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Stanford University
Professor of Political Science at Stanford University
PROFILE
Simon Jackman
Guest
FROM Simon Jackman
To the Point
Obama Makes a Case for Compulsory Voting Australia, Brazil and Singapore are among the 14 countries that have compulsory voting laws. Despite declining turnouts in US elections, the idea has seldom been mentioned here by prominent politicians — until yesterday. At a town hall event in Cleveland yesterday, when asked how he would offset the increasing influence of money in American elections, President Obama responded, "It would be transformative if everybody voted, that would counteract money more than anything." That comment has started a conversation about mandatory voting. Photo: Peter Dutton
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To the Point
What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.