By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) The debate surrounding the merits of our electoral system has been intensifying over the past few years. Under the current plurality system (also called winner-take-all or first-past-the-post), each voter votes for only one candidate, with the candidate who polls more votes than any other candidate elected. The plurality system, however, can, and has, led to occasions...
By Bryce Wachtell (PO ’21) As November 6th nears and contentious political races come to a close, millions of Americans will decide upon a range of candidates and ballot measures to determine the country’s political future. One such proposed statute appearing on the ballots of several states (including Oklahoma, Nevada, Kentucky, and Georgia) is Marsy’s Law, a proposed constitutional...
By Kimberly Tuttle (CMC ’19) On May 30, 2018, President Trump approved legislation that made the right-to-try federally legal. The right-to-try gives terminally ill patients the option to take non FDA-approved drugs for investigational treatment purposes. Before becoming federally legal, the right-to-try was permitted in 41 states. The program was first introduced in Colorado in 2014...
By Jordan Hollinger (PZ ’19) During the watershed election cycle of 2016, American society was brusquely familiarized with an organized populist movement, one heavily influenced by the tenets of far-right ideologies. Throughout the Republican primaries, Trump’s bombastic rhetoric continuously garnered support from both voters and politicians alike, establishing for Trump a reputation as a...
By Megan Rohn (PO ’18) In 1951, Australia, New Zealand and the US signed the Australia New Zealand United States Security Treaty (ANZUS), a military alliance and collective security agreement between the three nations.1 Included in this treaty was the agreement that Australia and New Zealand would not pursue nuclear weapons, in exchange for being under the US nuclear umbrella of extended...
By James Dail (CMC ’20) When the great recession ended in June 2009, something unusual began to happen to the US economy. Both the unemployment rate and the inflation rate were simultaneously low, which is unusual, as they are never supposed to occur simultaneously. While having both a low unemployment rate and inflation rate is great news for Americans,this phenomena represent the break...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) First introduced by George Kelling and James Wilson in 1982, the broken windows theory transformed the field of criminology. Writing in an Atlantic article, Kelling and Wilson claimed that “if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken.” The theory thus suggests that visible signs of disorder in a...
By Bryce Wachtell (PO ’21) The widespread coverage of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing has brought the Supreme Court nomination process to national spotlight once again. It appears that with every justice nominated to the highest court, scrutiny increases and polarization grows. From accusations as grave as Anita Hill’s testimony regarding now-justice Claremont Thomas, to those as...
By Kimberly Tuttle (CMC ’19) California Governor Jerry Brown approved legislation on August 28, 2019 that will abolish California’s cash bail system, effective October 2019. In a statement to the public, Brown said “California reformed its bail system so that rich and poor alike are fairly treated.” Cash bail has been a controversial issue in the United States, especially in California in...
By Daisy Ni (PO ’21) As the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court was created alongside our executive and legislative branches to keep their power in check. To do so, the Court’s role requires an immunity from political pressure. The appointment process and life-long tenures of judges, for example, remove the pressures of direct elections and public opinion so judges can administer...
