WASHINGTON — One of the most vexing questions about the dysfunction of Congress is why lawmakers cannot find common ground on big issues facing the country when convincing data suggests there is broad public consensus about what should be done. Take abortion rights‚ immigration and guns‚ three of the most divisive topics of the moment. Polling consistently finds strong majorities backing access to abortion with some limits‚ permanent legal status for undocumented residents brought to the...

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Monday he was resigning to allow for the formation of a broad consensus among Palestinians about political arrangements after the conclusion of Israel’s war against terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The move comes amid growing US pressure on PA President Mahmoud Abbas to shake up the Authority‚ which would allow it to take a greater role in ruling postwar Gaza. International efforts have intensified to stop the fighting in...

Former President Trump on Monday appealed a judge’s decision ordering him to pay more than $450 million in the New York attorney general’s sprawling civil fraud case against his business empire. Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision earlier this month marked a stunning legal and financial blow to the former president‚ barring him from serving in a leadership role in any New York business for three years and ordering independent officials to monitor Trump’s companies.

Americans are deeply frustrated with the government in Washington. They see many problems need addressing‚ but partisan polarization has created persistent gridlock. Polling from Pew Research Center shows that polarization in Congress has reached a new zenith. Experts are concerned that public frustration has gotten so severe that democracy is at risk. It is easy to assume that the polarization in Congress is a mirror of the American people – after all‚ Congress is elected...

The Founding Fathers asserted that elected officials should listen to and be influenced by the views of the electorate.  As James Madison said‚ “it is the reason‚ alone‚ of the public‚ that ought to control and regulate the government.” However‚ the means for government officials to hear from the people are limited. Elected officials receive emails‚ letters‚ phone calls and input at town halls‚ and some agencies occasionally ask for public comments on complex regulations. Americans...

As the Supreme Court prepares to announce some of its most politically explosive decisions in decades‚ two justices from different ideological wings of the court sought to assure Americans Friday that the court is not riven by partisan feuds. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett appeared on stage together at the National Governors Association conference in Washington to argue that the Supreme Court’s practice of civil collaboration on contentious issues can be a model for other...

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