PSP Winter 2022
Professor Sven Wilson on the Civil War Disability Pension System and Racial Discrimination
Professor Sven Wilson on the Civil War Disability Pension System and Racial Discrimination
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THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
CONTENTS<br />
WINTER <strong>2022</strong><br />
FOREWORD 3<br />
THE CIVIL WAR DISABILITY<br />
PENSION SYSTEM AND RACIAL<br />
DISCRIMINATION 4<br />
The BYU Department<br />
of Political Science,<br />
consistent with the aims<br />
of a BYU education,<br />
intends to foster<br />
“Lifelong Learning and<br />
Service.”<br />
We hope to provide<br />
our alumni with<br />
intelligent, thoughtful<br />
and sophisticated<br />
analysis of important<br />
issues, and to act as<br />
a catalyst for service<br />
in our communities,<br />
neighborhoods, nations<br />
and the world.<br />
EVENTS AND PROGRAMS 6<br />
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHER 14<br />
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS 16<br />
STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS 18<br />
FACULTY SPOTLIGHTS 20<br />
FACULTY PUBLICATIONS 24<br />
FACULTY IN THE NEWS 28<br />
GETTYSBURG ADDRESS 30<br />
Publisher:<br />
Jay Goodliffe, Chair<br />
Editor:<br />
J. Matthew Clarke<br />
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2<br />
Graphic Designer:<br />
Sydney Freeman,<br />
Abby Meyers,<br />
Seraphina Johnstun
A Lesson on Discrimination<br />
from the Civil War<br />
FOREWORD<br />
WINTER <strong>2022</strong><br />
The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861. Slavery, especially the<br />
expansion of slavery into territories acquired from the Louisiana Purchase<br />
and the Mexican-American War, was the central cause of conflict.<br />
On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation<br />
Proclamation, stating that all persons held as slaves shall be forever free.<br />
Slavery was officially abolished after the North won the war on April<br />
9, 1865, and four million enslaved black people were freed. President<br />
Abraham Lincoln presided over the victory, but did not witness the<br />
continued inequality. He was assassinated on April 15, 1865 at the Fords<br />
Theater in Washington, D.C., just six days after the war ended.<br />
For many, the war ended; for black people, however, discrimination<br />
had yet to see its conclusion. This issue discusses one of the ways that<br />
discrimination continued in the Civil War Pension System, despite attempts<br />
to write a “color-blind” law, and how we might avoid such a result in the<br />
future.<br />
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THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
The Civil War Disability Pension System<br />
and Racial Discrimination<br />
by Sven Wilson<br />
THE UNION ARMY PENSION SYSTEM<br />
(1865-1906) was the nation’s first large-scale<br />
social insurance program. It began during the<br />
U.S. Civil War as a tightly controlled system of<br />
war-related disability compensation that, over<br />
time, developed into a general disability system<br />
and, finally, into a broad-based old-age pension<br />
for almost all Union Army veterans. Indeed,<br />
the Union Army pension dominated the federal<br />
budget and the political debates of its day to<br />
much the same extent as Social Security and<br />
Medicare do today. At the program’s peak in<br />
1893, 41.6% of all federal budget expenditures<br />
were being paid out to military veterans. This<br />
is how Dr. Sven E. Wilson’s paper, “Prejudice<br />
& Policy: Racial Discrimination in the Union<br />
Army Disability Pension System, 1865-1906,”<br />
published in the American Journal of Public<br />
Health (2010), begins.<br />
Given the ubiquitous racial discrimination<br />
in American life during this era, the de jure<br />
equality of Blacks and Whites in the disability<br />
pension system was truly remarkable. Black<br />
and White veterans were subject to the same<br />
eligibility requirements and received the same<br />
schedule of benefits. It seemed that the racial<br />
discrimination prominent in official military<br />
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4<br />
practices during the war did not carry over into<br />
the statutes and regulations governing the new<br />
pension system. But what were the de facto<br />
experiences of Blacks and Whites in the pension<br />
system? Could such a system achieve racial<br />
parity in a world where racial prejudice was so<br />
pronounced? In this study, Sven used original<br />
data sources on over 40,000 Union Army<br />
veterans to systematically compare the treatment<br />
of Black and White veterans by the pension<br />
system.<br />
The seeds of the discrimination were planted<br />
during the war. Black soldiers who were<br />
sick and injured were much less likely to be<br />
hospitalized, which left them without the<br />
documentation they later needed to prove that<br />
their disabilities were war-related. The lack of<br />
medical records, combined with other challenges<br />
Blacks faced as a result of their poverty,<br />
illiteracy, and history of enslavement, put them<br />
at a considerable and immediate disadvantage in<br />
obtaining pension support.<br />
In 1890, the law was formally liberalized<br />
to eliminate the need for wartime medical<br />
records, and the enrollment rate for Blacks<br />
increased dramatically. However, even after
1890, Blacks still faced the same difficulties<br />
as before in applying for pensions. They also<br />
faced obstacles in getting the Pension Bureau to<br />
approve their claims, particularly if they were<br />
for conditions that required a “benefit of the<br />
doubt.” Furthermore, widows and dependents<br />
of veterans also encountered discrimination<br />
in gaining pensions (although only veterans’<br />
“invalid pensions” were analyzed here). In sum,<br />
race-neutral policies gave Blacks a measure<br />
of financial assistance and dignity, but the<br />
larger potential of the pension program was<br />
systematically undermined by the systemic<br />
prejudice of human actors.<br />
Black veterans did not emerge from the Civil<br />
War with as many obvious battle injuries as their<br />
White counterparts, nor did they serve as long.<br />
Nonetheless, their service was significant, and<br />
the burdens of disease and injury they faced<br />
over the course of their lives were profound. The<br />
pension assistance received by Black veterans<br />
was a financial lifeline to them, as well as to<br />
their families and communities. But in this,<br />
as with so many other matters, Black veterans<br />
were not given their fair share. Even though<br />
the eligibility requirements were “colorblind,”<br />
Blacks, often illiterate and impoverished, faced<br />
numerous obstacles in applying for a pension.<br />
The colorblind policy experiment teaches<br />
two critical lessons. First, the law made few<br />
allowances for the obstacles that Blacks faced<br />
as a result of the conditions of their previous<br />
treatment—namely, living under slavery<br />
and the segregated, unequal treatment they<br />
received while serving their country during<br />
