American Politics Commons^™

Local Ballot Will Be Different, Thomas J. Shields

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Registered voters in the City of Richmond recently received an envelope from the Registrar’s Office with the words “Notice of Redistricting Changes” printed in red. For the first time since 1992, voters in Richmond and most of eastern Henrico County will not be voting in the 3rd Congressional District.

How Hip-Hop Fell Out Of Love With Obama, Erik Nielson

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Barack Obama was once hailed as America's first hip-hop president. Why have so many rappers now given up on 'B-rock'?

The Rollercoaster Ride Of Redistricting, Thomas J. Shields

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

At Kings Dominion they have rollercoaster rides called the Intimidator, the Dominator, the Grizzly and - my favorite - the Hurler. I think they should add one called the Redistricting Rollercoaster Ride, which would be equally as thrilling and nauseating. I hopped on this ride thinking I was to be a viable candidate in Senate District 8, a new district to include portions of Henrico and Chesterfield counties and part of the city of Richmond. I turned out to be a theoretical candidate for a theoretical district, as Senate District 8 was eliminated from the redistricting bill. I walk away, …

Democracy Knocking: First-Time Candidate Works The Sidewalks With A Smile And A Handshake, Thomas J. Shields

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Tom Shields is director of the University of Richmond’s Center for Leadership in Education, a partnership between the School of Continuing Studies and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. He has taught courses at the Jepson School and is also an instructor at the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. Dr. Shields holds a Ph.D. in public policy from Virginia Commonwealth University, where he also received his master’s degree in teaching. Shields was a candidate in 2009 for the House of Delegates in Virginia’s 73rd District, running against incumbent Delegate John O’Bannon.

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.

What Intelligence Community Needs, Porcher L. Taylor Iii

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

In order to depoliticize any claim that any U.S. president would ever take military action especially one involving tactical nuclear weapons based on politically predetermined intelligence, Congress needs to legislate and fund with a small budget what I'm calling the Contrarian Threat Assessment Directorate.

The director of this small, independent intelligence arm would be nominated by the president, confirmed by the Senate, and report directly to the president. Through a statutory amendment, the director would become an adviser to the National Security Council (NSC) on the contrarian, dissenting and minority intelligence assessments.

A Grand Notion For Power-Center Lawyers, Porcher L. Taylor Iii

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Like leaders of so many administrations before them, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, both lawyers, surrounded themselves with an inner circle composed mainly of lawyers-turned-political advisers and policy bureaucrats.

Some would argue that lawyers and politics are a bad brew. But lawyers trust lawyers so much that some will steadfastly defend their political bosses, even if that means being key players in the potential cover-up of a crime. In their skewed minds, accusations of crimes by leaders of the opposing political party are merely biased power politics.

Clinton And Jackson Must Rise To The Occasion In L'Affaire Lewinsky, Porcher L. Taylor Iii

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Having apparently prayed with everyone in the first family about - if not against - the Monica Lewinsky specter, the Rev. Jesse Jackson has become the spiritual point man for the Clinton White House.