The path to citizenship

Immigration proposals must be kept tough, fair, and simple, writes Political Science Professor Peter Skerry in op-eds for the Boston Globe and The Weekly Standard.

Margaret Thatcher's Legacy

In many ways former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died yesterday at age 87, pioneered the path that Ronald Reagan later followed, said Political Science Professor Marc Landy.

The North Korea Threat

Earlier this week North Korea urged all foreign companies and tourists to leave South Korea, saying they are on the eve of a nuclear war. Political Science Assistant Professor Peter Krause discussed the threat in an interview with NECN.

The Gridlock Illusion

If Washington seems to get much less done than it once did, it is partly because it is trying to do so much more, writes O'Neill Professor of American Politics R. Shep Melnick in the latest edition of the Wilson Quarterly. The piece was featured Jan. 25 by RealClearPolicy.com.

The Foley abduction

Political Science Assistant Professor Peter Krause discussed unfolding events in the Middle East in light of the abduction of journalist James Foley in Syria in an interview with NECN.

Inauguration of Sacrifice

President Obama must use his second Inaugural to speak—loudly and clearly—about the sacrifices we will all be called upon to make to restore the nation to fiscal sanity, writes Political Science Professor Marc Landy for WBUR's "Cognoscenti"

Third way on immigration

Instead of deportation or amnesty, the U.S. should adopt legalization without citizenship, writes Political Science Professor Peter Skerry in the Los Angeles Times. | The op-ed was drawn from a longer piece on the subject he wrote for National Affairs.

"Lasting Contribution Award"

R. Shep Melnick, the Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. Professor of American Politics at Boston College, has received the 2012 "Lasting Contribution Award." This award is given annually for a book or journal article, ten years or older, that has made a lasting impression on the field of law and courts.

Muslims in Europe

Political Science Associate Professor Jonathan Laurence discussed Muslim integration and implications for increasing cultural tensions in Germany in an interview on NPR-Berlin, and addressed the differences between French and German policies towards Muslim-origin minorities with ParisBerlin Magazine. | He delivered the Daimler Lecture at the American Academy in Berlin, where he is currently a fellow. Video

The Final Presidential Debate

The polls show the presidential race to be about even as President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney meet face-to-face for their final debate tonight. Political Science Assistant Professor Peter Krause joined "The Morning Show" to discuss some of the key foreign policy issues that will be discussed. NECN

Integration or Emancipation?

Political Science Associate Professor Jonathan Laurence, currently a Daimler Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, looked at the degree to which Muslims in Europe have become truly emancipated, U.S. democratization policy in the Middle East and North Africa, and other issues in a series of op-eds this fall for German national newspapers (presented here in English). Der Tagesspiegel | Die Tageszeitung | Süddeutsche Zeitung

The (Foreign) Language of U.S. Politics

At what point should we start describing our liberal-democratic heritage as under threat? And what should our appropriate language be for discussing it?, asks Political Science Professor Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life. Chronicle of Higher Education Review

The promise of democracy
American democracy is failing to live up to expectations, according to Moakley Professor of Political Science Kay Lehman Schlozman, who is co-author of The Unheavenly Chorus: Unequal Political Voice and the Broken Promise of American Democracy, an extension of her research on civic participation. BC Chronicle

Election 2012, "Occupy" Anniversary
Political Science Professor Marc Landy comments on the Massachusetts race for the U.S. Senate in the Wall Street Journal, as well as on the latest presidential election polls and a planned reunion to mark the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Boston movement for the Boston Herald.

Wrong Signals
The Cologne court's decision to halt non-medical circumcisions earlier this summer marks a new low for religious freedom in 21st century Europe, Political Science Associate Professor Jonathan Laurence, currently a Daimler Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, writes for the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. | In English

U.S. and the Middle East
In two interviews with NECN, Political Science Assistant Professor Peter Krause discussed the uprisings in the Middle East and the political impact for the U.S., as well as the ramifications of No Easy Day, the controversial new book written by a former Navy SEAL that focuses on the covert operation that took down Osama bin Laden.

