Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Political Science

Faculty Publications

Series

2009

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Why We Don't Understand The Rule Of Law, Noel B. Reynolds Oct 2009

Why We Don't Understand The Rule Of Law, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This paper presents an assessment of current theories of law and their continuing failure to account in a convincing way for the rule of law as an ideal that guides and reassures modern democratic societies. It then explores the possibility that emerging understandings of human evolution and brain function may help us understand the process of convention making in a way that could reveal the underlying moral and epistemological context of law and allow us to identify a complete set of standards for the rule of law in human societies.

Go to article

Presidential Unilateralism And Political Polarization: Why Today's Congress Lacks The Will And The Way To Stop Presidential Initiatives, Neal Devins Apr 2009

Presidential Unilateralism And Political Polarization: Why Today's Congress Lacks The Will And The Way To Stop Presidential Initiatives, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Candles In The Wind: Resisting Repression In Liberia (1979-2003), Robert Press Apr 2009

Candles In The Wind: Resisting Repression In Liberia (1979-2003), Robert Press

Faculty Publications

Scholars have been extending social-movement analysis beyond its base in the industrialized West to Latin America and Asia, but rarely to Africa. Social movements resisting repression in nondemocratic settings have usually had the help of external "opportunities" or favorable circumstances. This study, however, examines a peaceful social movement in Liberia, a movement that resisted repression under two regimes, advocating for human rights and democratic freedom without such "opportunities." How did this happen? The study finds four explanations: the formation of a microsocial movement with no formal leadership and only loosely connected strands of resistance, which were harder to control; a …

Go to article

Creating A "Green Bubble" On Campus: A Model For Programming In A Green Living-Learning Community, David Whiteman Apr 2009

Creating A "Green Bubble" On Campus: A Model For Programming In A Green Living-Learning Community, David Whiteman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article

“Publishers Did Not Take The Bait”: A Forgotten Precursor To The Nih Public Access Policy, Jonathan Miller Mar 2009

“Publishers Did Not Take The Bait”: A Forgotten Precursor To The Nih Public Access Policy, Jonathan Miller

Faculty Publications

This article compares the recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy (2005–07) with the United States Office of Education policy on copyright in funded research (1965–70).The two policies and the differing technological and political contexts of the periods are compared and contrasted. The author concludes that a more nuanced approach to copyright, the digital information environment, and the support of an energized user community auger well for the success of the NIH policy, but that it is still too soon to tell.

Go to article

The Unanimous Decisions Of The Supreme Court Of Canada As A Test Of The Attitudinal Model, Donald R. Songer, Julia Siripurapu Mar 2009

The Unanimous Decisions Of The Supreme Court Of Canada As A Test Of The Attitudinal Model, Donald R. Songer, Julia Siripurapu

Faculty Publications

Most of the empirical work on the decision making of justices on the Supreme Court of Canada has taken as its exclusive focus the divided decisions of the Court. In contrast to this extensive body of research on divided decision, the much more limited knowledge of unanimous decisions is troubling because such decisions constitute nearly three-quarters of all of the formal decisions of the Court. The analysis reported below provides a first step towards understanding the neglected nature of unanimous decisions. This investigation of the nature and causes of unanimity in the Supreme Court of Canada explores two competing explanations: …

Go to article

God, Civil Society, And Congregations As Public Moral Companions, Gary M. Simpson Jan 2009

God, Civil Society, And Congregations As Public Moral Companions, Gary M. Simpson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Canada (En)Counters Terrorism: Us-Canada Relations And Counter-Terrorism Policy, Veronica Kitchen, Karthika Sasikumar Jan 2009

Canada (En)Counters Terrorism: Us-Canada Relations And Counter-Terrorism Policy, Veronica Kitchen, Karthika Sasikumar

Faculty Publications

This paper examines the role of identity in shaping counter-terrorism policy in Canada. We show that identity functions in three ways: constitutively by defining the range of choices a state is likely to consider; strategically by being a resource to buttress arguments based in economic or sovereignty interests; and heuristically by using identity as a marker for risk. This three-faceted explanation helps explain why, despite close economic, social, and political links between Canada and the United States which might lead us to expect Canada to follow American counter-terrorism policy, Canadian counter-terrorism policy often diverges from the American lead.

Go to article

Institutional Pluralism From The Standpoint Of Its Victims: Calling The Question On Indiscriminate (In)Tolerance, Jose M. Gabilondo Jan 2009

Institutional Pluralism From The Standpoint Of Its Victims: Calling The Question On Indiscriminate (In)Tolerance, Jose M. Gabilondo

Faculty Publications

Borrowing from postmodernity, new Right intellectuals have become adept at plucking core terms from the liberal register, stripping away their history and social context, and making them do the conceptual work of backlash. A recent example is the theme of the 2009 annual meeting of the AALS: institutional pluralism. The phrase has a surface resemblance to traditional liberal values but, in truth, acts as a Trojan horse for discrimination projects that many may find troubling. By putting the phrase in its social context, this essay reveals the ideological interests at work in the idea.

Go to article

Perception And Reality In Congressional Earmarks, Michael H. Crespin, Charles J. Finocchiaro, Emily O. Wanless Jan 2009

Perception And Reality In Congressional Earmarks, Michael H. Crespin, Charles J. Finocchiaro, Emily O. Wanless

Faculty Publications

Earmarks added to appropriations bills have generated a considerable amount of attention from the media, politicians, and fiscal watchdog groups. Taken as a whole, three 'truths' about earmarks are frequently discussed: 1) earmarks are the reason for large budget deficits, 2) using omnibus legislation instead of regular order leads to more earmarks, and 3) 'airdropped' earmarks added at the conference stage compound the problem of pork. In this paper, we examine these 'truths' and find the conventional wisdom does not stand up to empirical tests. Finally, we show how Congress easily worked around new rules concerning the addition of earmarks …

Go to article

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same, Neal Devins Jan 2009

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article