Politics experts at Swansea University have given their Horse Race Politics website a major upgrade, giving users more ways to predict, discuss and compete on political events leading up to this year's US midterms in November.
The updated, free-to-play website introduces a new market-based system, allowing users to more easily follow the political topics that interest them and, if they aren't already covered, create and run their own markets.
Each market has its own prediction races, leaderboard, forum and blog, creating dedicated spaces for people to share their forecasts and discuss events. User-created markets can be either public or private and available by invitation only.
Previously, Horse Race Politics centred on a single set of forecasting races. The new site allows multiple markets to run at the same time, covering different elections, political events and other topics.
Dr Louis Bromfield, a developer of Horse Race Politics from Swansea University's Department of Politics, Philosophy and International Relations, said: “The midterms are elections for representatives across the United States that take place halfway through a president's term. President Trump is not directly on the ballot, but voters often use the midterms to express their views on the administration and its policies.
“This year's elections will be particularly significant because control of both chambers of Congress could change in one election. The outcome will affect the balance of power in Washington and the administration's ability to advance its legislative agenda.”
To help those with less knowledge of US politics, the US politics market has a dedicated Learn page, a practice forecasting experience and a Race Context feature, which provides an introductory summary of what users need to know to begin predicting.
A new social media sharing feature allows users to share individual races, markets, profiles and scores, making it easier to compare forecasting performance and compete with friends.
The website will feature more than 30 races covering key developments throughout the campaign, including control of the House of Representatives and Senate, presidential approval ratings, voting intention, and turnout.
Dr Bromfield added: “Horse Race Politics puts education first and aims to turn the complexity of the US midterms into something engaging and accessible. Whether someone is an occasional news reader or a seasoned political analyst, they can take part, develop their understanding and have fun at the same time.
“Our aim is to make US politics and the midterm elections more accessible, engaging and better understood by all.”