#state-monopoly-on-force

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Right-wing politics
fromTruthout
1 day ago

No Kings Must Mean No War: Foreign Policy Is Least Democratic Space in Politics

The majority of Iranian Americans oppose the war on Iran, despite media portrayal of pro-monarchy sentiments.
fromAllthingssmitty
5 days ago

You probably don't need to lift state - Matt Smith

Keep state as close as possible to where it's actually used. Lift it when multiple components need it or you need to coordinate behavior between components.
React
World news
fromThe Nation
5 days ago

What Are Your Obligations When Your Country Is the Villain?

The U.S. executed a devastating missile strike on a school in Iran, killing many children and raising moral questions about its actions.
Social justice
fromemptywheel
1 week ago

The Point of No Kings Is NO KINGS - emptywheel

Protests against authoritarianism emphasize the principle of 'No Kings' as foundational to the nation's values.
#international-law
fromwww.aljazeera.com
2 months ago
US politics

We just witnessed power kidnapping the law

The US abduction of Venezuela's president has no basis in international law and represents power displacing law and principle.
fromIrish Independent
2 months ago
US politics

'The only thing that can stop me' - Trump insists he doesn't need international law and his power is only limited by his 'own morality'

The US president asserted that he can act beyond international law, citing personal morality as his sole limit while pursuing aggressive military and territorial actions.
World politics
fromwww.aljazeera.com
3 weeks ago

Why international law is still the world's best defence

The post-World War II international legal order faces erosion from ultranationalism, great-power rivalries, and norm violations, risking a return to force-based politics where power supersedes principle.
fromIrish Independent
2 months ago
US politics

'The only thing that can stop me' - Trump insists he doesn't need international law and his power is only limited by his 'own morality'

Law
fromAbove the Law
2 weeks ago

The Rule Of Law Joins America's Dead Pets On The Rainbow Bridge - Above the Law

Trump attorney John Lauro claimed the DOJ improved under Attorney General Pam Bondi, contradicting legal observers who view current conditions as a constitutional crisis threatening prosecutorial independence.
fromenglish.elpais.com
2 weeks ago

Lea Ypi, writer: The two major problems of the 21st century are capitalism and the nation-state'

In her latest book, Indignity, Ypi blends archival material with a fictionalized account of her grandmother's childhood in Thessaloniki and her arrival in Albania, exploring themes of memory and dignity.
Philosophy
fromemptywheel
3 weeks ago

Mixing The Mixed Constitution - emptywheel

Burke's was a broadside that not only excoriated the social upheavals effected by the French revolutionaries and (by extension) commended by Marx, but the continual economic and social instability prized by modern liberal economic philosophy and practice. Against a new class of elites-mainly, an alliance between ideological progressive theorists and a rising financial oligarchy-Burke urged protection of the stability, tradition, and social continuities vital for the flourishing of ordinary people.
Left-wing politics
fromianVisits
3 weeks ago

Official announcement: It's time to end the tyranny of officially

Once upon a time, adding official to an announcement served a purpose. It distinguished fact from rumour, press release from pub chat. Sensible. Helpful. Civilised. But in recent years, the word has gone rogue. Nothing can simply happen anymore. It must be officially announced.
Media industry
World politics
Portraying leaders as evil symbols justifies intervention while obscuring underlying political structures that enabled their rise, perpetuating cycles of instability.
Philosophy
fromThe Nation
2 weeks ago

In Defense of Being Performative

Democracy requires citizens to actively perform civic engagement; dismissing performative politics misunderstands that democratic participation is inherently performative and essential for democratic survival.
fromFast Company
4 weeks ago

Why strong leaders lose credibility in high-stakes moments

What most leaders label as a content problem is actually a presence problem. Leaders often assume credibility rises and falls based on wording alone. In reality, credibility is shaped by executive presence, which reflects the signals leaders send about confidence, clarity, and authority before their ideas are fully heard.
Psychology
fromBig Think
4 weeks ago

How the U.S. Constitution protects liberty from the powerful's dark impulses

The real Führer is always a judge. Out of Führerdom flows judgeship. One who wants to separate the two from each other or puts them in opposition to each other would have the judge be either the leader of the opposition or the tool of the opposition and is trying to unhinge the state with the help of the judiciary.
History
Business
fromHarvard Business Review
4 weeks ago

Why CEOs Dive Into Political Controversies

Leaders' personal beliefs and internal stakeholders, not customers or media, most strongly drive corporate political positioning, creating risks to brand equity and financial performance.
Philosophy
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 weeks ago

Jurgen Habermas obituary

Jürgen Habermas transformed from a Hitler Youth member into a leading defender of Enlightenment values and democratic theory after witnessing Nazi atrocities, dedicating his philosophy to ensuring collective democratic influence over society.
fromThe Nation
3 weeks ago

The "Rules-Based Order" Is Gone. Let's Not Bring It Back.

