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government



  • What Did the Continental Congresses Do?

    From the runup to the Revolution to the adoption of the Constitution, three Continental Congresses were the de facto national government. Here's what they did. 



  • Urban Democracy's Documentarian

    Frederick Wiseman's documentaries valorize not only the institutions but the labor that makes local government function against the odds. 



  • The End of the Businessman President

    by Kyle Edward Williams

    Will Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic mark the end of the pernicious myths that the popular good is served by running government like a business, or that business executives have a talent for governing? 



  • The Deep Roots of Disdain for Black Political Leaders

    by Carole Emberton

    From Thomas Jefferson's writings, through the proslavery argument of the middle of the 19th century, the overthrow of Reconstruction, and the Jim Crow era, American politics has been influenced by the racist idea that Black people were incapable of exercising leadership in a democracy.



  • Fear of Falling: Can Making Black Lives Matter Rescue a Failing State?

    by Rebecca Gordon

    Recent American failures to control vigilante violence, provide public services, and reach common decisions are indicative of a failing state; addressing demands of the Black Lives Matter movement will push America to rebuild its capacity to work for the common good. 


  • In Defense of Public Institutions

    by Elizabeth Stice

    While the generations of the past sought to establish public institutions, in our era, there is a relentless push for more privatization, far beyond the postal service.



  • The Constitution Needs Reform

    by Sanford Levinson

    The system is rigged, and it’s the Constitution that’s doing the rigging.


  • Make America Great Again

    by David Goldfield

    How? The accomplishments of government in the two decades after World War II provide a blueprint.



  • Amateur historian surpasses gov't in digitization efforts [VIDEO]

    One computer expert working alone has built a historic newspaper site that's orders of magnitude bigger and more popular than one created by a federal bureaucracy with millions of dollars to spend. Armed only with a few PCs and a cheap microfilm scanner, Tom Tryniski has played David to the Library of Congress’ Goliath.Tryniski's site, which he created in his living room in upstate New York, has grown into one of the largest historic newspaper databases in the world, with 22 million newspaper pages. By contrast, the Library of Congress' historic newspaper site, Chronicling America, has 5 million newspaper pages on its site while costing taxpayers about $3 per page.[*] In January, visitors to Fultonhistory.com accessed just over 6 million pages while Chronicling America pulled fewer than 3 million views.