Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with political

Who can push me hardest?

aiificionado — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:24:13 -0800

Is there any research that says who or what influences one's political beliefs more than any other? 1) I'm not really looking for anything in particular, just want to know what past research has said influences one's leanings.

I was just thinking about it, and I assume there must be several but my (admittedly quick) search yielded nothing.

Some possible ideas: income, type or possession of employment, religion, family members' views, friends/specific relatives' views, major catastrophes, feelings of faith or fear, what have you.

2) For a bonus, I'd like the widest variety of things or people that can influence you, by how much sway they have.

3) I'm looking primarily for some kind of research or polling, but after that I'd like to hear what MeFites have seen (can you can back it up with examples of people you know?), just out of curiosity.

Seeking a political chart of media personalities.

jcdill — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:07:24 -0800

I'm looking for a visual reference that shows where various media personalities political views are relative to each other. Something like the political compass chart for politicians, such as seen here: http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2008

Looking for High Res Pic of World Map

Atarah — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:57:00 -0800

Looking for a High Res. Political Map to Print on Canvas So I found this lovely Canvas World Map at IKEA. However, it's $200, and that's quite a bit over my budget.

I was considering creating my own version however. I have a friend who has access to a large HP plotter at work that can print high res. pictures on canvas.

However, I've been looking for quite a while on the internet, and I cannot find a nice, high resolution, political/geographical hybrid map, that looks similar to that shown at IKEA.

If possible, I'd like to find a map that is slightly brighter and more colorful than the IKEA one, but it shouldn't be really childish (putting it in an office). Also, it should be as detailed as most maps, but I don't need to have every city in the world plastered all over the map, with trade winds and currents, etc. Going for simple, but informative.

Something like this would be perfect, but I can't find a digital version similar to this anywhere!

Would any of you know where I could get a digital copy of a map that fits most of these requirements? Please let me know if I can provide anymore information. Thanks a lot!

Political Speech Writing

roxie5 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:03:23 -0800

How to break into speech-writing, specifically political speech-writing? My boyfriend, who is a staff person for a state senator, is interested in writing more speeches. But how to break into such a thing? While he writes some remarks for his current boss, his job is mostly administrative. He is, of course, keeping an open eye at the capitol and making contacts, but is there anything else he could be doing to make more opportunities for himself? He is a great writer so if anyone has any tips on getting into this field, they would be much appreciated it!

How long for a Judge to communicate decision on a Political Asylum case?

3dd — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:22:41 -0800

ImmigrationLawFilter: How long for a Judge to communicate decision on a Political Asylum case? My friend and his family have been defending his Political Asylum case on Immigration Court in Miami for several years now. They had the final hearing a few months ago and the judge promise to issue his decision in 90 days (I don’t know if he said in, within or after 90 days). Well, the 90 days are over (a couple of weeks ago) and there is no decision. Their attorney contacted the judge assistant and was told that there was no decision yet and there is nothing she can do but wait. I know Judges sometimes doesn’t want to tell the answer on the spot to avoid dealing with parties reactions but why would he ask for 90 days and also is there a specific amount of time a judge has to issue and communicate his final decision in this kind of cases.

Vendor for mail-in ballots?

carrolldamian — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:09:14 -0800

Looking for a California vendor of mail-in ballots for a large organization's annual officer elections, including the possibility of online voting. I belong to a large California political organization with chapters around the state, and am looking for a way to conduct our annual statewide Officer elections via a mail-in ballot system. Ideally each member would receive a voting kit in the mail, including a ballot labeled with a unique, confidential voter ID code. That ballot could either be mailed in, or the voter could go to a website and vote using their ID code. Does anybody know a vendor that could help handle this process, or have any idea how much something like this would cost? Figure roughly 8000 total members would receive ballots.

Help me stay out of prison in authoritarian countries.

proj — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:19:38 -0800

Doing research in authoritarian countries. What is your experience? I am working on my dissertation proposal; I have several ideas, all of which would see me moving to one of several authoritarian countries to conduct field research of a political nature. The degree of authoritarianism differs between countries. I do have some experience living, for a short period of time, in a "friendly" (to the United States) authoritarian country, but not conducting research there.

