Author: Dave Gillespie

Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, Presbyterian College. South Carolina Professor of the Year, 1993. Fulbright Professor, Estonia, 1997. Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Presbyterian College, 1997-2005. Taught occasionally at College of Charleston and The Citadel, 2006-2015. Author of two books on U.S. third parties and a book on the racially-motivated mass shooting at a black Charleston church.
Books, Politics and Economics

The Faithless? The Untold Story of the Electoral College

Dave Gillespie — Do you think of yourself as something of a political junkie? Are you interested in, or concerned about, problems like partisan polarization and the future of free constitutional government in the United States? If you gave yes as your answers to these questions, I predict that you would find, as I did, much in Emily Conrad’s The Faithless? The Untold Story of … Continue reading The Faithless? The Untold Story of the Electoral College

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History, Politics and Economics

Old Prohibition: Party and Leader in the Latter-day

Dave Gillespie — James is the name his parents gave him; James as in Bond, the hero in Ian Fleming novels and movie spy thrillers. But unlike Bond, that famous but fictional character, Hedges has friends and fellow partisans who know him simply as Jim. He is currently at the helm, insofar as anyone is, of the nation’s third oldest living electoral political party. The … Continue reading Old Prohibition: Party and Leader in the Latter-day

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Photo of Jordan Chambers with five children, four of which appear to be white
History

The White Slave Jordan Chambers

Dave Gillespie and Judi F. Gillespie — Surprising though it may be, it is true. Through most of the long global history of slavery, race or “blood” was largely unconnected to which side of the slave-free line of demarcation a human creature of God fell. Slavery was the fruit of war and conquest and, regardless of skin color, slaves were people who or whose ancestors … Continue reading The White Slave Jordan Chambers

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Culture and Society, History, Philosophy and Religion

Crime and Due Process: Two Scenes Connected in the Dylann Roof Case

Dave Gillespie — On June 17, 2015 Dylann Roof murdered nine African American parishioners at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. More than a year later, on December 15, 2016 he was found guilty on 33 charges associated with the murders. And, in January 2017, Dylann Roof was sentenced to death. The true story of Dylann Roof will now always be … Continue reading Crime and Due Process: Two Scenes Connected in the Dylann Roof Case

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Culture and Society

The Dylann Roof Trial: First-Hand Reflections and Assessment

Dave Gillespie — The verdict came in around mid-afternoon Thursday, December 15, just a couple of hours after the lawyers completed their closing statements and the judge gave his charge to the jury. U.S. v. Dylann Storm Roof: Guilty on all charges. Given the complexity of the indictment—33 counts, many of them alleging hate crimes—the brief time it took was remarkable. But the verdict itself was anything but surprising. … Continue reading The Dylann Roof Trial: First-Hand Reflections and Assessment

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History, Politics and Economics

The Others: They Almost Always Get There First

Dave Gillespie — Whatever you think of Hillary Clinton, her nomination is undeniably a milestone in history. Clinton is the first woman ever to win the presidential nomination of a major party.  But it’s been 144 years since the first female took the honor of a presidential nomination. That was in 1872. Her name was Victoria Woodhull. The Equal Rights Party chose her. Feminist scholar … Continue reading The Others: They Almost Always Get There First

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Creative Nonfiction, Culture and Society

Twenty-five Selfies in the Raphael Room

David Gillespie — It was Monday, June 20. This year. Celebrating a milestone wedding anniversary, we were in Rome. This would be a day for touring the Vatican under the care of a local guide. As we walked through the public area of the Papal Apartments on our way to the Sistine Chapel, the guide told us that we were about to go into the … Continue reading Twenty-five Selfies in the Raphael Room

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Culture and Society

Heroes in the Mother Emanuel Tragedy

David Gillespie — You may recall the main villain in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church story:  Dylann Roof,a young Columbia, South Carolina area white supremacist, intelligent but a ninth grade drop-out. Using a Glock .45 caliber pistol purchased for his 21st birthday, Roof murdered nine African American parishioners at the Charleston church on June 17, 2015. His motive was to divide racially, to foment … Continue reading Heroes in the Mother Emanuel Tragedy

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Culture and Society, History

Racism: It Is What It Is, Wherever It Is

J. David Gillespie — The Holocaust. In its scope, volume, and cold, cruel deliberateness, it may rank as the most heinous crime one people have ever carried out against another. The world’s Jews were to be obliterated through a policy Hitler’s regime labeled “the final solution to the Jewish question.” Nazi policy declared Jews to be a race, though they are not. Dedicated to what … Continue reading Racism: It Is What It Is, Wherever It Is

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Politics and Economics

It’s a Reality Show

J. David Gillespie — For a long time politicians have tried to make politics entertaining to the masses.  Roman rulers offered the plebs “bread and circuses.”  U.S. political scientists have for years written about presidential campaigns like they were horse races.  I am convinced now that what we are seeing in presidential contests is a reality show. Maybe, sensing the value of reality shows, media, … Continue reading It’s a Reality Show

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