Bill of Rights in Action
Many lessons on U.S. history, world history, and government from BRIA, Teach Democracy's quarterly curricular magazine. We have published this tremendous resource since 1967, and we continually add to the archive. This latest issue starts a new series, reflecting our recent name change from Constitutional Rights Foundation to Teach Democracy. | ||
NEW SERIES
BRIA, Vol. 1:3, 2024 Login to Download PDF
- The Spanish Civil War: Prelude to World War
- The BRICS and the 21st Century World Economy
- The Church Committee and the Crisis of Public Distrust
BRIA, Vol. 1:2, 2024 Login to Download PDF
- Does the Constitution Establish a Republic or a Democracy? A Supreme Court History
- Jeanette Rankin: A Pioneer for Peace
- AI and the Future of the World
BRIA, Vol. 1:1, 2023 Login to Download PDF
- Emancipation Day: Past and Present
- Endangered Species Act at 50 Years
- The Constitution, Reconstruction, and Race-Conscious Admissions
- BRIA’s Longtime Writer Carlton Martz
SPECIAL NOTICE: We publish two issues of the quarterly BRIA in electronic format only and two issues in print and electronic format. Click here to receive notification of when the electronic edition is available for download.
Please scroll down to the view the issues available online or browse the archives by subject:
Current Issues | Economics | Law | U.S. Government | U.S History | World History
Bill of Rights in Action, Vol. 38:3/4, 2023 Login to Download PDF
- The ‘Business Plot’ to Overthrow FDR
- The Struggle for the Rights of Disabled Persons
- Supreme Court Highlights
Bill of Rights in Action, Vol. 38: 2, 2023 Login to Download PDF
- The United States, China, and Taiwan
- The Haymarket Affair
- Ranked-Choice Voting: Choosing One Candidate or Many?
Bill of Rights in Action, Fall 2022 (38:1) Login to Download PDF
- The Bill of (Twelve) Rights: Contingency and the Constitution
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Tlaxcalan: The Indigenous Democracy of Mexico
Bill of Rights in Action, Spring/Summer 2022 (37:3) Login to Download PDF
- The Global Refugee Crisis
- Supreme Court Highlights
- Federal Agencies and Public Policy
- Indonesia's Struggle for Democracy
Bill of Rights in Action, Winter 2022 (37:2) Login to Download PDF
- Yugoslavia: A Divided Land
- Mother Jones: ‘The Most Dangerous Woman in America’
- What Is Seditious Conspiracy?
Bill of Rights in Action, Fall 2021 (37:1) Login to Download PDF
- The Senate Filibuster: Abolish, Keep, or Reform?
- The Life and Poetry of Phillis Wheatley
- Buddhism in China
Bill of Rights in Action, Summer 2021 (36:4) Login to Download PDF
- Jury of Your Peers
- Pride Pioneer: Frank Kameny and the Early Gay Rights Movement
- Brazil and the Future of the Amazon
Bill of Rights in Action, Spring 2021 (36:3) Login to Download PDF
- Hannah Arendt and the ‘Banality of Evil'
- Unequal Treatment? The Constitution and Religious School Funding
- Should the Federal Government Guarantee a Basic Income for All?
Bill of Rights in Action, Winter 2021 (36:2) Login to Download PDF
- American Indian Sovereignty
- Police Reform After the Death of George Floyd
- The Last Nuclear Treaty
Bill of Rights in Action, Fall 2020 (36:1) Login to Download PDF
- Turning Points in Presidential Campaign Advertising
- Workplace Equality for LGBT People: Bostock v. Clayton County
- Heian Japan and The Tale of Genji
Bill of Rights in Action, Summer, 2020 (35:4) Login to Download PDF
- The Election 1980
- South Africa: Confronting the Country's Apartheid Past
- Leave or Remain: Brexit in the UK
Bill of Rights in Action, Spring, 2020 , (35:3) Download PDF
- Impeachment and the Case of Andrew Johnson
- The Kurds: Straddling the Map of the Middle East
- 'Every Man a King': Huey Long's Troubled Populism
- Haiti’s Slave Revolt and War for Independence
- Remembering John Brown
- What is Treason? The Aaron Burr Case
Bill of Rights in Action, Fall, 2019 (35:1) Login to Download PDF
- The Census in U.S. History (Supplemental Webcast on the Census in U.S. History.)
- Anne Hutchinson: Midwife of Religious Freedom
- 270 Votes to Win: The Electoral College in the United States
Democratic Struggles, Summer, 2019 (34:4) Login to Download PDF
- The Arab Spring and the Challenge of Nation-Building
- Purged From the Voter Rolls: Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute
- Suppressing the Vote
Beneath the Surface, Spring 2019 (34:3) Login to Download PDF
- Ida Tarbell and the Muckrakers
- The Anglo-Zulu War and British Imperialism
- Will the Mueller Probe End With a Constitutional Crisis?
Law and Protection, Winter 2019 (34:2) Login to Download PDF
- Journalism Under Siege
- The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
- Islamic Science in the Middle Ages
Science Matters, Fall 2018 (34:1) Login to Download PDF
- Who Was Hypatia of Alexandria?
- Cotton Mather and Boston’s Smallpox Inoculation Fight
- Global Warming and the Paris Agreement
Uncertain Times, Summer 2018 (33:4) Login to Download PDF
- Guns and School Safety: What Is the Best Way Forward?
- Automation and the American Worker
- The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Facing Challenges, Spring 2018 (33:3) Login to Download PDF
- Ida B. Wells and Her Crusade for Racial Justice
- The Revolutions of 1848
- The Iran Nuclear Deal and Its Critics
Flashpoints, Winter 2018 (33:2) Download PDF
- What Should the U.S. Do About North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons?
- The Great Sioux War: Land, Gold, and a Broken Treaty
- The Dispute Over the South China Sea
Democracy in the Balance, Fall2017 (33:1) Login to Download PDF
- How Democratic Was Athens?
- The Northwest Ordinance and Westward Expansion
- Is Democracy in Trouble?
Challenging Ideas, Summer 2017 (32:4) Login to Download PDF
- Martin Luther King and the Philosophy of Nonviolence
- Vietnam Today
- Free Speech on Campus: Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces, and Controversial Speech at U.S. Colleges
Economic Crisis, Spring 2017 (32:3) Login to Download PDF
- The Great Recession: What Were the Causes?
- The Marquis de Lafayette: A Noble Revolutionary
- What Caused the Great Depression and Why Did Recovery Take So Long?
Religion and Society, Winter 2017 (32:2) Login to Download PDF
- Religion, Political Power, and the Thirty Years’ War
- The Second Great Awakening and Reform in the 19th Century
- Prayer at Government Meetings and the First Amendment
- The Troubled Elections of 1796 and 1800.
- Cyrus the Great and the Creation of the Persian Empire
- Free Trade, Globalization, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership
- Putin’s Illiberal Democracy
- Harry Truman and the Election of 1948
- Elections, Money, and the First Amendment
- The Election of 1912
- The Great Rivalry: Disraeli vs. Gladstone
- Edward Snowden, the NSA, and Mass Surveillance
Critical Concerns, Winter 2016 (31:2) Login to Download PDF
- Police Body Cameras and the Use of Force
- Abolitionists and the Constitution
- Tolerance: Voltaire and the Spirit of the Enlightenment
Breaking New Grounds, Fall 2015 (31:1) Login to Download PDF
- James Madison and the Bill of Rights
- Hatshepsut: How a Woman Took the Throne
The 1960s, Summer 2015 (30:4) Login to Download PDF
- The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the U.S. Supreme Court
- Cuba at the Crossroads
- Mao Zedong and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
The Law, Spring 2015 (30:3) Login to Download PDF
- Saved From the Gallows — The Trial of Leopold and Loeb
- The Great Qing Code: Law and Order During China’s Last Dynasty
- The Free Exercise of Religion in America
Leadership, Winter 2014 (30:2) Login to Download PDF
- 'Go Boldly!': Joan of Arc and the Hundred Years War
- Sam Houston: A Study in Leadership
- Margaret Thatcher and Conservative Politics in England
War & Policy, Fall 2014 (30:1) Login to Download PDF
- A Fire Waiting to be Lit: The Origins of World War I (Click here for the enhanced version of this article.)
