The United States continues to face widespread protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Many have drawn parallels to the protests and riots of 1968. Like Richard Nixon, Donald Trump has called himself the President of law and order. It is peculiar though how the two presidents known for their personal ambivalence toward the... Continue Reading →
Samuel Huntington – The Soldier and the State
Last week the Navy Secretary, Richard Spencer, resigned at the request of Defense Secretary Mark Esper. The specific details remain unclear but there is no doubt the pivotal moment surrounded the intervention of Donald Trump into the handling of disciplinary action against Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher. It is not my intention to evaluate the... Continue Reading →
Robert A. Dahl – A Preface to Democratic Theory
Anyone who studies democracy seriously must eventually find their way to Robert A. Dahl. Nobody has written more about democratic theory than Dahl. Yet there is a struggle within his writing to resolve the multiple values of democratic society. Giovanni Sartori accepted a natural conflict between equality and liberty. But Dahl was not prepared to... Continue Reading →