Blog Entries - June 2009

Ethical Issues in Election Management

arterton@gwu.edu — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

The Iranian election fiasco reminds us that all democracies have operational problems in managing fault-free elections. Not to equate our problems with what appears to be massive and systematic fraud on the part of the Iranian government, but we all remember Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 and Minnesota in 2008. Here in the US, voter fraud and voter suppression constitute major ethical (and legal) problems for political managers who will cross the line in an all-out eff [...]

Is President Obama leading a movement?

bryce222@gwu.edu — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

When he announced the formation of Organizing For America, President Obama commented that his viewers, the American people, "built the largest grassroots movement in history." In Iowa he proclaimed "you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do." In Grant Park on November 4th: "I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to--it belongs to you." He made it very clear that his campaign was not his, but the American people's. He created an image of [...]

Is politics recession proof?

bryce222@gwu.edu — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Over the last few days, people at the Campaigns and Elections "The Art of Political Campaigning" conference here in Washington, DC have commented that the profession of politics is not being hit by the recession like other industries are. When I posted this on Twitter, many disagreed. One tweet commented that the profession has been hit hard by the recession. To find an answer to this debate, I interviewed a number of people at the conference and asked them what they thought. In the [...]

The New Young Republicans

angelaf@gwu.edu — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Yesterday, the Young Republicans elected a new national leadership. When we were in Indianapolis at their convention, we wondered how the voting works.

Here is the answer:

[video:http://vimeo.com/5540382 350x425]

Current Students Talk About The GSPM

bryce222@gwu.edu — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

A few weekends ago, a group of GSPM students helped to recruit some new students to the program. In return for their help, Professor Chuck Cushman, the Director of The Political Management Program, invited them to dinner at his house. Over pasta a few of them talked about why they like the program, here is what they said.

Beth Breeding, a first year student, had this to say:

-The people in this program are great. I've really enjoyed meeting them and learning more about poli [...]

Take the Twitter Challenge

bryce222@gwu.edu — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I was in San Diego over the weekend, and in a small Mexican resturant not far from the beach, my friends and I came up with the Twitter Challenge.

We all know that Twitter is a great way to advertise, to update friends on what you are doing, to find events, and to make friends. But it is also a great way to find information and the people that have information. This led us to ask, "What if someone set out to write a college research paper, using nothing but Twitter as a research g [...]

GSPM Student Working for Obama

bryce222@gwu.edu — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

This summer in Washington, DC, there is nothing more coveted than an Executive Branch internship.

One GSPM student, Thomas Sanford, was talented enough to get one, specifically, in The Office of Space Commercialization. I asked Tommy to tell us a little bit about his internship:

"I just started my summer internship with the Office of Space Commercialization, whose activities fall underneath the jurisdiction of the Executive Branch. The Office of Space Comme [...]