In a recent post for Dem Apples (the Harvard College Democrats’ official blog), Gary Gerbrandt excitedly writes about the current budget negotiations between President Obama and Republican leadership. Although he holds both parties accountable, Gerbrandt especially blames the Republicans’ “nothing-but-tax-cuts policy” for stalling progress. He concludes by alluding to the significant Democratic victories following the … Read more
In a recent piece for The Crimson, Alexander R. Konrad delves into the Berlusconi sex scandal. Konrad suggests that “Berlusconi appears confident that his persona is simply too big to fail,” but that “such in-your-face flippancy about his situation would prove disastrous in American politics.” Konrad compares the prevailing attitudes in Italy and the United … Read more
Adam Kern, in a recent piece for The Harvard Political Review, analyzes the academic nature of the Obama presidency. Quoting Obama’s desire to have an “academically approved” health care plan, Kern questions the legitimacy of founding authority on such expertise. Drawing upon the philosopher Alasdaire MacIntyre, who was similarly wary of basing leadership on academics, … Read more
In his latest book, Why Marx Was Right, British cultural critic and academic Terry Eagleton seeks to refute what he sees as the ten most common arguments against Karl Marx and his doctrines. In the process, he provides an introduction to Marx’s ideas that is readily accessible to readers, due in no small part to … Read more
Harvard Political Review: What can we do to encourage more women to run for elected office? Amb. Swanee Hunt: The great diversity year of 2008 saw the number of women in Congress only increase from 16 percent to 17 percent. This past year, we went down for the first time in twenty years. If one … Read more
This post is the first of a two-part series on participatory institutions. The second will address participatory budgeting, following Chicago Alderman Joe Moore’s visit to Harvard on April 13th. “Have you heard of Community Action?” It was to my surprise that, as I asked this question to my peers over the course of several days, … Read more
In yesterday’s Crimson, it was reported that changes could be in store for the Optional Winter Activities Week (OWAW), following a presentation by Dean of the College Evelynn Hammonds in a recent faculty meeting. These potential reforms have been proposed in light of the mixed results of the College’s winter vacation survey. Of the 924 … Read more
Paul Schied of The Harvard Political Review takes the recent US bombings Libya as an opportunity to reveal important aspects of American leadership abroad. Combining his perspectives on Obama’s recent speech on Libya, Congressman Barney Frank’s lecture at Pforzheimer House, and a discussion with HKS Professor Emeritus Marvin Kalb, Schied delves into the intricacies of … Read more
The question of the Health Care Reform Bill’s constitutionality has left significant uncertainty within the health system and widespread speculation as to what the Supreme Court will rule when they inevitably hear the case. Mike Cotter of The Perspective writes that there is little question what the ruling should be in this case as, the … Read more
In a recent article for The Crimson, Maya Jonas-Silver describes the controversy surrounding the recent Social Transformation Conference held at Harvard. The event, which especially garnered criticism from LGBT student organizations, featured multiple individuals who had made “inflammatory” statements in their pasts. Some attendees, however, disagreed with this criticism and praised the power of the speakers’ messages. … Read more