In addition to the decline in competition, American politics today is characterized by a growing ideological polarization between the two major political parties.

Redistricting is a deeply political process, with incumbents actively seeking to minimize the risk to themselves (via bipartisan gerrymanders) or to gain additional seats for their party (via partisan gerrymanders).

Responsibility for overseeing the implementation of election law typically resides with partisan officials, many with public stakes in the election outcome.

The writer's joy is the thought that can become emotion, the emotion that can wholly become a thought.

While Republican voters have remained universally supportive of their President, Democrats and Independents are returning to a more naturally critical stance.

Speech is civilization itself. The word, even the most contradictions word, preserves contact - it is silence which isolates.

The public's evaluation of the job George W. Bush is doing as president changed dramatically as a result of the horrific attacks of September 11 and his response in leading the country on a campaign against terrorism.