By Ghayda Hassan 1 Sébastien Brouillette-Alarie 1 Sarah Ousman 1 Deniz Kilinc 1 Éléa Laetitia Savard 1 Wynnpaul Varela 1 Lysiane Lavoie 1 Arber Fetiu 1

  Over the past two decades, planned and executed attacks attributed to extremist movements or “lone actors” have intensified and spread throughout many parts of the world, amplifying the fears of local populations and prompting a number of governments to invest significant sums of money into preventing violent radicalization and extremism  Despite these investments, current knowledge regarding best practices for prevention remains disparate, and the effectiveness of current practices has not yet been clearly established. This means that trillions of dollars are currently being spent funding programs whose effectiveness and potential side effects are unknown. Considering the above, the Canadian Practitioners Network for Prevention of Radicalization and Extremist Violence (CPNPREV; https://cpnprev.ca/) has conducted a systematic review on the effectiveness of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention programs in the field of preventing violent extremism (PVE). The goals of this review were threefold: 1) to determine if primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention programs are able to counter violent radicalization; 2) to identify specific program modalities associated with a higher chance of success or failure for the targeted populations; and 3) to assess the quality of the literature in order to identify less reliable evidence, knowledge gaps, and studies which should be given more weight in the interpretation of results The review integrated evidence on the following: a) religiously-inspired (e.g., Islamist), right-wing, extreme-left, and “singleissue” (e.g., misogyny) violent radicalization; b) outcomes classified by prevention levels; and c) benefits/harms, costs, transferability, and community-related implementation issues when mentioned by the authors. We used systematic review methods developed by the Campbell and Cochrane collaborations. The logic model driving the review is grounded in an ecosystemic public health model, dividing programs into primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention levels. Because the outcomes of primary/secondary PVE programs and those of tertiary prevention programs were very disparate, we decided to treat results of primary/secondary prevention programs separately from those of tertiary prevention programs. However, we used a common method for both reviews. Of the 11,836 studies generated from the searches undertaken (up to June 2019), only 56 were found to be eligible for this review (i.e., they included an empirical—quantitative or qualitative—evaluation of a primary or secondary prevention initiative using primary data). Among these, 23 were found to be of insufficient methodological quality (score of 3/10 or less on the Quality of Study Assessment tool) and were therefore excluded The final set of studies comprised 33 evaluations of primary or secondary prevention programs. They reached a total sample of 6,520 individuals from 15 countries, with sample sizes ranging from 5 to 1,446 participants (M = 210.32, SD = 396.0). Most of the identified studies (k = 24) evaluated programs targeting violent Islamist radicalization. Nine studies assessed the outcomes of “general” prevention programs, that is, programs that do not target a specific type of violent radicalization but rather aim to improve openness towards others, respect, civic education, etc., within both “vulnerable” individuals and the general population. Only one study assessed programs targeting violent far-right radicalization, and none targeted far-left or single-issue violent radicalization. Among the 33 program evaluation studies, 18 reported mostly positive outcomes, seven reported mixed outcomes (both positive and negative), and eight reported mostly negative outcomes. Of note, all negative assessments were related to initiatives under Prevent, the UK’s national PVE strategy. On average, primary and secondary prevention programs seemed more effective than targeted primary prevention programs. However, this result is inevitably linked to the multiple negative assessments of Prevent, a strategy encompassing multiple targeted primary prevention programs.  

Montreal::Canadian Practitioners Network for the Prevention of Radicalization and Extremist Violence., 

2021. 152p.

By Pauline Moore, Melissa Kay Diliberti, Isaiah Simmons, Heather L. Schwartz, Brian A. Jackson

Ensuring the safety of students, faculty, and staff is a multifaceted challenge that requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) to navigate myriad threats, hazards, and risks. Concerns about safety and security at IHE campuses encompass everything from various forms of violence to the safety of pedestrian traffic, to the security of personal and institutional property. The strategies that IHEs rely on to help prevent crime and violence, protect their communities and buildings, and respond to violence are far from uniform. However, there is relatively little comprehensive information about the ways IHEs are addressing the variety of threats and risks they face and little guidance about how they can best work within their communities and in collaboration with outside partners.

