by John L. Micek

Who knew that America was filled with so many amateur social studies teachers?

Whenever I write about Republican-led efforts to sharply curtail voting rights (which disproportionately impact Black and brown voters who tend to support Democrats), I’ll often get a letter from aggrieved conservative readers who remind me, “John, you of all people should know we’re a republic and not a democracy.”

Strictly speaking, those readers are correct. We’re not a d...