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Civil Liberties

	Assault Weapons Ban The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) provision was signed into law in 1994. The 10 year ban, expiring in 2004, is currently undergoing an inspection of effectiveness and a reinstitution bill in the House of Representatives.
	Legalization of Drugs The anti-drug effort in the U.S. has criminalized a large part of society and at significant costs, with little regard for the impact drugs have on human health. Legalization would give the government the ability to tax and regulate.
	Mandatory Pledge of Allegiance In response to the surge of patriotism following Sept 11, local lawmakers across the U.S. introduced legislating that would make it mandatory for public schools to start the day with the Pledge of Allegiance.
	Wiretapping Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, President Bush, in a highly contested move, executively ordered the NSA to wiretap communications between U.S. citizens and suspected terrorists
	Legalized Abortion Legalized Abortion involves the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that made abortions permissible under any circumstance until the point at which the fetus becomes viable. That is, potentially able to live outside the uterus.

Courts & Legal System

	Prison Reform The United States currently leads the world in incarceration. It holds 2.1 million people in prisons or jails, thereby sparking public and legislative debates over crime rates, mandatory sentencing, and the growing prison industry.
	Death Penalty for Child Offenders The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty for those who were under 18 at the time of their crime is cruel and unusual. Children lack the developmental capability to make rational decisions, ergo they are considered less culpable criminals.
	Required DNA Testing Flaws in the criminal justice system have led to numerous wrongful convictions, many of which have been sentenced to death. DNA evidence can verify a person's innocence or guilt but is not always used.
	Capital Punishment Studies have shown that capital punishment is applied arbitrarily and problems with administering lethal injections has left the state courts and legislatures to grapple with the law or cease executions altogether.
	Expanding the Prosecutable List of Hate Crimes Existing federal hate crime laws protect people from certain crimes motivated by hatred against a certain race, color, religion or national origin. Current legislation seeks to expand this list to include gender, sexual orientation, and disability.

Domestic Policy

	Citizenship for illegal immigrants President Bush pushed for a bipartisan bill that would reform the immigration system but could not garner enough support from Congressional Republicans for the bill to pass.
	Slavery Reparations A movement in the US which seeks the apology of the government and reparations in the form of money, land, or other goods to slave descendants, for its role in the institution of slavery prior to 1865.
	Outsourcing Business wants to preserve the ability to exporting jobs abroad in order to stay competitive. Labor interests wish to limit the extent to which businesses can layoff American workers for cheaper sources of labor in developing countries.
	Affirmative Action Affirmative action refers to policies intended to promote access to education or employment aimed at a historically socio-politically non-dominant group, typically minorities and women.
	Minimum Wage Congress raised the federal minimum wage three times in 2007, arguing that current wages are not keeping up with the rising cost of living. 2007 legislation will put the federal minimum wage at $7.25/hour in July 2009.
	Border Fence The border fence spans two issues: immigration and homeland security. First passed in 2006, the fence has been included in immigration legislation to control illegal immigration flow across the southern border.

Economic Policy

	Marriage Tax A provision in American tax code that levies higher taxes on couples with equal incomes than singles or couples with disparate incomes. Over half of couples actually benefit from this provision. The penalty was eliminated as a part of the 2001 tax cuts.
	Bush Tax Cuts From 2001-2004, Congress approved legislation introduced by President Bush that would significantly reduce taxes in order to stimulate the economy. Pres. Bush has received criticism for pursuing a policy that largely benefits America's wealthiest citizens.
	Bank Regulation Regulation that prevents major financial crises by regulating how much capital banks store according to the riskiness of their investments. It also served a number of other functions from ensuring privacy to revealing information on suspected terrorists.
	Corporate Governance Corporations are largely unregulated in the United States and became even less regulated during the 1990s. The deregulation movement and the American shareholder model led to a devastating series of corporate scandals.
	Antitrust Regulation Antitrust regulation is used to preserve competition in markets. Whereas American law emphasizes strict competition, European and Japanese law emphasize competition with inter-firm collaboration.
	Business Regulation Compared to other countries, the United States has fewer regulations on businesses but the markets in which businesses operate are not completely unrestricted, contrary to popular belief.

Education

	Wellness standards in schools The sharp rise in obesity and diabetes in children has led to an initiative that forces school districts to set "wellness standards" in nutrition, physical activity, and nutrition education by the 06-07 school year.
	Financial Aid for Students In 2007, the Democratic Senate voted to increase college financial aid by cutting $20 billion in subsidies to banks and giving it to the poorest college students.
	Public Preschool Georgia and New York have implemented universal preschool programs for four-year-olds, and other states are considering the same. Low-income families would benefit from saving on fees for child care and preschool programs.
	School Vouchers School vouchers are a controversial proposal that introduce market competition into education by redirecting the flow of funding from school districts to individual families. This allows families send their kids to the schools of their choice.
	No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has sought to elevate the performance of American schools and student with federal oversight and strict penalties for poor performance and as such has been both attacked and backed by various groups.

Environment

	Emissions Trading Emissions trading (or cap and trade), puts a limit on the amount firms can pollute and issue an equivalent number of credits. Firms that pollute beyond their allowance buy credits from those that pollute less.
	Energy Independence A popular campaign that promises to reduce oil imports for security purposes and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Legislation in 2005 and 2007 have attempted, although poorly, to address American dependency.
	Fuel Efficiency Regulation The large automotive industry has prevented any effective change from occurring in fuel efficiency standards since 1975 until the Senate passed a bill in June of 2007 that would require a 10 mpg increase in efficiency by car manufacturers.
	Kyoto Protocol Ratification An amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which seeks to assign mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the signatory nations.
	Animal Welfare Animal Welfare in the US is regulated by 3 federal laws and state statues. Currently, pets and wildlife are protected from acts of cruelty. Livestock and lab animals are granted limited protections and there is no legislation for purpose-bred birds.

