Historians of American religious history explain why the Supreme Court’s recent religious liberty rulings are an example of America’s long struggle to define religious freedom.
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Articles on James Madison
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Once owned by James Madison, the Montpelier plantation remains a model for presenting a full depiction of the life of the former president as well as the lives of those he enslaved.
Like today, passions were strong and political discourse was inflamed in late 18th-century America. Angry mobs torched buildings. Virginians drank a toast to George Washington’s speedy death.
America’s founders accepted the reality of human selfishness. But, they also said people were capable of thinking for the good of the whole, which is necessary for a free society.
Only one president has done so – Franklin Delano Roosevelt – but others considered it, and even tried.
A president’s persona is always a public act. In that way, Trump’s shtick – vulgar man of the people – was not exceptional. And every president has had to invent his version of the role.
In the early years of the United States, several American presidents were in favour of public health inoculation and vaccination strategies.
The term can be traced back to the Founding Fathers.
Three approaches were debated during the Constitutional Convention – election by Congress, selection by state legislatures and a popular election, though that was restricted to white landowning men.
Think American democracy is ending? You’re not alone, writes a historian. American leaders have often yielded to despair – as far back as the founding of the republic.
The technical qualifications for presidential candidates are the same, but how people seek the nation’s highest office has shifted over the centuries.
The framers of the Constitution never mentioned a right to vote. They didn’t forget. They intentionally left it out.
With a Supreme Court ruling rejecting one of the founders’ two reasons for creating the Electoral College, only one reason remains: racism.
Throughout the coronavirus crisis, President Trump has made inconsistent statements about who is responsible for key aspects of the nation’s response to the pandemic. The Constitution has the answer.
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.
Trump’s backers say he is shielded from removal as no criminal offense took place. But this view may be at odds with the original intent of the impeachment clause.
No written law or rule requires the senators to remain silent on the issues. But it’s probably a good idea, and a promising sign of fairness.
The Founders saw impeachment as a regular part of ensuring presidential accountability. A constitutional scholar offers a possible process for a rapid and smooth impeachment inquiry.
Politics have pervaded the debate about whether Congress should impeach President Trump. One legal scholar says that whether to impeach – or not – should not be viewed as a political question.
Government produces millions of pages of records every day: studies, reports, memos, emails, budgets and more. These reports belong to the public, but increasingly, lawmakers are trying to hide them.
Top contributors
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Professor of American History, Università di Torino
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Professor of American Politics, Fairleigh Dickinson University
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Professor of American Religious History, Vanderbilt Divinity School
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Managing Director of the McCourtney Institute of Democracy, Co-host of Democracy Works Podcast, Penn State
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W. Lee Burge Chair in Law & Ethics; Director, National Institute for Teaching Ethics & Professionalism, Georgia State University
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Derek H. Alderman is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor of Geography, University of Tennessee
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Professor of Political Science, UMass Lowell
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Associate Professor of History and Chair, History and Classical Studies, McGill University
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Foundation Professor of Law and Political Science, Arizona State University
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Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Assistant Professor of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon
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Associate Professor of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Co-director, Washington Office, Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, Wayne State University
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Associate Professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology
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Professor of Law, Texas A&M University
