What a Difference a Few Decades Make: The Conservative Movement, Executive Power, and the Constitution in the United States

2008 ◽  
pp. 25-38
Author(s):  
Joel D. Aberbach ◽  
Gillian Peele
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Conservative Movement

Andrew Jackson, Black American Slavery, and the Trail of Tears

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-138
Author(s):  
Earnest N. Bracey ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Life Time ◽  
The United States ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
American People ◽  
Andrew Jackson ◽  
Common Humanity ◽  
American Slavery ◽  
The People

Many revisionist historians today try to make the late President Andrew Jackson out to be something that he was not—that is, a man of all the people. In our uninhibited, polarized culture, the truth should mean something. Therefore, studying the character of someone like Andrew Jackson should be fully investigated, and researched, as this work attempts to do. Indeed, this article tells us that we should not accept lies and conspiracy theories as the truth. Such revisionist history comes into sharp focus in Bradley J. Birzer’s latest book, In Defense of Andrew Jackson. Indeed, his (selective) efforts are surprisingly wrong, as he tries to give alternative explanations for Jackson’s corrupt life and political malfeasance. Hence, the lawlessness of Andrew Jackson cannot be ignored or “white washed” from American history. More important, discrediting the objective truth about Andrew Jackson, and his blatant misuse of executive power as the U.S. President should never be dismissed, like his awful treatment of Blacks and other minorities in the United States. It should have been important to Birzer to get his story right about Andrew Jackson, with a more balanced approach in regards to the man. Finally, Jackson should have tried to eliminate Black slavery in his life time, not embrace it, based on the ideas of human dignity and our common humanity. To be brutally honest, it is one thing to disagree with Andrew Jackson; but it is quite another to feel that he, as President of the United States, was on the side of all the American people during his time, because it was not true. Perhaps the biggest question is: Could Andrew Jackson have made a positive difference for every American, even Black slaves and Native Americans?

Is There a Conservative Feminism? An Empirical Account

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 56-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronnee Schreiber
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women's Activism ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Conservative Movement ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Conservative Women ◽  
Politically Active

The question of conservative feminism in the United States did not really arise before the 2008 elections; most politically active conservative women leaders did not refer to themselves as feminists. Sarah Palin's vice presidential bid, however, prompted a shift. On a number of well-publicized occasions, Palin called herself a feminist, generating considerable discussion over whether conservative feminism is now a political movement. Using data from in-depth interviews with conservative women leaders, this article asks whether conservative women in the United States identify as feminists. Findings indicate that on the whole they do not, but conservative women are important gender-conscious political actors whose efforts compel questions about ideology and women's activism. Implications for understanding feminist and conservative movement politics more broadly are also explored.

Executive Clemency in the United States

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Colgate Love
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
The Public ◽  
State Constitutions ◽  
Democratic Reform ◽  
Political Risks ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Executive Clemency

Executive clemency has a rich history in the United States, both as an agent of justice and as a tool of politics. A presidential power to pardon was included in Article II of the Constitution, and all but one of the state constitutions provides for a clemency mechanism. States have established a variety of ways to manage and sometimes limit a governor’s exercise of the constitutional pardoning power, but the president’s power has remained unlimited by law. Until quite recently, clemency played a fully operational part in both federal and state justice systems, and the pardoning power was used regularly and generously to temper the harsh results of a criminal prosecution. Presidents also used their power to calm and unify the country after a period of strife, and to further policy goals when legislative solutions fell short. But in modern times unruly clemency’s justice-enhancing role has been severely diminished, initially because reforms in the legal system made it less necessary, but later because of theoretical and practical objections to its regular use. A reluctance on the part of elected officials to take political risks, as well as clemency-related controversies, have further eroded clemency’s legitimacy. As a result, in most U.S. jurisdictions clemency now plays a limited role, and the public regards its exercise with suspicion. There are only about a dozen states in which clemency operates as an integral part of the justice system, in large part because its exercise is protected from political pressures by constitutional design. At the same time, the need for an effective clemency mechanism has never been greater, particularly in the federal system, because of lengthy mandatory prison sentences and the lifelong collateral civil consequences of conviction. It appears unlikely that an unregulated and unrestrained executive power will ever be restored to its former justice-enhancing role, so that those concerned about fairness and proportionality in criminal punishments must engage in the more demanding work of democratic reform.

