Political Science Commons^™

Can The Next American President Switch The Tracks?, Harry Kreisler

Human Rights & Human Welfare

For decades the Washington mantra has been privatization. As Secretary of Defense in Bush 41’s administration and as CEO of Haliburton, Dick Cheney was influential in the application of this idea to defense policy. Now as Vice President of the United States, he and his coterie of followers have taken the idea to a new level. According to Jeremy Scahill, the United States has reached a tipping point in waging the Iraq war, with dire consequences for defense policy, democratic accountability, and the global perception of who we are and what we stand for.

Private Military Industry And The Laws Of War, Mahmood Monshipouri

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The “war on terrorism,” according to Jeremy Scahill, has led to the most privatized war in the history of the United States of America: the war in Iraq, waged partially by private security contractors who are, for the most part, accountable to no higher legal-political authority. This brings us to an obvious question: Is this type of warfare an imperative part of counterterrorism?

Rooting The Privatization Of War In A Broader Political Context, Ali Wyne

Human Rights & Human Welfare

On the issue of military outsourcing, I think that it would be valuable to place Jeremy Scahill’s research and critique in a broader context.

July Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Outsourcing the War ” by Jeremy Schaill. The Nation. May 28, 2007.

June Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“On Israel, America and AIPAC” by George Soros. New York Review of Books. April 12, 2007.

Engagement As A Way Toward Peace, Mahmood Monshipouri

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Bush administration’s active support for the Israeli government is counterproductive in its refusal to recognize a Palestinian unity government which includes Hamas. A great majority of American Jews have called for Israel to withdraw from the territories occupied in 1967 and support the creation of a Palestinian state. A hard-line minority of politicians in the United States, along with their affiliated media networks and think-tanks, have continued to dominate the main Jewish lobbying group, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Geopolitics Or Human Rights?, Judith Blau

Human Rights & Human Welfare

George Soros’ article, “On Israel, America and AIPAC” serves as a sobering reminder that the human rights revolution is constantly being scuttled by geopolitics that not only sideline human rights, but more devastatingly undermine their premises. I happen to agree with him that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a major obstacle to the U.S. normalizing relations with any country in the Middle East, including and especially Israel. AIPAC is something of a misnomer because it is a coalition, not a committee, and some of its key members include neo-cons, as Soros mentions, as well as Christian evangelicals. …

Should Supporters Of Israel Embrace An "Open Society"?, Harry Kreisler

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Organizations, such as lobbies, must adapt to changes in their environment or they risk mission failure and possible extinction. Adaptation requires new ideas, new constituencies, and rigorous self-analysis. A vigorous internal debate raises the possibility of corrections in course as an organization navigates through its changing environment.

Aipac's Good Intentions Undermine Israel's Interests, Ali Wyne

Human Rights & Human Welfare

While the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is nominally pro-Israel, its advice undermines Israel’s interests. It does not encourage Israel to make concessions, but rather recommends that Israel ignore the reformists within and outside of it. The folly of such counsel becomes apparent when one recognizes that Israel’s current strategy cannot be sustained.

May Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency” by Mahmood Mamdani. London Review of Books. March 8, 2007.

The Moral Vocabulary Of Violence, David L. G. Rice

Human Rights & Human Welfare

What is at stake in labeling a particular incidence of large-scale violence “genocide”? Mahmood Mamdani rightly argues that “genocide” is an insufficient description of the conflict in Darfur. I would suggest that the problematic nature of that terminology goes back to its inception after World War II. Activists have inherited the concept of “genocide” from a particular historical moment. Now, “ genocide” carries unique moral weight in the discourse of international politics. When violence against civilians has been widely accepted as a necessary outcome of the preservation of peace, activists find it necessary to imagine a worse evil than the …

The Return Of Moral Equivalence, J. Peter Pham

Human Rights & Human Welfare

During the latter stages of the Cold War, one school of ethical analysis, ultimately labeled as “moral equivalence” by the late Jeane Kirkpatrick, measured Western liberal democracies against utopian standards in a radical critique which redefined the political discourse, erasing distinctions between the Soviet Union and its satellites on the one hand and the United States and its allies on the other.

