Nov
30
Beyond A Cease Fire: Exploring the Limits of the Guatemalan Peace Accords
Filed Under From the Field, US-Latin American Relations | Leave a Comment
Latin America has often been the focus of international attention, particularly in the eyes of the United States. As neighbors to the South, there has always been evolving foreign policy between the U.S. and Latin America. As we evaluate the 1996 Guatemalan Peace Accords, the history of policy preceding and the outcome of the […]
Oct
28
Assessing the Effectiveness of International Drug Policy: Findings and Implications for Plan Colombia of 1999
Filed Under From the Field, US-Latin American Relations | Leave a Comment
(What is From the Field? Read the introduction to the current segment to find out more!) Drug production and trafficking polluted Colombia’s national security for nearly fifty years. The issue had to be addressed in order to restore tranquility and peace within the nation. Upon President Pastrana’s election in 1998, his main goal was to eliminate the […]
Oct
2
Nicaragua: An Ideological Proxy War (From the Field: US-Latin American Relations
Filed Under From the Field, US-Latin American Relations | Leave a Comment
(What is From the Field? Read the introduction to the current segment to find out more!) “President Bears ‘Ultimate Responsibility’ For Wrongdoing” was just one of the many headlines circulating the United States in the 1980s. After news of the Iran-Contra Affair broke, there was an endless stream of similar refrains, all echoing the […]
Oct
2
New Segment on Foreign Policy in US-Latin American Relations (From the Field)
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(What is From the Field? Read our welcome and prior posts.) This post kicks off our second segment of From the Field, a student blog series that shares the work and experiences of students in Messiah University’s Department of Politics and International Relations. Last spring, students participating in the US-Latin American Relations delved into the history of relations […]
Aug
17
Politics, Not for Majors Only: A Replay of “Minors Matter” (From the Field)
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(What is From the Field? Read our welcome and prior posts.) As we await the launch of the next segment of the From the Field series, which will focus on policies related to US-Latin American Relations this fall, we look back to a post from an earlier student blog series that ran a few years […]
Jun
22
Party Redux? 1932 and Today (From the Field series: Political Parties in America)
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(What is From the Field? Read our welcome to find out!) How are the characteristics of the Republican and Democratic parties from nearly a century ago relevant to political parties today? In more ways than one might think at first glance. As the coronavirus sweeps across the country, statistics show that unemployment rates are reaching a high […]
May
27
The Fourth Party System: Was It REALLY a Realignment? (From the Field series: Political Parties in America)
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(What is From the Field? Read our welcome to find out!) The fourth alignment of the American party system lasted from 1896-1932, with the election of 1896 considered the critical election. Republican William McKinley’s win, Stonecash and Silina note, “presumably produced a pronounced, abrupt, and enduring shift to the Republican Party… because the Republican win created a political alignment that […]
May
27
The More Things Change…The Value of Trends in the Fourth Party System (From the Field series: Political Parties in America)
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(What is From the Field? Read our welcome to find out!) For the two decades prior to the 1890s, neither the Democrats or Republicans maintained a stable majority; that status would change with the 1896 election of Republican William McKinley. As historian Marc Horger notes in “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” the election culminated in concerns over […]
Apr
20
Voter Disconnect: The Timeless Signal for Political Realignment (From the Field series: Political Parties in America)
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New to From the Field? Read the welcome post for the series! Spanning from 1860- 1896, the 3rd Party System initiated the still-enduring reign of the two-party system consisting of the Democratic and Republican parties. Although the platforms of these parties have substantially shifted since this time frame, the longevity of the parties themselves is a sign […]
Mar
13
The Second Party System: 1829 and 2019 Are Not So Different (From the Field series: Political Parties in America)
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Chloe Dickson (What is From the Field? Read our welcome to find out!) Republicans and Democrats often argue that they are the party of Lincoln. However, Lincoln’s presidency came at a time when the Democratic party split and the Republicans were a new party. While Lincoln was a Republican, modern definitions do not fit the […]