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American Ideas

Diagnosing the structural imbalances of the American System - and the path to reform. Democracy is not a static inheritance

A group of senators discussing strategies to restore the path to ending the Senate filibuster.
A graphic urging citizens to contact their senators to express their opinions and influence legislation.
Infographic displaying four governance models: democracy, authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and oligarchy, with concise explanations.

Updates

Oct 30

How Doppelganger Clones the News Freedom of the press and the pursuit of truth are cornerstones of American independence. Covert foreign campaigns have attempted to undermine that trust by cloning trusted domestic news outlets to deceive citizens. Watch "How Doppelganger Clones the News" to see how ...Read more

Two people arguing in a kitchen—one says, "Hey, you forgot to take out the trash again!" and the other replies, "What about that time you left the garage door open?" A teacher points to a whiteboard labeled WHATABOUTISM and defines it as avoiding criticism by shifting to another flaw.

Oct 30

What is whataboutism?

Oct 30

🇺🇸 **The Ballot Is Our Promise** They fought for freedom, brave and true, And left a sacred right to me and you. A nation’s strength is not its might, But every voice that claims its right. Democracy lives when we take a stand, When freedom’s future rests in our hands. One voice, one c...Read more

Research summary on capital punishment: decades of studies show deterrence claims are uninformative (88% of criminologists reject them), a 4.1% baseline false-conviction rate among death sentences, and much higher annual costs for death penalty (~$137M vs $11M for LWOP).

Oct 29

**Capital Punishment Reality vs Assumptions** True patriotism requires courage—the courage to measure entrenched government policies against hard facts and core American values. While popular belief has long assumed that capital punishment deters violent crime, rigorous empirical evaluations show t...Read more

Oct 29

**Why the Death Penalty Doesn't Deter** A cornerstone of American greatness is holding our public institutions to the standards of truth, constitutional integrity, and real-world efficacy. When evaluating capital punishment, a landmark scientific consensus by the **National Research Council** concl...Read more