REAL ID Considered: Is the REAL ID a Real Solution?
The United States Federal Government has considered the concept of a national identification program for several years and the interest has only increased since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The current system, with information of varying quality collected, stored, and utilized by the individual states, is inefficient at best and a significant hindrance at […]
Public Security in Private Hands: American Intelligence Goes Corporate
In 2006, under considerable pressure from the public to provide information about the use of tax dollars in matters of national security, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) conducted the first comprehensive study of the use of private intelligence contractors since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Alarmingly, it found that […]
Fields Without Fences? Negotiating the Net
In the 1960s, the Cold War was in full swing. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) had launched the first artificial satellite into space, giving their country the advantage in space over its major rival, the United States. For the first time, the threat of weapons, known as intercontinental ballistic missiles, hung over the […]
Let’s Get This Party Started: The Moderate Challenge in Rhode Island
In Rhode Island, a new third party, the Moderate Party of Rhode Island, hopes to challenge Democratic Party dominance with a message of fiscal conservatism and pragmatic policymaking. In a region long seen as bastion of liberalism, with only token opposition representation in the legislature, can it be successful in reigniting and shaping political debate […]
Raising or Razing the American Family? Reforming Parental Leave
Family leave policies in the workplace have traditionally focused on women, reflecting traditional American cultural values that assign a dominant role for mothers in the child rearing process. Recent research shows that this framework neglects the role fathers can play. Parents learn the “maternal instinct” through caring for a child in the initial stages of […]