Thanksgiven
11.27.2006The break was too short. Too short, indeed. But I got to drive down to Wilmington to see Andy, my parents (who're back in the US), and Saloumeh. Andy made pork & side dishes, and we enjoyed some wine & conversation. We also taught our parents to play poker. Sadly, I had to take breaks at times to grade a few more papers (I actually didn't finish grading until Sunday night). Despite the traffic, a really good visit.
Continue reading "Thanksgiven"Goble goble
11.22.2006I set off for Wilmington in about an hour. Tomorrow's the official holiday. But since I'm leaving the holiday & Kaneda behind (but, yes, I will bring papers to grade), I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
More thoughts on life in Carlisle & Bolivian politics after I get back. Though wedding planning will likely take over large chunks of my day. My final project? Burn about 100 mixed CDs for the wedding guests. I'll have the final playlist by Monday, I hope.
A trip down memory lane
11.20.2006I've just uploaded 37 photos that predate the digital age. It's part of the wedding project. You know, those little slide shows of old photographs from across the ages meant to embarras & amuse? I still have to add some digital age photos from Kaneda, but you can view some old shots of my childhood at my Flickr site. And, for your viewing pleasure, here's a slideshow version. Just imagine it's going along to The Pixies' "Here Comes Your Man" (my wedding theme).
BTW, Mom or Dad, if you think I labelled any of the dates incorrectly, let me know.
The rich get richer, the poor stay poor
11.18.2006I came up w/ this little simulation & tried it w/ my Friday comparative politics students. It was a great success (and lots of fun for the students). So. I thought I'd share this simple little in-class simulation on economic development.
Continue reading "The rich get richer, the poor stay poor"The only game in town?
11.18.2006Technorati tags: Bolivia politics Evo Morales
Just a quick note on Bolivia's constituent assembly (I'm swamed w/ grading). Seems MAS has decided to impose its will w/o compromise over the rest of the constituent assembly delegates — votes in the CA will be based on simple majority rules (see La Razón article). Majority rule sounds quite democratic to most people. But modern liberal democracy also rests, of course, on minority rights. But more importantly, modern liberal democracies also relly on broad consensus (or even "pacts") that reduce the willingness to seek extra-constitutional means (e.g. military coups, secession, civil war, etc.) to secure one's interests. Riding roughshod over the opposition — especially one w/ a sizeable (and powerful) constituency — is dangerous.
Continue reading "The only game in town?"Visits & travels
11.15.2006Jake's visiting from Kalamazoo, as he decides whether he'd like to move to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. Since little Carlisle's between the two points, he stopped by for a quick visit. I hope he had as much time catching up as I did.
And this afternoon I drive K8 down to DC. From there, she flies to a conference & then to Chicago. I won't see her until the big day. On the plus side, that makes the event more interesting. It also gives me two weeks to focus on grading (I'm swamped!) & other work-related activities. In two weeks we fly back together — as Mr. & Mrs.
From the other side of the table
11.13.2006So. My political science department is hiring a new person to teach Middle East politics (it's a new position at the college). This is my first chance to see what the hiring process looks like "from the other side" (so to speak). And since I'll be back on the job market in a year, I'm taking the opportunity to learn how departments make these crucial decisions. It's certainly a learning experience. I'm also impressed that I (despite being a two-year contract replacement) actually get to vote on the candidates. How crazy is that?
Also, my papers (both of them) were approved for the April MPSA conference. So now I have to start writing both of them. But they're related, so it won't be bad. The first is on the switch from "parliamentarized presidentialism" to "pure presidentialism" in Bolivia since 2003 — and the possible implications. The second is an analysis of the 2006 constituent assembly election.
Posted by Miguel at 03:20 PM | Permalink
Swamped
11.12.2006My Latin American politics students (24 of them) just handed in their 10-12 page papers. I've gotta get 'em graded before Friday, when my comparative politics students (68 of them) hand in their 8-10 page research papers. Why do I do this to myself? It'd be so easy to just "dumb down" the course. But I gotta get all that done, plus my course prep work, plus writing my syllabi for next semester, plus all the final wedding preparations. I just gotta keep on thinking that in less than two months I'll be Rome.
Colbert nation?
11.10.2006If you watch Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, you've probably noticed that Stephen Colbert, the political news show's satirical host (not to be confused w/ Jon Stewart) has conducted a series of interviews w/ congressional representatives — and candidates — for his "Better Know a District" series. Well, it seems there's a "Colbert Bump" in politic. Every candidate (incumbent or otherwise, Democrat & GOP) that was interviewed on his show was elected on Tuesday — including those in close races! Even though his interviews were entirely satirical, often deliberately mocking the candidates directly. I can't think of a single example of a candidate Colbert interviewed that didn't win in 2006. Are we a Colber nation? After all, Time did name him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
One exception, of course, is Lamont. Colber did, in fact, interview Lamont (who, btw, did better than polling suggested). But he didn't get interviewed in the "Better Know a District" segment, which is what I'm specifically referencing.
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ADDENDUM: Seems I was too hasty, some of the interviewees (particularly challengers) didn't actually win in '06. But of the 28 sitting Represenatatives that were interviewed, all 28 were re-elected in '06. That's still pretty impressive. And the John Hall interview did seem to put the come-from-nowhere challenger over the top (the incumbent, Sue Kelly, had held the seat for 12 years).
Posted by Miguel at 12:57 PM | Permalink
Center-right realignment
11.08.2006The election's over. Mostly. And it does look like the Dems eeked out narrow majorities in both houses. As a referendum on Bush & the GOP, it seems the voters have decided to punish the ruling party. But I'm not so sure if many of the most vocal Dems of the last several years will have much to celebrate. This isn't original — it's the new meme of the political blogosphere — but I agree w/ it: The 2006 election consolidated a center-right majority.
Continue reading "Center-right realignment"Voting (& other news)
11.07.2006I voted today in Pennsylvania. I was surprised at how quickly the whole thing went — though it was morning & I was the only person there to vote at the time. It took the polling volunteers all of two minutes to get me ready to vote; the machine was extremely simple & user-friendly. So I was in & out in all of five minutes. Not bad, eh?
Continue reading "Voting (& other news)"Go Devils
11.04.2006I'm constantly learning about the subtle, nuanced differences of teaching at small liberal arts school (and especially one w/ a two-centuries-old tradition). This was homecoming weekend at Dickinson, and it's more than just about football. Actually, the football stadium is smaller than my high school stadium (Arthur Hill — go Lumberjacks!). So it's mostly about alumni & parents visiting.
While I didn't have any parent-teacher conferences, I did participate in the political science department's "Open House" presentation. Five faculty members gave presentations to a room of 40+ parents on "The State of the World" (I spoke about Latin America's recent political "shift to the left"). I fretted for a few days about how to put together a presentation (and, yes, I used PowerPoint) for college parents (I'm entirely unfamiliar w/ that audience). But in the end, it was a pleasant experience. I think the parents enjoyed it; but I certainly enjoyed hearing some of my new colleagues' ideas on various international matters. Bottom line: it was fun.
From there, I stopped by the Dickinson football game. It was nice, though we left before it ended (it was just too cold). But the Red Devils did indeed beat Gettysburg College (30-14) — which also means they won the Centennial Cup (the conference Dickinson's in). Cool.
42 regions
11.02.2006Technorati tags: Bolivia politics
MABB beat me to punch on this one: The Bolivian government unveiled a proposal — for discussion at the constituent assembly (CA) — to politically subdivide the country's territory into 42 regional subunits. These units would operate below the departmental level (9 departments) & above the municipal level (327 municipalities). MABB is (w/ good reasons) skeptical of the proposal. I disagree.