One of the critical issues facing Historians today has been the emergence of Strong State regimes and the politicized pseudo history they produce in countries claiming to adhere to democratic norms. The attack on the Capital of the United States was based on a series of lies about voter fraud supported by President Donald Trump and members of…

This study employs a multiple case study approach to examine the use of history of Mexican American and Muslim middle school students vis-à-vis Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The findings suggest the participants used historical examples of discrimination to contextualize candidate Trump's rhetoric and to bolster their identities as…

While historical thinking has a rich literature, civic thinking has been an underdeveloped area of research in social studies education. I discuss in this article three activities designed to strengthen students' civic thinking skills by examining the "political death and resurrection" of Richard Nixon in the 1960s. These three…

Due to its direct approach and its detailed analysis of race, the "A More Perfect Union" (AMPU) speech makes for a likely primary source to be included in a lesson addressing Obama's racial significance. As social studies teacher-educators who draw from critical perspectives on race and racism, the authors hope to see Obama's speech used…

On Tuesday, November 8, 1864, voters in 25 states--including Kansas, West Virginia, and Nevada for the first time--cast their ballots for president of the United States; voters in the 11 states that had seceded did not participate. Incumbent Abraham Lincoln ran as the Republican nominee (called the National Union Party in the 1864 election), and…

The "International Society for the Social Studies (ISSS) Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. The following papers are included in the 2016 proceedings: (1) The Emergence of Social Studies in Trinidad and Tobago (Leela Ramsook); (2) Opinions of…

Barack Obama's ascension to the highest elected office in America's land is surely a milestone in the American narrative. The events of Nov. 4, 2008, and Jan. 20, 2009, are marks of America's collective progress. In the course of the long campaign season, however, there is another date that also should be etched into American textbooks: March 18,…

The winds of political change are blowing through America in 2008 and will sweep the party in power from the White House next November. That is the verdict of the Keys to the White House, a prediction system that the author developed in collaboration with Vladimir Keilis-Borok, founder of the International Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory…

After a grueling primary season this year--for the Democrats, at least--it seems in retrospect that there was something inevitable in the pairing of John McCain and Barack Obama as the two contenders for the presidency in 2008. Two distinct generations, two unique backgrounds, two very different worldviews: white/black, old/young, right/left.…

For much of American history, political leaders have stood by a principle that "politics stops at the water's edge." While political disagreements about domestic policies are seen as inevitable and even healthy, there has been a tradition of trying to avoid partisan disagreements over foreign policy. As a result, intense disagreements…

This article talks about a new film entitled "An Unreasonable Man" that features the political activist Ralph Nader. The film rightly claims to be a documentary, but as the title hints, it's also a suspense movie. The film's first sequence briefly recounts Nader's much-maligned independent campaign for president in 2004. Although it shows him…

The 2000 US presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush has been the most intriguing and controversial in American history. Using the Florida ballot data, Wu showed that the 2000 election result could have been reversed had the "butterfly ballot effect" been eliminated. Through a combinatorial approach, Harger concluded that…

To grasp what happened to the institutionalization of presidential debates in 1988 it will be useful to ask what is the future of party sponsorship of presidential debates. Given that sponsorship has been an issue discussed after every debate since 1960, either from a legal perspective (i.e. who can sponsor and remain in compliance with Federal…

By reviewing personal correspondence, biographies, newspaper coverage of the 1940s, and interviews, this survey examines Wendell Willkie's relations with the press in general and with publishers John Cowles and Gardner (Mike) Cowles in particular. Divided into four parts, the survey begins with a review of the correspondence between Willkie and…

Outlines the historical development of women's legal and political status in the United States, focusing on suffrage, the three "waves" of women's movements, and access to elected office. Discusses three impediments of electing women candidates to public office: (1) solidarity; (2) political culture; and (3) the impact of the single-member…