Author

Steffen Schmidt
Steffen Schmidt is the Lucken Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University in Ames.
This is no way to run a democracy
By: Steffen Schmidt - February 25, 2020
The results of Iowas first-in-the-nation presidential caucus are not yet in. The Nevada caucus results are not clear two days after. It doesn’t really matter. Iowa’s tiny number of national delegates and who gets them will make a difference only if the vote is close at the national convention and no one has a majority. […]
The avoidable Iowa Caucus tragedy
By: Steffen Schmidt - February 8, 2020
Sadly, it’s now called “The Iowa Caucuses debacle.” I have loved the caucuses since 1970, when I started teaching at Iowa State. It didn’t have to end this way. When the Democratic National Committee’s “Unity Reform Commission” started talking about how to change the Iowa caucuses, I knew that 2020 would be a disaster. Never […]
Impeachment could play a role in Iowa’s congressional races
By: Steffen Schmidt - January 22, 2020
The 2020 elections will be a historic event in so many ways. President Donald Trump is one of the most unusual and controversial incumbents in U.S. history. The Democratic Party spawned the largest and most diverse field of candidates ever seen in an American race, outdoing even the 2016 GOP caucuses and primaries. The world […]