Political Science Commons^™

State Secrecy: A Literature Review, Stephane Lefebvre

Secrecy and Society

What is secrecy? What is a state secret? Which state secrets deserve protection from disclosures? How are state secrets protected from disclosure? In this review, I use these questions as an organizing framework to review the richness of a very disparate, largely US-centric, but also multidisciplinary literature. In doing so, I highlight the social nature of secrecy - that it is a social construct with social effects and consequences - and the need for further research to unveil those rationalities that specific discourses on state secrecy put forward to legitimize the nondisclosure of state secrets.

Pay Your Debts: Moral Dilemmas Of International Debt, Alessandro Del Ponte, Peter Descioli

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Should a government repay its international debts even if this imposes severe hardships on its citizens? Drawing on moral psychology, we investigate when people think a government is morally obligated to pay its debts. Participants read about a government that has to decide whether to default on its debt payments or cut vital programs. Across conditions, we varied the number of jobs at stake and whether a full or partial default is required to save them. Overall, most participants judged that a government should pay its debt even when the damage to the debtor is greater than the benefit to …

Toward A Feminist Ethics Of Nonviolence [Toc], Timothy J. Huzar, Clare Woodford

Philosophy & Theory

Edited collection of original essays debating Adriana Cavarero’s feminist ethics of nonviolence. Including an original essay by Adriana Cavarero and responses from Judith Butler, Bonnie Honig, Olivia Guaraldo, Simona Forti, Christine Battersby, Lorenzo Bernini, Mark Devenney, Tim Huzar and Clare Woodford. Although inspired by Cavarero’s recent work on an ethical maternal posture of inclination the responses situate Cavarero’s argument in her wider corpus of nonviolence and uniqueness, that critiques and offers an alternative to the masculine symbolic of philosophy. This introduction endeavours to not only introduce Cavarero’s work, but to chart the journey of an increasingly productive dialogue between Cavarero …

Chaos From Order: A Network Analysis Of In-Fighting Before And After El Chapo's Arrest, Darren Colby

Independent Student Projects and Publications

The effect of leadership decapitation—the capture or killing of the leader of an armed group—on future violence has been studied with competing conclusions. In Mexico, leadership decapitation has been found to increase violence and in-fighting among drug cartels. However, the causal pathways between leadership decapitation and in-fighting are unclear. In this article, it is hypothesized that leadership decapitation will weaken alliances between armed actors, lead to greater preferential attachment in networks of cartels and militias, and result in greater transitive closure as cartels seek to expand their power. These hypotheses are tested with a stochastic actor oriented model on a …

Avoiding The ‘Anthropocene’?: An Assessment Of The Extent And Nature Of Engagement With Environmental Issues In Peace Research, Rhys Kelly Dr

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article critically examines the extent and nature of engagement with environmental issues within the field of peace research, and specifically with the unfolding ecological crisis (‘the Anthropocene’). A representative sample of journals and book series associated with peace research were analysed in order to a. quantify the extent of engagement with climate change and other environmental issues in peace research, and b. assess the range of discursive positions vis-a-vis the environment represented in the sample. The article finds that, in comparison to other ‘thematic niches’, environmental issues have received limited attention. It also finds that the dominant orientation of …

Looking For Better: A History Of Black Southern Migrations, Selena Sanderfer Doss

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

A broad overview of migrations affecting black southerners is presented, including the Atlantic slave trade, the domestic slave trade, colonization movements to Sierra Leone and Liberia, the Exoduster movement, the Great Migration, and the Return South migration. Emigrants convey their experiences and motivations through testimonies and personal accounts. Surviving the trauma of forced migrations, black southerners organized numerous migration movements both outside and within American polities in search of better opportunities. In the late 20th century, black southerners also initiated a return migration to the American South and have since achieved notable socioeconomic and political progress.

Protest Music In Response To The United States’ Oppressive Political Culture: An Analysis Of Beyoncé'S "Freedom" And Janelle Monáe's "Americans", Jessica Torrey

HMC Senior Theses

This paper aims to study a popular musical artist’s responsibility towards the empowerment of marginalized communities in the United States through an analysis of the songs “Freedom” by Beyoncé and “Americans” by Janelle Monáe. These songs will be analyzed in conjunction with the political climate during the time of their fabrication and release as well as the political climates discussed in the songs themselves. This paper presents a thorough analysis of the lyrical and musical components of both songs as well as an analysis of a specific performance of both songs. These analyses will be presented in conversation with many …

Front Matter

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #4: Politics & Ethics In Government, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

Life in Hampton Roads 2021 - Politics & Ethics in Government

The Life in Hampton Roads survey typically includes a few questions about political attitudes. In 2021, the questions asked included party affiliation, job approval of President Biden and preferences for the 2021 gubernatorial election. The survey also included a set of questions about ethics in local government that have been asked in previous surveys.

