Politics and Law - Arcane Knowledge

ArcaneKnowledge.org features well-researched essays on modern political history, political science, and United States law. Scholarly essays and resources on medieval and early modern history can be found on the Historical Research page.

Churchill, Truman, and Stalin at Potsdam

Political History

Down the Memory Hole: Shifting Narratives of U.S. Policy in Iraq (2009)
History of U.S. involvement in Iraq, exploding the myth that faulty intelligence was the cause of the 2003 invasion.
A Brief History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (2007)
Rooseveltian Imperialism (2007)
Assessment of CIA Activities in Chile (1962-1973) (2006)

Related Reading: 1953 CIA Study of Assassination
Related Reading: 1983 CIA Manual on Psychological Coercion

The War on Terror: A War of Opportunity (2006, 2010)
The Myth of the American Hyperpower (2006)
Causes of the Soviet Collapse (1979-1991) (2003)

Political Science

A Basic Lexicon of Political Philosophy (2011)
Discusses classical definitions of political terms and concepts, as contrasted with less coherent modern usage.
On the Radical Separation of Church and State (2006)
The abolition of religion from the political sphere has been falsely posited as the only alternative to theocracy. We examine various historical solutions to the church-state problem, and show how a radical separation of politics and religion is ultimately incompatible with religious liberty.
U.S. Political Representation by Party (1865-Present)
Table showing political party affiliations of congressmen, senators, presidents, and Supreme Court Justices of the United States.

Law

Judicial Activism and Natural Law Jurisprudence (2022) [Parts I-II]
Attempts to define the nebulous concept of judicial activism and determine whether activist decisions might be justified by a natural law jurisprudence, with Maritain’s notion of a developing understanding of natural law.
Common Law and Civil Jurisprudence (2009)
Compares and contrasts Anglo-American common law jurisprudence with European civil jurisprudence, and their implications for the role of the judiciary.
Marbury v. Madison and the Principle of Judicial Review (2006)
A fresh look at this case shows the force of Justice Marshall's reasoning is independent of political motives, and indeed the nature of written constitutions practically demands the exercise of judicial review.
- Related Reading: "Judicial review and executive responsibility," by Alan Keyes (2005)
Plessy and Brown under Originalist Principles (2007, rev. 2018)
Examines whether the “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson is defensible under originalist principles, in light of facts presented in Brown.
Legal Issues of Roe v. Wade (2006)
Examines reasoning behind majority decision of Roe v. Wade and related cases.