Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper presents new experimental survey results about Americans’ attitudes towards the political disenfranchisement of felons and ex-felons. Two long-term trends in public opinion provide the backdrop for this investigation: strong (though variable) public support for conservative anti-crime policies, and growing public support for civil rights and civil liberties for most major groups. We find evidence that Americans generally favor providing non-incarcerated felons (those on probation, parole, and ex-felons who have completed their sentences) with the right to vote. These results are robust in the face of alternative question wordings. Civil liberties support and a rehabilitative orientation to punishment significantly raise the likelihood of extending voting rights to all relevant categories of ex-felons, even when the effects of age, race, sex, region, residency, education, and ideological identification are statistically controlled. In the clash between two different imperatives – a desire to punish and deter crime versus a desire to promote and protect the civil liberties of unpopular groups – we find evidence that the latter has greater public support. The paper concludes with a discussion of how these results might inform the recently emerging debate over felon disenfranchisement laws.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This Paper will examine the likely prognosis for future arms control instruments in the light of an ongoing War on Terror project. Specifically, it will study and comment on the possible implications for NGO-level monitoring and reporting of arms control initiatives in a putative neo-realist age. Using the International Campaign to Ban Landmines as a moral yardstick, the paper will go on to discuss the ethical dilemmas that may confront world leaders as the new order unfolds. Finally, it will offer recommendations to ensure the continued viability of a healthy civil society as the 21st Century progresses.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Recently, Marvel Comics offered the Civil War story arc to their readers. In this essay, I will explore how the Civil War story arc serves as an open-ended allegory for America in the post 9/11 era. Through this allegorical reading, one preferred reading emerges. But the conclusion of the story arc is left open-ended, offering readers a multitude of possibilities.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Micro-level theories of intentional violence against civilians during wars have largely overlooked the role of political factors in shaping dynamics of violence on the ground. In this paper, I explore the determinants of different types of violence—namely