“Mourning a Loss: Conservative Support for Ngo Dinh Diem”

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-284
Author(s):  
Seth Offenbach
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Vietnam War ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Conservative Movement ◽  
Great Hope ◽  
The Vietnam War ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Ngo Dinh Diem ◽  
The U.S

The U.S. conservative movement in the mid-20th Century argued that the United States needed to continuously get tougher in the fight against communism worldwide. It remained supportive of U.S. efforts throughout the Vietnam War. However, in the period immediately preceding Americanization of the war in 1965, conservatives were uncertain about the outcome of any fighting in Vietnam. Specifically, they claimed that optimism for the Republic of Vietnam was lost with the assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963. Without Diem, conservatives claimed, the Vietnam War was likely lost before it began. This article discusses how Diem went from a barely talked-about anti-Communist ally prior to his death to becoming posthumously the last great hope for Southeast Asia. Conservatives argued that without Diem, the only way the United States would be able to stop Communist expansion in Indochina would be to engage in a massive aerial bombing campaign and find a regional partner to deploy troops. Had he survived, this might not have been necessary. Learning why and how conservatives supported Diem after his death helps us better understand how conservatives reacted to the Vietnam War once Americanization began in 1965.

Evolution of the Procedure for Empowering the Governors in the States of the USA

2020 ◽  
pp. 37-41
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
State Constitutions ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
The Usa

The article discusses the development of the procedure for empowering the governors of the states of the United States of America. The models of empowerment of governors, requirements for candidates for governor positions, the terms of the latter’s exercise of power both now and in retrospective are examined. The provisions of the constitutions of the states of the United States of America, fixing the requirements for candidates for the positions of governors of the states, are not always identical. Despite the existing differences established by the state constitutions regarding the requirements for candidates for governor positions and the terms for exercising the powers by governors, the procedure for electing state governors is the same. The increase in the term for exercising the powers by governors is due to an increase in the role and importance of governors as officials in charge of state executive power. Particular attention is paid to the study of requirements for candidates for governors. In addition to age qualifications and qualifications for citizenship, residency qualifications in the state where the candidate is running for governor are of prime importance. An in-depth study allows to track trends related to both the development of the procedure for vesting powers with governors and the change in the constitutional and legal status of governors as a whole. A key advantage of the constitutions of some states is the limitation of the duration of the state governors in their posts, thereby ensuring the effectiveness of the activities of the governors and executive power of the states.

Crossroads of Conservatism

2018 ◽  
pp. 28-54
Author(s):  
Kyle Burke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Vietnam War ◽  
The United States ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Conservative Movement ◽  
Fidel Castro ◽  
South Vietnam ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Conflict In Africa ◽  
Hearts And Minds

The rise of the US conservative movement in the 1960s opened new possibilities for the anticommunist international. Marvin Liebman, William F. Buckley, Clarence Manion, and other leaders helped create an international crossroads that linked conservative activists, students, businessmen, politicians, and media figures from the United States to kindred forces abroad. In the Caribbean basin, these influential Americans allied themselves with authoritarian right-wing regimes in Nicaragua and Guatemala, and lent support to Cuban exiles bent on retaking their homeland from Fidel Castro. In Southeast Asia, they joined leaders from Taiwan, South Korea, and South Vietnam in calling for greater Asian involvement in the Vietnam War. They also collaborated on psychological warfare campaigns to sway the hearts and minds of ordinary people in Vietnam and other zones of conflict. In Africa, conservative Americans worked on behalf of Moïse Tshombe’s breakaway regime in the Congo, before shifting their efforts to the newly independent, white-supremacist state of Rhodesia. Moving in ever-wider arcs abroad, U.S. conservatives brought home parables about the kinds of action needed to purge the United States of any vestige of communism.

REACTION TO THE BLACK CITY AS A CAUSE OF MODERN CONSERVATISM

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Jason Hackworth
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Spatial Variation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Conservative Movement ◽  
Group Threat ◽  
Super Structure ◽  
Modern Conservatism ◽  
Critical Historiography ◽  
Threat Theory

Abstract Social scientists in a variety of fields have long relied on economic-structuralist theories to understand the ascendance and hegemony of the modern Conservative Movement in the United States. In the materialist theory of political change (MTPC), structural crisis in the 1970s destabilized Keynesian-managerialism, and paved the way for neoliberalism. Key weaknesses of this approach include its relatively aspatial scope—comparatively less attention to the spatial variation of neoliberalism’s popularity—and its demotion of other elements of the Conservative Movement into a veritable super-structure of secondary movements. This paper offers a “racial amendment” to the MTPC, and an application to electoral geographies in the state of Ohio since 1932. This amendment synthesizes group threat theory, critical historiography, and Du Boisian theories of Whiteness to suggest that the growing influence of suburban conservatism is not reducible simply to class interest.

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