the war. Second, a measure of discretion and<br />
judgment is necessary and even desirable in<br />
administering any public program. A greater<br />
measure of discretion allotted to program<br />
officials inherently carries a greater opportunity<br />
for prejudice to govern the program’s outcomes.<br />
Finding the right balance between the benefits<br />
of bureaucratic discretion and the potential for<br />
abuse should be an essential aspect of program<br />
design if we desire equal treatment under the<br />
law for all citizens.<br />
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5
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION<br />
AND POLITICAL BELIEF<br />
EVENTS AND<br />
PROGRAMS<br />
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION<br />
AND POLITICAL BELIEF:<br />
HOW DOES POLITICS AFFECT<br />
OUR ATTITUDES AND<br />
RELATIONSHIPS?<br />
Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021, 5 PM in the<br />
Education in Zion Auditorium<br />
Despite being rooted in the present,<br />
American politics is about what<br />
hasn’t happened yet. And as such,<br />
politicians have to find a balance<br />
between what people need now and how policies could affect our needs in the long run. The<br />
most difficult balance to find and maintain is the equilibrium between freedom and security.<br />
Most citizens agree that politicians should not regulate speech, but other than that belief,<br />
nothing is certain except that secure democracy depends on truth.<br />
A question that has been debated time and time again is whether one party is better than the<br />
other. The received answer was that both parties are biased to some extent. We claim to be<br />
neutral, but when a position arises that could make our party look good--or make the other<br />
party look bad--we are happy to claim partisan biases and “dethrone” the other party. This<br />
abundant hostility is what makes our current day a bad time to be in politics. It also makes<br />
discovering and expressing informed opinions difficult. Critical thinking is irrelevant when<br />
one votes for a party simply to make the “other side” lose. If someone has made no effort to<br />
create an informed belief system, it is hard to talk with them about the truth.<br />
Despite the venomous nature of our current system, politics is still a way to do good. It is not<br />
the most effective way, but it is possible. Some suggestions on how to accomplish this are<br />
doing politics in a way that uplifts the debate; run in a positive way; and believe that things<br />
will get better and that the fever of negativity currently plaguing politics will pass.<br />
Though politics can do some good in the world, they cannot be a surrogate for religion.<br />
Religion should be the forefront example and most effective method of doing good; politics<br />
are a supplement for the good that can be accomplished by religion, rather than an alternative.<br />
Please be involved, Jeff Flake said at the end. We need good people to put the national good<br />
over self-interest. Let good people know they are doing good.<br />
The auditorium was filled to capacity, standing room only, and the discussion was interesting<br />
with some fun moments. Notable attendees<br />
included Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona;<br />
Cate Klundt, Government Affairs Director<br />
at the Utah Association of Realtors; and Dr.<br />
Christopher Freiman, Associate Professor of<br />
Philosophy at William and Mary. BYU Poli<br />
Sci’s Ryan Davis organized and conducted<br />
the event, which was sponsored by the<br />
Sorensen Center for Moral and Ethical<br />
Leadership.<br />
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Thank you, Ryan, for a wonderful event.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR<br />
DEIDRE HENDERSON<br />
FINDING OUR "WHY," THE RETURN UTAH PRO-<br />
GRAM, AND OTHER INSIGHTS<br />
Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, 11 AM, 250 KMBL<br />
Utah Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson spoke<br />
on Thursday, October 14, 2021, in the Kimball Tower<br />
on BYU campus. Her speech, which featured points<br />
on nontraditional studenthood, how she balances<br />
family and career, and more, was sponsored by the<br />
Women of the College of FHSS.<br />
Some highlights of her talk include her advice that<br />
we “Find our ‘Why’” to remind ourselves of our<br />
motivating reasons. She also advised us to not take<br />
ISSUE<br />
EVENTS AND PROGRAMS<br />
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7<br />
counsel from our fears. Many people put plans on hold for a family and then feel like an<br />
“imposter” when they recommence their lives. When asked about “Imposter Syndrome,” she<br />
responded that we should be open about how we feel, remind ourselves that our value is inherent<br />
regardless of education, and remain true to ourselves.<br />
Her greatest accomplishment, she said, was becoming a mom. She has five kids. Because of<br />
her experience reentering the workforce after a family, she started the “Return Utah” program<br />
for those returning to the workforce after life’s detours. The program, which is 16 weeks long<br />
and offers opportunities for adults returning to the workforce after an extended absence, can be<br />
found on the Utah Governor's website.<br />
When asked about her most helpful skills, Henderson responded seriously, “acting class.” Many<br />
times, we put on brave faces when all we want to do is hide. Public speaking, she said, is also a<br />
critical skill. We need to learn how to appear confident despite our fear, and learn to listen. More<br />
helpful skills included learning how to use negative feelings in a positive way, and finally, to<br />
simply pray. Faith and politics, according to her, are not hard to use together. Faith is who you<br />
are; people elect you knowing about it. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.<br />
She also reminded us that opportunities are often menial: “Opportunity is often missed because<br />
it comes dressed in overalls.” When we are focused on other things, we can unintentionally<br />
become blind to new possibilities. Her advice was to get proximate--to be open to see everything<br />
that is happening. In closing, she said we need to first find our role models, and then become role<br />
models ourselves.<br />
Thank you for an insightful presentation, Lieutenant Governor Henderson.<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
7
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION<br />
AND POLITICAL BELIEF<br />
THE BYU<br />
POLITICAL SCIENCE POSTER CONFERENCE<br />
2021<br />
EVENTS AND<br />
PROGRAMS<br />
The BYU Political Science Poster Conference occurred on December 9, from noon to 3 PM, in<br />
the Wilkinson Center Garden Court. The Conference was a success this year, highlighting the<br />
scholarship of 64 students. Experiential learning like this benefits the students, who learn how<br />
to present their ideas in the public format. The award winners and honorable mentions are listed<br />
on the next page, but everyone who participated is a winner. Thank you and congratulations.<br />
We also want to thank our two official judges, Liz McGuire and Chad Nelson, and Ryan Davis,<br />
who acted as a third unofficial judge. Thank you to all the faculty that worked with the students<br />
to produce this research. And a special thanks to Jay Goodliffe, who founded this event five<br />
years ago, and to Joel Selway, his successor, for hosting this year.<br />
8<br />
8
1 st 2 nd<br />
"Evangelical Protestants: Friend or Foe?" ($300)<br />
Ashlan Gruwell<br />
Overall Winners<br />
"Tried and Prejudice: Using Hate Crime<br />
Sentencings to Disprove the Rise of Right-Wing<br />
Terrorism in the United States" ($250)<br />
Madison Sinclair Johnson<br />
3 rd<br />
"Be Thou Sexist? Hostile & Benevolent Sexism<br />
Among Latter-day Saints" ($200)<br />
Abigail Ryan, David Clove<br />
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Subfield winners ($150 each):<br />
Best Comparative Paper: "How do Emigration<br />
Rates Affect the Democracy Score of the Home<br />
Country?" Elliana Pastrano<br />
Best IR Paper: "Tanks and Missiles: The Only<br />
Counterterrorism Strategy?" Peyton Lykins<br />
Best American paper: "To Guide Us in These<br />
Latter-days: When Partisans disagree with the<br />
Church's guidance" Kelsey Eyre, Jordan Gygi, and<br />
Kesley Townsend<br />
Best Race and Ethnicity Paper: "Intersectional<br />
Constituents: How Minority Elected Officials Respond<br />
to Minority Constituents." Suzy Yi<br />
Honorable mentions:<br />
“Ideologues in the Political Pipeline: Measuring<br />
the Ambition of Local Elected Officials”<br />
Grant Baldwin & Chris Vazquez<br />
“Are Supreme Court Decisions Congruent with<br />
Public Opinion on Campaign Finance?”<br />
Kesley Townsend<br />
“Polarization Through a Generational Lens”<br />
Jeremy Pratt, Clara Cullen, Hannah Forsyth<br />
“Does Clothing Make the Candidate?<br />
Identifying the Impact of Traditional Immigrant<br />
Clothing on Elections”<br />
Elle Diether, Megan Cann,<br />
and McKell McIntyre<br />
“The Failure Effect: Gender and Benevolence in<br />
Sports”<br />
Abby Woodfield, Morgan Rushforth, Meg Price,<br />
Sam Ames<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
9
MAJOR BRENT TAYLOR<br />
FOUNDATION GALA<br />
EVENTS AND<br />
PROGRAMS<br />
THE<br />
Major Brent Taylor Foundation<br />
GALA<br />
The opening reception for the Brent Taylor Leadership<br />
Legacy Gala was held on Saturday, November 6, 2021.<br />
Among the honored scholarship attendees were three<br />
BYU students: Kray Jubeck and Zeke Peters (recipients<br />
this year), and Harrison Mayer (last year). Each recipient<br />
and his wife stood next to a large poster that had their<br />
photos and information about them. Harrison and Kray<br />
were in full military dress. Our Department Chair, Dr. Jay<br />
Goodliffe, and his wife, also attended.<br />
The Major Brent Taylor foundation is a registered<br />
501(c)3 charitable organization that aims to embody the<br />
legacy of leadership that Major Brent Taylor left behind.<br />
This scholarship was established in 2021 to honor Major<br />
Brent Taylor, who was killed in action on November 3,<br />
2018 while training an Afghan Army commando battalion<br />
in Kabul, Afghanistan.<br />
Brent served as student body president at Chandler High<br />
in 1996 – 1997. He was a soldier in the Utah National<br />
Guard and the Mayor of North Ogden, Utah at the time<br />
of his combat death. The organization provides scholarships<br />
to students that show outstanding service oriented<br />
leadership. In addition to funding scholarships, the organization<br />
is committed to honoring our nation's Gold Star<br />
& Surviving Families, Veterans, and military families by<br />
funding monuments across Utah.<br />
Contributions can be sent to the the Brent and Jennie Taylor<br />
Family Endowed Scholarship Fund:<br />
LDS Philanthropies<br />
Attn: Brent Sharp<br />
1450 N. University Ave.<br />
Provo, UT. 84604<br />
10<br />
10
What's Going On in Afghanistan?<br />
Four of the BYU Political Science department's<br />
Middle East experts answered this<br />
question in a Q&A panel on Thursday,<br />
Nov. 11, 2021, at 7pm in the JFSB Education<br />
in Zion Auditorium. Professors Josh<br />
Gubler, Tyler Pack, David Romney and<br />
Chad Nelson also discussed U.S. intervention<br />
in, and the current situation of, the<br />
Afghanistan region.<br />
Among other things, one important point<br />
was that Afghanistan acted as a buffer<br />
between the British Empire and the Russian<br />
Empire for many years. The country<br />
is characterized by low levels of literacy,<br />
lack of minority rights, and 80% of the<br />
country is rural. In the metropolitan center<br />
of Kabul, women were developing rights,<br />
while in the rural areas, women have few<br />
rights. The U.S. occupation was hampered by the lack of clear goals, and most<br />
of the illiterate citizens did not know why the U.S. was there. Neither the U.S.<br />
nor any other imperial power has succeeded in building a modern Afghani<br />
state, and therefore Afghanistan is characterized by instability, which needs to<br />
be rebuilt from the inside out.<br />
ISSUE<br />
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Afghanistan locals look<br />
on as Afghan National<br />
Security Forces lead a<br />
joint patrol with<br />
Coalition Forces in the<br />
village of Spine Gundey,<br />
Gelan district, Ghazni<br />
province, Afghanistan,<br />
May 10, 2012.<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
11
2021 AMERICAN<br />
FAMILY SURVEY<br />
The American Family Survey<br />
Who is most interested in marriage and having kids?<br />
EVENTS AND<br />
PROGRAMS<br />
12<br />
12<br />
HALEY AND BROOKSTON JEPPSON,<br />
29 and 27 respectively, have a 2-yearold<br />
son and welcomed a daughter in late<br />
November. She’s put her master’s degree<br />
in math education to work owning a small<br />
virtual math tutoring company. He’s currently<br />
in school full time.<br />
The Jeppsons fall into the age group most<br />
apt to believe marriage is old-fashioned or<br />
unnecessary for a family to flourish. But<br />
that’s not their view.<br />
“I think there’s a level of commitment that<br />
comes with marriage that isn’t there with<br />
cohabitation,” Haley said. “I also think that<br />
kids’ happiness and health and security<br />
comes a lot from the quality of the parents’<br />
relationship.”<br />
Americans and the institution of marriage<br />
have historically been a love story. Most<br />
American adults believe marriage is key<br />
to forging strong families. However, not<br />
all young adults share Jeppson’s faith<br />
that being legally married matters. Young<br />
adults seem less committed to the concept<br />
of marriage than they were in 2015, when<br />
the Deseret News and BYU’s Center for<br />
the Study of Elections and Democracy<br />
first teamed up to conduct the American<br />
Family Survey. The nationally representative<br />
poll conducted by YouGov looks<br />
at attitudes about family life against a<br />
background of current events.<br />
The new study exposes a growing divide<br />
when it comes to post-COVID-19 family<br />
formation. Compared to other groups,<br />
more young adults view marriage as<br />
old-fashioned and out-of-date, although<br />
more than half agree the institution makes<br />
