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2026 QB rankings: Elite class ready to take over college football
Our post‑spring rankings stack up the quarterbacks most capable of defining college football this upcoming season.
MLB power rankings at the season's quarter-mark
Where do teams stand now compared to their preseason ranking?
CBS Sports 138: Ohio State edges out Texas for No. 1 in post-spring college football rankings
Ranking every FBS team ahead of the 2026 college football season with spring practice now in the rearview mirror
⚾️ Y! Sports AM: MLB power rankings
Where do teams stand now compared to their preseason ranking?
Nebraska rises in poll rankings following sweep of Iowa
Nebraska baseball jumped to No. 21 in the nation after sweeping the Iowa Hawkeyes over the weekend.
Indiana high school softball rankings: Updated SCAI polls for May 11
The Softball Coaches Association of Indiana ranks the top-15 teams in each class. Here are this week's rankings.
2026 NFL strength of schedule for all 32 teams: Bears facing possible collapse, Browns might catch a break
Let's break down the strength of schedule ranking for all 32 NFL teams heading into the 2026 season
Survey ranks best over-the-counter medications and health products
U.S. News & World Report is out with its 2026 rankings of the best over-the-counter medications and health products.
WNBA power rankings: Breakout players for each team after opening weekend
The 2026 WNBA season kicked off with upsets and breakout performances. See where your favorite team ranks after opening weekend.
How Executives Rank The World’s Best Business Schools In 2026
CEOWorld's Global Business School Ranking harnesses how 250,000 readers view the world's business programs.
College baseball rankings for Week 14: Updated USA TODAY Sports Coaches poll, top 25 polls
Here's a look at the updated USA TODAY Coaches Poll, D1Baseball poll and Baseball America poll on Monday, May 11
Chairs Ask President to Raise Political Prisoner Cases in China
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-New Jersey), the Chair and Co-chair respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) released a letter today calling on the President to personally raise the cases of Americans, U.S. lawful permanent residents, and their family members, who have been unjustly detained in the People’s Republic of China, during his next meeting with General Secretary Xi Jinping.The Chairs were joined on the letter by CECC Ranking Members Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative James McGovern (D-MA).
Ranking Howie Roseman's 5 best Eagles offseason moves in 2026 offseason
Here’s a ranking of Howie Roseman’s five best Eagles moves this offseason.
The Los Angeles Times' top 25 high school baseball rankings
A look at the top 25 high school baseball teams in the Southland after the final week of the 2026 regular season.
Nintendo Announces $50 Switch 2 Price Increase as Pokémon Pokopia Crosses 4 Million Sales
Pokémon Pokopia is widely known to have been a successful launch for Nintendo, with the life sim having recently climbed its way to the top of Metacritic's 2026 game rankings with an impressive 89 Metacritic score. Now, recent financial filings indicate that Pokopia has been more than simply a criti...
Seminole Ridge takes top spot in USA TODAY Sports Super 25 girls flag football rankings
As spring flag football ramps up in May, which teams are vying to be crowned as best in the nation?
Kansas State transfer guard Abdi Bashir Jr. commits to LSU
Kansas State transfer guard Abdi Bashir Jr. has committed to LSU, On3’s Joe Tipton reports. LSU will mark Bashir Jr.’s third program in four seasons. He was the No. 125 ranked player in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings. Bashir Jr. played his first two collegiate seasons at Monmouth (2023-2025), and spent last season at Kansas State. […]
Elitist Journal Lists Undermine The Social Purpose Of Business Schools
FT’s list of ranking-worthy publications undercuts research into power, inequality & corporate responsibility, write Carl Rhodes & Alison Pullen.
The 15 best moments in historic Iowa Hawkeyes sports year
Register sports columnist reflects on Iowa's 2025-26 sports year by ranking the top 15 Hawkeye moments in football, basketball and wrestling.
ACC football rankings: Where all 17 teams sit after spring practice
After playing for the national title last year, Miami leads the ACC power rankings after spring practice with other contenders full of questions.
Top 10 most powerful African passports, according to latest ranking
Business Insider Africa presents the top 10 most powerful African passports, according to the latest ranking
Taking a look at four of the most overrated episodes of television in entertainment history
"Pine Barrens" celebrates its 25th anniversary, inspiring a ranking of four overrated TV episodes from The Sopranos, Seinfeld, and Game of Thrones.