In this report, the authors seek to shed light on trends in crime and violence at IHE campuses across the United States and what institutions are doing to ensure the safety and security of their communities. The authors develop a set of actionable recommendations for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—on its own or in partnership with other federal government agencies—to provide additional support to IHEs in the broad area of safety and security. The authors highlight current practices in the areas of violence prevention, physical security, response, and emergency preparedness and discuss the various stakeholders IHEs work with, both within and outside their immediate communities, to address safety needs.

Key Findings

The increasing prevalence of mental health issues among students and heightened sensitivities to gun violence among postsecondary students who have experienced school shootings, as well as the complexities involved in managing campus protests, are especially pressing emerging concerns across IHEs in the United States.

The IHEs represented in the sample largely rely on a collaborative approach to keeping their campus communities safe. Effective campus safety and security efforts involve collaboration among multiple institutional stakeholders, community-level partners, and federal agencies.

Physical security measures, including the use of security personnel, are key to keeping campuses safe. IHEs also rely heavily on security personnel to promote safety and protect their campuses. Community policing seems to be especially important when it comes to fostering positive relationships between campus law enforcement and the broader campus community, although perceptions of campus police vary across student populations.

Although IHEs are making considerable efforts to keep their communities safe, resource constraints, including limited funding and staff time, pose important challenges to maintaining and improving safety and security strategies.

IHE campuses across the United States are often a microcosm of broader societal issues, which can complicate the work of campus safety personnel.

Future research related to safety and security at IHEs is needed. In particular, more up-to-date data are needed in several areas, including about postsecondary students’ perceptions of threats, trends in reporting safety-related concerns, and the shifting nature of the challenges that IHEs are facing.

Recommendations

Create a centralized clearinghouse of safety and security federal grant opportunities specifically for IHEs. Identified grants could promote opportunities for IHEs to make improvements to safety and security infrastructure, including physical security measures, and mental health services for college-age populations.

Further facilitate information-sharing and collaboration among IHEs, local law enforcement, and state and federal agencies. This could include publishing resources that highlight best practices in dealing with various types of threats and opportunities to conduct joint training exercises or host a library of tabletop exercises accessible to IHE administrators, campus safety and security personnel (including campus law enforcement agencies), and local law enforcement partners.

Further encourage mutual aid agreements on safety and security. DHS can be an important leader in fostering and supporting the development of mutual aid agreements among IHEs and between IHEs and local emergency responders to ensure coordinated responses during large events and emergencies.

Provide guidance to help IHEs develop user-friendly and accessible reporting systems for their campus communities and improve reporting outreach.

Provide additional resources and guidance to help IHEs address the threat of targeted violence on college campuses. Addressing targeted violence, including gun violence, on IHE campuses requires measures that support prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery.

Given the heightened sensitivities to gun violence with which many postsecondary students are coming to college, DHS could consider expanding guidance to IHEs on how to adequately consider and respond to the potential psychological impacts of measures designed to improve response to targeted violence.

Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2025. 143p.

By Robert VerBruggen

Antidiscrimination law has become a flashpoint in American political debates once again. With the Supreme Court’s decision striking down affirmative action and a legal campaign against race-conscious “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programs—a campaign that now enjoys the support of the executive branch—there has been increased attention to how these laws protect not only black, Hispanic, and Native Americans, but also white and Asian Americans. Some on the right have also resuscitated age-old libertarian arguments that antidiscrimination law necessarily violates freedom of association and should be pared back in general. Meanwhile, given ongoing racial gaps in many important outcomes, DEI advocates on the political left have fought to protect and expand race-conscious programs and policies. This report explains the history and current state of play of antidiscrimination law, with a focus on racial discrimination in employment, contracting, housing, and admissions to selective schools and colleges—areas in which interpersonal discrimination can limit access to important opportunities. It also assesses the role of discrimination in racial disparities over time and offers suggestions for reform.

New York: Manhattan Institute, 2025. 26p.

