On a November 16 visit to the Harvard Kennedy School, Draymond Green, star forward for the NBA defending champions the Golden State Warriors, delivered a talk aptly titled “Athletes as Leaders.” Beforehand, some online criticized HKS for extending an invitation to Green, a professional athlete, to speak about political issues, a topic they claimed he … Read more
Jason Chaffetz served as the U.S. Representative for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District from 2009 to June 2017. From 2015 to 2017, he chaired the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Harvard Political Review: Before becoming a Republican, you were affiliated with the Democratic Party and even worked for Michael Dukakis’ 1988 presidential campaign. … Read more
American politics has been full of rhetoric and debates about the power of the federal government vis-à-vis state governments in recent years. In 2012, for example, then-Texas Governor Rick Perry claimed that South Carolina was “at war” with the federal government over its voter I.D. laws. In 2014, Representative Paul Ryan described Barack Obama’s administration … Read more
On an August afternoon in the summer of 1996, Massachusetts Governor William Weld made a surprise dive into the Charles River, moments after he signed the Rivers Protection Act into law. The act was created to combat river pollution, and Weld’s stunt was meant to demonstrate his commitment to cleaning up the same river that … Read more
Within the West, the recent rise of right-wing populist parties has heightened concerns about the potential for foreign interference in the democratic process. In a common telling of events, parties like the National Front in France, Alternative for Germany, and the Austrian Freedom Party function as a Russian fifth column, the frontline in a conflict … Read more
In today’s society, going minutes without checking Snapchat, Twitter, or Instagram may feel like torture to some. While Internet addicts cannot survive without platforms like Google and Facebook, Google and Facebook are trying to make sure that the internet cannot survive without them either. Although certain websites are so popular in Internet-saturated countries like the … Read more
Marco Polo’s visit to the court of Kublai Khan irrevocably changed the way the Venetian merchant perceived the world. While residing in the court of the Khan, Polo likely learned that the name of the Khan’s dominion, ‘Zhongguo,’ translated into ‘Middle Country.’ “I tell you,” Polo wrote, “no day in the year passes that there … Read more
Dear Mila, In just a few short hours, you will ride down Mass Ave. as part of a parade of Harvard students and affiliates, flanked closely by a group of male students performing in gaudy drag. The parade will be followed by an intimate celebrity roast, where those same students will poke fun at you—just … Read more
In 2010, low voter turnout among young people, minorities, Democrats, and independents led to massive Republican victories. The GOP gained six Senate seats, took control of the House, and won 20 state legislative chambers formerly held by Democrats.. Because it was a census year, Republican State Houses then designed new Congressional districts. In the 2012 … Read more
Just before Alec Raeshawn Smith turned 24, he thought he had come down with the flu. When he went to the doctor a few days later, staff immediately tested his blood sugar levels. They were dangerously high—Smith’s body had stopped producing insulin, a vital hormone that allows the body to turn the glucose in food … Read more