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Primaries first began in the early twentieth century as a response to increasingly strong party control over elections. At the time, voters wanted a larger say in who would be chosen as their candidate, instead of the long-standing tradition of party bosses choosing who would run for office. Progressive reformers viewed direct primaries as a way for constituencies to increase transparency and allow for citizens to participate in the electoral process. As primaries became a feature of local, stat

The Unemployment Insurance program (UI) provides temporary weekly cash payments to people who are unemployed through no fault of their own. The cash payments are meant for unemployed persons to temporarily provide basic necessities for themselves and their families while seeking new employment. The basic idea is that the money would be immediately spent, thus providing a direct stimulus to their local economies. Public unemployment insurance first appeared in Wisconsin in 1932 as part of an eff

When election season rolls around, Americans are inundated with TV ads, brochures, and phone calls from controversial groups looking to affect a candidate’s campaign or shift the momentum of a piece of legislation. Many of these groups can file for 527 tax-exempt status, which is designated for political organizations defined by the IRS as "a party, committee, association, fund, or other organization (whether or not incorporated) organized and operated primarily for the purpose of directly or i

Last week, both Illinois and Hawaii passed same-sex marriage making them the 15th and 16th states to do so. Overall, 2013 has been quite a year for the LGBT community. These last two states just seem to put the icing on the proverbial cake. It all comes on the heals of the 2012 election where voters in three states (Maine, Maryland, and Washington) approved same-sex marriage and rejected a ban on it in the state of Minnesota. So, what has transpired during the year? Rhode Island, Delaware, Mi

Reports of National Security Agency surveillance capabilities and oversight continue to surpass previous assumptions. Dragnet data collection lie at the center of legal and privacy concerns. This week, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) introduced the USA Freedom Act. According to the bill, the act's stated purpose is, To reform the authorities of the Federal Government to require the production of certain business records, conduct electronic

There is a lot of money in politics, from local, to state, to federal elections. But some groups give a lot more to candidates and committees than others. Data was collected from the Center for Responsive Politics on OpenSecrets.org. There is a wealth -- pun intended -- of information in several categories to parse, including donations by Industry, Lobbying, PACs, Organizations, and 527s. 25. American Crystal Sugar American Crystal Sugar has donated $727,750 in the 2013-2014 election cycle, b

The 2016 presidential election may be three years away, but Iowa is already abuzz with potential Republican candidates. As soon as the dust settled from Mitt Romney’s failed bid to unseat President Barack Obama, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin all began making regular pilgrimages to the Hawkeye state. Iowa, the first battleground state of the presidential primary, will hold their

Sierra Riddle received an unwanted visit from a human services agent last week after making the decision to use hash oils to treat her son’s aggressive form of leukemia instead of chemotherapy. Last year, after receiving the unfortunate diagnosis, Landon, Sierra’s three-year-old son, had begun to undergo the traditional treatment of radiation and chemotherapy per the doctor’s request, which he in turn experienced the heavy side effects that coincide with this toxic form of treatment. The little

Credit: Aspen Photo / Shutterstock.com Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 484 on October 2, ending California's K-12 standardized testing system and moving toward a new one. STAR testing will no longer be administered, it will be replaced by Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress (MAPP) tests aligned with the Common Core curriculum. New tests are computerized and adaptive to student responses, rooted in the nationwide effort Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. According to the b

In 2011, Wisconsin state budget and accounting issues actually got so exciting they brought reminders of protests from the 1960s and 1970s.  The 2011 debate centered on how the state would approach paying retirement benefits for government workers.   Wisconsin’s ‘Budget Repair Bill’ included provisions to limit pay and benefits and to restrict collective bargaining. These provisions sparked widespread protest, including counter-protests in favor of the bill.  After the Wisconsin Supreme Court up