HONG KONG—When the British handed Hong Kong to Beijing in 1997, it was promised 50 years of self-government and freedoms of assembly, speech, and press that are not allowed on the communist-ruled Chinese mainland. As the city of 7.4 million people marks 25 years under Beijing’s rule on Friday, those promises are wearing thin. Hong…

Commentary As George Washington’s first presidential administration, the first term of government under the United States Constitution, neared its end in 1793, the president found himself confronting a form of populism antithetical to stable politics in a republic. The situation emerged from the turbulent development of highly polarized partisan politics, along with efforts by France’s…

Commentary After winning the independence they had declared in 1776, Americans had to prove that they could sustain self-government in peace. They’d governed themselves already, as colonists, but now the British government no longer protected them from the other European powers, and indeed remained a potential enemy of the new country. It’s easy for us…

Commentary How sleep the Brave, who sink to Rest, By all their Country’s Wishes blest! When Spring, with dewy Fingers cold, Returns to deck their hallow’d Mould, She there shall dress a sweeter Sod Than Fancy’s Feet have ever trod. By Fairy Hands their knell is rung, By Forms unseen their Dirge is sung; There…