Morris Fiorina: “I would love to believe that Obama read 'Culture Wars'”
If there is an afterlife, I hope that Professor Lasswell has a sense of humor. Those of us in the rational choice school operate with a minimalist conception of human psychology (our critics say an impoverished conception), whereas Lasswell believed that Freudian psychology was the key to understanding human behavior. Oh well, perhaps there are similarities between us that I am unaware of. All false modesty aside, I can be brief. When the letter arrived instructing me to speak for five-seven minutes tonight on my contributions to public policy I was somewhat taken aback because I was not aware that…
Read MoreDoes Race Still Matter to African-American Children in Obama’s America?
On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the first African American to be sworn in as President of the United States. In the days that followed, a debate has emerged over whether the nation is entering a new “post-racial” phase. While actor Will Smith claims that “all our excuses have been removed” and Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina declared that “every child has lost every excuse,” New York Times columnist Charles Blow has strenuously objected that black children face “enormous and ingrained obstacles.” Which view is more accurate? How are we to square the election of the nation’s first black…
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