Spring 2014
Vanderbilt
The
Political Review
Staff
Letter from the Editor
PRESIDENT AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Sid Sapru
This issue of the Vanderbilt Political Review may very well be our best
one yet. In an exculsive interview, VPR sat down with Senator Rand Paul
(R-KY) and discussed his lawsuit against the NSA, the future of the Republican Party, and his thoughts on running for president in 2016. Our
cover story, “Checks and biases,” is an empirical analysis of polarization
and politicization in the Supreme Court. Utilizing a massive dataset containing information on every Supreme Court decision made in the past
forty years, we generate some fascinating insights regarding the frequency
with which justices come to unanimous consensus, the predictability of
justices’ votes given their appointing president’s political party, and the
tendency of so-called “landmark decisions” to be decided by just one vote.
On a slightly different note, the federal government’s role in obstructing
marijuana legalization is discussed by Kate Harsh ’16 in “Taking a Hit”
(pun fully intended). Looking to the other side of the world, Peter Liu
’16, in “Opening up the hermit kingdom,” demonstrates the centrality of
economic reform in addressing human rights violations in North Korea.
PRINT DIRECTOR
Sufei Wu
ONLINE DIRECTOR
Michael Zoorob
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Austin Brown
LAYOUT DIRECTORS
Allia Calkins || Emmett McKinney
LAYOUT TEAM
Brooks Cain ǁ Caylyn Perry ǁ Christopher Jerrolds
Emmett McKinney ǁ Kate Harsh ǁ Katie Fuselier
Poulumi Banerjee
SENIOR EDITORS
Alison Shanahan ǁ Christopher Jerrolds
Emily Stewart ǁ Gregory Bernstein
EDITORIAL BOARD
Alak Mehta ǁ Brooks Cain
Cade Baxter ǁ Caylyn Perry ǁ Christian Talley
Emmett McKinney || Harry Garrett
Julie Babbage ǁ Kate Harsh
Kathleen Schaaf ǁ Katie Fuselier
Kevin Schoelzel ǁ Kristin Vargas ǁ Lauren Pak
Max Staloff ǁ Nathan Chan
Peter Liu ǁ Poulumi Banerjee
Sameer Fraser ǁ Vivek Shah ǁ Wade Boich
Will Stewart ǁ Zachary Greene
FACULTY ADVISOR
Dr. Joshua Clinton
As I sign off on my last issue of the Vanderbilt Political Review, I could
not be more proud of how far this organization has progressed over the
past year. Since August, we have completely redesigned our print publication’s layout, significantly engaged graduated VPR alumni for the
first time, increased the quality of political dialogue at our staff meetings, and sold our first advertisements to ensure VPR’s long-term fiscal
sustainability. We’ve also written articles about everything from climate
change to John F. Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, secured some incredible exclusive interviews, and had an amazing time
getting to know one another as political junkies, writers, and friends.
To our graduating seniors – Christopher Jerrolds, Kristin Vargas, Max
Staloff, Julie Babbage, and Kevin Schoelzel – thank you for all of the
great memories over the past four years. To our editorial board and
layout team, thank you for the countless hours spent writing, designing, editing, and re-editing our publication. And finally, to our readers, thank you for your support and encouragement. I could not
be more proud to have served as VPR’s Editor-in-Chief this year,
and could not be more excited to watch it grow in the years to come.
All my best,
Sid Sapru
President & Editor-in-Chief