Digital Commons Network^™

Does Size Matter? Student Outcomes, School Size, The State Of Mississippi And Its Delta Region: Implications For Socioeconomic Well-Being, Leslie Taylor-Grover

All Dissertations

The positive link between educational attainment and improved socioeconomic outcomes under the auspices of the current economic environment is essential to the survival of rural states like Mississippi, which has some of the nation's lowest educational attainment and income levels. One of the most promising education policies for Mississippi is related to research on school size, district size, and positive educational outcomes among students. Smaller schools and districts are increasingly being touted as the basis for rural school reform, renewed economic development efforts in rural communities, and cost effective means to overcoming barriers poor students face in graduating high school …

Understanding Access To Essential Pharmaceuticals During A Public Health Crisis, Andrew Jessen

Political Science Theses

Despite the benefits of antiretroviral therapy in treating HIV/AIDS, government responses have varied substantially, from provisions guaranteeing nearly universal access to insufficient provisions providing almost no access. This research seeks to specifically examine primary explanations, such as economic capacity, and emerging explanations, such as the role of electoral accountability and the presence of stigma, and the coordination between the epistemic community and political leadership as potential causes for the variance in the government provision. By controlling for state economic capacity, this research furthers the importance of examining other explanations for state response in light of a public health crisis. While …

Religion And Party Realignment: Are Catholics Realigning Into The Republican Party?, Patrick Lee Burns

Political Science Theses

This thesis examines the influence of religion on party realignment in the United States focusing on Catholic voting behavior. A statistical analysis utilizing bivariate analysis and logistical regressions examines if religion and party realignment is an ecumenical trend expanding beyond Evangelicals to Catholics. It measures scientifically the party trends of the Catholic voter. With data pooled from the National Election Studies from 1960 to 2004, it tests the hypothesis that church attending Catholics are realigning over time into the Republican Party both in vote choice and party identification, because of their pro-life position on abortion. The analysis shows that church …

The Impact Of Authority And Agendas In The Management Of Public Authorities: Studying The Relationship Between Public Transportation Authority Boards And Executives, Robert August Schneider

Doctoral Dissertations

Public authorities are a popular form of quasi-governmental institutions and have been extensively chronicled in regards to effective public service delivery. Authorities are exceptionally popular within the public transportation industry but have slowly lost their fiscal power due to the strengthening of parent governments. This dissertation examines the authority structure in public transportation to understand the linkage between this loss of fiscal power and executive management of public authorities by studying the governing board-executive manager relationship. In particular, this dissertation examines the structure and relationship by studying factors impacting relationships and connections between deceased fiscal power and the members recruited …

Pre-Tipping Point Operations As A Strategy For Maritime Security In The Global War On Terror, John W. Snedeker Jr.

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis proposes US maritime forces adopt a new strategy of pre-tipping point operations that involve proactive measures to enhance maritime security. At its core is the premise that since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the propensity of efforts in GWOT have focused on defeating terrorist organizations and denying sanctuaries on land, leaving the maritime operating environment open to the next wave of terror attacks.1 With the preponderance of commercial goods shipped through the maritime commons, this critical nexus remains valuable and vulnerable. Fragile states and ungoverned regions have become safe havens for a host of criminal elements including …

The Impact Of Homeland Politics On The National Identity Of Palestinians Reflected In The Diaspora, Mouna Marie Abraham

Theses

Homeland politics shaped Arab and Palestinian nationalism over the course of three political administrations in historic Palestine. Policy administered under the Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate directly affected the national identity of the indigenous population. Just before the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, 'Palestinian' came to refer to the Muslim and Christian majority, and excluded the Jewish minority, as a consequence of homeland politics. This study focuses on the impact of these policies on emigrants from Palestine under the Ottoman Authority, the British Mandate, and after the creation of the State ofIsrael in 1948. The political …

Changing Nature: Globalization And Economic Reforms In Brazil, Lucas Gimenes Loureiro

Theses and Dissertations

Globalization is affecting our lives in ways that we never expected before. Greater interdependence, some scholars argue, weakens the ability of nation-states to retain their authority over individuals and corporations. However, nation-states are highly adaptable and they have the power to maintain their primacy . Governments have the ability to choose which model of development their economies should pursue. Thus, based on the choice of economic model, nation-states shape their economies and the way business operates within it. In other words, governments will essentially steer their economies in a certain direction, even though they cannot determine the exact path that …