I am curious about your experiences -- how easy was it for you to get access to data? Were you able to conduct your research relatively freely? Did you find yourself worried about what you were writing due to potential ramifications? How much information did the government request with respect to your research? Were you able to return after publishing your research? Bonus question -- if applying for a Fulbright-Hayes Dissertation Development grant (which must be approved by a host institution in the desired country), did you run into problems? Any and all advice welcome.

None of my dissertation ideas amount to "why country X is an authoritarian hellhole and the government should be overthrown" but each would require acknowledging, to some extent, that authoritarianism is the order of the day and the potential impact this may or may not have had on various civil society elements. Nor am I so naïve as to attempt to get locals to opine about the ills of their government, so I don't need advice on how to conduct a politically appropriate/sensitive conversation. I am particularly concerned, however, about monarchies that have laws against speaking ill of the monarch (an infraction that is broadly defined to say the least and is often used to punish political enemies). Although I have rarely read of non-nationals being imprisoned for this, I do not know the extent to which they traveled in the country after publishing their work.

Apologies for some vagueness.

Spanish International Relations

chrisalbon — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:04:22 -0800

What are the important political science, international relations, or military history texts written originally in Spanish? I am a political science (IR) phd candidate trying to brush up on my Spanish. My wonderful wife suggested I read a work in its original Spanish for practice.

Can anyone think of a work like this?

Help my friend get into a Canadian political science PhD program on his second try.

thisjax — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:25:04 -0800

Help my friend get into a Canadian political science PhD program on his second try. [Some preamble notes from me to ensure that advice isn't too US-centric:
-Because we're talking about Canada, do keep in mind that doctoral social science programs (except for psych) here don't normally admit directly from undergrad, so it's normal for even strong applicants to specifically enroll in a Master's program first.
-Also, GRE scores aren't considered in admissions decisions for applicants with Canadian degrees.]

From my friend:
I'm soliciting some general advice on my current PhD situation. This year I applied for four political science programs here in Ontario. I was placed at the top of the waitlist for one (the waitlist was never used due to high yield) and rejected from the remaining three.

My master’s marks were stellar (top 3 out of our program of 40 people) and my recommendations were strong and from professors established in their fields. On the negative side, I did a master’s research paper instead of a full thesis, lacked research assistanceships, and had a couple crappy senior undergrad marks. Nothing critical, but definite disadvantages (and unchangeable at this point).

So I suppose I’m looking for general advice on how to approach re-applying next year. I am definitely set on doing a PhD, and my research directly fits in with a professor’s current project at the university that waitlisted me. However, I am not very clear on what would dramatically improve my qualifications (I’ve heard taking more classes or attempting to secure a non-student RA, though I’m skeptical of how good a use of time those efforts would be). Currently I’m relying on the fact that I have more breathing room to prepare my applications for next year (it was hectic last time), as well as to complete a writing submission that’s directly related to my research area [political economy].

Tips are welcome. Program budgets are going to be pretty crappy for the foreseeable future so I’d like to nail this next year.

Would you hire a new assistant professor from another field?

Anonymous — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:00:01 -0800

What are the chances that I will be able to get a job outside of my discipline following completion of the PhD? I am currently in a top 25 PhD program studying sociology. Unfortunately, I find myself increasingly dissatisfied with the direction of the discipline and the substantive topics that seem to draw the most praise and get published in the top journals. I find myself drawn more to political science topics (specifically comparative politics) and am wondering what my chances are of getting a job in a decent political science department with a sociology PhD? Assume that my research is inter-disciplinary, methodologically sophisticated, that I am far enough along that switching/transferring is not an attractive option, that I have a very supportive dissertation committee that shares many of my views, and that I have some pretty good publications in the pipeline.

I know that many people have courtesy appointments across both departments and that certain prominent sociologists actually have political science PhDs (e.g., David Meyer at UCI). I just don't know that I've seen anyone go the opposite direction.

I'm not that interested in hearing about experiences from outside of the social sciences because I feel this is fairly discipline specific. I feel somewhat confident that I could get a job in an interdisciplinary department such as international studies or something, but I'm curious about political science specifically.

