Tag Archives: Governance / Law

Scholars’ Circle – Trump’s assualt on academic freedom; Book author interview – We the Men – March 23, 2025

March 23, 2025 host

The Trump Administration has launched full frontal political assaults on academic freedoms on college campuses. Both professors and students are being targeted for their political positions. Schools fear the loss of funding based on protests on campus and faculty political advocacy. And departments are being targeted not just for classes but also existentially, such as gender studies and Middle East studies. What does this mean for academic freedom, academic excellence, free speech and advocacy on college campuses? How does the attack on colleges and universities signal this countrys drive to authoritarianism. [ dur: 32mins. ]

Mark LeVine is Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History in the Department of History at UC Irvine. He is the author of Why They Don’t Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil and Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance and the Soul of Islam. He is also the co-editor of One Land, Two States: Israel and Palestine as Parallel States and Religion and Social Practices and Contested Hegemonies: Reconstructing the Public Sphere in Muslim Majority Societies.
David S. Meyer is Professor of Sociology, Political Science, and Planning, Policy, and Design at UC Irvine. He is the author of The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America and co-editor of The Resistance: The Dawn of the Anti-Trump Opposition Movement. His blog is Politics Outdoors.

American Flag background with silloette of Women protesting for the book cover We the Men , how forgetting Women's Struggles for Equality Prepetuates Inequality.

Have women’s stories been made invisible in the retelling of history and law? If so, what are the consequences of that? American history is too often told without the experiences of American women. And American Constitutional Law far too often reflects this invisibility by perpetuating inequality. Today’s guest has a new book on this historical invisibility and its consequences. Jill Hasday is the author of We the Men: How Forgetting Women’s Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality. [ dur: 26mins. ]

Jill Hasday is the distinguished McKnight University professor and Centennial professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She’s the author of Family Law Re-imagined, Intimate Lies in the Law, and her new book We the Men, how forgetting women’s Struggles for equality perpetuates inequality. She is editor-in-chief of Constitutional Commentary.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – The Suffragist Peace: How women gained voting rights and affected global politics – March 16, 2025

March 15, 2025 host

The expansion of the vote to women throughout the 20th Century has had an impact on the discourses and politics of war and peace. What is the relationship between women voting, electing women leaders, and women-lead groups in civil society on the issue of war and peace?
Does the expansion of the vote to women lead to the election of women as leaders? And are these leaders more committed to peace than their male counterparts? We explore a new book, The Suffragist Peace: How Women Shape the Politics of War..[ dur: 58mins. ]

Book cover of The Suffragist Peace, classic painting with woman in center against war and suffering

Joslyn Barnhart is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California Santa Barbara. She is also senior research scientist at Deep Mine in London. She is the author of The consequences of humiliation, anger, and status, threats in international politics
Robert F. Trager is a Professor in the political science department at the University of California, Los Angeles. He’s the author of a forthcoming book Diplomacy Communication and the Origins of International Order

Together they have authored The Suffragist Peace: How Women Shape the Politics of War

This interview was recorded April 2024.

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Scholars’ Circle – Trump’s violations of US Constitution – March 2, 2025

March 2, 2025 host

Is the US in a Constitutional crisis? Is the constitution itself a crisis? What are the specific actions of the Trump Administration that has led to this? How will the courts respond? And what is the unitary executive theory and how has it undermined the checks and balances of the system? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Heidi Kitrosser is Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She is the author of the book, Reclaiming Accountability: Transparency, Executive Power, and the U.S. Constitution, and the articles, The Shadow of Executive Privilege, and Accountability in the Deep State.
Sanford Levinson is W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School. He is the author of many publications including Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It) and Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance and, with Cynthia Levinson, Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today.

