Lead Article – R&P Journal, December 2011

The Bible in the Political Rhetoric of the American Founding

Daniel L. Dreisbach - American University

Abstract

The American founders frequently alluded to and quoted from the Bible in their political rhetoric. This fact alone reveals little about how and for what purposes the founding generation used the Bible and, more important, how the Bible influenced the political thought of the founding era. Drawing on some of the most familiar political rhetoric of the founding era, this article examines the founders' diverse uses of the Bible in political discourse, ranging from the strictly literary and cultural to the theological, from the stylistic to the substantive. Recognition of these distinct uses is important insofar as it is misleading to read spiritual meaning into purely political or rhetorical uses of the Bible or vice versa.

{more here}

Note from the chair – August 29, 2011

Dear all,

I hope you have had a great summer. As you will see below we have a long list of items to discuss in the section meeting during the APSA conference (Thursday, Sept 1 at 6.15-7.15 followed by a reception at 7.30-9.00).

Before listing the agenda items, I encourage each of you to

–renew the section membership

–subscribe your institution to our journal (Politics and Religion)

–volunteer for award committees (please let me know if you want to serve in book, dissertation, or paper award committees).

The agenda:

1 – Politics and Religion has a 2.5-year backlog.

To solve the problem we need more pages (we now have 3 issues per year * 7 articles per issue).

Two options:

a) 4 issues per year * 8 articles per issue = $4 increase in dues

b) 4 issues per year * 7 articles per issue = $2 increase in dues

2 – Journal Editor

As I emailed before, the following is the link to the CVs and Proposals of the three candidates for the journal's editorship:

http://community.apsanet.org/APSANET/APSANET/Resources/ViewDocument/Default.aspx?DocumentKey=2e2720e9-d8cf-4cbe-be7f-184efa6c4d7c

The meeting participants will decide whether to rank the proposals per se, or to mix candidates by constructing new co-editorships, especially for balancing the expertise on American Politics and CP/IR.

3 – Announcements:

Budget Report (Ahmet Kuru)

Journal Report (Ted Jelen)

2011 Program (Stephen Mockabee)

Mentoring (Brian Calfano)

Chair-elect (Iza Hussin)

Book Award (Committee Chair David Campbell)

Co-winners (Elizabet Hurd and Vincent P. Munoz)

Honorable mention (Mira Morgenstern)

Dissertation Award (Committee Chair Tarek Masoud)

Co-winners (Brandon Kendhammer and Samuel Goldman)

Paper Award (Committee Chair Nader Hashemi)

Winner (Lisa Blaydes)

Best,

Ahmet

2011 Annual Meeting and Exhibition

image from apsanet.org
Dear Colleagues,

I know that many of you are wondering what is happening about our 2011 Annual Meeting. This is the position at present.

I regret that we will not be meeting in San Francisco as originally planned.

A very protracted labor dispute between the service workers of UNITE HERE Local 2 and San Francisco hotels has been taking place and there is no sign of an end. Without any resolution clearly in sight, the APSA Council determined that we could not guarantee that the facilities and environment necessary for our scholarly deliberations would be available. 

Acting on Council direction, the Association therefore notified the host hotels in San Francisco that, under these circumstances, we would not be able to hold our meeting there. We have subsequently reached a withdrawal agreement with the San Francisco hotels that will allow us to relocate without paying penalties – for which our staff deserve thanks. We are planning to return to San Francisco soon.

As I write to you, an alternative site for the 2011 Annual Meeting has not yet been selected. Let me emphasize that we are holding guaranteed space while we explore several possibilities. My preference is to find a new location on the west coast and so minimize disruption to everyone's plans. We anticipate that arrangements for a new site will be completed relatively soon now. The allocation of panels for the 2011 meeting will quickly follow.

The decision to move the meeting has not been an easy one, but there was little alternative if we were to ensure the success of the meeting for all participants. The APSA will announce the new venue as soon as the decision has been made. I look forward to seeing you there in 2011.

With best wishes
Carole Pateman 
President APSA

Dissertation Award – Message from Joseph Yi

Doctor Yi writes:

I am part of the Aaron Wildavsky Dissertation Award committee. The section page on the main APSA site lists an incorrect address for sending dissertations to me.

Before Feb 20, 2011, send dissertations to my current address:
Joseph Yi
2041 Christie St.
Fullerton CA 92833

After Feb 20, 2011, email to:
joyichicago "at" yahoo.com

or mail to:
Dr. Joseph Yi,
Assistant Professor Department of Public Administration
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
270 Imun-dong Seoul, 130-791, Korea

joyichicago@yahoo.com