Suchergebnisse

The issue of whether the US's post-September 11, 2001, modifications to the nation's information collection & sharing agencies & methods constitutes a worrisome breach of people's civil rights is addressed. After reviewing the various information collection & sharing initiatives enacted by the George W. Bush administration following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, it is asserted that such measures pose a significant threat to Americans' civil liberties. Even though some changes are deemed necessary, it is maintained that certain alterations may problematize law enforcement efforts, eg, immigrant communities may be less willing to get involved in law enforcement issues. In addition, the Bush administration's reliance on the US Supreme Court's Ex parte Quirin precedent, which permitted the US government to hold clandestine trials for suspected Nazi war criminals, to justify its detainment of suspected terrorists is questionable. Actions that have been taken or recommended to resolve the US state's tenuous justifications of its post-September 11, 2001, treatment of immigrants are noted; however, it is stressed that the Bush administration has not seriously considered any of these recommended solutions. It is suggested that the US government must improve its information collection & sharing protocols in order to prevent future terrorist attacks. J. W. Parker

Part of a symposium on the future direction of political science research argues that political science must focus more on the political processes by which conceptions of political membership, allegiance, & identities develop & change. To accomplish this, attention must be given to the historical contexts of conflict & the political institutions underpinning political identities & commitments, with approaches offering empathetic interpretive understandings of human consciousness & values. The definition of political identity is considered along with related debates in political science. If political identities are to be central to political science, then the methods used must reflect this, & it is contended that behavioral & formal models that treat senses of identity & interest as exogenously given offer little on identity formation & change; more fruitful methods employed in combination are suggested. In this light, David Laitin's (1998) & Henry E. Brady & Cynthia S. Kaplan's (2000) works are scrutinized. Attention turns to a framework utilized to study political identities as a way to illuminate the kind of theoretical pursuits advocated. It is concluded that interpretive, ethnographic, & historical methods are required to better understand political identities, which have assumed a higher profile in recent political science scholarship. 48 References. J. Zendejas

Explanations for the dearth of political science scholarship in the contemporary US that has investigated racial issues are sought. Early-20th-century political science scholarship is reviewed, illustrating the presence of racist literature produced during the period & the influence that racial issues had over political policy & international relations thought. Indeed, it is contended that many contemporary political scientists are not completely aware of the discipline's chronic disregard for racial issues. Although the contemporary US discipline is not delineated as racist, several reasons for US political science's continued disregard of race are suggested. Ernest Wilson III's (1985) contention that political science literature has scrutinized government institutions & political elites & Michael C. Dawson & Ernest Wilson III's (1991) assertion that Anglo American scholars do not experience race similarly to African Americans are supported as viable accounts of political science's inattention to race. However, it is also argued that political science's reliance upon biological or economic accounts of race have also contributed to this problem by failing to conceptualize race as a political construct. Despite historical political science's tendency to overlook racial issues, current scholarship that has perceived race as a political construction is noted. 25 References. J. W. Parker