The HPR has a unique process for choosing covers topics. Before the selection meeting, staff and contributors submit proposals with a brief description of the topic and a list of potential articles. After a group discussion, we vote to narrow the field to the two or three best proposals, and then continue to vote until one garners a majority. Typically, ... Read More
Predicting political realignment Most discussions of youth politics tout blog posts and text messages rather than grand realignments. Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube & the Future of American Politics goes for the latter, and makes the case that America is at the crossroads of a political realignment driven by the distinct character of Millennials. Though the book’s title references new media, ... Read More
The importance of community-based responses to gang violence Gang violence devastates American urban life. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 2000 there were over 24,000 gangs and over 700,000 gang members nationwide. The Child Trends Databank reports that almost three-quarters of teen deaths resulted from gang violence in 2002. These statistics bespeak the necessity of combating gang violence ... Read More
This past Monday Justin Cosby, 21, was shot in the basement of Kirkland House, one of Harvard’s twelve residences for upperclassmen. The tragic events were a huge surprise to a campus neck deep in finals, papers, and graduation preparations. Basic facts such as why Cosby was in a Harvard residence, how he gained entrance, and the identities of the assailants ... Read More
Every time I read a strategy memo for the next Republican party, I panic a little. It’s a sudden fear – oh no, what if they figure it out this time? – that quickly subsides, because usually the argument is poor enough that the party to which I happen to be illogically loyal has little to fear. But when intelligent ... Read More
Social issues move off center stage At the 1992 Republican National Convention, conservative media personality Pat Buchanan fired the opening salvos of the ongoing national culture war, declaring, “There is a religious war going on in our country…it is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we will one day be as was the Cold War itself.” ... Read More
Reconciling perceptions and realities of economic mobility in America
Oliver Stone sets his eyes on Bush
On a politically active and overwhelmingly liberal college campus such as Harvard, Barack Obama’s victory looks like a triumph for the youth vote. The impressive turnout to campus returns-watching events seemed the logical culmination of months of informal debate among students about the impending election and excitement surrounding absentee voting. The chants of “Yes, we can!” that erupted upon announcement ... Read More
