Politics Archives - Page 64 of 105

Politics

Harnessing Federal Power for Police Reform in America

What we can learn from Reconstruction and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

July 8, 2020 • by Richard Johnson and Desmond King

History suggests that the response to the current crisis of policing in the United States must be a stronger role for the federal government. Yet few activists within the Movement for Black Lives are demanding that the federal government flex its coercive muscle. Given the racism of the current occupant ...

Harnessing Federal Power for Police Reform in America

Democracy

Will We Still be American after Democracy Dies?

July 7, 2020 • by Johann Neem

There is a real possibility that American democracy will die come November. I hope not. I pray not. But I worry. Many scenarios that would have once appeared fantastic, now seem to be within the realm of the possible. One does not need a vivid imagination to wonder what would ...

Will We Still be American after Democracy Dies?

Politics

What is Behind the Ghislaine Maxwell Arrest?

Geoffrey Berman’s forced resignation from SDNY and Maxwell’s arrest may not be a coincidence

July 3, 2020 • by Heather Cox Richardson

Yesterday Jeffrey Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested. Epstein was a super-shady socialite and convicted sex offender who had lots and lots of cash and hobnobbed with elites in the political and financial world. Maxwell was his socialite companion and is alleged to have procured and groomed young girls for ...

What is Behind the Ghislaine Maxwell Arrest?

Activism

Boarded Up

SoHo’s plywood protest art

July 2, 2020 • by Virág Molnár

Some New York retailers started boarding up their stores shortly after the city went into full lockdown. Some prosperous residents were offended that stores were expecting a starkly dystopian future to engulf the city, as the stay at home order stifled everyday urban routines. The mass protests that suddenly erupted ...

Activism

Protest as a Means of Political Change: An Indian Case Study

How the 2012 gang rape of Jyoti Singh and the protests that followed changed a nation

July 2, 2020 • by Natasha Behl

In this current political moment of mass protests for racial justice across America, many of us are wondering how effective these protests are. Can marching in the streets lead to enduring change? Can dissent and disruption help us achieve a more equal and just society? Consider what happened in India eight ...

Protest as a Means of Political Change: An Indian Case Study

Activism

Toppling Andrew Jackson From His Pedestal

A racist who championed ethnic cleansing

July 2, 2020 • by Mark R. Cheathem

In today’s moment of Black Lives Matter and peaceful protests over racial injustice, more Americans than ever are tearing down statues across the country: Confederate heroes, dismantled; icons of Jim Crow, removed. Now, even former presidents aren’t immune. Consider Andrew Jackson -- one of President Trump’s personal models, who is also ...

Toppling Andrew Jackson From His Pedestal

Climate & Ecology

Let’s Make Sure We Get the Green New Deal Right

Covid-19 will force us to rethink many of the assumptions underlying existing GND proposals

July 2, 2020 • by Marshall Auerback

Advocates of the Green New Deal (GND) are looking to change the way we handle a range of problems facing society, especially in the wake of environmental challenges occasioned by climate change. In response, policymakers have suggested a variety of programs designed to deal with these challenges. Should any of ...

Let’s Make Sure We Get the Green New Deal Right

Democracy

Pandemic as Opportunity?

The meaning of COVID-19 to the Polish LGBT movement

June 30, 2020 • by Pawel Knut

When discussing the Covid-19 outbreak, metaphors of crisis, stasis, or threat are often invoked to describe the atmosphere of the current moment. Such metaphors powerfully capture the situation of LGBT communities around the world that are particularly vulnerable to the economic and political effects of the pandemic. Sadly, some decision-makers, instead ...

Activism

A Tale of Three Protests — in Brooklyn

A photo-essay

June 29, 2020 • by Jo Freeman

On Saturday, May 30, I heard that a crowd was at Bedford and Tilden in Flatbush near the Sears parking lot where Covid-19 testing has been conducted for several weeks. When I got there at about 5:30 p.m, I saw two to three hundred people milling in the street. They had ...

Democracy

Donald Trump Will Get a Postage Stamp–If He Doesn’t Kill the USPS

June 29, 2020 • by Laura Goldblatt and Richard Handler

In a statement released on April 30, 2020, the United States Postal Service (USPS) outlined its COVID-19 policies. But this government agency, founded at the dawn of the republic, also used the pandemic to argue for its ongoing relevance. “We provide a vital public service that is a part of ...

Donald Trump Will Get a Postage Stamp–If He Doesn’t Kill the USPS

Politics

Who Would Kick Americans Off Their Health Insurance in the Midst of a Global Pandemic?

Donald Trump, frantic to deliver for his base as his numbers slip, attacks the Affordable Care Act again

June 26, 2020 • by Heather Cox Richardson

Just before midnight on Thursday, July 25, 2020, the Department of Justice filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act-- also known as Obamacare—the health care law that has enabled millions of Americans to get health insurance. In addition to making healthcare affordable, the law prohibits ...

Who Would Kick Americans Off Their Health Insurance in the Midst of a Global Pandemic?

Democracy

Elections 2020

An interview with Jacek Kucharczyk about the upcoming Polish vote

June 26, 2020 • by Jacek Kucharczyk, Elzbieta Matynia and Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Professors Elzbieta Matynia and Jeffrey Goldfarb asked Dr. Jacek Kucharczyk, President of the Executive Board of the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw, to talk about the current situation, before the first round of voting. Jeffrey Goldfarb (JG): Jacek, it's great for the three of us to be getting together. I’ll ...