families and children better off. In younger<br />
generations, marriage has shifted from<br />
being a cornerstone on which family life<br />
could be built to a capstone accomplished<br />
only after checking off a list of other life<br />
experiences–if one chooses to marry at<br />
all.<br />
More adults generally agreed that being<br />
legally married is less important than<br />
having a “personal sense of commitment<br />
to your partner,” nearly 48% compared to<br />
31%. But all age groups agree that marriage<br />
makes families and children better<br />
off financially, including close to half of<br />
the 18- to 29-year-olds. And more of them<br />
agree “marriage is for life, come what<br />
may,“ though in smaller shares than those<br />
of other ages.<br />
Asked if marriage is more of a burden<br />
than a benefit to families, nearly 62% disagreed<br />
at least somewhat. Among young<br />
adults 18 to 29, 51% at least somewhat<br />
disagree that marriage is a burden. How-
The American Family Survey is an annual, nationwide study of 3,000<br />
Americans by the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at<br />
Brigham Young University and the Deseret News.<br />
BYU Professors Jeremy Pope and Chris Karpowitz participate in and<br />
author the annual survey.<br />
ever, 17% agree– a higher percentage of<br />
agreement than among older adults, who<br />
largely feel marriage is needed to create<br />
strong families.<br />
“Among younger generations, we’re<br />
definitely seeing some important social<br />
changes,” said demographer and Institute<br />
for Family Studies research fellow<br />
Lyman Stone. “We’re seeing less attachment<br />
to marriage, and to some extent,<br />
smaller family desires.”<br />
That view of marriage is<br />
concentrated within the young adults,<br />
echoed Jeremy C. Pope, who co-directs<br />
the BYU center with Christopher F.<br />
Karpowitz. The duo co-wrote the American<br />
Family Survey report. “If you look<br />
across the young-adult spectrum, in<br />
2015, 1 in 10 said [marriage is outdated].<br />
Now it’s 2 in 10. That’s a significant<br />
jump.<br />
“I don’t want to oversell it, but there is<br />
a hint that attitudes toward marriage are<br />
changing,” Pope concluded.<br />
The 2021 American Family Survey represents the<br />
seventh annual effort from the team of experts to<br />
understand the state of public opinion about the<br />
American family and the experiences of American<br />
families.<br />
Fielded between June 25 and July 8, 2021, last<br />
year’s survey came at a relative low point in<br />
COVID cases, prior to the widespread Delta variant<br />
wave and before families sent their children back<br />
to school. Questions in the survey relate back to the<br />
American family’s experience with the pandemic<br />
and their evaluations of government responses to<br />
it, as well as 2020’s protests around the issues of<br />
racial equality and policing. The results show both<br />
challenges and resilience in the face of pandemic<br />
difficulties.<br />
The 2021 survey was released Tuesday, October<br />
12, 2021 from Washington, D.C. The margin of<br />
error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.See:<br />
https://csed.byu.edu/; and the Deseret News article<br />
by Lois M. Collins@Loisco Oct 18, 2021, for<br />
more.<br />
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THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
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POLITICAL<br />
RALPH<br />
WALDO<br />
EMERSON<br />
14<br />
PHILOSOPHER
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803<br />
– April 27, 1882), was an American essayist,<br />
lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist and poet<br />
who led the transcendentalist movement of the<br />
mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion<br />
of individualism and a prescient critic of the<br />
countervailing pressures of society, and he<br />
disseminated his thoughts through dozens of<br />
published essays and more than 1,500 public<br />
lectures across the United States.<br />
A quintessential American voice, Emerson<br />
believed that civilization was only beginning<br />
and could reach unfathomable places through<br />
moral force and creative intelligence. This<br />
alone, however, is not a reason to blindly<br />
follow the footsteps before us. Remembering<br />
that “the law is only a memorandum” gave rise<br />
to Emerson’s most popular quote in this essay:<br />
“The less government we have, the better.”<br />
Emerson believed that an ideal government,<br />
aside from a nonexistent one dissolved when<br />
improvements in human character through<br />
love and wisdom could abolish the state,<br />
was one that advocated for the growth of<br />
the individual, and be able to protect one’s<br />
individual rights. The individual would<br />
only be ready for democracy when they<br />
had become completely independent and<br />
self-reliant. Then the abolishment of<br />
government could be achieved. The<br />
intelligence needed from each individual<br />
would triumph over business interests and<br />
politics, because the mind is the richest<br />
asset you can have.<br />
Emerson also questioned property rights<br />
in politics, noting that they are built not<br />
on democracy, but instead on owning.<br />
Believing that “property will always follow<br />
persons," Emerson believed personal rights<br />
were much more important than property<br />
rights.<br />
By 1844, Emerson, then 41, had moved<br />
into a pragmatic balance of skepticism<br />
and idealism, happily providing him with<br />
“a way to dream as well as a way to live.”<br />
Emerson’s views on politics championed<br />
democracy and individualism, two ideas<br />
that we view today as the very embodiment<br />
of America.<br />
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_<br />
Waldo_Emerson; Emerson, Ralph Waldo,<br />
and Ralph Waldo Emerson. 1990. Essays :<br />
First and Second Series. 1st Vintage<br />
Books/The Library of America ed. Vintage<br />
Books.<br />
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THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
15
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS<br />
Bethany Linton<br />
Bethany Linton’s area of expertise is Environmental<br />
Governance. She works with the World Bank in Washington,<br />
DC as a consultant, and previously led analysis and publication<br />
of the Climate Smart Agriculture Investment Package Report<br />
for 13 countries across Africa and elsewhere. This study<br />
supports the development and piloting of a new framework<br />
for monitoring and valuing soil organic carbon sequestration.<br />
Bethany is a program manager, landscape convener, and gender<br />
analyst with a passion for collaborative and sustainable forest, landscape, and agricultural<br />
land management. Her interests lie in enhancing participatory land planning, natural resource<br />
management, and livelihood improvement through bottom-up processes.<br />
She graduated from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with a Master’s<br />
Degree in Environmental Science, after receiving her BA in Political Science, International<br />
