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Politics-The Conversation
Why a presidential term limit got written into the Constitution – the story of the 22nd Amendment
No president is supposed to serve more than two full terms. That rule became part of the US Constitution in 1951, after President Franklin D. Roosevel...
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America the secular? What a changing religious landscape means for US politics
A common assumption holds that nonreligious Americans vote for liberal candidates. The reality isn’t so simple.
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Land reparations are possible − and over 225 US communities are already working to make amends for slavery and colonization
‘40 acres and a mule’ never happened. Now governments and communities across the US are redistributing land and wealth, from Evanston, Illinois, to At...
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US earthquake safety relies on federal employees’ expertise
The US experiences violent earthquakes, but the damage and death toll is much lower than in many countries because of the work of federal seismologist...
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Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans to El Salvador sparks legal questions likely to reach the Supreme Court
A scholar explains why the Trump administration’s actions may violate the constitution.
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Massive cuts to Health and Human Services’ workforce signal a dramatic shift in US health policy
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vision for US health policy prioritizes deregulation and leaves Americans with fewer benefits, services a...
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How is classified information typically shared and can officials declassify secrets whenever they want? A national security expert explains
Government officials with classified information clearance typically have a range of secure ways they can view or discuss classified information.
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From Greenland to Fort Bragg, America is caught in a name game where place names become political tools
Rewriting the map can influence the public psyche in ways subtle and not so subtle.
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US swing toward autocracy doesn’t have to be permanent – but swinging back to democracy requires vigilance, stamina and elections
The US is swinging like a pendulum between more autocratic and more democratic forms of government. How long will this destabilizing pattern last?
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Trump is not a king – but that doesn’t stop him from reveling in his job’s most ceremonial and exciting parts
While President Donald Trump appears to govern with the flourish of a head of state, he is more invested in the job’s pageantry than the day-to-day.
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Trump’s desire to ‘un-unite’ Russia and China is unlikely to work – in fact, it could well backfire
During the Nixon era, the US encouraged a split between the Soviet Union and communist China. But things have changed since the Cold War ended.
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Ukraine will need major rebuilding when war ends − here’s why the US isn’t likely to invest in its recovery with a new Marshall Plan
Trump wants Ukraine to repay the US for the military aid it sent Kyiv. Once upon a time, the US was more generous: It rebuilt Western Europe after Wor...
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National monuments have grown and shrunk under US presidents for over a century thanks to one law: The Antiquities Act
Public lands are quintessentially American, and in many ways they define and shape the American identity. There are a few ways to better shield them f...
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Avoiding your neighbor because of how they voted? Democracy needs you to talk to them instead
The more Americans isolate themselves from people in the other political party, the more stereotypes take over. In turn, that pushes people to isolate...
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Avoiding your neighbor because of how they voted? Democracy needs to you talk to them instead
The more Americans isolate themselves from people in the other political party, the more stereotypes take over. In turn, that pushes people to isolate...
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Trump’s firings of military leaders pose a crucial question to service members of all ranks
Military personnel at all levels are now facing the question of whether they will stand up for the military’s independent role in maintaining the inte...
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Tyrannical leader? Why comparisons between Trump and King George III miss the mark on 18th-century British monarchy
Britain’s George III has gotten a bad rap. He was not the all-powerful monarch that President Trump allegedly aspires to be.
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Trump’s defiance of a federal court order fuels a constitutional crisis − a legal scholar unpacks the complicated case
The current case focused on the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants raises concerns about whether the president will continue to respect the country’...
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US isn’t first country to dismantle its foreign aid office − here’s what happened after the UK killed its version of USAID
In 2020, British Conservatives cited cost-cutting to force the UK’s foreign aid office into a merger. Five years later, it hasn’t recovered its budget...
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Revoking EPA’s endangerment finding – the keystone of US climate policies – won’t be simple and could have unintended consequences
The Trump administration’s goal is to roll back rules limiting planet-warming greenhouse gases emissions from power plants, vehicles and oil and gas p...
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Fires, wars and bureaucracy: The tumultuous journey to establish the US National Archives
Every democracy needs a national archive. Trump’s staffing shake-up is endangering an institution that preserves the nation’s history.
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The story of the Great Migration often overlooks Black businesses that built Detroit
Detroit’s Black population grew sixfold from 1910 to 1920, and many businesses that sprouted to welcome the newcomers flourished.
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Donald Trump’s nonstop news-making can be exhausting, making it harder for people to scrutinize his presidential actions
Overwhelming people with a deluge of announcements makes it difficult to easily track and understand what is happening in the White House.
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Beatings, overcrowding and food deprivation: US deportees face distressing human rights conditions in El Salvador’s mega-prison
El Salvador has the highest prison population rate in the world. The US administration intends to increase the number of people behind bars there.
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Trump is using the Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants – but the 18th-century law has been invoked only during times of war
The Alien Enemies Act, first used in the late 1700s, was last invoked during World War II.
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Washington Post’s turnaround on its opinion pages is returning journalism to its partisan roots − but without the principles
The editorial section of a newspaper is a way for society to have a conversation with itself. Should news outlets limit these conversations?