2026 USA TODAY Sports/AVCA boys volleyball regional rankings, Week 9
USA TODAY Sports and AVCA reveal the regional high school boys volleyball rankings for Week 9 of the 2026 season.
Sprawl Rankings Reveal Health Benefits and Cost Offsets in Compact, Connected U.S. County and Metro Areas | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
New report ranks over 200 metropolitan areas based on development density, street connectivity, population/employment centering, and land-use mix.
Where Nebraska stands in USA TODAY Sports post-springs rankings
USA TODAY Sports released its post-spring Big Ten rankings and the Huskers were in the middle of the pack.
KFF Health Tracking Poll: MAHA and the Midterms
This KFF Health Tracking Poll finds that the cost of health care is a more prominent focus for Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) voters than issues like food and vaccine policy. Four in ten MAHA voters (42%) choose lowering health costs as the most important health priority, outranking other MAHA priorities.
Bears make a jump in new ESPN Power Rankings
ESPN put the Chicago Bears in the top ten of its most recent power rankings heading into the 2026 NFL season. @kdthompson5 explores here:
Justin Boone's Updated Fantasy Football Backup RB Rankings: 2026 NFL Draft shakes up latest list for May
High school softball top 20 rankings for the Southland
Norco is No. 1 going into the final week of the regular season in softball. Here's how the rest of the top 20 shapes up.
Ranking the 10 worst QB rooms in NFL entering 2026; starting predictions for Week 1
Ranking the 10 worst quarterback rooms to begin 2026's NFL season.
USA's Christian Pulisic A Top-75 World Cup Star? 'He'll Get Back To That Point'
Maurice Edu, Stu Holden and Alex Lalas debate Christian Pulisic's spot in FOX Sports' World Cup Top 100 Players Ranking.
Kansas baseball reaches top 10 in latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
Kansas baseball has extended its winning streak to 10 games, and that’s helped it earn a ranking in the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
College softball rankings for Week 13: Updated top 25 for Softball America, RPI rankings
Oklahoma remains the top-ranked team in the country heading into the SEC Softball Tournament. Here's an updated look at the full top 25 rankings.
MLB Power Rankings: Braves riding the hot hand all the way to the best record in baseball
Meanwhile, another NL East team is soaring up the rankings and the Dodgers look dangerously...fine?
2026 NL Central Power Rankings: Week 6
The hottest division in baseball
Sports Roundup: Weekend Scores & Latest Power Rankings
Nantucket Current is the island's leading online news source. We deliver the news, stories, and people of Nantucket, unbiased and unfiltered.
The Los Angeles Times' top 25 high school baseball rankings
A look at the top 25 high school baseball teams in the Southland after the 11th week of the season.
Iowa football just inside top 25 of USA TODAY Sports 1-138 Rankings
With spring ball wrapped up, Iowa finds itself within the top 25 of USA TODAYS Sports' 1-138 re-rank.
Where Michigan football 2027 recruiting class ranks after Lipsey pledge
Now that the Wolverines have their sixth commitment (again), here is where they rank in 2027 recruiting rankings.
Ranking college football's toughest 2026 schedules for top CFP contenders after spring practices
Which College Football Playoff contenders have the toughest roads in 2026?
NASA Fires Up Futuristic Plasma Thruster Designed to Take Us to Mars
Earlier this year, NASA fired up a "next generation" prototype electric thruster, cranking it up to record power levels.
Ranking all four Stanley Cup playoff rounds by entertainment factor
Do the playoffs get less interesting as they go…or more interesting?
The high-ranking officials Trump has fired, forced to resign or moved elsewhere in his second term
Administrative turnover is nothing new for this notoriously fickle president
NWSL Power Rankings: Utah Royals make serious noise; Kansas City Current far from where they need to be
There was plenty of movement in our latest rankings as USWNT talent made big impacts
Where CBS Sports has Alabama football in post-spring top 25 rankings
CBS Sports cites 'reduced confidence' in Alabama football as part of its post-spring ranking of the Crimson Tide entering Year 3 under Kalen DeBoer.
