Congress has the power to make sure government serves the public interest. Conducting investigations is one way lawmakers do that.
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Articles on US Congress
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Congress has pushed through its first gun control legislation in 30 years. Included in the legislation is a provision to expand a firearm ban to dating partners accused of domestic violence.
Coverage of the House Jan. 6 hearings focuses on what went wrong that led up to Trump supporters’ laying siege to the US Capitol. A government scholar looks at what went right, both then and now.
Today’s media landscape is a far cry from the days of Watergate. A media scholar looks at the challenge the Jan. 6 committee faces in getting the hearings to break through in the age of TikTok.
Bottom line: Political endorsements are overrated.
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol held its first hearing to present what it has learned during its almost year-long probe. Three scholars analyze the event.
Congress tends to be most likely to act after an assassination or assassination attempt of historic proportions or mass shootings. But sometimes lawmakers do nothing beyond debate new measures.
The number of candidates running in party primaries has ballooned since 2010. That may result in extreme, inexperienced or controversial nominees who do not represent a majority of voters.
The public hearings of the House Jan. 6 investigative committee will deal with unprecedented events in American history, but the very investigation of these events has strong precedent.
A ruling by the US Supreme Court to allow unlawful maps to be used in the midterm elections will affect who gets elected to the House of Representatives and may determine control of Congress.
Americans have long said they generally support abortion rights, but understanding specific breakdowns of opinion across demographics, and the history of abortion beliefs, is also important.
The nature of elected office combines with the lasting priorities of public opinion to put gun control on the back burner, even in times when it does get massive public attention.
After mass shootings, politicians in Washington have failed to pass new gun control legislation, despite public pressure. But laws are being passed at the state level, largely to loosen restrictions.
A school shooting in a small Texas town was almost as deadly as the worst such event in US history. Such shootings have increased in frequency over the last few years.
Framers of the Constitution put in a clause giving lawmakers immunity from liability for any ‘speech or debate.’ Interpreting it may be key in the battle to get some Republicans to testify.
Lawmakers in the US Senate are set to vote on a bill that would enshrine abortion into law. But is there a route to legislation?
President Joe Biden has urged lawmakers to act over abortion rights following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. But is there a route to legislation?
Four scholars of race, religion and immigration explain how US refugee and asylum policy has long been racially and religiously discriminatory in practice.
Conflicts of interest at the Supreme Court are nothing new. But no one has found a way to fix them.
Scholars discuss the meaning of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s elevation to the highest court in the land.
Top contributors
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Distinguished Fellow in Law and Government, Dickinson Law, Penn State
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Assistant Professor of Political Science, Boise State University
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Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Wayne State University
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Professor of Public Policy (retired), University of Virginia
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Visiting associate professor, Wayne State University
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Part-Time Professor of Economics, The New School
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Professor American Politics, Political Science, Georgia State University
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Assistant Professor of Government, Smith College
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Professor, Political Science Department, College of the Holy Cross
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Associate Professor of Law, Rutgers University - Newark
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Visiting Professor of the Practice of Political Science and Public Policy, Brown University
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Research Specialist, the Miller Center, University of Virginia
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Associate Professor of Law, Santa Clara University
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Professor of Political Science, Drake University
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Associate Professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology
