by Michael I. Niman

After the "butterfly ballots" and "hanging chads" of the 2000 election, it was decided that, in many states, voting methods had to be simplified and rendered more efficient. But now that the newest, high-tech voting machines have been put in place all over the United States, ominous new problems have emereged. First, the corporations which developed these machines continue to own and operate them, complete with proprietary control over the software. This has prevented normal citizen oversight of elections. Second, many of these machines offer no paper trail, rendering recounts impossible. Third, there are warranted suspicions that election results can be and perhaps have been manipulated. Will U.S. democracy meet its demise in 2004?(Read Article in PDF)

by Emrys Westacott  

One important argument for the removal of public displays of the Ten Commandments is that most Americans don't actually believe in the Decalogue, as it represents an outdated code of morality.

by Barbara Dority 

The Partriot Act has come to be abused tremendously-from spying on American citizens to discriminate against Muslim and Arab Americans. (Read Article in PDF)

by Ralph Nader

Though public participation in modern American democracy is dwindling, the populace owns most of the nation's resources-so a major reform is still feasible.

by Robert Grant

Because capital punishment hasn't been proven to deter crime, the motivation behind it is revenge-and it thus perpetuates a society based in violence.

by Erik Anderson Reese

In modern U.S. society the public is marketed to by corporations so much that its primary entertainment is in consuption-largely at the local mall. A reevaluation of values is in order.