The template most of these parties borrowed (one dominant, charismatic leader, one defining issue, winner take all) was built for a two-party system, mainly the American one. Clear 51% and you run the government, push through your agenda, and do as much as you can before the voters reject you. That's the whole ball-game.

A presidential executive order cannot reach into the administrative apparatus of 50 independent state governments and shut their elections down. There is no mechanism for it and no law requiring states to comply. An executive order is, structurally, an internal directive to employees of the executive branch. It functions more or less like a memo from a boss, with no force over people outside that office. States can disregard them.

From leaked diplomatic chats to threats against Greenland and Canada, to cascading tariffs between Washington and Brussels, transatlantic relations have deteriorated faster than most observers thought possible. At the center of it is an alliance that has underpinned Western security for three quarters of a century. NATO is under pressure it has not faced since the Cold War, with the significant difference that this time the pressure is coming from the country that built it.

Over the past year, both major American political parties have been engaged in a redistricting arms race ahead of the upcoming midterms. By most projections, it will produce almost no net partisan gain for either side. That outcome is not a coincidence. It is the predictable result of how gerrymandering actually works when both sides do it simultaneously.

Justin Trudeau's Liberals were down twenty points and staring at a generational wipeout.Justin Trudeau's Liberals were down twenty points and staring at a generational wipeout. Pierre Poilievre was measuring the drapes. Then Trump imposed tariffs and started talking about annexation — and the entire frame of the election changed. Mark Carney, a man who had never won a seat in his life, ended up with a working parliamentary majority. Here's how.

Every few years, us Americans rediscover that our political system was designed to produce exactly two parties, and we spend considerable energy being surprised by this. From the Federalists vs Anti-Federalists to the Democratic-Republicans and Whigs to today's Democrats vs Republicans, this binary choice has never changed. New parties only rise when one of the existing ones implode.

Oftentimes, in American politics, one party doesn't get pulled further towards its wings, such as the left if you’re a Democrat unless the other party implodes. It's happened a couple of times, like in 1932, and the Democrats adopted left-wing policies under FDR.

Trump went all in on Orbán and came up short. Opposition leader Peter Magyar was swept into office on a landslide big enough to give him a blank check to undo eveything Orban built on a 78% turnout. You can't rig that, now matter how hard you've tried after 16 years of democratic backsliding.

Recently, several European states have gone to the polls, and each has an interesting nugget of political science to digest. Across France, Denmark, and Italy, right-wing and far-right forces ran hard and largely fell short. Hungary, where the definitive test comes on April 12, may be the most consequential data point of all.

Iceland's vote in August is genuinely uncertain. The fishing question will dominate the campaign, but the deeper issue is whether Iceland’s 400,000 citizens want to trade some degree of sovereignty for security in a moment when the traditional guarantor of that security is making territorial threats against their neighbor.

France's nuclear expansion marks a turning point in European security. As Trump's NATO skepticism leaves Europe without a credible American guarantee, Emmanuel Macron is deploying French nuclear assets across eight allied nations and building the institutional framework for a European defense architecture independent of Washington. This is what strategic autonomy looks like in practice.

British Prime Minister, Kier Starmer British Prime Minister, Kier Starmer As I sit here wallowing in round two of whatever 5-alarm man-cold I have, I’ve been wondering, “Who’s been having a worse few weeks?” Trump’s certainly on the list, with his attack on Senator Kelly getting rejected, failing to indict Senators Kelly and Slotkin over their comments on following unlawful orders, winding down operations in Minneapolis, the House’s rebuke on tariffs on Canadian goods, or his

This week, we’ll explore how France, Germany, the UK, and the United States define citizenship and what the process looks like in each, each reflecting those countries’ histories and cultures.

Recent social media discussions have questioned whether President Donald Trump could cancel the midterm election, but the Constitution grants no such authority to the President. The United States conducts highly decentralized elections, with each state responsible for administering its own process.

On Tuesday, the leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom released an unprecedented joint statement saying “Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”  If you’re a time traveler from 2015, you may be thinking “well, of course.  Why would anyone, especially Europe’s most powerful leaders, feel the need to make such a statement.” Well, sit down, Marty Mc

2025 is rapidly coming to a close and it’s been a chaotic year for transatlantic relations.  While many who follow politics were expecting a different tack compared to previous administrations, it shocked everyone how different and how strained relations across the Atlantic are after just 11 months of Trump’s second term.  From trade wars to the threat of an actual war over Greenland, this past year has been one few who study diplomacy will soon forget.  And, as we're approac

Last week, the Trump administration released its National Security Strategy, and inside is a direct break from the transatlantic security framework that has guided American policy since 1945. Trump calls it a correction to decades of American overreach; however, in reality, it discards the shared institutional order that kept the United States and Europe prosperous, secure, and politically stable for generations. In it, Trump shares a worldview defined by suspicion of establi

If you’re an editor with an agenda, you’ll likely spin the news with a biased headline that captures your viewpoint and hides key details. That’s burying the lede. Tuesday's special election drew two main headlines. Fox News reported, “Trump-backed Republican keeps crucial congressional seat in GOP hands,” while Huffington Post wrote, “Republicans Narrowly Hang On In Tennessee Special Election.” Both are accurate, but the details matter. What Fox News fails to point out is th

While no one expects ideological convergence any time soon, both sides are inching (centimetering?) towards each other. European leaders are trying to avoid placing too many restrictions on AI to encourage innovation, while American regulators are quietly borrowing some European ideas on transparency and accountability. If there will be convergence, it will be through trade, as American products will be made according to stricter guidelines...

Last week, New York City's Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani visited the White House, and pundits on both sides were predicting an epic ideological showdown between, depending on who you follow, the unbridled opportunities of capitalism and the abject poverty of socialism, or vice versa. Of course, nothing happened, except Trump oddly fawning over Mamdani, but that’s for another article.