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Scholars’ Circle – Deep State, Public Services in a democracy – February 16, 2025

February 16, 2025 host

The Trump Administration is actively seeking to destroy the public service and the protections offered by government. What does this mean for the future of the democracy and for the future of the country? Who will will stand up for public services that we’ve long come to rely on for public safety, clean water, air, health and financial protections? What is the role of the courts in preventing Trump’s complete takeover of the government. Can the courts slow down the the destruction of the public service? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Mark Tushnet is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School. He’s the author of The Pasts and Futures of the Administrative State And Trust the science, do your research. Comment on the unfortunate revival of the progressive case for the administrative state.
Stephen Skowronek is Pelatiah Perit Professor of Political Science and Professor in the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University. His publications include, The Policy State: An American Predicament, The Search for American Political Development and co-author of the book Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and the Unitary Executive
John A. Dearborn is a Assistant Professor of Political Science and Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Dean’s Faculty Fellow at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Power Shifts: Congress and Presidential Representation and co-author of the Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and the Unitary Executive.

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Scholars’ Circle – Immigrants to US and how they are treated by its Laws and Executive power of US Presidents – February 9, 2025

February 9, 2025 host

What exactly is the political, physical, and existential meanings of borders? Borders are human creations but often define state and national boundaries and even identities. They define belonging to a nation. And under this new administration, borders have become the most visible feature not just of policy but who belongs in the United States. Our first guest has written a new book on borders and their impact on our conversations on immigration, borders, and belonging. Hiroshi Motomura is the author of BORDERS AND BELONGING: TOWARDS A FAIR IMMIGRATION POLICY. [ dur: 27mins. ]

Hiroshi Motomura, the Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States (Oxford 2006) and his newest book Borders and Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy.

Then, the Trump Administration’s approach to immigration, the raids, mass deportations, concentration camps, and shipping people to Guantanamo Bay, may all be illegal. What is the relationship between law and national values and identity, and what legal changes has President Trump proposed? How are communities responding to ICE? [ dur: 31mins. ]

Victor Narro, Project Director for the UCLA Labor Center and Core Faculty for the UCLA Department of Labor Studies; He teaches immigration law and is author of The Activist Spirit – Toward a Radical Solidarity (Hard Ball Press 2022) , No One Size Fits All: Worker Organization, Policy, and Movement in a New Economic Age (Cornell University Press, 2018) and others.
Hiroshi Motomura, the Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States (Oxford 2006) and his newest book Borders and Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy.

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Scholars’ Circle – Insights on 2nd Trump Presidency – November 10, 2024

November 10, 2024 host

Election Day 2024 has come and gone. And the US elected Donald Trump and a huge red wave that turns every branch of government and every lever of power to the Trump-dominated Republican Party. What does this mean for the nation and the world? We look forward today at the US and the world in 2025 and beyond.

Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the co-author of “Problems with President Records are Not Just About Trump” with Kenneth Osgood. He is also the author of The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office. He is the host of the podcast This is Democracy.
Sanford Levinson is W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School. He is the author of many publications including Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It) and Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance and, with Cynthia Levinson, Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today.
Hamoud Salhi is Professor of Political Science at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is commentator for Arabic media.

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Scholars’ Circle – Foreign Policy differences of candidates in 2024 Presidential elections – October 6, 2024

October 6, 2024 host

From now until November’s American election, we will cover issues that confront the nation and the world and on which we expect people will vote. For today’s show, we will explore the differences between Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee for President, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee for President in their foreign policies. What are likely the different ways each candidate would address foreign policy issues if elected President. It was also said during the Cold War that “politics stop at water’s edge” in American foreign policy. But it is quite clear that, if that ever was true, it no longer is in 2024. SO we will discuss the differences.

Robert Williams, The Social Sciences Divisional Dean and Professor of Political Science at Pepperdine University. He is the author of Seeking Security in an Insecure World, 3rd ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), with Dan Caldwell and “Jus Post Bellum: Justice in the Aftermath of War“.
Janicke-Stramer-Smith is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Weber State University. She is the author of Socio-economic factors and political mobilization in the Maghreb: Lessons from the Arab Spring and The Language of War: George W. Bush’s Discursive Practices in Securitizing the ‘Western Value System.’.
Brent Steele, Professor of Political Science at the University of Utah. He is the author of Race, Religion and the Echoes of Status Insecurity in US foreign policy and Restraint in International Politics.

