On the verge of enactment, the statute enshrines access to the ballot, even establishing a pre-clearance test like the one the Supreme Court struck down in 2013. Why other states should emulate what Albany is doing.
Social Capital: Which U.S. Regions Are Bowling Alone?
You’ve probably heard of Bowling Alone, the hugely influential 2000 book diagnosing our country’s malaise by Robert Putnam, the Harvard University political scientist. In it, Putnam showed that Americans’ stock of social capital—the fabric of a community’s trust and cooperation—had been plummeting since the 1950s, and that its decline was harming our well-being, personal relationships, health, lifespan, and economic growth. In the quarter-century since the book received widespread attention, social trust, accepted norms, and community cohesion continue to come undone, paving the way for the rise of authoritarian populism and damage to the republic. Indeed, the number of people saying…
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The Democratic Party Is Divided (But Not How You Think)
New polling shows not so much ideological division among Democrats but a lack of consensus about where the party should go.
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America 250: Our Revolutionary Era Colleges Were Hotbeds of … Royalism
“Hamilton” aside, America’s first colleges like Harvard, Yale, and William & Mary bred more faithful subjects of the crown than revolutionaries.
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Be Thankful Barney Frank Wasn’t Pushed Out in 1989
The late great representative’s near political end in a sex scandal is a reminder of why Congress should pause before forcing members to resign.
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Inside Colbert’s Success
My wife, Emily Lazar, worked at both The Colbert Report and The Late Show and she helps me look under the hood.
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The Workers Who Defy Gravity
AI companies want to monetize what makes us human. Who will stop them?
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The First American Nazi Infiltrators
Long before the Southern Poverty Law Center, non-government organizations ran undercover operations against American fascists.
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