State of the Union


Marc Quintanar Marc Quintanar

How Colombia’s Recent Protests Are Testing the Country’s Fragile Peace

Starting in late April, Colombians took to the streets to protest tax and health-care policies of President Iván Duque Márquez. The violent protests have seen at least 25 people killed and hundreds more injured, with police brutality fueling anti-government dissent across the country. The startling increase of intensity in the protests point to something larger underlying Colombia’s internal dissent: the unresolved 56-year civil war between guerilla groups and the government plays a major role in the current tensions that exist within the country.

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Cat Jacob Cat Jacob

If you are afraid of Trump, care about Section 230

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was drafted in 1996, and has shaped the foreground of user-generated content on the internet---relevant to everything from tweets to sex-trafficking to Airbnb; Section 230 is the single most influential piece of legislation impacting Silicon Valley giants to date.

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Cat Jacob Cat Jacob

Debate Primer: Standardized Testing

This week, Political Union will be debating whether Universities should not consider standardized test scores in their undergraduate admissions processes.

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Cat Jacob Cat Jacob

Debate Primer: Boycotting the Olympics

This week, Political Union will be debating whether the United States should boycott the 2022 Olympics hosted in Beijing, China. Here are some resources to prepare for the debate.

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Felix Beilin Felix Beilin

Dilemmas at the New York Times

This week, the New York Times found itself in considerable turmoil with regard to the firing of Donald McNeil, a veteran science writer whose usage of a racial slur two years ago outraged other Times staffers. We take a look at what this shift in reporter-editor relations (sounds boring, but I promise it isn’t!) means for the greater news media ecosystem.

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Felix Beilin Felix Beilin

Democratic Backsliding in Myanmar

This week, Myanmar’s military engineered what international observers agree is a coup. We break down what that means for democracy in Myanmar, the geopolitics of the region, and where the crisis might go in the future.

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Felix Beilin Felix Beilin

Debate Primer: Sin Taxes

This week, Political Union will debate whether sin taxes make for effective and ethical government policy.

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Felix Beilin Felix Beilin

A "Kraken" of an Explainer on the Georgia Runoffs

Control of the Senate will come down to a double runoff election on January 5 in Georgia, after Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock both pulled their Republican rivals below the 50% threshold for victory and forced a do-over in the November general. Warnock, in his race against incumbent Kelly Loeffler, finished seven points ahead of her, albeit within a field crowded with eight candidates receiving more than 1% of the vote. Republican David Perdue finished just under two points ahead of Ossoff, and was denied outright victory by far less than the number of votes received by Libertarian Shane Hazel.

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Zack Lori Zack Lori

Debate Prep: Northwestern’s Endowment

This week, Political Union will debate whether NU should draw more heavily on its endowment to ease the financial burden to the community presented by COVID-19.

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Felix Beilin Felix Beilin

Discussion Prep: School Reopenings During COVID

This week, Political Union will host a discussion about whether and how schools from kindergarten to postgraduate should reopen this fall. Here’s some background info on the efforts underway to do so across the country.

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Felix Beilin Felix Beilin

What is the Epoch Times?

What is the Epoch Times? Why is it all over YouTube, what are its political origins, and what kind of effect might it have had on the election so far?

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Meet our editors

Sophia Cheng is a sophomore studying history, environmental policy, and data science. She is interested in free speech, constitutional law, and the international rule of law.

William Liu is a sophomore majoring in philosophy and economics. He is interested in political theory, foreign policy, and the history of modern politics.