While the US has the most powerful military machine in history, it is also incomparably the most expensive – and members of Congress work aggressively to maintain it.
Animosity between partisan voters has grown in recent years.
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An analysis of social media troll activity during the 2016 election campaign shows that exposure to Russian propaganda may have helped change American minds in favor of Republican candidate Trump.
Democratic U.S. 2020 election presidential candidates during the second night of the first Democratic presidential candidates’ debate.
REUTERS/Mike Segar
The problems facing America are unrestrained capitalism and corruption, said the Democratic presidential candidates over two nights of debates. Or was that really Teddy Roosevelt speaking?
The Supreme Court is empty days before the justices vote to on the U.S. gerrymandering case.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
The Supreme Court has issued what’s likely to be its final word on partisan gerrymandering, saying it’s a political issue, not a legal one. That means reform lies in the hands of voters.
Trump’s tax returns have been a rallying cry for Democrats since the 2016 campaign.
Reuters/Mark Makela
While the Treasury secretary says House Democrats lack a ‘legitimate’ reason for demanding Trump’s tax returns, a former IRS attorney explains that the law says otherwise.
The problem of unsafe drinking water afflicts poor communities most.
Reuters/Carlos Barria
Just as America’s highways, sewage systems and water pipes need fixing, so does the growing gap between rich and poor. Trump and the Democrats could use that money to address both.
How partisans argue tells a lot about how the public sees democracy.
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US history is filled with instances where one partisan side charges that the other side’s positions will lead to national ruin. Now, both sides accuse the other of betraying their country.
An election official checks a voter’s photo identification at an early voting polling site in Austin, Texas.
AP Photo/Eric Gay
Rural and small-town residents believe they aren’t getting their fair share from the government. A majority of them were Trump supporters in 2016. How will they vote when Trump is gone?
Mitt Romney is sworn in as senator on Jan. 3, 2019 at the Old Senate Chambers in the U.S. Capitol.
REUTERS/Jack Gruber-USA TODAY
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah is one of the very few GOP critics of President Trump’s character and leadership. Why has he staked out this lonely position? His Mormon faith.
The Democrats have moved further to the political left since the last presidential election.
TANNEN MAURY/EPA
The Democrats have 24 potential presidential candidates but, like Donald Trump, their two front runners are both men in their seventies: Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.
President Donald Trump signs the first veto of his presidency in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, March 15, 2019.
AP/Evan Vucci
President Trump vetoed Congress’ rejection of his emergency declaration. That brings the constitutional confrontation closer to the Supreme Court and a potentially destabilizing outcome.
Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho.
AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi, File
The majority of US state legislatures are controlled by Republicans because legislative districts are drawn to favor them. Voters are catching on, but change will be slow.
Reagan: conservatism with a different face.
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Are Democrats or Republicans more caring about others? One study of the role compassion plays in politics provides some surprising answers. And then there were the outliers: Trump voters.
GOP President Ronald Reagan and Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neill at the April, 1983 signing of bipartisan social security legislation.
AP/Barry Thumma
Most Congresses since the 1970s have passed more than 500 laws, ranging from nuclear disarmament to deficit reduction. Will today’s bitter partisanship hamstring the new Congress’ productivity?
What will a divided Congress do over the next two years?
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The new Congress is divided into a GOP Senate and Democratic House. History provides a glimpse of what this could mean: Democrats hold the power to investigate, if not to legislate.
Maybe it’s time to reconsider those long-held ideas?
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Popular wisdom may be popular, but sometimes it’s downright wrong. Five stories from The Conversation’s 2018 politics coverage interrogate popular wisdom – and find it lacking.
Professor in U.S. Politics and U.S. Foreign Relations at the United States Studies Centre and in the Discipline of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney