American Politics Commons^™

The Obama Effect On American Discourse About Racial Identity: Dreams From My Father (And Mother), Barack Obama's Search For Self, Suzanne W. Jones

English Faculty Publications

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Joseph Curl reported that the Obama organization "would not answer when asked why the biracial candidate calls himself black," replying only that the question didn't "seem especially topical." Biracial ancestry and racial identity are still sensitive subjects in the United States, not suitable for sound bites. But they are perfect topics for the introspective musings of an autobiography, and Barack Obama must have thought he had answered this question in depth in Dreams from My Father (1995). In his introduction, Obama hesitates to use the term "autobiography" because it connotes, he says, "a certain closure"; …

U.S. Standing In The World: Causes, Consequences, And The Future, Jeffrey W. Legro, Peter J. Katzenstein

Political Science Faculty Publications

America’s global standing has become a central concern of U.S. leaders and citizens. U.S. leaders, regardless of party, pledge to “restore U.S. standing” as a central goal of America’s foreign policy agenda. Standing has been the subject of widespread public discussion and intellectual debate.

Yet despite all this attention, three issues fundamental to standing have been relatively ignored:

-What is standing and how has it varied?
-What causes standing to rise and fall?
-What impact does standing have on U.S. foreign policy?

This task force answers these questions by synthesizing what we now know about U.S. standing and/or identifying what …

Democracy Knocking: First-Time Candidate Works The Sidewalks With A Smile And A Handshake, Thomas J. Shields

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Tom Shields is director of the University of Richmond’s Center for Leadership in Education, a partnership between the School of Continuing Studies and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. He has taught courses at the Jepson School and is also an instructor at the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. Dr. Shields holds a Ph.D. in public policy from Virginia Commonwealth University, where he also received his master’s degree in teaching. Shields was a candidate in 2009 for the House of Delegates in Virginia’s 73rd District, running against incumbent Delegate John O’Bannon.

The Ties That Bind The United States: A Recount (Book Review), Jeffrey W. Legro

Political Science Faculty Publications

Review of the book, World Out of Balance: International Relations and the Challenge of American Primacy by Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlworth. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008.

Response To Book Review (To Lead The World: American Strategy After The Bush Doctrine, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro

Political Science Faculty Publications

Response to Book Review (To Lead the World: American Strategy after the Bush Doctrine)

We want to thank the commentators for their thoughtful and constructive remarks on our book. We think they highlight some of the key attributes of the volume and raise key issues for further reflection.

In order for readers of H-Diplo to understand the comments, we want to reiterate here what we stated in the introduction to the book. We tried to bring together some of the nation’s most renowned scholars and public intellectuals from all sides of the political spectrum to focus on what …

Religious Freedom: Virginia Doesn't Need A New Statute, Ellis M. West

Political Science Faculty Publications

One would think that Virginians would be united and steadfast in their devotion to the Statute for Religious Freedom, written by Thomas Jefferson, adopted by the General Assembly in 1786, and since then praised by liberty-loving persons throughout the world. Currently, however, a group spearheaded by a few professors at Christopher Newport University and by the editor of the Religious Herald, the newspaper of the largest association of Baptists in Virginia, wants to "update" Jefferson's statute so that it guarantees religious people a "right to participate in the public forum, and express their points of view." On Jan. 24, …

The Influence Of Campaign Expenditures On Virginia House Of Delegates Electoral Success, Christopher Jones, James Monks

Economics Faculty Publications

For decades economists and political scientists have sought to identify variables that influence the electoral success of public officials. Most of the existing literature focuses on the determinants of federal elections. This study examines elections to the Virginia House of Delegates and finds that campaign expenditures, incumbency status, party affiliation, and district voting tendencies all are significant predictors of electoral success. Additionally, this study finds that the returns to campaign expenditures, in terms of the additional votes that they generate, vary based on incumbency, party affiliation, number of opponents in the race, and over time.

