Spring 2002
The Strange Career of the Death Penalty
In Essence
A Survey of Recent Articles
"Bowling Together" by Robert Putnam, in The American Prospect (Feb. 11, 2002), 2000 L St., N.W., Ste. 717, Washington, D.C. 20036, and "A Stronger Nation" by Alan Wolfe, in The Responsive Community (Spring 2002), 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Ste. 282, Washington, D.C. 20006–1846, and "The Continuing Irony of American History" by Wilfred M. McClay, in First Things (Feb. 2002), P.O. Box 401, Mt. Morris, Ill. 61054.
"Assessing Poll Performance in the 2000 Campaign" by Michael W. Traugott, in Public Opinion Quarterly (Fall 2001), Annenberg Public Policy Center, Univ. of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104–6220.
"The Myth of the Vanishing Voter" by Michael P. McDonald and Samuel L. Popkin, in American Political Science Review (Dec. 2001), American Political Science Assn., 1527 New Hampshire Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036; "Just One Question" by David W. Moore, in Public Perspective (Jan.–Feb. 2002), The Roper Center, 341 Mansfield Rd., Unit 1164, Storrs, Conn. 06268.
A Survey of Recent Articles
"Caution: Children at War" by P. W. Singer, in Parameters (Winter 2001–02), 122 Forbes Ave., Carlisle, Pa. 17013–5238.
"The Continuing Argument over Jutland" by Louis D. Rubin, Jr., in The Virginia Quarterly Review (Autumn 2001), Univ. of Virginia, One West Range, P.O. Box 400223, Charlottesville, Va. 22904–4223.
"China’s Use of Force, 1950–1996, and Taiwan" by Allen S. Whiting, in International Security (Fall 2001), MIT Press Journals, 5 Cambridge Center, 4th Flr., Cambridge, Mass. 02142–1493.
"Social Policy and Mortality Decline in East Asia and Latin America" by James W. McGuire, in World Development (No. 10, 2001), American Univ., 4400 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016–8151.
"The Wrong Problem" by Harald B. Malmgren, in The International Economy (Nov.–Dec. 2001), 1133 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Ste. 901, Washington, D.C. 20036.
"The Essence of Commodification: Caffeine Dependencies in the Early Modern World" by Ross W. Jamieson, in Journal of Social History (Winter 2001), George Mason Univ., Fairfax, Va. 22030.
"Why We Don’t Marry" by James Q. Wilson, in City Journal (Winter 2002), Manhattan Inst., 57 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017.
"Foreign News: What’s Next?" by Michael Parks, in Columbia Journalism Review (Jan.–Feb. 2002), 2950 Broadway, Columbia Univ., New York, N.Y. 10027.
"The Attack on Human Rights" by Michael Ignatieff, in Foreign Affairs (Nov.–Dec. 2001), 58 E. 68th St., New York, N.Y. 10021.
"The Ambivalence of Political Courage" by Jason A. Scorza, in The Review of Politics (Fall 2001), Univ. of Notre Dame, P.O. Box B, Notre Dame, Ind. 46556.
"How to Regulate Science" by Francis Fukuyama, in The Public Interest (Winter 2002), 1112 16th St., N.W., Ste. 530, Washington, D.C. 20036.
"Fighting Chance" by Siddhartha Mukherjee, in The New Republic (Jan. 21, 2002), 1220 19th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
"The Gas between the Stars" by Ronald J. Reynolds, in Scientific American (Jan. 2002), 415 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017–1111.
"Design and Development" by Witold Rybczynski, in Wharton Real Estate Review (Fall 2001), Lauder-Fischer Hall, 3rd fl., 256 S. 37th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104–6330.
"The Last Catholic Writer in America?" by Paul Elie, in Books & Culture (Nov.–Dec. 2001), P.O. Box 37060, Boone, Iowa 50037–0060.
