Month: November 2025

Election results determine winners and losers in electoral contests, and are the basis for allocating seats in many electoral systems. They also provide the evidence that supports or undermines citizens’ trust in the fairness of the electoral process. For this reason, it is essential that elections be held in a way that can be trusted and verified by the public, including by election observers and the media.

Achieving this goal requires that election officials be transparent in their communications with the public about when election results will be final and certified. This includes announcing unofficial results on election night, and providing information to the public about the various steps that must take place before that happens (e.g., counting of ballots, canvassing, a recount, and certification). It is also important that the media and other sources be factual and balanced in their reporting on the election, rather than exaggerating or sensationalizing headlines.

Previous research has shown that electoral expectations are influenced by partisan biases, and that disconfirmation is jointly influenced by one’s expectation or forecast (link 1.a) and the outcome of the election (link 1.b). A disappointing outcome will lead to lower satisfaction with democracy, but the exact nature of this response will depend on the magnitude of the surprise and voters’ perceptions of how well their expectations were met. For example, if an unexpected result leads to greater satisfaction with democracy than expected, it may reduce perceived electoral integrity but not the desire for electoral reform.

A UN resolution is a formal expression of the opinion or will of a UN body. Resolutions are written and approved through a lengthy, complicated process in which multiple countries participate; they must be adopted by a majority of the members of a particular body. Resolutions follow a very specific format and are usually published online.

This resolution spelled out the boundaries for the two states of Israel and Palestine: the Jewish state would contain 56% of Mandate Palestine and the Arab state 40%, with Jerusalem being protected as a holy site in both states. The resolution also set out requirements for both states, including respect for minorities and free access to holy sites.

General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, but they can create a framework that helps guide future negotiations on issues involving the Security Council or other UN bodies. A resolution can be passed by a simple majority (more yes votes than no votes) or, if the Assembly determines that it is an “important question,” it requires a two-thirds majority of the full membership.

A similar type of formal action is a decision, which deals with procedural matters such as elections, appointments and the time and place of meetings, and the taking of note of reports. Decisions and resolutions of subsidiary bodies are normally incorporated in the report of the body to its parent organ.

Public policy affects every aspect of our lives, which is why it is often the subject of controversy and debate. It is a broad domain that encompasses government laws, rules, and regulations, as well as the way governments spend money and regulate the economy. The affirmative team will typically present a specific plan that fits within the resolution in question, and then argue why it is the best option for the future of the country or world. The negative team will question whether the alleged harms from the status quo are really serious, or suggest alternatives to the plan that might work better in this context.

The first step to understanding public policy is to understand the process through which they are formulated. This is a complicated process involving many different stakeholders and is influenced by social and economic conditions, the prevailing political values, and the structure of government.

There are five pathologies that are particular to complex public policy, and these are what make them so difficult to manage. These pathologies are why even policies that have the best intentions and the best experts, and do not suffer from corruption or incompetence, tend to fail.

To combat these pathologies, it is important to understand what the research says about the problem and how it might be solved. Implications are the effects that the research suggests might occur, and recommendations are the next steps that the research recommends. It is important to draw a clear line between your implications and your recommendations, because you want to be sure that your audience can see the link between your research and the action that you recommend they take.

The stock market distributes ownership of some of the world’s largest companies among hundreds of millions of individual investors, whose buying and selling decisions determine their value. It is also the place where funding for technological advances like smartphones and medications flows, largely from investors who expect to profit from them.

In this massive network of trading, shares of publicly-owned companies are bought and sold, often via brokers who facilitate transactions almost instantly. People looking to buy a share find matches with sellers, and prices are constantly negotiated (and renegotiated) in response to new information and to supply and demand. These processes, involving buyers and sellers who are all making their own unique and rational decisions, produce a wildly complex system of trading that’s monitored by global agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S. and FINRA in Canada, which are charged with protecting retail investors.

While we may think of the “stock market” as a single entity, it’s actually composed of two distinct parts: exchanges where shares are traded and indexes that track and report on their performance. We typically refer to the Dow Jones Industrial Average or S&P 500 when we talk about the broader market, but there are many others that are country- or region-specific. Some indexes are even sector-specific, reporting on a particular industry like technology or health care. Understanding these different components of the market is essential to knowing how it works, and why its movements matter to us.

GDP measures the monetary value of all the goods and services produced in a country during a certain period of time, typically a year. It includes both market and nonmarket production, such as government spending on defense or education. GDP is an important metric for countries, businesses and individuals. Economists use it to assess a country’s economic health and understand the economy’s cycles. It is also used to compare economies and predict future growth.

The official definition of GDP is determined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It defines production as the sum of gross domestic product by final consumption, investment, and net exports at market prices. The consumption method of calculating GDP does not account for business-to-business transactions, and therefore it is less sensitive to economic fluctuations than metrics that include all transactions.

One criticism of GDP is that it focuses on material output, without considering the impact to citizens’ well-being. For example, an increase in GDP may come at the cost of air pollution or inequality. It also does not fully take into account quality improvements or new products, as they are only reflected in GDP in their monetary value.

However, most economists agree that GDP is a good indicator of overall economic progress. It is closely followed by analysts, investors, and policymakers. The advance release of GDP is often anticipated and can move markets, although the impact is usually limited since GDP data is backward-looking.