The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency
Esteemed presidential historian Stephen F. Knott takes readers on a sobering tour of the lowlights in the American presidency, showing how presidents from Thomas Jefferson to Donald Trump have engaged in reckless conspiracy-mongering about their political opponents in an effort to increase their power and privilege. Today we are inundated with ......
Polarized. Dysfunctional. Toxic. Broken. These are only some of the negative words Americans use to describe the United States Congress. Nowadays hardly anyone has something good to say about either the House of Representatives or the Senate, the two bodies that make up Congress. But is this common viewpoint too negative, too one-sided? And is it ......
A compelling story of scandal and reform at the highest levels of state government In the 1970s, justices on the Florida Supreme Court were popularly elected. But a number of scandals threatened to topple the court until public outrage led to profound reforms and fundamental changes in the way justices were seated. One justice abruptly retired ......
Speakers of the US House of Representatives, 1789-1861
How the role of the Speaker of the House evolved amid power struggles and conflict in the early American Congress. The Speaker of the House occupies a central place in American political life, yet the office's authority has never been fixed or inevitable. The Soul of the House offers a history of the Speakership during the nation's formative ......
Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy's Most Essential Freedom
An incisive examination of free speech's global decline and a framework for preserving expression in democratic societies. The Future of Free Speech confronts a stark truth: the right to speak freely is under siege. Once celebrated as a cornerstone of democratic societies, free expression is now met with growing suspicion and retaliation across ......
Only nine countries have possessed nuclear weapons in the roughly eighty years since the US first introduced the atomic bomb to the world. Since then, a dangerous game of "will they, won't they?" has been played between these nations. The most infamous standoff is the Cold War between the US and USSR, but the emergence of North Korea's nuclear ......
How Money, Media, and Violence Prevent Change in Congress
Why fifty years of changemaking and reform havent fixed Congress—and what that reveals about American democracy.
Congress, the central democratic institution in the United States, is hanging on by a thread. On January 6, 2021, a violent attack on the Capitol Building left five people dead, and threats and attacks ......
Reprint from hardcover by late, storied senator, mentor, and political pioneer Fred Harris. Served the state of Oklahoma in Washington in the sixties and seventies, ran for President in 1972 and 1976. Fred Harris is the last surviving member of the Kerner Rights Commission, famously created by President Lyndon Johnson following the terrible riots, ......
