FDR portait

How FDR’s Presidency Inspired Term Limits

The Founding Fathers considered term limits, but ultimately rejected the idea. It wasn't until FDR's unprecedented four terms that lawmakers reconsidered.
Xi Jinping leader step down

How To Make a Leader Step Down

President Xi Jinping of China recently managed to abolish term limits. What compels some leaders to discard the rules of the very systems that led them to power?
Gerrymandering origins

Is Gerrymandering to Blame for Our Polarized Politics?

Gerrymandering is the process by which districts for the House of Representatives are drawn so that one party has a distinct election advantage.
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How Consumerism Sold Democracy to Postwar Germany

After World War II, the United States was battling the Soviet Union for cultural influence. In divided Berlin, the tactics included lavish consumer goods exhibitions.
Brexit referendum headlines

Are Referendums Good For Democracy?

Referendums have a way of turning everyone into a self-proclaimed political expert. But does giving a population the chance to directly weigh in on a specific issue lead to a more informed voting public?
George Washington portrait

What Is Presidents’ Day Actually About?

For most of American history, Washington's Birthday was a really big deal, but, as scholar Barry Schwartz explains, that's changed a lot since the middle of the twentieth century.
Woodrow and Edith Wilson

Could the Twenty-Fifth Amendment Spark a National Crisis?

One scholar's opinion: the Twenty-Fifth Amendment is a Pandora's Box.
Karl Marx

How the American Civil War Shaped Marxism

Although Karl Marx never saw the U.S., he thought long and hard about how it fit into his theory, especially during the Civil War.
Martin Shkreli

Is a Fair Trial Possible in the Age of Social Media?

Is it possible to have a fair trial or an impartial jury in an age when anyone is just a viral tweet or a Facebook search away?
Roosevelt Family 1903

Alice Roosevelt: The Original First Kid

Alice Roosevelt set the tone for a more public first kid and laid the foundation for post-White-House activism like Chelsea Clinton’s.