The ''Journal of Politics & Society'' is a biannual

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

covering the

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

published by the Helvidius Group, a nonprofit student organization at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. It was established in 1989 by Columbia University student Peter Tomassi as a magazine distributed to schools in the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

and the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

. It was originally called the ''Columbia University Journal of Law and Public Policy'' and was intended to provide undergraduates a platform for meaningful political discourse without regard to partisanship.

History

The Journal of Politics & Society was originally founded as the Helvidius Group, established in 1989 by Peter Tomassi (CC ’91), to provide a forum for undergraduate discourse on issues concerning law and public policy in the form of a publication. The Journal of Politics & Society is the realization of that mission. Originally an annual magazine distributed to Ivy League universities and to members of Congress, the Journal has adopted a more scholarly focus and has grown to encompass all of the social sciences. Now in its thirty-fifth year, the Journal only published academic papers submitted by undergraduates. In a process comparable to the peer review and editing procedures of professional academic journals, selected papers are rigorously edited by the Editorial Board, itself composed exclusively of Columbia University undergraduates. Over its history, Journal has featured the works of noted public figures and scholars in addition to fine undergraduate scholarship. Past contributors include United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President Bill Clinton, New Jersey Governor and EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, Senator Elizabeth Dole, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, Human Rights Watch President Kenneth Roth, Anthony Marx, and Kenneth Waltz. Leadership on the Journal has also provided counsel and guidance to emerging undergraduate and graduate academic journals such as those at the United States Military Academy, Tbilisi State University in Georgia, and Columbia University. The Journal is not affiliated with or sponsored by any political organization, and it remains staunchly nonpartisan. It welcomes the questions of students looking to establish or develop similar publications at their institutions. Following troubles in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the current iteration of the Journal was reconstituted in 2022 by Jaehee Cho (Co-Editor-in-Chief, Class of 2023), Samuel Braun (Co-Editor-in-Chief, Class of 2024), Susan Li (Lead Senior Editor, Class of 2023), Ariella Mitchel (Business Director, Class of 2024), Sophie Hanin (Outreach Director, Class of 2024), Madelyn Elisondo (Secretary, Barnard College Class of 2025), and Alisha Arshad (Technology Director, Class of 2024). This website was redesigned by Samuel Braun and Jaehee Cho.

The Guest Essay

The guest essay, the only segment written by non-undergraduates, contextualizes the research in the journal within the broader sociopolitical dialogue. Past contributors include: *

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, former president of the United States *

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...

, former United Nations Secretary-General * Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey Governor and EPA Administrator *

William Cohen William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979� ...

, former Secretary of Defense *

Elizabeth Dole Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford Dole (née Hanford; born July 29, 1936)Mary Ella Cathey Hanford, "Asbury and Hanford Families: Newly Discovered Genealogical Information" ''The Historical Trail'' 33 (1996), pp. 44–45, 49. is an American attorn ...

, former United States Senator *

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, former first lady, United States Senator, and United States Secretary of State * Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former United States Senator * James D. Wolfensohn, former president of the World Bank *

Kenneth Roth Kenneth Roth (born September 23, 1955) is an American attorney, human rights activist, writer. He was the executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) from 1993 to 2022. Early life Kenneth Roth was born on September 23, 1955 in Elmhurst, Illino ...

, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch *

Anthony Marx Anthony William "Tony" Marx (born February 28, 1959) is an American academic. He became the current president and CEO of the New York Public Library in July 2011, succeeding Paul LeClerc. Marx is the former president of Amherst College, in A ...

, President and CEO of the New York Public Library *

Kenneth Waltz Kenneth Neal Waltz (; June 8, 1924 – May 12, 2013) was an American political scientist who was a member of the faculty at both the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University and one of the most prominent scholars in the field of ...

, former political scientist and founder of neorealism in international relations theory *

Andrew J. Nathan Andrew J. Nathan (; born 3 April 1943) is a professor of political science at Columbia University. He specializes in Chinese politics, foreign policy, human rights and political culture. Nathan attended Harvard University, where he earned a B.A. ...

, professor at Columbia University

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Journal of Politics and Society Columbia University academic journals Political science journals Biannual journals English-language journals Academic journals edited by students Academic journals established in 1989