“The gospel of resignation and the apologia of slavery were ripped up with an enthusiasm mixed with an obscure instinct for vengeance” –Pierre Vallieres[1] “Why should nine provinces be made to change their attitudes and their way of life for the sake of one?” –Solange Chaput Rolland[2] “I wonder if we are to be…
Political Science
Competing Visions and Invisible Treaties: The Formative Era of Federal Indian Policymaking
A comprehensive federal Indian policy failed to develop in the United States between 1776 and 1834 due to the unique and varied relationships that existed between Indian peoples, the British Crown and pre-Revolutionary War governments. This intricate question as to how the native inhabitants would be absorbed by the developing Republic stumped even the founding…
Agribusiness Politics in America
Planting Seeds of Profit Political Parties & Interest Groups I. INTRODUCTION The Shaping of an Industry For two months in 1904, writer Upton Sinclair wandered the Chicago stockyards carefully noting the dead rats being shoveled into sausage-grinding machines, the bribed inspectors looking the other way as diseased cows were being slaughtered for beef, and the…
Globalization & the September 11 Attacks
“Everyone in the world is directly or indirectly affected by this new system, but not everyone benefits from it, not by a long shot, which is why the more it becomes diffused, the more it also produces a backlash by people who feel overwhelmed by it, homogenized by it, or unable to keep pace with…
Racism at Home & Racism Abroad
As the world has grown increasingly smaller, capital moves increasingly faster, and domestic politics echo more profoundly than ever on the global stage, the policies of nation-states are subject more than ever to intense scrutiny. In this era of information, the nation-state’s claims of sovereignty as a protection against such scrutiny have been discredited. Domestic…
Illinois Voter Registration Policy: An Analysis
Illinois voter registration has undergone several changes throughout election history (Cain). Intended to create a fair, impartial, and non-partisan registration system, the Illinois policy has developed stringent requirements for voting in local, state, and federal elections. Despite a surface appearance of equal-opportunity and relative justness, the Illinois voter registration policy has implicit flaws, which confound…
Marriage Equality in America
During the 2004 race for the United States presidency, there were many issues that divided the nation along liberal and conservative lines. One of the great ironies that still divides the nation is the issue of the legal recognition of marriages involving same gender couples. In this country, marriage is considered a legally, morally, and…
Judi Bari Biography: Immortal Voice
Judi Bari was born November 7, 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland. She was raised in Baltimore, and attended college at the University of Maryland, where she majored in “anti-Vietnam War rioting,” as she once said. With no real direction and already in her fifth year at the school, she decided to drop out and took a…
The 1968 ‘Stolen’ Presidential Election and its Impact on American Politics
Introduction With Berlin still smouldering and the War in the Pacific raging, Franklin Roosevelt’s death in April of 1945 signified an end to four decades of American ‘isolationism’ in world affairs. There would be no return to the period of ‘normalcy’ which Warren Harding pledged after the First World War, nor would America be able…
Dominican Republic Democracy
Latin America has been a region notoriously plagued with instability, foreign invasion, and revolution – especially throughout the Twentieth century. The region’s politics have typically been corrupt, often dictatorial, and seldom democratic. Erratic economic policies, constant social inequalities, international vulnerability, authoritarian political transitions, civil wars and revolutions, and external (predominantly U.S.) influences have kept many…