Former U.S. Rep. Artur Davis was considering a run for the Montgomery County Commission seat as a Democrat. One might think that a citizen seeking public office has the right to associate with the political party of his or her choice. In Alabama, this is not the case.

The Independent Voter Project (IVP) hosted its 2015 Business and Leadership Policy Conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Maui. The conference brought together California lawmakers from both political parties, industry professionals, and policy experts to discuss issues that greatly affect lawmakers, businesses, and state residents.

As early as January 2015, in interviews with Buzzfeed journalists, an ISIS operative admitted he traveled to Turkey in 2014 and settled there for the express purpose of creating a smuggling operation to sneak jihadis into Europe. Specifically, these operatives were directed to head to Sweden, Germany, and Italy to request asylum.

When we are faced with troubling modern events, it is helpful to turn our lens toward history in an effort to find patterns and precedents that can be applied today. For example, to address our current debate about the allowance of Syrian refugees into the United States, it might help to turn back the page to how Jewish refugees were mistreated prior to World War II.

The Holocaust is often considered the most tragic scar on the history of Western Civilization. Approximately six million Jews were systemically detained, imprisoned, and murdered by Nazi Germany.

In one of the worst foreign policy disasters of the Obama administration, the president finally made his way to the Philippines this week to celebrate our newly reacquired friendship, including the new 10-year mutual defense pact of critical regional importance in the South China Sea.

At Crowdpac, we believe that there are too many barriers to running for office today.

Our political system is designed to make it easier for insiders - the party machines, the big-money donors, and the special interests - to decide who runs. It also favors the two major parties, since unless you're a wealthy individual, it's hugely daunting for independent (or independent-minded) candidates to raise the resources needed to mount a campaign. But that's exactly what we need in order to restore faith in our democracy and make it more representative.

In a state of over 38 million people, Californians – as well as the rest of the U.S. – have come to rely inextricably upon the capabilities of modern telecommunications technologies. Whether it’s your smartphone accessing the cloud to download the latest cat video, taking an online class in a virtual classroom, or launching another tech startup, the tech industry lends itself to almost every aspect of daily life.

Here we are again, watching a tragedy in Paris.

Again, innocent citizens of a broadly liberal, secular West, die at the hands of those who self-identify as Islamic purists, but are rejected by most of the rest of their faith.

I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, not to hate them, but to understand them. - Baruch Spinoza, Tractatus Politicus, 1676

Ahead of last week's GOP and Democrat debates, IVN conducted an opinion poll asking readers, "If it was your choice, who would be the debate moderator?"

Respondents could choose as many news personalities they preferred as well as someone who wasn't included. This method, known as approval polling, means votes couldn't be “taken away” from any other choice because participants could select any potential moderator they preferred.