http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/government Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Mon, 27 Apr 2026 07:11:38 -0400 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 07:11:38 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1834/aquinas-just-war-theory-and-pandemic-response By Ezekiel Vergara - “Just-war theory,” as it is called, aims to guide action during warfare, so that states and individuals can act ethically. Because warfare is often analogized to epidemics, this paper will argue that just-war theory can recommend how one ought to conceive of governmental action during a pandemic. Drawing off the work of Thomas Aquinas, one of the most canonical figures within the just-war tradition, this article demonstrates that just-war theory explains both why the government has expanded powers during a pandemic and what a government ought to do with these expanded powers. Notably... Tue, 10 Nov 2020 08:16 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1834/aquinas-just-war-theory-and-pandemic-response http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1461/interpreting-political-unrest-in-hong-kong-through-the-midnight-after-2014 By Justin Wong Jun-sheng - Hong Kong is standing at a crucial social and political juncture in its history. A former British colony, it has retained its unique legal system, electoral system, and political democracy. These systems have worked together to create a society in which residents are entitled to their rights with a strong and equal rule of law that governs the society. The 1st of July 1997 marked the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC (HKSAR). Many fear that as time progresses, the PRC... Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:43 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1461/interpreting-political-unrest-in-hong-kong-through-the-midnight-after-2014 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1473/an-analysis-of-legos-response-to-an-attack-on-its-partnership-with-royal-dutch-shell By MaryClaire Schulz - However, LEGO's 50-year partnership with oil and gas corporation Royal Dutch Shell caught the attention of Greenpeace in July 2014, which launched a campaign attacking the toy company for supporting a corporation threatening the Arctic environment. Greenpeace's attack on the partnership peaked with its release of a YouTube video titled "LEGO: Everything is NOT awesome," a work by BAFTA-winning creative agency Don't Panic. The video depicted an Arctic landscape that was made of LEGO bricks and taken over by Shell oil drillers, showcasing the environment as it is slowly submerged in oil. Greenpeace... Tue, 31 May 2016 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1473/an-analysis-of-legos-response-to-an-attack-on-its-partnership-with-royal-dutch-shell http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1380/adam-smith-and-religious-plurality-in-america By Drew Liquerman - Smith's writings, most importantly An Enquiry into the Wealth of Nations,[1] greatly influenced James Madison in his thoughts on the disestablishment of religion as espoused in Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (Remonstrance),[2] in the Federalist Papers (specifically #10 and #51), and in the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses. Due in part to Smith’s influence on Madison, our country was founded on the principles of separation of church and state and religious liberty, which has led to the flourishing and acceptance of a multitude of religious... Mon, 21 Mar 2016 10:14 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1380/adam-smith-and-religious-plurality-in-america http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1012/government-public-relations-public-diplomacy-or-propaganda By Alexander E. Hopkins - This dilemma proves to be more complicated to identify in our modern era. In addition to the telecommunications revolution, the worldwide spread of democracy, market economies, and digital communications has led to a more globalized world, thus allowing multiple, competing media channels to take root (Kovacs, 2006, p. 430; Signitzer & Wamser, 2005, p. 435). This digital environment, which suggests terms such as collective good and public interest, has ambiguous meanings, especially when determining whether a government or an outside organization is conveying the message (Gregory, 2005, pp.... Sun, 15 Mar 2015 04:58 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1012/government-public-relations-public-diplomacy-or-propaganda http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/989/why-taking-the-white-house-online-does-not-make-it-more-accessible-to-the-public By Leah C. Campbell - Much has been said in regards to Barack Obama’s revolutionary use of technology during both his 2008 and 2012 campaigns for President of the United States. Yet, during his administration, that groundbreaking tactic suddenly disappeared. In 2013, with the launch of the We The People website, the Obama administration focused its efforts on reigniting that feeling of connection that powered two successful elections. The site was created as an update to the Office of Public Engagement, which had drawn criticism in past administrations for its ineffectiveness. While the website and corresponding... Sat, 07 Feb 2015 03:31 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/989/why-taking-the-white-house-online-does-not-make-it-more-accessible-to-the-public http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/773/is-the-european-commission-too-powerful-neofunctionalism-and-intergovernmentalism-considered By Andrei Constantin - This article highlights