Did Speaker Boehner insult President Obama by snubbing his speech request? If so, so what?

We often conflate intentionality with design. However, even designers may not fully understand how what they have created will work.

Madison went to Philadelphia wanting to increase the power of the central government over the states (quite a bit, in fact).

The US came a lot closer to something resembling a parliamentary system than most people think.

Is America’s political system to blame for our current problems?

As long term readers know, I have written on several occasions (e.g., here and here) about the “republic not a democracy” claim that some in contemporary politics like to make. Part of my problem with said assertions is that they usually are made in a way that shows a lack of understanding of semantics, history, [...]

Presidents are not a powerful as they seem (and a return to the “are things broken?” theme).

A political science-y response to the question of whether the system is broken.

I am seeing people on my Facebook and Google+ feeds (amongst other places) making assertions about how the solutions to our problems are “simple.” “It’s simple,” they will say, “just cut this and that and that other thing and you’re done!” The problem of course, is that if governing were that simple we wouldn’t have [...]

Michael Cohen argues that our system is broken because Republicans will no longer compromise.

How the reelection incentive and parliamentary procedure are affecting the debt ceiling debate in Congress.

The constitutional purists in the Tea Party apparently do not understand either bicameralism nor separation of powers.

Steven Metz muses, “Scholars argue that too much political mobilization can make democracies dysfunction. Is that where the US is today?”

Yes, the President is a key actor in the debt ceiling debate. However, the actual decision is a congressional one.

European leaders have put another Band Aid on the Greek sovereign debt crisis while America’s leaders are trying to stave off a self-inflicted financial default.

Talk of passing a balanced budget amendment is nonsense.

Sunday afternoon musings on an electoral college sweeps.

The vast majority of the seats in the Virginia legislature will not even be contested this November.

Via Bruce Barlett (from OECD data), here is total taxes collected in the US as a percentage of GDP (this includes federal, state and local):   No analysis, point, or argument being made here, just a useful FYI.

More on the whole “republic not a democracy” discussion.

It’s just about time to schedule the piteous press conference.

If you are interested in increasing your basic understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I would highly recommend the CFR’s Crisis Guide on the subject. At a minimum, I would recommend the Video Overview and the whole of Chapter II:  The Territorial Puzzle, which includes a primer on all of the territories under discussion as well [...]

I get the impression that a lot of people don’t even know what “the 1967 borders” are or why they tend to be considered the logical point of departure for any type of peace negotiations.

The bungled politics of the Ryan plan.

As we all continue to try and understand the debt ceiling debate, here’s another attempt at explaining the situation via the CSM:  National debt ceiling 101: Is a crisis looming?

Erick Erickson questions Jon Huntsman’s loyalty to America.

Tomorrow, voters in the UK are being asked whether they want to trade in their current single member district, first-past-the-post electoral system (otherwise known as the same one we use to elect Congress and any number of other offices) for the alternative vote (also known as the instant run-off). For a very basic explanation, watch [...]

A conspiracy theorist is never troubled by facts.

As I noted yesterday, the pending release of Atlas Shrugged as a motion picture will likely spark a great deal of discussion of Ayn Rand. An example if Donald Luskin’s column in the WSJ:  Remembering the Real Ayn Rand. The whole piece is worth a read, but I was especially struck by the following: Rand [...]

Whenever I despair at the current state of the Republican Party, I remind myself that things aren’t much better across the aisle.

Judge Sumi’s TROs arise from a veritable cornucopia of error.

As you may recall, I gave up day to day political commentary for Lent. If you’re curious, here’s how it’s going: pretty damn well. I’ll admit, it was hard at first. But now that I’m in week five, I’ve noticed that getting out of the day to day political slog-fests has been rather liberating. It’s [...]

You remember how the House GOP was trying to pass laws without the Senate or the President agreeing? Yeah, about that….

Whether due to innumeracy or intentional deceitfulness, ThinkProgress has the JobsOhio bill totally wrong.

If you have any familiarity with Dan Drezner’s new book, Theories of International Politics and Zombies and/or with IR theory, you have to watch this. Who says polisci profs have no fun at conferences? (Although there has been nothing so amusing at the conference I am currently attending).

The Nixon Center has gone from one of the most controversially named think tanks in Washington to yet another blandly named one: Center for the National Interest.

Yes, bureaucracies can be annoying, but they are also vital for modern society.

Is Jon Stewart a useful idiot?

A commenter asks, “Why does Wisconsin have a quorum rule if not for situations like this?”

Republicans won the right to govern Wisconsin. What does that mean for Democrats?

What people (or transitional governments) say isn’t ultimately the issue. What they do is.

A few thoughts/historical examples, as to why I am guarded in my optimism on Egypt.

The Obama Justice Department says it can look at phone records without warrants or judicial oversight.

If Mubarak is driven from power, will that make Egypt a case of “revolution”?

The events in Egypt have led some to ask if the mere act of cutting off access to the Internet is, in itself, an human rights violation.

Demanding that the new GOP House hold the line at the current number is satisfying rhetorically, but all-but-impossible politically.

Via the Reuters: Schwarzenegger says governorship cost him $200 million VIENNA (Reuters) – Serving as California governor cost Arnold Schwarzenegger at least $200 million, the bodybuilding star turned actor and politician told a newspaper in his native Austria, insisting ‘it was more than worth it.” Counting expenses and lost income from acting in Hollywood films, [...]

In the course of some writing-related work, I came across the following: “Since a politician never believe what he says, he is surprised with others believe him” – Charles de Gaulle (as quoted in Newsweek on 10/1/62)

I’m blogging Mark Levin’s Conservative Manifesto. Here’s part one…

The relationships between inflammatory rhetoric and political violence is complicated.