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2004

Series

Political Science

University of Richmond

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Judicial Nominees: Defining The Terms Of Senate Debates, Gary L. Mcdowell Dec 2004

Judicial Nominees: Defining The Terms Of Senate Debates, Gary L. Mcdowell

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Since roughly the beginning of the Reagan administration the left wing of the Democratic senatorial cohort has enjoyed remarkable success in disparaging Republican nominees to the federal judiciary as mere "conservatives". Its argument has been that those nominees would decide cases on everything from abortion to economic regulation on the basis of their "conservative" policy preferences. Sadly, as a general rule, the conservatives have allowed the Democrats to get away with this distortion.

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Coming To Set Terms For Dci, Porcher L. Taylor Iii Mar 2004

Coming To Set Terms For Dci, Porcher L. Taylor Iii

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Senator and presidential contender John Kerry has loudly and critically clanged the intelligence-reform bell in President Bush's ears. Recently, Mr. Kerry proposed great expansion of the director of central intelligence's (DCI) authority over the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. But true reform must first come with the DCI's emancipation from the White House through providing a 10-year term as a presidential appointee.

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Colonization And The Rule Of Law: Comparing The Effectiveness Of Common Law And Civil Law Countries, Sandra F. Joireman Jan 2004

Colonization And The Rule Of Law: Comparing The Effectiveness Of Common Law And Civil Law Countries, Sandra F. Joireman

Political Science Faculty Publications

The rule of law is one of the most important components of any explanation of cross-national differences in economic well-being. But what leads to better rule of law in a country? Using an institutional approach this paper probes the effect of legal systems in influencing the rule of law. There has long been speculation that the countries adopting English common law are better at providing legal dispute resolution than those adopting the continental forms of civil law. That speculative assessment is found to be true only in those countries that have been colonized, further analysis demonstrates that it is the …

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Congressional Leadership, Daniel J. Palazzolo Jan 2004

Congressional Leadership, Daniel J. Palazzolo

Political Science Faculty Publications

Congressional leadership takes place within an institution that serves two primary functions: making laws and representing citizens. Leaders play essential roles organizing the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senatethey set the schedule for debating bills and resolutions; formulate proposals to address public problems; represent their party's priorities through the media and in relations with leaders of the opposing party; support or oppose the president's initiatives in the legislative process; and build coalitions to pass legislation. The main challenge of congressional leadership is to advance the collective interests of the nation or of the leader's political party, …

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Retributive Justice: The Gacaca Process In Rwanda, Sandra F. Joireman, Allison Corey Jan 2004

Retributive Justice: The Gacaca Process In Rwanda, Sandra F. Joireman, Allison Corey

Political Science Faculty Publications

After decades of cycling violence between Hutu and Tutsi groups in Rwanda and Burundi, violence peaked in 1994 with a genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda, during which the Hutu majority slaughtered 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus, leaving the country with 120,000 accused génocidaires awaiting trial. Rwanda's gacaca courts were established as a response to the backlog of untried genocide cases. These courts disturbingly distinguish between genocide and war crimes committed during the same era, trying only those accused of genocide. This article argues that the gacaca process will contribute to the insecurity of all Rwandan citizens in the future, since …

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Communitarianism And Republicanism, Richard Dagger Jan 2004

Communitarianism And Republicanism, Richard Dagger

Political Science Faculty Publications

Communitarianism and republicanism are closely related schools of thought - so closely related that friend and foe alike sometimes conflate them. The relationship is evident in their Latin roots: communitarians are concerned with communitas, the common life of people who form a community, and republicans are devoted to the res publica, the good of the public. Of the two, however, only republicanism traces its lineage as well as its name to ancient Rome. Indeed, scholars often look beyond Rome to the philosophers and city-states of ancient Greece, particularly Aristotle and Sparta, for the origins of republicanism. For the …

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War And State Formation: A Mennonite Critique, Sandra F. Joireman Jan 2004

War And State Formation: A Mennonite Critique, Sandra F. Joireman

Political Science Faculty Publications

This paper is an attempt to tackle the theory of war as a tool of state formation. Though I use the tools of my discipline to refute the theory in its contemporary manifestation, the paper is motivated by a theological belief regarding the sinfulness and depravity of war. I begin the paper by thoroughly exploring the benefits of strong states from a comparative historical perspective, since this has been critical to the theory's revival. Then I will discuss the theory that war makes strong states, looking first at the work of Charles Tilly, the best-known theorist in the area of …

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A Certain Comfort: Betty Ford As First Lady, Nichola D. Gutgold, Linda B. Hobgood Jan 2004

A Certain Comfort: Betty Ford As First Lady, Nichola D. Gutgold, Linda B. Hobgood

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Her White House stay was short-lived, but the lessons of Betty Ford's experience remain vividly instructive. By accident of a national political crisis which catapulted her to the rank of the first lady in 1974, Mrs. Ford's tenure lasted a brief two years until her husband, Gerald R. Ford lost his bid for reelection. During that time, she developed a relationship of candor with the press and public. She spoke her mind on social and moral issues that were at the forefront of public debate. The positions she took were not always popular with the majority of Americans, many of …

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Wisdom To Know The Difference: The Rhetoric Of Pat Nixon, Linda B. Hobgood Jan 2004

Wisdom To Know The Difference: The Rhetoric Of Pat Nixon, Linda B. Hobgood

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Henriette Wyeth Hurd painted the official portrait of Patricia Nixon. The woman depicted is serene, almost sad. She appears fragile, yet brave. Above all, the face that gazes from the canvas understands--the wisdom in her eyes reflects that sense of tribulation bequeathed by experience. Both the painting and the subject reflect "calm at the center." It is an insightful portrayal of the American first lady known to the world as "Pat."

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