we hear from justin buchler about his research on competitive elections. >> i started thinking about competitive elections long ago, and i started the project thinking that i was writing as the devil's advocate. i saw people assume without question the competitive elections are intensively good and intrinsically healthy. at the thought it was important to have somebody make the argument in the other direction. so i started the project from the mindset of playing devil's advocate. and as i kept working on the project, i realized i had an easier time constructing arguments against embedded in elections and for them. when we say competitive election back in the a lot of different things. ike and mamie elections in which there are as many candidates on the ballot as possible. beginning an election which we are uncertain about outcome. there are a lot of different meanings of competition. one of the problems with the same we should have more competitive elections is that frequently making elections more competitive by one definition is making them less competitive by another. i think it's

next, we hear from justin buchler, political science professor at case western university about his research on competitive elections. >> i started thinking about competitive elections long ago, and i started the project thinking that i was writing as the dell's advocate. -- the devil's advocate. i saw people assume without question that competitive elections are intrinsically good and healthy. and i thought it was important to have somebody make the argument in the other direction. so i started the project from the mindset of playing devil's advocate. and as i kept working on the project, i realized i had an easier time constructing arguments against competitive elections than for them. when we say a competitive election, that can mean a lot of different things. it can mean elections in which there are as many as candidates on the ballot as possible. it can mean a an election in which we are uncertain about the outcome. it can mean an election in which there are low barriers to entry. there are a lot of different meanings of competition. and one of the problems, one of the problems with say