Civics Articles

On Wednesday, January 15, 2020, a solemn group of seven US House prosecutors, known as impeachment managers, delivered the 1,416-word bound "Articles of Impeachment Against Donald John Trump" to the Senate Chamber. The ceremonial procession marked the beginning of a rare Senate impeachment trial — only witnessed twice before in American history — to decide whether or not President Trump pressured Ukraine to conduct investigations for his personal political benefit. Here is how the impeachment trial will proceed....

On Wednesday, December 18, 2019, members of the US House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump on two charges — abuse of power (230-197) and obstruction of Congress (229-198). The historic decision culminates a three-month inquiry by House Democrats into whether or not the US leader pressured Ukraine to conduct investigations for his personal political benefit. However, the impeachment process is far from over. Here is how we got to this moment and what to expect next....

While America's highest office — the presidency — remains elusive to women, Finland has just elected its third female premier. Even more impressive, 34-year-old Sanna Marin, who was sworn into office on December 10, 2019, is the youngest prime minister in Finland's history, and the world's youngest sitting government head. Prior to this, that honor belonged to New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern, who was 37 years old when she took office in October 2017....

On September 24, 2019, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives (House), launched a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The investigation was triggered by allegations that Mr. Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into the business ties of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter. Allegedly, in order to persuade Zelensky to agree, the US president withheld federal military aid from Ukraine. So how will the impeachment process work, and what are its potential long-term implications for the president? Read on . . ....

In most democratic countries, all voters go to the polls on a single, predetermined day. However, this is not the case in India, the world's largest democracy and the planet's second most populous country after China. In this diverse subcontinent — which boasts 22 official languages, 200 regional languages, and over 6000 dialects across its 29 states and 7 Union territories — voting is an elaborate process, conducted in seven stages over a period of 39 days. Held every five years, this year the general elections began on April 11, 2019 and will continue until May 19, 2019, with the final results announced on May 23, 2019....

The budget battle between US lawmakers that led to the longest government closure in the country's history has finally ended. On Friday, February 15, 2019, President Donald Trump signed legislation, approved by Congress to fund the government through September 30, 2019, preventing a new shutdown set to begin on Saturday, February 16, 2019....

Venezuelan residents are in the midst of an unusual political crisis. Since January 23, 2019, the country has had two presidents: Nicolàs Maduro, the incumbent who was reelected in May 2018 and sworn into office on January 10, 2019, and Juan Guaidó, President of the National Assembly, an elected temporary parliament with the mandate to draft or reform the Constitution. The 35-year-old Guaidó, who leads the progressive Popular Will political party, proclaimed himself the country's interim leader on the grounds that the May 2018 elections were rigged, and hence the presidency was vacant....

The longest federal shutdown in US history has finally ended! At around midday on January 25, 2019, President Donald Trump and US Congressional leaders agreed to reopen the government, which has been partially shut since December 21, 2018, for three weeks until February 15, 2019. Lawmakers from both parties believe this will give them enough time to reach a compromise on President Trump’s $5.7 billion request to build a US – Mexico border wall, which has caused the lengthy shutdown....

If you have been paying any attention to the news, you probably know that the US Government has been partially shut since midnight December 21, 2018. More specifically, work at nine departments, as well as some agencies making up roughly 25 percent of the federal government, has either ground to a halt or is being conducted at a slower pace because the budget to fund their day-to-day operations has not been approved by Congress. As a result, a fraction of the 800,000 employees, who are considered “non-essential,” have been furloughed, or forced to take a leave of absence. The remaining “essential” employees are expected to report for duty as usual, but will not get paid until a budget has been approved....