After the colonists declared their independence, designing a government was next. Three of the founding generation said the new government needed to account for the flaws in human nature.
Articles on Alexander Hamilton
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You know how important the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were to making the United States. But do you know about The Federalist and the crucial role it played in the founding era?
Democracy cannot thrive, or even survive, when its leaders see themselves as godlike and divide citizens into believers and heretics, a scholar writes.
The Republican and Democratic parties are united in protecting their chokehold on American politics, despite the view by America’s founders that parties had no legitimate place in the republic.
What would the United States be without its states? A better, more democatic country, says one legal scholar.
The use of national tariffs in the US began in 1791, led by Alexander Hamilton, and grew throughout the 19th century, in what became known to many as the American System.
The founders saw a need for government to intervene in markets.
Historically, federal courts prioritized voting rights and legal congressional districts for upcoming elections above all other concerns. But the Supreme Court changed that in 2022.
The framers decided that members of both the House and Senate would be required to be “an inhabitant” of the state they represent.
A former national security staffer, now a scholar of secrecy law, says criticisms of Trump’s federal indictment for hoarding classified documents are unfounded.
The arrest of a former American president is unprecedented, but the nation’s founders anticipated the day would come.
Americans are not the first to fret over the potential harm that parties can inflict. But parties can also promote the common interest.
There’s a new party in town – but it may not last long.
A leader’s machismo can lead to war, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has long displayed his version of hyper-masculinity. A historian says that for America’s founders, wars never fed their egos.
Like today, passions were strong and political discourse was inflamed in late 18th-century America. Angry mobs torched buildings. Virginians drank a toast to George Washington’s speedy death.
The Founding Fathers were unrelenting in their commitment to the idea that circumstances can arise that require public officials to take actions abridging individual freedoms.
The Supreme Court is a leading player in enacting policy in the US. But it has no army to enforce its decisions; its authority rests solely on its legitimacy.
It’s easy to make fun of California politics. But a longtime scholar of those politics says the attempt to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom is part of a long-running attempt to hold government accountable.
Democracies degenerate because of cunning leaders. Democracies also crumble because of the people themselves – and the US founders believed education would be crucial to maintaining democracy.
The vote to acquit former President Trump for inciting the attack on the Capitol is a symptom of the dramatic decline of the US constitutional system, which is being eroded from within.
Top contributors
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Professor of American History, Università di Torino
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Professor of American Civics, University of Tennessee
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William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College
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Associate Professor of Political Science, Clarkson University
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Professor of History, McGill University
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Lecturer in Political Science, City College of New York
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Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Broeklundian Professor of Political Science Emerita, City University of New York
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Professor of History and Law Faculty, The Ohio State University
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Professor of Philosophy, Acting Director of the Rock Ethics Institute, and Affiliate Professor in the School of International Affairs, Penn State
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Associate Professor of Philosophy and Law, Wayne State University; Institute for Humane Studies
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Assistant professor of politics and policy, Simmons University
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Executive Director, Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, California State University, Los Angeles
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Associate Professor of Political Science, Boise State University
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Associate Professor of Law, Arizona State University
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PhD Candidate in History, Monash University