181 Posts Found

Everyone shares a similar moral compass about right and wrong, but where liberals and conservatives disagree is about who counts as a victim, according to new research.

The study in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin introduces the concept of “assumptions of vulnerability”—people’s beliefs about who is especially susceptible to harm, mistreatment, and victimization—and finds that these assumptions explain why people from the right and left reach … [ Read more ]

Author: Daniela Goya-Tocchetto | Source: Futurity (August 28, 2026) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy

“International law is a threat to democracy and to the hopes of democratic politics all over the world,” writes law professor Jed Rubenfeld. Here, his provocative, timely thesis.

Author: Jed Rubenfeld | Source: The Wilson Quarterly (Autumn2003) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Foreign Policy, International, Law | Legal

Phi Beta Kappa are the initials of a Greek phrase: philosophia biou kybernetes, “Philosophy, the pilot of life.” Philosophia is clear; biou is as in biology, the science of life; and kybernetes just lets you recognize the related word “governor.”

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We live in a democracy that is generally said to be characterized by two ideals: liberty and equality. These watchwords peculiarly define American democracy. Its … [ Read more ]

Author: Eva T. H. Brann | Source: The Key Reporter (Summer1993) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Life & Society, Politics & Public Policy

Consider the following propositions: First, because human behavior is ultimately determined by outside factors, human beings cannot be held responsible for their actions. Second, punishment doesn’t work anyway. These propositions are legacies of modern psychology. And, the author argues, they are nonsense

Author: John Staddon | Source: The Atlantic (February1995) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Life & Society, Politics & Public Policy, Psychology | Behavior

For decades, American politics have relied on the same logic that polygraph machines do: that liars will feel some level of shame when they tell their lies, and that the shame will manifest—the quickened heartbeat, the pang of guilt—in the body. But the body politic is cheating the test with alarming ease. Some Americans believe the lies. Others refuse to. Some Americans recognize the lies’ … [ Read more ]

Author: Megan Garber | Source: The Atlantic (April 29, 2025) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy

Philosophically speaking, the right has long been defined by its emphasis on the value of stability — as odd as it may seem in the era of Trump’s radically destabilizing administration.

Conservative theorists, most notably Edmund Burke, have long maintained that political flourishing depends on the existence of stable social rules developed gradually and from the bottom up over the course of generations. Those who seek … [ Read more ]

Author: Zack Beauchamp | Source: Vox (June 11, 2025) | Subjects: America, Articles & Links, Excerpts, International, Politics & Public Policy

The Republican Party stands for lower taxes, especially on the rich; lower spending on programs for the poor; and big spending on defense. That’s what Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan, and other figures who defined the party have all stood for, for nearly half a century now… The essential Republican message may become blurred around the edges, the way that George W. Bush messed … [ Read more ]

Author: Dylan Matthews | Source: Vox (May 22, 2025) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy

University of Chicago economists Kerwin Kofi Charles and Erik Hurst… along with Nikolai Roussanov of the University of Pennsylvania… found… insight into the economic differences between racial groups… [that] challenges common assumptions about luxury. Conspicuous consumption, this research suggests, is not an unambiguous signal of personal affluence. It’s a sign of belonging to a relatively poor group. Visible luxury thus serves less to establish … [ Read more ]

Author: Virginia Postrel | Source: The Atlantic (July2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Culture, Demographics, Economics | Economy, Excerpts

And that’s okay.

Author: Julie Beck | Source: The Atlantic (June 2, 2025) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Personal Improvement, Psychology | Behavior

Financial bubbles are like epidemics— and we should treat them both the same way.

Author: Robert J. Shiller | Source: The Atlantic (July2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Economics | Economy, Excerpts

Public anxiety over “excessive” consumer debt has a long, and misguided, history.

Author: Virginia Postrel | Source: The Atlantic (November2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Economics | Economy, Excerpts

What would you do if your son wanted to be a girl? Some doctors have a new and troubling answer.

Author: Hanna Rosin | Source: The Atlantic (November2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Ethics | Integrity | Morality, Excerpts, Health & Medicine, Individuality, Life & Society, Psychology | Behavior, Sociology | Anthropology

An evolving approach to the science of pleasure suggests that each of us contains multiple selves—all with different desires, and all fighting for control. If this is right, the pursuit of happiness becomes even trickier. Can one self bind” another self if the two want different things? Are you always better off when a Good Self wins? And should outsiders, such as employers and policy … [ Read more ]

Author: Paul Bloom | Source: The Atlantic (November2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Psychology | Behavior

Airport security in America is a sham—“security theater” designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items—as our correspondent did with ease.

Author: Jeffrey Goldberg | Source: The Atlantic (November2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy, Terrorism

Why asset bubbles are a part of the human condition that regulation can’t cure.

Author: Virginia Postrel | Source: The Atlantic (December2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Culture, Economics | Economy, Excerpts, Psychology | Behavior, Sociology | Anthropology

A series of vampire novels illuminates the complexities of female adolescent desire.

Author: Caitlin Flanagan | Source: The Atlantic (December2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Literature | Arts, Psychology | Behavior

There is more than one way to get a rogue state to change its ways.

Author: Robeert S. Litwak | Source: The Wilson Quarterly (Autumn2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Foreign Policy

Many of our worst fears about America’s voters are true.

Author: Larry M. Bartels | Source: The Wilson Quarterly (Autumn2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Culture, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy

From afar, America’s presidential contests often look more like playground antics than a shining example of democracy. But looks can be deceiving.

Author: Denis MacShane | Source: The Wilson Quarterly (Autumn2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, International, Politics & Public Policy

“Pollsters and pundits” has become a dismissive epithet in modern politics. Pollsters, at least, deserve much better.

Author: Scott Keeter | Source: The Wilson Quarterly (Autumn2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy