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Politics-The Conversation
12 ways the Trump administration dismantled civil rights law and the foundations of inclusive democracy in its first year
At its one-year mark, the Trump administration is dismantling the systems that once helped the US move toward a more open and equal democracy.
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The Insurrection Act is one of at least 26 legal loopholes in the law banning the use of the US military domestically
Can the president use the Insurrection Act and send the military into U.S. cities? A web of legal provisions try to balance presidential power with th...
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Most of the 1 million Venezuelans in the United States arrived within the past decade
Most of the 1 million Venezuelan immigrants in the US arrived relatively recently.
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One cure for sour feelings about politics − getting people to love their hometowns
Fostering a sense of pride in local communities increases citizen participation, including, at a bare minimum, voting in municipal elections.
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Supreme Court likely to reject limits on concealed carry but uphold bans on gun possession by drug users
The high court recognizes a person’s right to self-defense with firearms but has also upheld the government’s power to enforce limits on that right.
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Searching reporters’ homes, suing journalists and repressing citizen dissent are well-known steps toward autocracy
President Donald Trump’s threats against independent media and free speech look a lot like the actions of autocrats elsewhere intent on undermining th...
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South Florida’s Brightline has highlighted an old problem – every year for the past decade, 900 pedestrians were killed by trains
Railway safety has vastly improved for motor vehicles, but reducing the risk of collisions with pedestrians is much trickier.
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The ‘drug threat’ that justified the US ouster of Maduro won’t be fixed by his arrest
There is no evidence that US intervention in Venezuela will lead to a meaningful reduction in drugs flowing into the United States.
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Martin Luther King Jr. was ahead of his time in pushing for universal basic income
The policy of providing guaranteed cash incomes has gained momentum in recent years. This tool to tackle inequality has the potential to address racia...
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Nearly half of Detroit seniors spend at least 30% of their income on housing costs − even as real estate values fall
Detroit seniors pay more in homeowner’s insurance, utilities and property tax, and those on fixed incomes can struggle to make ends meet.
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Wars without clear purpose erode presidential legacies, and Trump risks political consequences with further military action in Venezuela
President Donald Trump should take notice: From Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush, history shows leaders often pay a high political price when wars the...
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Trump lawsuits seek to muzzle media, posing serious threat to free press
The president has sued multiple media companies. He may care less about winning in court than intimidating news outlets, suggest two media scholars.
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Damn the torpedoes! Trump ditches a crucial climate treaty as he moves to dismantle America’s climate protections
At the same time, Americans have been facing worsening storms, wildfires and deadly heat waves.
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George Washington’s foreign policy was built on respect for other nations and patient consideration of future burdens
For the nation’s first president, friendliness was strategy, not concession: the republic would treat other nations with civility in order to remain i...
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Why the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s closure exposes a growing threat to democracy
When reputable local news outlets close, fewer people vote and get involved in local politics, and misinformation, corruption and polarization increas...
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Americans have had their mail-in ballots counted after Election Day for generations − a Supreme Court ruling could end the practice
29 states allow mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted days after an election. A case before the Supreme Court could take that decis...
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ICE killing of driver in Minneapolis involved tactics many police departments warn against − but not ICE itself
Police departments have changed their policies regarding use of force over the years to protect life, but ICE and other federal agencies have lagged i...
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Racial profiling by ICE agents mirrors the targeting of Japanese Americans during World War II
Asian Americans have drawn parallels between today’s attacks on Latinos and a historically exclusive immigration policy that favors some families over...
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Congress takes up health care again − and impatient voters shouldn’t hold their breath for a cure
Why does health care reform keep failing despite decades of attention and expanding costs? A scholar of Congress has some answers.
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Today Venezuela, tomorrow Iran: can the Islamic Republic survive a second Trump presidency?
Perhaps no one outside of Venezuela should care more about the US invasion and capture of President Nicolás Maduro than the Islamic Republic of Iran’s...
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2026 begins with an increasingly autocratic United States rising on the global stage
The US attack on Venezuela highlights a shifting American foreign policy that dismisses a rules-based global order and focuses on economic interests a...
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Colorado faces a funding crisis for child care − local communities hope to fill the gaps
A lack of access to child care costs the state an estimated $2.7 billion in lost productivity and revenue.
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Voters shrug off scandals, paying a price in lost trust
Scandals don’t have the resonance they used to. Both parties could do more to police offenders within their own ranks.
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Can the US ‘run’ Venezuela? Military force can topple a dictator, but it cannot create political authority or legitimacy
If Washington governs by force in Venezuela, it will repeat the failures of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya: Power can topple regimes, but it cannot creat...
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I wrote a book on the politics of war powers, and Trump’s attack on Venezuela reflects Congress surrendering its decision-making powers
Congress has a legal, constitutional and even moral responsibility to assert itself as a branch when it comes to military actions by the US, says an e...
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The ‘sacred’ pledge that will power the relaunch of far-right militia Oath Keepers
Founder Stewart Rhodes says he will relaunch the group, serving as an important outlet for thousands of members who have felt lost since his imprisonm...
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Who thinks Republicans will suffer in the 2026 midterms? Republican members of Congress
The president’s party almost always loses seats in the midterms. More than two dozen Republican House members have already decided to retire.
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How the ‘slayer rule’ might play a role in determining who will inherit wealth from Rob Reiner and his wife
These rules have a long history in the United States. They played a role in the notorious murders by the Menendez brothers and Scott Peterson.
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As DOJ begins to release Epstein files, his many victims deserve more attention than the powerful men in his ‘client list’
Powerful men connected to Jeffrey Epstein are named, dissected and speculated about. The survivors, unless they work hard to step forward, remain a bl...
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Local democracy is holding strong, but rural communities are falling behind, new survey of Michigan officials shows
Officials from 70% of Michigan’s 1,856 cities, villages, counties and townships completed the survey.
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Deception and lies from the White House to justify a war in Venezuela? We’ve seen this movie before in run-ups to wars in Vietnam and Iraq
Two US wars based on lies, in which tens of thousands of American troops and millions of civilians died, offer a cautionary tale about the rush to war...
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Miami’s new mayor faces a housing affordability crisis, city charter reform and a shrinking budget
Eileen Higgins won a hard-fought election to become Miami’s new mayor. Now for the hard part – governing the city.
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What are gas stove manufacturers trying to hide? Warning labels
The gas industry is opposed to labels that warn consumers of the potential harms of gas stoves.
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There’s little evidence tech is much help stopping school shootings
The $4 billion school security industry can’t back up claims for its tech. The silver lining: That’s partly because there aren’t enough shootings to s...
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Karoline Leavitt’s White House briefing doublethink is straight out of Orwell’s ‘1984’
A historian analyzes how White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s claims about her boss and his administration are ‘doublespeak’ straight out of...
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America faced domestic fascists before and buried that history
Although thousands of Americans embraced fascist ideas during the interwar years, a new study examines why the US has had little appetite to remember ...
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Supreme Court case about ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ highlights debate over truthful advertising standards
There are some 2,500 of these centers across the United States. Many are located within a mile of an abortion provider.
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Shaping the conversation means offering context to extreme ideas, not just a platform
Should all points of view be heard from? Defending certain values and ideas makes it a bit more complicated than simply listening to all sides.
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