Are campaign expenses incured by the candidate tax deductible?

anastasia — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:38:35 -0800

You Are Not My CPA Filter: I have a friend who is running for a small-time local political office (city charter commission) and who is paying all his campaign costs (signs, literature, etc.) out of his own pocket. Are these expenses tax deductible? We're having trouble wading through the thousands of Google results on business deductions to find an answer....

Please help before I make Google explode!

Rudy Gerner — Sun, 03 May 2009 09:35:49 -0800

Please help me find this exact quotation and its citation! There is a quote I read once somewhere that was a toast that a group of revolutionaries (I think communists) used to make and it was something like "Cheers to the success of our impossible task." At least that's how my brain remembers it. But whatever the quote is, I think its a toast and what it's doing is acknowledging both how difficult it is to make change while exhibiting the optimism of "knowing" that you can/will make it.

Does this ring a bell to anyone? If you can find the exact quote and its citation, I'd be very grateful. Thank you in advance.

I suspect neither extreme to be true. This doesn't mean the middle is correct, either.

Cantdosleepy — Fri, 01 May 2009 07:58:09 -0800

UK politics and society and culture - recommend good books about the Thatcher years. Both left- and right-leaning titles desired. Hey all,

Just reading a thread on the Blue about Gurkahs in which the following was written:

Artw: Also I'm told that people under 30 do not remember Thatcher and are all rabid tories now.

Helga: 'Tis true, they do not remember Thatcher (I am 30, and I do remember her - just). I went to a Question Time session aimed at UCL students this week with Ed Balls and Tessa Jowells. They both referred to the 'same-old' Tories and Thatcher years, but they never explained why the Tory Years were such a bad thing. It's a big scary boggy-man, but no one's telling the kids why they should be scared.

She's a tremendously polarising figure, and I'm one of those sub-30-ites who never experienced pre-Thatcher Britain. I'd like to read a couple of books about her effect on the nation, ideally one mildly pro-Thatcher and one mildly anti- (if anything describable as 'mildly' has ever been written about her). I'm aware of, and fed up with, the two 'available' opinions on the period and the PM. I'd like to read some broader material.

Chunky state-of-the-nation books would be great. I'm not particularly interested in over-political inner-machinations books. I need to get a broad knowledge before reading secret memos that make no sense without context.

Any help appreciated.

Master of Arts of Politics?

parmanparman — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:14:26 -0800

George Washington University has a Masters in Professional Studies in Political Management. Great, except for being a Masters in Professional Studies. I want to do an MA or MS degree with classes in political management, speechwriting, and fundraising. Any other places you can suggest that are in the DC Metro/Northeast USA area?

The best (or worst?) of political doublespeak

Flying Saucer — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:37:25 -0800

I'm looking for examples of statements -- probably but not necessarily political -- that can be taken two very different ways. Here are two examples. If I could find any more, I wouldn't be posting this question:

Regarding the Vietnam war, Reagan said: "Young Americans must never again be sent to fight and die unless we are prepared to let them win."

If you were against the war, this sounds like an acknowledgment that the war was a mistake, and that young Americans died for nothing. If you were for the war, Reagan is saying that we could have won, but the government and/or the people lacked the will to see it through. Thus, the line pleases everyone and offends no one. Quite an achievement.

Recently, when car company executives were appearing before Congress, one of them said something like, "We let the unions force us into making promises we couldn't keep." I'm afraid I can't find the exact quote.

If you're pro-union, the exec is admitting that the company can't honor its union contract. If you're anti-union, the exec is saying that the unions "forced" his company into making bad decisions.

I'm not saying these statements are good or bad, but they're certainly very clever. Can anyone think of any other examples? I'm not just looking for contradictory quotes a la Yogi Berra or something like Oscar Wilde's quip that "Americans and British are divided by a common language." Those are close, but somehow not right.

Where can I find posters of political propaganda?

insouciant — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:26:11 -0800

I like posters of political propaganda. The United Nations Fight for Freedom, the British Keep Calm and Carry On, Obama's Hope... Tell me about posters similar to these and where I can buy them. I enjoy Chinese, Russian or Eastern European posters as well, but I'm mainly looking for Western ones.