The very same European leaders and anointed members of the Blob expressing outrage about Greenland were largely silent or supportive as Trump bombed Iran and Nigeria, abducted Maduro, and continued to aid and abet Israel's genocide in Gaza.
World politics
fromBusiness Insider
3 weeks ago

12 perks of being a Supreme Court justice

After all, you get lifetime job security, great pay and benefits, thousands of dollars in gifts, entry into an elite club of fellow justices - oh, and the ability to shape the country as we know it.
US politics
EU data protection
fromInfoWorld
1 month ago

Sovereignty isn't a toggle feature

European cloud alternatives like Hetzner and Scaleway can deliver comparable performance and capabilities to AWS while significantly reducing costs, though they require greater operational responsibility and architectural commitment to sovereignty.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
3 weeks ago

Why We Need a Formal, Mandatory, and Remunerated "Citizen Lobby"

Post-Cold War optimism about democracy and internet freedom has been undermined by geopolitical tensions, neoliberalism, nationalism, and corporate influence that concentrate power among the already wealthy.
Law
fromAbove the Law
1 month ago

Standing Up And Cheering For American-ish Principles - Above the Law

Trump's State of the Union challenge to Democrats about protecting American citizens over illegal aliens was a rhetorical trap that oversimplified complex policy issues requiring nuanced discussion rather than simple yes-or-no responses.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
3 weeks ago

Secrecy, Democracy, Necessity

Executive officials justify secrecy through claims of protecting decision-making integrity and national security, but such necessity arguments alone cannot legitimize secret governance in democracies.
US politics
fromwww.amny.com
1 month ago

Op-Ed | The Trump administration believes that it has the right to decide what the rule of law is | amNewYork

A federal judge invalidated the Trump administration's policy of deporting undocumented immigrants to third countries rather than their home countries, ruling it violates U.S. law protecting against torture and persecution.
Business
fromHarvard Business Review
1 month ago

Rethinking Strategy in a Hyperpolitical World

Corporate decisions face intense public scrutiny for political implications, resulting in boycotts, revenue loss, reputational damage, and executive terminations, yet political engagement remains unavoidable for businesses.
Philosophy
fromHarvard Gazette
3 weeks ago

Where have all the public intellectuals gone? - Harvard Gazette

Public intellectuals are essential in democratic cultures to articulate unformed ideas and help citizens understand their values, but conditions supporting intellectual life in America are eroding due to social and economic shifts.
#immigration-enforcement
fromAbove the Law
1 month ago
US politics

West Virginia Is Not Here For Authoritarian Cosplay - Above the Law

Federal judges in West Virginia, appointed by both parties, are issuing strong rulings against Operation Country Roads, a MAGA immigration initiative that arrested roughly 650 people in January through roadside enforcement targeting immigrants.
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago
US politics

America has reached a tipping point on fascism and on opposition to it | Robert Reich

Recent events in Minneapolis and federal actions have driven lifelong Republicans away, exposing lies and accelerating a slide toward a repressive, fascist police state.
US politics
fromAbove the Law
1 month ago

West Virginia Is Not Here For Authoritarian Cosplay - Above the Law

Federal judges in West Virginia, appointed by both parties, are issuing strong rulings against Operation Country Roads, a MAGA immigration initiative that arrested roughly 650 people in January through roadside enforcement targeting immigrants.
Philosophy
Tyranny corrupts all psychic faculties into servants of lawless appetite, with reason producing ideology to rationalize control rather than ceasing to function.
fromHarvard Gazette
1 month ago