Missing The Point, Colin Thomas-Jensen

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“What would happen if we thought of Darfur as we do of Iraq, as a place with a history and politics—a messy politics of insurgency and counterinsurgency?” (§4). This is the most telling question posed by Professor Mahmood Mamdani in “The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency.” The implication is that the growing public demand for strong international action—military or otherwise—to halt the atrocities in Darfur is somehow unwarranted because people have failed to understand that the systematic crimes against humanity committed against civilians in Darfur (and indeed Iraq) are an inevitability of “the messy politics of insurgency and …

Politics Of Naming And Politics Of Responsibility, Rhoda Howard-Hassmann

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Mahmood Mamdani is right to complain that the American—and international—public is unaware of the political complexity of the Darfur conflict. He is also right to point out that selective or inconsistent uses of the terms “genocide,” “civil war,” and “insurgency” can mask covert, or even overt, political agendas. His comparison of Darfur to Iraq is telling. And he is right to point out that even with the best of humanitarian intentions, the presentation of a simplified version of Darfur, in which “Arabs” persecute “Africans,” can play into the “war on terror,” insofar as, in the minds of at least some …

Scientific Advice To The House : Who Has The Congressional Ear?, Kristen Greenholt

Honors Theses

In 2001, President George W. Bush remarked, "Science and technology have never been more essential to the defense of the nation and the health of the economy." The responsibility for formulating science and technology policy primarily falls into the hands of Congress. However, since few members of Congress possess a broad base of knowledge in either science or technology, they must rely on external sources of information. I examine the sources of information on which they rely, or the question "Who has the Congressional Ear?"with regard to science and technology issues. Using the downfall of the Office of Technology Assessment …

Congress And The U. S.-China Relationship 1949-1979, Guangqiu Xu

University of Akron Press Publications

Guangqiu Xu, a native of China fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese, has written an exhaustive study of United States-China relations during the Cold War, with a special focus on the role of the U.S. Congress in influencing Sino-American policy.

Based upon extensive archival research in Chinese and American sources, Professor Xu's book is comprehensive and original. It is a detailed account of the interactions between Congress and the White House as the United States forged its policies regarding the world's most populous nation. Covering the period from the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 to the …

U.S. Flag And National Anthem, Fort Hays State University

Democracy/Government

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from Fort Hays State University, Kansas.

Executive Branch And Cabinet, Mesa Public Library

Democracy/Government

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from Mesa Public Library, AZ.

Presidential Visits, Lacrosse Public Library

Democracy/Government

Photographs of a display of government documents from LaCrosse Public Library, Wisconsin.

Executive Branch, Lacrosse Public Library

Democracy/Government

Bibliography and photograph of a display of government documents from LaCrosse Public Library, Wisconsin.

Documents And Symbols Of Our Democracy, St. Mary's University, Texas

Democracy/Government

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from St. Mary's University, Texas.

Human Rights And The War On Terror: Complete 2005 - 2007 Topical Research Digest, Jack Donnelly, Simon Amajuru, Susannah Compton, Robin Davey, Syd Dillard, Amanda Donahoe, Charles Hess, Sydney Fisher, Kelley Laird, Victoria Lowdon, Chris Maggard, Alexandra Nichols, Travis Ning, Toni Panetta, Greg Sanders, James Smithwick, Angela Woolliams, Chris Saeger, Sarah Bania-Dobyns, Eric Dibbern, David Gillespie, Latife Bulur, Katie Friesen, Arika Long, Arianna Nowakowski, Joel R. Pruce

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“9/11 changed everything.” Not really. In fact, there has been far more continuity than change over the past six years in both international and domestic politics. Nonetheless, human rights often have been harmed—although not by terrorism but by “the war on terror.”