Development, Political Philosophy and Art History at BYU. In her undergraduate work,<br />
she participated in the BYU Political Affairs Society, Sigma, the Tocqueville Society, the<br />
Washington Seminar and worked with an NGO in Uganda.<br />
David Trichler<br />
David works with research labs and internal and external partners<br />
to bring the best of academia to current global policy challenges.<br />
His main responsibilities involve strategic planning, external<br />
engagement, and cross-cutting initiatives.<br />
Trichler served as director of operations at William & Mary’s<br />
Institute for the Theory & Practice of International Relations,<br />
where he was responsible for catalyzing applied research by<br />
faculty and students to address global challenges.<br />
Previously, Trichler worked for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, USAID, ExxonMobil Foundation,<br />
and the World Bank. He is a TedX speaker, a lucky husband to an insanely talented wife, and<br />
father of two young daughters who love dogs, cheese, and their parents, in that order. The<br />
running trails behind Lake Matoaka are his favorite place on W&M Campus. He holds an MS<br />
in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a BA in Political Science from Brigham<br />
Young University.<br />
16
Rob Waller<br />
Rob Waller is an expert in U.S. foreign policy in the<br />
Middle East and works for the U.S. Department of State.<br />
Waller, formerly the US State Department’s Director of<br />
the Office of Iraq Affairs, has taken office as the new<br />
consul general of the United States in Erbil, the capital<br />
of Kurdistan Region. The US Consulate General in<br />
Erbil welcomed Waller in an online statement, saying<br />
that he had assumed charge of the consulate on 1st July.<br />
The statement also confirmed that Katie Kiser has been<br />
appointed as the new Deputy Principal Officer at the consulate. “Over the next few months,<br />
they look forward to exploring the rich culture of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region while also seeking<br />
out meaningful ways to collaboratively build upon our shared values of peace, security, and<br />
economic prosperity,” reads the statement.<br />
ISSUE<br />
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS<br />
31<br />
17<br />
A member of the Senior Foreign Service, Waller previously served as the Director of the<br />
Office of Iraq Affairs and as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran.Prior to<br />
joining the Iraq office, he was Minister-Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the<br />
U.S. Mission to the United Nations at Geneva (2015-2018) and spent his last year there as<br />
Acting DCM. He was the U.S. Consul General in Dubai (2012-2015) and served as Director<br />
for Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian Affairs at the NSC (2011-2012). His other overseas<br />
assignments include Paris, Baghdad, Jerusalem, FSI Tunisia, and Jeddah.<br />
Garrett Gibson<br />
Garrett Gibson has worked in various projects through his<br />
business management career. Notable companies include<br />
Panum Group, where he assisted in designing a stellar tool<br />
that further utilized space management.<br />
Garrett currently works as a senior consultant at Morgan<br />
Franklin Consulting in Washington, D.C. While working as a<br />
consultant, he leads teams to enhance operational<br />
effectiveness, execute cost-cutting strategies, and adopt new<br />
technologies to improve the efficiency of finance and procurement functions.<br />
He graduated from BYU with a bachelor's degree in PoliticalScience and Business<br />
Management, and later received his MBA from the Georgetown University McDonough<br />
School of Business.<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
17
STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS<br />
Ashlan was awarded first place and $300 at<br />
the annual Political Science Poster<br />
Conference, with a poster entitled: "Evangelical<br />
Protestants: Friend or Foe?" ($300).<br />
As a political science major, Ashlan has<br />
focused her studies on elections, sexism,<br />
and national politics, and thus her research<br />
reflects all of those interests.<br />
As a result of the research of other political<br />
scientists and religious scholars, she theorized<br />
that evangelical Protestants have a negative<br />
effect on the election of female state<br />
legislators because of the religious tradition's<br />
beliefs that a woman is not fit to lead, which<br />
led to her research question: What is the<br />
effect of a state’s percent of evangelical Protestants<br />
on the percent of females within the<br />
state’s legislature? Through her analysis, and<br />
with the help of Professor Monson, she was<br />
able to support that theory. Her results show<br />
that the percent of evangelical Protestants<br />
in a state will have a statistically significant<br />
negative effect on how many women are in<br />
ASHLAN GRUWELL<br />
First Place,<br />
2021 Political Science Poster Conference<br />
Winning Poster: "Evangelical Protestants:<br />
Friend or Foe?"<br />
that state's legislature.<br />
Outside of her school work, Ashlan<br />
volunteers in the Brigham Young<br />
University Student Association as the Director<br />
of Club Events. The BYUSA office<br />
is one of her favorite places on campus and<br />
volunteering has allowed her to meet other<br />
students, gain experience, and take part in<br />
unique activities and events.<br />
In her free time, she loves to relax with her<br />
friends and watch movies, play games, make<br />
food, and get ice cream. She also loves to<br />
listen to music at full volume, especially<br />
when she's driving her car or is home alone.<br />
She is from from Harborcreek,<br />
Pennsylvania, and is currently living in<br />
Washington D.C. as part of BYU's<br />
Washington Seminar program.<br />
18<br />
18
MADISON SINCLAIR JOHNSON<br />
Madison (Maddie) is a brand-new BYU<br />
alumna who graduated in December<br />
with a degree in political science and a<br />
minor in communications. Despite barely<br />
passing POLI 328, she loved the program<br />
and especially enjoyed all the research<br />
opportunities.<br />
Most recently, Maddie was awarded<br />
second place at the Political Science<br />
Poster Conference for her research<br />
project “Tried and Prejudice: Using Hate<br />
Crime Sentencing to Disprove the Rise<br />
of Right-Wing Terrorism in the United<br />
States.” By reasearching the Global<br />
Terrorism Database's counts of right-wing<br />
terrorism in the U.S. from 2002-2019, she<br />
found that about 70% of the 167 cases<br />
should not be classified as terrorism. At<br />
least 22% of the events were actually<br />
hate crimes, and with the solving and<br />
prosecution of more cases, it could be<br />
as high as 44%. Based on this research,<br />
while right-wing terrorism isn't truly on<br />
the rise in the U.S., hate crimes are.<br />
MEGAN BAIRD<br />
Megan is a Political Science<br />
Major who is the communications<br />
coordinator for the Political Affairs<br />
Society here at BYU. Megan<br />
is from Reston, Virginia (a few<br />
minutes outside of D.C.). She loves<br />
