TED Talks
TED: US politics isn't broken. It's fixed | Katherine M. Gehl
The "broken" US political system is actually working exactly as designed, says business leader and activist Katherine Gehl. Examining the system through a nonpartisan lens, she makes the case for voting innovations, already implemented...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How is power divided in the United States government? - Belinda Stutzman
Articles I-III of the United States Constitution allow for three separate branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial), along with a system of checks and balances should any branch get too powerful. Belinda Stutzman...
Curated Video
Election Basics: Crash Course Government and Politics
This week Craig is going to give you a broad overview of elections in the United States. So as you may have noticed, there are kind of a lot of people in the U.S, and holding individual issues up to a public vote doesn't seem...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Does your vote count? The Electoral College explained - Christina Greer
You vote, but then what? Discover how your individual vote contributes to the popular vote and your state's electoral vote in different ways--and see how votes are counted on both state and national levels.
Crash Course
Interest Groups: Crash Course Government and Politics
Today, Craig is going to talk about something you fans out there have been demanding for months - money in politics. Specifically, we're going to talk about special interest groups and their role in the U.S. political system. Special...
Crash Course
How Voters Decide: Crash Course Government and Politics
So today, Craig is going to try to get inside the heads of voters by discussing how voters make decisions. Now obviously, like all decision making, voter decisions are influenced by a multitude of factors, but the three we are going to...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The rise of modern populism | Takis S. Pappas
In many democratic countries, charismatic leaders vilify political opponents, disparage institutions, and claim to be for the people. Some critics label this approach as authoritarian or fascist, while others argue that these leaders are...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The fight for the right to vote in the United States - Nicki Beaman Griffin
In the United States today, if you are over eighteen, a citizen, and the resident of a state, you can vote (with some exceptions). So, how have voting rights changed since the first election in 1789? Nicki Beaman Griffin outlines the...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: What happened to trial by jury? - Suja A. Thomas
In the United States today, juries decide less than 4% of criminal cases and less than 1% of civil cases filed in court. At the same time, jury systems in other countries are growing. So what happened in the US? And could the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: A 3-minute guide to the Bill of Rights - Belinda Stutzman
Daily, Americans exercise their rights secured by the Constitution. The most widely discussed and debated part of the Constitution is known as the Bill of Rights. Belinda Stutzman provides a refresher course on exactly what the first ten...
Crash Course
Shaping Public Opinion: Crash Course Government and Politics
So today Craig is going to talk about where our political opinions come from. Of course, most people’s politics are grounded in their ideologies, but there are also other external influences such as the government itself, interest...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why wasn't the Bill of Rights originally in the US Constitution? - James Coll
When you think of the US Constitution, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Free speech? The right to bear arms? These passages are cited so often that it's hard to imagine the document without them. But the list of freedoms known...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: History vs. Napoleon Bonaparte - Alex Gendler
After the French Revolution erupted in 1789, Europe was thrown into chaos. Neighboring countries' monarchs feared they would share the fate of Louis XVI and attacked the new Republic, while at home, extremism and mistrust between...
Crash Course
Federalism: Crash Course Government and Politics
In which Craig Benzine teaches you about federalism, or the idea that in the United States, power is divided between the national government and the 50 state governments. Craig will teach you about how federalism has evolved over the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The dark history of the overthrow of Hawaii | Sydney Iaukea
On January 16th, 1895, two men arrived at Liliʻuokalani's door, arrested her, and imprisoned her. The Missionary Party had recently seized power and now confiscated her diaries, ransacked her house, and claimed her lands. Liliʻuokalani...
Curated Video
The French Revolution: Crash Course World History
In which John Green examines the French Revolution, and gets into how and why it differed from the American Revolution. Was it the serial authoritarian regimes? The guillotine? The Reign of Terror? All of this and more contributed to the...
Crash Course
Judicial Review: Crash Course Government and Politics
Today, Craig Benzine is going to tell you about the Supreme Court's most important case, Marbury v. Madison, and how the court granted itself the power of judicial review. Judicial review is the power to examine and invalidate actions of...
Crash Course
Affirmative Action: Crash Course Government and Politics
So we've been talking about civil rights for the last few episodes now, and we're finally going to wrap this discussion up with the rather controversial topic of affirmative action. We'll explain what exactly affirmative action is, who...
Crash Course
The French Revolution: Crash Course European History
In 1789, the French Monarchy's habit of supporting democratic popular revolutions in North America backfired. Today, we're talking about the French Revolution. Across the world, people were rising up to throw off monarchies, and Louis...
Crash Course
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Crash Course Government and Politics
Oh my, Craig has his work cut out for him this week. The process of how a bill becomes a law can be pretty complex, fraught with potential bill-death at every corner. As if just getting through committee isn’t difficult enough, bills...
Crash Course
The Bicameral Congress: Crash Course Government and Politics
In which Craig Benzine teaches you about the United States Congress, and why it's bicameral, and what bicameral means. Craig tells you what the Senate and House of Representatives are for, some of the history of the institutions, and...
Crash Course
Congressional Committees: Crash Course Government and Politics
This week Craig Benzine clears up the role of committees in Congress. We’ll talk about standing committees, joint committees, conference committees, and caucuses (and not the candidate-choosing kinds) as well as the staff agencies that...
Crash Course
Political Parties: Crash Course Government and Politics
Today, Craig is going to talk about political parties and their role in American politics. So, when most people think about political parties they associate them with the common ideologies of the voters and representatives within that...
Crash Course
Civil Rights & Liberties: Crash Course Government
Today, Craig is going to give you an overview of civil rights and civil liberties. Often these terms are used interchangeably, but they are actually very different. Our civil liberties, contained in the Bill of Rights, once only...