Dirty Hands: The Politics of Morality
“Dirty Hands” refers to the idea that the right political action can conflict with profound morality. The term was first coined by Jean-Paul Sartre in his 1948 play, Dirty Hands. More
The Fourth Estate: The Importance of a Free Press for the Maintenance of Good Government
On the morning of October 27th 1787, a trio of New York newspapers, including the Independent Journal, published the first of a series of articles that would eventually become the More
Nigeria’s Response to Boko Haram: Then and Now
In 2014, Boko Haram abducted 256 schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria. Last month, they struck once again and kidnapped 110 girls from Dapchi in Northeastern Nigeria. In the time that passed More
The Law and the Right: A Historical Approach to Civil Disobedience
The concept of civil disobedience, loosely defined as a non-violent uprising of citizens against a higher authority, first originated in the writings of Henry Thoreau in his essay Civil Disobedience. More
Machiavelli and the Virtue of Cruelty
The name Machiavelli often elicits an image of cruelty and the mantra of “the ends justify the means,” as outlined in his magnum opus The Prince. It was written in More
Political Theory on the Rise of Nationalism: Historical Roots
A historical overview of the Rise of Nationalism, and nationalism’s role in the formation of modern Europe.
Direct Democracy: A Healthy Alternative to Unresponsive Representatives
The belief that democracy is not a perfect system of government has been articulated by both political theorists and regular citizens, and is a recurrent motif in public discourse after More
Plutocracy: The Democratic Standard
Debating the merits of plutocracy: a government by the wealthy
Federalism: Neither Obsolete nor Outdated
Image Credits: Douglas Simkin, via Flickr Creative Commons The virtues of federalism have been exalted since the Enlightenment, with influential continental theorists such as Montesquieu and Rousseau being proponents of a More
The Modern Legacies of Social Contract Theory: Written Constitutions
The great question among political thinkers during the European Enlightenment was how the authority of the State could be reconciled with the freedom of the Subject. Inspired by the theory More