Politics

118 Political Scientists Want The American Political Science Association To Rescind An Award For Condoleezza Rice

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Zachery Schmidt Contributor
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Over 100 political scientists have signed a petition asking the American Political Science Association (APSA) to rescind an upcoming award honoring former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice because of her record on “torture and rendition.”

Political scientists who signed the August 27 petition believe the association is celebrating a person who participated in “disastrous foreign policy” under former President George H. W. Bush.

“By giving the 2018 Hubert H. Humphrey Award to Condoleezza Rice, the APSA has honored a person who actively participated in creating a rationale for the illegal invasion of Iraq, participated in and defended the creation of policies of rendition and torture against foreign nationals,” the petition says.

Last week, the APSA announced Condoleezza Rice would be the recipient of the Hubert H. Humphrey Award for public service. Rice’s public service career demonstrated the “contributions that political scientists can make to public as well as academic life.”

The petition signers think the APSA needs to create an oversight committee for who receives public service awards.

“We urge the APSA to establish an oversight committee that reviews the credentials and records of those who are nominated for public service awards, so as to screen out those who have participated in policies that have had the consequence of the systematic violation of the human rights of others.”

Rice does not qualify for the award because anyone who supported policies that “led to the death of well over a million people” does not qualify for the award, according to the petition.

The petition says the committee “decided to weigh Rice’s other services against this huge and disastrous failure.”