Power

Public heath and race at the US-Mexico border.

On the alarming origins of the current political moment.

What prospects are there today for assessing American politics and history from an early Hofstadterian remove?

How would the presidency have looked under Joseph Lane, a Democrat, as opposed to Abraham Lincoln?

What shark attacks in 1916 could tell us about the midterms in 2022.

Examining the ingredients—time, grain, government regulations—that have made bourbon an enduring national favorite.

Unearthing the deep roots of racialized voter suppression—and explaining how they shape ballot access today.

American Democratic Socialism has deep roots in the very “American” values it is accused of undermining.

In the absence of tax dollars, American cities like Baltimore are now funding themselves by fining the poor instead of taxing the rich.

The legacies of our racial past, and the prospects ahead for an embattled republic.

How right-wing school panics seek to repeal modernity and progress.

The foremost challenge of Grant’s day has not gone away. His response to it merits our attention.

In the 1990s, the New Democrats trusted corporations to do the right thing. The results were disastrous.

In an era of laissez-faire governance, a growing number of federal and state regulations were justified as necessary to protect public health and morality.

Fights over fugitive slave laws pitted states against each other and showcased the risks of the federal government not supporting liberty.

Clashes between sovereignty rights and civil rights reveal an uncomfortable and complicated story about race and belonging in America.

The historical insights of one era have been lost to the journalistic instincts of another.

The contradictory past and uncertain future of the Democratic Party.

Are alarmist narratives about a “new civil war” obscuring the real battle in US politics: the fight for democracy?

The latest US Census—used to decide representation in Congress—is flawed. One surprising solution? Enlarge the House of Representatives.

Francis Fukuyama pines for that old-time liberalism.

Comparing the results of two Louisiana slave rebellions 20 years apart and what that meant for the continuation of slavery within the Deep South.

The pro-life movement needs to know that such culture wars result not in outright victory for one side but in reaction and compromise.

When the personal and professional lives of Hawai'i Congresswoman Patsy Mink collided.

The work of three women, in particular, helped pass this landmark legislation.

The reasons that Nixon’s scandal endures when other presidents’ disgraces have not.

The Julian Assange case exposes how changing concepts unintentionally broadened a law.

A new book explores Abraham Lincoln's interactions with African Americans during his presidency.

Amidst the January 6 hearings, the fiftieth anniversary of Nixon’s scandal reminds us that it has only gotten harder to hold presidents accountable.

Southern secessionists in 1860 had similar arguments to those of the rioters who stormed the Capitol.