A leading issue in the same-sex marriage debate is the welfare of children raised by same-sex parents. How might a child’s general well-being be affected by these primary caregivers versus having a more traditional family?
The decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court are seldom without controversy, and American history has seen fierce public debate over the Court’s proper role in the democracy. With lifetime tenure, justices are in principle immune from the vagaries of public opinion. But new issues inevitably come to the Court because of emerging trends in society, and evolving norms and values have always been part of these cases.
The notion of a government “by the people, for the people” is one of the bedrock concepts of American democracy, but the reality is that policy outcomes are often influenced by a wide range of factors, not merely the candidates whom voters select to represent them on Election Day.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) periodically offers data and insights on mental health and related concerns across the population.
In 2012, DHHS issued an updated report, “2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings,” which was based on face-to-face survey interviews with 68,487 randomly selected Americans during 2010.
The study’s findings include:
Democracy has long been promoted by many international organizations as the form of government that best secures individual rights and provides a more stable society. However, some studies have suggested that the process of democratization leaves states vulnerable to domestic political violence. This does not occur in all budding democracies, however; foreign aid programs that help build democracy may buffer some of these newly forming governments from internal strife.
Campaign observers and citizens often complain about the effects of negative ads and their perceived damage to deliberative democracy. But the reality may be more complicated, and the true results of such ads may depend on more than just their emotional or critical tone.
