Suchergebnisse

Both the plight of African American young people and their feelings and thoughts about this plight are major issues of concern in U.S. politics. In 2003, the Black Youth Project was launched, with funding by the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to promote both social scientific analysis and public understanding of these issues (the project has an innovative and engaging Website that can be accessed at http://www.blackyouthproject.com/). Cathy J. Cohen is the principal investigator of the project and, in Democracy Remixed, she draws upon a new national survey of black youth to offer a mixed-method empirical description and theoretical analysis of "black youth and the future of American politics." In this symposium, a diverse group of political and social scientists have been asked to critically assess the book's account and to comment more broadly on the importance of black youth to the future of American politics.—Jeffrey C. Isaac, Editor

Critical analysis, which is defined as the reasoned and logical
process of skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing,
synthesizing, and/or evaluating information (Scriven and Paul 2001), is at the heart of the research
process that propels our profession's knowledge-base forward. In
this essay, I describe an effective method that I developed to help
inculcate and hone students' critical analysis skills. Indeed,
critical analysis skills are crucial foundational skills necessary
for all students, especially those who intend to thrive successfully
as researchers in our profession. I am
grateful to A.B. Assensoh, Joan Middendorf and the three
anonymous reviewers, respectively, who offered helpful comments
on earlier versions of this essay.

The political landscape of the United States of America experienced a momentous historical shift on November 4, 2008 when American citizens elected their first black leader to the land's highest office. This was no small feat for a country whose racial history is tarnished by the practice of slavery. Though President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation abolished slavery in 1865, blacks have long lagged behind whites in virtually every socio-economic category. Despite this, a mere 133 years after the ratification of the 13th Amendment, Barack Obama, an American of African (Kenyan) and Caucasian descent, was elected the 44th President of the United States of America. Though many reasons account for Obama's unprecedented win in November, one common thread ties each together: the spirit of change. This essay will analyze how this one simple word, read on millions of political placards and exhausted by cable news networks, was not merely a political catchphrase to excite a hungry political base. In fact, the real "change" that facilitated Obama's election was in electoral demographics and voter turnout, among generational divides, in international geo-political paradigms, and in the nature of the winning candidate himself. Taken together, these factors demonstrate that "change" was not only an appropriate message to galvanize support, but more importantly the key mechanism that allowed Obama and the Democratic Party to triumph over the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain. Adapted from the source document.