New Posts

The German Menace?

Part One: Develop an Argument

For those of you assigned to do so, post an argumentative essay which addresses a central question of the origins of World War One:

To what extent was Germany to blame for the outbreak of World War One?

Follow the following directions:

  • make sure that your name is in the post
  • make sure that you have a title that clearly indicates your position on the issue (e.g. “Shame on Germany” or “Germany: Not Innocent but Not the Primary Cause”)
  • one-page, single-spaced
  • Demonstrate a clear stance using a thesis statement that is specific, complex and refutable.
  • use and cite 2-3 scholarly sources to support your argument (I just installed a proxy detector on my website to catch plagiarism. Be honest–if you use a source, cite it
  • Post your essay in the “comments” link below

Part Two: Defend Your Argument

  • When the essays are posted, you will have a couple of days to write a refutation of your classmates’ arguments.
  • Demonstrate that you have read 3-5 student essays that take a stance in opposition to yours
  • Address the authors with whom you do not agree by name (refer to specific authors)
  • You must disagree with them in a scholarly manner. Be diplomatic Do not get personal.

The Inevitable Great War?

Part One: Develop an Argument

For those of you assigned to do so, post an argumentative essay which addresses a central question of the origins of World War One:

Given the potentially lethal combination of long-term historical forces, was World War One inevitable?

Follow the following directions:

  • make sure that your name is in the post
  • make sure that you have a title that clearly indicates your position on the issue (e.g. “The Inevitable War” or “A War of Choice”)
  • one-page, single-spaced
  • Demonstrate a clear stance using a thesis statement that is specific, complex and refutable.
  • use and cite 2-3 scholarly sources to support your argument. Be honest–if you use a source, cite it
  • Post your essay in the “comments” link below

Part Two: Defend Your Argument

  • When the essays are posted, you will have a couple of days to write a refutation of your classmates’ arguments.
  • Demonstrate that you have read 3-5 student essays that take a stance in opposition to yours
  • Address the authors with whom you do not agree by name (refer to specific authors)
  • You must disagree with them in a scholarly manner. Be diplomatic Do not get personal.

Local Village Elections in the PRC

How and why did this transformation [of village elections] come about? And how do grassroots elections work in the context of continuing Chinese Communist Party rule? Whose interests do they serve? Answer these questions and more by reading: Village Elections: Democracy from the Bottom Up?

Reading Responses to White

If you are interested, learn more by reading these 1 page articles:

ELECTION DAY FOR CHINESE IS PARTY TIME

No Contest: The Party Still Fears the Voter

Structural-Functional Anlaysis of the PRC

Use your textbook, the structural-functional flow chart I provided you with, the lecture notes I’ve provided, and the BBC site Inside China’s Ruling Party to learn the structures and functions of the institutional framework of the PRC.

This report for Congress could prove useful as well.

Be prepared for a quiz on this material. If you know how the PRC government works, the quiz will be easy. It is multiple choice and fill in the blank. 

China by region

China is just one country, but it stretches further than the distance of London to Cairo or Washington to Caracas. Although its 1.3bn people share a nationality, there are many issues specific to individual regions.

Use the BBCs interactive map to read more about what matters most in different places.

Clinton and the Veto

George C. Edwards, a professor of political science at Texas A&M University, calls Bill Clinton‘s use of the veto “nearly unprecedented.” Presidents typically veto bills to prevent something they dislike from happening — the creation of new domestic programs or entitlements, for example.

Clinton’s most successful use of his veto power was not to block Republicans — although he did halt most of their efforts to cuts taxes and shrink domestic programs — but to get increased spending for his domestic priorities.

Read “Versatility with the Veto”

Bush as the "Accidental Radical"

George W. Bush has been compared to a number of other presidents, such as Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, and even William McKinley. It may say something, however, that at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner earlier this year, when National Journal’s Carl Cannon brought up the topic of former presidents, Bush expressed singular admiration for FDR. “He was a strong wartime leader, and a very strong commander-in-chief,” Bush remarked.

Had he pursued the subject, Bush might have found further parallels. Not the least is that Bush, like Roosevelt, is an accidental radical. He is an amiable establishmentarian who finds himself with the opportunity to effect transformational change, and who is seizing that opportunity and pushing the system to its limits. Or beyond.

Read the Jonathan Rauch piece “Accidental Radical” from the 2003 National Journal

Reagan and The Shrub Compared

Like a lot of Republicans who have watched both Reagan and Bush at close hand, Michael Deaver [the shrewd public relations man who played Karl Rove to an earlier president, Ronald Reagan] sees uncanny similarities between them. The presidents are alike in their outlooks and career paths, in their agendas of tax-cutting and confrontational deployment of American power, in the ideological mix of their advisers. (Whatever you read about the president’s inheritance from his father and Gerald Ford, the Reagan DNA is dominant in the staffing, training and planning of the Bush administration.) More than that, there are important similarities of character and temperament. And both are simple men who have made a political virtue of being in Bush’s word: misunderestimated by the political elite.

Read “Reagan’s Son”