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Why was it so hard for the GOP to pass its spending bill?
Without Democratic votes to break a Senate filibuster, the GOP would not have been able to pass its stopgap spending bill and avert a government shutd...
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Why was it hard for the GOP – which controls Congress – to pass its spending bill?
Without Democratic votes to break a Senate filibuster, the GOP would not have been able to pass its stopgap spending bill and avert a government shutd...
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Saudi Arabia’s role as Ukraine war mediator advances Gulf nation’s diplomatic rehabilitation − and boosts its chances of a seat at the table should Ir...
Perception as a neutral country has helped Gulf state position itself as a crucial diplomatic player in Ukraine-Russia war. It also serve’s kingdom’s ...
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The psychology behind anti-trans legislation: How cognitive biases shape thoughts and policy
Two social psychologists explain the ways unconscious biases influence how people think and can fuel discrimination against transgender people and oth...
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I study refugees, and here are the facts on the history and impact of refugee resettlement in the US
The US was a world leader in refugee resettlement. Trump stopped all that with one executive order. What does the end of refugee resettlement look lik...
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Can the Trump administration legally deport Palestinian rights advocate Mahmoud Khalil? 3 things to know about green card holders’ rights
Lawful permanent residents hold many of the same rights that US citizens have, but the government can deport them on certain, often vague, security gr...
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Mass layoffs at Education Department signal Trump’s plan to gut the agency
The president’s apparent strategy is attempting to eliminate the agency on his own authority, while asking Congress to finish the job, an education ex...
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Is the US heading for a government shutdown? 5 essential reads to occupy the mind while we wait to find out
Congress has until March 14 to pass a spending bill that will keep the lights on in Washington.
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Alien and Sedition Acts were reviled in their time, and John Adams was not sorry to see them go
John Adams signed the Sedition Act in an attempt to silence dissent. Some other Founding Fathers thought that muzzling the press would mean the end of...
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The parallels between Kash Patel and William J. Burns, a scandal-mongering 1920s FBI director — an FBI historian explains
Some observers compare FBI Director Kash Patel to J. Edgar Hoover. A better historical match is the politically motivated William J. Burns.
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How Jesse Jackson embodied Southern politics − and changed American elections
A civil rights activist who ran for president twice and became a Democratic power broker, Jackson is an American political icon. But above all, he’s a...
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How Trump’s foreign aid and diplomatic cuts will make it harder for the US to wield soft power to maintain its friendships and win new ones
Soft power is a foreign-policy tool to get what a country wants without using force.
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The sun is setting on government transparency in Florida – and secrecy creep is affecting the rest of the US, too
The Sunshine State was once a model for transparent government. Times have changed.
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What happens when leaders have loyalists in charge of men with guns: Lessons for the US from Nicaragua, Syria and other authoritarian countries
Donald Trump’s moves to install loyalists in US security agencies and the military echo the actions of strongmen worldwide who prioritize personal loy...
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George Washington, a real estate investor and successful entrepreneur, knew the difference between running a business and running the government
The first president realized that working with Congress – not alone or against it – was the best way to actually create an efficient federal governmen...
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The dark parallels between 1920s America and today’s political climate
The early 1920s in the US offers historical lessons on how current pessimism about the state of the country can manifest in dangerous, discriminatory ...
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5 reasons veterans are especially hard-hit by federal cuts
Former service members already face stark challenges as they integrate back into civilian life. Cuts to veterans’ services will make that only worse.
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How Trump’s $2B court battle over foreign aid could reshape executive authority
A US district judge says that the Trump administration has to pay USAID the billions it owes in already completed work. The Supreme Court agrees − for...
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Pause in aid has introduced uncertainty into Ukraine’s military planning − forever changing its war calculus
Even if US financial aid is restored, Ukraine will have to mitigate the risk of future disruption – and that could mean a more timid approach.
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Beyond AI regulation: How government and industry can team up to make the technology safer without hindering innovation
AI innovation and governance can coexist. The key is combining public-private partnerships, market audits and accountability.
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The US has pardoned insurrectionists twice before – and both times, years of violent racism followed
It’s not yet clear whether Trump’s pardons will herald a period of national harmony – as past presidents hoped for – or more incidents of violence, as...
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Exhausted by the news? Here are 6 strategies to stay informed without getting overwhelmed − or misled by misinformation
Don’t tune out. Do be strategic about where, how and when you get your information. A media literacy expert explains how to have good ‘news hygiene.’
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Why getting the numbers right isn’t enough for pollsters to be credible in today’s polarized climate
Pollsters’ credibility is constantly at stake. If the industry collectively misses the mark, public trust erodes, and confidence in the system itself ...
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Knocking down abandoned buildings has a lot of benefits for Detroit − but it’s costly for cities
Tearing down abandoned homes has proven benefits, such as reducing crime and toxic materials, but it doesn’t pay for itself.
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How 18F transformed government technology − and why its elimination matters
18F was the US government’s in-house technology consultancy, lauded for saving taxpayer money and improving services. Here’s what it did − and what’s ...
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