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Dr. Hanna Kassab, with Jonathan Rosen, have published a new edited book titled Corruption in the Americas.

“For some states in Latin America, corruption is not simply an industry, but rather it is part of the political system. This collection studies the nature of corruption and its recent trends through expert contributions from scholars from the region who have diverse scholarly backgrounds, theoretical orientations, and methodologies. Through case studies of countries throughout the Americas, the contributors analyze the links between corruption and organized crime, the main actors involved in corruption, governmental responses to corruption, and the impact that corruption has on governmental institutions and people’s faith in them.”

Dr. Sharon Paynter and the Division of Research Economic Development and Engagement has developed and made available DRIVE East Data, county-level data for NC on agriculture, demographics, economy, education, employment, housing and public health. In each category there are multiple sub-categories. For instance, there are 28 separate maps in public health that depict different health statistics.  Perhaps even better than the maps, you can download the data set for each topic.

See: https://driveeastdata.ecu.edu/

Can Donald Trump Be Barred from Holding Federal Office Again?

The answer to this is unclear. However, “Yale Law School professor Bruce Ackerman and Indiana University law professor Gerard Magliocca argued that members of Congress had another, perhaps easier, path to barring Trump from office.

“They pointed to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, aimed at preventing people from holding federal office if they are deemed to have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the Constitution.

“The professors write that if a majority vote of both houses agree that Trump has engaged in an act of “insurrection or rebellion,” then he would be barred from running for the White House again. Only a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress in the future could undo that result.”

The article of impeachment adopted this provision of the Constitution, claiming that “Trump should be disqualified from holding future office” (from https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-01-14/barring-trump-from-holding-office-again)

Benjamin “Ben” Davis, #PoliticalScience (MPA ’10; BS ’08) alumni, is one of East Carolina University’s 2021.

Davis’ #HarriotCollegeMajor is helping him #MakeADifference in the lives of all U.S. citizens. He works in the Chief Information Office of the Defense Intelligence Agency as Deputy Director of the Intelligence Community Security Coordination Center, where Davis oversees daily operations of cybersecurity. He most enjoys “working alongside the selfless professionals within the national security apparatus and doing my part to ensure the safety and security of the nation.”

“ECU afforded me the foundational knowledge and skills to succeed in any career, such as critical thinking, writing and the ability to handle complex challenges and situations,” Davis said. “Secondly, it afforded me a network of peers that I engage with and rely on today.”

Davis lives in Alexandria, VA, and has the honor of representing ECU on the Military Bowl’s Board of Directors. The bowl is a post-season NCAA Football bowl game benefiting the United Service Organizations of the Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore area.

Did You Know: Impeachment is NOT Just for Presidents! “In the past, the House has also used its impeachment powers on leaders other than sitting presidents. Among those impeached include U.S. Sen. William Blount from Tennessee; in 1797, Blount was accused of working with Great Britain in the country’s attempt to take the Spanish-controlled territories of what today are Florida and Louisiana. U.S. Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached in 1876 on bribery charges. And a number of judges have also been impeached, including John Pickering in 1803, West Humphreys in 1862, Harold Louderback in 1933, and Samuel Kent in 2009″ (from https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2019/06/07)

Did you know:

• “The American concept of impeachment has its origins in Ancient Rome. Only senators could be impeached, but not the emperor. This lead to a number of assassinations—a potentially bloody situation the Founding Fathers hoped to avoid.
• “In countries with presidents, about 94% of them have some mechanism for removing them from office.
• “Since 1990, at least 132 different heads of state have faced some 272 impeachment proposals in 63 countries. Most leaders survive impeachment attempts.”

From https://www.factretriever.com/impeachment-facts.

The spring semester has officially started – today is the end of the first week of classes. Some few of us are back to face-to-face, but most of us are still online… and hoping that this is the last ‘virtual’ semester.

Here’s to a safe, successful semester – and to looking forward to getting back to normal (not the “new”) “normal”!

Today, Jan. 20, at noon, Joe Biden will take the presidential oath of office. Unlike most of his predecessors, Donald Trump will not be in attendance at the inauguration ceremony.

This is not the first time an outgoing president has been absent from their successor’s inauguration. “Three presidents have declined to attend their successor’s inauguration. In 1801, John Adams left town at 4am the morning of President-elect Thomas Jefferson’s swearing in. In 1829 his son, John Quincy Adams, would one-up his famously obstinate father by departing the White House the night before Andrew Jackson took office. And in 1869, Andrew Johnson refused to attend Grant’s inauguration” (from https://listverse.com/2021/01/15/top-10-fun-facts-from-us-presidential-inaugurations/)

Dr. Sharon Paynter of the Dept. of Political Science is heading the Rural Opportunity Grant Program study, funded by the SECU Foundation. The study, which began in August of 2020, will run through July of 2021. Together with partners in Bertie, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, and Northampton Counties, ECU and its partners will focus on challenges related to affordable housing.

Kassab, Hanna Samir., (2020). “Soft Power and Struggles for Leadership: The United States, Russia and China” Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations: An International Journal (CCPS), vol. 6, no. 2, 507-538.

Abstract: This article argues that struggles for global leadership and soft power are at the center of gaining consent of the ruled. The United States once led the world in leadership. It is now facing serious challenges because of its own doing. The Iraq War (2003) was a disaster, not just for American power projection, but for its global standing. The political soft power vacuum was an opportunity for great powers. The rise of China and the resurgence of Russia opened new fronts in their desire for global leadership. Without followers, one cannot be a leader. This makes the battle for weak states part of the international system.