the outdoors; she’ll hike, climb,<br />
bike or ski. In a non-COVID world,<br />
she loves to travel. She’s made it to<br />
all 50 states!<br />
She does a lot of New York Times<br />
crossword puzzles, and has a<br />
secret talent for trivia games. As<br />
a student at BYU, she’s been able<br />
to work as a research assistant in<br />
the department. It’s been such an<br />
amazing learning opportunity!<br />
She’s also an officer in the BYU<br />
Political Affairs Society, where<br />
she runs the advertising and social<br />
media pages.<br />
ISSUE<br />
STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS<br />
31<br />
19<br />
Maddie is from Zionsville, Indiana, and<br />
now works for Ballotpedia as a News<br />
Researcher. Her interests include roller<br />
skating, house plants, and true crime.<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
19
SVEN WILSON,<br />
TYLER PACK<br />
FACULTY<br />
SPOTLIGHTS<br />
Professor Sven Wilson received a PhD<br />
in economics from the University of<br />
Chicago, and he has been in the Political<br />
Science Department at BYU since<br />
1997. He studies the demographic correlates<br />
of health over the life cycle in<br />
both modern and historical populations.<br />
He has published in a wide range of<br />
scholarly outlets on various aspects of<br />
health and social inequalities, especially<br />
with respect to race, gender and family<br />
structure. He has been a Senior Investigator<br />
on the NIA-funded program<br />
project, Early Indicators, Intergenerational<br />
Processes, and Aging, which is a<br />
data collection project based on a large<br />
sample of white and black Union Army<br />
veterans, and has published several<br />
papers based on this data.<br />
Early in in his career, Wilson published<br />
two of the seminal articles on what<br />
would come to be known as the spousal<br />
concordance in health, a topic of study<br />
that has expanded to include hundreds<br />
of published articles by both social<br />
scientists and biomedical researchers.<br />
In these oft-cited studies he shows that<br />
the health status of married persons<br />
mirrors significantly the health status<br />
of the spouse, using a variety of health<br />
indicators. Moreover, he shows that the<br />
occurrence of health problems in both<br />
spouses is highly concentrated among<br />
couples with low socioeconomic status,<br />
further compounding the economic<br />
consequences of poor health.<br />
20<br />
20<br />
Sven Wilson<br />
Expert in history,<br />
social and political sciences,<br />
and economics<br />
Wilson’s interest in social disparities in health has<br />
led to other research on social capital, including<br />
family relationships. Very little social science<br />
research has been able to follow individuals and<br />
social networks over time, so relatively little is<br />
known about the long-term persistence of human<br />
capital. Using the data on Union Army veterans,<br />
Wilson’s team demonstrated that Civil War<br />
veterans formed long-lasting social networks, as<br />
evidenced by their choice to live near Civil War<br />
comrades many years later. They also found that<br />
living near a former comrade had a beneficial<br />
effect on life expectancy.<br />
Using more modern data, Wilson’s recent research<br />
has investigated the impact of military<br />
service on participation in civic groups such as<br />
service clubs, fraternal organizations or unions.<br />
Wilson’s research finds that the veterans of major<br />
20th century conflicts participated in more groups<br />
and with greater intensity than non-veterans.<br />
Furthermore, this effect of military service is<br />
largely independent of the impact of education on<br />
civic participation.<br />
Wilson served for many years as director of the<br />
Masters in Public Policy program at BYU and<br />
was chair of the Political Science Department<br />
from 2014-2021. He currently teaches large sections<br />
of American Heritage as well as methodology<br />
and public policy courses in the department.<br />
In his spare time, Wilson enjoys downhill skiing<br />
and watching BYU Women’s Volleyball with his<br />
wife, Nancy. He and Nancy are the parents of six<br />
children and live in Provo.
Dr. Tyler Pack specializes in civil wars<br />
and ethnic conflicts, civil-military<br />
relations, and authoritarian regimes.<br />
In particular, he explores how violent<br />
conflict influences the decision making of<br />
political leaders, military elites, and the<br />
public in neighboring states.<br />
After living in five different states by<br />
the age of five, Tyler grew up in Utah,<br />
graduating from Northridge High School<br />
in 2003. He became interested in politics<br />
the traditional professor way – researching<br />
topics for high school debate. The<br />
September 11th attacks (and subsequent<br />
invasion of Afghanistan) happened when<br />
he was a junior, and the U.S. invaded Iraq<br />
three months before he graduated. U.S.<br />
military action and civil conflict were<br />
very much on his mind. While serving<br />
a mission in Russia, he observed the<br />
reaction of leaders and the public to a<br />
host of political events, including terrorist<br />
attacks carried out by Chechen separatists<br />
such as the hostage-taking and botched<br />
rescue attempt at a school in Beslan in<br />
2004.<br />
Realizing the importance of perception<br />
and exposure, as well as having a personal<br />
connection to political events, helped<br />
solidify his intentions to teach and study<br />
international relations. He received a<br />
Dr. Tyler Pack<br />
Expert in civil wars,<br />
civil-military relations,<br />
and authoritarian regimes<br />
bachelor’s and master’s degree at Utah State<br />
with a focus on Russian foreign policy. During<br />
his undergraduate work, he met his wife, and<br />
they had their first child while in Logan. They<br />
had three more children in Illinois, where<br />
Tyler attended graduate school for a PhD<br />
before coming to BYU as a visiting professor<br />
in 2019.<br />
As a teacher, Tyler’s approach focuses on<br />
frequent discussions, maximizing student<br />
engagement, exploring political events<br />
through simulations and cases, and sharing<br />
moderately dated pop culture references. At<br />
BYU he has taught Principles of International<br />
Relations, Civil Wars and Ethnic Conflict,<br />
International Intervention, and U.S. Foreign<br />
Policy.<br />
Tyler’s research focuses on the spillover<br />
effects of civil war in democratic and<br />
authoritarian regimes from World War II to the<br />
present. Some of his current projects include<br />
a study of how the unique threat environment<br />
of a nearby civil war presents a window<br />
for coup-proofing by political elites, and a<br />
project involving how individuals respond<br />
to proximate conflict with support for extraconstitutional<br />
measures by or against the<br />
regime.<br />
ISSUE<br />
31<br />
FACULTY SPOTLIGHTS<br />
21<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
21
FACULTY SPOTLIGHTS<br />
22<br />
22<br />
Gentry Jenkins is a visiting professor<br />
of Political Science who recently<br />
finished his PhD at the University<br />
