Steven Mazie
Professor of Political Studies, BHSEC-Manhattan | Supreme Court Correspondent, The Economist
Steven V. Mazie is Professor of Political Studies at Bard High School Early College-Manhattan and Supreme Court Correspondent for The Economist. He holds an A.B. in Government from Harvard College and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan. Mazie’s recent publications include “Up from Colorblindness: Equality, Race and the Lessons of Ricci v. DeStefano” (2011), “Rawls on Wall Street” at the New York Times (2011),“Equality, Race and Gifted Education: An Egalitarian Critique of Admission to New York City’s Specialized High Schools” (2009) and Israel’s Higher Law: Religion and Liberal Democracy in the Jewish State (2006). He has taught at the University of Michigan (1998), New York University (2001) and Bard College (2005, 2011).
Members of a gospel choir posing as grocery store employees surprised shoppers this week by breaking into song in memory of Nelson Mandela. It was the most touching flash mob you will ever see.
Oklahoma City, the "buckle of the Bible Belt," may soon have a monument to Satan on its statehouse steps.
The Nelson Mandela of American mythology differs in a few key ways from Nelson Mandela the man.
Don't count on it.
Some links for your post-Thanksgiving political edification: At the Atlantic, Philip Mackowiac tells us that “Abraham Lincoln often spoke and dreamed about being assassinated” and asks whether Lincoln would have […]
My ears perked this afternoon when, as we sat down for our holiday meal, my 9-year-old daughter read aloud President Obama’s Thanksgiving Proclamation. For the first time since George Washington declared a […]
This is the question the Supreme Court will ask in a few months when it hears oral argument in two cases it agreed to consider today. Both cases involve a […]
Note: Yesterday’s Praxis post, “What Your Yearbook Photo Says About Your Gender,” critiqued the latent sexism in instructions to students at a New York City school on how to primp […]
My students looked a little funny this morning. Nails were brighter, curls were bouncier, rumples were sparser and a few young men even sported ties. Today was senior portrait day, […]
In 2014, voters in Switzerland will decide whether their country should send a monthly check for $2,800 to every Swiss citizen and legal resident. This idea may never fly in […]
The outcry about George W. Bush's visit to a group wanting Jews to believe in Jesus is much ado about bubkus.
The dangers of darkness and vitamin D deficiency have been creeping into recent considerations about natural light. Eighty years ago, the conversation was far more alarmist and far more embracing of our nearest star.
"People as old as 90 who actively acquire new interests that involve learning retain their ability to learn. But if we stop taxing the nucleus basalis, it begins to dry up."
Tech-savvy, hard-working people, says Tyler Cowen in his book Average is Over, have a lot to gain in the new economy. The rest of us? Not so much.
The bills to require photo IDs at the voting booth that Republicans have been pushing in a couple of dozen states over the past few years always carry this justification: […]
There’s no simple answer. Recently in the New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert gave us an evenhanded review of two conflicting perspectives on population levels, offering a sobering assessment of our near […]
Many Americans seem to hold on to a romanticized portrait of Columbus even when they are exposed to his dark side.
A new poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly blame the GOP for the catastrophe that continues this evening in Washington. Things are getting so bad for the Republicans that prospects for reopening the government and avoiding a debt-ceiling crisis are, I think, looking up.
John Boehner’s latest move in the political chess game from Hell has moved us deeper into the fiery pit. Even Dante would be shocked. When House Republicans were threatening to […]
Please read poll numbers purporting to explain how people feel about Obamacare with a grain of salt. Most Americans really don't have a clue what it does.
James Madison’s analysis of the American republic is often praised for its brilliance, but the 4th president could not have envisioned the chutzpah and anti-government zeal of the 2013 House Republicans.
THIS JUST IN: "A large percentage of American college students who post professor evaluations at Ratemyprofessors.com consider courses to be high-quality when the professor is attractive and the course is easy."
Without the “fresh” message of salvation and God’s love front-and-center, Catholics worldwide will continue to leave the flock.
An hour ago, the Associated Press is reporting, Syria agreed to dismantle its chemical weapons program to avert a U.S. strike. Here is the tweet: This may solve the international […]
Join the Praxis live-blog of President Obama's address tonight at 9:01pm, when he will face one of the most challenging tasks of his presidency. The three main audiences he needs to keep in mind— members of Congress, the American public and the Syrian regime—all need to hear a somewhat different message. Yet he must be resolute and clear.
If the United States bombs Syria, whatever else happens, the international norm to respect the processes of international institutions and conventions will be dealt a serious blow.
Obama says he wants Congress to approve the strikes, but he is rather cold and technocratic when making the case.
President Obama gave a stirring speech today in Washington, D.C. He reflected on those who marched 50 years ago today. He praised the “brilliance” of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. […]
Earlier this month, Lu Ann Ballew, a judge in Tennessee, decided that seven-month-old Messiah Deshawn Martin must lose his first name. Her reasoning is inspiring condemnation from across the religious […]
A new report shows worrisome incompetence among Air Force nuclear missile launch officers.