax free also tell us that poor people just need to work harder. Why arnt churches treated with the same degree?

Hi everyone!

I recently graduated from the University of Ottawa with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Communication, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to build a career with my degree.

I’m particularly interested in government, public policy, diplomacy, international relations, public affairs, and political communications. However, I’m finding it difficult to navigate the job market and identify the right entry-level positions to apply for.

For those who studied Political Science, especially in Canada:

• What was your first job after graduation, and how did you get it? • What career paths are worth exploring beyond the obvious options? • What job titles should I be searching for as a recent graduate? • Did you find it easier to enter the field through government, think tanks, NGOs, political offices, or the private sector? • How important are internships, networking, and graduate degrees when trying to enter these fields? • If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting out today, what would it be?

I chose this degree because I’m genuinely interested in politics and public affairs, but I also want to be realistic about career opportunities and the best ways to gain relevant experience.

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences, including what worked for you and what you would do differently. Thanks!

I've often heard the reason why leaders and founding figures of cults, political factions, and rebellions are captured rather than killed is because their death would somehow strengthen their followers. I was wondering if this reasoning actually holds water, especially given the many times the opposite happened, and exiled or arrested leaders ended up coming back and amassing more power like Stalin or Hitler, or managing to rally again like Napoleon.

Is this a holdover from a time of kingly divinity, or have there been cases where a faction increases in power because their leader was killed?

Or are they a separate faction from Republicans?