Research Library

Whether out of strategic calculations or due to attitude towards women, the outcome is the same: female candidates often do not follow the party route to political office in Bahrain.

Uruguay’s national elections on October 26 will determine more than who occupies the Republic’s presidency, vice presidency, and Senate and House chambers — voters will also determine the government’s political orientation. The occasion will force Uruguayans to choose between the progressivism of the Frente Amplio party — which government has promoted for the past 10 years — and a return to the conservatism of the opposition Blanco and Colorado parties.

Using data from University of Texas/Texas Tribune polls of registered Texas voters, political science fellow Mark Jones ranked 20 counties in the Lone Star State from most liberal to most conservative. Travis County, home to Austin, is by far the state's most liberal county; Brazoria County is the most ideologically conservative.

Fellow Joe Barnes looks at the kerfuffle arising from former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s critical — much-publicized — response to President Obama’s description of his foreign policy as “don’t do stupid stuff.”

Despite his sweeping electoral victory, it seems that Egypt's new president, General Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, has learned little from the past mistakes of Mubarak and Morsi.

On May 22, the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, which specifies the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense and sets the policies under which money (somewhat in excess of $600 billion) will be spent on our country’s defense. However, an amendment added to the bill will keep the Department of Defense from preparing for or performing any military activities that include any construction related to climate change.

Speaking from the historic steps of Old North on the Georgetown University campus on June 25, 2013, President Obama unveiled a detailed plan to address the causes and impacts of climate change. In his words, the president promised, “I’m directing the Environmental Protection Agency to put an end to the limitless dumping of carbon pollution from our power plants, and complete new pollution standards for both new and existing power plants.” Not quite a year later on June 6, 2014, Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, responded by proposing “state-specific rate-based goals for carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector, as well as guidelines for states to follow in developing plans to achieve the state-specific goals.”

It is inconceivable to imagine our nation today without the gains of the Civil Rights Act. It is impossible to understand why the issue was so divisive then, since it is such an obvious right and moral proposition. Similarly, let us hope we will look back at the Affordable Care Act 20 years from now and wonder why it was such a contentious topic in 2014.

By Zoe Russell

Following the legalization of retail marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington, and medical marijuana in…

By Jerry Epstein

Following the legalization of retail marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington, and medical marijuana…