Digital Commons Network^™

Chinese Digital Platform Companies’ Expansion In The Belt And Road Countries, Yujia He

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

The emergence of digital platforms is shifting the digital economy toward a platform economy, and Chinese platform-based businesses like Alibaba, Tencent, and JD are increasingly expanding in the Global South. Alongside this, the Chinese government has been promoting digital economy collaboration with emerging markets through high-level engagement under the banner of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its digital economy component the Digital Silk Road (DSR). Despite significant market interest and policy attention, grounded empirical analysis of Chinese digital platforms’ expansion within Belt and Road Initiative countries is scarce. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, drawing on both quantitative …

The Geopolitics Of Infrastructuralized Platforms: The Case Of Alibaba, Hong Shen, Yujia He

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

Contemporary digital platforms have become increasingly infrastructuralized, and started to raise geopolitical tensions with their global expansion. Amidst the heightened geopolitical competition between the US and China, the growing power of Chinese infrastructuralized platforms has made them the center of recent geopolitical dynamics. Drawing from an exploratory case study, this paper discusses Alibaba, one of the most prominent Chinese Internet giants, as an infrastructuralized platform, and highlights its geopolitical struggles. Often perceived as an e-commerce company, Alibaba has become ‘infrastructuralized’: its now-massive digital empire has moved beyond e-commerce, expanding into almost every aspect of China’s and global digital economy such …

Chinese-Backed Fintech Lending Boom: How Did Indonesia Respond?, Angela Tritto, Yujia He, Victoria Amanda Junaedi

Diplomacy and International Commerce Reports

Peer-to-peer (P2P) online lending has the potential to boost innovation and financial inclusion in emerging markets, yet it can also incur investment and borrower-related risks, such as privacy breaches.

Driven by regulation control in China, Chinese investments flocked to Indonesia, causing a rapid expansion of online lending platforms.

Similar to what happened in China prior to the regulatory crackdown, the P2P lending boom in Indonesia saw a rise in unethical and illegal business practices. The government responded by creating new regulations and institutions to mitigate risks without stifling the potential for financial inclusion.

A proactive approach towards monitoring and regulating …

Urban Utopia Or Pipe Dream? Examining Chinese-Invested Smart City Development In Southeast Asia, Yujia He, Angela Tritto

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

With increasing public–private partnership and international cooperation in smart city development across the Global South, Chinese firms are poised to take advantage of growing business opportunities, a situation that few studies have examined. This empirical case study of the Forest City, a Chinese-invested greenfield smart city project in Iskandar Malaysia, begins to fill that gap. This megaproject represents the coming together of overlapping economic development interests of the local authorities and the profit motivations of the Chinese investor. However, the project’s use of the ‘smart city’ discourse contrasts with the reality of limited technology adoption. Its visibility and considerable socio-economic …

Juror Perceptions Of Heterosexual And Same-Sex Spousal Rape In The Courtroom, Haley D. Hintz

Lewis Honors College Thesis Collection

Approximately 10-15% of American women will be raped by a spouse in their lifetime (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002). Research suggests that the American public regards spousal rape as wrong but not rape (Lynch et al., 2017). Research on spousal rape has centered on heterosexual couples despite a higher likelihood that LGBTQ+ individuals will experience severe intimate partner violence (IPV) (Rollé et al., 2019). Therefore, the present study investigated mock juror perceptions of spousal rape of heterosexual and same-sex couples in the courtroom. We employed a 2 (victim gender) x 2 (defendant gender) x 2 (participant gender) between-participants design. Participants …

On Estimating Personality Traits Of Us Supreme Court Justices, Ryan C. Black, Ryan J. Owens, Justin Wedeking, Patrick C. Wohlfarth

Political Science Faculty Publications

Psychological scholarship on personality is uniting with political science to redefine existing theories. This is clearly the case with research on judicial behavior and the US Supreme Court. But if this new approach is to survive and thrive, it must employ measures equal to the task. We show that Supreme Court Individual Personality Estimates, which seek to estimate justices’ personalities by examining their concurring opinions, suffer from a number of important methodological deficits that critically limit their usefulness. We briefly discuss what kinds of improved personality measures scholars should use instead and offer an improved set of estimates for one …

Do Americans Perceive Diverse Judges As Inherently Biased, Yoshikuni Ono, Michael A. Zilis

