Those unfamiliar with American electoral politics may be puzzled by America’s presidential elections. Recently, it seems as though most elections result in two largely unpopular candidates winning their party’s nomination, but no viable third option emerges. While the United States does allow candidates to run as independents or under third-party banners, these candidates rarely make an impact at the national level.The reasons for this are largely found in the Constitution, but other reasons exist as well. For example, the Electoral College has made it difficult for some voters to vote for a candidate who has no shot of winning their state’s Electoral College votes. The US is unique in that voters do not vote for their desired party or candidate but for a certain

Created in 1960, the United Nations–recognized state of Somalia is by almost all accounts a failed state. Yet it continues to assert dominance over regions that are seeking further autonomy or independence. The UN has listed self-determination as a human right, but the global neighborhood rarely sees this human right respected or enforced by the UN. This is likely because of how slow-moving the UN can be and because the nations that make up the UN have conflicting national interests. A United Nations that is slow to act has led to de facto independence or autonomy in some regions, with international recognition sometimes coming later. This is seen in the two northern regions of Somalia.The modern state of Somalia was not created through mutual agreement or due to

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

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HR 7521, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is a recent development in American politics. TikTok has been in the news for the past few years, after the public became aware of its connections to China. The popular social media mobile app is currently owned by ByteDance Ltd, a Chinese company. China and the United States currently have a rocky relationship, leading to fears that the Chinese government could potentially use this app to spy on American citizens. Several states and counties voted to restrict the usage of the app in some ways, mostly disallowing government employees from using it on government-owned phones. Earlier this month, the United States Congress passed a piece of legislation that would restrict

On the 27th of March, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order which had the purpose of curbing speech deemed as “anti-semitic” on all state-run universities. Unfortunately, speech protection on public universities has been shaky in the past with universities attempting to restrict speech many times with varying levels of success. Supreme Court decision Healey v James 1972 states that “Among the rights protected by the First Amendment is the right of individuals to associate to further their personal beliefs. While the freedom of association is not explicitly set out in the Amendment, it has been held to be implicit in the freedoms of speech, assembly, and petition.” There is a long precedent of courts protecting speech, even what is considered hate