Political Science Commons^™

Between Philosophy And Politics: The Alienation Of Political Theory By John G. Gunnell, Daniel R. Sabia

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Benjamin A. Most, Harvey Starr, Randolph Siverson, G. Robert Boynton

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Chernobyl Accident: A Case Study In International Law Regulating State Responsibility For Transboundary Nuclear Pollution, Linda A. Malone

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Separation Of Law And Morals, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

The classic opposition of legal positivism and natural law theory resurfaces continually and reminds us that we have yet to resolve this key conflict in our ways of understanding the moral authority of law. The strengths and weaknesses of the two theories are reviewed—both have fatal flaws. Conventionalism is proposed as a means of finding internal standards in a man-made system of law. The naturally emerging standards for a conventionalist system of law turn out to be the already familiar principles of the rule of law.

Nationalism, Ethnocentrism And Personality By H. D. Forbes, William P. Kreml

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hume And His Critics: Reid And Kames, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This presentation was in response to Kenneth MacKinnon’s defense of Thomas Reid’s preference for natural virtue against David Hume’s conventionalism in his theory of law. It is argued that because Hume’s legal theory follows easily from his theory of human nature, Reid and Kames—and MacKinnon—need to refute Hume at that level to be successful in their rejection of his conventionalism.

Morality And The Rule Of Law, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This paper lays out the logic of a conservative view of liberty and morality based on an understanding of human nature as both social and rational on the one hand, and radically individual and self-seeking on the other. Without public virtue, a people cannot govern itself as a free people. But neither virtue nor moral truth can be legislated. The rule of law under constitutionalism is the most successful human arrangement for providing freedom and allowing moral action on the part of individuals.

Liberal Political Theory And The Rule Of Law, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

The efforts of liberal political theorists like John Rawls and Ronald Dworkin to identify principles and rights based on moral truth as authoritative bases for law and politics ignore the insight of Hume and other conservative theorists that the moral possibilities of human nature generally are limited and are in turn limiting on what can be accomplished, from a moral point of view, through law and politics.

Indonesia In 1985: Chills And Thaws, Donald E. Weatherbee

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Union Of Legal And Political Theory, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This paper explores the social science concept of conventions as a way of understanding law that would bridge the enduring gap between natural law and legal positivist legal theories. It further finds in the conventionalist approach a promising account of the rule of law—both in how it may be characterized and in how it can be assessed in particular legal systems.

Constitutionalism And The Rule Of Law, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Constitutionalism is the practical science of designing and balancing institutions of public power and authority so as to prevent monopolies of power or the emergence of tyranny. In spite of continuing attempts to ground constitutions in moralistic political theories, they are best understood as formalizations of citizenry agreements to manage their affairs under the rule of law following rules formulated by their legislatures and applied by their judges, all of which are to be selected through established procedures. The emergence of rule of law in primitive societies and in early modern European politics is noted, and the chief contributors to …

From Balconies To Tanks: Post Junta Civil-Military Relations In Greece, Constantine P. Danopoulos

Faculty Publications

This article analyzes the reasons why praetorianism in Greece has not been followed by more of the same, as appears to be the case in most states that have experienced military rule. After a careful examination of the available data, it was concluded that having learned their lesson, both the civilian and military elites have played a role in keeping the armed forces away from the levers of political authority, the civilians by following carrot and stick policies designed not to encroach on the military's corporate interests, and the armed forces by accepting the view that they can best protect …

Indonesia In 1984: Pancasila, Politics, And Power, Donald E. Weatherbee

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Racial Differences In The Relation Of Birth Weight And Gestational Age To Neonatal Mortality, Greg R. Alexander, Mark E. Tompkins, Joan M. Altekruse, Carlton A. Hornung

Faculty Publications

Utilizing South Carolina live birth-infant death cohort files for the period 1975-80, this study examines the bivariate distribution of birth weight gestational age (BW-GA), intrauterine growth curves, and BW-GA specific neonatal mortality rates (NMRs) by race. Comparison of BW-GA distributions revealed an appreciable shift between racial subgroups. Nonwhites, on the average, were born 1 week earlier and 270 grams lighter in weight than whites. In addition to racial differences in rates of intrauterine growth, nonwhites experienced lower BW-GA NMRs than whites in BW-GA categories < 3,000 grams and < 38 weeks. However, the improved mortality experience of nonwhites at more immature BW-GA categories was not consistently present when different cause-specific NMRs were considered.

These persistent racial variations highlight continuing issues regarding both the use of a single norm for …

The Kahan Report, Ariel Sharon And The Sabra-Shatilla Massacres In Lebanon: Responsibility Under International Law For Massacres Of Civilian Populations, Linda A. Malone

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Doctrine Of The Rule Of Law In The Twentieth Century, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

The concept of rule of law has been recognized repeatedly in twentieth century political and philosophical discussion, but with a constantly shifting meaning. In this paper we document most of the serious contributions to thought about rule of law before 1985 as a background to further work on the topic.