Political Science Faculty Publications

Although women and minorities hold an increasing share of judgships in the United States, they remain underrepresented. We explore Americans’ perceptions of the bias of women and minority judges – one of the possible challenges to creating a diverse bench. We argue that prejudice against these groups manifests in a subtle way, in the belief that diverse judges cannot fairly adjudicate controversies that involve their ingroup. To test our theory, we use a list experiment specifically developed to minimize social desirability effects. We find that many respondents rate female and Hispanic judges to be biased decision makers. Our results highlight …

Chinese-Invested Smart City Development In Southeast Asia - How Resilient Are Urban Megaprojects In The Age Of Covid-19?, Yujia He, Angela Tritto

Diplomacy and International Commerce Reports

Smart cities are emerging as major engines for deploying intelligent systems to enhance urban development and contribute to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG). In developing economies facing rapid urbanization and technological change, new cities are being built with smart technologies and ideals, complete with business districts and residential, retail, entertainment, medical, education facilities to entice businesses and talents to relocate. Governments tout the potential of such “greenfield” smart cities for innovation and sustainability. Yet such urban megaprojects are often extremely expensive, prompting governments to partner with private players such as property developers, investors, and tech firms to …

Beyond The Great Power Competition Narrative: Exploring Labor Politics And Resistance Behind Ai Innovation In China, Yujia He, Hong Shen

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ascriptive Characteristics And Perceptions Of Impropriety In The Rule Of Law: Race, Gender, And Public Assessments Of Whether Judges Can Be Impartial, Yoshikuni Ono, Michael A. Zilis

Political Science Faculty Publications

Perceptions of procedural fairness influence the legitimacy of the law and because procedures are mutable, reforming them can buttress support for the rule of law. Yet legal authorities have recently faced a distinct challenge: accusations of impropriety based on their ascriptive characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity). We study the effect of these traits in the context of the U.S. legal system, focusing on the conditions under which citizens perceive female and minority judges as exhibiting impropriety and how this compares with perceptions of their white and male counterparts. We find that Americans use a judge's race and gender to make inferences …

Perceived Psychosocial Impacts Of Legalized Same-Sex Marriage: A Scoping Review Of Sexual Minority Adults' Experiences, Laurie A. Drabble, Angie R. Wootton, Cindy B. Veldhuis, Ellen D. B. Riggle, Sharon S. Rostosky, Pamela J. Lannutti, Kimberly F. Balsam, Tonda L. Hughes

Political Science Faculty Publications

A growing body of literature provides important insights into the meaning and impact of the right to marry a same-sex partner among sexual minority people. We conducted a scoping review to 1) identify and describe the psychosocial impacts of equal marriage rights among sexual minority adults, and 2) explore sexual minority women (SMW) perceptions of equal marriage rights and whether psychosocial impacts differ by sex. Using Arksey and O'Malley's framework we reviewed peer-reviewed English-language publications from 2000 through 2019. We searched six databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, JSTOR, and Sociological Abstracts) to identify English language, peer-reviewed journal articles …

Gender Quotas, Women’S Representation, And Legislative Diversity, Tiffany D. Barnes, Mirya R. Holman

Political Science Faculty Publications

Diversity in the characteristics of political leaders increases the quality of policy, perceptions of legitimacy, and accountability to constituents. Yet, increasing leaders’ diversity proves one of the most difficult challenges facing modern democracy. Efforts like gender quotas shift descriptive representation on the targeted characteristic, but critics argue that women selected via quotas are as homogenous as those selected via traditional methods. In this article, we theorize that quotas (re)conceptualize views of potential political leaders and transform party recruitment networks. In doing so, quotas increase the diversity of all leaders in office. We evaluate these claims with a new measure of …

The Sources And Consequences Of Political Rhetoric: Issue Importance, Collegial Bargaining, And Disagreeable Rhetoric In Supreme Court Opinions, Michael A. Zilis, Justin Wedeking

Political Science Faculty Publications

How do political actors use rhetoric after an initial policy battle? We explore factors that lead Supreme Court justices to integrate disagreeable rhetoric into opinions. Although disagreeable language has negative consequences, we posit that justices pay this cost for issues with high personal significance. At the same time, we argue that integrating disagreeable rhetoric has a deleterious effect on the institution by reducing majority coalition size. Examining opinions from 1946 to 2011 using text-based measures of disagreeable rhetoric, we model the language of opinion writing as well as explore the consequences for coalition size. Our findings suggest serious implications for …

