For the last few years, I've had this sense that everything I learned as a kid about how America's government works is completely wrong. But I had no idea how bad things actually were until I saw one simple graph.
There is a trend of conservative justices to become somewhat more liberal after some time on the Supreme Court. But an evaluation of the judges for whom this calculation is possible indicates that all but one of President Donald Trump's potential nominees will still be more conservative in 2030 than Chief Justice John Roberts is now.
With national leaders up for election for nearly half of the world's population this year, 2014 will be a telling time for democracy. Of 50 democratic nations voting, 25 will be voting for a president, including the European Union.