Among democracies, U.S. stands out in how it chooses its head of state
No other democratic nation fills its top job quite the way the U.S. does, and only a handful are even similar.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Drew DeSilver
Senior Writer/Editor
Drew DeSilver is a senior writer at Pew Research Center.
Publications
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On Election Day, most voters use electronic or optical-scan ballots
The great majority of Americans who vote on Election Day will use one of two basic technologies: “fill-in-the-bubble” and other optical-scan ballots, or touch-screen computers and other direct recording electronic systems.
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Just how does the general election exit poll work, anyway?
The firm that runs the presidential exit poll expects to interview about 100,000 voters across the country by the time the polls close on election night.
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U.S. electoral system ranks high – but not highest – in global comparisons
Though many Americans say they’re concerned about possible election fraud, the U.S. electoral system generally ranks high in cross-national comparisons.
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For many Americans, Election Day is already here
More than 4 million early, absentee and mail-in votes already have been cast, and if recent trends continue the number of Americans voting in such nontraditional ways could approach 50 million this year.
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Jobs requiring preparation, social skills or both expected to grow most
Much of U.S. job growth over the past 25 years has been in occupations that require higher levels of education, training and experience – a trend that seems likely to continue, based on our analysis of official government job-growth projections.
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Perceptions and realities of recycling vary widely from place to place
The rules, practices and norms around recycling vary considerably from place to place – contributing to dramatically different local recycling levels and rates at which different materials are recovered.
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House seats rarely flip from one party to the other
Big partisan shifts in the House of Representatives happen, but not often. In only three of the past 12 election cycles has one party posted a net gain of more than 30 seats, and on average 93% of House members who seek re-election are voted back into office.
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Split-ticket districts, once common, are now rare
In 2012, only 26 House districts out of 435 chose one party’s presidential nominee and the other party’s candidate for the House.
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The growing Democratic domination of nation’s largest counties
In 2008, Barack Obama won 88 of the 100 largest U.S. counties; four years later he won 86 of them. The last time a Republican presidential candidate won more than a third of the 100 biggest counties was 1988.