Roll-Call Vote Selection: Implications For The Study Of Legislative Politics, Caitlin Ainsley, Clifford J. Carrubba, Brian F. Crisp, Betul Demirkaya, Matthew J. Gabel, Dino Hadzic

Political Science Faculty Publications

Roll-call votes provide scholars with the opportunity to measure many quantities of interest. However, the usefulness of the roll-call sample depends on the population it is intended to represent. After laying out why understanding the sample properties of the roll-call record is important, we catalogue voting procedures for 145 legislative chambers, finding that roll calls are typically discretionary. We then consider two arguments for discounting the potential problem: (a) roll calls are ubiquitous, especially where the threshold for invoking them is low or (b) the strategic incentives behind requests are sufficiently benign so as to generate representative samples. We address …

Military Coalitions And Crisis Duration, Daina Chiba, Jesse C. Johnson

Political Science Faculty Publications

Forming a military coalition during an international crisis can improve a state’s chances of achieving its political goals. We argue that the involvement of a coalition, however, can have unintended adverse effects on crisis outcomes by complicating the bargaining process and extending the duration of crises. This argument suggests that crises involving coalitions should be significantly longer than crises without coalitions. However, other factors that affect crisis duration are also likely to influence coalition formation. Therefore, taking into account the endogeneity of the presence of a coalition is essential to testing our hypothesis. To deal with this inferential challenge, we …

Living In Gang-Controlled Neighborhoods: Impacts On Electoral And Nonelectoral Participation In El Salvador, Abby Córdova

Political Science Faculty Publications

Gangs’ territorial control affects the lives of residents in thousands of neighborhoods across Latin America, particularly in northern Central American countries. I argue that gang dominance constrains the ability of neighborhood residents to mobilize politically and consequently resist gang violence through institutionalized channels. Living in gang-controlled neighborhoods results in fewer incentives and opportunities to make political elites accountable for one’s personal safety. Even residents who have already experienced crime firsthand are discouraged from turning to politics as a strategy to change the status quo. My theoretical insights identify mechanisms through which gangs’ neighborhood control affects nonelectoral and electoral participation. To …

Evaluación De La Presencia De Mujeres En Gabinetes Subnacionales De Argentina (1992-2016), Tiffany D. Barnes, Tomás Ciocci, Débora Lopreite

Political Science Faculty Publications

¿Cuáles son los factores que explican la inclusión de las mujeres en puestos políticos subnacionales? La literatura convencional ha examinado las designaciones de mujeres en gabinetes nacionales, pero escasa atención se ha prestado a los gobiernos provinciales. Para abordar este vacío, adoptamos el enfoque de oferta y demanda. De este modo, utilizando una base de datos sobre las 24 jurisdicciones subnacionales argentinas desde 1992 a 2016, encontramos que los factores del lado de la demanda son más relevantes. Esto se explica, en primer término, ya que la probabilidad de que sean nombradas ministras aumenta junto al tamaño del gabinete, cuando …

Intimate Political Economies Of The Andes, Carmen Martínez Novo

Anthropology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Blurring Institutional Boundaries: Judges' Perceptions Of Threats To Judicial Independence, Alyx Mark, Michael A. Zilis

Political Science Faculty Publications

The legislature wields multiple tools to limit judicial power, but scholars have little information about how judges interpret variant threats and which they find most concerning. To provide insight, we conduct original interviews regarding legislative threats to courts with over two dozen sitting federal judges, representing all tiers of the federal judiciary. We find that judges have a nuanced understanding of threats and tend to identify components of legislative proposals that threaten formal institutional powers as more concerning than those challenging policy set by judges. This distinction has broad implications for our understanding of judicial behavior at the federal level.