Excerpt from 'The Cradle of Citizenship' by James Traub - Harvard Gazette

The same deep forces that afflict many Western nations have wrenched us apart: the transition to a postindustrial economy and the attendant erosion of working-class security, the demographic shift toward a "majority minority" nation, the cultural upheaval that has dethroned men, and especially white men, from their age-old dominance - and the rise of entrepreneurs of outrage eager to exploit all that free-floating anger.
Education
World politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Autocracy is rising in the west. But the global south proves it's not inevitable | Kenneth Roth

Autocrats face growing internal pressure from their populations, while democracy remains valued globally despite Western challenges from far-right movements and disaffected voters.
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

The Politics of Looking Away

Like us, you may feel paralyzed in the face of the relentless images of violence we see every day. Suffering children, military occupations, the devastated neighborhoods, the cries of parents mourning their dead-these scenes haunt us. Whether it is happening in Palestine or Minneapolis, we are witnesses to suffering, and that witnessing takes a heavy toll. Clearly, the devastating situations in the West Bank and Gaza and in Minneapolis differ
Social justice
fromenglish.elpais.com
2 months ago

It is easier to overthrow a tyrant than to govern a leaderless country

Any lingering doubts about the true motives behind the 2003 invasion of Iraq were dispelled when looters were ransacking Baghdad, carrying off millennia-old artifacts from the Iraqi capital's archaeological museum, while U.S. troops fortified the Ministry of Oilthe only government building left untouched and from which not a single document emerged. The disastrous and illegal invasion, spearheaded by the United States with military support from the United Kingdom
World news
#political-accountability
fromFast Company
1 month ago

How leaders can make ethical choices when the rules fall short

Research finds that relying on regulations to determine your policies and procedures can result in ethical blindspots, or situations where people might think if there is not a rule for something, that it's permissible. After years of shifting towards values and culture-based compliance, leadership might be heading the opposite direction.
Philosophy
World politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Politics Without Politicians by Helene Landemore review power to the people

Randomly selected citizen assemblies replacing electoral politics reduce polarization, deepen civic bonds, and produce more legitimate, deliberative collective decisions.
Washington Nationals
fromTalkNats.com
1 month ago

Paul Toboni wants to be judged by his actions. But shouldn't you also be judged by what you say? | TalkNats.com

Paul Toboni pledged accountability and active roster moves before Spring Training, and fans expect concrete signings rather than verbal assurances.
fromTerry Godier
2 months ago

Phantom Obligation

There's a particular kind of guilt that visits me when I open my feed reader after a few days away. It's not the guilt of having done something wrong, exactly. It's more like the feeling of walking into a room where people have been waiting for you, except when you look around, the room is empty. There's no one there. There never was.
UX design
US news
fromwww.npr.org
2 months ago

How President Trump has challenged a constitutional foundation

President Trump significantly expanded executive power and eroded democratic checks, pushing governance toward authoritarian practices while provoking widespread disapproval.
UK politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

If you want to know what Reform would be like in power, look at how it threatened Bangor University | Gaby Hinsliff

A university debating society declined appearances by two Reform-linked figures citing zero tolerance for racism, transphobia, or homophobia, increasing their visibility online.
fromFast Company
2 months ago

Our embrace of individuals over institutions isn't serving us well

In the early 20th century, sociologist Max Weber noted that sweeping industrialization would transform how societies worked. As small, informal operations gave way to large, complex organizations with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, leaders would need to rely less on tradition and charisma, and more on organization and rationality. He also foresaw that jobs would need to be broken down into specialized tasks and governed by a system of hierarchy,
History
World news
fromwww.dw.com
1 month ago

What is the 'rules-based order' and can it survive?

The rules-based international order, built on post-World War II multilateral institutions and laws, faces erosion and contested legitimacy worldwide.
fromemptywheel
2 months ago

Regime Change By Patrick Deneen - emptywheel

The readings in my last series led me to see the genuine hatred conservatives have for what they call variously liberal hegemony, liberal ideology, left-wing ideology, and other names. David Brooks, newly ensconced at Yale and The Atlantic, is just sure it was liberals who caused Trump's wins, with their snotty "knowledge", and "refined tastes". I mocked this nonsense, but apparently Brooks was serious about the super bad feelings his people have about such things.
Right-wing politics
Law
fromAbove the Law
1 month ago

Accountability In An Age Of Unaccountability - Above the Law

Legal system turmoil: arrests, Epstein file fallout, judicial misconduct, and mounting ethical breaches requiring disbarment of dishonest administration lawyers.
History
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