Working, But Poor: A Study Of Georgia's Economic Self-Sufficiency Policies, Rosa B. Hayes

Political Science Dissertations

The "work first" philosophy of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act sent millions of people into the labor force, many for the first time. The result was a dramatic increase in the number of workers whose earnings failed to pull them and their families out of poverty. Assistance in the form of childcare, transportation, medical coverage, and the Earned Income Tax Credit is beginning to receive attention as support mechanisms for people who do not earn adequate wages and receive little benefits from their employers. This study examines the effectiveness of Georgia's approach to providing work support programs …

Judicial Quality And The Supreme Court Nominating Process, Andrew O'Geen

Political Science Theses

In recent months, presidential appointments to the Supreme Court have become an increasingly salient issue with both the public and the press. The relevance of the topic makes it an inviting subject for political science research. When looking at the question of judicial quality, the problem that researchers have faced in the past is one of quantifying quality. This work seeks to expand on previous survey research done on the quality of individual justices. By using quality scores (Comiskey 2004) as a dependent variable, it is possible to analyze influences on the President’s nomination choice and their relative impacts on …

Caste And The Court: Examining Judicial Selection Bias On Bench Assignments On The Indian Supreme Court, Shyam Krishnan Sriram

Political Science Theses

This paper is a study on the effect of caste on bench assignments on the Indian Supreme Court. The objective was to determine whether the Chief Justices have historically assigned associate justices to benches based on their individual castes – Brahmin or Non-Brahmin – in order to tilt the bias of the Court in either an elitist (Brahmin) direction or a non-elitist (Non-Brahmin) direction. Based on a probability analysis of panel assignments, I created a new model to determine the extant of castebased judicial selection bias on the Indian Supreme Court. Using a random sample of cases from 1950 to …

Ethnic Conflict, Electoral Systems, And Power Sharing In Divided Societies, Sara Ann Miller

Political Science Theses

This paper investigates the relationship between ethnic conflict, electoral systems, and power sharing in ethnically divided societies. The cases of Guyana, Fiji, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Mauritius, and Trinidad and Tobago are considered. Electoral systems are denoted based on presidential versus parliamentary system, and on proportional representation versus majoritarian/plurality. The paper concludes that, while electoral systems are important, other factors like the power distribution between ethnic groups, and ensuring a non-zero-sum game may be as important.

Foreign Funding To Human Rights Organizations In Egypt In The Aftermath Of The September 11th Attacks, Kenzy Hassan Abdallah

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Expanding Development Through Human Rights, Dina H. Sherif

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Press Freedom During Elections In Egypt: Case Study, Asir Hani Afifi

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of The Christian Right On The American Foreign Policy In The Middle East (2000-2004), Leidya Adel Boutros

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Traditional models and theories of foreign policy decision making in political science, fail to explain thoroughly the American foreign policy orientations with regard to the Middle East in the period from 2000 till 2004. This study attempts to analyze this period by analyzing one of the variables that may contribute to explaining this anomaly: The rising influence of a social movement coined the Christian Right. Who is the Christian Right? What, if any influence does this movement have on the Presidency of the United States and Congress with regard to foreign policy decision making in the Middle East. This study …

Towards Developing An Arab Public Diplomacy Strategy, Aliaa Abdel Aziz Dawoud

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Military Development: Twenty-Five Years Of U.S. Military Aid To Egypt, 1980-2005, Matthew Robert Fomby

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Fgm Abandonment In Egypt: A Case Study Of Changing Behavioural Patterns And Attitudes Towards Fgm In The Village Of Benban, Aswan, Laila Mahmoud El Moshneb

Archived Theses and Dissertations

[abstract not provided]

Development Decision-Making In St. Louis: Institutions, Incentives And Urban Development, William Ernst Winter

Dissertations

This study uses the example of St. Louis to identify how local leaders make decisions about development and what factors influence the type of projects chosen. Through an analysis of projects conducted in the downtown and two distressed neighborhoods, the study concludes that St. Louis has a system of development decision-making that is substantially privatized and decentralized. At the center of development activity are place-based entrepreneurs who understand the local market and work to change the incentive structure for reinvestment. The leadership of the private sector in planning and implementing development policy is the flipside of local institutions that are …

Religion And Political Attitudes In South Korea, Junghyoun Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

In order to shed some light on how religion affects the consolidating democracy in South Korea, this research focuses on the relationship between individual’s religiosity and their political attitudes, particularly: (1) political tolerance, which is considered a prerequisite for democratic consolidation, and (2) political ideology, which enables us to look at the impact of religion on people’s political behavior.

