The Twentieth Amendment largely removed the need for power to convene or adjourn Congress.
Category: Civic Education
The Presidency 24
The president was to participate in law-making, with Congress in the lead.
The Presidency – Quiz 1
Test your knowledge against these five questions!
The Presidency 23
The Written Opinion Clause appears to limit the President in several ways.
The Presidency 21
The Constitution is silent on the related presidential power to remove.
The Presidency 20
Several framers worried the power of appointment could be abused.
The Presidency 19
To faithfully execute the laws of the land, the presidency was assigned executive power that was mostly undefined.
The Presidency 18
Faithfully executing the laws of the land is one of the most important obligations of the presidency.
The Presidency 17
The framers feared that a president could be seduced by a foreign power to harm the country.
The Presidency 16
The framers feared a president could be seduced by a foreign power.
The Presidency 15
The President’s war powers were quite constrained.
The Presidency 14
The President would be fully empowered to act in defense of the nation.
The Presidency 13
The framers agreed that the President would command the armed forces – with several explicit reservations.
The Presidency 12
The President was to have five main responsibilities.
The Value of Voting
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Keeping Our Republic
In general, constitutions are written by people who expect to live and work together for generations to come. It’s when enough people no longer feel this way that Constitutions are…
A Tale of Two Countries
Clashes in Berkeley and Portland bring to mind an interesting story about two countries where people who felt frustrated with each other and their governments. Citizens in Columbia and Venezuela…
Are You Well Served by the USPS?
The U.S. Constitution provides for nearly universal adult access to the ballot. The pandemic is making that difficult. Most voting precincts had historically depended upon retirees to administer the system,…
New Course on Trust & The Presidency
Take this short civics course about trust, distrust, and the presidency.
Declaration of Independence
Consider every citizen in this country to be an American, worthy of your support and help.
Trust and Our Police
To improve trust in our police, fairness and accountability must be more evenly distributed along lines of race and ethnicity.
Divided We Fall
History shows that one of the shortest paths towards dictatorship is to get the people divided against each other.
Our Leaders Don’t Want Us to Know
We get to have leaders who are accountable to us, and we get to choose our leaders peacefully – but only if …
Freedom of the Press
Thomas Jefferson said “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.” A free press is especially important in the coronavirus pandemic.
Urgent Attention Needed
It is hard to fight the corona virus without a healthy liberal, republican democracy. Urgent attention is needed.
In Need of Vigilant Defense
Liberal, republican democracy is precious for the freedom, peace, and better quality of life it can bring, but those benefits don’t come for free. Citizens need to do more to protect and strengthen their democracies – starting here at home.
Strongmen for Scared People?
Strongmen for scared people leads to failure. Democracies have the edge when it comes to health care. Read on.
Voting During the Pandemic
Interest in voting by mail has increased – because of anxiety over catching the virus from fellow voters. It seems simple but there are important trade-offs to consider.
Emergency COVID-19 Powers
Emergency powers are sometimes necessary, but they should always be temporary, and only Congress should have the authority to renew them.
Corona Virus, Democracy, and Accountability
First, please take a look at the good advice from the CDC. Second, consider also how you might be able to help the people around you. Nextdoor.com and other social…