I think we’re all very happy that 2020 is over. May 2021 be a much happier and more positive year! Without question, 2020 left some permanent marks on Georgia and the nation. Politically speaking, the Peach State is entering a…
In 2021 one of the biggest issues Georgia faces will be access to healthcare and insurance coverage. Much of the back and forth over healthcare has revolved around hot political arguments over Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act. This year, the…
This is the year that keeps on giving. We’ve had so many surprises and historic firsts this year, almost all unpleasant, that we are by now used to doing things as we’ve never done them before. Great example: Election Day…
Most reasonable people agree the fastest way to improve society and support economic progress is an educated workforce. This is not to say that every single person must go to college, but if we don’t enable as many as possible…
Everyone knows Georgia is an increasingly competitive state on the national political stage. In fact, this November both political parties will spend millions trying to persuade Georgia voters in the presidential campaign and in our state’s two featured U.S. Senate…
I’m a native Atlantan, born and raised in DeKalb County. And like many natives, I’ve always had a strong emotional connection to the city and its history. Atlanta has long been closely associated with a certain amount of boosterism and…
For almost 50 years, the Georgia state legislature has required public colleges and universities to educate their students in American and Georgia government, and in American and Georgia history. This requirement has been met through two general education (core) courses,…
The coronavirus is impacting every nook and cranny of our society, sometimes in very fundamental ways. One concern is over the safety of voting in person and having to interact with others in long lines at the polling place. In…
The Club for Growth, a small-government, anti-tax advocacy group, has spent literally millions of dollars on attack ads targeting Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Doug Collins since February. They are largely wasting their money, not because current Sen. Kelly Loeffler…
As most people who follow Georgia politics know, the state’s demographics have been shifting in significant ways. These population changes will invariably affect voting patterns in state politics. One of the largest drivers of demographic and population changes is the…
The Georgia Republican Party’s majority in the state legislature is very much tied to its ability to hold onto a critical mass of suburban Atlanta votes in this November’s election. By that, I mean holding onto enough seats in the…
The House impeachment and Senate trial of President Donald Trump has consumed much of the nation’s attention for the past several months. The Democratic Party’s campaign to dethrone Trump, which began just after his election in 2016, has produced the…
In November the Democratic presidential candidate roadshow made a stop in Georgia, specifically to Tyler Perry Studios in South Atlanta. This was the fifth Democratic Party debate in the series, as the various presidential candidates vie for the opportunity to…
Next month, Georgia’s state legislators will gather in Atlanta for what could be one of the most consequential sessions of the General Assembly in decades. There’s significant business left over from the 2019 session, but there are also tremendous political…
When I was a young college student at the University of Georgia in the 1980s, my political science professor, Chuck Bullock, liked to bring in guest speakers who had accomplished something in politics. I remember one of these speakers, at…
In July, a man armed with a rifle and carrying incendiary devices attacked a federal immigration detention center in Tacoma, Wash. The man was shot and killed by police, and no one else was injured. In his manifesto, he claimed…
Two controversial bills in the Georgia legislature in recent years have met different fates, and for reasons that are illuminating. I’m speaking of the religious liberty bill, vetoed by former Gov. Nathan Deal in 2016, and the heartbeat bill, signed…
Georgia is undeniably in the eye of a storm when it comes to voter registration and ballot access. Credit the personal invective and animosity between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp that stretches back to 2013. Their six-year feud has now…
Recently I had the opportunity to travel to China on university business. Our College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kennesaw State University hosts an annual Symposium on Asia-USA Partnership Opportunities (SAUPO); it alternates every year between Atlanta and Shanghai.…
Since 2005, 10 new cities have been chartered in Metro Atlanta. The first was the city of Sandy Springs that year, followed the next year by Johns Creek, Milton and Chattahoochee Hills – all in Fulton County. Then DeKalb and…
I can remember when Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and then-House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams said nice things about each other. They worked together on some important legislation, across the party divide, for the benefit of Georgians. In Georgia, we…
Only eight states in the country, Georgia being one of them, require a runoff election in any party primary if one candidate does not receive a majority. Two other states require primary runoffs in limited situations. But only one state…
One of the keys to Georgia’s future will be how successful we are in assuring broad access to high-quality college education. We are one of many states facing a mounting challenge of controlling costs at public institutions while maintaining, actually…
Among the many important issues on the new governor’s plate: solving healthcare
The blue wave wasn’t quite a tsunami in Georgia, but it did raise some questions about what lies ahead.
While medical marijuana is legal in Georgia, there is nowhere to legally purchase it. It’s an untenable situation.
As we elect a new governor, it’s a good time to look at current Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal’s legacy.
Will there be a Blue Wave in November, or is Georgia still too red and President Trump too powerful a cultural force for Democrats to prevail?
With more tariffs announced and the potential for a trade war on the horizon, Georgia is starting to feel some effects.
For the governor-to-be, there’s a long list of priorities that will need attention come January, if he or she can rise above the politics.
It’s high time the state takes some decisive action on mass transit in Metro Atlanta before it’s too late.
Two of the state’s most active and often-quoted policy analysis organizations have some key differences – and ideologies.
With the statewide party primaries coming up May 22, the most excitement around these parts is Georgia politics.
Tax incentives have been a boon to Georgia, but a careful review is needed.
The Teachers Retirement System of Georgia looms large in the state’s fiscal crisis in education.
While economic impact arguments are enticing, the prospects for casino gambling may be fading.
In the next 12 months, many of the nation’s economic, political and cultural flashpoints could play out here in Georgia.
Democrats believe Georgia could lean left at anytime, but the reality is different.
Our newest columnist takes a look at the consequences of gerrymandering.
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