I love crooks and liars, but seek heroes and prophets

history is a weapon — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 09:36:24 -0800

What're the OTHER political video blogs? Crooks and Liars is great, but what other progressive political video blogs are there? I'm looking for ones that curate well-produced advocacy shorts? Ones that share TV clips are fine, but I'm really looking for ones that distribute non-tv clips (e.g., clips like what barry says, activist report backs, etc).

debunking misleading political stories

jcdill — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:27:24 -0800

I'm trying to find a blog (or several) that follow and debunk stories that often come from popular right-wing talk radio and tv hosts. E.g. someone who follows and debunks stories from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and friends. I have a friend who watches and listens to these shows. On a regular (almost daily) basis he gets outraged, shouting "do you know what (whoever) said they are going to do!?!?!?!" He wants me to be outraged and agree with him but of course I don't think that what he heard is true and so far my record in debunking these outrages is 100%. I google and search until I can find the story, the go to Snopes and FactCheck and various other sites to see if I can get to the truth of the matter. A few weeks ago I debunked Obama wants to set up a civilian national security force that was similar to the "Gestapo" or the Nazi Brownshirts at Factcheck.org.

It would be really great time saver to find a resource that debunks these as they appear, and I can just follow that resource and be ready when my friend falls for another of these distortions.

I can't just not talk to this friend about these topics, or avoid the friend - we work together.

If you feel that Limbaugh or Hannity is "telling it like it is" - more power to you. I really don't want this thread to be about whose political opinions are right - I'm just trying to find sites that provide the counter arguments to the things Limbaugh and Hannity are outraged about. If you want to start a political thread to discuss it, be my guest but please don't hijack my question. KTHXBY

Do you know any good undergrad schools for Political Science and Engineering double majors?

shatteredverve — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:07:45 -0800

Do you know any good undergrad schools for Political Science and Engineering double majors? hey guys, I need some advice. I'm attending a community college where I'm pursuing an associate degree in mechanical engineering and minor in Political Science. After I graduate with an associate degree, I would like to transfer to a University to finish my bachelor's degree. I would like to double major in Political Science and mechanical engineering. I know that it's difficult to double major in anything when engineering is involved but I think I can handle it. If it comes down to it, I don't mind spending an extra year to finish my degrees.

Can you guys recommend some colleges that I should be looking into that has both my majors? I have 3 more semesters till i finish my associate. My GPA is 3.5 right now but I plan on improving that. Thanks for all your help.

I live in New Jersey and I would love to attend school in California or Florida. I'm sick of this damn eastcoast weather.

Using Creative Commons licensed works on a political website?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:22:57 -0800

Dear mefites, Is it legal to use creative commons stuff, properly licensed and attributed, on a political website that 1) expresses views that the original author might not like, and 2) raises money, such as for a candidate or a party's branch? Particularly interested in stuff that's got a non-commercial license but is okay to use for derivative works. This is in the U.K. Thanks!

Questions about Grad App Questions

davidstandaford — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:32:38 -0800

A few questions that I'm running into while submitting my graduate school applications about fellowships, diversity statements, other schools I am applying to, and accepting admission without funding. I'm applying for PhD programs in Political Science, and have about 7 programs left, and I've run into the same thing on a number of applications and I'm not sure how to handle it.

1) Most applications have a place where I can note any fellowships that I have applied for. I hadn't identified any to apply to (although I haven't looked very hard) and I'm wondering if it hurts me that I'm not applying for any outside sources of funding? Will it help my chances at the remaining schools if I apply to some fellowships?

2) Some schools allow for an optional diversity statement. As a generic white/upper middle class student of two people with post-bachelor degrees, I don't have a very compelling diversity/adversity statement. Although I'm a good writer and could probably craft something good, it doesn't feel to me like I have exactly what they want and my statement might not compare well to others, so I'm wondering about whether I would be better off writing the best one I can or not submitting one at all.

3) Most programs ask me about which other schools I am applying to. Does anyone know what they use this for and how it might hurt or help my chances at any one individual school?