- The War of 1812: America's First Declared War
- The War in Afghanistan: What Should America’s Policy Be?
War and the Military, Summer 2014 (29:4) Login to Download PDF
- The Chinese Civil War: Why Did the Communists Win?
- The Cold War: How Did It Start? How Did It End?
- Women in the Military
Conflicts, Spring 2014 (29:3) Login to Download PDF
- The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
- Sudan, Imperialism, and the Mahdi’s Holy War
- Are Bible Readings Ever Allowed in Public Schools?
Making a Difference, Winter 2014 (29:2) Login to Download PDF
- Queen Elizabeth I: Religion and the State
- Harriet Tubman and the End of Slavery
- Affirmative Action in American Colleges After Fisher v. Texas
The Governance, Fall 2013 (29:1) Login to Download PDF
- Puritan Massachusetts: Theocracy or Democracy?
- Who Was the Real Cleopatra?
- How the First State Constitutions Helped Build the U.S. Constitution
The Environment, Summer 2013 (28:4) Login to Download PDF
- Conservation, Preservation, and the National Parks
- Rachel Carson and the Modern Environmental Movement
Industrialization and Labor, Spring 2013 (28:3) Login to Download PDF
- The Industrial Revolution
- The Pullman Strike and Boycott
- American Labor Unions: Yesterday and Today
Origins, Winter 2012 (28:2) Login to Download PDF
- Hamilton, Jefferson, and Their Fight for the Future of America
- Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire
- The Electoral College
Health-Care Reform, Fall 2012 (28:1) Login to Download PDF
- The Continuing Struggle for U.S. Health-Care Reform
- The U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision on the Affordable Care Act
- Health Care: What Do Other Countries Do?
Facing Crisis, Summer 2012 (27:4) Login to Download PDF
- FDR and the Banks
- Munich and “Appeasement”
- Unemployment and the Future of Jobs in America
A New Order, Spring 2012 (27:3) Login to Download PDF
- Simon Bolivar: Thinker, Liberator, Reformer
- J.P. Morgan, the Panic of 1907, and the Federal Reserve Act
- Juan Peron: Dictator or Champion of Social Justice?
Law, Winter 2011 (27:2) Login to Download PDF
- Canon Law: Medieval Europe’s Legal System
- Oliver Cromwell: The Lord Protector
- Calhoun and Webster: Two Visions of the Federal Union
Revolutionary Thinkers, Fall 2011 (27:1) Login to Download PDF
- Thomas Paine: America’s Most Radical Revolutionary
- Sir William Blackstone and the Common Law
- St. Augustine and the Role of Religion in the State
Communism, Summer 2011 (26:4) Login to Download PDF
- Lenin and the Russian Revolution
- The Cuban Missile Crisis
- North Korea: The Rogue Nation
Economic Crises, Spring 2011 (26:3) Login to Download PDF
- The WPA: Putting the Nation to Work in the Great Depression
- A Guide to the Federal Budget Deficit and National Debt
- Tulipmania and Economic Bubbles
Population Perils Winter 2010 (26:2) Login to Download PDF
- The "Black Death": A Catastrophe in Medieval Europe
- The Potato Famine and Irish Immigration to America
- The Debate OverWorld Population: Was Malthus Right?
Tyranny Fall 2010 (26:1) Login to Download PDF
- The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
- Plato and Aristotle on Tyranny
- Nigeria: After 50 Years, Still Struggling to Be a Democracy
Reaction and Reform Summer 2010 (25:4) Login to Download PDF
- The Watergate Scandal
- Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism
- Land, Liberty, and the Mexican Revolution
Revolution and Change Spring 2010 (25:3) Login to Download PDF
- England's Glorious Revolution
- John Maynard Keynes and the Revolution in Economic Thought
- William Jennings Bryan, the "Great Commoner"
Building Democracy Fall 2009 (25:2) Login to Download PDF
- The Major Debates at the Constitutional Convention
- King and Parliament in Medieval England
- Every New Generation
Environmental Issues Summer 2009 (25:1) Login to Download PDF
- Are We Headed for a "Sixth Mass Extinction"?
