I have been puzzled by Harriet Miers’s use of the term “self-determination” in the context of social policy. I am most familiar with the phrase as it was used in the de-colonization era of the 1940s and ’50s, most often by Marxist-Leninists. Now I doubt that Harriet fits in with that crowd, so maybe she is using it as some psychologists do. Unbeknownst to me, there is a whole psychological theory on the subject, which you might want to check out at this website.

Or maybe it is just one of those catch-phrases like “diversity” and “glass ceiling” to which she glommed on during her career…