Raymond A. Smith

With the U.S. still barely recovered from to al partisan gridlock and political dysfunction, Germany has once again formed a “grand coalition” bringing together the two main center-right and center-left parties, which collectively won more than 70% of the vote in last September’s parliamentary elections. The biggest sticking point? Figuring out the best mechanism for […]

The passing of Nelson Mandela marks nearly the end of the generation of great leaders who presided over the astonishing half-decade of 1989-1994, when the post-World War II status quo came to a resounding and surprisingly bloodless conclusion with the collapse of Communism in Europe and Apartheid in South Africa. The death of Margaret Thatcher […]

If you think a few days of “government shutdown” in the U.S. is bad, consider that in 2010-2011, Belgium had a political crisis that prevented formation of a government for 589 days. What may be most surprising, though, is that the Belgians found a way to keep their government programs and services running without serious […]

The Democratic primary race for New York City mayor has begun increasingly resembling, of all things, the 2012 Republican presidential primaries, featuring an unsettled and unenthusiastic electorate, a bevy of flawed candidates, and a new frontrunner seeming to emerge weekly. Ideologically, the Republican candidates in 2012 and the NYC Democrats are polar opposites. But the […]

The poor showing of the G.O.P. among Latino voters in 2012 is the political subtext for much of the immigration debate in Congress this week. But Republicans also need to consider the impact of their words and deeds on the nation’ s fastest growing demographic: Asian-American voters, who are at least as invested in the […]

Including yesterday’s appointment of Jeffrey Chiesa, there have been 21 gubernatorial appointments to fill U.S. Senate seats since 1993 — nine resulting from deaths and 12 from resignations. So how does the New Jerseyan fit into the overall pattern? In 18 of the 20 appointments before Chiesa, the newly named Senators were of the same […]

Marriage equality advocates are understandably disappointed by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy’s decision not to pursue an amendment to the immigration reform bill that would have recognized same-sex relationships. Announcing his decision “with a heavy heart,” Leahy conceded that pursuing the amendment could jeopardize the bipartisan coalition around immigration reform. But few issues have ever […]