A Microeconomic Model Of Healthcare Systems: From Theoretical To Practical, Jesse Helligso

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a microeconomic market analysis of healthcare systems. Different countries use various forms for financing and providing healthcare, and the effects of market forces on the quality, access and economic efficiency of these divergent healthcare markets is the primary subject. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the forces working in the healthcare market. Free-market healthcare systems allow medical providers to become price-setters. Price-setting by medical providers creates an economically inefficient system which decreases public access to healthcare but creates a high quality system. Single-payer systems make government the price-setter which creates a system in which medical …

College Students And Voter Mobilization Campaigns : A Grounded Communication Theory For Increasing Political Efficacy And Involvement, Vanessa M. Robinson

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study examined which channels, messages, and sources were most effective in increasing political involvement among college students. Political participation among college students has decreased in every election since eighteen year- olds were given the right to vote. Numerous campaigns targeted to increase political participation among college students have been implemented but there is no evidence that these campaigns have been effective.

This study developed a grounded theory for increasing political participation among college students l;!ased on several focus group interactions. Students were asked to report on which channels, messages and sources they currently received political information from and were …

Brain Drain Or Gain: Migration Of Knowledge Workers From India To The United States, Anjali Sahay

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation looks at the topic of brain drain from a new lens. It departs from the traditional literature to include discussion on brain gain and brain circulation using Indian migration to the United States as case study. While it cannot be denied that host countries have policies that encourage or provide the necessary conditions for brain drain to take place, it must be taken into account that many source countries now benefit from out-migration of their workers and students. These are usually measured as remittances, investments and savings associated with return, and network approaches that, with a connectionist approach, …

Social Regulatory Policy : A Challenge To Federalism, Kimberly Janet Russell

Dissertations and Theses

Access to assisted suicide has been the center of a federal standoff between Congress and the state of Oregon since 1998, but few academic papers on American federalism acknowledge this development. Through the initiative and referendum process, Oregonians gave themselves the right to assisted suicide in 1998. Congress reacted immediately, attempting to overturn the Oregon law with national legislation. By historical and constitutional precedent states control issues related to events of daily life such as birth, death, marriage, and healthcare issues. In reality, Congress has entered the arena of moral policymaking and protection under the Tenth Amendment is unreliable. The …

Rethinking The Iraq War, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The reasonable possibility of the situation getting worse [in Iraq] rather than better should have given humanitarian advocates for war, like myself, greater pause. For me at that time, this humanitarian motive bolstered what was weak in the weapons argument, and vice versa. But now I realize that a partial case for war because of the weapons risk and a partial case for war under humanitarian reasons don't add up to an air-tight case for just war. Each of the causes proffered has to be reasonable with little doubt-something like 90 to 95 percent certain-and they can't be undermined by …

Lincoln's Defense Of Politics: The Public Man And His Opponents In The Crisis Over Slavery (Book Review), Julie Mujic

History Faculty Publications

Book review by Julie Mujic.

Schneider, Thomas E. Lincoln’s Defense of Politics: The Public Man and His Opponents in the Crisis over Slavery. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2006.

ISBN 9780826216069

We Were Allies Once: Lessons Of D Day, 1944, Nigel Hamilton

New England Journal of Public Policy

Nigel Hamilton swivels the century around the pivot of the massive cooperation and collaboration between the United States and its allies during World War II. In the early years, European and British troops suffered a series of discouraging defeats by the Nazis, and then when the United States entered the war the great collaboration among the allies was instrumental in achieving victory in Europe. This joint effort of nations continued for a time with such institutions as the UN and NATO and other international bodies. The war in Iraq ruptured the alliance. American unilateralism has distinguished most of the debacle …

Rhetoric Or Reality Exporting Democracy To The Middle East, Marina Ottoway, Andrew Hess, Naomi Chazan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Focuses on the promotion of democracy to the Middle East. Capacity of the U.S. to promote democracy in the Middle East; Discussion on the claim that spreading democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan is influenced by rhetorical flourish designed to impress American audiences; Assumption that the American brand of democracy is at a high price. From the EPIIC Symposium at Tufts University, February 2004.