Post-Election Voter Engagement
Voters expect that the level of public engagement they experienced with Barack Obama during the campaign, much of it occurring online, will continue into the early period of his new administration.
Breaking Barriers: Congressman Dalip Singh Saund
Born near Amritsar, India in 1899, Dalip Singh Saund was an unlikely future candidate for national office when he came to the United States in 1920 to study food preservation at the University of California, Berkeley. But in 1956 Saund, whose career would span the vocations of mathematician, farmer, author, activist and judge, became the […]
Faith on the Hill: 2008
Members of Congress are often accused of being out of touch with average citizens, but an examination of the religious affiliations of U.S. senators and representatives shows that, on one very basic level, Congress looks much like the rest of the country. Although a majority of the members of the new, 111th Congress, which will […]
Joining the Discussion at Change.gov
After a presidential race in which the internet played a huge role in empowering ordinary citizens to participate in the political process, change.gov offers a fascinating look into how the new administration is attempting to replicate this dynami...
Obama’s Online Opportunities
For a host of reasons, the new administration needs to develop a national broadband strategy but research suggests that users must be central actors in its design.
Obama’s Online Opportunities
There is no shortage of suggestions to the incoming Obama administration about what to do about communications policy in the United States. The body of research from the Pew Internet Project, dating to 2000, indicates that online Americans might have...
In Brief: Pleasant Grove City v. Summum
May a locality that allows one religious group to erect a monument in a city park deny that privilege to another religious sect? On Nov. 12, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of Pleasant Grove City v. Summum.
In Brief: Pleasant Grove City v. Summum
On Nov. 12, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, a case that could change how public parks display religious messages such as the Ten Commandments. The Pew Forum provides a brief overview of how the case progressed to the Supreme Court and how the two sides […]
A Fluid Boundary: The Free Exercise Clause and the Legislative and Executive Branches
In an ongoing series of occasional reports, “Religion and the Courts: The Pillars of Church-State Law,” the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life explores the complex, fluid relationship between government and religion. Among the issues to be examined are religion in public schools, displays of religious symbols on public property, conflicts concerning the free […]
Brutalism Is in the Eye of the Beholder: A Congregation Sues D.C. for Making Its Church Building a Historic Landmark
On Aug. 7, 2008, the Third Church of Christ, Scientist filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the designation of its church building as a historic landmark. The church is a rare Washington, D.C., example of Brutalism, a modern architectural style popular in the mid-20th century. In December […]
