It is a popular illusion that the United States is the leading democratic nation in the world and that its policies are a true reflection of public preferences. The truth, in fact, is quite the opposite. To begin with, let us consider the electoral system in the country. For many years now the voter turnout…
Category: Politics
All the articles that come under politics domain.
How can foreign governments be convinced to combat narcotics in the source nations?
For any nation faced with the problem of illegal drug trafficking, the biggest challenge is in reigning in the sources of origin of these drugs. But it is usually the case that the regions of origin have a weak political system and an impotent law enforcement agency. In the case of drug trafficking in the…
Why must the U.S. stay engaged with Mexico in the war on drugs?
The usage of recreational drugs among American youth poses one of the biggest challenges for the country’s future. The United States, by virtue of sharing a lengthy border with neighboring Mexico, is susceptible to illegal trafficking of drugs within its jurisdiction. Moreover, over the last thirty years or so, the influx of illegal immigrants from…
The politics of same-sex marriage
One of the issues that elicit a broad range of views from politicians, scholars and intelligentsia is rights for same-sex couples. At the very minimum, these rights would entail legal recognition for same-sex partners and enable them to adopt children. As same-sex partnerships gain greater acceptance in society, the members of this community expect to…
A brief review of W. Kymlicka’s article “Equality for Minority Cultures”
The reading ‘Equality for Minority Cultures’ deals with the set of issues that are common to societies where there are a few dominant cultural groups and numerous minority groups. In the case of Canada and the United States, the Native American population (also called the aborigines) comprise one such group. Kymlicka analyzes the contentious issue…
A brief review of O. Yiftachel’s ‘The Ethnocratic Regime: The Politics of Seizing Contested Territory’
The reading titled ‘The Ethnocratic Regime: The Politics of Seizing Contested Territory’, written by O. Yiftachel, continues on the theme of secession and focuses on its political aspects. There are three core arguments forwarded by the author. These include arguments supporting “the existence of an ethnocratic regime as a distinct identifiable type and the existence…
Boundaries, Federalism and Secessionism: A brief review of Allen Buchanan’s “Theories of Secession”
The reading titled ‘Theories of Secession’ written by Allen Buchanan deals with a topic that is rarely paid attention to, namely that of secession. Irrespective of the chaos and turmoil episodes of secession bring with them, it is better to have in place a framework for analyzing it, as opposed to neglecting it by taking…
The Cultural Division of Labour and Internal Colonialism: A brief review of Walker Connor’s “Eco- or Ethno- Nationalism?”
Walker Connor’s article titled ‘Eco- or Ethno- nationalism?’ addresses an oft discussed issue, namely the impulse underlying ethnic conflict. Connor asserts that attributes such as race, language, religion, etc, which comprise an individual’s ethnic identity are at the heart of an ethnic conflict only so far as there is evidence of tangible discrepancy in these…
A brief review of Ronald Suny’s “Why We Hate You: The Passions of National Identity and Ethnic Violence”
This article by Ronald Suny attempts to sort through theories of ethnic conflict. It peruses the case ofSoviet Union, before and after its collapse, to identify underlying motives of ethnic conflict. The author disagrees with the view forwarded by certain academics that Primordialism, which springs from an innate, natural identity, is at the root of…
The rise and decline of the Nation-State: A brief review of John Dunn’s ‘Contemporary Crisis of the Nation-State?’
The core focus of this article by John Dunn is on evaluating the success of nation-states. The author tries to assess the competence and adaptability offered by this framework of governance. The reader of the article will realize that the question mark placed at the end of the title is intended to be rhetorical, implying…