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In recent years, there have been several top-down attempts to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United. That decision, made in 2010, birthed legal entities known as super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited sums of money so long as they do not coordinate with a candidate. In 2014, Democrats failed to muster enough votes to overcome a Republican-led filibuster over a proposed constitutional amendment. And in 2015, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig announced a presidenti

Breaking the Frame of Respect To solve societal problems, we need civil discourse, and effective reasoning. Reasoning and civil discourse cannot be had without respect. In order to function with respect, a discourse requires two things: personal dignity, including personal space and freedom from dehumanization (or the devaluation of one's inherent worth), and acknowledgement of the positive attributes in others' positions. Once the frame of respect has been betrayed, two behaviors are sure to

Federal law states that foreign governments, corporations, and individuals cannot spend money on elections in the United States. Yet following the Citizens United decision in 2010, some – including President Obama himself – have worried that foreign money could have an easier time influencing American politics. An investigation by The Intercept released earlier this month shows that such foreign influence took place during the 2016 Republican primary race, and, moreover, explores whether that i

While it is debatable whether Americans largely approve of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – the massive free trade agreement comprising 11 other countries -- it is undeniable that the presidential candidates are responding to Americans' concerns about economic insecurity in staking out their positions on the deal. In June 2015, Congress granted the president "fast track" authority, which allows the president to negotiate the agreement with other countries and put it before Congress

1. Both parties engage in and benefit from gerrymandering, the practice of redrawing district lines for partisan gain. In 2010, Republicans invested millions in statewide races to retake state legislatures for the purpose of controlling congressional redistricting. Since then, Republicans have created highly gerrymandered maps in states like North Carolina and Virginia. Democrats are guilty of gerrymandering as well: Maryland hosts some of the most contorted, gerrymandered districts in the count

Green Party signature coordinators across the country are reporting an influx of Bernie Sanders supporters to the Greens' campaign. How far the new momentum will take the party in the 2016 election is yet to be seen. The first order of business is to get the Greens recognized on state ballots, or at least to get Jill Stein, the presumptive presidential nominee, recognized as an independent presidential candidate. As of August 1 Several ballot access deadlines hit this week. In addition to the

In the weeks since the California primary, when Hillary Clinton joined Donald Trump in becoming her party’s presumptive nominee for president, FairVote has tracked both candidates’ campaign appearances. FairVote’s similar analysis in 2012 showed just how much the candidates focus on swing states that might tip the election with our current Electoral College rules. After the conventions in 2012, Barack Obama campaigned in a grand total of just eight states and Mitt Romney added only two more. The

Donald Trump’s fan base looks different from what you might imagine. Some characterize Trump supporters as caucasian men, likely living on a farm in rural Wyoming. However, Trump support is quite diverse. Despite some of the comments we have heard from Trump and the media's response, women and minorities do not always shy away from the candidate. Trump has support from individuals of every demographic. Trump does not lead in the polls with any of these groups. Women and minorities are not his

Tim Kaine is as vanilla middle as you can get. -- Robert Reich 7/24/2016 In Robert Reich's op-ed on Sunday, he questioned whether Hillary Clinton 'got it' when it came to selecting Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as her running mate against the Trump/Pence ticket, accusing her of fundamentally ignoring the progressive nature of this year's primary. Clinton was in a terrific position of choice, already knowing the opposition's lineup before her choice was formalized -- she could have chosen anyone fr

On July 22, Wikileaks released nearly 20,000 e-mails among DNC staffers, a number of which suggest bias against the Sanders campaign during the Democratic primary. Some e-mails show high-level DNC members trying to undermine the Sanders campaign, and others reveal the attitude of DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz toward Sanders and his campaign manager, Jeff Weaver. In light of these leaks, Wasserman Schultz has stated that she will resign as the head of the DNC after the national convention i