Champions League Power Rankings: PSG underdogs despite advantage on Bayern; Atleti built to surprise Arsenal
Here's how the semifinalists rank after 90 minutes played, and you might be surprised where Arsenal sit
Fantasy Football Power Rankings: Stacking the teams from 32 to 1 in aftermath of the 2026 NFL Draft
WDR Baseball Power Rankings - Competitive league races taking shape
See what this week's Wooster Daily Record's Baseball Power Rankings look like.
Trump wants to turn Fed into another 'political animal': Sen. Warren
The Senate Banking Committee will vote on Wednesday, April 29, over whether to confirm Kevin Warsh's nomination as the next chair of the Federal Reserve. This comes on the same day as Jerome Powell's last FOMC meeting as the head of the US central bank. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma.) — the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee — speaks with Yahoo Finance Senior Fed Reporter Jennifer Schonberger about her questioning of Warsh, the likelihood that Powell will stay on the Fed's Board of Governors, and her perspective on President Trump's economic agenda.
Peters, Slotkin, Walberg, and Huizenga Call on Small Business Administration to Approve Disaster Declaration to Assist Communities Impacted by Southwest Michigan Tornadoes
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), alongside U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI-05) and Bill Huizenga (R-MI-04), are urging the Small Business Administration (SBA) to support Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s request for an administrative disaster declaration following the devastating tornadoes in Southwest Michigan this […]
Ranking each team's 2026 NFL Draft class: Chiefs, Browns, Jets crush it; Steelers, Rams, 49ers raise questions
Keep reading to see how your team did -- everything from our favorite picks to best values to most surprising selections
Prisco's NFL Power Rankings, post-draft edition: Cowboys set to make Super Bowl push
A revamped defense and an explosive offense have Dallas primed to finally make a legitimate Super Bowl run under Dak Prescott.
The Official Collectibles Power Rankings: This Week’s Top 5
We have a lot of randomness to discuss this week. So we’re introducing the first official COLLECTIBLES POWER RANKINGS brought to you by Mantel’s Mail Day (Tagli
Alabama football moves in USA TODAY Sports post-spring top 25 rankings
Alabama moves in USA TODAY Sports' post-spring rankings. Are Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide in a better or worse position than before?
Straight ‘F’s: Philadelphia region’s air quality ranking worsens in annual lung health report
The American Lung Association says the Philly area is among the worst in the country for levels of a pollutant that can cause lung and heart issues.
2026 Fantasy Football Rookie Dynasty/Keeper Rankings
Looking for fantasy football rookie rankings for your dynasty or partial-keeper league? We go 50 deep to help you prepare for your upcoming drafts.
Fantasy Baseball Rest-of-Season Rankings: Scott Pianowski's updated risers and fallers as of April 27
College baseball rankings for Week 12: Updated USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, top 25 polls
Here's an updated look at the USA TODAY Sports College Baseball Coaches Poll for Week 12 and more.
NBA Panic Meter Power Rankings: Which teams should be most concerned about the first round
MLB Power Rankings: There's a new No. 1 in town and they're running away with the division
No one's doubting the Dodgers but it's time to tip our cap to the red-hot Braves
Ranking 2026 NFL Draft's 15 biggest instant-impact rookies
The 2026 NFL Draft class could have several rookies emerge as instant-impact players, including Caleb Downs and Sonny Styles.
New No. 1 leads college football too-early Top 26 after spring practice
Spring practice is wrapping up for college football teams across the country. It's time to revisit our too-early Top 25 rankings ahead of the season.
MLB power rankings: Phillies can't stop the bleeding as NL East hole grows
Phillies' 10-game losing streak puts NL powerhouse way behind the Braves.
How to live stream Lakers vs Rockets: NBA Playoffs, TV channel
The Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets meet Sunday for Game 4 of their first-round playoff series, with the Lakers holding a commanding 3–0 lead after a dramatic overtime comeback in Game 3. MORE: Ranking the current NBA playoff duos…
The Los Angeles Times' top 25 high school baseball rankings
A look at the top 25 high school baseball teams in the Southland after the 10th week of the season.
America’s Greatest Entrepreneurs, According to Business Historians
We’ve done this ranking for three decades. The results tell us a lot about both business and leadership.
