It was a huge year in politics in 2019 and The Conversation Canada provided insightful analysis for both domestic and international stories.

Here in Canada, the year kicked off with the SNC-Lavalin controversy that dogged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau right onto the campaign trail. And despite revelations that Trudeau donned blackface and brownface as a younger man, a scandal that seriously tarnished his global rock star reputation, he still managed to win a minority government in October’s election.

South of the border, the relentless chaos of Donald Trump’s presidency went into overdrive following allegations he pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on his biggest perceived threat heading into the 2020 presidential election – Joe Biden. Those revelations resulted in the president's impeachment.

It’s always hard to choose my favourite political stories of the year, because all of our contributors unfailingly show up with fascinating and intelligent analyses that I don’t read anywhere else. But here are some that stayed with me, and were popular with republishers in Canada and around the world.

Is the United States on the brink of a revolution? Serbulent Turan of the University of British Columbia pointed out that many of the historical pre-conditions in place prior to revolutions are present in the United States right now.

Continuing on this theme, would Trump even concede defeat in 2020 if roundly rejected by voters? Shira Lurie of the University of Toronto looked back on events in the U.S. in 1800 for clues.

James L. Anderson of Queen’s University suggested the historic city of Kingston, Ont., where Canada-U.S. ties have often been forged, would be a good place for a bilateral meeting between Trudeau and Trump.

Matthew Hayes of St. Thomas University provided a glimpse of what the Canadian election results have looked like with electoral reform, an abandoned Trudeau promise.

In the wake of the resignations from cabinet of Judy Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott amid the SNC-Lavalin affair, Veronica Strong-Boag of the University of British Columbia provided an interesting look back at other Canadian women cabinet ministers who had stepped down out of principle.

Finally, understanding how Hitler became German can help us understand the rise of right-wing extremists today, and the personal connection to the story by author Klaus Meyer of Western University made his analysis even more compelling.