Entitlements, Daniel Palazzolo

Political Science Faculty Publications

Entitlements are federal government programs that require payments to any individuals or organizations eligible to receive benefits defined by law. There are many different types of entitlements, though most of the entitlement expenditures of the federal government are distributed to the most vulnerable individuals in society--the poor, disabled, and elderly. Consequently, in addition to providing a legal right to payments for eligible beneficiaries, many entitlements carry a moral obligation to those in need. Moreover, some of the most costly entitlement programs, such as social security and Medicare, are supported in public opinion polls by large majorities of Americans and are …

Dilemmas Of Strategy, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro

Political Science Faculty Publications

America’s crystal ball on strategy is murky. Officials in the next administration will face a complex world, will receive conflicting advice, and will need to mobilize domestic support for their policies. They must nonetheless act, most likely without the convenience of a single threat such as the Soviet Union during the cold war or terrorism in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. In this conclusion, our aims are to highlight the decisive issues of consensus and contention that resonate across the chapters. We seek to delineate the trade-offs involved in making choices, and we hope to illuminate the national …

Introduction, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro

Political Science Faculty Publications

For many Americans, the past decade has been a bewildering era. They have seen their country attacked and their husbands, sons, wives, and daughters sent to war in faraway places. They have read about orange alerts and red alerts. They have waited on long lines at airport security checks. They know that defense expenditures have soared and that Homeland Security has mushroomed. They have seen gruesome daily headlines about the carnage in Iraq, the strife in Afghanistan, and the turmoil in Pakistan. They read about the suicide attacks that were prevented or aborted in Europe, and they know, darkly, that …

Evaluating Majority Party Leaders In Congress, Daniel Palazzolo

Political Science Faculty Publications

Evaluations of majority party leaders come from three main sources: political scientists, media analysts, and members of Congress. Political scientists are the theoreticians. They have defined concepts and developed theories for evaluating leadership style, strategy, and strength. Journalists are the watchdogs. They regularly evaluate leader performance in response to contemporary events. Members of Congress then serve as the judges and juries. They occasionally advise leaders on tactics and strategies, and they ultimately have the ability to sanction or reward leaders.

The Unbearable Lightness Of Debating: Performance Ambiguity And Social Influence, Matthew B. Kugler, George R. Goethals

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

This chapter considers three sets of studies on how social influence affects perceptions of candidates' performances in presidential debates. The first set shows that perceptions are influenced markedly by the reactions of peers watching the debate at the same time or by televised audiences shown on broadcast debates. The second set shows that expectations created by news accounts prior to debates also have significant impact and that different kinds of news accounts affect different viewers in distinct ways. Individuals with a high need for cognition respond well to more complicated messages that advance some reason as to why an apparently …

The Reagan Standard, Gary L. Mcdowell

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

After much hemming and hawing, former U.S. Sen. Fred Dalton Thompson has made it official: He will seek the Republican nomination for the presidency. His official announcement, it has long been rumored, will cause a collective sigh of relief from a great many conservatives in the party. He is, after all, in their view, one of them. The question is, what does that mean?

A Critical Comparison Of The Church-State Jurisprudence Of Chief Justice William Rehnquist And Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Christy Harrison

Honors Theses

The relationship between government and religion is a difficult one. The question of how religious beliefs and practices should be treated by the government remains at the forefront of constitutional debate. There are concerns about religious freedom and the extent to which it conflicts with public duty. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The Supreme Court's interpretation of the religion clauses has been unclear, inconsistent, and, therefore, extremely controversial. In fact, it has not become less controversial over time, but quite …

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 …

Mccarthy Hearings, Paul Achter

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

What have become known as the “McCarthy hearings” refer to 36 days of televised investigative hearings led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954. After first calling hearings to investigate possible espionage at the Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, the junior senator turned his communist-chasing committee’s attention to an altogether different matter, the question of whether the Army had promoted a dentist who had refused to answer questions for the Loyalty and Security Board. The hearings reached their climax when McCarthy suggested that the Army’s lawyer, Joseph Welch, had employed a man who at one time …

[Introduction To] The Values Of Presidential Leadership, Terry L. Price, J. Thomas Wren

Bookshelf

In this volume, presidential scholars from communication, history, law, philosophy, political science, and psychology explore the broader phenomenon of leadership. Like leadership more generally, presidential leadership is a value-laden activity, an exercise in communication, and a collective enterprise. It is also subject to psychological and historical barriers to interpretation. Finally, presidential leadership is instrumental: presidents must achieve their valued ends. Contributors address each of these aspects of leadership in essays on how presidential values are determined or constructed, how they are condoned and criticized, how they are packaged and conveyed, and how they are interpreted and acted upon.