Ranking Member Lofgren Reacts to Latest Trump Scheme to Undermine Science
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
College basketball rankings: North Carolina tumbles after Henri Veesaar's NBA Draft declaration
New North Carolina coach Michael Malone lost a would-be roster cornerstone when Veesaar decided to make the leap to the next level
Ranking every NFL Draft first-round pick: Raiders get top billing; Cardinals' luxurious move drops them down
Value and personal evaluations are taken into account with each first-round pick.
Ty Simpson, Jeremiyah Love headline NFL Draft's biggest reaches in first round
Ranking the NFL Draft's biggest 2026 first-round reaches.
College basketball transfer portal power rankings: Indiana, Louisville among teams improving the most
Indiana leads the way in the 2026 college basketball transfer portal rankings, followed by Texas and Louisville. A look at the programs gaining ground fast.
NBA Playoffs Power Rankings for the remaining teams
The NBA Playoffs are underway. The early story was the Orlando Magic giving the Detroit Pistons issues. Orlando entered the playoffs confidently, and it has shown through two games. The biggest story is the health of San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama.…
Most Americans Worried About Brain Health, But Few Know How To Protect It
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, April 23, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Nearly all Americans are worried about their brain health as they age, ranking as important or more so than their physical health, a new Alzheimer’s Association report says. However, they don’t know what steps they can ...
College basketball transfer portal team rankings: Which school has best class so far?
Which college basketball programs have done the best business so far this offseason? Here are USA TODAY Sports' transfer portal class team rankings.
USA TODAY Sports/AVCA Super 25 boys volleyball rankings, Week 7
Mira Costa holds strong atop the USA TODAY Sports/AVCA boys volleyball Super 25 rankings for Week 7.
2026 USA TODAY Sports/AVCA boys volleyball regional rankings, Week 7
USA TODAY Sports and AVCA reveal the regional high school boys volleyball rankings for Week 7 of the 2026 season.
Defensive line rankings for the 2026 NFL Draft
Our final defensive line rankings our live and they are headlined by Rueben Bain Jr.
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama out with concussion; final NFL Draft big board; Bulls' Donovan steps down
Plus our way-too-early women's college basketball rankings
Early 2026 fantasy expert consensus rankings: Giants busts
Heading into the 2026 season, here are the biggest Giants busts based on early fantasy expert consensus rankings
Bentley Named Among the Top Graduate Business Schools in U.S. News Ranking
Bentley University is ranked a top U.S. graduate business school by U.S. News & World Report. Discover how the program prepares graduates for today's job market.
Warsh vows to keep monetary policy independent of politics
STORY: :: Fed chief nominee Warsh vows to keep monetary policy independent of politics:: Washington, D.C. / April 21, 2026:: Kevin Warsh, Federal Reserve chief nominee“Monetary policy independence is essential. Monetary policymakers must act in the nation's interest. Their decision is the product of rigor, deliberation and unclouded decision-making. And as Senator Warren said, I do not believe that independence of monetary policy is threatened when elected officials state their views on rates. Fed independence is up to the Fed." // :: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Ranking Democrat on Senate Banking Committee“So, independence takes courage. Let's check out your independence and your courage. We'll start easy. Mr. Warsh, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?”WARSH: “Um, we try to keep politics, if I’m confirmed, out of the Federal Reserve.”WARREN: “I’m just asking you a factual question. I need to know. I need to measure your independence and your courage.”WARSH: “Senator, I believe that this body certified that election many years ago.”WARREN: “That’s not the question I’m asking. I’m asking did Donald Trump lose in 2020?”WARSH: “And I’m suggesting to you in 2020…”WARREN: “I’m suggesting you can’t answer that.”WARSH: “… the Fed had a huge inflation problem, and you certified the election…[crosstalk]… let’s keep the politics out of monetary policy.” //WARREN: "Just one little place where you disagree with Donald Trump.”WARSH: “Well, I do have a disagreement actually, Senator, with the president. I think even this morning, he said that he thought I was out of central casting. I think central casting, I'd look older, grayer, maybe show up here with a cigar of sorts.”WARREN: “Quite adorable. But, you know, we need a Fed chair who is independent. That's the only way we preserve the independence of the Federal Reserve. If you can't answer these questions, you don't have the courage and you don't have the independence.”In a confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee that quickly hinted at major changes to come at a Warsh-led Fed, the 56-year-old lawyer and financier blamed the central bank for an inflation surge in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to hurt U.S. households.Warsh's hearing quickly turned contentious. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed Warsh on his independence and "courage", saying President Donald Trump had made clear Warsh would be his "sock puppet".