the European Commission’s role within the European Union (EU), which has been weakened over time. Through this essay various aspects of the Commission’s power in relation to the structure and procedures of comitology are analyzed utilizing the frameworks provided by the two leading schools of thought on European integration: neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism. The Commission is considered the heart of the process of integration because it is the key organisation whose formal powers and actual operation are believed to echo the patterns of integration... Thu, 17 Oct 2013 04:58 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/773/is-the-european-commission-too-powerful-neofunctionalism-and-intergovernmentalism-considered http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/698/limiting-values-of-democracy-and-competing-views-on-materialism-in-american-society-comparing-kirk-and-nedelsky By Brian D. Blankenship - Limits lie at the heart of the American political system. No governmental body or figure has unlimited authority—all are checked by the others. However, beyond this, political thinkers are divided over how best to mitigate majoritarian influence in American society—to constrain the power of “the people” from encroaching on the rights of individuals. Two such scholars, Jennifer Nedelsky and Russell Kirk, agree that laws and institutions by themselves are insufficient to check the power of America’s democracy, and that American society needs (and has) “limiting... Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:03 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/698/limiting-values-of-democracy-and-competing-views-on-materialism-in-american-society-comparing-kirk-and-nedelsky http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1623/worlds-of-potential-funding-for-community-based-organizations-in-nairobi-kenya By Emily Hoerner - Despite a proliferation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) in Kibera, the largest informal settlement in Kenya, conditions for residents remain bleak. CBOs are uniquely positioned to catalyze change by creating local initiatives for common problems. However, most Kibera CBOs routinely lack access to the kind of funding that could make their programs successful on a larger scale (i.e., in more than just one localized neighborhood of Kibera). This study examines how CBOs in Kibera gain access to funding, either through grants or individual donations... Thu, 31 May 2012 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1623/worlds-of-potential-funding-for-community-based-organizations-in-nairobi-kenya http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/596/preserving-the-role-of-the-french-constitutional-council-as-a-check-on-executive-power By Oliver Rieche - The Constitutional Council was established when the Fifth Republic was born in 1958 (Cole 1998, p. 63). Initially designed as a tool to protect the executive against parliament, the Council evolved into a powerful force against the government (Elgie and Griggs 2000, p. 27). It ensures that elections are conducted fairly and that bills conform to the constitution (Slater 1985, p. 180). This essay argues that the most important role of the Constitutional Council today is to serve as a check on executive power in order to protect the rights of citizens. To understand this, we need to contrast its... Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:33 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/596/preserving-the-role-of-the-french-constitutional-council-as-a-check-on-executive-power http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1218/letter-from-tunisia By Jouini Elyès - I will remember that phone call of January 20th 2011 for a long time. Six days after the flight of the Tunisian president Ben Ali, the Prime Minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, called me and said, “I need you to form a new government.” I asked for a few days to organize my departure from Paris, but Mohamed Ghannouchi passed the phone to one of his advisers, who said, “the situation is too unstable, come as soon as possible.” So the next day, I took the 8am flight for Tunis and settled in an office adjacent to Prime Minister. My role was to attend all of the Prime Minister&rsquo... Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1218/letter-from-tunisia http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/513/governmentality-and-the-deportation-of-eastern-european-roma-in-italy-and-france By Carmen Radu - This case study asks the following question: given the symbol of the European Union as the ultimate supranational, rights-based, compliance-inducing international organization, why have member states France and Italy escaped punishment for their blatant violations of international law, reflected in their mass deportations of Roma and the dismantlement of Roma camps during the period of 2008 to 2010? Inspired by a Foucauldian theoretical framework, this paper analyzes how discourses and practices reveal power relationships at the EU and state levels, and argues that the mass deportations are a... Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:57 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/513/governmentality-and-the-deportation-of-eastern-european-roma-in-italy-and-france http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1233/decentralization-examined-conditions-dependent-path-towards-success By Nenna Ibeanusi - However, an examination of the empirical findings from several case studies suggests that decentralization can oftentimes fail to usher in the type of reform that it is associated with. Furthermore, decentralization can encounter impediments to its success either in the failure to fully implement the policy of decentralization, a shift towards re-centralization, or an inherently incoherent policy framework. The success of decentralization is thus contingent upon several factors including but not limited to the sequence of decentralization, the incentives of political actors, and the institutional... Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1233/decentralization-examined-conditions-dependent-path-towards-success http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/413/ungoverned-space-fragile-states-and-global-threats-deconstructing-linkages By Chloe A. Diggins - It is widely recognized that state security is no longer contingent upon a balance of power or the threat of conquering states, but global stability is now instead jeopardized by weak or fragile states. Fragile states represent chaos, disorder, and underdevelopment, and their very existence threatens not only the security of the developed world, but the capitalist, consumer-driven lifestyle to which the Western world is accustomed. Of critical concern are the global circulatory flows affiliated with poverty, conflict, and migration, which carry the potential to destabilize and undermine Western... Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/413/ungoverned-space-fragile-states-and-global-threats-deconstructing-linkages http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/349/hobbes-leviathan-and-views-on-the-origins-of-civil-government-conservatism-by-covenant By Katherine J. Wolfenden - Of course, even if a sovereign was chosen by the people, his successors would not come to power under the same circumstances, and the subjects’ descendants would not have been given a choice. Hobbes states that there is no difference between the rights of a sovereign who comes to power by force and a sovereign who is elected to power through political means; he even responds to potential critics who “hold all such covenants as proceed from fear of death or violence void,” saying that “if it were true, no man in any kind of commonwealth could be obliged to obedience&rdquo... Thu, 30 Dec 2010 01:59 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/349/hobbes-leviathan-and-views-on-the-origins-of-civil-government-conservatism-by-covenant http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/314/corn-subsidies-make-me-sick-and-fat By Pedro R. Silva - This policy of subsidizing corn farmers is also potentially bad for our health. Government handouts to corn farmers have driven down the price of corn so far that sugar has been essentially replaced as the means of sweetening our food. Instead, we use high fructose corn syrup, a substance that is much harder for our bodies to break down. The result is that the soda we drink today makes us fatter and more prone to diseases like Diabetes than the same soda made with real sugar. The same goes for any product where “high fructose corn syrup” appears in the list of ingredients (try going... Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:16 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/314/corn-subsidies-make-me-sick-and-fat http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/272/a-critical-analysis-of-the-rwanda-burundi-genocide-and-the-sociopolitical-implications-of-colonial-rule-in-africa By Chloe S. Manchester - There has always been a great deal of intrigue as to why certain people and certain parts of the world are cursed with such a greater deal of suffering than others. Over time certain societies have developed through a series of phases of modernity and civilization to become more successful. Industrialization has strengthened economies, research has advanced technology, science has made discoveries in healthcare, and the result has been that some people in some parts of the world enjoy significantly higher standards of living than those elsewhere. What is also striking is how development has been... Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/272/a-critical-analysis-of-the-rwanda-burundi-genocide-and-the-sociopolitical-implications-of-colonial-rule-in-africa http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/198/citizens-united-vs-federal-election-commission-taking-america-from-a-proud-democracy-to-a-privately-funded-corporatocracy By Ryan A. Piccirillo - The Christian Science Monitor argues that many voters vote based on false beliefs garnered from misleading campaign ads, continuing, “the media blitz that saturates voters’ minds to the exclusion of all else is the goal of any campaign manager with enough money to pull it off.  Under these circumstances, voters trying to inform themselves about the issues of the day are not shopping in a marketplace of ideas so much as looking for a needle in a haystack.” This illustrates the fundamental danger of this court’s decision: a voter’s choices will now be exclusively... Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:17 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/198/citizens-united-vs-federal-election-commission-taking-america-from-a-proud-democracy-to-a-privately-funded-corporatocracy http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/75/john-locke-on-equality-toleration-and-the-atheist-exception By Adalei Broers - In spite of legislation protecting each individual, conflict will inevitably erupt, if not between a government and its people then among the people themselves. This of course will impact the state and inevitably require response. It is in this perspective that Locke writes A Letter Concerning Toleration, addressing the issue of religious intolerance, a problem that permeated 17th century English society. He was extremely critical of the fervent behavior of people concerning their religious beliefs, particularly of those with “intemperate zeal” (Locke, Toleration, 9) who would attempt... Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:09 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/75/john-locke-on-equality-toleration-and-the-atheist-exception http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/66/the-real-scoop-on-government-contracting By Donna L. Rimmel - Procurement in government, as well as in industry, is going through a tremendous change as a result of globalization, technological breakthroughs, and the surge in outsourcing services to outside vendors (Giallourakis, 2008, p. xiii, Preface).  The contracting world is growing by leaps and bounds, with no signs of letting up in the near future.  To accentuate this fact, the Defense Department is beginning the process of increasing its contracting workforce by adding 20,000 new employees by 2015, including converting approximately 10,000 contractor support positions to full-time government... Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:36 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/66/the-real-scoop-on-government-contracting http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/6/john-locke-and-the-second-treatise-on-government By Sawyer A. Theriault - The best way to figure this out, Locke reasoned, was to imagine a state in which no government existed. Then by seeing that state, determine where necessary laws and governing bodies are needed. Locke described the role of civil government like this: “Political power, then, I take to be a right of making laws with penalties of death, and consequently all less penalties, for the regulating and preserving of property, and of employing the force of the community, in the execution of such laws, and in the defence of the common-wealth from foreign injury; and all this only for the public good... Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:24 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/6/john-locke-and-the-second-treatise-on-government http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1095/a-house-divided-is-the-division-of-britain-a-bad-thing By D.J. Tyrer - New Labour’ has committed itself to giving each division of the United Kingdom a parliament or assembly of its own. Already we have a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly (just because Wales is a principality does it not deserve a parliament too?), as well as a nascent Ulster Assembly, unless the peace talks fail. So far England has been left out of this scramble for autonomy which has rather unfairly left it for now still under the control of the Westminster Parliament, giving Welsh and Scottish politicians a disproportionate say in British politics compared to those of England. Eventually... Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1095/a-house-divided-is-the-division-of-britain-a-bad-thing http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1121/democracy-in-action-witnessing-the-student-guild-elections-of-1999 By Effendi HJ. Maidinj - Of course, this elections is just one of the many requirements of democracy and by far, is one of the most important requirement.  The Guild elections may not be as glamorous as the national elections in the United Kingdom, but it provides a ‘prototype’ of democracy.  In other words, the Guild elections are more of an experimental type to the bigger elections such as the national elections.  However, I came to know that the system of elections is quite different from what I have seen, having witnessed two important national elections over the last ten years in... Fri, 01 Jan 1999 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1121/democracy-in-action-witnessing-the-student-guild-elections-of-1999 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1155/international-ngos-and-the-new-humanitarian-agenda By Babu Rahman - This article is based on a paper presented at the workshop on Understanding Security and Development in Africa, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 8th March 1997. Let me begin by briefly explaining what NGOs are. NGOs are Non-Governmental Organisations. In the UK we might describe some of them as Charities, although not all NGOs actually have legal charity status. In this article I am concerned with those NGOs whose work occurs in a country different to the one in which they are based; that is International NGOs, or INGOs. More specifically I will examine those INGOs who participate in... Wed, 01 Jan 1997 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1155/international-ngos-and-the-new-humanitarian-agenda http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1175/a-victory-for-the-centre-americans-re-endorse-clinton-and-the-politics-of-divided-government By John Heathershaw - In one of the more memorable moments of the otherwise dull BBC coverage of US election night, veteran political commentator Charles Wheeler pointed out that President Clinton had just been re-elected by American voters who had little if any idea of his agenda for his second term in office. ‘What is his agenda?’, he asked Democratic Party advisor David Doak. Wheeler, clearly perturbed by the lack of debate in the 1996 campaign, was amazed when he was clearly unable to give him an answer. ‘I watched a debate-‘ , Wheeler began, charitably trying to move the discussion... Wed, 01 Jan 1997 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1175/a-victory-for-the-centre-americans-re-endorse-clinton-and-the-politics-of-divided-government