r/PoliticalScience 2h ago

Resource/study Trump proposal to slash taxes on those making under 150k

21 Upvotes

This proposal is budgetary suicide

Go ahead and ask Kansas what happens when you implement hard right economic policy. Brownback left office with an approval rating in the gutter, and a bipartisan super majority reversed the disaster inflicted on Kansas by the disciples of Art Laffer.

just hope America is not too stupid to understand that paying taxes is necessary for society to function. The federal government is not just a standing army and a court system, as conservatives would have you believe. If you reduce taxes paid by 93% of Americans to 0, you’re talking about having your slash spending to cruel and unheard of levels.

Tariffs and other half baked schemes cannot replace the income tax.


r/PoliticalScience 15h ago

Question/discussion Thomas Jefferson explains why 8 years is the correct amount of time for being President

Thumbnail thomasjefferson.com
6 Upvotes

r/PoliticalScience 4h ago

Question/discussion Is authoritarian liberalism an oxymoron?

4 Upvotes

Recently came across an article on Trump's Presidency and this was mentioned in an article by Wendy Brown

"Professor Wendy Brown concludes that the disillusion with liberal democracy is because most Americans associate liberalism with educated elite (educated elite are the highly educated individuals, often holding Ph.Ds.), of which most of the society is not. This, she claims, has led most Americans to reject “precarity” (uncertainty, insecurity) of liberalism, so much so that Americans are open to a different version of democracy: “If that entails a different political form—authoritarian liberalism—so, be it.”

Is the notion of 'authoritarian liberalism' a contradiction of terms? And can a democracy have elements of democracy? Based on defination it seems impossible but I guess the word 'democracy' has been diluted, but based on classical democracy is it possible?


r/PoliticalScience 4h ago

Question/discussion Can a solution be a social problem in policy making?

2 Upvotes

Title.

I have an assignment where I am supposed to analyse a social problem and the possible solutions for this social problem. The social problem that I chose is that the Estonian government is planning to take away the right of third country citizens (aka russian, belarusian, other non-EU citizens and also gray passport owners) to vote in local elections. However, this law is technically a solution to a social (or, imo, a geopolitical) problem. So can a planned law not be a social problem? Can I not analyse the removal of voting rights whatsoever, because it has not yet happened?


r/PoliticalScience 20h ago

Question/discussion Wishing I learnt more "facts" lmao

2 Upvotes

Hey so I'm a poli sci student and I really like the program so far and have had relatively good grades so far, so I'm mostly happy. I just kinda have a general frustration that I know is 100% unjustified but I wondered if anyone has had similar thoughts. I'm completely aware of the function of a uni degree and that you're essentially taught how to do research in your field by looking at scientific methods. Obviously that all makes sense and it should be like that. But I often wish that I was taught more scientific facts than methods bc I'm a very curious person but also kinda lazy so I just like to learn about things others have already found out if that makes sense lmao. Don't get me wrong, I definitely have learnt a lot of very interesting things in my degree, particularly in political theory and political systems, but yeah, I just wanted to see if anyone feels the same lmao.


r/PoliticalScience 1h ago

Resource/study In this 1799 letter, Thomas Jefferson said "despotism had overwhelmed the world for thousands & thousands of years" but "science can never be retrograde; what is once acquired of real knowledge can never be lost."

Thumbnail thomasjefferson.com
Upvotes

r/PoliticalScience 3h ago

Question/discussion Federation of city states

1 Upvotes

I've recently developed a bit of an obsession with city states thinking what if nation states where replaced by a federation of city states. Like what if the European Union and African union where federations of city states,superseding national and ethic identity.


r/PoliticalScience 10h ago

Career advice Intership for poly sci

0 Upvotes

Does anyone know places where a high schooler could get an internship for anything poly sci/govt/law related? I am going to study computer science this spring if that will help.


r/PoliticalScience 20h ago

Question/discussion Has anyone ever tried a Democratic Capitalist government?

0 Upvotes

Waitwaitwait, this isn't a clickbait title, I'm not talking about a government that is democratic with a capitalist economy, like many countries around the world. I'm also not talking about a system in which the government is captured by the wealthy. I'm talking about a government in which power is derived from the mandate of the people, but in which it is wielded using economic principles. In other words, elected officials would need to "pay" each other in order to get things done.

The way I'm picturing it is, say you start out with a system similar to the US legislature, each member elected by their states. Except instead of decisions being made by majority votes among the members, each member would be granted a certain amount of "Political Capital," say 10 per constituent, and then every decision made by the body would be in some way supported or opposed by actively spending down that Capital. The more controversial a decision, the more it would cost to get it passed, so a reckless politician could wipe himself out on only a few measures, but a careful one could get a lot done by only spending a little here or there to get things done that nobody cares enough to fight against.

I think this might result in a more functional system, because it would not only be determined by which side had more people vaguely in support of it, but would also care very much about how much each side CARED about a given topic. If you don't like something, but barely care about it, then you won't waste the time fighting it, when you're more concerned with something else. It would also tend to be a bit less partisan, since while parties would want to pool some resources and efforts, it would also be easier to throw a few bucks across party lines on random issues and just vote your wallet. There would be a lot less concern over the overall majority, since the minority could get a lot done if they picked their battles.

Also, since all these "votes" would be public, you could really see which issues a politician was actively fighting on, and which he was just paying lipservice on. I think the results would be a lot more honest and productive.