United States Government

What are the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights? Why are these documents important to American history? How do they affect the lives of U.S. citizens today? After the colonies won their independence from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, a new government was created that could help guarantee that the colonists would enjoy the freedoms they had fought so hard to win. Using an inquiry-based approach, listeners will gain a deeper understanding of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and how these historic documents provide U.S. citizens with the freedoms they enjoy today.

What does a college have to do with presidential elections? If it's the electoral college, a lot! Listeners will learn all about the electoral college and how it plays a part in our elections.

Vote for me! It's election time, and campaign ads are everywhere. But what does fundraising, door knocking, and campaigning have to do with getting elected? Listeners learn all about political campaigns and how they play a part in our elections.

Received historical wisdom casts abolitionists as bourgeois, mostly white reformers burdened by racial paternalism and economic conservatism. Manisha Sinha overturns this image, broadening her scope beyond the antebellum period usually associated with abolitionism and recasting it as a radical social movement in which men and women, black and white, free and enslaved, found common ground in causes ranging from feminism and utopian socialism to anti-imperialism and efforts to defend the rights of labor.

Eat more fish, the doctors say. But is the salmon you are consuming really healthy? In the early 1970s, a group of scientists researched how to make more food for the growing population of the world. They looked to the sea. They sampled genes from salmon in 41 Norwegian and Swedish rivers and...

Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy? Not only the erudite Thomas Jefferson, the wily and elusive Ben Franklin, and the underappreciated Thomas Paine, but also Ethan Allen, the hero of the Green Mountain Boys, and Thomas Young, the forgotten Founder who kicked off the Boston Tea Party. These radicals who founded America set their sights on a revolution of the mind. Derided as "infidels" and "atheists" in their own time, they wanted to liberate us not just from one king but from the tyranny of supernatural religion.

In this explosive account of wrongful acts and ongoing cover-ups, Jesse Ventura takes a systematic look at the wide gap between what the American government knows and what it reveals to the American people. For too long, we the people have sat by and let politicians and bureaucrats from both parties obfuscate and lie. And according to this former Navy SEAL, former pro wrestler, and former Minnesota governor, the media is complicit in these acts of deception.

From the first cannonballs fired by American warships at North African pirates to the conquest of Falluja by the Marines, and from the early American explorers who probed the sources of the Nile to the diplomats who strove for Arab-Israeli peace, the United States has been dramatically involved in the Middle East. For well over two centuries, American statesmen, merchants, and missionaries, both men and women, have had a profound impact on the shaping of this crucial region.

Why GAO did this study. The internet is a global system of interconnected networks used by billions of people across the world to perform personal, educational, commercial, and governmental tasks. The US Government over time has relinquished its oversight role of the internet. A global, multistakeholder community made up of many organizations shapes internet policy, operations, and security. But the ongoing and increasing reliance on the internet underscores the need to understand the risks to its underlying architecture.

Federal agencies with a lead role to assist and protect one or more of the nation’s 16 critical infrastructures are referred to as sector risk management agencies (SRMAs). The SRMAs for three of the 16 have determined the extent of their sector’s adoption of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (framework). In doing so, lead agencies took actions such as developing sector surveys and conducting technical assessments mapped to framework elements.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to today’s discussion on federal perspectives to secure the nation’s infrastructure. As you know, our nation’s critical infrastructure sectors are dependent on information technology (IT) systems and digital data to carry out operations and to process, maintain, and report essential information. The security of these systems and data is vital to public confidence and national security, prosperity, and well-being.

The American Revolution was not simply a battle between independence-minded colonists and the oppressive British. As Thomas B. Allen reminds us, it was also a savage and often deeply personal civil war, in which conflicting visions of America pitted neighbor against neighbor and Patriot against Tory on the battlefield, the village green, and even in church.

Originally published in 2000, The Right to Vote was widely hailed as a magisterial account of the evolution of suffrage from the American Revolution to the end of the 20th century. In this revised and updated edition, Keyssar carries the story forward, from the disputed presidential contest of 2000 through the 2008 campaign and the election of Barack Obama. The Right to Vote is a sweeping reinterpretation of American political history as well as a meditation on the meaning of democracy in contemporary American life.

No Democracy Lasts Forever argues that the Constitution has become a threat to American democracy and must be dramatically changed or replaced if secession is to be avoided. Deeply troubled by the Constitution's inherent flaws, Erwin Chemerinsky, the renowned dean of Berkeley law school, came to the sobering conclusion that our nearly 250-year-old founding document is responsible for the crisis now facing American democracy.

If you love your country, sing! Since 1931, "The Star-Spangled Banner" has been the national anthem of the United States. Journey back to 1814, and join Francis Scott Key, the man who wrote the words to the anthem, for a close look at this song of freedom.

It’s 1787, and a handful of men are about to sign the United States Constitution. In a few minutes, a newly free country will have a set of rules made by the people, for the people. Join lawmaker James Madison as he picks up a pen and makes history.

Why do Americans love a bell that no longer rings? It is the Liberty Bell, and it once rang to announce the birth of a new country, the United States. Find out why Americans still treasure the bell, along with its famous crack.

A group of children go on a field trip for a guided tour of city hall, where they learn about the roles of the city council, the mayor, and other city departments.

From the early 1800s, American presidents and their families have called the White House home. But as secret service agent Keneesha explains, the White House is more than just a place to live; it's also the president's office and one of the country's greatest symbols of leadership.

The US Capitol houses both the Congress and Senate, but do you know its history? This building, which stands as a symbol of freedom and democracy, took more than 30 years to build. It has survived through wars, and has had many changes and additions. Join a tour guide and learn more about the US capitol.