In American politics, we have a bad habit of focusing our democratic attention on Presidential elections before anything else. One is more likely to hear someone say “Well, that’s democracy in action for you” about a bid for the US Presidency than a race for the District 3 seat in New York. Ironically, these smaller […]
Three Case Studies in Congressional and Gubernatorial Elections Read More »
In 2006, U.S. interest groups spent $2.44 billion on reported lobbying expenses- approximately $5 million per Congressman.[1] A large portion of that expenditure came from multinational corporations (MNCs), the famed special interests who generate and control large amounts of money and are behind the sinister conspiracies in action thrillers. Notwithstanding fantastical story-telling, it is important
Lobbying, Subsidies, and U.S Multinational Corporations Read More »
Most libertarians would say that capitalism is dead in America. Many on the left would say that it is still raging. It’s ultimately a matter of what you define as “capitalism” (voluntary exchange vs. large corporation mercantilism), but we can be sure that the voluntary exchange aspect is killed day by day, and has been
Anti-laissez-faire Ideas since the Founding: 1870-1918 Read More »
The complex question of how society should strike a balance between an individual’s need for privacy and the government’s use of surveillance to protect its citizens from harm is complicated by the possibility of misuse. In 1986 in Minneola, Florida, fourteen-year-old Glenn Williams died from what appeared to be a drug overdose. Suspecting foul play,
Tensions Between Privacy and Government Surveillance in the 21st Century Read More »
With all the grandstanding that goes on in politics, all types of claims are made that appeal to voters: belief in the individual, the common man, self-determination, non-interference, etc. These issues are even framed in terms of partisan politics, meaning that voters commonly interpret one party to espouse a certain set of ideas relating to
Liberal and Conservative Voters in America on the Role of Government Read More »
Reasons for the U.S. Intervention in Grenada When discussing the 1979-1983 U.S. actions in Grenada, one must ask the first and most important question: what interest could the world’s capitalist superpower possibly have in a tiny island less populous than a South American football stadium? The miniscule nation’s economy, lacking any significant natural resource or
The U.S. Invasion of Grenada: the American Government’s Justification and Narrative Read More »
In a period of multi-million dollar cases and class-action suits, the public’s attention is not entirely stolen by the drama of these high-profile exchanges. The media still gives thought to the problems of the common man against the common man, which legally manifests itself through an early 20th-century creation: the small-claims court. Small-claims, in most
An Investigation of Small Claims Court Proceedings and Practices Read More »
A look at recent records for the Republic of Lebanon reveals a myriad of problems: economic inequality marked by weak social spending, world-ranked public debt, poor infrastructure, and corruption among officials from the highest and lowest echelons of government. Though these problems seem characteristic of a backwards third-world nation, Lebanon has a unique economic and
How the Lebanese Civil War Upended the “Paris of the Middle East” Read More »