In Rebecca Traister’s fantastic book, Big Girls Don’t Cry: The Election That Changed Everything for American Women, she identified 2008 as a truly groundbreaking year. It was the year that a woman won a state presidential primary for the first time in the nation’s history, and saw only the second female vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket.

America is often referred to as a democracy, but in truth that is shorthand for a more nuanced reality. America is democratic, but it is also a republic. Democracy and republicanism, though related, are also opposed, much like the American political parties that bear those names.

The signing of the 1787 Constitution of the United States was significant to mankind for a myriad of reasons, not least of which was its innovative application of governance. Perhaps the most ingenious idea put into practice was federalism: the layering of local, state, and national government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoeKUAIf9Vg

Following the 2012 presidential elections, Republicans recognized the need to diversify their voting population after Obama won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote, 67 percent of single women, 60 percent of 18-29 year olds, and 93 percent of African-Americans.

For the past decade we have seen a steady erosion of representative democracy. The modern day arms race among powerful interests, which accelerated when poorly designed campaign finance reform was overturned by the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case, will likely only get worse with the decision on McCutcheon.

As the money arms race continues, no one has really stopped to ask, why do campaigns actually need so much money?

Much of the news out of the defense department recently has revolved around all the cuts that are coming, particularly in the realm of troop numbers, pay, and benefits.

Stereotypes are common in the geography of politics. Democrats dominate urban cityscapes while Republicans’ strength lies in suburban and rural areas. California is a relaxed western liberal state while Texas is a southern bastion of conservatism. These stereotypes change through the decades and can be challenged, but these two states are so different it is worth comparing them. Which state most adequately represents their electorate?

The case of Jordan Wiser being arrested and charged with a Class 5 felony for bringing a four-inch folding knife onto an Ohio community college's school grounds has elicited outrage among conservative news groups.

Two Republican-controlled congressional districts in Ohio offer a study in contrasts about the GOP as it gears up to defend long-held seats and quell grassroots divisions come November.

In the 6th Congressional District, in east Ohio, sits Rep. Bill Johnson (R-06), first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on a wave of tea party discontent in 2010.

In North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District, a long-time incumbent is facing a primary challenge this April.

Known for his initial support for the 2003 Iraq War and his re-branding of French fries as "Freedom Fries," Republican U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, Jr. is facing a potentially well-financed primary opponent -- consulting firm founder Taylor Griffin.