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Civics
What you need to know about the protests in Cuba
Penn GSE’s Amalia Dache traveled to Cuba in 2018 and 2019 to research the Afro Cuban experience, and the opportunities that existed—or were closed off from—the island nation’s significant Black population.
Supreme Court decision rules Arizona’s laws constitutional
In Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the Supreme Court ruled that Arizona’s election laws—pertaining to out of precinct ballots and whether or not third parties can pick up and deliver absentee ballots—do not violate the Voting Rights Act.
Anti-trans legislation: ‘Game pieces in the culture wars’
With 117 bills proposed across 33 U.S. states, 2021 is a record-breaking year for anti-trans legislation.
Journalism, law, and freedom of the press
Law student Peter Jacobs draws on his background as a professional journalist for his forthcoming Comment on freedom of the press in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law.
Inaugural SNF Paideia fellows reflect on an inspiring first year
The fellowship program for undergraduates connects their general education and major requirements to public engagement and community building through dialogue across differences.
To the voting booth for Primary Day in the commonwealth
Just one day after presiding over the University’s 265th Commencement, Penn President Amy Gutmann, along with voters throughout the commonwealth, picked representatives from their parties to put on the ballot for the November general election.
Five things to know about Georgia’s new voting law
Political scientist Marc Meredith of the School of Arts & Sciences shares his takeaways from the controversial new bill.
The racial burden of cleaning voter rolls
A new study by Penn political scientists shows that errors in removing people from voter rolls in Wisconsin disproportionately impacted minorities.
A conversation with Stacey Abrams
The Georgia politician sat down with Ben Jealous, visiting scholar and former NAACP leader, to discuss topics from gerrymandering to romance novels in a virtual discussion.
In conversation with MSNBC’s ‘Go-to data guy’
Members of the Penn community heard from Steve Kornacki, national political correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, in a conversation moderated by John Lapinski.
In the News
NBC News exit poll on Super Tuesday: Our methodology
Stephanie Perry and Elizabeth Schreier of the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies and Joelle Gross of the School of Arts & Sciences share their methodology for the NBC News Super Tuesday exit polls.
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Ranked ‘avoid’: Ranked choice voting increases ballot errors
A study from Penn found that votes in ranked-choice races are nearly 10 times more likely to be rejected due to an improper mark than votes in non-ranked choice races.
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Sandra Day O’Connor and the promise of civic education
Jonathan Zimmerman of the Graduate School of Education writes that teaching schoolchildren about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship might be the only way to heal our polarized society.
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Jill Biden helps debut modern version of “Schoolhouse Rock”
A 2022 survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that less than half of U.S. adults could name all three branches of government.
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Kathleen Hall Jamieson on civics education and bridging political divides
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center discusses the importance of civics education as a tool to bridge political divides.
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Journalism is a public good and should be publicly funded
Victor Pickard of the Annenberg School for Communication explains that the “positive” interpretation of the First Amendment focuses on government’s affirmative role to help guarantee the public access to a “diverse and informative media system.”
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