Beware of “Minute Rice” experts on American politics

As the circus-like presidential election approaches, everyone is an expert on the United States.

A few years ago, two fellow political scientists issued a warning about the analysts who inevitably appear when the news heats up. called them”»… ready in five minutes!

We’re seeing the same phenomenon around the opening American presidential campaign, when commentators sum up the situation by launching into epithets like Joe Biden is senile, Donald Trump is crazy, or Americans are stupid.

Useless summaries

Are we really more sophisticated enough to understand complex reality by swinging these kinds of epithets?

This kind of ‘analysis’ won’t get a passing grade on a student paper, not to mention that those who insist on Biden’s age and occasional inconsistencies ignore the fact that Trump is almost as old and his inconsistencies are occasionally greater.

Political actors should be judged by their actions and not by some caricature of their physical or mental state.

Actions and facts

In the case of Biden, whether we like his policies or not, his presidency is littered with achievements that point to his inability to carry out his duties.

On many issues, including infrastructure, Biden has succeeded where his predecessor failed. At the end of the protracted debt ceiling negotiations, Republican Kevin McCarthy praised the stamina and mental acuity of Biden, who is widely considered the winner of this showdown.

As for the rumors linking Joe Biden to his son’s nefarious and potentially criminal schemes, these are just rumors that years of research have not been able to support with evidence.

As for the acts and deeds that question Donald Trump’s moral authority or abilities, I would need a separate section to list them. If you had to fill a position in your organization, would you hire someone facing four criminal trials on 91 counts, not to mention countless civil lawsuits?

Circus and reality

The upcoming election will be normal, but we still need to try to understand the American voters without taking the easy way out.

Indeed, if the collective choices of Americans seem illogical or irrational, it is not because the electorate is insane. The challenge of analysis is to understand how irrational citizens can come to collective decisions that go beyond understanding.

how to do This is not the stage for a political science lesson, but, even if the upcoming election looks like a circus, it is necessary to actually try to stay anchored and let go of emotions. If we want to understand it better, the locker room. It won’t be easy, but the audience will expect nothing less.