By Jared Kelly The United States can improve budget transparency and reduce interstate inventions by declassifying the Department of Defense (DOD) “black budget” in times of peace. In May 2009 at a Five Guys burger Franchise in Washington President Barack Obama had an encounter with a contractor for the National Geospatial intelligence Agency (NGA). In... Continue Reading →
Conspiracism and the Rise of Post-Truth Politics
by Gabriel Hearn-Desautels In the United States, presidential announcements are replete with claims that the liberal media is secretly attempting to undermine the Trump Administration, that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is really in the pocket of the Clintons, and that Democrats inflated the death count from Hurricane Maria in order to make the President look... Continue Reading →
Why Trump’s “National Emergency” Threatens Democracy
Photo: President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Phoenix, AZ. Source: Gage Skidmore By Avram Reisman On Friday, President Trump declared a national emergency to address the “national security and humanitarian crisis at the border.” Presidents have declared national emergencies over 50 times since the National Emergencies Act was signed into law in 1976, and... Continue Reading →
Civility, Conflict, and Democracy
By Avram Reisman Recently, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib faced a barrage of criticism from pundits and the media for her plans to “impeach the motherf*****” referring to President Trump. Also recently, continuing his campaign tactic of name-calling as President, Mr. Trump called a Democratic member of Congress “little Adam Schitt”. And before both of these incidents,... Continue Reading →
Freeing Burundi’s Vote: The Necessity of an Independent Legislature
Pictured: Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza speaks to the media after casting his vote at the constitutional referendum in Buye, north of Ngozi, in northern Burundi on May 17, 2018. (Photo Credit: Berthier Mugiraneza, Associated Press). By Kwadwo A. Boateng The results of Burundi’s most recent referendum on constitutional amendments see the possible extension of President... Continue Reading →
Happy Thanksgiving! Catch up on what people are reading.
It turns out that yesterday was not the busiest air travel day of the year in the United States. Neither is Sunday. (I know, I’m shocked too.) Statistics don’t help you much, though, if you’re currently stuck in an airport, sandwiched between your fellow disgruntled passengers in an overcrowded waiting area, or on a train... Continue Reading →
An Anatomy of Corruption: Haiti
By Georges A. Fauriol The past decade has convincingly brought to a close a period of global democratic growth and consolidation underway since the late 1970s – Samuel Huntington’s “third wave.” We have instead now witnessed twelve years of democratic decline. This is fueled by the resurgence of expansionist authoritarianism armed with a vision strategically... Continue Reading →
The Highs and Lows of the Midterms for Democracy
Photo: Ilhan Omar, MN-05 Representative-Elect. (Photo credit: Lorie Shaull) By Democracy & Society Editors The Democratic party performed about as well as expected in the midterm elections, perhaps restoring confidence to the electoral prediction industry. Though the success of the Democratic party in the House of Representatives can be taken as a sign that Americans... Continue Reading →
The Rohingya Crisis: Is Aung San Suu Kyi Turning Back on Media Freedom and Human Rights?
By Han Wool Jung Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese (Myanmarese) Noble Peace prize winner who was under house arrest for pro-democracy activism, came to power as State Counsellor and leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in 2016 with a considerably free election. In the beginning, her victory was an auspicious win for... Continue Reading →