By Qiwei He Scott Barkowski

Little evidence exists on the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on criminal behavior, a gap in the literature that this paper seeks to address. Using a simple model, we argue we should anticipate a decrease in time devoted to criminal activities in response to the expansion, since the availability of the ACA Medicaid coverage raises the opportunity cost of crime. This prediction is particularly relevant for the ACA expansion since it primarily affects childless adults, a population likely to contain individuals who engage in criminal behavior. We validate this forecast empirically using a difference-in-differences framework, estimating the expansion’s effects on panel datasets of state- and county-level crime rates. Our estimates suggest that the ACA Medicaid expansion was negatively associated with burglary, vehicle theft, homicide, robbery, and assault. These crime-reduction spillover effects represent an important offset to the government’s cost burden for the ACA Medicaid expansion.

Health Economics. 2020; 1– 17.

By Konstantin Sonin, David Van Dijcke, and Austin L. Wright 

The massive violent protest at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was a rare event for a mature democracy. We investigate its drivers using location data from 40 million mobile devices. Leveraging a novel approach for estimating spatially-dispersed protest participation, we show that political isolation amplified the effect of partisanship on participation. Increased mobilization occurred in states with close Trump losses and politically isolated counties with proBiden election-night shifts. These results align with a model in which protesters from isolated communities are more sensitive to information from their preferred sources. Our findings shed light on deep motivations and immediate triggers of violent collective action.  

  WORKING PAPER · NO. 2021-13, 2023. 75p.

By Robert Kupiecki, Filip Bryjka and Tomasz Chłoń

Dive into the world of disinformation with this groundbreaking book. Uncover how Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) shapes modern politics and society, and how it impacts your own life. Explore answers to key questions: What are the origins and characteristics of disinformation? How can we identify it? How do we counteract it? Packed with historical and current data, this book reveals the tactics states use to manipulate information. Understand strategies, from micro-targeting to crafting strategic disinformation campaigns. This essential read empowers you to navigate today's complex media landscape and build your own resilience against disinformation.

Leiden; Boston: Brill: 2024. 286p.

Sarah Derbew (Editor), Daniel Orrells (Editor), Phiroze Vasunia (Editor)

Classics and Race: A historical reader provides scholars and students with an exploratory intellectual history of the complex relationships between Classics and racist/anti-racist thought-systems. It collects together a series of readings of historical primary sources from the late medieval period until the mid-twentieth century, bringing to light how the classical tradition and post-ancient constructions of race have informed each other. Each reading is accompanied by an essay, written by a leading specialist who offers a discussion of the primary source.

The volume is arranged chronologically, from the late medieval period to the Renaissance, crucial for understanding classical humanism, and on to the eighteenth century with texts foundational to the modern emergence of classical studies as a discipline and its relationship to the transatlantic slave trade. The essays show how the classical tradition has continuously been structured by debates about race, racism and anti-racism. Including voices from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and North and South America, the essays demonstrate why the primary text is important for understanding this intellectual and cultural history, and the global reach of the classical tradition.

London: UCL Press, 2025. 506p.

Edited by Ian Johnstone, Arun Sukumar, and Joel Trachtman

Providing a much-needed study on cybersecurity regime building, this comprehensive book is a detailed analysis of cybersecurity norm-making processes and country positions, through the lens of multi-stakeholder diplomacy. Multidisciplinary and multinational scholars and practitioners use insights drawn from high-level discussion groups to provide a rigorous analysis of how major cyber powers view multi-stakeholder diplomacy.

Cheltenham, UK: Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023. 282p.

Edited by Mark Dawson, Bruno de Witte, and Elise Muir

Addressing the tensions between the political and the legal dimension of European integration as well as intra-institutional dynamics, this insightful book navigates the complex topic of judicial politics. Providing an overview of key topics in the current debate and including an introductory chapter on different conceptions of judicial politics, experts in law and politics interrogate the broader political role of the European Court of Justice.

Cheltenham, UK: Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024. 388p.

Edited by Alice Mattoni

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. Delving into a burgeoning field of research, this enlightening book utilises case studies from across the globe to explore how digital media is used at the grassroots level to combat corruption. Bringing together an impressive range of experts, Alice Mattoni deftly assesses the design, creation and use of a wide range of anti-corruption technologies

Cheltenham, UK: Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024. 286p.

By Mark Elliot, Anna M. Mandalari, Miranda Mourby, and Kieron O’Hara

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. The Dictionary of Privacy, Data Protection and Information Security explains the complex technical terms, legal concepts, privacy management techniques, conceptual matters and vocabulary that inform public debate about privacy.