Interpreting Plato's Euthyphro And Meno, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Plato's decision to use heuristic drama (in the tradition of Aeschylus and Sophocles) as a vehicle for his philosophical teachings forces the serious reader to make a careful examination of the literary elements of the dialogues. Plato's basic reason for using this literary form is to provide guidance for the interpretation of the content. As Kitto has observed, "In a great work of art, whether a play, a picture, or a piece of music, the connexion between the form and the content is so vital that the two may be said to be ultimately identical." It is therefore counterproductive to …

Political Education And The History Of Political Thought, Daniel R. Sabia

Faculty Publications

Texts designed to introduce political science students to the history of political thought or to past political theories have been commonplace in the discipline, as have disputes about their pedagogical utility or justifiability, and methodological debates concerning their adequacy or legitimacy. In an effort to address these disputes and some of these debates, I construct three models of historiographical inquiry. Each model represents a particular approach, and each is defined in terms of three common features. The methodological debates are joined both indirectly and directly: indirectly by identifying clearly the majorfeatures and purposes of these approaches, and directly by consideration …

George Orwell: Socialist Or Liberal?. Big Brother And The Abuse Of Power., Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

For although he was too strongly independent in his thinking to accept the Marxist or socialist dogmas of his associates, because they did not seem to square with experience, and though he admired the tough resistance of English character and legal institutions to tyranny, Orwell never did tumble to the understanding of man and government which had shaped each over the centuries. Failing to see the constants in human nature as the key to the political problem, he looked around the world both as he perceived it and his literary fellows portrayed it, and concluded that power lust was the …

The Electoral Fortunes Of Gubernatorial Incumbents: 1947-1981, Mark E. Tompkins

Faculty Publications

I break down gubernatorial electoral outcomes into expected vote and short-term changes, using an intrastate baseline measure. Employing these measures, I find evidence of period effects in the role played by incumbency, including the growth in its importance in the last decade. Incumbents' gains are most notable in first reelection contest, but tail off in subsequent races. Moreover, these advantages are more pronounced after a two-year term than after a four-year term. Other factors influencing incumbents' success are less clear in their impact: Sabato's measure of reputation is associated with electoral gains, but increasing state bureaucratization appears more weakly linked.

International Relations Theory, Foreign Policy Substitutability, And "Nice" Laws, Benjamin A. Most, Harvey Starr

Faculty Publications

Two logical problems appear to have impeded the development of an integrative understanding of international and foreign policy phenomena. The first has to do with the potential for foreign policy substitutability: through time and across space, similar factors could plausibly be expected to trigger different foreign policy acts. The second concerns the potential existence of “sometimes true,” domain-specific laws. It is the logical opposite of the substitution problem, suggesting that different processes could plausibly be expected to lead to similar results. Neither problem appears to be well understood in the current literature; if anything, both are ignored. Nevertheless, they are …

Diminished Luster In Escambia County?, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act: Some Wrongs Still Not Righted, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Brunei: The Asean Connection, Donald E. Weatherbee

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Ideology And Praxis Of Shi'ism In The Iranian Revolution, Shahrough Akhavi

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Greek Military Regime (1967-1974) And The Cyprus Question — Origins And Goals, Constantine P. Danopoulos

Faculty Publications

This article employs the concept of military professionalism and its attributes to explain the Greek praetorian regime's handling of the Cyrprus problem. Upon examining the relevant data it was found that for strategic considerations the U.S. and NATO sought to achieve a negotiated solution to the cyprus problem which would have amounted to double Enosis. It was also found that professional needs created a dependency of the Greek. military on NA TO for arms, sophisticated training, and support which let them view participation in NATO as indespensable. As a result, the Greek military confused the interests of their nation with …

The Challenge Of Socialist Thought, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This presentation points to socialists’ mistaken assumptions of a malleable and perfectible human nature as an insuperable reason for the inevitable failure of socialist systems. It also points to socialist and liberal dependence on declarations of human rights as ineffective protections for human freedom—protections which can only be maintained in constitutionalist systems with deeper structural safeguards against tyranny.

Diffusion, Reinforcement, Geopolitics, And The Spread Of War, Benjamin A. Most, Harvey Starr

Faculty Publications

The discussion reports the results of an examination of the possible diffusion of new war participations during the 1946-65 era. A theoretical argument is developed to yield more precise expectations about when, where, why, and how diffusion processs might operate. Four diffusion-related processes (positive spatial diffusion, positive reinforcement, negative spatial diffusion, and negative reinforcement) are discussed and analyzed. A series of simple turnover tables and a focus on nations' borders are used to go beyond the authors' previous stochastic modeling efforts. The results provide strong evidence that is consistent with both the authors' theoretical argument and the general war diffusion …

Nigerian Government And Politics Under Military Rule, 1966-79 By Oyeleye Oyediran, Mark W. Delancey

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Understanding Conflict And War, Vol. 4 - War, Power, Peace, By Rudolph Rummel, Harvey Starr

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.