As the course will use the 2016 US presidential election as a case study for data exploration and visualization, I will gather some articles here which suggest explanatory factors students might be interested in investigating.

What Is Really Behind the Populist Surge? (Richard Florida) – Describes research indicating that cultural backlash against urban cosmopolitanism is the driving force behind populism. Suggested explanatory variables: Percent male, percent white, median age, less than college eduction; social factors (see General Social Survey).