- The Columbian Exchange
- What Caused Egypt's Old Kingdom to Collapse?
Reform and Change Spring 2009 (24:4) Login to Download PDF
- The Teapot Dome Scandal
- Woodrow Wilson's Quest to Change the World
- John Stuart Mill and Individual Liberty
Communication of Ideas Winter 2009 (24:3) Login to Download PDF
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Herodotus and Thucydides: Inventing History
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Gutenberg and the Printing Revolution in Europe
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Henry Clay: Compromise and Union
Politics Fall 2008 (24:2) Login to Download PDF
- How Political Parties Began
- Making It Easier to Vote vs. Guarding Against Election Fraud
- The Development of Confucianism in Ancient China
Reform Spring 2008 (24:1) Login to Download PDF
- Communism, Capitalism, and Democracy in China
- Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
- John Dewey and the Reconstruction of American Democracy
Intellectual Property Winter 2008 (23:4) Login to Download PDF
- The Origins of Patent and Copyrights Law
- Digital Piracy
- Patenting Life
- The Cheating Problem
Justice Fall 2007 (23:3) Login to Download PDF
- The Whiskey Rebellion and the New American Republic
- Cicero: Defender of the Roman Republic
- "Justice and Fairness": John Rawls and His Theory of Justice
Rights Reconsidered Summer 2007 (23:2) Login to Download PDF
- Sacco and Vanzetti (Download a pdf of Sacco and Vanzetti)
- Edmund Burke
- Mendez v. Westminster
Free Markets and Antitrust Law Spring 2007 (23:1) Login to Download PDF
- Adam Smith and The Wealth of Nations
- Progressives and the Era of Trustbusting
- Media Mergers and the Public Interest
Making a Just Society Winter 2006 (22:4) Login to Download PDF
- Stem-Cell Research: The Promise and the Pitfalls
- Slavery, Civil War, and Democracy: What Did Lincoln Believe?
- St. Thomas Aquinas, Natural Law, and the Common Good.
The Rule of Law in Dangerous Times Fall 2006 (22:3) Login to Download PDF
- Solon Put Athens on the Road to Democracy
- John Peter Zenger and the Freedom of the Press
- The National Security Agency's Warrantless Wiretaps.
The Establishment of Religion Spring 2006 (22:2) Login to Download PDF
- The Scopes Trial
- More Monkey Trials
- Turkey: An Evolving Democracy in the Middle East
Standards for the Time Winter 2005 (22:1) Login to Download PDF
- The Transcendentalists in Action
- Petrarch, the Father of Humanism
- Is Torture Ever Justified?
Centralized vs. Decentralized Rule Fall 2005 (21:4) Login to Download PDF
- The Legacy of Alexander the Great
- The Articles of Confederation
- The European Union: Toward a "United States of Europe"?
Economics and Democracy Summer 2005 (21:3) Login to Download PDF
- Dust Bowl Exodus
- The German Weimar Republic
- Outsourcing Jobs to Other Countries
American Interventions Spring 2005 (21:2) Login to Download PDF
- Is Iraq on the Way to Democracy?
- Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal
- The Boxer Rebellion in China
Executive Power Winter 2004 (21:1) Login to Download PDF
- Machiavelli and The Prince
- Detaining U.S. Citizens as Enemy Combatants
- Jackson and Indian Removal
Religion and Society Fall 2004 (20:4) Login to Download PDF
- Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening in Colonial America
- Islam Divided: The Shiites and Sunnis
- Should We Take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?
Nation-Building Summer 2004 (20:3) Login to Download PDF
- The Marshall Plan for Rebuilding Europe
- Different Visions for Vietnam
- U.S. Involvement in Nation-Building Before Iraq
Developments in Democracy Spring 2004 (20:2) Login to Download PDF
- How Women Won the Right to Vote
- Have Women Achieved Equality?
- Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau on Government
Culture in Conflict Winter 2004 (20:1) Login to Download PDF
- President Polk and the Taking of the West
- Muslim Conquests in Europe
- The Rise of Islamist Terrorist Groups
National Security and Freedom Fall 2003 (19:4) Login to Download PDF
- The Patriot Act: What is the Proper Balance Between National Security and Individual Rights?
- The Alien and Sedition Acts: Defining American Freedom
- Plato and The Republic
Controversies Summer 2003 (19:3) Login to Download PDF
- Three Visions for African Americans
- "Forgotten Genocide": The Destruction of the Armenians During World War I
- The Bush Doctrine
Ideas Spring 2003 (19:2) Login to Download PDF
- Karl Marx: A Failed Vision of History
- Social Darwinism and American Laissez-faire Capitalism
- Copying Music and Movies from the Internet: "Digital Piracy" and "Fair Use"
Eastern Europe Winter 2002 (19:1)
- Life Under Communism in Eastern Europe
- Emerging Democracies in Eastern Europe and Russia: How Are They Doing?
- Ethnic Minorities in Eastern Europe
The Environment Fall 2002 (18:4)
- Environmental Disasters in the Cradles of Civilization
- Global Warming: What Should We Do About It?
- Climate Change and Violence in the Ancient American Southwest
Victims of War Summer 2002 (18:3)
- Wartime and the Bill of Rights: The Korematsu Case
- The "Rape of Nanking"
- Compensating the Victims of War
Imperialism Spring 2002 (18:2)
- The Great Rebellion of 1857 in India
- Oil and National Security
- The Debate Over Hawaii and an American Overseas Empire
Africa Winter 2001 (18:1)
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The United States and the Barbary Pirates
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AIDS in Africa
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Ibn Battuta: The Greatest Traveler in the Middle Ages
Law of Empires Fall 2001 (17:4)
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Clash of Empires: The Fight for North America
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When Roman Law Ruled the Western World
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Puerto Rico: Commonwealth, Statehood, or Independence?
Military Authority Summer 2001 (17:3)
- The French Army Mutinies of World War I
- Truman, MacArthur, and the Korean War
- The Military Confronts the Harassment of Women and Gays
Labor Spring 2001 (17:2)
- One Big Union--One Big Strike: The Story of the Wobblies
- Marching with "General Ludd": Machine Breaking in the Industrial Revolution
- Globalization and Worker Rights
Religious Tolerance Winter 2000 (17:1)
- Should Students Have The Right to Lead Prayers at Pubic School Events?
- The Persecution of the Mormons
- Luther Sparks the Protestant Reformation
Innovations in Law Fall 2000 (16:4)
- The Hebrews and the Foundations of Western Law
- The Declaration of Independence and Natural Rights
- Animal Rights
Civil Disobedience Summer 2000 (16:3)
- The Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Civil Disobedience on Campus
- Bringing Down an Empire: Ghandi and Civil Disobedience
- The Rescue Movement: Pushing the Limits of Free Speech
Wealth and Power Spring 2000 (16:2)
- King Leopold's "Heart of Darkness"
- Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Monopoly
- United States v. Microsoft
Matters of Principle Winter 1999 (16:1)
- John Adams and the Boston Massacre
- The Murder of an Archbishop
- Should We Have the Right to Die?
Clash of Cultures and Law Fall 1999 (15:4)
- Young People and the Internet: Issues of Censorship and Free Expression
- The Law of Shi Huangdi, First Emperor of China
- Laws of the Indies: Spain and the Native Peoples of the New World
Rules of War Summer 1999 (15:3)
- Firestorms: The Bombing of Civilians in World War II
- Choices: Truman, Hirohito, and the Atomic Bomb
- New Threat to Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Codes Spring 1999 (15:2)
- The Code Napoleon
- The Death Penalty and Human Rights: Is the U.S. Out of Step?
- The Southern "Black Codes" of 1865-66
Islamic Issues Winter 1998 (15:1)
- The Origins of Islamic Law
- The U.S. and Iran: Time for a New Beginning?