Cheltenham, UK: Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024. 652p.

By Centre for Justice Innovation

For some women, substance use can cause significant harm and problems for themselves and for those around them. Problems with substance use among women have well-established links to gendered experiences of trauma, abuse and exploitation, and women deserve to receive the kind of support that is appropriate for them. Our previous research identified that many of the mainstream, mixed-gender treatment services we looked at were not working well for women. We found evidence that women were accessing treatment services in spaces that exposed them to risks of abuse or exploitation, and that did not give them space to explore their gendered experiences. Our research indicated that treatment services were not able to effectively respond to the needs of women with trauma. This project set out to explore what a better system of substance use treatment would look like from the perspective of women in treatment. Working with women’s centre and treatment provider The Nelson Trust, we spoke to women accessing treatment in seven different locations, and asked about their experiences of a range of treatment provision and what they wanted from treatment services. We explored their perceptions of effective treatment and what support they would want women to be able to access in an ideal system. The women who participated identified six key characteristics of effective treatment: 1. Effective treatment is holistic. It considers and responds to all of a woman’s needs and strengths, including issues like domestic abuse, mental health, offending and children’s social care involvement. 2. Effective treatment is compassionate and respectful. It respects women’s dignity and agency, and responds to their individual needs and experiences with understanding rather than judgement. 3. Effective treatment is person-led and non-coercive. It enables women to determine what treatment and recovery looks like for themselves and to work towards it in their own time, without threat of further scrutiny or punitive measures. 4. Effective treatment addresses the root causes of substance use problems. It supports women to work through drivers of their substance use, heal from past traumas and have their wider needs met. 5. Effective treatment is trauma-responsive. It embeds understanding of trauma and shame throughout, following principles of safety, collaboration and transparency. It does not label women or discharge them when they go quiet. 6. Effective treatment builds strength and resilience. It promotes women’s agency through interventions aimed at promoting self-worth, confidence and acceptance, providing them with new skills and ways of coping. Delivering an effective treatment system requires a significant shift in the way treatment services are commissioned and managed. Current funding models have usually promoted the delivery of large-scale, one-size-fits-all provision in isolation from other services. Whole system approaches – where all services with a role in supporting women are integrated into a cohesive system of care – represent an alternative model that could more effectively address women’s needs. Local areas seeking to implement whole system approaches face significant challenges in breaking down funding silos, supporting information sharing and securing sufficient resources. One solution may be found in place-based approaches to funding and commissioning – approaches that work at local or regional levels to combine funding from multiple sources to co-commission a range of services for women. We therefore call on central government to remove the structural barriers inhibiting the growth of whole system approaches, and for local commissioners to explore place-based approaches as a way of implementing more whole system ways of working. Adopting these new approaches would not only improve the efficacy and efficiency of services, but it would also, more importantly, enable women to lead fulfilling lives. 

London: Centre for Justice Innovation, 2025. 56p.

By Giovanni Nicolazzo , Bohdan Bernatsky , et al.

This report, carried out by Transcrime – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, explores the results of the first comprehensive analysis of the recurrent schemes used by sanctioned entities to evade international sanctions, with the aim of reducing the current gaps in sanctions enforcement thanks to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon.

After a general assessment of the nature and effectiveness of sanctions (a more detailed review on this topic is available here) and of shortcomings in the enforcement framework, the report focuses on:

🔹 Most violated sanctions by category, region, goods, and assets.

🔹 The role of facilitators, corporate vehicles, and satellite jurisdictions.

🔹 Recurrent evasion schemes and transactions.

🔹 Policy implications and risk indicators.

This document provides a comprehensive resource for public and private sector stakeholders for both investigation and due diligence purposes, and enabled the development of an advanced tool for assessing high-risk entities and for tracing and re-covering illicit assets, which is now made available to interested EU competent authorities for the purpose of tracing criminal assets and sanction evasion schemes.

Milan: Transcrime, 2025. 82p.

By Pratima T. Narayan, Ronnate D. Asirwatham, and Abiola Afolayan

This paper examines global systemic racism’s influence on mass atrocities. The authors, Pratima T. Narayan, Ronnate Asirwatham, and Abiola Afolayan, explore policy changes that can help bring about shared and sustainable peace, leading to greater recognition and dignity for survivors and communities harmed by racial injustice worldwide. Each of the three sections of the paper is geared to challenge thinking on systemic racism in mass atrocity prevention.

