Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Obama Administration's Parting Shot, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Canadian Action For Zero Nuclear Weapons, Erika Simpson

Erika Simpson

No abstract provided.

The Obama's Administration Likely Changes In U.S. Employment Policy, Randall W. Eberts

Randall W. Eberts

No abstract provided.

Landslide: The "Obama Surge" And The Future Of California Politics, Corey Cook, David Latterman

Corey Cook

The 2008 presidential election in California resulted in a landslide of historic proportions. Barack Obama's victory, fueled as it was by 2.1 million first-time voters, seemingly portends a realignment in California. At the same time, outside the presidential election, the results in 2008 were well within the norms of California politics. Utilizing an original dataset, we unravel this conundrum by examining whether these "surge voters" were substantially different from habitual voters, whether they have stayed engaged in electoral politics, and what might that tell us about the future partisan and political alignment in California?

They're Praying For The Worst. Is That Wrong?, Elizabeth Mcalister

Elizabeth McAlister

No abstract provided.

Nuclear Deterrence In A Second Obama Term, Adam Lowther, Jan Kallberg

Jan Kallberg

In the months prior to the 2012 presidential election in the United States, members of the Obama administration and sympathetic organizations inside the Beltway began floating the idea that the administration would pursue – after an Obama victory – further reductions in the US nuclear arsenal. With the ink still wet on the New ST ART Treaty, efforts to reduce the American arsenal to 1000 operationally deployed strategic nuclear weapons or, as some suggest, 500, is certainly premature. These efforts illustrate a poor understanding of nuclear deterrence theory and practice and the ramifications of a United States that lacks a …

Interventions On The Meanings Of The Obama Presidency For Us Relations With Global Regions, Maano Ramutsindela, Takashi Yamazak, Christopher Gibson, Virginie Mamadouh

Chris Gibson

The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States in November 2008 was an event of global significance. Departing from the usual format of the Political Geography Specialty Group plenary lecture (co-sponsored by the publisher of this journal, Elsevier Science) at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, the editors asked four international board members to present their views on the meaning of the Obama victory for US relations with the countries of their respective regions at the annual meeting in Las Vegas, NV in March 2009. Their commentaries were later updated to reflect the early …

Slaves, Cannibals, And Infected Hyper-Whites: The Race And Religion Of Zombies, Elizabeth Mcalister

Elizabeth McAlister

Barack Obama And The Partisan Presidency: Four More Years, Richard M. Skinner

Richard M. Skinner

No abstract provided.

Lessons From The Health-Care Wars, Peter Dreier

Peter Dreier

No abstract provided.

What Is A Reasonable Compromise On Health Care Reform?, Peter Dreier

Peter Dreier

No abstract provided.

To Increase Federal Revenue, Taxes Must Go Up, David S. Mason

David S. Mason

An opinion piece on tax cuts.

President Obama, Public Participation, And An Agenda For Research And Experimentation, Thomas Bryer

Thomas A Bryer

The Obama Administration has offered citizens and onlookers from other nations a host of innovative efforts to make the United States federal government more open, participatory, and collaborative. In this issue of the International Journal of Public Participation, a set of invited authors consider the varying levels of success of this work demonstrated thus far and raise important research and practical questions for the Administration and others who might learn from the Administration’s experiences. In this introduction, some of these questions are reviewed and notable practices are summarized. Ultimately, it is concluded that, though the Administration is still young, there …

Public Engagement In The Obama Administration: Building A Democracy Bubble?, Thomas Bryer

Thomas A Bryer

Following the Bush Administration, the Obama team enhanced access for citizens to participatory venues. Extending and enhancing access gives citizens opportunity to develop their citizenship skills, potentially influence policy, and potentially become better connected to community life. The Administration can be applauded for participatory innovations, but the Administration needs to proceed strategically to ensure the innovations do not produce more harm than good and to ensure that the real change they are producing is not whisked away in the next Administration as rapidly as an information cascade infects the citizenry. This article develops the idea of a democracy bubble as …

Making Change: A Six-Month Review, Gregory Koger

Gregory Koger

This article surveys President Obama's policy agenda-setting for the first six months of his term. I consider whether the conditions ripe for an ambitious policy agenda and summarize the logic of Presidential agenda-setting. I use this framework to explain the Democrats' agenda for 2009, summarize their progress thus far, and discuss the implications for the Democratic Party in 2010 and after. Although the Democrats have made significant progress on their policy goals, they have not reaped the full political rewards from this success. Instead, the majority party will likely be judged on the pace of economic recovery and whether they …