Shaky political science: using "simulated" elections over real-world elections
[Dear DSOS readers – this article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in early December, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting. We found that many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data, and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first three articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report, the second one analyzing a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report, and a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research]. In this fourth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we shine a spotlight on seven studies that were web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group (the ERRG is an ad hoc committee headed by New America’s Political Reform Program and joined by the American Enterprise Institute, the Unite America Institute and Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law). This research consortium has been led by Lee Drutman, senior fellow with New America’s Political Reform Program. These seven studies are simply not credible from any objective standard about how political “science” is supposed to illuminate our understanding of either ranked choice voting or politics in general. The feature that six of these seven studies have in common is that they all used surveys – artificial, simulated elections -- to attempt to say something cogent or interesting about ranked choice voting (RCV) elections. None of them used real world data from actual RCV elections – either the 1000+ elections in the US or the many thousands of elections from places like Australia, Ireland and elsewhere where RCV has been used for 100 years. While a few of these studies conclude with some mixed positives about RCV, our analysis here is content neutral. The idea that, with a political reform like RCV, you can ask respondents in a mock, artificial election to vote with that method, with only the barest of explanation about how RCV works or its likely impacts (i.e. no spoiler candidates, majority winners, voters liberated to pick their favorite candidates, coalition-building), and then ask them their thoughts/reactions about voting in that system, with fake candidates and no real campaigning, no real exposure to an actual election or actual candidates, rests on some very puzzling assumptions. The findings of these seven studies actually are contradicted by the findings from many other studies based on real-world RCV elections. These New America studies also failed to list the real-world RCV studies in their own citations, instead including those studies that reinforced their conclusions. The seven studies featured in this article were chosen because they form a cohesive cohort which precisely illustrates one of the main points of our research paper, namely that using surveys, i.e. artificial elections, or mathematical/theoretical models, instead of real-world data, is in fact “shaky political science.” Below are summaries of our analysis of five of the seven New America studies. You can read our complete analysis of all seven studies at our paper, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting.” Choosing to “Vote As Usual” by Andre Blais, Carolina Plescia, and Semra Sevi. New America. (Blais et al., 2021). This study, web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group, used two surveys in which respondents completed ballots for simulated elections using plurality, approval, RCV and point (Score) voting. In both cases the authors provided the respondents with only minimal explanation of each method. For example, the entire explanation for RCV was “For this vote, rank the candidates from your first to your last choice (you do not need to rank them all). This is called the ranked vote.” That’s it. The study did not provide any context or explanation to survey respondents about why she/he might want to rank multiple candidates. Participants were not even told that ballots would be tabulated using an “instant” runoff, not to mention any description of RCVs ability to eliminate the spoiler effect or liberate voters to rank their favorite candidates without fear of helping the “greater evil” candidate to win. That’s like taking an iPhone back in time to 1970 and asking someone if they like it better than their rotary phone without explaining how it works. Their first survey targeted states that held 2020 Super Tuesday Democratic primaries and used the real candidates’ names in the survey; the second survey used fictitious candidates. In other words, they surveyed respondents who had only ever participated in plurality elections, had no history or background with using RCV or any of the other methods, had no clue about its likely impacts, and did not communicate how the alternative methods would be counted, and then asked them: “How satisfied are you with using each system?” Predictably, the winner was plurality elections, the system used for president, Congress, gubernatorial and state legislative elections – in other words, the method they have been using, year after year, all their voting lives. With so little explanation of RCV and its impacts, this study is simply not credible in discovering anything useful about real-world RCV elections. It merely shows that a basic voter education campaign is needed when adopting a new election system. Additionally, the result contradicts many other post-election surveys following real RCV elections, asking opinions from voters who had just participated