The authors analyze racism during the time of the founding of the United Nations, as well as in its present-day application in different international mechanisms such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) and domestic mechanisms such as the United States Atrocities Prevention Board and subsequent Atrocity Prevention Task Force. The countries discussed include South Africa, Sri Lanka, Burma, the United States, and Nigeria. The issues discussed include the interplay on the international and domestic levels where there was, at times, mutual reinforcement of the dynamics of racism and mass atrocities. Read the full report which consists of the following three sections:

How the Quest for Racial Equality Led to a Modern Human Rights Movement

Pratima Narayan

The institutions, policies, and initiatives introduced to eradicate racism have fallen short in consistently providing victims and communities of racially- motivated violations adequate redress, and have arguably perpetuated racial subordination. This section explores that systemic failure.

Institutional Racism in the Conceptualization and Implementation of the Principle of Sovereignty

Ronnate D. Asirwatham

This section explores the conceptualization of state sovereignty, its use to further structural racial injustice and resulting mass atrocities, and the use and application of sovereignty by the UN Security Council, including through the Responsibility to Protect.

Ending Business as Usual: Mass Atrocities of People of African Descent

Abiola Afolayan

The paper’s final section examines the intentional exclusion of people of African descent from the originating conversations that formed such central mechanisms as the United Nations, US Constitution, and US Atrocities Prevention Board, as well as the consequences thereof.

Muscatine, IA: The Stanley Center for Peace and Security, 2022. 36p.

By Andrew Blum

The core goal of this report is to explore how “democracy can provide the antidote” to political violence within the United States. In the last several years, we have seen extremist attacks, a surge in hate crimes, protests by heavily armed militias, and vicious acts of brutality by law enforcement. Violence and the threat of violence are harming communities throughout the U.S. and undermining our democracy 

At the same time, hard-won experience from communities within the United States and around the world has revealed concrete strategies that can be used to prevent, respond to, and recover from political violence. Political violence imposes real costs, but it also drives communities to create real solutions. Many of those solutions were on display during the 2020 election, which contributed to creating a largely peaceful election. The polarization and violent rhetoric on display during the election, however, also makes clear that we have work to do moving forward. Now is time to start that work. Now more than ever people understand the risk of political violence and the urgent need to invest in efforts to prevent it. Our goal must be to leverage that awareness and that energy into creating longer-term, sustainable, democracy-strengthening solutions to prevent political violence in the United States. This paper thus focuses on two basic questions: • Why should we care about political violence? What are the human and economic impacts of political violence? After the headlines cease and attention fades, what are the real costs of political violence to communities? • What can communities do about political violence? What are the community-centered strategies that address political violence? What does the evidence say about which strategies are most effective? How do we build communities that are resilient to various forms of political violence? We pose these questions primarily to funders. Democracy Fund has commissioned this research to inform the community of funders to which it belongs— funders committed to strengthening democracy within the United States 

Washington, DC: Democracy Fund, 2021. 40p.

