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In 2008, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute conducted a national survey testing the basic civic literacy of the American public. The poll of 2,508 individuals asked such simple questions as “What are the three branches of government?” and “What part of the government has the power to declare war?” among others, many of which were adopted from naturalization exams and high school social studies tests. Of those polled, 71% failed the test. Fewer than 50% could correctly identify the three branc

Following the controversies surrounding the presidential election of 2000, in which George W. Bush lost the popular vote but won the presidency, there was renewed interest in reforming the Electoral College system. That interest has held steady over the course of the last decade. In a Gallup survey from late last year, 62% of those polled said they would prefer that the president be elected by a direct popular vote rather than via the indirect system characteristic of the Electoral College. The

Gary Johnson excluded from national discussion on immigration policy On our report about Mitt Romney and Barack Obama's "dueling addresses" on immigration policy to Latino leaders at a conference in Florida, one commenter pointed out the exclusion of Libertarian Party presidential candidate, Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico from the discussion: "That’s right, exclude the guy with the best record and a 2 term governor of the of the most Latino state: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/record" This

I'm watching Mitt Romney's address to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials live on CSPAN right now. He has really come out swinging hard at President Obama... UPDATE (9:31am PT) - Romney's introductory remarks were brief. He said what unites us as Americans is more important than our differences, and that what unites us is our love for this country. He then wasted no time in discussing what divides us (partisan bickering), and launching into a robust criticism of P

He came up with what he called the American System.  His name was Henry Clay of Kentucky.  In 1806, Henry Clay was elected to the US Senate by the Kentucky legislature.  At which, he set out at once for the nation's capital city, Washington DC.  Part of his route would be via boat while more of it would be via the nation's roads... or what were considered roads at that time.  It was upon this journey that Clay's zeal for an internal improvement program for the nation were formed.  He had already

The following interview is with Illinois Ron Paul Delegate, Greg Bishop, who attended the Illinois Republican State Convention held in Tinley Park, Illinois on June 9th. Bishop recently explained his first hand experience of the incident where the Ron Paul delegation was shut out of the state convention. AJ: Please provide for the readers your background? Bishop: 
I'm an activist at heart. Having been on the air with a politically-driven radio talk show for nearly 6 years, my experience in rea

In light of former Senator Rick Santorum's recent comments on ABC's This Week, it is clear GOP social conservatives are becoming increasingly worried about the presence, and power, of Dr. Ron Paul at the Republican National Convention. In the case of a divided Republican Party, if Governor Mitt Romney is going to have to choose between Dr. Paul and Sen. Santorum in Tampa, he has to go with Dr. Paul. In an earlier posting by IVN, we pointed out that at some point Gov. Romney was going to have to

What will it take for the majority to understand voting for either Republicans or Democrats is counter-productive in changing our societal issues through politics? The Wisconsin recall is an excellent example. From day one of the recall campaign, people were confident that Democrats were going to be out in full force. People assumed resources were going to be handed out; such as finances, campaign staff, and media tactics designed and/or on behalf of Wisconsin Democrats. Instead, no help came f

I interviewed former Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Bill Ayers. His various articles on education have appeared in countless publications, including the Harvard Educational Review, The Nation, The New York Times, and Rethinking Schools. Along with his academic career, Ayers was actively involved with the Civil Rights movement where he fought discrimination in Ann Arbor, MI. Could you provide your background in policy

Florida holds the dubious honor of wrongfully convicting the largest number of innocent people put on death row. Since 1973, the Sunshine State wrongfully incarcerated and released twenty-three people set for a state sanctioned killing. And nationwide, 140 people in twenty-six states have been exonerated of the crimes for which they were convicted and sent to death row. If this tells independent voters anything, it’s that the criminal justice system is in desperate need of reform, with capital p