Politics

When Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) amended a massive spending bill last year to provide that all institutions of higher education receiving federal funds celebrate Constitution Day, he may not have envisioned a discussion about whether the requirement is itself unconstitutional. Read More

Vanderbilt experts are available to discuss a variety of issues related to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, including emergency response planning, police response, looting, economic impact, impact on universities, mass casualties, infectious disease and medical problems facing children. Read More

Rift within the AFL-CIO about class, not power: Dan Cornfield, Vanderbilt University labor expert and professor of sociology, says the labor unions‘ split is not a power grab, but a response to the AFL-CIO‘s not giving priority to recruiting low-wage workers. He says the dissident unions tend to organize low-wage service and construction workers — who are also disproportionately women, ethnic-racial minorities and immigrants Read More

Political economist Daron Acemoglu will discuss "Rethinking the Wealth of Nations" at Vanderbilt University on Wednesday, May 18. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is the 29th David Steine Memorial Seminar. Read More

George W. Bush‘s best efforts to rally public support for Social Security privatization have met with failure. Although more people now perceive a problem, few perceive a crisis. Worse for the president, two months of salesmanship have actually lowered his approval rating on the issue. People do not seem to want private accounts if it means fundamental changes to a program that has a strong track record of success. Read More

Jack Matlock, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991, will reflect on changes in U.S. foreign diplomacy from the Cold War to the War on Terror during an upcoming lecture at Vanderbilt. Read More

Andrew Erdmann, a former adviser to the Bush administration on Iran and Iraq who was also part of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, will speak at Vanderbilt on April 4. Read More

Policy regarding weapons of mass destruction and balancing national security with arms control will be among the subjects U.S. Ambassador Robert T. Grey Jr. addresses at Vanderbilt University Law School on Monday, March 21. Read More

Vanderbilt University will welcome the Rev. Al Sharpton, Ann Coulter and Howard Dean to its 41st annual Impact Symposium March 21-23. Read More

The nuclear threat posed by North Korea will be the focus of a lecture by former South Korean government official Chang Hee Kang Tuesday, Feb. 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies. Read More

The World Bank senior officer who oversees its collaboration with religious organizations will speak at Vanderbilt University about religion and development. The lecture by Katherine Marshall will be at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24, in Room 204 of the Mayborn Building on Vanderbilt‘s Peabody College campus. Read More

A Vanderbilt University political scientist will work with colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Virginia to measure the impact of U.S. foreign assistance on democracy-building efforts in more than 100 countries around the globe. "If we can pinpoint where the United States has been most successful, then we can target more carefully our foreign assistance to places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and other troubled nations, " said Centennial Professor of Political Science Mitch Seligson, who is also a Fellow of the Center for the Americas at Vanderbilt. Read More

The U.S. government should take action to strengthen democracy by educating the public to be better citizens, argues Vanderbilt University philosopher Robert Talisse in his new book. Read More

Roy Neel, who most recently served as campaign manager for Gov. Howard Dean's presidential bid and is an adjunct professor of political science at Vanderbilt, and John Geer, a Vanderbilt professor of political science with expertise in presidential campaigns, will explore "After the Vote: Interpreting Nov. 2 and Prospects for the Next Administration" tonight at Vanderbilt. Read More

Months of media coverage and campaigning, political ads and polling, debates and discussion--and it all comes down to this: a nail biter of an Election Day, when either incumbent President George W. Bush or Democratic challenger John Kerry will be elected to lead the country for the next four years. Vanderbilt students will share in the excitement. Read More

A decline in the level of America's trust in government began nearly 40 years ago, and a continuation of that trend in 2004 would benefit President George W. Bush, according to Vanderbilt political scientist Marc Hetherington. He is the author of Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism. Read More

A legacy of the 2000 election is the increased likelihood that the 2004 and subsequent presidential races will end up in the courts, says Susanna Sherry, Cal Turner Professor of Law and Leadership at Vanderbilt University. Read More

One week before American voters decide whether to retain George W. Bush as president or make a change with Sen. John Kerry, political analyst and author Joe Klein will speak at Vanderbilt University. Read More

Vanderbilt University students will gather Wednesday evening to watch the final and perhaps decisive presidential debate. Read More

Controversial Vietnam veteran and Vanderbilt alumnus B.G. "Jug" Burkett will speak on campus Oct. 21 about "The Myths of the Vietnam War ñ Then and Now." Read More