Muslim American Women and the Hijab: Dismantling the Patronizing Narrative
The role of the hijab and its significance to the women who wear it is frequently oversimplified. Muslim American women must navigate multiple levels of pressures, social sanctions, and conflicting ideologies when they choose whether or not to veil. This article seeks to organize the various social dimensions of hijab into three spheres: the general […]
Next Stop Taxachusetts: Finding Funds for a 21st Century Transportation System
“In light of the significant financial challenges the MBTA is currently facing, specifically its tremendous debt burden, the precipitous decline in the receipt of projected and dedicated revenues since the inception of Forward Funding, and perhaps most importantly the inability to finance billions of dollars worth of critical state of good repair projects, the MBTA’s […]
House Forces Dreamers to Wake Up: A Legislative History of the Dream Act
Opportunity is often synonymous with the ‘American dream,’ but for one group of young dreamers it is embodied in the form of a tangible document on Capitol Hill. Comprehensive immigration reform is an elusive prospect, but one that is seemingly picking up momentum after the 2012 Presidential race forced Republicans to face the growing influence […]
Bike Sharing the Benefits: An Evolution of Municipal Bike Sharing Programs
The winter cityscape of Boston is peppered with snow banks and heavy coats. The Hubway stations you see popping up overnight are a sure indicator that warmer weather is on the way. About to start its third season of operation, Hubway launched in the summer of 2011 as Boston’s first bike sharing program. Hubway may […]
Looking Across the Pond: What Republicans Can Learn from British Political Parties
As Americans listened to Ohio filling in the victory column for Barack Obama on Tuesday November 6th, many conservatives in the United States knew that their time was up; America elected the President for a second-term. Disappointment and frustration pervaded the Romney camp – American conservatism hit a crisis. When President Obama was elected in […]
A New View of Serving the People: Social Enterprise & Politics
Every four years we, as privileged citizens of the United States, get to participate in the world’s most highly publicized election. This cycle it was an HBO-worthy fight set up to determine how to best ‘serve the people’ as we continue to rebound from one of the worst economic collapses in our country’s history. In the […]
Compulsory Voting in the United States?
In the 2012 presidential election, only 56.8% of the eligible voting population chose to cast a ballot. Despite an eight million eligible population increase, five millions less ballots were cast than four years ago. The numbers for non-presidential election years are even lower, with only 37.8% of the eligible population having participated in the 2010 […]
Forecasting: 2016
Believe it or not, candidates have already started jockeying for the 2016 presidential race. Here is a quick look at which candidates have taken the early lead in the race for 2016. The Republicans: Paul Ryan The conservative heartthrob is almost certain to run in the 2016 campaign. He is now a household name and […]
Does Consensus Exist in the United States?
Today, the US is in a perpetual state of disagreement. As a nation in dissention, we can neither agree on when life begins or whether the death penalty should be outlawed. Disagreement is around every corner and appears to erode whatever semblance of a common ground once existed in the US. In Federalist Paper #2, […]
Voto Latino: A Profile of Latino Voters in the United States
Pandering is a time honored tradition in American politics, and the national party conventions this year are proof. The cast of speakers at the Republican National Convention were familiar: Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and Rand Paul among others; even more impressive was the lineup of Hispanic names alongside, including Governor Susana Martinez, Governor Luis Fortuño […]