The preparations for President Biden’s as-yet-unscheduled State of the Union address are haunted by a 400-year-old conspiracy to decapitate the British government. What can we learn from the Gunpowder Plot?
By Clay S. Jenkinson, Editor-at-Large | March 5, 2021
State legislatures and Congress are ill-suited — and too partisan — for the task of weighing evidence when elections are contested. Judicial supervision of these disputes is the norm in most democracies.
By Kevin Johnson, Election Reformers Network | March 5, 2021
When presidents take the oath of office, they are expected to protect America against attack. But what about pandemics and economic depressions? Here’s a brief history of how presidents have handled different threats.
By Lindsay Chervinsky, Historian and Contributor | March 4, 2021
C-SPAN and its state-level equivalents have been around for decades, quietly transmitting the minutia of government. But with statehouses still in lockdown, public affairs television is more significant than ever.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, voting rights are on the minds of legislators who have introduced hundreds of bills that either restrict or expand how voters can cast their ballots.
By Carl Smith, Senior Staff Writer | March 3, 2021
They’ve been in the spotlight over the last 12 months as Washington bucked responsibility to the states. Now many of them are facing harsh critics and challenges to their power.
By Donald F. Kettl, Federalism Columnist | March 3, 2021
The number of Amazon delivery stations, totalling more than 1 million square feet, that have been added to New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic, as online purchases have increased to avoid in-person shopping. With the addition of the nine, Amazon now has at least 12 warehouses in New York City and an additional two dozen more in neighboring suburbs.
It’s the only way to get a bill out of Congress before the fall, given the imperative to get COVID relief done first. Governors and mayors need to understand that it’s a game of chess, not checkers.
By Girard Miller, Finance Columnist | March 2, 2021
After years of leading through intimidation, New York's Democratic governor faces sexual harassment allegations and charges of covering up thousands of deaths.
By Alan Greenblatt, Senior Staff Writer | March 1, 2021
Lawmakers should ensure that cumbersome state and local regulations and review processes don't prevent providers from building out and upgrading the infrastructure that high-speed, reliable connectivity requires.
By Jeffrey Westling, R Street Institute | March 1, 2021
The Texas electric power market is designed to give energy companies incentive to sell electricity at the lowest possible cost. That focus helps explain why it collapsed during a historic cold wave.
By Theodore J. Kury, University of Florida | March 1, 2021
The printing press and social media democratized communication in their respective times. They both turned the order of things on its head — for good, for ill, and forever.