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Fourteenth Amendment.

The Fourteenth Amendment's Ambiguous Section Three

Scholars and pundits are suddenly interested in the section disqualifying insurrectionists from offices. But text and history don't offer clear answers.
Group portrait of the first African-American legislators in Congress, 1872.

Reclaiming the American Story

To Heather Cox Richardson, the battle for our history is the battle for our democracy. And we may be nearing the endgame.
Above view of residential areas in Richmond, Virginia.

How the Former Confederate Capital Slashed Black Voting Power, Overnight

Did Richmond violate the Voting Rights Act by adding thousands of White residents? The historic Supreme Court case foreshadowed today’s gerrymandering fights.
Scale, with pile of U.S. states weighing down one end, and the U.S. on the other.

How a Fringe Legal Theory Became a Threat to Democracy

Lawyers tried to use the independent-state-legislature theory to sway the outcomes of the 2000 and 2020 elections. What if it were to become the law of the land?
Abraham Lincoln, sitting.

Lincoln and Democracy

Lincoln's understanding of the preconditions for genuine democracy, and of its necessity, were rooted in this rich soil. And with his help, ours could be, too.
Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson locking hands.

Tennessee

The state GOP's expulsion of legislators Justin Pearson and Justin Jones echoes Georgia's refusal to seat congressman Julian Bond in 1965 for opposing the Vietnam War.
Painting of Milwaukee

Milwaukee Socialists' Triumph & Global Impact

On April 5, 1910, the world was stunned by socialists’ victory at the ballot box in Milwaukee.
Then–Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama in Mitchell, S.D.

What Does It Take to Win?

A new history of American politics examines the past and future of political realignments.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) points to a newly installed sign above his office after he was elected in 15 rounds of votes.
partner

What Lessons Can the House Draw From 1923’s Speaker Battle?

The House speaker fight was eerily reminiscent of 1923 — but the differences between the two will drive what comes next.
Wide view of past members in the House of Representatives.

What History Tells Us About Kevin McCarthy’s Chances

One hundred years ago, a strong leader brought House rebels to the table to elect a speaker. Can McCarthy do the same?
Kevin McCarthy looking anxious.

Back to the Future? Battling Over the Speakership on the House Floor

The history of speakership contests underscores the corner Kevin McCarthy is painted into and the corner any Republican House leader is likely to face.
Demonstrators outside the Supreme Court holding signs that read "People Over Politics."
partner

A Post-Reconstruction Proposal That Would Have Restored Power to the People

Largely forgotten today, Albion W. Tourgée’s legislation could have prevented Moore v. Harper.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake holds a news conference as she tours the U.S.-Mexico border on Nov. 4 in Sierra Vista, Ariz.
partner

Cochise County Didn’t Used To Be the Land Of Far Right Stunts

How the rural Arizona border county embodies the political shift in much of America.
Mike Lawler, Republican candidate for New York's 17th Congressional District.
partner

The GOP Can Thank Suburban N.Y. For its Slim Control of The House

How a red wave in a solidly blue state helped tip the balance.
Print shows Rebel troops killing the citizens of Lawrence, Kansas, and setting fire to the buildings.

Where Will This Political Violence Lead? Look to the 1850s.

In the mid-19th century, a pro-slavery minority used violence to stifle a growing anti-slavery majority, spurring their opposition to respond in kind.
Graphic design of a red, fractured United States on a yellow background

There Is Absolutely Nothing to Support the ‘Independent State Legislature’ Theory

Such a doctrine would be antithetical to the Framers’ intent, and to the text, fundamental design, and architecture of the Constitution.
Political cartoon of Andrew Johnson holding a leaking kettle labeled "The Reconstructed South" towards a woman representing liberty and Columbia, carrying a baby representing the newly approved 14th Amendment.

The Pro-Democratic Fourteenth Amendment

At the heart of recent US Supreme Court decisions, the Fourteenth Amendment was framed to require free speech and free elections in the South.
Mitch McConnell smiling.

How the Conservative War on Campaign Finance Regulation Hastened Roe's Downfall

How the movement to end legal abortion became intertwined with a different conservative pet project.
partner

How Watergate and Citizens United Shaped Campaign Finance Law

Watergate led to a landmark law designed to limit the influence of money in politics. Today, some say the scandal isn’t what’s illegal, it’s what’s legal.
Wilma Mankiller on a quarter

Reconsidering Wilma Mankiller

As the Cherokee Nation’s first female chief’s image is minted onto a coin, her full humanity should be examined.
A book labeled "history" begin painted white to represent revisionism.

Right-Wing Nationalists Are Marching into the Future by Rewriting the Past

Fights over history like those in the U.S. are happening all over the world.
Advertisement during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic.

Political Accountability and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Why do some political incumbents adopt aggressive measures to slow the spread of infectious diseases while others do not?
Protesters holding flags of the US and Mexico.
partner

How Prop. 187 Transformed the Immigration Debate and California Politics

Much of the anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy in the news today is similar to a movement that swept the country 20 years ago.
Volunteer putting out political signs for the Virginia governor's race.
partner

Virginia’s Governor’s Race May Hinge on Debates About Public Schools

Channeling conservative, white anger about public schools is a long-running political strategy.
Newt Gingrich and applauding Republicans

My Front Row Seat to the Radicalization of the Republican Party

As a political reporter, I've seen four Republican revolutions — Reagan’s, Gingrich’s, the Tea Party’s and Trump’s — each of which took the party farther right.
partner

Tucker Carlson’s Cries About Immigrants Have a Disturbing 19th-Century Parallel

The “great replacement theory” is nothing new.
Photo of former African American woman, Bernette Johnson, wearing judicial robes

The Dissenter

The rise of the first Black woman on the Louisiana Supreme Court was characterized by one battle after another with the Deep South’s white power structure.
Deputy sheriff at county fair in Gonzales, Texas.

New Sheriff in Town

Law enforcement and the urban-rural divide.
This 1856 political cartoon depicts the responses of the three candidates to the results of the election. Winning Democrat James Buchanan sits reading the returns of the election while newspaper editors approach from the left. Behind them the defeated Republican candidate John C. Fremont rides off into the West. To the right the second defeated candidate, Millard Fillmore, laments his fall into the “caverns of Know-Nothingism.”

Here’s What Happens to a Conspiracy-Driven Party

The modern GOP isn't the first party to embrace huge conspiracies. But the lessons should be sobering.

A Record Number of Women Are Serving in the 117th Congress

Since Jeannette Rankin was elected in 1916, 352 women have served in the House and 46 in the Senate. About two-thirds entered Congress during or after the 1990s.

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