The Conversation

Spending, regulations and DOGE: Office of Management and Budget director plays vital role helping government get stuff done

Written by Martha Coven, Visiting Lecturer in Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

One of the Office of Management and Budget's biggest roles is writing an administration's federal budget – but that's far from its only job. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

The Office of Management and Budget sounds obscure, yet the agency plays a crucial role throughout the federal government. Presidents rely on the office to turn their ideas and...

This class uses museums to show law students the high art of curating ideas

Written by Patrick Barry, Clinical Assistant Professor of Law and Director of Digital Academic Initiatives, University of Michigan

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel's 'The Trial of Joan of Arc,' circa 1910.Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

Art and Advocacy

What prompted the idea for the course?

I like taking lawyers and law students to...

My beautiful ‘practicing’ Christians: As churchgoers’ numbers shrink, their social views grow more similar

Written by Michael Emerson, Fellow in Religion and Public Policy, Rice University

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump spoke at a gathering of conservative Protestants, imploring them to vote for him “just this time.”

In “four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians,” he said.

As a scholar of religion and public...

Rents rise faster after disasters, but a federal program can help restrain excesses

Written by Anthony W. Orlando, Assistant Professor of Finance, Real Estate and Law, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Two people embrace on Jan. 9, 2025, in Altadena, Calif., amid property destroyed by the Eaton Fire.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The wildfires raging across Los Angeles are setting the scene for a real estate nightmare.

Thousands of homes and other structures are destroyed and hundreds of thousands of residents have been evacuated at various times....

How the CIA director helps the US navigate a world of spies, threats and geopolitical turbulence

Written by Matthew Clary, Senior Lecturer in Political Science, Auburn University

The CIA is the U.S.’s premiere spy agency.Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Today, the United States is navigating an increasingly unsettled world. The positions advising the president on national security are as important as ever. One such position, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, is key to providing the president and Cabinet with...

Terrorist groups respond to verbal attacks and slights by governments with more violence against civilians

Written by Brandon J. Kinne, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Davis

Yazidi women in Iraq mourn the victims of Islamic State group attacks.Ismael Adnan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

After an Islamic State group-inspired attack in New Orleans killed 14 people on New Year’s Day 2025, President Joe Biden warned that terrorists would find “no safe harbor” in the U.S.

Governments often...

We study aging family business incumbents who refuse to let go − here’s why the 2024 race felt familiar

Written by Nancy Forster-Holt, Clinical Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, URI Aging Fellows, UMaine Center on Aging Research Associate, University of Rhode Island

Succession planning is one of the biggest challenges family businesses face, with aging leaders often reluctant to let go of their power.

While we’re experts in family business and not politics, we couldn’t help but notice striking parallels between our research and the dynamics of the 2024 election campaign. For much of the race, the...

4 reasons why the US might want to buy Greenland – if it were for sale, which it isn’t

Written by Scott L. Montgomery, Lecturer, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington

President-elect Donald Trump has sparked diplomatic controversy by suggesting the U.S. needs to acquire Greenland for reasons of “national security” and refusing to definitively rule out using military force to do so. Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, “is not for sale,” said Denmark’s prime minister, Mette...

What’s an H-1B visa? A brief history of the controversial program for skilled foreign workers

Written by Gabrielle Clark, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Law, California State University, Los Angeles

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr. watch an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout.Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images

Republicans are feuding over how many people can obtain H-1B visas, permits that allow foreign professionals to legally work in the United States. Today an estimated 600,000 foreigners...

Job of homeland security secretary is to adapt almost continuously to pressures from the department, the public and the world at large

Written by Frank J. Cilluffo, Director, McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security, Auburn University

The secretary of homeland security is the newest permanent member of the president’s Cabinet, overseeing the sprawling agencies and missions of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and an annual budget exceeding US$62.2 billion.

Overall, the department – and the secretary who leads it – is charged with protecting the nation...