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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

An Epistemic Justification For Voting, Julia Maskivker Jun 2016

An Epistemic Justification For Voting, Julia Maskivker

Faculty Publications

Received wisdom in most democracies is that voting should be seen as a political freedom that citizens have a right to exercise or not to exercise. But would liberal democracies be any less liberal if voting were seen as a duty? Contrasting the libertarian argument against the moral duty to vote, this paper proposes that we have a duty to vote well – with knowledge and a sense of impartiality. The obligation is one among many instantiations of a natural duty to promote and support just institutions in society. The paper links justice with democratic epistemic virtues to ground the …


Strange Fruit: Race, Terror, And The War On Terror, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D. Jan 2016

Strange Fruit: Race, Terror, And The War On Terror, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This poem examines drone warfare as a form of lynching. “Strange Fruit” links the deaths of Pakistani children Zeerak and Maria Khan to the murders of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, documented in the most infamous lynching photograph in U.S. history.


The Dis-United States Of Liminality: The Trump Campaign Spectacle, Joan Davison Jan 2016

The Dis-United States Of Liminality: The Trump Campaign Spectacle, Joan Davison

Faculty Publications

Americans are experiencing difficult challenges during the US transition away from decades of relative primacy and prosperity. The fact is that globalization, technology, and waning unipolarity differentially impact people, with certain groups disproportionately disadvantaged. These individuals encounter diminishing likelihood of upward mobility and flagging social status. The situation and its consequences can be understood as a liminal condition in which individuals and groups transition to another identity. During this precarious time, people often embrace manipulative politicians, or tricksters, who theatricalize the circumstances, distort the real source of difficulties, and offer fixes that demonize others. Donald Trump now performs as the …