Category: Public Policy
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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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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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How the U.S. Exported Democracy—and Why “Soft Power” Still Matters
If you spend enough time in the comments section of any news story involving foreign aid, military bases, or international students, you’ll likely run into some variation of this argument: “Why are we spending…