TNR: Obama and the Legacy of Gay Marriage

This is a solid opinion piece by Jonathan Rauch in The New Republic. He argues US President Barack Obama's enduring legacy might not be health reforms, but his movement on gay rights in America.

The Art Of Compromise

This is a good if dense review of a two new books on compromise, or the lack of it, zoning in on US politics. The books are called 'On Compromise and Rotten Compromises' by Avishai Margalit and The Spirit of Compromise: 'Why Governing Demands It and Campaigning Undermines It' by Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson. Both books explore the idea of compromise, when it is a good thing, and when they should never be made (Margalit more so).

There's more to it than that - have a read of the review in The New Republic, written by Paul Starr, a professor at Princeton University - publishers of both books.

Important ideas at a time when US politics has struggled to find middle ground.