Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

"Of all the difficulties facing the historian in his task of understanding and discussing the past, none can be greater than that of emphatically recreating the popular 'mood' defining any particular event or period," writes Paul Kennedy. This issue of the New England Journal of Public Policy is about mood and politics and how synergistic interplay of the two in recent years reflects both the national and local psyche.

The Nowhere Man: When The "Miracle" Turned To Mush, David Nyhan

New England Journal of Public Policy

He didn 't steal money, go to jail, become embroiled in a personal scandal, or appoint a pack of thieves to high office, as other Massachusetts politicians have on occasion. But his fall was as dramatic as if he had done any or all of the above. From winning reelection in 1986 with 69 percent ofthe vote, then capturing the Democrats' presidential nomination, his fortunes sank like a stone.

Michael Stanley Dukakis, the stoic son of Greek immigrants, became a figure of ridicule in his third term. Thanks to the regional economy's sharp recession and the lingering effects of the …

Voting Districts Can Be A Bone Of Contention, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Size rather than number of voters is the criterion used in establishing district size. The difference in size between the largest and smallest districts from the ideal district, where all districts have the same population, is a source of contention. In 182 when Providence changed from 13 to 15 wards, there was a deviation of 10.6 percent between wards, deemed acceptable by the courts because, the judge ruled, the US Supreme Court has said 1.9 percent is acceptable. In the recent Johnston case, the total deviation came to 52.7 percent--a figure much too high to accept."

In Appreciation Of Birago I. Diop: A Subtle Advocate Of Négritude, Winston E. Langley

Trotter Review

The closing weeks of the last decade brought with them the death of three distinguished world figures: Samuel Beckett, the Irish-French playwright, novelist, and poet; Andrei D. Sakharov, the Soviet nuclear physicist, human rights advocate, and leader in the international disarmament movement; and Birago I. Diop, the Senegalese poet, storyteller, and statesman. In the case of the former two, leading U.S. newspapers and other media paid merited tribute in the amplest of proportions; in case of the last, however, it was as if he had either never lived or had gained no standing of importance worthy of much attention. Diop …

Democracy And Its Critics, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Can Ignorance Be Bliss? Imperfect Information As A Positive Influence In Political Insitutions, Michael A. Fitts

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

[Introduction To] Redeeming Politics, Peter Iver Kaufman

Bookshelf

Peter Iver Kaufman explores how various Christian leaders throughout history have used forms of "political theology" to merge the romance of conquest and empire with hopes for political and religious redemption. His discussion covers such figures as Constantine, Augustine, Charlemagne, Pope Gregory VII, Dante, Zwingli, Calvin, and Cromwell.