Politics

The Limits of Presidential Power

Category: 

In my operational risk seminar this spring, students ranked and then restacked and ranked the top operational risks present in our world.  No one was especially pleased with the results, and the top three risks – cyber-threats, global uncertainty, and terrorism – seemed nearly interchangeable, depending upon the month. As we came to the end of the quarter – particularly with the terrorism acts in Manchester, London, and Tehran -- “global uncertainty” seemed to encapsulate the other two risks, particularly when the elections in France and Great Britain are taken into account along with the performance of the U.S. president on his first diplomatic trip abroad. 

read more..

Latest Posts in Politics

“The Rule of Lies” Why it Matters. What Can We Do?

A lie serves the liar’s interests, often at the expense of others.  It also destroys social trust and undermines our democracy.  How can we redeem our civic discourse after Trump? Looking beyond the immediate political crisis, we should begin even now to think about how to repair the damage.  What can we do?

 


“None Dare Call It Treason” – Yet!

“Treason” is an act of criminal disloyalty to the state, according to the dictionary.  It is especially egregious when you have been formally elected by the citizens to be the head of state and have sworn a public oath to “preserve, protect, and defend” it. 


“A Republic, If You Can Keep It”

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”


A Few Sad Aspects of Democracy

The deconstruction of some implicit premise for the democracy as we know today since the famous ancient Greek times could unveil some deficiency in the logic of the democracy (which are independent of how a democratic system is implemented) as we know today since the famous ancient Greek times, which might entail many social problems in the democratic system……


Risk Management and Mass Shootings

The risk explored here today is that of mass shootings. The question is whether we are doing all that we can to mitigate that risk – and whether, beyond some very straightforward laws that could be put in place, it is even possible to mitigate the risk.