By  Rachel Locke , Cari Luna

Democracy cannot function without individuals stepping up to serve as representatives of their community. The presence and growth of threats and harassment directed towards elected representatives poses a direct risk to our democracy, weakening community cohesion and our ability to address collective challenges. While our research found threats and harassment to be present across political parties, it identified women as far more likely to be on the receiving end both in terms of quantity and severity. If under-represented groups are pushed out of the processes of debate and decision-making, solutions will not be oriented around the diversity of our society. Without clear data on the scale of the problem, the rise in threats and ad hominem attacks are too easily discounted by public officials, the media and the public at large. Possible consequences range from an increased potential for physical violence and the resignation from public life of elected officials. The research outlined in this report helps to expose the scale of threats and harassment, while in turn providing recommendations from those directly impacted, concerned community members and scholars on how to reinforce safe and non-threatening local governance. While several studies have shown that cities, counties and states across the country are experiencing an increased level of hostility towards elected officials, very few geographically designated areas are measuring incidents in any structured way. The research outlined in this report aims to set a clear baseline on the extent of aggressive behavior towards nearly all categories of elected office in San Diego County. Our research looked at all County School Boards, Community College Boards, City Councils, Mayors, and the County Board of Supervisors. Using a mixed methods approach that included surveys, interviews, a traditional media review and social media review, our team was able to get a clear picture of the problem both objectively and subjectively. Our findings confirm that the rise in threats and harassments targeting elected officials identified in national studies is also occurring at the local level in San Diego County. This rise in hostile threatening behavior towards elected officials is having a measurable impact on a) the ability of elected office holders to effectively participate in the public policy process; b) the likelihood of elected officials seeking to encourage others to enter public life or remain in public life themselves; and c) the psychological and physical health of office holders and their families. The vitriol we are seeing risks significantly and negatively impact the vitality of local democracy, civic engagement and effective policy making on across the policy spectrum. The vast majority of local elected officials in San Diego County are impacted. Seventyfive percent of all elected officials reported being on the receiving end of threats and harassment. Of these, 47% reported the threats and harassment occurs monthly. Thus, not only do threats and harassment impact most of San Diego County elected officials, but the aggression is taking place on a regular basis. Of those who have not themselves been threatened or harassed, nearly half said they had witnessed threats and harassment against others. These data indicate nearly 90% of all San Diego County elected officials have either been threatened or harassed or have witnessed such abuse directed at their peers. While there is not a significant partisan difference, with moderates most likely to be on the receiving end of threats and harassment, there is a big gender divide. Women are far more impacted than men. Eighty-two percent of female elected officials reported being on the receiving end of threats and harassment compared with 66% of all men. Of the 24 incidents of threats and harassment reported in local media, 19 incidents involved women, and five involved men. On social media, when examining men and women of comparable Twitter usage and prominence of position, women received 15 to 20 times the aggressive interaction as their male peers. With 66% of survey respondents reporting that threats and harassment have gone up over the course of their time in office, the implications of a continued rise are concerning. Roughly half (52%) of all survey respondents have considered leaving public service because of the threats and harassment they endure. Disaggregating by gender, twice as many women considered leaving public office as did men (61% compared to 32%). This is alarming, although not surprising given the elevated frequency and intensity of threats and harassment women face compared to men. Forty-five percent of those we surveyed stated they think new solutions are needed to handle the increasingly vitriolic environment. Several initiatives have been developed in the San Diego area in the last 2 years to provide new solutions, but more work is needed. As part of our effort to understand potential solutions, we conducted three “community conversations” across the County. The group discussions, and the recommendations that came from them, form the backbone of our recommendations, alongside insights from other national studies and academic sources. A summary of those recommendations is here, with detail provided in the relevant section below. 

San Diego: University of San Diego, Kroc School, Violence, Inequality and Power Lab: Institute for Civil Civic Engagement,  2023. 36p.

By K. Viswanath, Tiffany E. Taylor, and Holly G. Rhode

This headline is an outstanding example of how misinformation is perceived in the public arena. The headline makes a causal assumption that misinformation is “getting in the way” of recovery from the hurricane’s devastating impact. The degree of accuracy of this assumption is a question for further study and empirical examination, but the very assumption that misinformation has a direct causal impact on relief efforts with significant negative consequences is noteworthy. And newsworthy. And is part of what motivated this report. Information, and misinformation, is everywhere—on our phones, televisions in the gym, social media. Some of this misinformation is brain candy, simple entertainment, and inconsequential; some of it, though, has the potential to impact public health, inform policy responses, and shape people’s perceptions of the world. If misinformation about science leads to beliefs that are in conflict with accepted science, the consequences can be profound. False perceptions and beliefs may lead to behaviors and support for policies that are not supported by accepted science and/or are not aligned with individual preferences and goals, with negative consequences for individuals, communities, and broader society.