- Blasphemy! Salman Rushdie and Freedom of Expression
- Blood and Tribute: The Rise and Fall of the Aztec Empire
- The Edicts of Asoka
- Africa's "Second Independence" and U.S. Policy
- How Welfare Began in the United States
- Welfare to Work: The States Take Charge
- "The Swedish Model": Welfare for Everyone
- An Issue of Consent
- Voters and Judges
- An Independent Judiciary
- The Kennewick Controversies
- Witch Hunt
- The Battle Over Proposition 187
- Separating Church and State
- Religious Tolerance and Persecution in the Roman Empire
- Should Government Aid Students Attending Parochial Schools?
- The Riddle of the Romanovs
- DNA, Lie Detector, and Voiceprint Evidence: Does It Belong in the Courtroom?
- How Reliable Are Eyewitnesses?
- The Battle over the National Endowment of the Arts
- The Suppression of Art in Nazi Germany
- Music on Trial: Rock, Rap, and Responsibility
- Political Scandals, Scoundrels, and Schemer: Are the Media Focusing on the Wrong Things?
- Issues in Campaign '96
- TV Attack Ads and the Voter
- Equal Opportunity in the Military
- Including the Disabled Student
- Helen Keller
- Gay Rights and the Constitution
- The United Nations: Fifty Years of Keeping the Peace
- The Future of NATO
- Do We Need a Permanent International Criminal Court?
- South Africa: Revolution at the Ballot Box
- Race and Voting in the Segregated South
- Race and Representation
- Black Troops in Union Blue
- The Adarand Case: Affirmative Action and Equal Protection
- The Mandinko of the Gambia
- The Aftermath of Terror (Oklahoma City Bombing)
- Terrorism: How Have Other Countries Handled It? How Should We?
- Conspiracy Theories: Attacks on Jefferson Set the Pattern
- Talk Radio: Playground for Free Speech or a Forum for Hate?
- The Balanced Budget Amendment
- The Income Tax Amendment: Most Thought It Was A Great Idea in 1913
- Term-Limits Debate: Professional Politician or Citizen Legislator?
- "Beyond the Seas": The Transportation of Criminals to Australia
- What Should We Do About Crime?
- Juvenile Justice: What Should We Do With Children Who Break the Law?
- Is a Fair Trial Possible in the Age of Mass Media?
- The Dreyfus Affair and the Press
- Sex, Crime, and Jazz-Age Journalism
- FDR Tries to "Pack" the Supreme Court
- Should Nations Have the Right to Kidnap Criminal Suspects?
- Update on the Supreme Court (Abortion Protester's, Religious Schools, and Jury Selection)
- Should Hate be Outlawed?
- "At the Hands of Persons Unknown": Lynching in America
- German Skinheads: Are the Nazis Making a Comeback?
- U.S. Immigration Policy and Hitler's Holocaust
- Haiti and the Boat People
- Seeking Asylum in the United States
- Free Press vs. Fair Trial: The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Case
- Singapore: Model Society or City of Fear?
- Religious Rights in Conflict
- "Let us Reason Together"--Lyndon Johnson, Master Legislator
- The European Community: Cooperating Nations or Unified Superstate?
- A Different Voice: Women in the Congress
- Policing the Police
- Ruling in the Name of the Emperor: How Japan Became a World Power
- A Hero Betrayed: The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant.
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The Inquisition: Looking Into the Human Soul
- "We Came to Free the Slaves": John Brown on Trial
- Does the Criminal Justice System Discriminate Against African-Americans?
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The Election of 1824-25: When the House Chose the President
- Democracy and Dictatorship in Ancient Rome
- Why Don't People Vote?
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Educating European Immigrant Children Before World War I
- The Debate Over School Choice
- Teaching to the Test in Japan
Trends and Issues of the Bill of Rights Fall/Winter 1991 (8:1)
- The New Supreme Court: Decisions to Come
- Who Voted in Early America
- On The Road to Revolution with Boris Yeltsin
- The Tax Farmer of Mari
The 14th Amendment Spring 1991 (7:4)
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The Stalin Purges and "Show Trials"
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The 14th Amendment and the "Second Bill of Rights"
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Education and the 14th Amendment