I have been following Lane Kenworthy's "Consider the Evidence" blog for some time. He is a Professor of Sociology and Political Science at the University of Arizona. From time to time, he posts the slides of his lectures. This is the case here. He covers many themes under the title of "Social Issues in America".
For each theme, he presents both sides of an argument, and looks into the scientific literature. Those slides then constitute nice summaries of various takes on these issues (mainly from political and sociological points of view, but with quite a bit of economics thrown into).
A few excerpts on two themes that should be of interest to French readers as well:
1. Should we legalize marijuana?
"Tobacco kills an estimated 440,000 Americans each year
Alcohol is responsible for about 100,000 deaths per year
All illegal drugs combined: about 25,000"
3. Should same-sex marriage be legal?
"Why not civil unions?
The argument that civil unions are an adequate substitute
for marriage is similar to the "separate but equal" notion
used to justify different schools, restaurants, and public
facilities for African Americans prior to the 1960s"
(and do look at the picture that follows...)
"Although it is sometimes asserted in policy debates that heterosexual
couples are inherently better parents than same-sex couples, or that the children
of lesbian or gay parents fare worse than children raised by heterosexual parents,
those assertions find no support in the scientific research literature."
(see some references on the slides)
Lecture slides for my “Social Issues in America” course this past fall are postedhere. The topics:
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