One of the most popular parlor games of American politics is discussing, anticipating or predicting the rise of a third party. These discussions can be fun, but the current American two party system has proven extraordinarily enduring. The Democratic and Republican parties, through a combination of decentralization, ideological flexibility and the quirks of the American electoral system and electoral laws have dominated politics in the U.S. for about 150 years, and will likely continue to do this for the foreseeable future.
{"title":"A New Third Party in America? What It Would Take","authors":"Lincoln A. Mitchell","doi":"10.7916/D8RJ4TWG","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7916/D8RJ4TWG","url":null,"abstract":"One of the most popular parlor games of American politics is discussing, anticipating or predicting the rise of a third party. These discussions can be fun, but the current American two party system has proven extraordinarily enduring. The Democratic and Republican parties, through a combination of decentralization, ideological flexibility and the quirks of the American electoral system and electoral laws have dominated politics in the U.S. for about 150 years, and will likely continue to do this for the foreseeable future.","PeriodicalId":389468,"journal":{"name":"Faster Times","volume":"90 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124641919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Voters in New York City yesterday were confronted with a new voting system for the first time in about a century. While I had always liked casting my vote for Barack Obama and other recent candidates on the same type of machine, and perhaps even the same machine, that my grandparents used to cast their votes for Franklin Roosevelt and Fiorello LaGuardia, not everybody shared this view. The new technology used on Tuesday generated some controversy as voters struggled to figure them out, glitches occurred and many were confused. Michael Bloomberg, the city’s mayor, referred to Election Day with the new machines as “a royal screw-up, and it’s completely unacceptable.”
{"title":"What New York's New Voting Machines Can Tell Us About Democracy Assistance","authors":"Lincoln A. Mitchell","doi":"10.7916/D8MS435J","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7916/D8MS435J","url":null,"abstract":"Voters in New York City yesterday were confronted with a new voting system for the first time in about a century. While I had always liked casting my vote for Barack Obama and other recent candidates on the same type of machine, and perhaps even the same machine, that my grandparents used to cast their votes for Franklin Roosevelt and Fiorello LaGuardia, not everybody shared this view. The new technology used on Tuesday generated some controversy as voters struggled to figure them out, glitches occurred and many were confused. Michael Bloomberg, the city’s mayor, referred to Election Day with the new machines as “a royal screw-up, and it’s completely unacceptable.”","PeriodicalId":389468,"journal":{"name":"Faster Times","volume":"88 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122220353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hmm. Maybe Obama Won't Change Global Opinion of the U.S. After All","authors":"Lincoln A. Mitchell","doi":"10.7916/D8XD1B3D","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7916/D8XD1B3D","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":389468,"journal":{"name":"Faster Times","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132629662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The final withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq is being treated like something of a non-story. For years, withdrawing troops from Iraq was a central demand of the anti-war movement, and one of the issues that helped jump start Barack Obama’s presidential campaign back in 2007, but now that it is actually happening, there is little celebration, or even for that matter recognition. The major reason for this, of course, is that few people believe that the war is actually ending anytime soon. This is partially due to the 50,000 American troops which will remain in Iraq. These troops are allegedly non-combat troops, but there has been no clear explanation of what that means, particularly in a context like the current one in Iraq. It seems pretty unlikely that Iraqi insurgents will no longer target American troops because the only ones remaining are non-combatants; and it seems equally unlikely that these troops will retain their non-combat status if these types of attacks continue to occur.