in a RCV election, that showed a great deal of satisfaction with RCV (see details on that in Studies 22-25 in our paper, as well as the four studies cited in the review for Study 28). Share Other studies on “satisfaction” and “understanding” make similar mistakes, in terms of basing their surveys on inadequate explanation to respondents and lack of education about context. How could any survey ever hope to measure accurately, in essence simulate a real-world election, without actual campaigning candidates, the media writing about those candidates, organizations endorsing candidates and voters being inundated with crucial information? More than anything, what these “studies” based on surveys show is that if you ask voters about something they don’t know very much about, and fail to adequately educate them, their responses will unsurprisingly reflect their confusion. Equally puzzling is that New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group, headed by political scientist Lee Drutman, found this to be a credible enough study that they not only published it but highlighted it in Drutman’s own discussion of research related to ranked choice voting. This pattern was repeated in study after study featured by New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group. For example in Ranked-Choice Voting and Political Expression: Voter Guides Narrow the Gap between Informed and Uninformed Citizens by Cheryl Boudreau, Jonathan Colner, and Scott MacKenzie, the researchers based their analysis on a survey which found that respondents who were asked to vote in a simulated RCV election, with minimal explanation of RCV or how it works, displayed less evidence of being informed about how to use RCV effectively, with the least informed voters ranking fewer candidates. As pointed out under the study above, in a real election voters are informed by a wide variety of methods, including public education by the election administration, by interested political groups, the media, and the candidates themselves who benefit from voters being aware of how to vote in the new system. In Support for Ranked-Choice Voting across Race and Partisanship by Joseph Anthony, David C. Kimball, Jack Santucci and Jamil Scott, the researchers used respondents from different parties and races voting in simulated plurality and RCV elections, who indicated their satisfaction with each voting method. Instead of using real world election results, the authors fell back on the easy, armchair and less reliable academic research methodology of making up mock elections. As with the other studies, little explanation was given of how RCV works or what its implications might be (electing majority winners or eliminating spoilers, for example). Unsurprisingly, this study found that respondents were not very satisfied with RCV. However, when the authors added an explanation that RCV has a tendency to elect more women and people of color, they found that this greater explanation increased the preference for RCV. The more voters were familiar with it, and the more they understood potential positive impacts – surprise! -- the more they were open to switching away from the status quo. Of note, the results from this study are thoroughly contradicted by a number of other studies whose data was obtained from real RCV elections with real voters. Those studies show a great deal of satisfaction with RCV. More “fake election” research An interesting wrinkle on this “research by fake elections” approach, which only served to illustrate how unreliable such “research” can become, was taken in Ranked-Choice Voting, Runoff, and Democracy: Insights from Maine and Other U.S. States by Joseph Cerrone and Cynthia McClintock_,_ also web-hosted and funded by New America’s ERRG. It gets high marks for creativity, but an eye-roll for thinking this could possibly add anything meaningful to our understanding of real world RCV elections. This study tried to determine whether RCV, plurality or two-round runoff elections provided greater voter satisfaction and acceptance of election results. To determine that, the authors conducted a survey asking if voters were satisfied with a fictional newspaper report of an election, with three different versions given to respondents – plurality, runoff and RCV, with variations of Republican/Democrat winners and variations of “come-from-behind” winners,” i.e. candidates not initially in first place but who win the “runoff.” Again, a minimal explanation of RCV or how it works was given, and the survey showed that respondents had the greatest unfamiliarity with RCV than the other methods. The unsurprising result? Respondents were much more satisfied with “come-from-behind” victories in a traditional two-round runoff election than in RCV, even though RCV is also a runoff system but with a single round of counting. Interestingly, the dissatisfaction with RCV disappeared for those who were more familiar with RCV. In fact, among those respondents who were “very familiar” with RCV, they were equally satisfied with RCV, runoff and plurality. Surprise, surprise. Again, what this study revealed, more than anything, is not only the inadequacy of the explanation for RCV given by the authors of this study, but the failure of the research format itself, thinking that such an artificial mock election could somehow simulate what actually happens in the real world in a real RCV election. Those four studies reviewed above are fitting examples of inadequate and shaky political “science.” Other studies reviewed in our paper from the New