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Endpoints After Empire: Explaining Varying Levels Of Democracy In Post-Communist Europe, William John Eger Jr.
Endpoints After Empire: Explaining Varying Levels Of Democracy In Post-Communist Europe, William John Eger Jr.
Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations
This study seeks to determine the impetus behind varying levels of post-communist democratization in central and eastern Europe. It explores the different theories of democratization. The work takes a regional approach to examining the states. This approach isolates less traditional factors that contribute to democratic quality: history, culture and geography. Qualitative studies of each help explain why the countries of the region have such a varying level of rights and freedoms.
Culture And Military Effectiveness: How Societal Traits Influence Battle Outcomes, Eric Stephen Fowler
Culture And Military Effectiveness: How Societal Traits Influence Battle Outcomes, Eric Stephen Fowler
Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations
What must states do to ensure victory on the field of battle? Conventional scholarship claims that a number of material and institutional factors significantly affect a nation’s ability to generate military power. Recent studies suggest that other factors, including levels of education, civil-military relations, and western culture also play an important role. This new line of logic is important because these factors tend to be glaringly absent from rigorous concepts of military power. The principle finding of this study is that culture matters and that it matters more than originally thought. Culture is admittedly complex, intangible, and difficult to count, …
Democratic Failure: Tracking The Ebb Of Democracy's Flow, 1800–2006, Sanja E. Sray
Democratic Failure: Tracking The Ebb Of Democracy's Flow, 1800–2006, Sanja E. Sray
Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations
Scant attention has focused on the systematic study of democratic failure. This dissertation partially corrects this oversight. Tracing the roots of antidemocratic sentiment across the centuries, it first argues that the advance of institutions, fueled by underlying shifts in values and innovation in political philosophy, was key to freeing democracy from its bondage as a most disparaged form of governance. Focusing on the measurable aspects of these institutions, the study focuses on describing patterns of behavior when democracies fail. First, it shows that there have been clusters of democratic failure. These clusters, or counterwaves, find their roots in ancient antidemocratic …
The Middle Class And Political Change In China: Chinese Middle Class's Attitudinal And Behavioral Orientations Toward Democracy, Chunlong Lu
Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations
Does the middle class in China think and act democratically and hence serve as the harbinger of democratic development in that country? Little empirical work has been done to systematically address this crucial question. The primary goals of this dissertation are to explore the level of attitudinal support for democracy among Chinese middle class individuals, examine their behavioral orientations toward politics, and provide a comprehensive assessment of the role of the Chinese middle class in the evolution of the Chinese political system. This dissertation argues that the middle class in China consists of the following four occupational groups: self-employed laborers, …