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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Framing Race: The Election Of The First African-American Mayor Of Jackson, Mississippi, Byron D. Orey
Framing Race: The Election Of The First African-American Mayor Of Jackson, Mississippi, Byron D. Orey
Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications
“Lord have mercy! We're going to have a black mayor in Jackson, in Jackson, Mississippi.” — An anonymous black woman quoted in Chappell (1997)
The above epigraph expresses the shock within the black community of Jackson, Mississippi, when Harvey Johnson was elected as the city's first African-American mayor in June, 1997. Surprisingly, four years earlier Johnson failed to win the Democratic nomination for the mayor's office. How did Johnson rebound from his earlier defeat in the 1993 Democratic mayoral primary election? In other words, how does one explain Johnson's historic victory—the first African-American mayor of Jackson, Mississippi—in light of his …
Are Political Orientations Genetically Transmitted?, John R. Alford, Carolyn L. Funk, John R. Hibbing
Are Political Orientations Genetically Transmitted?, John R. Alford, Carolyn L. Funk, John R. Hibbing
Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications
We test the possibility that political attitudes and behaviors are the result of both environmental and genetic factors. Employing standard methodological approaches in behavioral genetics—–specifically, comparisons of the differential correlations of the attitudes of monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins—–we analyze data drawn from a large sample of twins in the United States, supplemented with findings from twins in Australia. The results indicate that genetics plays an important role in shaping political attitudes and ideologies but a more modest role in forming party identification; as such, they call for finer distinctions in theorizing about the sources of political attitudes. We conclude …
Thucydides [From Encyclopedia Of Social Measurement], Peter A. Furia, Ari Kohen
Thucydides [From Encyclopedia Of Social Measurement], Peter A. Furia, Ari Kohen
Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications
Thucydides (5th Century B.C.E.) is arguably the first person to engage in systematic social measurement. His lone surviving masterwork. The Peloponnesian War, stands as a founding text for the disciplines of history and political science. On its surface, The Peloponnesian War comprehensively and objectively chronicles the 27 year military struggle between Athens and Sparta from which the latter emerged victorious in 404 B.C.E. Yet Thucydides’ aim and approach in recounting the Peloponnesian War is extensively debated, often reflecting enduring disagreements about the philosophy and methodology of social science.
The Possibility Of Secular Human Rights: Alan Gewirth And The Principle Of Generic Consistency, Ari Kohen
The Possibility Of Secular Human Rights: Alan Gewirth And The Principle Of Generic Consistency, Ari Kohen
Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications
This article explores Alan Gewirth’s argument for a secular foundation for the idea of human rights as a possible response to Michael J. Perry’s claim “that the idea of human rights is … ineliminably religious.” I examine Gewirth’s reasoning for constructing a theory, namely that existing theories are fundamentally flawed and leave the idea of human rights without a logically consistent foundation, before considering in detail his claims for the Principle of Generic Consistency (PGC). Having looked at his critique of numerous other theories, as well as at his own argument about human action grounding basic rights to freedom and …