of Chicago in 2020. Previously, he<br />
received an MA in International<br />
Relations from Chicago in 2014, and a<br />
BA in History from the University of<br />
Idaho in 2012.<br />
Gentry grew up in Troy, Idaho, a small<br />
town of less than 1,000 people. For<br />
the neighboring town of Moscow, his<br />
dad was the institute director of the<br />
first-ever LDS Church for the Moscow<br />
Institute of Religion. He attended<br />
the University of Idaho and majored<br />
in history, a topic he considered<br />
interesting. Gentry, along with Dr. Lisa<br />
Carlson, wrote about China’s decision<br />
to enter the Korean War despite being<br />
a new country at the time. They<br />
thought to ask: why do revolutionary<br />
states go to war?<br />
After doing a lot of research and<br />
writing, along with being denied<br />
acceptance to multiple History PhD<br />
programs, Gentry discovered that his<br />
interests in history were primarily<br />
theoretical. However, he was offered<br />
a partial scholarship in International<br />
Gentry Jenkins<br />
Expert in history,<br />
international security,<br />
revolutionary regimes,<br />
and archival research<br />
Relations at the University of Chicago.<br />
At Chicago, he worked with Robert Pape, a<br />
scholar on the logics of coercion in IR, air<br />
power, and terrorism. Professor Pape directed<br />
his Masters Thesis and PhD at Chicago. Pape<br />
has done research on the rise of territorial<br />
disputes, especially on Ethiopia’s civil war<br />
in the 1970s and 80s. Jointly, Pape and<br />
Gentry conducted research discovering that<br />
peripheral groups in Ethopia rebel against<br />
state centralization and transformational<br />
policies. Tensions exist between the Ethiopian<br />
government and its ethnic tribes: the Aromo,<br />
Emhara and Tigray specifically. Each of the<br />
tribes has cultural traits that identify them,<br />
but not necessarily their heritage, making the<br />
tension more complicated.<br />
Upon graduation from Chicago, Gentry was<br />
hired by Chicago to a two-year post doc to<br />
advise Masters students. He worked there for<br />
one year, then was invited to become a visiting<br />
professor at BYU. His research interests include<br />
international security, revolutionary regimes,<br />
civil wars, and archival research.<br />
Gentry met his wife Liz in her native Chicago;<br />
they had both been seminary teachers and had a<br />
lot in common. Now they have two daughters: a<br />
four-year-old and a nine-month-old baby.
ISSUE<br />
31<br />
23<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG
AJPS, FIRST<br />
POLITCAL ORDER<br />
How Politicians Discount the<br />
Opinions of Constituents with<br />
Whom They Disagree<br />
Daniel M. Butler, Adam M. Dynes<br />
FACULTY<br />
PUBLICATIONS<br />
We argue that politicians systematically discount the opinions of constituents with whom<br />
they disagree and that this “disagreement discounting” is a contributing factor to ideological<br />
incongruence.<br />
A pair of survey experiments, in which state and local politicians are the subjects of interest,<br />
show that public officials rationalize this behavior by assuming that constituents with<br />
opposing views are less informed about the issue. This finding applies both to well-established<br />
issues that divide the parties as well as to nonpartisan ones.<br />
Further, it can be explained by politicians’ desires to favor the opinions of either copartisans<br />
or likely voters. A third survey experiment using a sample of voters suggests that the<br />
bias toward favorable constituents is exacerbated by an activity central to representative<br />
governance—taking and explaining one's policy positions. To sum, the representative job<br />
itself can cause an increase in the likeliness to dismiss voters with dissenting opinions.<br />
24<br />
24
The First Political Order: How<br />
Sex Shapes Governance and<br />
National Security Worldwide<br />
Donna Lee Bowen<br />
Donna Lee Bowen’s new book, "The First<br />
Political Order: How Sex Shapes Governance<br />
and National Security Worldwide," has been<br />
mentioned in the Economist in two separate<br />
articles. Together, the articles use Bowen’s<br />
book to answer why societies that mistreat<br />
women are worse off than those who treat<br />
women fairly, and why foreign policy should<br />
pay more heed to half of humanity.<br />
ISSUE<br />
31<br />
FACULTY PUBLICATIONS<br />
25<br />
The following paragraphs are exerpts<br />
combined from both Economist articles.<br />
“A WOMAN WHO drives a car will be<br />
killed,” says Sheikh Hazim Muhammad<br />
al-Manshad. He says it matter-of-factly,<br />
without raising his voice. The sheikh is a<br />
decorous host. Yet the code he espouses is<br />
brutal. The social order is built around male<br />
kinship groups; the leaders are all men. At<br />
home, women are expected to obey husbands,<br />
fathers or brothers. Daughters were valued for<br />
their ability to give birth to sons. Strict rules<br />
were devised to ensure women’s chastity. If<br />
a daughter dallies with anyone other than the<br />
man chosen for her, her male kin are honourbound<br />
to kill them both.<br />
Global history records an astonishing variety<br />
of forms of social organization. Yet almost<br />
universally, males subordinate females.<br />
How does the relationship between men and<br />
women shape the wider political order? The<br />
First Political Order is a groundbreaking<br />
demonstration that the persistent and<br />
systematic subordination of women underlies<br />
all other institutions, with wide-ranging<br />
implications for global security and<br />
development.<br />
A society’s choice to subjugate women<br />
has significant negative consequences:<br />
worse governance, worse conflict, worse<br />
stability, worse economic performance,<br />
worse food security, worse health,<br />
worse demographic problems, worse<br />
environmental protection, and worse<br />
social progress. Yet despite the pervasive<br />
power of social and political structures<br />
that subordinate women, history―<br />
and the data―reveal possibilities for<br />
progress. The First Political Order shows<br />
that when steps are taken to reduce the<br />
hold of inequitable laws, customs, and<br />
practices, outcomes for all improve.<br />
https://www.economist.com/<br />
international/2021/09/11/societiesthat-treat-women-badly-are-poorerand-less-stable;<br />
https://www.<br />
economist.com/leaders/2021/09/11/<br />
why-nations-that-fail-women-fail.<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
25
FACULTY PUBLICATIONS<br />
26<br />
26<br />
America the Vincible: U.S.<br />
Foreign Policy for the<br />
Twenty-First Century<br />
Earl H. Fry, Stan A. Taylor,<br />
Robert S. Wood<br />
Taking the view that the United States is<br />
not an invincible superpower, the book<br />
America the Vincible: U.S. Foreign Policy<br />
for the Twenty-First Century focuses<br />
on changing conditions within the nation<br />
and fully examines the constitutional,<br />
political, economic, strategic, and social<br />
issues which will shape future U.S. foreign<br />
policy decisions.<br />
The authors, BYU Professors Earl H. Fry<br />
