Indiana at 200 (28): The National Road
by Andrea Neal A drive across Indiana on the National Road is a trip back in time. This was the route taken in the 19th century by pioneers hauling household goods west in Conestoga wagons, by stagecoaches carrying mail and by farmers moving crops to markets. Today it’s paved and known as Highway 40. Though Read the full article…

Polarization Part II
Editors: This is the second in a three-part series on political polarization. By Stephen M. King, Ph.D. “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself.”— John Adams When asked what the Founders created in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin replied: “A Republic, madam, if you can keep it.” MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN in the Read the full article…

Polarization: Part I
Editors: This is the first in a three-part series. By Stephen M. King, Ph.D. There is no doubt about it: Political polarization is the norm in D.C. and the states. A recent Pew Research Study, “Political Polarization in the American Public,” finds that political and ideological lines of division are not limited to the political Read the full article…

Quick Hit: ‘Redskins’ and Fort Wayne Hypocrisy
HOORAY to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette for reprinting June 22 its classic editorial decrying what a long line of its editors has found to be the offensive use of “Redskins” in sports names. This famously progressive newspaper, though, will want to go further. At question is the name of the newspaper’s hometown, proudly if thoughtlessly Read the full article…

Bohanon: 7 Things to Like About the World Cup
by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. The key to enjoying any sport is to fully embrace the addiction. To a non-golfer watching grown men walk down a fairway to club a small ball toward a green is perverse torture. The true golfer, however, embraces the tension before the hit, observes the swing with care, relishes the ball’s Read the full article…

The Outstater: When the Law Is not the Law
DO WE PUT TOO MUCH FAITH in constitutions? What if securing liberty is harder work than setting words to paper? Our foundation tried to answer that question 20 years ago this month. It filed a lawsuit against the Indiana Legislature, which had hidden a pay raise in a package of bills. The Indiana Constitution, of course, Read the full article…