Health & Welfare

	Social Security Reform All affluent countries are faced with aging populations and the retirement of the large postwar generation which will soon overwhelm public pension systems. President Bush made pension reform an issue in his 2004 reelection campaign.
	Privatization of Social Security Full or partial privatization of social security would divert revenue to private accounts. S.S. would instead be owned and managed by workers who would pay less payroll taxes.
	Welfare Programs Pres. Clinton promised to "end welfare as we know it" and signed a law that decreased by half the number of people on state assistance. Ten years on, the poverty rate is as high as ever.
	Legalization of Medical Marijuana Marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance, meaning the U.S. government considers it to have "no accepted medical use." However, there is an overwhelming consensus of its effectiveness as a treatment for certain conditions in the medical community.
	Genetically Engineered Foods Genetically modified crops were first cultivated in the 1990s with the hope of resisting pests and increasing yields. They have been highly controversial because of their adverse environmental effects and the inadequate safety assessment of GM foods.
	Universal Health Care Universal health care guarantees coverage for all citizens and is mandated, funded or facilitated by the government. Every affluent country in the world enjoys universal health coverage except the U.S. which spends twice as much per capita on health care.

International Policy

	Partitioning of Iraq There is increasing support for partitioning post-war Iraq along ethno-religious lines. This would in effect create a Kurdistan, Sunnistan and Shiastan under the umbrella of a de-centralized "Iraq" government and would, many hope, quell civil war.
	Dialogue with Rogue World Leaders With the leaders of Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba increasingly vocal about their opposition to the U.S., talk of a potential dialogue with such leaders is becoming a central political issue with international implications.
	Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT) is an international treaty opened for signature in 1968 and currently signed by 189 nations to stop the production of nuclear weapons, disarm current weapons and peacefully use nuclear technology.
	Economic Sanctions on Iran With Iran's 2003 fruition of their purportedly legitimate nuclear ambition came an international cry for economic sanctions and dialogue with the deviant President Ahmadinejad.
	Darfur Intervention The United States was the first country to call the situation in the western province of Sudan a genocide. Since then, Congress and the Bush administration have imposed sanctions on the Sudanese government for its part in prolonging the conflict.
	Unification of Korea Korea was divided by Cold War politics in 1948 in spite of a shared identity that dates back 5,000 years. The restoration of Korea seems inevitable, with both sides stating reunification as an eventual goal, but political issues have impeded the process.

Military Defense

	Militarization of Space The Cold War triggered a race between U.S. and the USSR to militarize space and develop new space weaponry technologies. Since the end of the war, space weapons have been used in various ways to support military ground operations.
	Military Draft The military draft, which makes military service mandatory, has been used several times in U.S. history before it was ended in 1973. Declining troop levels as a result of the Iraq war have made the draft a renewed possibility.
	Iraq Troop Surge The Iraq Troop Surge was announced by President George W. Bush on January 10, 2007 as a new strategy for securing regions of Iraq by increasing the number of American troops.
	Gays in the Military Previously, homosexuals were banned from joining the armed forces. Under current law, non-heterosexual behavior cannot be discussed or investigated and is subject to discharge.
	Iraq War Withdrawal Democrats and Republicans in congress are considering various withdrawal and exit proposals as America's support for the war plummets.
	Patriot Act The USA Patriot Act, which extends the power of law enforcement agencies in pursuing suspected terrorists, has caused outrage for perceived violations of civil liberties.

Religion

	Intelligent Design Intelligent design refers to a modern argument that God informed the development of some features of the universe and living things, which counters the indirect natural selection process as described by Charles Darwin's theories on evolution.
	Separation of Church and State The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the First Constitutional Amendment to mean that religion and government must stay separate. Faith-based initiatives, defining marriage, and creationism in schools are thought to violate the intended division.
	Public Display of 10 Commandments High Courts in the U.S. are divided over whether displaying religious symbols violates the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment. This debate has become a hot issue in American politics used to appeal to religious conservatives.

Technology

	Stem Cell Research Stem Cell research is a type of health care research involving a specialized regenerative cells. The research is specifically controversial because of the destruction of human embryos or therapeutic cloning in the research process.
	Digital Rights Widespread distribution of digital content over the internet has rendered traditional copyright law obsolete. Digital rights criminalize the production and dissemination of copyrighted material and increases the penalties for these crimes.
	Lunar Base Construction In 2006, NASA announced plans to build a lunar outpost so it can conduct research, make preparations for a journey to Mars, and encourage international participation.
	Net Neutrality Network neutrality generally refers to the regulation of broadband network operators to require that they provide equal access to the network for all content and service providers.
	Manned Mission to Mars Since the end of the Apollo program, which successfully placed a man on the moon, there have been rumors of a manned mission to the Red Planet.

The Political Machine

	Lobbyist Gifts to Congress Gifts from lobbyists to Congress take many forms, from campaign money and parties to trips and fancy dinners. All, however, pose a serious threat to our Republic, as special interest is paid not to the represented citizen, but rather, the highest bidder.
	Electoral College Reform The 2000 Presidential election, in which the majority vote was overridden by the electoral vote, sparked an electoral college reform movement across the country. New state laws will pledge the state electoral votes the winner of the popular vote.
	Two Party System The United States is a two party system elected through plurality vote.
	Line-Item Veto The line-item veto gives power of an executive to nullify specific provisions of a bill without vetoing the entire bill. Congress granted the president this power in order to control "pork barrel spending."
	Public Campaign Financing Public financing gives a limited amount of public funding to qualified candidates who are running for an elected position, rather than having to raise private campaign funds.