Democracy Archives - Page 32 of 97

Blue Monday

Two Cheers for Impeachment

The political “risks” are not that great, and they are worth taking

April 22, 2019 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

In an ideal world, the thought of impeaching Donald Trump would warrant at least three cheers, along with some somersaults and a marching band (my preference would be for a New Orleans Second Line led by Trombone Shorty). Yet in an ideal world Donald Trump would be nothing but a ...

Democracy

Who Wants to Live in a Comedy State?

A tough choice to make in the Ukrainian elections

April 19, 2019 • by Mariia Shynkarenko

It would be fair to say that notwithstanding the protracted war in Donbass and endemic corruption, Ukraine has managed to prove itself a prudent player in the region. Over the course of five years, Ukraine weaned itself off Russian gas, strengthened its army, signed an association agreement with the European ...

Feature

A Quick Thought on ‘No Collusion’: Not!

There may not have been criminal “conspiracy,” but there was obvious collusion and the Mueller Report makes it clear.

April 18, 2019 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

Everyone paying attention to the Mueller report and the complex and extremely disturbing conditions surrounding its handling by Attorney General Barr, acting as a clear ally of Trump, is still processing the just-released report and the press conference that preceded it. It is clear that Barr was extremely misleading in ...

Feature

The Subtext of a Recent International Scandal

Part One: Confronting Polish Responsibility for the Shoah in Paris

April 17, 2019 • by Izabela Wagner

In Paris, on February 22nd of this year, a conference entitled “The New Polish School of the History of the Shoah” (NPSHS) began. The conference was meant to be a celebration, particularly a celebration of all the research done over the past 15 years on the role that non-Jewish Poles played ...

The Subtext of a Recent International Scandal

Blue Monday

Further Thoughts on Why I Hope Biden Goes Away

He offers too little, beyond nostalgia, at a time when much is called for.

April 15, 2019 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

Last week I offered a critique of a Joe Biden candidacy that centered on the idea that “he is looking backward at a time when we need to move forward, and he is inviting the Democratic Party, and the American public, to move backward with him.” I stand by this argument; ...

Further Thoughts on Why I Hope Biden Goes Away

Europe & Central Asia

Democracy in Hungary

The Alliance of State Autocracy and Neoliberal Capitalism

April 10, 2019 • by Attila Antal

Looking at the last few years in Hungary – overflowing as it is with hate against refugees, migrants, liberals, George Soros, leftists, homeless people, NGOs, public intellectuals, and the political opposition – we can easily recognize that the political system is as far from a democracy as it was during ...

Feature

Release Mueller

Demonstrators gather in Lafayette Park calling for the release of the report

April 10, 2019 • by Jo Freeman

Progressive groups brought thousands of people to hundreds of places around the country to demand the release of the Mueller report. Although the call to demonstrate came with more notice than the one to Protect Mueller last fall, the turnout was lower. About 500 hundred people came to Lafayette Park, across from ...

Blue Monday

Bye Bye Biden

The weakness of his entire candidacy is that he is looking backward at a time when we need to move forward

April 8, 2019 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

“The more one suffers, the more, I believe, has one a sense for the comic.” – Søren Kierkegaard There is much suffering in the Age of Trump. The principal source of grief is Trump himself: what he does and doesn’t do, what he says and doesn’t say, and what and who is ...

Feature

Reforming Congress is an Achievable Goal

John Lawrence’s Testimony before the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress

April 6, 2019 • by John Lawrence

Thank you for your invitation to appear today at this hearing, my first from this side of the dais. I want to offer four observations that, along with the advice from these distinguished congressional scholars, may help guide the work of this Select Committee. Despite the cynicism of many critics inside ...

Feature

The Liberal Evangelists

Democrats are spreading the word of the religious left

March 30, 2019 • by John Stoehr

Every once in a great while, I write a strident piece exhorting cosmopolitan Democrats to talk about God and country with heart and guts. Some do, of course, but most don’t, because most tend to shy away from the meaty rhetoric of religion and patriotism. There are good reasons for ...

Blue Monday

Trump, The Mueller Report, and Democracy

Very Preliminary Thoughts on an Unfolding Story

March 24, 2019 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

[Note: this piece was filed on Sunday at 2 pm, revised after the release of Attorney General Barr’s letter at 4 pm, and refiled for publication at 6 pm. God only knows what will transpire in the interim.] The issue has always been the need to defend democracy by addressing its ...

Trump, The Mueller Report, and Democracy

Feature

Emergency Powers and Trump: Lessons from Carl Schmitt

Why Trump’s executive actions might be legal yet unconstitutional

March 22, 2019 • by Benjamin Andrew Schupmann

The threat to the constitution that Donald Trump poses was apparent as soon as he entered the presidential primary race. Since his election, Trump has only confirmed that threat: he has abused emergency powers and other executive privileges to advance his private interests and illiberal, antidemocratic values. Despite incessantly broadcasting ...