Category: Good Government
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The Gerrymandering Arms Race: How a Boring Map War Is Quietly Wrecking Democracy
Lately, map-making has become a full-contact sport. Every decade, politicians dust off their digital compasses and redraw the lines that decide who represents whom, a process meant to reflect population changes. Increasingly, though, it…
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When the Lights Go Out: the Government Shutdown and Why It Matters
Every year, Congress is supposed to complete one of its most basic responsibilities: pass a federal budget to avoid a government shutdown. The process begins when the President submits a proposed budget, usually in…
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What Is Even the Point of So-Called Independent Government Agencies?
For a country obsessed with separation of powers, America sure has a lot of government bodies that operate in a gray zone of constitutional accountability. They’re not quite executive, not quite legislative, and definitely…
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A 5‑Alarm Fire for Democracy: Deploying Troops Against One’s Own Citizens
“Enemy From Within” and the Threat of Domestic Militarization On September 30, 2025, President Trump stood before U.S. generals in Quantico and warned that “America is under invasion from within … no different than…
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When Democracy Goes Too Far: The Dangers of Populism
“Populism” is a political movement that basically means “what the masses want”. It evokes the idea of a government truly by the people—raw, direct, and unfiltered. Who could object to that? Isn’t the whole…
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Why the Government Shouldn’t Be Run Like a Business
“We need to run the government like a business.” It’s a crowd-pleasing applause line at campaign rallies, usually followed by a knowing nod to how bloated and inefficient Washington is. And yes, there’s plenty…
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How the U.S. Government Works: 5 Things “They” Never Taught You
For a country that loves to chant “USA! USA!” at sporting events and confuse patriotism with pyrotechnics, we do a staggeringly poor job of explaining how our government actually functions. If your civics education…