Charts of the week: The pink wave, middle class incomes, and measuring Trump’s polarization

Click on any of the links to access the full research.

Female congressional candidates are more likely to discuss domestic policy issues

In a recent study, researchers from the Primaries Project analyze what issues male and female congressional candidates are addressing on the campaign trail and find that women are more likely to focus on domestic issues like pre-K and K-12 education. They also note that women candidates in this year’s elections are mostly Democrats and their policies are therefore more likely to reflect Democratic priorities.

Middle class incomes have remained stagnant

In the last few decades, median incomes have remained relatively stagnant while the incomes of those in the top income quintile have experienced much more growth. Eleanor Krause and Isabel Sawhill of the Economic Studies program explain how the top 20 percent has “hoarded” most the country’s economic growth—alluding to a recent book by Senior Fellow Richard Reeves—and that tax changes have done little  to curtail this trend.

A survey of nearly 200 political scientists ranked Donald Trump as the most polarizing U.S. president of all time

In a recent survey of current members of the Presidents and Executive Politics section of the American Political Science Association, President Trump was ranked as the most polarizing president. Authors of the survey point to the “fractious” policies Trump’s administration has pursued—such as moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, and the attempting dismantling of the Affordable Care Act—as reasons behind the president’s score.

Presidents Lincoln, Polk, and Buchanan join him at the top of the most divisive, while Presidents Grant and Carter are the least.

Lea Kayali contributed to this post.