Articles by Lucas Eaves

The United States prison population is facing mounting hurdles both logistically and economically. Statistics compiled by Boston University reveal violent and property crimes have decreased from 2007 to 2011. Down from about 1.4 million to 1.2 million and 9.8 million to 9 million over four years respectively. Yet, as of 2011, the United States had the highest incarceration rate in the world. Seven hundred and sixteen per 100,000 of the national population remain in a correctional institution. I...

The industrial revolution was paved with asphalt on which millions of automobiles thrust the American economy into the 20th century only to slowly decline by the end of it. By 1946, 75 percent of all cars were produced inside the United States. By 2011, the amount of cars produced inside the US dropped to 11 percent. China has made significant strides to fill the gap, climbing from 3 percent in 1997 to 23 percent in 2011. Likewise, the US manufacturing base has thinned out significantly. From ...

Africa as a continent is often viewed in a singular economic lens in global politics. This simplistic view of the second largest continent on earth paints over the diversity of challenges that face each country within Africa's shores. Some countries like Maruitius and Cape Verde are significantly outperforming others like Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Despite civic turmoil in states like Egypt and Tunisia, both managed to secure a place in the top 5 for economic opportunity....

New Jersey is holding two elections this year: the general elections for the state Legislature and the governorship and a special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat left open by the loss of Senator Frank Lautenberg. With the end results already predictable, more attention should be given to the three flaws of the current system: low participation, little competition, and high costs. The primary elections for the gubernatorial race were held on June 5, allowing members of the Democratic Party...

Energy has long been a highly disputed issue in California and the upcoming rise in prices this summer will certainly discontent many Californians. In California, utility companies do not have real control over the amount they can charge their customers. This is the result of a bill, Indeed,  passed by the California legislature following the famous 2000/2001 energy crisis, that prevents the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) from altering the energy rates. Under the current system,...

Credit: utcourts.gov Utah was the last state in the union to limit ballot access to a caucus-convention system, which allows candidates to avoid primary elections, and the major political parties in the state recently decided to conserve this system. Utah is considered to be one of the most conservative states in the U.S. and is seen as the Republican equivalent of California. However, the largest voting bloc in the state consists of nonaffiliated voters who represent approximately 55 percent ...

Last week, FairVote.org released a new policy paper, in which it presents a proposition to resolve the deficiencies of California's nonpartisan top-two primary. FairVote is an advocate for reforming U.S. elections "to respect every vote and every voice in order to increase voter turnout, meaningful ballot choices and fair representation." In 2010, they opposed Proposition 14, the initiative that created "top-two" in California, which the group believed had severe flaws. After analyzing the eff...

An IVN article revealed the top five states with the highest number of registered independent voters. Surprisingly, a majority of these states still have primary elections that disenfranchise this growing segment of the population. Massachusetts, Alaska, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut lead the nation with the highest percentages of independent or no party preference voters, hovering between 43 and 52 percent. However, despite the fact that in each of these states independents are mor...

Gerrymandering has been blamed for the increasingly partisan political environment in the United States. In 2008, Californians decided to take the redistricting process away from politicians by creating a citizen-based redistricting commission and it works. In most parts of the country, the redistricting process, meaning the redrawing of electoral districts after the decennial census, is left in the hands of elected officials. The legislatures have primary control of their own district lines in...