In The Aftermath Of A Racialized Incident: Exploring International Students Of Color’S Perceptions Of Campus Racial Climate, Christina W. Yao, Kaleb L. Briscoe, Jennifer N. Rutt

UNL Office of Research and Innovation, Social/Behavioral Sciences Research Consortium

The purpose of this study is to illuminate international students of Color’s experiences with a campus racial incident at a predominantly White institution (PWI). This study emerged after the release of a YouTube video from a self-proclaimed White supremacist at the participants’ institution, who made comments such as “I am the most active white nationalist in [the state].” In this study, we seek to answer the question: How does a campus racialized incident affect international students of Color’s experience and perceptions of the campus climate at a PWI? The experiences of this population must be considered, especially because of the …

Things Are Getting Worse On Our Way To Catastrophe: Neoliberal Environmentalism, Repressive Desublimation, And The Autonomous Ecoconsumer, Alex Stoner

Journal Articles

The aim of neoliberal environmentalism was to unleash the market to protect the environment; but as it turns out, things are getting worse on our way to catastrophe. Despite persistent failures, neoliberal environmentalism remains prevalent—and apparently without alternative. This paper directs focus on an often-overlooked dimension of this apparent stasis: the nexus of self and society in advanced capitalism, as shown in the linkage between neoliberal environmentalism and the autonomous ecoconsumer. Marcuse’s concept of repressive desublimation is engaged to better understand how environmentalist desire is currently being thwarted in ways that inhibit movement toward socioecological emancipation. The paper provides an …

Table Of Contents

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Letter From The President, Lynn Rhodes

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Crusading As Philosophical Construct: Thoughts And Actions Of Pope Urban Ii, St. Bernard, And Peter The Venerable, Peter Hecht M.Ed., M.A.

Comparative Civilizations Review

The First Crusade was a penitential Holy War to aid the Byzantine Empire and to liberate Jerusalem from the perceived threat of Muslim occupation. The Second Crusade was also a penitential war, but this time it was to support the territory reclaimed by the First Crusade. Many scholars believe that these were the only relevant goals of these crusades. My focus in this paper is to contextualize the many possible goals for the early crusades, and to understand the necessary and complex rationalization of ecclesiastical leadership. This research is intended to contribute to the development of a more nuanced understanding …

The Phenomenology Of Civilization: A Dialogue Between Profs. Gabriel Breton And George Drury At Monteith College Plus, Two Associated Commentaries On Civilization By George Drury, Kenneth Feigenbaum Editor

Comparative Civilizations Review

This dialogue on the nature of civilization took place on the stage at Wayne State University fifty- seven years ago on January 29, 1964, and shortly thereafter. It was part of an interdisciplinary course titled “The Science of Society,” given by Monteith College.

Book Review: Max Weber. Politik Als Beruf (“Politics As A Vocation”), Bertil Haggman

Comparative Civilizations Review

“Politics is a strong and slow drilling of hard boards.” (Die Politik bedeutet ein starkes langsames Bohren von harten Brettern….) This is a quote from the work of one of the most famous sociologists ever, German Professor Max Weber. In 2010 a new edition of his work Politics as a Vocation was published in Berlin, Germany. It is the first in a planned series of new editions of works of the great German sociologist including Staatssoziologie (Sociology of the State) and Wirtschaftsgeschichte (General Economic History).

Indices Of The Comparative Civilizations Review, No. 1-83

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Ross R. Maxwell: An Autobiography, Ross R. Maxwell

Comparative Civilizations Review

Sometimes the most significant event is something that did not happen. I did not go to nursery school or to kindergarten, and I now suspect that this helped me keep my curiosity and imagination unfettered. Either something interested me, or it did not. In school, from first grade to graduate school, I never asked for help. I would listen to others only if what they had to say interested me — if not, I would tune them out.