Leaving The Devil You Know: Crime Victimization, Us Deterrence Policy, And The Emigration Decision In Central America, Jonathan T. Hiskey, Abby Córdova, Mary Fran Malone, Diana M. Orcés

Political Science Faculty Publications

Following a sharp increase in the number of border arrivals from the violence-torn countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras in the spring and summer of 2014, the United States quickly implemented a strategy designed to prevent such surges by enhancing its detention and deportation efforts. In this article, we examine the emigration decision for citizens living in the high-crime contexts of northern Central America. First, through analysis of survey data across Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, we explore the role crime victimization plays in leading residents of these countries to consider emigration. Next, using survey data collected across twelve …

2018 Constitution Day Essay Contest 2nd Place, Courtney Vice

Constitution Day Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

The Potential Electoral Influence Of Internet Memes, Sierra K. Hatfield

Oswald Research and Creativity Competition

The rising popularity of social media has affected the communication methods of political candidates within the United States. Given the online presence of candidates in recent years, this paper argues that it’s time to consider internet memes – one of the many facets most commonly found on social media – as political rhetoric. This paper seeks to discern which components of an internet meme are most effective in persuading a young voter, using a visually rhetorical approach to understand which characteristics make it most effective. The study also seeks to find which demographics are most likely to be influenced, using …

Beyond Big Bird, Binders, And Bayonets: Humor And Visibility Among Connected Viewers Of The 2012 Us Presidential Debates, Kevin Driscoll, Alex Leavitt, Kristen L. Guth, François Bar, Aalok Mehta

Communication Faculty Publications

During the 2012 US presidential debates, more than five million connected viewers turned to social media to respond to the broadcast and talk politics with one another. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study examines the prevalence of humor and its relationship to visibility among connected viewers live-tweeting the debates. Based on a content analysis of tweets and accounts, we estimate that approximately one-fifth of the messages sent during the debates consisted of strictly humorous content. Using retweet frequency as a proxy for visibility, we found a positive relationship between the use of humor and the visibility of individual tweets. Not …

2018 Constitution Day Essay Contest 1st Place--Social Media: Unifier Or Divider, Claire Hilbrecht

Constitution Day Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Talking Conflict: The Loaded Language Of Genocide, Political Violence, Terrorism, And Warfare, Jennifer A. Bartlett

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

The language used to describe conflict situations, whether military, political, or personal, has the potential to help resolve or escalate. Terms such as “collateral damage,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “final solution” often refer to historical events, but can also be used to condemn or endorse particular points of view in political speeches, the media, and local debate. Euphemisms, oxymorons, propaganda, jargon: all come into play. The nuanced and powerful rhetoric of conflict is the topic of Talking Conflict, an interesting and wide-ranging encyclopedia discussing the impact of linguistics, political science, journalism, and other fields on the language of conflict.

2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest 1st Place--Donald Trump: The Modern Day Killer Of The First Amendment, Ryann Schoenbaechler

Constitution Day Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest 3rd Place--The Fine Line Between Criticism And Control: How The Trump Administration Is Weakening Freedom Of The Press, Michael Di Girolamo

Constitution Day Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

Theory, Data, And Deterrence: A Response To Kenwick, Vasquez, And Powers, Brett Ashley Leeds, Jesse C. Johnson

Political Science Faculty Publications

Kenwick, Vasquez, and Powers question whether empirical evidence supports the claim that defense pacts deter conflict as our prior research has concluded. We review the theoretical argument for why defense pacts should deter conflict and consider the challenges inherent in evaluating deterrence using observational data. We then consider whether the research design choices of Kenwick et al. improve upon our research design. We demonstrate that claims that defense pacts deter conflict are robust to many of these changes in research design, and we argue that the consequential difference, while perhaps appropriate for testing the Steps-to-War argument, is not appropriate for …

La Incidencia De Las Pandillas En Los Barrios Salvadoreños Y Su Efecto En La Legitimidad Política, Abby Córdova

Political Science Faculty Publications

Este artículo explora cómo la incidencia de las pandillas en los barrios salvadoreños erosiona la confianza en el gobierno nacional. Los resultados muestran que los niveles de confianza en el gobierno nacional varían de un barrio a otro, dependiendo de la vulnerabilidad de sus habitantes a la inseguridad generada por las pandillas. Se demuestra que, en barrios asediados por las pandillas, víctimas y no víctimas del crimen muestran niveles similares y bajos de confianza en el gobierno nacional.

This article explores how the incidence of gangs in Salvadoran neighborhoods erodes trust in the national government. The results show that levels …

Hitting The "Bullseye" In Supreme Court Coverage: News Quality In The Court's 2014 Term, Michael A. Zilis, Justin Wedeking, Alexander Denison

Political Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.