In terms of the research design, this research uses a quasi-experimental design, a survey design for hypothesis testing using statistical procedures (sample size = 994, sample frame = all adults over 20 years old who live in Seoul, the capital of …

Winnie-The-Pooh And Lincoln, Too: Children’S Literature As Civic Education, Marc S. Schwerdt

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the civic content of children’s literature. A content instrument was prepared to measure the presence of civic and political concepts within a sample of children’s literature consisting of 51 bestsellers and 35 Newbery Award winners from 1960-2001. While manifest political agendas are minimal within children’s literature, this study found a heavy presence of civic content as defined by civic education standards. Children’s literature is permeated with the structure, skills, values and behavior of democracy. Findings show that civic content corresponds with developmental characteristics in children of the relevant age group. Findings also …

The Need For New Priorities: The National Organization For Women And College Campuses, Katherine May

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Handling And Preventing Journalistic Fraud: Janet Cooke, Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, Kenneth Munson

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Fraud is a growing concern in the news business, especially in recent years where numerous journalism scandals rock its foundation. This paper examines the most prominent cases: Stephen Glass, the reporter for The New Republic newsmagazine who completely or partially fabricated 27 stories in the late ‘90s; Jayson Blair, the New York Times reporter who was found to have plagiarized or made up his supposedly on-thescene reporting in 2003; and Janet Cooke, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for her Washington Post story about a child heroin addict who, in actuality, did not exist. This paper will examine flaws …

The Pressure Model Of Terrorism: A Behavioralist Model For Ethnonational Terrorism In Western Europe, 1945-2000, Ole J. Forsberg

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine which factors affect an ethnonational group's decision to utilize terrorism to obtain their desired outcomes. Current theories have reached an answer, but theoretical underpinnings of those answers are disparate and weak. Thus, in answering this question, a new model of terrorism is necessary - one which spans the four primary levels of analysis. I do this using a weak rational choice model as a cross-level link, and using psychological models as a basis for the individual-level actions.

While the model is not unequivocally and universally supported by the tests, it is able …

Fully Informed Jury Association V. County Of San Diego: A Practical Approach To Jury Nullification, Alyson Hope Dodd Kennedy

Masters Theses

A jury in a criminal trial typically must make a decision about the guilt of a given defendant. Occasionally, the jury moves one step beyond this basic task and chooses to exercise its nullification power. That is, the jury decides that, according to the evidence, a given defendant is guilty of the crime with which he or she is charged, but that applying the law to that defendant would, essentially, not be doing justice.

While much is known about the process by which juries make decisions, the specific factors that encourage juries to engage in nullification and the circumstances under …

Violence, Drugs, And U.S. Foreign Assistance, Lauren Elizabeth Mattox

Masters Theses

Over the years, scholars have continually debated the effect that foreign assistance has had on recipient countries. This study aims to continue research in that area by exploring the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance to Colombia. Specifically, my research is designed to investigate the effect of U.S. foreign assistance in three broad areas of Colombian society: law enforcement, guerrilla violence, and drug production.

Using available data that covers the years 1980-2002, I perform a multivariate time-series analysis to assess the impact of U.S. foreign assistance on six key dependent variables; these variables have been selected to illuminate the three …

Political Sophistication And Partisan Cues: Insight From South Korea’S 2002 Presidential Election, Do-Kyung Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to study the effects of political sophistication on the use of partisan cues in the 2002 South Korean presidential election. Many scholars in recent years have argued that it does not matter so much that many voters are poorly informed about politics because they can use information shortcuts or heuristic cues to overcome the lack of information and still make a reasoned choice. Based on these studies, much of the political sophistication literature in political science assumes that the use of party cues in the voting booth is the hallmark of an unsophisticated voter. …

Life And The Death Penalty: Passing Life Without Parole Legislation In Texas, Future Implications, And An Examination Of Texas’ Death Row, Adam Chase Parker

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Double Threat Of Terrorism: Terrorism’S Effect On Restrictions Of Human Rights By Governments, Christen Tave Romero

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Dam Development And Human Security: The Iraqi Water Situation, Amy L. Rue

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.