4) Finally, for programs that don't fully fund all students, some ask me whether I would accept admission with partial or no funding. Ideally, I would want full funding, but to be accepted anyway even if they couldn't offer financial support, but I don't want to mark yes that I would accept admission without funding because then it would allow them to admit me without funding, even if they were willing to admit me with funding. Any idea on how best to deal with this?

I want to study political science in an english speaking country. Help?

sumo — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:19:14 -0800

I don´t have a brilliant academic career or anything. I live in Brazil, I just turned 24, and just recently majored in communication/journalism. For the past few years my main interest has been political philosophy and political science. I would like to study abroad, preferably in the United States or United Kingdom. I have worked since I was 17, running a small publishing house with my father. It is great, but it took me some time to get my degree. I read a lot, so I believe I can hold my own on an area that is different from what I studied in college.

I don´t want to be a scholar, I just want to speak english for a whole year and study something I love.

One year would be great; what are my options? How would I choose an university? Are good universities hard to get in for post graduation? I don´t even have a diploma in philosophy or political science, so I am not sure if I would even get in. Help?

Off the hook.

I EAT TAPAS — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:44:20 -0800

Has anyone here changed their mind after receiving a call from a campaign phone bank? Alternately, has anyone here who has worked the phone banks had a positive experience, feeling like they were able to connect with and influence one of the people they called? I've received a very large number of political phone calls this year, to the point where they became absurd and depressing, a continual interruption. I initially had positive opinions of one particular local candidate, but that candidate ended up losing my vote after his volunteers called every night to ask for our support, sometimes multiple times per night.

In another bizarre instance, my partner went to phonebank for a different candidate. While my partner was phonebanking, another person at that candidate's same phonebank actually called to ask my partner to come phonebank. Afterwards, we received frequent calls from representatives of that phone bank asking for our support.

My reaction to these calls -- which I never cared much about in prior years -- has became extremely negative across the board, and I found myself giving preferential treatment to candidates who did not call me. My reactions have been so negative that I've begun to wonder if anyone has actually had a positive reaction to the calls -- on either end. This article on Salon makes it seem like the phone banks are a waste of time.

In your experience, have you actually had an experience with political phone banking that's been productive and/or positive?

The best political coverage available (via internet) on Election Night.

chrisinseoul — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:19:53 -0800

The best political coverage available (via internet) on Election Night. The best political coverage available (via internet) on Election Night. It's as simple as that - I live in Seoul, South Korea, yet as an American, I feel compelled to watch the Election 'Night' counts come in. I won't specify my candidate of choice, but I would like to see the results and watch each state called for one person or the other. What's the best online coverage for that?

Party like a Barack star!

lunasol — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:07:34 -0800

Food that I can easily get into my election-night hotel party. Bonus-round: great games/amusements/cocktails for the party? I've been tasked with putting together my (progressive) organization's election night party. Yay! Now I have to figure out how to get around the hotel's catering rules. Boo!

The set-up: we got two adjoining rooms in the same hotel that the state Democratic Party has their big election night party in. The idea is that many groups like ours have smaller parties, in addition to the big party, that people circulate through. So the goal is to make our party fun enough that people want to come and hang out for a bit.

The hotel does not allow outside catering, so I have to figure out a menu that will effectively fly under the hotel staff's radar. I've heard that it's ok to bring food into the hotel in boxes, just so that it's not blatant.

People will be coming to the party after a day of doorknocking or otherwise trying to get as many people to vote as possible. So the food has to be filling in addition to being unobtrusive.

Some suggestions I've gotten:
Cold sandwiches
Veggie trays
Cheese/crackers
meatballs
mini-pies
cookies/brownies

I'm also looking for:

- Blue cocktails, cause we're libruls.

- Games or other fun election-themed things. We'll have maps/charts up to track the electoral college, Senate races, House races, and our state races, but it would be fun to have something to DO with those. We will definitely have champagne if/when Barack passes 270 and our desired Senate/House candidates win - what else?

My budget is $800 for food and drink, we'll have probably between 30 and 100 people come through during the evening, most of whom will probably just be nibbling and having a few drinks. We will, however, probably be staying into the wee hours.

I have seen the other election themed party ideas, but I want more!