Video

National education experts debate forced busing for diversity in the Wake County schools

Abigail Thernstrom, adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and Richard Kahlenberg, senior fellow at the Century Foundation, present different views about the value of busing public school students to achieve socio-economic diversity. Thernstrom and Kahlenberg offered these comments during a March 22, 2011, debate about Wake County’s student assignment policy. The John Locke Foundation...

News

NCGA Preview: Week of March 21

RALEIGH — Two bills defining acceptable government identity documents for driving and voting in North Carolina are scheduled for debate. The first would limit the documents that state and local government officials are allowed to accept. The second would require voters to present a photo ID before casting a ballot.

Anthony Greco
News

Judicial Appointment-Retention Idea Gets Chilly Reception

RALEIGH — Right now, Tar Heel voters directly elect candidates to all levels of judicial office. Races officially have been nonpartisan since 2002, although voters sometimes can glean information on a candidate’s partisan leanings from endorsements and voter guides.

David N. Bass
Video

Carolina Journal’s Rick Henderson discusses Gov. Beverly Perdue’s use of the veto

Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal managing editor, analyzes Gov. Beverly Perdue’s use of her veto power during the first two months of the legislative session. Henderson offered these comments during an interview with Donna Martinez for Carolina Journal Radio (Program No. 409).

Video

Mount Olive economist Paul Cwik explains the problems associated with Keynes’ ‘long run’

Famous British economist John Maynard Keynes once quipped: “In the long run, we are all dead.” Dr. Paul Cwik, associate professor of economics at Mount Olive College, contends we are now living in Keynes’ “long run.” He outlines the harmful impact of Keynes’ short-term, consumption-based approach to economic policy. Cwik offered these comments during a...

Podcast

Perdue Vetoes Set Up Policy & Political Battles

Rick Henderson on Perdue vetoes; Rick Perry & Joseph Nixon on medical malpractice reform; Harold Brubaker & Pryor Gibson on diverting tax incentive cash to more pressing needs; Bruno Behrend on reforming failing schools; Terry Stoops on standardized tests.

Rick Henderson, Dr. Terry Stoops
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Opinion

Opinion

Democratic wave crushes GOP candidates

The odd-year elections yielded precisely what all the warning signs of 2025 portended: a strong Democratic wave that crushed Republican nominees in the gubernatorial races of New Jersey and Virginia, gave Democrats their largest legislative majorities in decades in both states, delivered left-wing results in various ballot initiatives, and elected a hate monger as attorney...

John Hood
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Elections

Opinion

Should NC reform its primary system? The case to return to 40% threshold

In a Carolina Journal poll conducted shortly after the November elections, 43% of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the results of the 2024 primaries, stating that they did not produce the best candidates for the general election. While 46% were satisfied and 10% were unsure, the significant level of dissatisfaction highlights potential issues within North Carolina’s primary system.

Donna King
News

Trump nominates Bishop to be deputy director for budget at OMB

"Dan has been a tireless fighter for our MAGA Movement in the House of Representatives on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees," Trump said in a press release issued Tuesday night. "Dan will implement my cost-cutting and deregulatory agenda across all Agencies, and root out the Weaponized Deep State."

Theresa Opeka
News

Democrats want federal court to address GOP challenge of 60,000 NC ballots

The North Carolina Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Friday to ensure challenges of 60,000 ballots in the state's latest election are addressed in federal court. Republicans filed the challenges with the State Board of Elections. The challenges could affect the outcome of the state Supreme Court race between Democrat Allison Riggs and Jefferson Griffin, along with a handful of state legislative contests.

CJ Staff
News

Griffin asks Appeals Court to order decision on election protests by Tuesday

Republican North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin is turning to North Carolina’s second-highest court for an order that would force state election officials to make a final decision about Griffin’s election protests Tuesday. The State Board of Elections had planned to hear oral arguments about the protests the following day, according to a document Griffin filed Friday with the state Court of Appeals.

CJ Staff
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Videos

Video

The Debrief: Trump tariffs head to the high court

Voters in many North Carolina cities made their choices this week in municipal elections. We recap the top results and look at some of the major voting decisions across the nation. Then we turn attention to a national story with major North Carolina implications: the future of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The nation’s highest court...

Video

Locke’s Mitch Kokai responds to AG Jackson’s lawsuit over SNAP benefits

Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson joining Democratic counterparts in other states in a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. It focuses on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Kokai offered these comments during the Oct. 31, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Mitch Kokai
Video

Locke’s Donald Bryson discusses SCOTUS case dealing with Trump’s emergency tariffs

Donald Bryson, John Locke Foundation CEO and Carolina Journal publisher, discusses the US Supreme Court case addressing President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs. Locke filed a joint amicus brief challenging the constitutionality of emergency tariffs. Bryson offered these comments during the Oct. 28, 2025, episode of Spectrum News’ “Capital Tonight.”

Donald Bryson
Video

Carolina Journal’s Donna King analyzes NC congressional redistricting plans

Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses the North Carolina General Assembly’s plans to redraw the state’s congressional election map. King offered these comments during the Oct. 17, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Donna King
Video

Podcast: Revolutionary Roads

As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026, this podcast explores North Carolina’s pivotal role in the nation’s founding — from the War of Regulation to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and beyond. This 10-episode series, hosted by John Locke Foundation CEO Donald Bryson, features guests with...

Video

The Debrief: Legislator arrested, Iryna’s Law aftermath, Oct. 7 remembered

This week on The Debrief, a Guilford County legislator’s arrest on sex-related charges prompts quick reaction from colleagues. Gov. Josh Stein chose an unusual way to signal his signing of Iryna’s Law. We discuss the governor’s video message and get expert analysis of the law’s potential impact. We also highlight a possible federal response. Lawmakers at the...

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Culture

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Civil Society

Opinion

For healthy civil society, politics needs to stay in its lane

Political and cultural causes are important. They motivate us to make the world around us better and hone our sense of justice. Also, the excitement of fighting the good fight can be, for lack of a better word, fun. But everything has its time and place. And even if we think a particular political issue...

David Larson
Opinion

Flashback: North Carolina’s Easter Monday tradition forged on the baseball diamond

On Good Friday state offices will be closed in North Carolina for Holy Week, along with 10 other states. However, that has not always been the case in North Carolina. The Monday after Easter — rather than Good Friday — was a legal holiday in North Carolina for 52 years, and for many years before...

Dallas Woodhouse
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