Election 2012
GOP nominee Mitt Romney could still use his recent tough talk to his advantage in battleground states with the right strategy, experts including Political Science Associate Professor Dennis Hale tell the Boston Herald.

The People with no Washington Lobby
New research points to a disturbing fact: While some Americans are well represented in the multibillion-dollar influence game, others have no place at the table at all, writes Moakley Professor of Political Science Kay Schlozman, co-author of a piece in the "Ideas" section of the Boston Sunday Globe.

The Ryan Choice
Every so often a presidential campaign prompts a profound national debate rather than simply a choice between candidates and parties. Paul Ryan's place on the ticket makes it likely that 2012 will prove to be such an epochal election, writes Political Science Professor Marc Landy for WBUR's "Cognoscenti".

Politics and Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand is back in the news thanks to GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. In the academy, Rand is a nonperson whose theories are works of fiction and whose works of fiction are theories, and bad ones at that, writes Political Science Professor Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life. Chronicle of Higher Education

Health Care Ruling and the White House
Last week's Supreme Court decision has been heralded as a major political victory for President Obama. So is it time to celebrate at the White House? Not so fast, Political Science Associate Professor Dennis Hale said in an interview with Boston Magazine.

"The Other America"
There are good reasons why Michael Harrington's The Other America: Poverty in the United States, published in 1962, ought to be remembered, writes Political Science Professor Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, who also asks: Has it become more difficult to make rampant economic inequality central, in such morally compelling terms, to the public conversation today? Chronicle of Higher Education Review

The Campaign Trail
Moakley Professor of Political Science Kay Schlozman commented on women and big-ticket campaign donations. ABC News

The Campaign Trail
Political Science Professor Marc Landy discussed GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's trip to Israel. Boston Herald | The U.S. Supreme Court was right to curb the federal government on Medicaid, Landy wrote to the "Cognoscenti" perspective pages of WBUR.org.

Berlin Prize Fellow
Political Science Associate Professor Jonathan Laurence is among recipients of the prestigious Berlin Prize fellowship, awarded by The American Academy in Berlin, for advanced research in a range of academic and cultural fields. BC News Release | His op-ed on the 50th anniversary of Algerian independence was published by Foreign Policy, and he was interviewed about church-state relations and Islam in Europe by the major French-language Catholic newspaper La Croix.

A new Muslim generation
A new generation of American-raised Muslims is emerging that will undoubtedly help Muslims adapt and integrate to our changing society and culture, writes Political Science Professor Peter Skerry. Worcester Telegram and Gazette

Political civility
Political Science Professor Marc Landy, co-author of the book Presidential Greatness, discussed civility in politics and among presidents past and present in an interview with USAToday.

Voice and Equality Honored
Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics, co-written by Moakley Professor of Political Science Kay L. Schlozman, has won the 2012 American Association for Public Opinion Research Book Award, which recognizes "influential books that have stimulated thinking about the substance and study of public opinion."

Emancipation of Europe's Muslims
The Emancipation of Europe's Muslims by Political Science Associate Professor Jonathan Laurence, who recently chaired a working group on ethnic minorities and foreign policy convened by the Secretary General of the British Commonwealth, is "perhaps the subtlest and most solidly researched analysis of European policies toward Islam," according to a review in Foreign Affairs, and "establishes firm ground for hope" that the cycle of exclusion and violence will be defused.

The Muslim-American muddle
A decade after 9/11, America has reached a political and intellectual stalemate regarding the Muslims in its midst, writes Political Science Professor Peter Skerry. National Affairs

James Q. Wilson (1931-2012)
Influential scholar and political scientist James Q. Wilson, who in 2009 became the first senior fellow at BC's Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy, has died at age 80. For an appreciation of Professor Wilson's legacy, see this review, written in 2010, by Professor Shep Melnick.

Cooperation and Competition
Professor of Political Science Robert Ross, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses the complexities of the relationship between the U.S. and China in an interview with Voice of Russia Radio.