National Academies Sciences Engineering Medicine (2025), 356 pages

By James Q. Wilson

This is a study of a phenomenon which many people be- JL lieve does not exist. Anyone wishing to examine Negro leadership in a city such as Chicago will be met at the outset with the assertion, particularly from intellectual Negroes, that “there is no Negro leadership.” At the same time, the person who makes this comment will very likely be himself a member of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) or the Urban League, or perhaps both; he will - be a member of one of the major political parties, probably the Democratic; he will often be in a fraternity, an organization which exists largely as a part of adult, rather than student, life; he may well be a member of a social club, a church, one or more organizations affiliated with the church, or a lodge; if he is a worker, he will likely be a union member; if he is a businessman, he will probably belong to a chamber of commerce; and it would not be unusual if he were a supporter of the YMCA, a boys’ club, a settlement house, a professional society, a neighborhood block club, or a conservation association. Each of these organizations will almost inevitably be led, at least at the local level, by a Negro. These men are, in some sense, Negro leaders. What is meant, of course, is that there are no “good” Negro leaders — leaders who are selflessly devoted to causes which will benefit Negroes as a race and as a community. One will also be told that Negroes are “unorganized.” But the simplest reckoning of the number of organizations in a Negro community will immediately suggest that this comment, like the • 3 4 NEGRO POLITICS one about leadership, cannot be taken at face value. In 1937, when Chicago had only 275,000 Negroes, an actual count revealed more than 4,000 formal associations among them.*1 Today, when the Negro population is about three times as large, there seems to be little doubt that the number of organizations is also comparably greater. In comparison with white communities of equivalent size, there is some evidence that Negroes are organized to an even greater extent than whites.2 Although Negroes, like whites, are more organized among middle-class than lower-class groups, on the whole, Negroes are fully as inclined to join associations as whites.3 The Negro community, whatever else its problems, is not characterized by an inability to create and sustain at least some kinds of organizations. What the Negro critics who argue that the Negro is “unorganized” mean is that he is not organized as a community to seek ends of benefit to the community or the race as a whole. There can be little doubt that the great majority of Negro associations have purposes other than Negro protest or improvement, and that these associations consume much of the time and money of Negroes which, their critics argue, should be devoted to race ends. Periodically, attempts are made to alter this, either by starting a new organization which will be the organization for the betterment of Negroes and to which all Negroes can flock, regardless of their special interests, or by creating an “umbrella” organization which will “co-ordinate” the plethora of existing Negro associations into collective action for communal goals. Such organizations have not endured.

STATE COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS, 1960, 338p.

By Harold J. Laski

I mean by liberty the absence of restraint upon the existence of those social conditions which, in modem civilization, are the necessary guarantees of individual happiness. I seek to inquire into the terms upon which it is attainable in the Western world, and, more especially, to find those rules of conduct to which political authority must conform if its subjects are, in a genuine sense, to be free. Already, therefore, I am maintaining a thesis. I am arguing, first, that liberty is essentially an absence of restraint. It implies power to expand, the choice by the individual of his own way of life without imposed prohibitions from without. Men cannot, as Rousseau claimed, be forced into freedom. They do not, as Hegel in- 1 LIBERTY IN THE MODERN STATE sisted, find their liberty in obedience to the law. They are free when the rules under which they live leave them without a sense of frustration in realms they deem significant. They are unfree whenever the rules to which they have to conform compel them to conduct which they dislike and resent. I do not deny that there are types of conduct against which prohibitions are desirable: I ought, for instance, to be compelled, even against my wish, to educate my children. But I am arguing that any rule which demands from me something I would not otherwise give is a diminution of my freedom.

HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK AND LONDON, 1930, 295p.

By John Ashton

Gaming is derived from the Saxon word Gamen, meaning joy, pleasure, sports, or gaming—and is so interpreted by Bailey, in his Dictionary of 1736; whilst Johnson gives Gamble—to play extravagantly for money, and this distinction is to be borne in mind in the perusal of this book; although the older term was in use until the invention of the later—as we see in Cotton’s Compleat Gamester (1674), in which he gives the following excellent definition of the word :— “ Gaming is an enchanting witchery, gotten between Idleness and Avarice-, an itching disease, that makes some scratch the head, whilst others, as if they were bitten by a Tarantula, are laughing themselves to death ; or, lastly, it is a paralytical distemper, which, seizing the arm, the man cannot chuse but shake his elbow. It hath this ill property above all other Vices, that it renders a man incapable of prosecuting any serious action, and makes him always unsatisfied with his own condition ; he is either lifted up to the top of mad joy with success, or plung’d to the bottom of despair by misfortune, always in extreams, always in a storm

LONDON DUCKWORTH & CO. 3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C., 1898, 301p.