Government

You use it all the time, but what is a postal code, really? In short, a zip code expedites mail delivery and helps prevent fraudulent activity on credit cards.

By Yara Simón

Defining what is and isn’t a country is a lot more complicated than many people would realize. Is Taiwan a country or part of the People's Republic of China?

By Joshua Holzer

While the words "equality" and "equity" sound alike, the meanings are quite different. Here's what they stand for and why it matters.

By Dave Roos

The Comstock Act, pulled out of Victorian-era mothballs, is suddenly in the public spotlight, and has become the newest weapon in the fight against legal abortion in the U.S.

By Jesslyn Shields

Human skulls, a Napoleonic-era saber, decades-old prosthetic legs and a telescope from Victorian England — they all live on the shelves of the 220-year-old Bureau of Found Objects in Paris, France.

By Kate Morgan

The speaker of the House occupies a central role in our government, but what exactly does the job entail?

By Rachel Paine Caufield

Every few years, a group of White House historians and scholars rank America's presidents in order. The "winner" of the worst president ever category has been pretty consistent.

By Kate Morgan

With abortion rights under attack today, we take a look back at the days when safe abortions were nearly nonexistent and at the collective of women who stepped in to provide them.

By Kate Morgan

The midterm election is just days away. If you haven't already voted, you need to head to the polls prepared so you know your vote will be counted on Election Day.

By Karen Figueroa-Clewett

That's about one House member for every 761,169 people, which is far less representative than when the nation was founded. How can that be changed?

By Steven L. Taylor

After only 44 days in office, Liz Truss has resigned as British prime minister. What does this mean for the future of the U.K. and who will take her place?

By Garret Martin

There's a dream job for everyone, and sometimes that's almost everybody else's nightmare job. Meet the four women who will run the "penguin post office" in Antarctica.

By Jesslyn Shields

The FBI's seizure of top secret files from Donald Trump's Florida home shined a spotlight on the declassification system. How does the process work and who decides when something is no longer top secret?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Affirmative action, LGBTQ rights and election laws are all on the Supreme Court's new docket. And how SCOTUS rules stands to change many Americans' lives. Here's what to expect for the 2022-2023 session.

By Morgan Marietta

American TV viewers are bombarded with political ads during the ever-longer campaign season. But do these ads really make a difference to voting habits?

By Dave Roos

Kansas, Missouri and Florida are among several states that have passed laws that voter registration groups say put volunteers at risk and make registering to vote more difficult.

By Carrie Levine

Chosen by the Conservative Party, Liz Truss succeeds Boris Johnson to become the U.K's prime minister, the 15th to serve under Queen Elizabeth.

By Nicholas Allen

In the U.S., the bar for running for president is deliberately set low – only age and citizenship rules are written into the Constitution. Still, are there any laws that would bar a felon from running for the highest office in the land?

By Dave Roos

Is it millions of marchers with clever signs and slogans, or does effective protest take more than just raised voices and collective outrage?

By Yves Jeffcoat

There are three levels of security classification for U.S. documents related to national security. What are they and who decides how they're protected against unauthorized disclosure?

By Jeffrey Fields

The FBI searched Mar-a-Lago for missing White House documents on behalf of the National Archives. How did they even know what to look for?

By Shannon Bow O'Brien

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could give state legislators almost complete control over federal elections, which some experts fear could establish one-party rule and endanger democracy.

By Patrick J. Kiger

When the Articles of Confederation failed, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 became a contest between large states and small states for equal representation.

By Jesslyn Shields

The battle over abortion in the United States rages on. Will abortion rights decisions be moved to the states if the leaked Alito opinion is adopted by the Supreme Court?

By Morgan Marietta

Is the U.S. a democracy or a republic? Or both? And what's the difference, anyway?

By Dave Roos