Election Year Politics Abroad
It may be election-year gold, but restricting or demonizing Islamic practices could push disaffected youth toward those with radical agendas, Political Science Associate Professor Jonathan Laurence, author of The Emancipation of Europe's Muslims, said in an extended interview with the Christian Science Monitor.

Political civility
Political Science Professor Marc Landy, co-author of the book Presidential Greatness, discussed civility in politics and among presidents past and present in an interview with USAToday.

How to Integrate Europe's Muslims
Only by strengthening the democratic rights of Muslim citizens can Europe integrate immigrants and give full meaning to the abstract promise of religious liberty, writes Political Science Associate Professor Jonathan Laurence in the New York Times. His latest book, The Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims, is reviewed by The Economist.

Immigration and Politics
Last week presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich proposed granting legal status-but not citizenship-to some of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. Political Science Professor Peter Skerry looks at which party is likelier to benefit from this latest round of immigration politics in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.

Ken Kersch, professor in the political science department and the Director of the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy, interviewed Gary Jacobsohn of the University of Texas-Austin for Polity's first podcast, Volume 43, Issue 4. Kersch is an Editorial Board member of Polity.

The GOP Race
The upset victory by former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina primary has dealt a setback to former front-runner Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Political Science Professor Marc Landy assessed the situation in an interview with NPR's WBUR-FM.

Barney Frank Retirement
Political Science Professor Marc Landy was among experts interviewed about Mass. Congressman Barney Frank's announcement that he would not seek reelection. USA Today

Europe and the Arab Spring
Will the Arab Spring end the European Union’s current approach to the southern Mediterranean and lead to more serious support for democratization? Political Science Associate Professor Jonathan Laurence writes in the journal World Politics Review | His latest book, The Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims, is reviewed by The Economist.

Chinese Nationalism and Its Discontents
At no time since the end of the Cold War have U.S.-China relations been worse. Equally troubling, this raising of tensions is not only unnecessary but also potentially costly to the United States, according to a piece by Political Science Professor Robert Ross in The National Interest.

Burying the Hatchet
The long arduous and incomplete process of civilizing humankind and suppressing its most violent impulses is the subject of a book review by James Q. Wilson, distinguished scholar in the Political Science Department and senior fellow at the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy, for the Wall Street Journal.

The Jobs Plan Push
Political Science Professor Marc Landy said the president is coming late to the game with his plan but also outlines the consequences for the GOP should its members reject the plan outright. NECN

Political Science major Angela Donkor ’12 has received the 'Spirit of Taylor Michaels' Award at the 2011 Leadership Conference held by the Magic Johnson Foundation (MJF).

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
A new translation of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, by Behrakis Professor Robert C. Bartlett and University of Houston political scientist Susan Collins (BC Ph.D. 1994) is the subject of a recent review, in The New York Times Book, by political theorist Harry V. Jaffa.

Bin Laden's Burial
News that 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was swiftly buried at sea and in "conformance with Islamic precepts and practices" left some scholars confused and many Americans skeptical. Islamic Civilization and Societies Associate Director Kathleen Bailey's comments on the subject are highlighted by RNN (Raycom News Network), in a piece running nationally and written by Joseph Neese A&S '10.

Political Science Professor Peter Skerry discusses the U.S. Muslim community with WGBH-TV 'Greater Boston,' in an op-ed for the Christian Science Monitor and in a Q&A with the International Business Times.

As the clock ticks toward a government shutdown, which will begin at 12:01 Saturday morning if no deal is reached, Political Science Professor Marc Landy discussed the president's approach to the situation and the impact of a shutdown with Fox News Boston and the Christian Science Monitor.

Robert Bartlett, BC's first Behrakis Professor, sees value in study of classical political philosophy.

Junior political science major Angela Donkor adds the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Award to a lengthy list of achievements.

Revolution in Egypt
Political Science Professor Ali Banuazizi, director of BC's Islamic Civilization and Societies program, provides perspective on the revolution in Egypt on NECN. View interview with Al Jazeera.

Modern World, Ancient Questions
BC's first Behrakis Professor, Robert Bartlett, sees value in study of classical political philosophy. BC Chronicle | Faculty website