{"title":"America and Iraq: A Surreal Ending to an All Too Real War","authors":"Lincoln A. Mitchell","doi":"10.7916/D86M3H7K","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7916/D86M3H7K","url":null,"abstract":"The final withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq is being treated like something of a non-story. For years, withdrawing troops from Iraq was a central demand of the anti-war movement, and one of the issues that helped jump start Barack Obama’s presidential campaign back in 2007, but now that it is actually happening, there is little celebration, or even for that matter recognition. The major reason for this, of course, is that few people believe that the war is actually ending anytime soon. This is partially due to the 50,000 American troops which will remain in Iraq. These troops are allegedly non-combat troops, but there has been no clear explanation of what that means, particularly in a context like the current one in Iraq. It seems pretty unlikely that Iraqi insurgents will no longer target American troops because the only ones remaining are non-combatants; and it seems equally unlikely that these troops will retain their non-combat status if these types of attacks continue to occur.","PeriodicalId":389468,"journal":{"name":"Faster Times","volume":"804 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115040027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As difficult as it may be to believe after almost nine years of war in Afghanistan, at some point that war will be over. It is unlikely that President Obama will bring our troops home by his summer 2011 deadline, and even more unlikely that victory, whatever that means now, will be achieved in Afghanistan. It is, however, almost apparent that at some point we will have to wind down the war. This may come following some modest gains there, on the heels of a victory declaration or after a humiliating defeat, but it will happen eventually.
{"title":"What Can We Really Learn from Afghanistan","authors":"Lincoln A. Mitchell","doi":"10.7916/D8WM1PTQ","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7916/D8WM1PTQ","url":null,"abstract":"As difficult as it may be to believe after almost nine years of war in Afghanistan, at some point that war will be over. It is unlikely that President Obama will bring our troops home by his summer 2011 deadline, and even more unlikely that victory, whatever that means now, will be achieved in Afghanistan. It is, however, almost apparent that at some point we will have to wind down the war. This may come following some modest gains there, on the heels of a victory declaration or after a humiliating defeat, but it will happen eventually.","PeriodicalId":389468,"journal":{"name":"Faster Times","volume":"68 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129364776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The war between Russia and Georgia in August of 2008 revealed many tensions between Russia and the west. One of the most significant of these issues was the Russian belief in “spheres of privileged interests.” According to this view, which Russian president Dmitri Medvedev spelled out very clearly in September of 2008, because it is a major regional power, Russia should have special rights in its part of the world including much of the former Soviet Union. This was meant as both a post facto justification for Russia’s actions in the Georgia war as well as a statement about Russia’s intentions going forward. Russia, according to Medvedev, was going to reassert itself as the dominant power in the region, which was an implicit warning to the U.S. to tone down its involvement in the former Soviet Union.
{"title":"Russian Spheres of Interest and the Question of Kyrgyzstan","authors":"Lincoln A. Mitchell","doi":"10.7916/D8TT51BJ","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7916/D8TT51BJ","url":null,"abstract":"The war between Russia and Georgia in August of 2008 revealed many tensions between Russia and the west. One of the most significant of these issues was the Russian belief in “spheres of privileged interests.” According to this view, which Russian president Dmitri Medvedev spelled out very clearly in September of 2008, because it is a major regional power, Russia should have special rights in its part of the world including much of the former Soviet Union. This was meant as both a post facto justification for Russia’s actions in the Georgia war as well as a statement about Russia’s intentions going forward. Russia, according to Medvedev, was going to reassert itself as the dominant power in the region, which was an implicit warning to the U.S. to tone down its involvement in the former Soviet Union.","PeriodicalId":389468,"journal":{"name":"Faster Times","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116467336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The biggest news stories following Rand Paul’s victory in the recent Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky have focused on his comments regarding his view that the 1964 Civil Rights Act abridged the rights of business owners, his defense of BP regarding the recent oil spill on the grounds that “accidents happen”, and that it is wrong to criticize BP or seek to hold them accountable for the spill.
{"title":"Why Rand Paul's Victory Matters for Republican Foreign Policy","authors":"Lincoln A. Mitchell","doi":"10.7916/D8W95KM6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7916/D8W95KM6","url":null,"abstract":"The biggest news stories following Rand Paul’s victory in the recent Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky have focused on his comments regarding his view that the 1964 Civil Rights Act abridged the rights of business owners, his defense of BP regarding the recent oil spill on the grounds that “accidents happen”, and that it is wrong to criticize BP or seek to hold them accountable for the spill.","PeriodicalId":389468,"journal":{"name":"Faster Times","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126062109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
When Donovan sang the song “And The War Drags On” more than four decades ago, he was referring to Vietnam, but one could be forgiven for thinking the song was written yesterday about Afghanistan. It has now been about five months since President Obama announced his strategy of increasing troops in Afghanistan and a vague commitment to withdrawing most U.S. troops beginning in mid-2011. The administration began back pedaling from that pledge almost immediately after Obama made it. With the deadline for withdrawing troops only slightly more than a year away, that goal seems more remote today than it did a year ago.