America/Electoral Reform Research Group cohort which also used mock elections included: Ranked-Choice Voting is an Acquired Taste by Joseph Anthony and David C. Kimball. New America. (Anthony et al., 2021). Ranked-Choice Voting is No Refuge for Extreme Candidates by Melissa Baker. New America. (Baker, 2021). Also included in this New America cohort is Does Ranked-Choice Voting Reduce Racial Polarization? by Yuki Atsusaka and Theodore Landsman, which actually did use real-world election results data but applied an odd and unconventional methodology to the data which relied on shaky assumptions and non-real-world scenarios that were too divorced from reality. To determine levels of “racially polarized voting,” the researchers imagined “ethnic parties,” by which they mean political parties for each ethnic group, which was especially odd since the election data they were using came from nonpartisan RCV races. But then they made an even odder assumption, namely that since race and ethnic characteristics of studied voters were not available, the authors tried to infer that information based on who voters selected and the racial make-up of voters in each district. This amounted to little more than vague and ambiguous guesswork dressed up with a bunch of mathematical equations used to give it a veneer of scientific appearance. Indeed, it seemed to assume racial polarization in order to prove racial polarization. Based on this questionable methodology, the authors concluded that RCV doesn’t reduce racial polarization. But the premise of this study missed an obvious reality: since RCV incentivizes more candidates to run and can result in more diverse fields of candidates, one would expect more racially-polarized voting in voters’ top rankings, not less, because more voters would have someone on that ballot who represents their racial or ethnic identity and more freedom to vote for their real first choice. By encouraging more diverse candidates and eliminating the spoiler effect, RCV facilitates voting for a favorite candidate of your own race and then selecting a second choice with the best likelihood of winning. The real measure is what voters do with their additional rankings – do they consider other candidates and vote “for the best of the rest”? This study didn’t tell us anything useful about that. But readily available data shows this is common in real RCV elections, and candidates act on this knowledge by engaging with voters outside their racial group. So the authors of this study failed to consider or account for what actually happens in real-world elections, and their conclusions are tainted by this failure. New America has contributed a great deal over the past 2.5 decades to our understanding of many policy areas, including politics and political reform (full disclosure: Steven Hill, one of the authors of this article and of the “Shaky Political Science” research paper and series, is a former senior fellow and former director of New America’s political reform program, 2005-2010). So it was especially disappointing that New America funded and published such a large batch of dubious studies about ranked choice voting. The stated praiseworthy goal of its Electoral Reform Research Group was to inspire new academic research about ranked choice voting that would shed light and help the public better understand the impacts of RCV. Instead, the ERRG research did just the opposite. It produced dubious research that created more confusion and misinformation. In so doing, New America’s political reform program contributed to “shaky political science.” Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS, a reader-supported digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
Plenty of blame after Knicks' playoff collapse; Wembanyama wins Defensive Player of Year; MLB Power Rankings
The Dodgers might be the best team in baseball but they don't play in MLB's best division
Early 2026 fantasy expert consensus rankings: Dallas Cowboys busts
Heading into the 2026 season, here are the biggest Cowboys busts based on early fantasy expert consensus rankings
Renner's final NFL Draft big board: Ranking 250 prospects in a wild 2026 class
Tape grades, positional value, age and intangibles shaped Mike Renner's final rankings in a uniquely volatile class
College basketball rankings: Why UConn is moving up in preseason way-too-early Top 25 And 1
Braylon Mullins is heading back to the Huskies and Duke's Nikolas Khamenia has committed to UConn coach Dan Hurley
College baseball rankings for Week 11: Updated USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, D1Baseball top 25
UCLA remains the top team in college baseball in the updated USA TODAY Coaches Poll. Here's a full look at this week's poll and more.
Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Scott Pianowski's rest-of-season risers and fallers as of April 20
Fantasy Baseball 2-Start Pitcher Rankings: Mick Abel, Kyle Harrison among top streaming options this week
2026 NL Central Power Rankings: Week 4
Crew bounces back but faces tough competition in deep NL Central
WrestleMania 42 match rankings, grades: Which were best, worst?
WrestleMania 42 had some incredible matches. Which ones were the best and which ones fell short? We rank all 13.
High-ranking Republicans dance around endorsements. What's the point?
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett posted what one politico called a \
The Los Angeles Times' top 25 high school baseball rankings
A look at the top 25 high school baseball teams in the Southland after the ninth week of the season.