Anti-austerity demonstration in front of the Greek parliament (Photo via Wikimedia)

Protests in Montreal would be all but unthinkable in the United States

by Robert David Sullivan March 31, 2015

Why do Americans prefer to keep their politics out of the streets?

California Attorney General Kamala Harris will find it easier to raise money without real competition. (Image from Attorney General's Office website)

(Un)Conventional Wisdom

Are female candidates compatible with competition?

by Robert David Sullivan March 26, 2015

Person likely to get the third most votes in 2016 is running virtually unopposed.

A magazine cover with a boyish image of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev infuriated many in Boston in 2013, but his youth is a major factor in his trial.

(Un)Conventional Wisdom

Boston Marathon bomber trial meets hesitancy about capital punishment

by Robert David Sullivan March 24, 2015

Tsarnaev’s immaturity complicates the desire for swift and brutal punishment.

The Boston Globe wants Elizabeth Warren to add some excitement to the 2016 presidential race, but it's not promising to endorse her over Hillary Clinton.

(Un)Conventional Wisdom

Dreaming of a presidential election that will completely change American politics

by Robert David Sullivan March 23, 2015

Experience prevents me from saying that “anything can happen” in the 2016.

The income extremes in San Francisco are largely attributable to the city's small land area.

(Un)Conventional Wisdom

City inequality ratings get buzz, but at the expense of context

by Robert David Sullivan March 19, 2015

Economic hardship requires regional, state and national responses.

Time to celebrate St. Ronald's chasing of the revenuers from America.

(Un)Conventional Wisdom

Happy St. Ronald Reagan Day!

by Robert David Sullivan March 17, 2015

On this Irish holiday, a look at the most prominent religious icon in the Republican Party.

Fears of a "kingly" president may be more justified now than during the rule of Andrew Jackson. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-1562])

(Un)Conventional Wisdom

The Iran letter and Netanyahu speech can’t distract from Congress’s impending doom

by Robert David Sullivan March 16, 2015

An elected chief executive and a separately elected Congress are in a constant battle.

This is neither the most mature nor the most effective way of getting out of writing emails. (Image from NBC's "Parks and Recreation")

(Un)Conventional Wisdom

Email phobia isn’t a becoming trait for male lawmakers

by Robert David Sullivan March 11, 2015

The holdouts against the digital word are almost all self-styled men of action.

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(Un)Conventional Wisdom

Though the crime rate in the United States has fallen sharply over the past quarter-century, our federal and state prison population has been frozen for nearly a decade at a historic high of 1.6 million. By one estimate, America has 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of its pri