Beyond Rationality

How and why do people make political decisions? This book is the first to present a unified framework of the Behavioral Political Science paradigm. – BPS presents a range of psychological approaches to understanding political decision-making. The integration of these approaches with Rational Choice Theory provides students with a comprehensible paradigm for understanding current political events around the world. Presented in nontechnical language and enlivened with a wealth of real-world examples, this is an ideal core text for a one-semester courses in political science, American government, political psychology, or political behavior. It can also supplement a course in international relations or public policy.

Sanctioning the Homeland: Diasporas’ Influence on American Economic Sanctions Policy

Why do some immigrant groups succeed in influencing the U.S. government to impose economic sanctions on their former dictators, while others do not? This paper begins by noting that the president is the pivotal player in sanctions policy and that presidents cater to voters in swing states. Therefore, a diaspora’s proportion of the swing-state electorate should determine whether the American government imposes sanctions on their former homeland. Considering dictatorships from 1946 to 2005, this paper finds that a one-percentage-point increase in the diaspora’s proportion of the swing-state electorate increases the probability of regime-change sanctions by 11 percentage points. It then calculates causal estimates of the effectiveness of these sanctions on regime change. Using the diaspora’s proportion of the swing-state electorate as an instrumental variable for the presence of economic sanctions, it finds that sanctions do not have a positive, statistically-significant impact on regime change while a negative impact is plausible.

COVID-19 and its effects in Latin America: social crisis, forced migration and hazy perspectives

Latin America became one of the epicenters of the pandemic due to the Sars-Cov-2 virus. One of the serious problems faced by Latin American populations is forced migration, which, like everything that concerns vulnerable populations, has increased in the pandemic. The cases of Central America and Mexico, a country considered one of the largest human corridors in the world, reached unthinkable levels of human rights violations, demonstrate this. This article addresses, we will discuss the political and socioeconomic effects of the pandemic resulting from the Sars-Cov-2 virus (COVID-19) in Latin America. Likewise, we will present, through the press and the reports of civil society organizations, how, in the middle of the pandemic, the criminalization and blaming of migrants in the speeches of the American government agencies was accentuated.

The United States and Human Rights Marginalization at the International Court of Justice, 1945–1950

Using the 1950 International Court of Justice (ICJ) Paris Peace Treaties advisory opinions as a vantage point, this articles explores the changing attitude of the American government towards the emerging United Nations human rights regime and the latter became entangled in Cold War politics. The first part situates the contribution of this article within the postwar human rights historiography. The second part explores how US legal advisors constructed arguments destined to insulate the American domestic legal system from the alleged domestic disruptive effects of the new human rights. The final section delves into the cases of Cardinal Mindszenty of Budapest and Archbishop Stepinac of Zagreb, and how they reverberated at the ICJ. It argues that US legal advisors sought to turn the human rights violations that triggered the judicial proceedings into violations of treaty provisions. In the process, the ICJ validated this transformation and, thus contributed, to marginalizing the emerging United Nations human rights regime.

Celebrities in US Politics

The technological innovations during the 20th and 21st centuries that brought us radio, television, movies, the internet, and social media have created a class of people, celebrities, who, at first glance, wield enormous influence in our society—from setting fashion trends and hairstyles to advancing social movements and political causes. Donald Trump, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura, and Ronald Reagan rode their celebrity to elective office. Other celebrities are increasingly using their status to influence politics by endorsing candidates for office and pushing for change in domestic and foreign policy. This essay focuses on the scholarship on the effect of celebrities in American politics. The study of celebrities in American politics is a largely interdisciplinary enterprise, with contributions from political science, sociology, marketing, history, cultural studies, mass communication, and communication studies. The literature on celebrities, and, more specifically, celebrities in American politics, has branched off into five key areas – (1) Celebrity Endorsements, (2) Celebrities and American Government Institutions, (3) Celebrity Politics and Celebrity Culture, and (4) Celebrities and the Environment.

An Examination of The U.S. Military Intervention Against the Islamic State in Iraq

This article focuses on the politics of U.S. intervention against the Islamic State. In the last two decades after the 9\11, the U.S. intervened in many countries in different ways. For example, the U.S. forces and its allies fully intervened in Afghanistan in 2001 and in Iraq in 2003. After the dynamic changes in the Middle East and the era of Arab spring the intervention has changed in different way. Especially when the terrorist organizations rose the U.S. has repeated the same way used in the Kosovo war (1999) against the Islamic State, which has not fully intervened. U.S. public opinion plays a great role in U.S. politics. Regional and international relations between countries are crucial. It will be worth addressing Turkey, Iran, and Kurdish forces in regional considerations because all of them have a border with the Islamic State. Besides, the IS directly and indirectly, has impacted on them. In international considerations, the U.S. usually makes a coalition and alliance to intervene in countries and groups. The purpose of the study is to understand the politics of U.S. intervention against the Islamic State. This article examines it from three perspectives: firstly, a change in the U.S. policy of intervention; secondly, the U.S. domestic political considerations; thirdly, Regional and International considerations. Following this evaluation, this study answering the question: Why has the U.S. not fully intervened against the Islamic State? This research concludes that the U.S. should change its policy of intervention from one time to another. The U.S. should change its military tactics from one war to another war. The American government should understand how its domestic politics and other countries feel about the politics of U.S. intervention against I.S. ultimately; it appears that the politics of U.S. intervention are complex. However, there is still a way to understand it.

MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES CAMPS: BEFORE AND DURING THE PANDEMIC

MOOC Camps have been used as a successful blended alternative to more traditional MOOCs (totally online). A “camp” here means “an informal gathering of learners working together to discuss new ideas and concepts” (Sowell, 2019). MOOC Camps combine the positive aspects of MOOCs, such as high-quality of professional development and low cost for participants with the advantages of using the “camps”, such as adaptation to the local context and a simpler way of promoting interaction among participants, who consequently feel highly motivated to complete the online course (Cardoso, 2020). The aim of this presentation is to consider the effects of the physical distance imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the MOOC Camps been offered by an extension and research project developed at a public university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (CEALD/UERJ) in partnership with the American Government (RELO-Brazil) since 2019. The main objectives of these MOOC camps are: (a) to promote language and methodology development; and (b) to build stronger communities of teachers and teachers-to-be, by giving them the opportunity of sharing their experiences. However, in 2020, due to the pandemic, the camp had to be adapted to a remote mode, using a web-conference platform. Therefore, this action-research study compares and contrasts the MOOC Camp participants’ feedback given before the pandemic with their responses to the activities developed during the pandemic. In this way, the idea is to understand how the adaptations we were forced to make have influenced the development of the camps and possibly affected participants’ interest. The discussion considers some of the advantages and drawbacks of adopting the remote mode for the camps, and a better understanding of some theoretical concepts, such as: blended learning (Gruba et al., 2016); blended MOOCs (Albó et al., 2015; Orsini-Jones, 2018, 2019), online interaction (Silva, 2014), and education in the pandemic context (Liberali, 2020).

Book Review DATANGNYA PAGEBLUK: COVID-19, FLU BURUNG DAN WABAH KAPITALISME (Arrival of Pagebluk: Covid-19, Avian Flu and the Plague of Capitalism)

The book was written to provide information about the plague that is now attacking the world. From a historical point of view author connects the afflictions of the past and the curses that strike the world today. From the Spanish flu, bird flu to Covid-19 can kill at least 40 million people until now is still growing. Through this historical approach, the information submitted can be used as the latest reference about Covid-19 or previous outbreaks, as an analysis so that they can survive in the pandemic.The book is intended for anyone who is really interested in the latest issue that is shaking the world. Because this book not only contains the Covid-19 outbreak, but also contains histories of previous outbreaks and is related to today's situation. The author writes from the health or medical side, historically, anthropology to philosophy critically. So it is clear that the book will be very suitable for those who like to think critically, those who want to study the latest information about the outbreak, they are beginners of biotechnology research and everything that is related to the Covid-19 outbreak research and previously without an age benchmark this book will match those who are interested in this issue.The book, at least it provides new information regarding research on the Covid-19 virus. Especially the conditions in America before and during Covid-19, in fact, almost all chapters must describe the requirements and policies of the American government both in the Covid-19 pandemic or previous pandemics. The author provides many information and data from research by experts on outbreaks and pandemics that may still be unknown in developing countries.The author explains about the pandemics that have shocked the world until the pandemic that we are facing today. By reviewing, it is hoped that many people, especially the younger generation, will find out about the conditions we face today. By reviewing it, you can also describe the book's contents a little to be more interested in this book. Because the content conveyed is in accordance with the current state of the world, this review can be used as the latest analysis and study about outbreaks and pandemics in several decades.

Detainees and Prisoners of War

International humanitarian law requires equal care for detainees. Following disclosures of abuse at Abu Ghraib, Iraq, multinational forces sought to provide detainees with relatively high standards of care. One result was to cause resentment among host-nation allies who suffered inferior care at local facilities. Abu Ghraib also triggered an intense public debate about the role of medical professionals in enhanced interrogation. Ultimately, the American government declined to prosecute service personnel because enhanced interrogation was not manifestly unlawful. There were, therefore, no grounds for any military officer, or any person of ordinary sense and understanding, to refuse orders to participate in interrogation sessions. Force feeding animates a similar debate about detainee rights. Opposition to force feeding invokes patient self-determination. Arguments supporting force feeding question an inmate’s ability to freely refuse food, affirm the state’s duty to preserve life, and recognize that captured combatants forfeit their right to strike.