Partnership between Boston Review & MIT Political Science has long history

The partnership between Boston Review and MIT Political Science traces back to 1991, when Joshua Cohen – a professor in the Department from 1977-2006, and chair from 1997-2005 – became BR's editor-in-chief. In the years since, BR has benefited enormously from its close connection to MIT's remarkable group of political scientists. And the connection with BR has provided MIT faculty with easier access to a national forum for addressing pressing contemporary issues. Over the years, a large number of MIT political scientists have appeared in BR – including Steve van Evera, Barry Posen, Steve Meyer, Richard Locke, Charles Stewart, Steve Ansolabehere, Mike Piore, and, most recently, Dan Posner – writing on issues of U.S. foreign policy, economic development, American elections, and the decline of species diversity.

In September 2010, Boston Review – now edited by Cohen and Deb Chasman – returned to MIT at the invitation of current Political Science Department Head Richard Locke. That same month, Boston Review and the Department initiated a new lecture series, Ideas Matter. The series is modeled on the New Democracy Forum, which appears in each issue of BR. A panel of critics, scholars, and practitioners are invited to MIT to discuss large and deeply contested issues of politics and policy: immigration, technology and global poverty, campaign finance, internet freedom, full employment, and the constitutional debate about marriage. The Ideas Matter series gives faculty and students the opportunity to engage with an impressive range of thinkers and practitioners, from both inside and outside MIT: including Nicholas Negroponte, Lawrence Lessig, Evgeny Morozov, Nancy Cott, Jennifer Hochschild, Joseph Carens, Kentaro Toyama, and Carol Swain. And, through the combined efforts of the Department and BR, it is providing the kind of serious, reasoned public discussion of fundamentals that a healthy democracy requires.