The president’s power to pardon has been enshrined in the Constitution ever since it was first ratified at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Among the convention’s Framers, it was Alexander Hamilton who argued most fervently for the existence of pardon powers. Hamilton argued in Federalist 74 that the president’s ability to grant clemency and pardons […]
In the coming decades, there are a handful of states that could realistically align themselves with either the liberal-democratic international order—a system of international relations defined by adherence to international law, open and liberal free trade, and belief in the natural rights of human beings—or today’s autocracies. Such geopolitically fickle states hesitate to commit themselves […]
Xylazine, more commonly known as “tranq,” is a strong sedative that has been approved for veterinary use. Because xylazine is intended exclusively for veterinary use, its adverse effects on humans are not taken into consideration from a regulatory standpoint, putting users at risk. Its unique danger arises from its undetectability, as it’s not classified as […]
According to Jonathan Aitken in his biography Nixon: A Life, Richard Nixon would reportedly sulk alone in the Oval Office for multiple hours a day during the final months of the Watergate Scandal. Humiliated and desperate for companionship, Nixon forced his press secretary Ron Ziegler to drink with him for six to eight hour stretches; […]
The results of the 2024 election revealed an interesting new phenomenon: young men have become increasingly conservative while young women have become increasingly liberal. Despite general sentiments that younger generations have more progressive views, a different reality has slapped women across the face. 53 percent of men aged 18 to 29 voted for Donald Trump, […]
Shortly after the results of the 2016 election were finalized, Saturday Night Live (SNL) parodied the typical election watch-party. The skit depicts White, liberal voters gathered together, confident in the election of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton as the United States’ first female president. Their optimism parallelled the skepticism of comedian guests Dave Chapelle and Chris […]
There’s no denying that the tendrils of authoritarian populism have been slowly strengthening their grip on the political institutions of democratic countries all over the world. Freedom House’s 2021 “Freedom in the World” report documented a sharp acceleration in the global decline of democracy since 2020, and found that the share of countries identified as […]
Inflation has burdened every sector of the American economy, but nowhere is it more noticeable than at the grocery store. Americans pay 25 percent more for groceries today than they did in 2019, while wages remain stagnant, creating an accessibility crisis. As many as 42 million Americans now rely on federal assistance programs to acquire […]
In public discourse, immigration is often talked about as a direct threat to national security, with a majority of criticism coming from Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who advocate for heightened security along the US-Mexico border. The reelection of former President Donald Trump and his hardline immigration stance—reinforced by the mistaken belief that immigrants “steal” American […]
We often consider gender-based violence against women to be an individual man’s fault with “bad apples” engaging in these actions, but the reality is that there is a systemic problem within global societies which allows and encourages femicides and violent actions towards women. Deflecting attention away from the accountability of men in the conversations of […]
