With Independence Day coming up, we often hear people talk about the Founding Fathers. That’s what we call the men (and because of gender roles at that time, they were all men) who served on the Continental Congress that declared independence from England in 1776 and the men who eleven years later were delegates to the convention that wrote the Constitution of the United States. Many of them are familiar names, like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John

If you’re a kid who is starting to learn about government, you are probably hearing a lot about “politics” and “politicians” and “political parties.” Do you know what those words mean? Politicians are the people who try to get elected to positions in government; politics are the different ideas people have about what the government should do and how the government should do it. Political parties are organized groups of people that share the same opinions on those political su

I probably shouldn’t have called my first book, “How the U.S. Government Works.” I mean, I can’t begin to tell you how many times people have said to me at book signings, “It doesn’t.” Or “you’re the only guy who thinks it does.” Or my personal favorite: (Man shouts to his wife): “Hey hon, this guy must be the smartest guy in the world. He’s the one who actually understands how the government works!” Ok, I was asking for trouble. I knew it. But that’s what my then 8-year-