Category: Political Science

Talking Douglass-like about Law–A Guest Blog Post by Jeannine Marie DeLombard

02/22/2012

Overcoming an initial reluctance to “talk ‘lawyer-like’ about law” in his early career as abolitionist orator, author, and editor, the celebrated autodidact drew on “well known rules of legal interpretation” to offer influential commentary on the U.S. Constitution and Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). This legal literacy, combined with a longstanding commitment to gender and racial equality, might have led Douglass to question the wisdom of current efforts to make personhood coterminous with humanness.

Activism After Douglass–a Guest Post by Shawn Leigh Alexander

02/21/2012

This second guest blog post in our series on Frederick Douglass considers his legacy shortly after his death. Shawn Leigh Alexander, author of An Army of Lions: The Civil Rights… READ MORE

Paul’s Pick for February, a Free Article from the Journal of the History of Ideas

02/15/2012

Every month, Paul Chase in the Penn Press Journals department invites our blog readers to download a complimentary article from one of our many scholarly journals. Paul's Pick for February,… READ MORE

This Month’s Podcast: Shawn Leigh Alexander on the Civil Rights Struggle Before the NAACP

02/01/2012

In the February podcast Shawn Leigh Alexander, Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies and interim director of the Langston Hughes Center at the University of Kansas, talks about… READ MORE

NYPD’s Mitchell Silber on the Brian Lehrer Show

01/31/2012

Mitchell Silber, author of The Al Qaeda Factor: Plots Against the West and Director of Intelligence Analysis for the New York Police Department, was a guest on yesterday's episode of… READ MORE

Bachmann Is Back: A Guest Blog Post by Kirsten Marie Delegard

01/25/2012

On Sunday, the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision, U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann made her first public appearance since pulling out of the presidential race on January 4. At a protest against abortion at the Minnesota State Capitol, the conservative congresswoman was in her element as she rallied the faithful.
Bachmann’s last-place finish in the Iowa caucuses and subsequent withdrawal from the presidential running had undoubtedly disappointed that audience.
Outside of those circles, many observers viewed Bachmann’s candidacy as a manifestation of our collective political dysfunction. Yet any relief at her poor showing needs to be tempered by caution.

The Worst Regulation in History? Jeffrey Friedman and Wladimir Kraus on the Recourse Rule

01/05/2012

It may seem, then, that the Recourse Rule offers us no lessons. It failed only because of unavoidable human ignorance. The regulators did not anticipate a nationwide housing bubble. Prescience about the bubble was rare, and nobody can be blamed for lack of omniscience. Testifying before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair expressed regret for the Recourse Rule and admitted that regulators had not understood the risks. Neither had most investors.
However, the danger of a fallible regulator is much greater than the danger of a fallible investor.
A prudent response to our fallibility is to spread our bets. The Recourse Rule contradicted this principle by encouraging all banks to invest in one category of “safe” assets. Herd behavior is always a danger in markets, but this particular herd was corralled by the regulators.

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