"Intellectual Property" by Frederick Turner, in American Arts Quarterly (Fall 2001), P.O. Box 1654, Cooper Station, New York, N.Y. 10276.
"Two Funerals and a Wedding? The Ups and Downs of Regionalism in East Asia and Asia-Pacific after the Asian Crisis" by Douglas Webber, in The Pacific Review (No. 3, 2001), Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis, Inc., 325 Chestnut St., 8th fl., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106.
"Two Funerals and a Wedding? The Ups and Downs of Regionalism in East Asia and Asia-Pacific after the Asian Crisis" by Douglas Webber, in The Pacific Review (No. 3, 2001), Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis, Inc., 325 Chestnut St., 8th fl., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106.
"A Tale of Two Bishops" by M. A. Thiessen, in Crisis (Feb. 2002), 1814 1/2 N St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
Book Reviews
DOWNTOWN: Its Rise and Fall, 1880–1950. By Robert M. Fogelson. Yale Univ. Press. 492 pp. $35
THE CORSET: A Cultural History. By Valerie Steele. Yale Univ. Press. 199 pp. $39.95
UPLIFT: The Bra in America. By Jane Farrell-Beck and Colleen Gau. Univ. of Pennsylvania Press. 243 pp. $35
LINCOLN'S ASSASSINS: Their Trial and Execution. By James L. Swanson and Daniel R. Weinberg. Arena Editions. 151 pp. $45
By Richard Lingeman. Random House. 659 pp. $35
Edited by Michael Murray. HarperCollins. 615 pp. $29.95
By Arnold Berke. Princeton Architectural Press. 320 pp. $35
By Paul V Murphy. Univ. of North Carolina Press. 351 pp. $49.95 cloth, $19.95 paper
By Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Texere. 203 pp. $27.95
By Edward T. Linenthal. Oxford Univ. Press. 304 pp. $30
By Tammy Bruce. Prima Forum. 300 pp. $23.95
By Mary A. Renda. Univ. of North Carolina Press. 414 pp. $49.95 cloth, $19.95 paper
By Rickard Brookhiser. Free Press. 244 pp. $25
By William Palmer. Univ. Press of Kentucky. 372 pp. $32
By Judith Dupre. HarperCollins. 168 pp. $40
By Jeremy Campbell. Norton. 363 pp. $26.95
By Thomas Crump. Carroll & Graf. 425 pp. $28
By Patrick J. McGrath. Univ. of North Carolina Press. 248 pp. $39.95
Essays
Few institutions have been more severely tested in the wake of September 11 than the law. How do we treat suspected foreign terrorists? What is the proper balance between self-defense and the protection of civil liberties? A legal scholar sees an important lesson in how America has responded.
The new Bibliotheca Alexandrina opens this spring on the shores of the Mediterranean atop the foundations of a great lost legend. Will it be a beacon of intellectual hope and openness for a country sorely in need of one? An ordinary library with none of its precursor’s ancient luster? Or simply the world’s largest phone booth?
The village puts food on the Russian table and serves as a personal safety net for city-dwelling relatives. In return for their pains the farmers get a fragile form of independence, but at a great price.
Human beings have long used antibiotics and other weapons to wage war on microbes. But microbes seem to evolve almost as quickly as scientists devise new means to destroy them. It is time to abandon the war paradigm, the authors argue, and embrace new methods that will allow us a greater measure of peaceful coexistence with microbial life.
One lesson of American politics since September 11 is that some tensions between presidents and Congress spring from a deeper source than the partisan passions of the moment.
John Rawls, a giant of modern political philosophy, worked throughout his career to articulate the theoretical foundations of liberalism. Almost against his will, Rawls has suggested that those foundations are entangled with, and fortified by, religious faith.
Last year, 66 convicted murderers were executed in the United States, and several thousand still sit on death row. Yet 30 years ago, with public support for capital punishment seemingly on the wane, the Supreme Court ruled every death penalty statute in the land unconstitutional. Our author details the paradoxical developments of the past three decades.