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Scholars’ Circle – Cyber killing of targeted individuals; Assassinations and Targeted Killings in the eyes of international laws – September 29, 2024

September 30, 2024 host

Israel used devices loaded onto personal communications devices like pagers to launch attacks against the Lebanese group Hezbollah. The bombs detonated throughout Lebanon, and killed several Hezbollah members while wounding countless others. What was Israel’s motivation in using such an unorthodox approach to attack its adversaries? Is it acceptable to use these devices under international humanitarian and human rights law? And what does this attack indicate for the future of conflict between Israel and Lebanon, in particular with Hezbollah. [ dur:27mins. ]

Brandon Valeriano is Assistant Professor at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University. He is the co-author of Cyber Strategy: The Evolving Character of Cyber Power and Coercion and Cyber War versus Cyber Realities: Cyber Conflict in the International System.

In recent weeks Israel has targeted attacks on several leaders of HAMAS, in a variety of states. These targeted assassinations are part of its war against the organization. In 2020, the US assassinated Qassem Souleimani, a leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and also a protected member of the state. While defenders of the attacks cite these as part of an ongoing Global War on Terror, critics cite these assassinations as violations of international law. We will explore when states assassinate the leaders of other states or organizations representing states and populations. [ dur: 31mins. ]

John B. Quigly is a Professor of Law Emeritus at Ohio State University. He is the author of Palestine Is a State: A Horse with Black and White Stripes Is a Zebra and The International Diplomacy of Israel’s Founders: Deception at the United Nations In the Quest for Palestine.
Mary Ellen O’Connell is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and Professor of International Peace Studies—Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of The Art of Law in the International Community, co-author of Self-Defence Against Non-State Actors and author of Assassination is always unlawful – Regardless of who is Killed and on whose Orders (in the Conversation)..

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Scholars’ Circle – Right of Self-Determination ; Civil War politics examined- September 1, 2024

September 1, 2024 host

Kamala Harris declared that the Palestinians must live in dignity, security and self determination. But what is the right of self determination? How has it been practiced legally and practically throughout history? And does self determination mean independence? [dur: 30mins.]

Hurst Hannum is Professor of International Law Emeritus at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is the author of, Autonomy, Sovereignty, and Self-Determination: The Accommodation of Conflicting Rights, Rethinking self-determination and Rescuing Human Rights: A Radically Moderate Approach.

While the US Civil War ended slavery, it didn’t end the political issues that caused the war. What exactly happened in the immediate aftermath of the war?

Book Cover of Civil War by Other Means has an red X on the title of the book

The political divide in the US from the Civil War persists today. We discuss the history of the period and its impact on contemporary politics with Jeremi Suri author of the book Civil War by Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight For Democracy . [ dur: 28 mins. ]

Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the co-author of “Problems with President Records are Not Just About Trump” with Kenneth Osgood. He is also the author of The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office. He is the host of the podcast This is Democracy.

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Scholars’ Circle – Bangladesh students revolt that ousted its president – August 25, 2024

August 25, 2024 host

What led to the overthrow of Bangladesh’s leader Sheikh Hasina? Were they political, economic, or social reasons? Or the promises of what advocates are calling a “second wave of independence”?
What does the new Bangladeshi government need to build upon this political moment? What can the government do to successfully democratize and economically develop the nation? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Ali Riaz is Distinguished Professor at the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University. He is the author of Pathways of Autocratization – The tumultuous journey of Bangladesh politics.
Mathilde Maitrot Senior Lecturer, Department of Social & Policy Sciences Centre for Development Studies at the University of Bath. She is the co-author of an article Discipline, development and duress: the art of winning an election in Bangladesh.

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The Scholars' Circle Interviews

Tag Archives: Governance / Law

Scholars’ Circle – Trump’s assualt on academic freedom; Book author interview – We the Men – March 23, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – The Suffragist Peace: How women gained voting rights and affected global politics – March 16, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Trump’s violations of US Constitution – March 2, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Deep State, Public Services in a democracy – February 16, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Immigrants to US and how they are treated by its Laws and Executive power of US Presidents – February 9, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Insights on 2nd Trump Presidency – November 10, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Foreign Policy differences of candidates in 2024 Presidential elections – October 6, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Cyber killing of targeted individuals; Assassinations and Targeted Killings in the eyes of international laws – September 29, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Right of Self-Determination ; Civil War politics examined- September 1, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Bangladesh students revolt that ousted its president – August 25, 2024

By Maria Armoudian