Citizens of Wisconsin risked their lives to vote last week. Because of actions by their state legislature, upheld by a 5-4 a Supreme Court decision, Wisconsin residents were forced to choose between exercising their right to cast a ballot and protecting their health – as well as the health of all with whom they come…
Author: Shannon Jenkins
A Town Meeting Drinking Game
Google “debate drinking game” and you’ll get about 36 million results. For instance, the semi-official DebateDrinking.com has a set of rules for the 2019/2020 presidential election debates. Google “town meeting drinking game” though, and you get far fewer results. There are a couple of pieces on local politics related drinking games, like this one for…
The Rules Matter
I’m teaching courses on U.S. politics and Massachusetts politics this semester. When I talk about the national and state Constitutions, one of the things I stress is that these Constitutions are like the rules of the game, and the rules matter. Local charters are no different, and the events unfolding in Fall River over the…
Japan Dispatches: Thoughts on Public Transportation in the Commonwealth
On Thursday morning, I woke to find a friend and colleague had posted a story on my Facebook timeline about the efficacy of trains versus cars in response to a blog post I had made questioning Massachusetts’s investment in SouthCoast rail. It was the unicorn of all Facebook debates—respectful disagreement accompanied by the infusion of…
Who are the Special Interests Here?
While the 2016 statewide ballot question to expand charter schools failed to pass, the battle over charter schools continues to rage on in Massachusetts. Down here on the Southcoast, the Alma Del Mar Charter school in New Bedford is seeking to expand by adding two new schools and over 1,100 new charter school seats. The…
Yes on Three
Coming out of the grocery store yesterday afternoon, I was miffed to see that there was a flyer stuck under my windshield wipers. For those of you who don’t know me, this is one of my pet peeves, most likely because I rarely notice them until I am driving down the road and they start…
Hello? Is anyone paying attention to MA-9?
During the primary season, there was a lot of attention paid to the Pressley-Capuano race. That was understandable – how often is it that we have a competitive Congressional race in the state of Massachusetts, let alone a competitive primary? But since then, there has been little talk about Congressional races in Massachusetts, despite the…
Time Out for A Personal-Political Post
One of the catch-phrases of 1960s political activism was “the personal is political.” When you’re a political scientist, this is certainly true. Facebook reminded me of this recently when it showed me memories of our vacation last year. I wrote this post last year, but never posted it; the pictures in my feed reminded me…
SouthCoast Rail: A 20th Century Solution for the 21st Century?
This week, Commonwealth Magazine ran a story with the headline: “South Coast Rail Optimism Grows.” The article details the recent approval of $28 million to complete the design for the $1 billion first phase of the SouthCoast Rail project that will bring commuter rail from South Station to New Bedford and Fall River via Middleborough. …