The Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2020: A National Referendum on the Trump Presidency
Gary C. Jacobson discusses the 2020 presidential and congressional elections. He argues that the elections were above all a referendum on Donald Trump’s presidency, which provoked extreme levels of party loyalty, partisan polarization, and partisan animosity in the electorate, as well as the highest voter turnout in more than a century.

Policy or Pique? Trump and the Turn to Great Power Competition
Deborah Welch Larson analyzes Donald Trump’s policy toward China and Russia and the return of great power competition. She argues that Trump’s personalization of foreign policy undermined his trade war with China, and efforts to improve relations with Russia and that the Joe Biden administration will continue to compete but seek cooperation in areas of shared interests.

Loyalists and Switchers: Characterizing Voters’ Responses to Donald Trump’s Campaign and Presidency
Meredith Dost, Ryan Enos, and Jennifer Hochschild look at the crucial segment of American voters who have changed their views about Donald Trump since the 2016 presidential election. Using two original surveys, they find that attitudes on race and immigration, populism and authoritarianism, and the nation’s and their own economic well-being are all associated with loyalty to and switching from this divisive president.

America’s Crisis of Democracy
William G. Howell and TERRY M. MOE explain how the populist threat to American democracy has been fueled by our government’s ineffective responses to the disruptive economic and cultural problems of modernity. They argue that saving democracy calls for aggressive policy actions and institutional reforms that balance the promise and the fear of presidential power.

U.S. Geopolitics and Nuclear Deterrence in the Era of Great Power Competitions
Peter Rudolf argues that in the new era of great power competitions the United States is faced with the question of whether to seek some form of geopolitical accommodation based on de facto spheres of influence and buffer zones or to push ahead with strategic rivalries overshadowed by the risk of a military conflict with a nuclear dimension.

How the 1976 Election Reshaped American Politics: A Review Essay
Kathryn Cramer Brownell reviews two recently published books on Jimmy Carter: The Election of the Evangelical: Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and the Presidential Contest of 1976 and Jimmy Carter and the Birth of the Marathon Media Campaign. She argues that the discussion of the 1976 election put forth in these two books contributes to our understanding of modern political realignment and polarization.

How America Lost Its Mind: The Assault on Reason That’s Crippling Our Democracy, Thomas E. Patterson
Reviewed by Andrew Hacker

The President on Capitol Hill: A Theory of Institutional Influence, Jeffrey E. Cohen
Reviewed by Joshua B. Kennedy

Un-American: The Fake Patriotism of Donald J. Trump, John J. Pitney Jr.
Reviewed by Verlan Lewis

Entrenchment: Wealth, Power, and the Constitution of Democratic Societies, Paul Starr
Reviewed by James A. Morone

Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States, Matt Grossmann
Reviewed by Adam S. Myers

Rising Titans, Falling Giants: How Great Powers Exploit Power Shifts, Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson
Reviewed by Kyle Haynes

Promoting Democracy: The Force of Political Settlements in Uncertain Times, Manal A. Jamal
Reviewed by Erin A. Snider

Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality, Ian S. Lustick
Reviewed by DOV WAXMAN

From Quills to Tweets: How America Communicates about War and Revolution, Andrea J. Dew, Marc A. Genest and S.C.M. Paine
Reviewed by James J. Wirtz

The Politics of War Powers: The Theory and History of Presidential Unilateralism, Sarah Burns
Reviewed by Clement Fatovic

First in the South: Why South Carolina’s Presidential Primary Matters, H. Gibbs Knotts and Jordan M. Ragusa
Reviewed by Seth C. Mc Kee

Liberty in Peril: Democracy and Power in American History, Randall G. Holcombe
Reviewed by Chris Barker

Politics of Empowerment: Disability Rights and the Cycle of American Policy Reform, David Pettinicchio
Reviewed by Kelly A. Clancy

Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump’s War on the World’s Most Powerful Office, Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes
Reviewed by Graham G. Dodds

Black Utopia: The History of an Idea from Black Nationalism to Afrofuturism, Alex Zamalin
Reviewed by Adam Ewing

Banned: Immigration Enforcement in the Time of Trump, Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia
Reviewed by Flavio R. Hickel Jr.

Rejecting Compromise: Legislators’ Fear of Primary Voters, Sarah E. Anderson, Daniel M. Butler and Laurel Harbridge-Yong
Reviewed by Alex Keena

Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior, Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird
Reviewed by Brianna N. Mack

Quagmire in Civil War, Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl
Reviewed by David E. Cunningham

Leadership Decapitation: Strategic Targeting of Terrorist Organizations, Jenna Jordan
Reviewed by Dorle Hellmuth

Divided Armies: Inequality and Battlefield Performance in Modern War, Jason Lyall
Reviewed by Max Margulies

The Legacy Structure of Russia’s One Hundred Year Transformation, David Foley
Reviewed by Peter Rutland

Power, Participation, and Protest in Flint, Michigan: Unpacking the Policy Paradox of Municipal Takeovers, Ashley E. Nickels
Reviewed by Louise Seamster

Clinton’s Elections: 1992, 1996, and the Birth of a New Era of Governance, Michael Nelson
Reviewed by Nicole L. Anslover

After Reagan: Bush, Dukakis, and the 1988 Election, John J. Pitney Jr.
Reviewed by Christopher J. Devine

Racism, Latinos, and the Public Policy Process, Henry Flores
Reviewed by Christopher Stout

Crisis! When Political Parties Lose the Consent to Rule, Cedric de Leon
Reviewed by Mara Suttmann-Lea