Over a third of U.S. adults (35%) cannot name all three branches of the government and under half can name four of the five rights protected by the First Amendment, according to the 2026 Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania. Of the five First Amendment rights, only freedom...
If you gathered every American with a prison record into one contiguous territory and admitted it to the union, you would create the 12th-largest state. It would be home to at least 7 million to 8 million people and hold a dozen votes in the Electoral College. In a close presidential race, this hypothetical state...
A new study in Public Opinion Quarterly shows that moral arguments appealing to care and fairness can persuade both liberals and conservatives in the United States. By contrast, arguments grounded in the “binding” moral foundations – loyalty, authority and sanctity – primarily influence conservatives. In the study, conducted by researchers at Stockholm University, Mälardalen University, and the...
This tactic may steer the public political discussion away from problem solving and instead create a debate about the very liberal democratic basis of society. Election researchers from across Europe have looked at how populist parties profile themselves on Facebook. Their findings are quite clear. “Populist parties much more often use controversial, divisive issues when...
The world feels heavy again. Politics seethes with bitterness. Civil liberties bend under pressure. Wars erupt in places that once seemed far away but now echo through our daily lives. The news scrolls endlessly across our screens, a litany of anxiety and outrage. Even those who try to keep perspective sense a low hum of...
In the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, his administration has made many attempts to suppress speech it disfavors – at universities, on the airwaves, in public school classrooms, in museums, at protests and even in lawyer’s offices. If past is prologue, these efforts may backfire. In 2018, I published my...
As university leaders work to make deals with the Trump administration, many college presidents are at an ethical crossroads. On the one hand, they must do all they can to restore funding for vital research. On the other, they risk ceding to the demands of a president with views that don’t align with their missions....
When people use the term “Orwellian,” it’s not a good sign. It usually characterizes an action, an individual or a society that is suppressing freedom, particularly the freedom of expression. It can also describe something perverted by tyrannical power. It’s a term used primarily to describe the present, but whose implications inevitably connect to both...
When women political candidates deviate from expectations or the views of their party, they are judged far more harshly than men by voters, a new study in Politics & Gender, published on behalf of the American Political Science Association by Cambridge University Press, reveals. The research also found that voters begin campaigns with greater uncertainty about women...
Ask someone what a calling is, and they’ll probably say something like “doing work you love.” But as a management professor who has spent two decades researching the history and impact of calling, I’ve found it’s much more than personal fulfillment. The concept of calling has deep roots. In the 1500s, theologian Martin Luther asserted...