The Provocation That Helped Create America

Common Sense decisively shifted American public opinion toward independence by forcefully arguing for separation from Britain, catalyzing the Revolutionary movement.
Business
fromFortune
1 month ago

It isn't partisan politics to admit that stakeholder capitalism went too far, too fast | Fortune

U.S. corporate governance is undergoing a radical realignment as ordinary shareholders reclaim corporate purpose and push back against expansive ESG-driven stakeholder primacy.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

The 17th-Century Philosopher Who Helps Explain Stephen Miller

Political leaders align with either Lockean faith in citizens' reason and the common good or Hobbesian belief in human viciousness requiring strong authority, shaping governance.
World news
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

Trump's board of peace is an imperial court completely unlike what was proposed

A Trump-run global board has shifted from a Gaza ceasefire focus toward a pay-to-play, semi-permanent peace body that risks supplanting UN roles and norms.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

Put Humans in Charge Again

Strong executive authority and flexible decision-making enable rapid, large-scale public works, mass hiring, and fast crisis responses when bureaucratic processes are bypassed.
#donald-trump
fromLGBTQ Nation
1 month ago
US politics

Political pragmatism is not a moral failing. It may be the only thing that can save us. - LGBTQ Nation

fromLGBTQ Nation
1 month ago
US politics

Political pragmatism is not a moral failing. It may be the only thing that can save us. - LGBTQ Nation

fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

A Better Grammar for Political Debates

I am using the word pragmatism in a specific sense. I am not speaking about being pragmatic as a political tactic; deciding what issues should be given priority and what battles to choose, or a willingness to compromise, or a recognition that there are limits to what can be accomplished at any time. I am writing now about pragmatism in a meaning closer to its philosophical origin in the writings of William James-that truth is not found in abstract principles or beliefs,
Philosophy
World politics
fromwww.mercurynews.com
1 month ago

Kluth: US foreign policy is now medieval

Neo-royalism frames contemporary global politics as centered on personalist, monarchical leaders whose loyalty networks and transactional power reshape state behavior.
World politics
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

What Happens to Your Identity Under a Dictator

Authoritarian surveillance and fear force self-censorship, creating a split between public persona and authentic self that causes lasting psychological harm.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
1 month ago

The Founders Would Have Opposed 'Nationalizing' Elections

State-centered election administration and constitutional limits make nationalizing voting inconsistent with the Framers' intent and vulnerable to judicial resistance.
#trump
World politics
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

What We Can Learn from History's Demagogues

Democracies resist demagogues best when an affluent, educated middle class mediates between rich and poor, supported by a stronger economy and broader education.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
2 months ago

In the Midst of a Crisis: Relational Liberalism and the Contemporary Challenges to Democratic Legitimacy

Contemporary democracies face a legitimacy crisis driven by widespread erosion of trust, causing representation breakdowns, unchecked power, and extreme asymmetries in wealth, status, and influence.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
1 month ago

America Needs 'Self-Evident' Truths

Public revulsion at ICE killings in Minnesota forced federal agents to withdraw and revealed a broad, shared moral opposition to violence against immigrants.
Philosophy
fromAeon
2 months ago

The West's forgotten republican heritage | Aeon Essays

Power to shape daily life has shifted to markets, corporations, and data systems, leaving citizens feeling powerless and fueling a turn toward authoritarian politics.
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

I don't need international law': Trump says power constrained only by my own morality'

the only constraint to his power as president of the US is my own morality, my own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me, Trump said, adding: I'm not looking to hurt people. He went on to concede I do in regards to whether his administration needed to adhere to international law, but said: It depends on what your definition of international law is.
US politics
Philosophy
fromApaonline
1 month ago

What Accountability-Seeking Protest Can Tell Us About Democracy

Different kinds of political protest pursue distinct aims; accountability-seeking protest aims to hold actors responsible and can reinforce democratic community bonds.
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

Foolery, Foppery, and Finery

These "levees," as they were called, were not loose occasions. Washington stood by the fireplace in a dining room cleared of its chairs. Dressed in a black velvet suit, hair powdered, hat in hand, he greeted guests with a formal bow. Handshakes, familiar and egalitarian, were prohibited. Conversation was sparse. The president, per Alexander Hamilton's instructions, might talk "cursorily on indifferent subjects," but nothing more.
US politics
US politics
fromemptywheel
1 month ago

Morality Is The Issue - emptywheel

The Trump Regime's actions violate shared fundamental morality; resisting these evils is a collective moral obligation.
Philosophy
fromAeon
1 month ago

Institutions are how we scale up cooperation among millions | Aeon Essays

Institutions enforce cooperation but must also prevent guardians from abusing power, effectively shifting the cooperation problem upward rather than eliminating it.
fromemptywheel
2 months ago

This Is Not A Constitutional Moment - emptywheel

This script is based on a theory proposed by Bruce Ackerman, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale Law School. Ackerman's idea is laid out in his 1991 book We The People: Foundations, and is discussed in the second of his Oliver Wendell Holmes Lectures of 2006. It's gained prominence since the 2024 election and the wholesale assault on our governmental system by Trump.
US politics
fromAeon
2 months ago

Why Hume is better at explaining modern capitalism than Marx | Aeon Essays

Left-leaning regions of the United States and elsewhere in the world among the richest? When Japan and South Korea sought to become economic powerhouses in the later 20th century, they adopted Leftist policies such as strong public education, universal healthcare and increased gender equality - if countries seeking to compete in capitalist arenas adopt broadly Leftist policies, then how do we explain why Leftists are always talking about overthrowing capitalism?
Philosophy
US politics
fromwww.amny.com
2 months ago

Has the constitutional order failed? Experts suggest U.S. is witnessing institutional collapse at New York state bar summit amNewYork

The U.S. has shifted from a constitutional crisis to systemic constitutional failure characterized by institutional breakdown across all three branches.
US politics
fromAbove the Law
1 month ago

The Executive Branch Discovers Judicial Independence, Hates It - Above the Law

DOJ solicited prosecutors for examples of judges who ruled against the government to report to Congress for potential impeachment.
US politics
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

What a 1939 Experiment Teaches Us About Political Leadership

Democratic leadership produces sustainable productivity, creativity, cooperation, and resilience, whereas authoritarian and laissez-faire styles undermine commitment and functioning.
US politics
fromwww.esquire.com
2 months ago

Welcome to the American Thugocracy, in Which Trump Only Punishes Democratic States

Federal funding pauses to multiple states threaten TANF, child care, and social services, risking assistance for hundreds of thousands of low-income households.
US politics
fromThe Mercury News
2 months ago

Letters: Trump unequivocally puts himself above the Constitution

A president asserting that only his own morality limits his authority violates the Constitution and risks autocratic personal sovereignty beyond legal checks.
US politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Democrats have a constitutional power they aren't using to fight back: state resolutions | Sidney Blumenthal

Democratic state legislatures can revive pre-17th Amendment orders of instruction to pressure senators and counter attempts to impose a police state.
US politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

The Trump doctrine exposes the US as a mafia state | Jan-Werner Muller

Trump invoked the Monroe Doctrine and pursued interventionist, mafia-state practices that align state power with private oil interests, oligarchic control, and territorial ambitions.
US politics
fromwww.mercurynews.com
2 months ago

Duffy: Trump just removed the last restraints on presidential power

U.S. forces removed Venezuela's president without congressional authorization, using war-level military force, raising urgent questions about presidential war powers and oversight.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

I Tried to Be the Government. It Did Not Go Well.

Government staffing cuts and institutional disruptions have weakened regulatory oversight, prompting individuals to perform personal safety checks such as buying Geiger counters.
fromwww.mercurynews.com
2 months ago

Letters: Trump unequivocally puts himself above the Constitution

When a president says his authority is limited only by his own morality, the Constitution has already been violated. The oath of office binds the president to law, not conscience, not instinct, not personal judgment. Claiming otherwise is a declaration that constitutional limits are optional. This is not rhetoric. It is an imminent danger. A president who believes only he restrains himself is asserting personal sovereignty. That is the definition of autocracy.
US politics
US politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

State violence against Black Americans laid the groundwork for fascism | Jason Stanley

Expansion of racially targeted, arbitrary state violence into broader populations exemplifies an imperial boomerang, where colonial tactics return domestically and risk fascist normalization.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

The Commons: How Originalism Killed the Constitution

Constitutional amendment process has been dormant but historically awakens during crises; worsening polarization and institutional rot make amendments necessary to repair democracy.
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