Government

Until the 1930s, it was Congress that set the terms of U.S. trade negotiations with other countries and raised and lowered tariffs as it saw fit, while the president did little but sign his name.

New innovations are forcing citizens to revisit some foundational questions of governance about who should be shaping the future of the country.

Lori Lightfoot addresses guests after being sworn in as mayor of Chicago during a ceremony at the Wintrust Arena on May 20th, 2019, in Chicago, Illinois.

A review of a new tool to determine eligibility for private care for vets by the U.S. Digital Service recommended the agency scrap the software and start over.

The department paid for Darin Selnick's flights from his home in California to Washington, D.C., hotel stays, and foods with taxpayer funds—raising ethical concerns.

Members of the public can no longer submit requests via the Department of Housing and Urban Development's website or track their status.

The shutdown was also consistent with a goal long sought by a subset of the Republican Party that wants to dismantle the government.

The president has proposed cutting the salaries of public officials, including his own, slashing federal budgets, and laying off 70 percent of non-unionized federal workers.

During the partial government shutdown, a lot of economic data simply wasn't collected, which will result in gaps in what we know about the state of our economy.

There's reason to believe Trump's willingness to freeze worker pay might have created a rift that can't be fixed.

Many citizens pushed back against a government-backed urban greening program due to an abiding mistrust of the city and its officials.

In many countries, national well-being is often monitored through on-the-ground household surveys, but new technology could change that.

It's clear that the public has lost trust in the FTC's ability to promote competition and protect consumers. They need to restore that trust to effectively regulate.

In November, Pelosi agreed to new rules allowing for a more open legislative process, but they may have unintended consequences.

It is one of seven states with laws that prohibit the promotion of homosexuality and that expressly forbid teachers of health and sexuality education from discussing LGBT issues in a positive light—if at all.

As one of the city's three shelter tents is set to come down, the city must figure out what to do with the 150 folks staying there who will need to move elsewhere.

Throughout American history, when presidents have appointed political cronies to be attorney general, they were looking for people only to help them pursue a policy agenda.

On the latest episode of Pacific Standard's podcast about how our stories are made, we talk with contributor Jimmy Tobias about his investigation into Ryan Zinke's DOI.

A Peruvian soldier stands guard at a polling station during municipal elections in Lima, Peru, on October 7th, 2018.

Next month's elections will serve as an effective referendum on Trump.

Iraqis protest against the government and the lack of basic services outside the regional government headquarters in the southern city of Basra on September 5th, 2018.

In her new book, political scientist Suzanne Mettler asks: How can the U.S. government provide so much, yet still be the object of such derision?

What experts on constitutional law and civil rights are saying about Brett Kavanaugh, Trump's new Supreme Court nominee.

The author and political scientist offers a traditionally timid party some bold ideas.