In commemoration of the death of President Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1865, YaleNews spoke with Steven B. Smith, the Alfred Cowles Professor of Government and Philosophy and a scholar on the writings of Abraham Lincoln.
Smith, who edited and co-authored “The Writings of Abraham Lincoln,” discussed what made the nation’s 16th president an exemplary leader, why Lincoln’s writings are still important, and how Lincoln has taught us that language and principles matter in politics.(more…)
Despite continued reports of economic growth in Africa, much of the continent remains wracked by poverty, with roughly one in five citizens saying they frequently lack food, clean water and medical care, according to the largest survey of African citizens.
This suggests the growth is not trickling down to the poorest citizens or that actual growth rates are inflated, said Carolyn Logan, assistant professor of political science at Michigan State University and deputy director of the survey, called the Afrobarometer. (more…)
More than 190,000 people have been killed in the 10 years since the war in Iraq began. The war will cost the U.S. $2.2 trillion, including substantial costs for veterans care through 2053, far exceeding the initial government estimate of $50 to $60 billion, according to a new report by scholars with the “Costs of War” project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. The 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq is March 19, 2013.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003, researchers have released the first comprehensive analysis of direct and indirect human and economic costs of the war that followed. According to the report, the war has killed at least 190,000 people, including men and women in uniform, contractors, and civilians and will cost the United States $2.2 trillion — a figure that far exceeds the initial 2002 estimates by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget of $50 to $60 billion. (more…)
North Korea, which just conducted its third nuclear test, is using its weapons program to deter the United States by holding its allies “hostage,” according to Paul Bracken, who teaches management and political science at Yale.
Bracken is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serves on several Department of Defense advisory boards, and is the author, most recently, of “The Second Nuclear Age: Strategy, Danger, and the New Power Politics” (Times Books, 2012). The following is an edited version of an email interview with him. (more…)
The perception of Congress as a gridlocked institution where little happens is overblown, according to new research by scholars at the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Washington.
And the way much of Congress’ work gets done is through self-manufactured crises like the “fiscal cliff,” say political science professors Scott Adler of CU-Boulder and John Wilkerson of UW.
“Yes, Congress has taken on a more partisan tone in recent decades,” Adler said. “We do hear a lot about the conflicts between Democrats and Republicans on key pieces of legislation. But we’re also seeing Congress exceeding public expectations. Congress does govern.” (more…)
What is the basic concept behind “This is Not Civil Rights”?
The book examines more than 1,000 citizen complaint letters regarding rights from the late years of the Great Depression along with replies written by federal government officials. Looking at what people complained about, and how they tried to justify their claims, reveals how popular understandings of rights and the role of government develop over time. (more…)
Jack Turner, UW assistant professor of political science, is the author of “Awakening to Race: Individualism and Social Consciousness in America,” published this month by University of Chicago Press. He answered a few questions about his book for UW Today.
What’s the central concept behind “Awakening to Race”?
The book addresses the challenge of racial justice by asking, “What does it mean to be a self-aware human being? What does it mean to be awake to reality?”
In part, it means confronting the worst aspects of ourselves and our lives. Being awake to reality in the United States means confronting the ways America’s history of slavery, Jim Crow and white supremacy still shapes the present — the opportunities we have or we lack, the confidence we have in ourselves or fail to have in others, the ways our chances for success are still color coded. (more…)
Katherine Boo talks of hope and struggle in Annawadi, India
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Katherine Boo found that despite having to struggle daily to survive, the people who live in Annawadi, India, also share the common hopes, dreams and aspirations of people everywhere in seeking to better themselves and their children.
Boo, the author of Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, shared her experiences as a journalist reporting from the Mumbai slum during a 2012 University of Delaware First Year Common Reader program presentation held Wednesday, Oct. 10, in Mitchell Hall. (more…)
