We find ourselves once again in the midst of a depressing spectacle: election season. In my role as a political scientist I had to pay attention to electoral politics, even though I thought the art of governing was far more interesting.

The Declaration of Independence listed among its complaints against the king that he had involved us in Europe’s wars, insisting that their problems should not be our concern.

Our tendency to treat our contemporary problems as if they are unique can blind us to the fact that our country has always been divided.

The US Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 25, 2024 in the case of Trump v. US, a case which will determine whether the former president is immune from prosecution on charges related to trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The last two Heritage essays made brief references to one of America’s most interesting and mercurial thinkers, Orestes Brownson.

The Michigan legislature, in 1994, declared Russell the state’s “greatest man of letters.”

This series aims to help our readers understand the complexity of our Constitutional system, in no small part by detailing the arguments involved in its construction.

Readers of these pages know our special interest in the political thinking that took place around the founding era and now it can help illuminate our politics today.

The framers of our Constitution worried most about the power of the legislature, and for that reason directed much of their attention to checks upon legislative power.

There is much debate about whether America had a “Christian Founding.” Like many disagreements, the position one takes often depends on the assumptions one, and these assumptions need defending.

Last week I opined that Washington’s “Farewell Address” to the nation was the best of its genre.

Donald Trump’s win in the Iowa caucus spurred a new round of commentary that Trump’s persistent and, to his critics, toxic presence in American politics portends a violence that could lead America into its next civil war.

Jean de Crèvecœur was a French expatriate who settled in New York in 1759 after having fought in the French and Indian Wars.

It is true that women were not in attendance at The Constitutional Convention, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t exercise some influence behind the scenes.

By my calculations I have attended over 40 graduation ceremonies.

Once a fabric begins to fray, the continuing unraveling of the garment is almost inevitable.

In many ways, political differences can be boiled down to one simple question: what is your view of human nature?

Two hundred years ago the frontier colonies of America braced for a long and determined conflict with the strongest military power in the world.

With this Address President Washington officially began the tradition we celebrate today.