and Stan A. Taylor, are joined by Professor<br />
Robert S. Wood, who makes suggestions<br />
for changes that will produce more effective<br />
foreign policy in the coming century.<br />
Professor Wood is the holder of the Chester<br />
W. Nimitz Chair of National Security<br />
at the United States Naval War College in<br />
Newport, Rhode Island. He served in Newport<br />
as Dean of the Chief of Naval Operations<br />
Strategic Studies Group. Wood was<br />
also Dean (later, Dean Emeritus) of the<br />
Center for Naval Warfare Studies, a focal<br />
point of strategic and campaign thought<br />
in the naval services and a major research<br />
group in the national security field.<br />
Vicious Habits: Sexually<br />
Transmitted Infections among<br />
Black and White<br />
Union Army Veterans<br />
Sven Wilson et al.<br />
Sven and his collaborators (Christopher<br />
Roudiez, Heather Desomer, Coralee Lewis<br />
and Noelle Yetter) analyzed a random<br />
sample of 15,049 white veterans and 5,329<br />
black veterans of the US Civil War examined<br />
by physicians between 1890 and<br />
1906. They calculated a period prevalence<br />
of STI of 1.2–1.7% among whites and 4.2–<br />
8.0% among blacks, even though blacks<br />
and whites had almost identical prevalence<br />
of STIs in their wartime medical records.<br />
Furthermore, they found evidence that<br />
Board physicians were on the lookout for<br />
STIs among black veterans that could be<br />
used to justify denial of pension support.<br />
With or without STIs, blacks were rejected<br />
at roughly twice the rate of whites during<br />
this time period. Currently, racial disparities<br />
are even higher today than in this historical<br />
period, with blacks currently having<br />
a 5–15 times higher incidence than whites.<br />
The authors invite a critical reflection upon<br />
practices of screening and measurement<br />
systems to assess properly the degree to<br />
which racial prejudice may be part of these<br />
systems.Their article will be featured in a<br />
forthcoming publication of the Journal of<br />
Applied History.
ISSUE<br />
31<br />
27<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
27
FACULTY IN THE NEWS<br />
WEDNESDAY, JULY 21ST, 2021<br />
ON TOP OF MIND<br />
Vice President Kamala Harris is now responsible for voting rights and illegal immigration.<br />
Each responsibility is a big-ticket, divisive issue that could spell either victory or doom for<br />
her likeliness of becoming president in the future. Questions surrounding these duties and the<br />
pros and cons of the VP heading such important assignments are discussed on Top of Mind by<br />
historian Grant Madsen and political scientist Chris Karpowitz here: https://www.byuradio.<br />
org/95c1cfe9<br />
TUESDAY, AUGUST 19TH, 2021<br />
ON TOP OF MIND<br />
President Biden’s execution of removing U.S. troops from Afghanistan is what some regard<br />
as a catastrophe, citing the supplies and people he left behind. Others have the opposite view:<br />
that it was worth it, because our soldiers are now home rather than fighting a losing battle.<br />
The political consequences President Biden will face as a result of his decision, and how<br />
he will weather the storm, are discussed further with BYU professors Chris Karpowitz and<br />
Grant Madsen in this episode: https://www.byuradio.org/0d63bf6d<br />
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2021<br />
ON TOP OF MIND<br />
After Texas passed controversial law SB 8– effectively banning abortion after 6 weeks, when<br />
a fetal heartbeat is detectable– the issue of abortion is once again the hot topic for politicians<br />
across the nation. Even when compared to other issues met with similarly fiery debate, such<br />
as gun control or the death penalty, abortion seems to almost be in a category of its own.<br />
We’ve had half a century to live with Roe v. Wade, yet it hasn’t gotten any less sensational<br />
since its origin almost exactly 50 years ago.<br />
The core issue is that abortion is centered around two fundamental and very different ideas of<br />
how American freedom and responsibility are defined. Why is abortion such a major issue,<br />
and why does it matter? Regular Top of Mind guests Chris Karpowitz and Grant Madsen<br />
dissect the situation in this episode: https://www.byuradio.org/0fcc4eba<br />
28<br />
28
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH, 2021<br />
ON TOP OF MIND<br />
The 2020 election saw a record voter turnout, in which 66.8% of the eligible voting<br />
population turned up at the polls. Yet, the state or city elections that occur between<br />
major elections see turnout as little as 10%.<br />
Off-year city elections provide an opening for well-organized groups to influence local<br />
policy, sometimes even against the interest of the general electorate. BYU political<br />
science professor Adam Dynes explains the reasoning, advantages, and disadvantages<br />
of off-year elections. Listen to the episode here: https://www.byuradio.org/bc769d78<br />
ISSUE<br />
31<br />
FACULTY IN THE NEWS<br />
29<br />
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14TH, 2021<br />
ON TOP OF MIND<br />
What do children, privacy, and a whistleblower have in common? They’re all factors in<br />
Congress’s latest clash with private business: the fight against Facebook. Facebook is<br />
under fire after a whistleblower testified that its executives are not only aware of the harm<br />
Facebook is causing– whether through voter manipulation, unauthorized data collection, or<br />
its negative effects on teenagers’ mental health– but are also attempting to conceal it.<br />
Listen to regulars Chris Karpowitz and Grant Madsen describe Congress’s grievances with<br />
the social media giant, as well as what this involvement could mean for the future of media<br />
monopolies, here: https://www.byuradio.org/9bfa0106<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
29
CLOSING THOUGHT<br />
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS<br />
Four score and seven years ago our forefathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation,<br />
conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.<br />
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived<br />
and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have<br />
come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their<br />
lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.<br />
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this<br />
ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above<br />
our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say<br />
here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated<br />
here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.<br />
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from<br />
these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full<br />
measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain<br />
-- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the<br />
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.<br />
30<br />
30<br />
ABRAHAM LINCOLN<br />
NOVEMBER 19, 1863
ISSUE<br />
31<br />
31<br />
THE SYAHIM MAG<br />
31
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