40多年前，当多诺万演唱《战争拖沓》(And the War dragon)这首歌时，他指的是越南，但如果你认为这首歌是昨天写的关于阿富汗的歌，那也情有可原。奥巴马总统宣布在阿富汗增兵的战略，并含糊地承诺从2011年年中开始撤出大部分美军，至今已经过去了大约5个月。在奥巴马做出这一承诺后，美国政府几乎立刻就背弃了这一承诺。现在距离撤军的最后期限只有一年多一点的时间，这个目标似乎比一年前更加遥远。
{"title":"The Afghanistan War - Nine Years Later and No End in Sight","authors":"Lincoln A. Mitchell","doi":"10.7916/D8D79MTS","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7916/D8D79MTS","url":null,"abstract":"When Donovan sang the song “And The War Drags On” more than four decades ago, he was referring to Vietnam, but one could be forgiven for thinking the song was written yesterday about Afghanistan. It has now been about five months since President Obama announced his strategy of increasing troops in Afghanistan and a vague commitment to withdrawing most U.S. troops beginning in mid-2011. The administration began back pedaling from that pledge almost immediately after Obama made it. With the deadline for withdrawing troops only slightly more than a year away, that goal seems more remote today than it did a year ago.","PeriodicalId":389468,"journal":{"name":"Faster Times","volume":"2011 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125627078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The controversy over French attempt to make it illegal for women to wear burqas in public places reflects the tension between in some sense religious freedoms and an open society, but it may be better understood as an issue that lies at the intersection of national identities, universal rights and power. On the surface the debate seems relatively simple, opponents of the new law believe that the right to wear whatever you like, particularly if it is for religious reasons is a basic civil right. Imagine, this argument goes, if a law was passed barring Jewish men from wearing yarmulkes or Buddhist monks from wearing their distinctive vestments in public.
{"title":"Burqa Bans and National Identity in France","authors":"Lincoln A. Mitchell","doi":"10.7916/D8Z3282Q","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7916/D8Z3282Q","url":null,"abstract":"The controversy over French attempt to make it illegal for women to wear burqas in public places reflects the tension between in some sense religious freedoms and an open society, but it may be better understood as an issue that lies at the intersection of national identities, universal rights and power. On the surface the debate seems relatively simple, opponents of the new law believe that the right to wear whatever you like, particularly if it is for religious reasons is a basic civil right. Imagine, this argument goes, if a law was passed barring Jewish men from wearing yarmulkes or Buddhist monks from wearing their distinctive vestments in public.","PeriodicalId":389468,"journal":{"name":"Faster Times","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128106569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
You know it is a rough time for democracy in the former Soviet Union when images of fisticuffs from the floor of the Ukrainian parliament are broadcast all over the world; and that those images of fistfights, eggs being thrown and wrestling over a giant Ukrainian flag represent some of the better news regarding democracy in the region. Obviously, debate and discussion is more appropriate than violence and shouting matches in any legislature, but sadly, this incident is one of the rare signs of democratic life in the region.
{"title":"Fistfights and Democracy in Ukraine","authors":"Lincoln A. Mitchell","doi":"10.7916/D8GH9TBC","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7916/D8GH9TBC","url":null,"abstract":"You know it is a rough time for democracy in the former Soviet Union when images of fisticuffs from the floor of the Ukrainian parliament are broadcast all over the world; and that those images of fistfights, eggs being thrown and wrestling over a giant Ukrainian flag represent some of the better news regarding democracy in the region. Obviously, debate and discussion is more appropriate than violence and shouting matches in any legislature, but sadly, this incident is one of the rare signs of democratic life in the region.","PeriodicalId":389468,"journal":{"name":"Faster Times","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121143345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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