Adam Liptak
Just How Strong Are Political Parties?
How strong are American political parties? Party scholars disagree about how to go about thinking about that question. For me, the way to think about party strength is to think about how much of overall political activity goes through the parties. That is, pick an important political activity: writing laws, electing public officials, carrying out laws, political communications, civic rituals, and so on. Pick one, and ask: is it organized by the parties, or by some other mechanism? READ MORE >>
The John Paul Stevens Myth
John Paul Stevens, as many suspected, is retiring from the Supreme Court. As it happens, Justin Driver has an assessment of Stevens in the latest issue of TNR. The article is subscriber-only, but that's a good reason to subscribe. READ MORE >>
The Stevens Myth
Benched
Sotto Voce
A tip from an informant led Detective Amando Rodriguez and Sergeant Diane Contreras to the stash house--actually a New York City apartment--which they had good reason to think contained a substantial haul of drugs. The suspicion was confirmed when they busted a man leaving the building with a kilo of cocaine in a black bag. The officers entered the building to stake out the apartment. That's when the carryout delivery woman arrived with an order for the stash house. Worried that she might inadvertently draw attention to their presence, the cops made a hasty decision to enlist her help. READ MORE >>
