Subscribe to Excerpts
Subscribe by Email
Prof. Henderson’s judgment continues to fail him, and he apparently went up against Brad Delong, something the really smart and really wise and really well-informed do with great caution. Who was it that rush in where angels fear to tread, again? Remember the Black Knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail? Brad attached a rocket engine [...]
Archive for the ‘Political Science’ Category
September 18th, 2010
September 18th, 2010
Through Glenn Reynolds, whither I wandered because of Mark’s post about something else entirely, I came upon this truly amazing pasticcio of mendacity, ignorance, and small-minded cupidity. [UPDATE 20-21/IX: the original post was taken down; instead there's this and a cache of the original post is here.] It’s worth a close look because the author [...]
July 20th, 2010
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee usually gets overlooked, but in a reapportionment cycle, it deserves our support.
January 18th, 2010
Category: Disasters, Economics, Haiti, Organizing, Political Science, Politics and Leadership, Post-disaster reflections
Haiti is not doomed. To the extent that Haitian culture inhibits prosperity, Haitians will do as people in that condition always have: they will work around their culture—or leave it, and benefit their home countries no less by doing that.
January 18th, 2010
Category: Disasters, Organizing, Political Science, Politics and Leadership, Post-disaster reflections
I’ve been waiting for this story ever since the earthquake. It turns out the rich folks up on the hill are pretty much OK, and they are being protected from looters as always by the police who have been invisible to date down among the poor. Haiti is a society operating under rules called amoral [...]
November 25th, 2009
Category: California Politics, Education policy, Policy Analysis, Policy briefs, Political Science, Politics and Leadership
Debate in California about the funding cuts for higher education has become quite perplexing, partly because some of the parties are not thinking very clearly about it, partly because the question is fairly complicated, partly because the politics of California budgeting have become so pathological. In response to relentless nagging from David Schutz (well, he [...]
June 19th, 2009
Category: 2009 Democratic Agenda, Democrats in Congress, Health Care, Income distribution, Political Science
$1.9 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy pass easily; $1.6 trillion for health care leads to panic. Discuss.
November 21st, 2008
Category: Political Science
If reports are to be believed, Hillary Clinton will accept President-elect Obama’s offer as Secretary of State. If the Washington Post is to be believed, Bill Richardson is actively seeking, and Obama is actively considering him, for Secretary of Commerce. For those concerned about the separation of powers, or more accurately, the balance of powers, [...]
October 12th, 2008
Category: Political Science, Woolgathering
I doubt that I’d thought about William Proxmire in years, until Mark brought him up recently. And the McCain connection then seemed obvious. Now, as is always comforting, obviousness is validated by research: Keith T. Poole, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego who studies the ideological voting patterns of [...]