A Brief Selection Of The Intellectual Contributions Of Ross R. Maxwell To Civilizational Studies, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

Ross R. Maxwell was a man of immense intellectual gifts. Especially in his later years, many of these related to the theory of civilizations. His untimely death has silenced a prolific generator of incisive thoughts about this discipline.

Bits Of Wisdom, Ross R. Maxwell

Comparative Civilizations Review

I collected theses thoughts and intuitions, because in one way or another they were meaningful to me.

R.R.M. 12/20/82

The Ancient Greek Roots Of Cross-Cultural Comparison, Stavros Moutsios

Comparative Civilizations Review

The paper traces the impartial comparative gaze of the Ancient Greeks, in relation to their ontological understanding of the world, and with respect to the domains of epistêmê, politics, and paideia, all operating in the field of logos, which underpinned the life of the democratic polis. The absence of any apocalyptic truth and predefined historical pathway in the Greeks’ conception of the world, their esteem for intellectual activity and philosophical inquiry, and their questioning of their laws and institutions as part of their educational and political life are all, as the paper demonstrates, at the root of …

Herodotus And The Histories: Accounts Of Intercivilizational Contact, Carlos Alberto Ríos Gordillo

Comparative Civilizations Review

The globalization of the earth, the old colonial dream of the sixteenth century, is still a challenge to historical understanding. In the contemporary debate, comparative history and global history have gained increasing interest as we try to explain the four parts of the planet in an overview, which allows us to think about the world, modernity, and universal history in a different way than a simple European expansion in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The theater of observation has become global when it relates Japan to China, India to New Spain, Portugal to Spain, Britain to the Netherlands to Indians, …

Letter To The Editor: The Pahlavis And The Other Side Of The Coins, Ardavan Khoshnood

Comparative Civilizations Review

It was with great interest that I read “Political Power of Iranian Hierocracies” by János Jany published in Comparative Civilizations Review (83, 2020: 67-102). Writing about Iranian history is not an easy task because historical points of view have been highly politicized. Such is particularly the case when discussing the Pahlavi dynasty, particularly its founder, Reza Shah Pahlavi, and his successor, Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi. It is therefore of major importance to be transparent and, when feasible, to present the varying views and schools of thought which may exist with respect to the Pahlavi dynasty (Khoshnood, 2019).

Book Review: Michel Danino. The Lost River: On The Trail Of The Sarasvati, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

When early civilizations were listed back at the beginning of the modern discipline that constitutes the comparative study of civilizations, one of the greatest of them all was yet essentially unknown. It was only about a century ago that information was brought forward on the possible existence of this most interesting, extensive, and influential Bronze Age civilization, the Indus River Valley Civilization.

Christopher Peet. Practicing Transcendence: Axial Age Spiritualities For A World In Crisis, Constance Wilkinson

Comparative Civilizations Review

This unusual and enlightening scholarly work by Christopher Peet draws our contemplative attention to what post-war German philosopher Karl Jaspers called "the Axial Age," a "span of several centuries from 800 to 200 BCE . . . constituting a dividing line or 'axis' between a long prehistory of human beings before and the emergence of a world history after."

Macgregor Knox And Williamson Murray, Eds. The Dynamics Of Military Revolution, 1300–2050, Stephen T. Satkiewicz

Comparative Civilizations Review

Carl von Clausewitz famously declared “War is but the continuation of politics by other means.” It could just as easily be declared that war is the continuation of civilization by other means, concerning how different societies and cultures fight can be reflective of their distinct characters as much as any other factor. The study of war from the civilizational perspective is not new; for example, former ISCSC presidents Pitirim Sorokin and Matthew Melko did their own studies related to the matter. Into this mix come MacGregor Knox and Williamson Murray in their edited volume The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300–2050 …

Rachel M. Stein, Vengeful Citizens, Violent States. A Theory Of War And Revenge, Jamie Gonzalez

Comparative Civilizations Review

From the very outset, Western civilization postulated revenge as a significant cause of armed conflict. The Iliad’s storyline, the first extant literary text in our Western tradition, revolves around the concept of a Greek retaliatory military campaign against a foreign enemy. The Greeks sail to Priam’s city, intending to make the Trojans pay for the abduction of Helen. The first historiography work in the Western canon (Herodotus’ Histories) posits a framework of an eternal cycle of revenge between East and West. The “Father of History” structures the narrative at the beginning of his work as a cycle of abduction …

End Matter

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.