Politics
In newly independent US, Americans debated whether public executions taught a lesson or just showed off the state’s power to destroy
The conflict over the wisdom of Nidal Hasan’s public execution is not a new one. Americans at the republic’s founding debated – and doubted – whether watching someone die would teach a useful lesson.
Republicans can confirm a Supreme Court justice if Democrats take the Senate, but at what cost?
If Republicans attempt to confirm a nominee, they will trigger a historic fight and hand Democrats the justification needed to reshape the high court.
Murder of Black suffrage leader Octavius Catto reveals why Election Day 1871 was one of the most violent in Philadelphia history
Philadelphia has given the intersection of 8th and South streets a new name: Octavius Catto Way.
Today’s irreverent politics ignore ancient wisdom: The need to know your limits
Many Americans have decried today’s politics as ‘shameless.’ The antidote, a political philosopher argues, may be more reverence – awe at just how difficult democracy is.
Across the US, people don’t want data centers coming to their communities
Opposition to data centers is widespread across the US, uniting people despite other differences on political and environmental issues.
Why the Paramount‑Warner merger is a problem for democracy
The Paramount merger may make good business sense, but research shows putting more media power in fewer hands can come at a cost to the common good of citizens.
I’ve been studying election integrity for 26 years, and here’s why I expect a normal election this November instead of chaos
Mayhem at the polls on Election Day 2026? Americans are worried. But a scholar of election law who has also run a nationwide election protection program says he doesn’t believe it will happen.
More than 119 million Brazilians voted in the Oct. 4 election – including about 21,000 Florida residents
Brazilian voters abroad mirror the deep polarization shaping politics in their home country.
Democrats distance themselves from trans rights – close midterm races may show whether that pays off
A scholar of LGBTQ+ politics looks at how Democratic campaigns in Texas and Ohio are shifting on trans issues and what that could mean for control of Congress.
The oil market that sets today’s gas prices was invented in western Pennsylvania
A historian traces how Oil City brokers, then John D. Rockefeller, then futures exchanges decided what the world pays for crude – and why no one entity does today.