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Politics

Campaigns, legislatures, and the machinery of American self-government.

Minimalist photography of hallway between columns

The Quiet Consolidation of the Governor's Office

Emergency authority was supposed to be temporary. In statehouse after statehouse, it has become the ordinary way of governing.

MIRIAM HALLOWAY

What the Party Primaries Stopped Measuring

ALICE PYNE

A Redistricting Fight Nobody Is Watching

OWEN BLACKWOOD

The Vanishing Committee Hearing

MIRIAM HALLOWAY

The empty Legislative Council chamber in the Quebec Parliament Building, ornate balconies around a carved wooden canopy topped by a crown, two flags hanging beside an empty chair, rows of desks with microphones in the foreground and a large historical painting above, in a slate blue and bone duotone

The Oath Is Optional, For Now

OWEN BLACKWOOD

The Crooked House pub in Himley, a two-storey brick building leaning visibly to one side, signs reading Banks’s Ales and The Crooked House on its front, empty picnic benches on the paved yard, in grainy high-contrast black and white

Only the First Bill Gets a Debate

OWEN BLACKWOOD

The empty Senate chamber in the Centre Block of Parliament in Ottawa, rows of wooden desks and leather chairs on either side of a central aisle leading to the thrones under a stone arch, with large paintings on the walls, in a dark ink and bone duotone

The Other Nine Questions

OWEN BLACKWOOD

The Saeima building in Riga, a long ochre and cream Renaissance Revival palazzo on a cobbled corner, with a tree and an iron street lamp in front, in near black and white with a flat red band along the foot of the frame

Who Is Left to Join Kulbergs

ALICE PYNE

The Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton, a stone building with a central dome and a columned entrance under a bright cloudy sky, in a slate and bone duotone

The Question Is Whether to Ask Again

OWEN BLACKWOOD

The Victoria Palace in Bucharest, a long colonnaded building draped in a giant flag, with a flagpole and pine tree at the left under a blue sky, in high contrast black and white with coarse grain

Two Hundred Thirty-Three Votes

CLAIRE VANTASSEL

Camden Town Hall on Euston Road in London, a pale stone building with columns along its upper floors on a street corner, in near black and white with a flat red band down the left edge

A Hold on a Low Turnout

ALICE PYNE

The National Assembly building in Tirana seen through its iron gates, a pale columned entrance with the Albanian flag on the roof and tall cedars on either side, in an ink and bone duotone

One Vote Over Three-Fifths

OWEN BLACKWOOD

The House of the National Assembly in Belgrade at twilight, its domes dark against the sky and its windows lit, a fountain and flower beds in the foreground, in high contrast black and white with coarse grain

Polls Open on Belgrade Time

ALICE PYNE

The Kansas State Capitol in Topeka under a clear sky, its columned portico and dome above a lawn, bare trees at either side, in a slate and bone duotone

The Question Is Not Whether, but How Many

THE 13TH BELL

Two voting booths marked with the American flag and the word VOTE on a round table in an empty polling place, folding chairs beside it, in near black and white with a flat red band along the foot of the frame

Who May Vote, Not How

MIRIAM HALLOWAY

An empty, worn office chair with torn upholstery standing alone by a curtained window, in high contrast black and white with coarse grain

Forty-Five Days, and No Vote

PRIYA RAGHUNATHAN

The colonnade of the United States Treasury building seen from below with a flag on the roofline, in a slate and bone duotone

A Deadline Is Not a Veto

An old cathode-ray television set, switched off, on a dark wooden cabinet beside a curtained window, in high contrast black and white with coarse grain

The Call to Action Was Cut

DANIEL MARCHETTI

A weathered aluminium United States mail box with its red flag raised, on a fence post, in a slate and bone duotone

The Stay That Outlived the Appeal

MIRIAM HALLOWAY

The pediment and columns of the United States Supreme Court under a heavy sky, seen past a street lamp, in high contrast black and white with coarse grain

A Decision, Not a Document

MIRIAM HALLOWAY

A lorry stacked with wooden crates on a dirt farm road, with a paddock and trees alongside, in near black and white with a red bar along the foot

Who the Ceiling Selects

NADIA BELKACEM

The east front of the United States Capitol seen from the northeast beneath a clear sky, in a slate and bone duotone

The Vote Before the Vote

ALICE PYNE

A wide view of the crowded chamber of the United States House of Representatives during a joint session of Congress, members seated at desks facing the rostrum

The Privileged Resolution Explained

MIRIAM HALLOWAY

A blue United States Postal Service collection box beside a small rural post office, in high contrast black and white with coarse grain

The Post Office Is Not a Registrar

OWEN BLACKWOOD

The dome of the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City rising behind trees, with bright leaves in the foreground, in a slate and bone duotone

The Map Waits for the Voters

OWEN BLACKWOOD

A restored nineteenth century legislative chamber with desks and chairs, in high contrast black and white with coarse grain

The Count Is a Procedure

OWEN BLACKWOOD

A red Victorian hexagonal pillar box on a street, banded in the house treatment

The Franking Privilege Is Incumbency

OWEN BLACKWOOD

The interior of a Fresnel lighthouse lens, in a blue duotone

List Maintenance Is a Policy

MIRIAM HALLOWAY

A letter balance with graduated brass weights on a wooden base, in high contrast black and white with coarse grain

The Threshold Is the Design

MIRIAM HALLOWAY

The brick exterior of a disused school gymnasium, in a warm duotone

The Special Election Is Another Electorate

OWEN BLACKWOOD

A clear plastic bag holding a stack of provisional ballot envelopes, a contents sheet and a provisional ballot log on top, on a wooden table, in plain black and white

The Provisional Ballot Is the Test

MIRIAM HALLOWAY

An empty meeting room with a long table and chairs, in a blue duotone

The Vacancy Is the Appointment

MIRIAM HALLOWAY

Rows of archival records shelving, in high contrast black and white with coarse grain

The Rider Is the Real Bill

OWEN BLACKWOOD

A closed punch card vote recorder, lifted onto a flat slate field

The Ballot Is a Design Problem

OWEN BLACKWOOD

A desk with a typewriter, banded in the house treatment

The Filing Deadline Decides the Field

ALICE PYNE

Elsewhere in The 13th Bell

Man writing on paper

Who Actually Signs the Order

PETER OSEI-BONSU

Gray scale photo of crane

The Strait That Sets the Price of Everything

NADIA BELKACEM

Stacks of paper documents and file folders

The Docket Is the Real Election

RUTH OKONKWO

Large industrial storage tanks under a clear blue sky

The Sanctions Machine Is Running Out of Room

DANIEL MARCHETTI

Border crossing with kurdistan flag under shelter

Europe Is Rebuilding Its Border Logic

THOMAS RENNICK

The empty hall of the United Nations General Assembly

The Middle Powers Have Learned to Wait

IRIS NAKAMURA

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