Anti-poll tax amendment is 50 years old today
The value in today's dollars of the annual poll tax once imposed by several Southern states.
Chart of the Week: Many in the Americas say high joblessness can justify a coup
Significant minorities in several nations of the Americas say high unemployment would justify a military takeover of their country's government.
Study on twins suggests our political beliefs may be hard-wired
Everyone knows that our genes predispose us to be tall or short, blue-eyed blonds or brown-eyed brunettes, smart or not-so-smart. Now new research finds that, to a surprisingly large degree, our genes also shape our political beliefs and orientation.
Tea Party Republicans have a love-hate relationship with government
Tea Party Republicans like some federal agencies as much as Democrats do.
Study: Early voting associated with lower turnout
The country’s most widely adopted reform designed to make voting easier may lower the chances that an individual voter will go to the polls, according to a new study.
Tunisians Disaffected with Leaders as Conditions Worsen
Overview In Tunisia, the euphoric Arab Spring has descended into a summer of discontent. Two years after launching the Arab Spring, setting in motion changes that have convulsed the Middle East and North Africa, worsening national conditions have soured Tunisians’ views of both their political leadership and many national institutions associated with the country’s democratic […]
5 facts about the Pledge of Allegiance
Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court – the state’s highest court – will hear arguments today in Doe v. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, a case in which an anonymous atheist couple is challenging the use of the phrase “under God” in recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. The plaintiffs, represented by the American Humanist […]
King’s “I have a dream” speech, by the numbers
Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech 50 years ago today on Washington D.C.’s National Mall and Memorial Parks has become one of the most famous, and quoted, pieces of oratory in U.S. history (though that wasn’t apparent to everyone at the time). But how well have the aspirations King so memorably expressed been realized? We ran […]
Tea Party Republicans exert stronger influence in GOP primaries
There is a 17-point gap between the percentage of Tea Party Republicans (62%) and non-Tea Party Republicans (45%) who say they always vote in primary elections.
As Mali Votes, Mixed Reception to French Intervention from Publics in Africa and Middle East
Survey Report Mali holds a presidential election July 28, its first election since the French military led a January 2013 intervention to oust Islamic rebels from the north of the country. As Malians go to the polls, Africans, on balance, approve of the French military incursion in its former colony and France enjoys a largely […]
