HistoryNow

The world around us changes every day. Thus, understanding facts like this, Thomas Jefferson himself was quoted as saying; “I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when he was a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.” The primary issue with the US system is that it is showing its age. The US Constitution has had staggeringly few amendments since its inception, with fully 1/3rd of them being ones passed effectively as part of the constitution itself, while many of the others are there for relatively minor procedural issues (l...

A brief history on what made this country vote less In November, new senate elections will take place and it seems like my home state of Texas has rarely been so buzzed about it. All around town, I see “Vote for Beto” signs in lawns, windows, and on walls. In a state where the evangelical,  possible-Zodiac-killer  Ted Cruz has reigned supreme, it does make one wonder if there might be a changing of the guard soon. However, for something even remotely like this to take place, Texas would have to see a massive resurgence in voter turn out, especially with young voters. This fascination brought up an interesting question to me; why has voter turn it died over the history of this country? If you look at  this chart  you can see that while 1876 was the highpoint, it wasn’t exactly an anomaly, and voter turnout was consistently high in the elections preceding it. It sticks out because, although the drop wasn’t  immediately  afterwards, it certainly ...