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U.S. Intelligence Reform A Bureaucratic Politics Approach, Bonnie M. Schickler Jan 2010

U.S. Intelligence Reform A Bureaucratic Politics Approach, Bonnie M. Schickler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the current bureaucratic struggles that exist within the U.S. intelligence community as a result of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of 2004. The first part of this research examines the history of intelligence reform in the United States beginning with the National Security Act of 1947. The second part provides an indepth discussion of the 2004 legislation as well as an examination of the main bureaucratic conflicts that have arisen between the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the rest of the U.S. intelligence community. This study used the bureaucratic politics model to explain …


Engineering A New Form Of Enclosure: International Convergence In Gmo Regulation, Jessica Altif Jan 2010

Engineering A New Form Of Enclosure: International Convergence In Gmo Regulation, Jessica Altif

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As society begins to recognize its impact on ecological systems, the belief that modern political institutions can offer a sense of control and certainty, as well as protect the health of its citizens, is increasingly questioned. In an era of uncertainty, faith in science and technology to alleviate industrial impacts on the environment is often embraced by policymakers yet questioned by the public who see the authoritative role of the sciences in the political sphere as contributing to global risk. The development of biotechnology, specifically genetically modified food, places an anthropocentric focus on resolving and/or adapting to environmental degradation, further …


Have Nominating Conventions Lost Power?, Tyler Branz Jan 2010

Have Nominating Conventions Lost Power?, Tyler Branz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Do conventions still have relevance in the modern political world? Some call them glorified television infomercials for presidential candidates while others refer to them as admired pillars of American political history. Whichever viewpoints one identifies with, presidential conventions are interesting to study historically, and can be studied analytically. The following case studies examine the institution of the nominating convention: what they do, how they form, what they have accomplished and how they affect the voters. This study finds that conventions are still meaningful in American politics, particularly for affecting party unity, candidate image and, to a lesser degree, party platform.


What's In A Name? Genocide Early Warning Model For Humanitarian Intervention, Alexandria Lewis Jan 2010

What's In A Name? Genocide Early Warning Model For Humanitarian Intervention, Alexandria Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is much debate among genocide scholars as to the causes and even accurate definitions of genocide. Early warning developed to address the increasing need for humanitarian intervention in violent conflicts around the world. As a subset of genocide studies, early warning seeks to go beyond explaining the causes of genocide. The early warning model created here uses six indicator variables - government, leaders/elites, followers, non-followers/bystanders, outsider group, and environment - to detect the likelihood of genocide within a given case study. Four cases were chosen - Kenya, Nigeria, Yemen, and Ethiopia - and analyzed using the indicator variables to …


Understanding The Split-Ticket Voter, Janelle Middents Jan 2010

Understanding The Split-Ticket Voter, Janelle Middents

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will focus on split ticket voting. Split ticket voting refers to an aspect of voting behavior where the individual will cast votes for different political parties for different offices. Through the development of countless theories and utilizing data, political scientists have managed to shed some light as to why an individual may engage in split-ticket voting. However, many of these studies have been too narrow in their focus, for instance, relying on a specific election without taking into account some major variables that provide the foundation for voting behavior. The purpose of this study is to provide scholars …


Women, Work And Welfare: A Case Study Of Germany, The Uk, And Sweden, Meredith Legg Jan 2010

Women, Work And Welfare: A Case Study Of Germany, The Uk, And Sweden, Meredith Legg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how different welfare state regimes affect gender relations by examining variations in welfare regimes and outcomes for women between Western European countries. The research seeks to understand how the diverse systems of social provision affect women: particularly with regard to their position in the labor market and in their ability to balance occupational and domestic work. Using a comparative, qualitative approach, I compare three Western European welfare states (Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden) to evaluate gender-relevant welfare policy with female employment rates, unemployment rates, and wage differentials. Welfare states and labor market policies affect outcomes for …


Understanding Terrorism: Religious & Political Dimensions, Christopher Cusano Jan 2010

Understanding Terrorism: Religious & Political Dimensions, Christopher Cusano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Terrorism in the twenty-first century has had one of greatest effects on the status quo of international relations, peace and war. It has become the 'specter' of our era and in many instances, it has been referred to as the predominant threat of modern civilization. Furthermore, it has the potential to drastically change the world we live in. For these reasons it has rightfully earned our attention and focus. Many efforts to understand terrorism have fallen short of recognizing the underlying causes. In many cases, acts of terror have either been of purely political motivation or have had socioeconomic conditions …


A Plurinational State: The Impact Of The Mas On The Status Of Indigenous People In Bolivia, Pamela Medina Jan 2010

A Plurinational State: The Impact Of The Mas On The Status Of Indigenous People In Bolivia, Pamela Medina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2005 the largely indigenous country of Bolivia elected its first indigenous president, Evo Morales of the Movement toward Socialism (MAS) Party. Morales ran on a promise of re-distributing wealth, to aid in the development of one of Latin America's poorest countries. Morales' first term in office marked a historical achievement for the indigenous movement in Bolivia, and sparked social change in the country. The government also experienced a momentous achievement through the re-writing of the Bolivian constitution, acknowledging the country's multi-ethnic and pluri-national character. Although his social, domestic and foreign policies have been controversial, particularly in the United States, …


Marriage For Some: Explaining The Variation In Gay Rights And Marriage Policy And Opinion Among States And Individuals, Jeffrey Billman Jan 2010

Marriage For Some: Explaining The Variation In Gay Rights And Marriage Policy And Opinion Among States And Individuals, Jeffrey Billman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research aims to answer a simple question: Why are some individuals, and some states, more willing to extend protections to same-sex couples than are others? Drawing from the literature, I perform a battery of quantitative tests on variables most commonly associated with gay rights and gay marriage policy development: liberalism, education, age, religiosity, authoritarianism, tolerance, urbanization, and moral traditionalism. While I find that all of these variables have a relationship with gay rights and gay marriage opinion, I argue that those associated with religiosity have the strongest pull. However, religiosity does not act alone; moral traditionalism, age, and ideology …


A Realist Interpretation Of U.S.Relations With China, Xiansheng Zhang Jan 2010

A Realist Interpretation Of U.S.Relations With China, Xiansheng Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Realism theory provides the most powerful explanation for the state of war and the rise and fall of great powers. It expounds the important concepts and themes like national sovereignty, security, survival, interests, balance of power, balance of terror, alliance, dominance, hegemony and polarity. Realism can be classified as classical realism, structural realism and neoclassical realism. In recent years, liberalism, globalism and constructivism also have greatly influenced academics and policy-makers under the new phenomena of globalization and terrorism. This paper explores how classical realism theory has been applied to and revealed in the issue of American policy towards China. The …


Ideological Voting On The Supreme Court: An Analysis Of Judicial Activism On The Burger And Rehnquist Courts, 1969-2004, Tiahna Larsen Jan 2010

Ideological Voting On The Supreme Court: An Analysis Of Judicial Activism On The Burger And Rehnquist Courts, 1969-2004, Tiahna Larsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The influence of ideology and attitudes on the decision-making process of Supreme Court justices has been well documented, such that the attitudinal model has emerged as the dominant paradigm for understanding judicial behavior. When ideology and personal preferences seem to eclipse legal factors, such as adherence to precedent and deference to the democratically-elected branches, outcries of 'judicial activism' have occurred. Previous studies (Lindquist and Cross 2009) have operationalized judicial activism and have provided measures for studying behavior that may be considered activist (as opposed to restrainist), further supporting the premise that ideology trumps other extra-attitudinal and legal factors in the …