HSJ Online

Lee Hamilton: We Need a Civil Service That Can Do Its Best Work

Unlikely as it seems, U.S. government bureaucrats have been having a bit of a boomlet...

Lee Hamilton: Congress Has a Lot to Accomplish in a Short Time. Don't Expect Much.

Congress went back into session after its summer recess on Sept. 9 with a full plate...

Lee Hamilton: Don’t Forget the Other Elections

We’re less than 100 days away from a presidential election that many Americans consider the most consequential...

Lee Hamilton: The US is no Longer the World’s Dominant Superpower

It was an article of faith, through most of my life, that the United States was the world’s dominant power...

Lee Hamilton: An Enduring Question for American Democracy

I’ve either been involved in or keeping an eye on American politics for more than...

Lee Hamilton: You’re Used to How Congress Does Budgets, but You Shouldn’t Be

There was lots of drama back at the end of March...

Lee Hamilton: Americans Have Plenty of Common Sense. Too Many Politicians Don’t.

There’s a widely shared belief about the current state of US politics...

Lee Hamilton: Wave of Retirements Should Serve as a Warning for Congress

Recently, I had occasion to look back at some of the early speeches I gave after I first went to Congress...

Lee Hamilton: Big Decisions and American History

Big decisions have shaped the United States. We wouldn’t be who we are as a nation without the decisiveness...

Lee Hamilton: Foreign Policy Rises in Public Attention

Americans seem to be more interested in foreign policy than usual...

Lee Hamilton: Bashing China Is Easy But Not Always Helpful

Here’s one thing we can count on in the upcoming election year...

Lee Hamilton: Finding the Common Good Requires Compromise

Making decisions about public policy is no simple task...

Lee Hamilton: Kissinger Left Complex Foreign Policy Legacy

Possibly no one had more influence on American foreign policy in the late 20th century than Henry Kissinger, who died last month at age 100...

Lee Hamilton: Biden-Xi Meeting Shows Talk Matters

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for four hours last month on an estate near San Francisco. That, in and of itself, is important...

Lee Hamilton: What Kind of Democracy Are We When Politicians Fear Violence?

Now that the dust has settled on the House speakership fight, both Washington and the media have been eager to move on to other issues: the Israel-Hamas war, the Trump trials, the recent elections, and more...

Lee Hamilton: Unhappy with the State of Politics? We Have the Power to Change It

Americans are fed up with politics. That’s the obvious conclusion of a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, which found many of us have “unrelentingly negative” views of politics and elected officials...

Lee Hamilton: Australia is a Key U.S. Ally

Australia may not be the first nation to come to mind when we think about important U.S. allies. It’s on the far side of the globe, an area of the world we often neglect. Its largest city, Sydney, is a 22-hour flight from New York. Most Americans have never traveled there...

Lee Hamilton: Loss of Local News is a Crisis for Democracy

A report from Northwestern University’s Medill School puts it bluntly: The loss of local journalism that we’re seeing in the United States is “a crisis for our democracy and our society.” I couldn’t agree more...

Lee Hamilton: Beyond the Politics, a Message to Notice from No Labels

As the political press continues to gear up for next year’s presidential election, I’ve been struck by how little attention many national reporters have paid to a potential third-party bid by the group known as No Labels...

Lee Hamilton: For Effective Congressional Oversight, Ask the Right Questions

One of the hardest things to watch as Congress has evolved over the past decade or more is the extent to which its oversight muscles have atrophied...

Lee Hamilton: Why Civility Matters in Congress

Given everything that’s been taking place on Capitol Hill, I’d guess you missed the announcement a few months back that the House Civility Caucus has been revived. It would be hard to call this earth-shattering news — but in our current political climate, it’s a notable measure of hope...

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