Complying With The Help America Vote Act (Hava): Variations Among The States, Daniel Palazzolo, Sarah F. Liebschutz

Political Science Faculty Publications

Our focus is on both the causes for the variations in state compliance with HAVA and the consequences of HAVA requirements for election administration, with particular emphasis on the experiences of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania in implementing HAVA. We identify administrative, political, and policy-related reasons for variations in HAVA compliance in each state. We also consider the effects of HAVA on state and local government interactions, funding decisions, and policy innovation. We begin by reviewing HAVA compliance requirements, describing how states responded to those requirements, and comparing New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania with the national norms for …

[Introduction To] America And Enlightenment Constitutionalism, Gary L. Mcdowell, Johnathan O'Neill

Bookshelf

America and Enlightenment Constitutionalism shows in detail the Enlightenment origin of the U.S. Constitution. It provides vivid analysis of how the Enlightenment's basic ideas were reformulated in the context of America. It is particularly successful in bringing out the competing strains of Enlightenment thought and of articulating crucial Enlightenment concepts of public opinion, equality, public reason, legislature and judiciary, revolution, law, and the people in their American context. The collection is timely given contemporary debates between republicans and liberals about constitutional interpretation which are addressed throughout.

Standards Of The Supreme Court, John Cornyn

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Confirmation Wars: Ideology And The Battle For The Federal Courts, Sheldon Goldman

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Nuclear Disarmament May Be Easier To Achieve Than An End To Partisan Conflict Over Judicial Appointments, David S. Law, Sanford Levinson

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Falsities On The Senate Floor, John Cornyn

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

No Constitutional Right To A Rubber Stamp, Richard J. Durbin

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Selection As . . . Talk Radio, Michael J. Gerhardt

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Collection Of Senator Cornyn's Articles On Federal Judicial Selections Introductory Letter, John Cornyn

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Debunking Double Standards, John Cornyn

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Caused The Civil War?, Edward L. Ayers

History Faculty Publications

The challenge of explaining the Civil War has led historians to seek clarity in two ways of thought. One school, the fundamentalists, emphasizes the intrinsic, inevitable conflict between slavery and free labor. The other, the revisionists, emphasizes discrete events and political structures rather than slavery itself. Both sides see crucial parts of the problem, but it has proved difficult to reconcile the perspectives because they approach the Civil War with different assumptions about what drives history.

Election Reform After The 2000 Election, Daniel J. Palazzolo

Political Science Faculty Publications

The 2000 presidential election, marked by a crisis in the electoral process in the state of Florida and a challenge to the legitimacy of the election of George W. Bush, sparked a national debate on the quality of American democracy. The discussion quickly came to focus on "technical" problems associated with voting practices, including issues related to voter registration, ballot counting, ballot machinery, and election administration. Numerous commissions weighed in on these issues and made recommendations for reforming various aspects of the election system.¹ Congress debated election reform and ultimately passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) at the …

Beyond The End Of The Beginning, Daniel J. Palazzolo, Doug Chapin

Political Science Faculty Publications

The chapters in this volume contain detailed analyses of election reform politics in eleven states from 2001 to 2003. Over this three-year period, the states and Congress passed legislation that was designed to address the many serious problems with election administration that came to light during the 2000 presidential election. Each of the case studies revealed important insights about how the individual states responded to the 2000 presidential election and the requirements and incentives of the HAVA. The common framework of nine key factors for analyzing reform politics enables us to compare the results of the individual studies and determine …