A new American Civil War?

Great topic for Harkness Method, Oxbridge group, or Politics Society talk

About a year ago I posted a blog about using the Harkness Method in class, with regards to the topic of America's decline.

Here is the link to the blog entry.

In a similar vein, there is another topic that tends to easily generate class discussion but doesn't meet the narrow confines of the syllabus (what we now call a 'specification' - does anyone know how and why that transition occurred?): American Civil War II.

When nearly half of American citizens, according to a series of polls, believe that it could happen in the next ten years, then obviously this is a topic ripe for discussion. See story on the polls here.

Equally, some argue that such talk is either premature, or wide of the mark. See story here.

So there's a starting point for some reading. I also came across this in the weekend paper, and it's worth a read. It's an extract from a new book by Luke Mogelson.