Political conventions used to pick presidential nominees in private. Now the public picks the nominee and then the party has a big party at the convention, writes a scholar of US elections.
The United States Postal Service plays a vital role in US civic life, one that helped shape American society more than 250 years ago and continues to characterize it today.
A biographer of George Washington says that the father of the country would have no problem wearing the kind of protective gear that President Trump shuns.
Despite the fact that only 38% of Americans say they think the Democratic and Republican parties are doing ‘an adequate job,’ they’re unlikely to disappear.
How did a small, rural state become so influential in the presidential nominating process? A political scientist traces the development of the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus.
George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware on Christmas night 1776 led to victory, but his troops were bound to suffer from terrible weather, which led to more casualties than the battle.
The impeachment vote is the latest, and most extreme, example of a power struggle between the executive branch and Congress that has existed since George Washington was president.
Fictional accounts of white Southerners make it seem like it was fun to be a slave on a plantation at holiday time. Many of today’s tours repeat such stories.
President Trump refuses to provide information to lawmakers in the impeachment inquiry. But courts have been reluctant to take such cases for fear of upsetting the government’s balance of power.
The conflict between Congress and President Trump over his dealings with Ukraine’s president is just the latest version of a long-running struggle for power between the two branches of government.
As we celebrate the nation’s founding, it’s a good time to note the heroism of George Washington. The British were a pain, to be sure, but what really caused him trouble were his teeth.
‘The Life of Washington’ was painted in the 1930s by an artist who sought to upend a rosy narrative of US history. Now some are saying its images ‘traumatize’ viewers – and ought to be taken down.
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.
Presidents Day celebrates the American president – not only as a political leader, but as a moral leader. But can a president be a person of strong moral character, as well as a strong leader?
After the recent government shutdown and breakdowns in functioning within all three branches, it looks like the separation of powers system is broken or unbalanced. It is – and it isn’t.
Global Scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC and Hopkins P Breazeale Professor, Manship School of Mass Communications, Louisiana State University
Managing Director of the McCourtney Institute of Democracy, Associate Research Professor, Political Science, Co-host of Democracy Works Podcast, Penn State