Andrew Gripp received his M.A. in Democracy and Governance from Georgetown University in 2012. He is a former political science professor, and he writes on American politics, international affairs, ph
After weeks of pressure to release detailed policies regarding his positions on immigration, Donald Trump published a slate of reform ideas. Among these is the call to "end birthright citizenship," whereby children born in the United States – including those of immigrant parents – automatically become American citizens. Approximately 400,
On August 15, delegates from the Utah Republican Party gathered to vote on measures ranging from how candidates compete for the party’s nomination to who can be rightfully considered a party member. The changes adopted within Utah’s GOP could affect whether candidates not backed by the state’s
Florida's state legislators meeting in a special session have until noon on Friday, August 21, to agree to a new map for the state's 27 congressional districts. Two court rulings – one from 2014 and one from 2015 – found fault with the legislature's congressional maps,
Moral Luck, Constitutive Luck Luck plays a tremendous role in our lives. Consider two people who are texting while driving in a residential neighborhood: one such driver, through sheer coincidence, ends up striking a pedestrian, while the other driver passes through without incident. Though their behavior is identical, our reactions
The first question in the GOP primetime debate was a revealing one. When asked whether the candidates would pledge to support the eventual nominee, only one of the ten candidates on stage raised his hand to signal he would not: Donald Trump. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-oi2Z2g0e4 Moderator
On July 14, Iran agreed to a nuclear deal in Vienna that would greatly inhibit its ability to develop a nuclear weapon. The agreement, if it goes into effect, will not only cause Iran to forfeit most of its centrifuges and enriched uranium, but it will also establish an inspection
Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has made health care a central plank in his platform. At a rally on July 30 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Medicare, Sanders declared that "we need to expand Medicare to cover every man, woman and child as a single-payer
As reported by Richard Winger on Ballot Access News, the Senate State Government Committee will hold a hearing on September 22 regarding SB 495, the Voter's Choice Act, which aims to enhance ballot access in Pennsylvania for minor party candidates. Currently, statewide candidates not associated with the major
As Bob Conner reported for IVN in 2014, New Jersey’s independents spent approximately $100 million to pay for primaries in which they could not vote between 2000 and 2013. The obvious question is, how did this come to be? How did taxpayers come to subsidize party primaries? The origin
Since ISIS declared the establishment of its caliphate just over a year ago on June 29, 2014, it has seen its territory grow and shrink. According to one estimate, ISIS has lost a quarter of the territory it once controlled in Iraq. While it still controls key cities like Mosul
In Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a third candidate, Lisa Esler, has emerged in a special election that will take place on August 4 to fill a vacant seat representing the 161st House District in the state's General Assembly. In April, recently elected Republican Joe Hackett announced he would be
On July 1, Kathryn Steinle was shot and killed on a popular pier in San Francisco. Her murderer, 45-year-old Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, had taken sleeping pills he found in a dumpster hours before the shooting. He claims he found a gun wrapped in a T-shirt on a bench and