Politics

A famous party leader from the 19th century, "Boss" Tweed, once said, "I do not care who does the electing, just so as I can do the nominating." Boss Tweed knew that real power arose from controlling the nomination process. Because nominations matter so much, there's been a quadrennial battle over how "best" to select presidential contenders. Read More

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, will meet with Vanderbilt students interested in careers in the health professions on Monday, Oct. 8, for an in-depth discussion about health care policy. Read More

The biographer of Noam Chomsky has written a new book on the linguist and political dissenter and will speak about it on Oct. 11 at Vanderbilt University. Read More

When former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso delivers a public lecture at Vanderbilt University on Oct. 8, he will continue an extraordinary relationship between Brazil and Vanderbilt that began shortly after World War II. Read More

The first conference of an organization of black women philosophers will meet next month at Vanderbilt University and the keynote speech will address racial violence in Jena, La. Read More

The Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) has unveiled - for the first time in Latin America - the comprehensive results of surveys that assess the political culture of 21 countries in the Western hemisphere. Read More

A professor from Vanderbilt University told Congress on Tuesday that she found American culture "deeply gratifying and simultaneously disturbing" during a Washington hearing about stereotypes and degrading images in popular culture. Read More

Tracy Sharpley-Whiting, director of the Program in African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University, is set to testify Tuesday, Sept. 25, in Washington before the Congressional Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce. Read More

The Supreme Court's recent decision in Parents v. Seattle nudges the nation further along the path of race-neutral decision-making in the educational arena. Unlike the 2003 Michigan cases that dealt with racial preferences in higher education, the latest case strikes down the use of race in pupil assignment to K-12 schools in Louisville, Ky. and Seattle, Wash. By doing so the Court agreed with the parents that the diversity plans being challenged violated the equal protection rights of the white students to attend the schools of their choice. Read More

In 2008, Democratic campaign strategists might want to target traditionally Republican congressional districts with heavy casualties in Iraq, according to research by two Vanderbilt University political scientists. Read More

The dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School will speak on religion and the 2008 presidential election on Sept. 20 in the school's first community outreach of the fall semester. Read More

Mayoral candidates Bob Clement and Karl Dean will make their cases for becoming Nashville's chief executive during at an hour-long, live televised debate Saturday, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m. at Vanderbilt University. Read More

Eight candidates vying for four Metro Nashville council at-large seats will speak and answer questions during a forum at Vanderbilt University. Read More

Mayoral candidates Bob Clement and Karl Dean will make their cases for becoming Nashville's chief executive during an hour-long debate sponsored by the city's young leaders Saturday, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m. at Vanderbilt University. Read More

One of the nation's most respected political scientists and a prominent young political leader will team up at Vanderbilt University to teach a unique course in which students create strategies on how best to win the 2008 Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. Distinguished Professor of Political Science John Geer and former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. will co-teach "Capturing the 2008 Presidential Nominations." Read More

Members of the Vanderbilt community and its neighbors had the opportunity to learn more about the candidates and issues in the Aug. 2 local election at today's "Meet the Candidates" picnic on Olin Lawn. More than 70 percent of Vanderbilt's approximately 20,000 employees live in Davidson County. Read More

Public opinion polls in the Nashville mayoral contest (and other multi-candidate races) should be analyzed with care because of the high potential for error, according to Vanderbilt Distinguished Professor of Political Science John Geer. Read More

Vanderbilt University's "Meet the Candidates" picnic on July 19 is expected to be one of the largest and most colorful political gatherings prior to the Metropolitan Nashville General Election. Live streaming video of the picnic will be available on VUCast, http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news, beginning at 11:30 a.m. that day. Archived video will be available after the event Read More

Today's U.S. Supreme Court ruling to allow issues ads funded by corporations and labor unions to air close to an election has major implications for the 2008 presidential campaign, according to Vanderbilt University political scientist John Geer. Read More

Memos in 2002 and 2003 written by White House lawyers to President Bush effectively promoting the use of torture are shocking, but not because of faulty legal arguments, says a Vanderbilt University professor. Read More