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Political Science Multiple Course Revisions Form 09/20/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Political Science Form B: Objectives And Requirements 09/20/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Political Science Form A: Discipline Summary 09/20/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

India: Grassroots Hiv/Aids Activism Growing, Manju Parikh

Political Science Faculty Publications

In the last ten years, we have seen frequent news reports on the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus in the Indian subcontinent, each one stressing the dire economic and social consequences if urgent attention is not paid to the problem. Although the Indian government has responded by adopting many policies and by establishing an organization — the National Aids Control Organization (NACO) — to deal specifically with HIV awareness, treatment for HIV infected individuals, and prevention of further spread of HIV/AIDS, many critics do not find these measures adequate.

The campaign to create awareness and check the spread of AIDS …

Rethinking Symbolic Racism: Evidence Of Attribution Bias, Brad T. Gomez, J. Matthew Wilson

Political Science Research

This paper demonstrates that cognitive tendencies related to political sophistication produce an attribution bias in the widely accepted symbolic racism scale. When this bias is controlled statistically, the effect of symbolic racism on racial policy attitudes is greatly diminished. Our theory posits that high sophisticates tend to make global/distal attributions, allowing them to associate racial inequality with broader sociopolitical causes. Less sophisticated individuals, conversely, tend to make local/proximal attributions, thus biasing them against ascribing responsibility systemically. Consequently, less sophisticated individuals tend to be classified as intolerant by the symbolic racism scale, even when controlling for factors such as ideology and …

Bargaining For Privacy In The Unionized Workplace, Ann C. Hodges

Law Faculty Publications

This article considers whether collective bargaining can enhance privacy protection for employees in the United States. Employers are increasingly engaging in practices that invade employee privacy with few existing legal protections to limit their actions. While data on the extent of bargaining about privacy is limited, it appears that unions in the U.S. have primarily used the grievance and arbitration procedure to challenge invasions of privacy that lead to discipline of the employee instead of negotiating explicit contractual privacy rights. In contrast to the U.S., labor representatives in many other countries, particularly in the European Union, have greater legal rights …

"Midterm Verdicts," At The Club, Yale University, David R. Mayhew

David Mayhew

No abstract provided.

Media, Race, And Attitudes Toward People On Welfare, Stephanie Bramlett

Master's Theses and Capstones

This research gives insight to why some Americans have negative attitudes toward people on welfare. This study begins by exploring how the construct of race has manifested itself throughout televised news broadcasts and the welfare system in the United States.

This research uses a combination of content analysis, secondary research and American National Election Survey Data analysis to explain the relationship between the media and support for welfare programs. The study investigates three main hypotheses: H1: Blacks are overrepresented as perpetrators of crime in televised news broadcasts compared to the actual number of crimes committed by Blacks, H2: As trust …

Good Press, Bad Press: A 25-Year Comparison Of Arguments And Trends In American News Coverage Of Climate Change And The Ozone Hole, David Howland

Doctoral Dissertations

This study uses an original content analysis categorical system to seek out and compare the substance of arguments in a quarter century of American news coverage about the ozone hole and climate change. Findings from an examination of more than 1,000 news articles written by The Associated Press, United Press International and The New York Times are combined with interviews with members of key stakeholder groups in both cases including scientists, politicians, industry officials, environmentalists and news reporters. The analysis illuminates the social and political processes at work---that is, those captured by the press---in the evolution of the Montreal ozone …

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Philippe Reyniers

No abstract provided.

Presidential Rhetoric: How John Adams And George W. Bush Used Religion To Effectively Communicate With Their Respective Constituency, Beth Fisher

McNair Scholars Journal

President George W. Bush’s affiliation with the conservative and political Christian right helped him win the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. During the past six years, Bush has courted this vast voting public by referencing Christian doctrine in his speeches. John Adams, this nation’s second president, was of Puritan ancestry. Yet Adams, an eloquent writer, carefully crafted his communiqués to avoid overt religiosity. An analysis of the public communications of these two presidents will show how allusions to Christianity have been used as a rhetorical and political tool to facilitate national unity for their agendas

2006 Apsa Teaching And Learning Conference Track Summaries, Gordon Babst, Denise Degarmo, Chris Harth, Bob Reinalda, Amy Cabrera Rasmussen, Reilly Hirst, Anas Malik, Ange-Marie Hancock

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

The 3rd Annual APSA Conference on Teaching and Learning in Political Science hosted over 300 participants in lively discussions of trends, techniques, and models in teaching in political science. Held in downtown Washington, D.C. on February 18-20, the Conference was organized as a workshop-based forum to develop models of teaching and learning as well as to discuss broad themes affecting political science education today. Joining the discussion, APSA President Ira Katznelson (Columbia University) and keynote speaker Thomas E. Cronin (Colorado College) shared their thoughts on teaching and learning in the discipline.

Swing Voters? Roman Catholics From 1992 To 2004, Lori Gula Wright

Master's Theses and Capstones

This thesis evaluates whether Catholics are swing voters, how their voting behavior has changed from 1992 to 2004, and what issues are influencing their voting behavior. National Election Survey datasets from 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 are used. Two models are evaluated, the ethnoreligious model and the culture wars thesis. In addition, this thesis looks at whether Catholics tend to be single-issue voters.

The research and analysis of this thesis support the conclusion that Catholics are not swing voters and that their voting patterns are more similar to the general electorate than ever before. Although religious, class and cultural issues …

Elite Perceptions And The Adoption Of An Extremist Policy Of Genocide: A Comparative Case Study Of Armenia And Rwanda, Nicole Powell

Master's Theses and Capstones

The events leading up to the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994 are similar to the events that led to the genocide that occurred in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Economic and political crises plagued both states, international pressures to democratize weighed on both states, and both states were subject to ethnic polarization. This project examines those common factors preceding the Rwandan and Armenian genocides; and looks at elite's perception of a threat to their power because of the existence of those factors. Furthermore, the paper examines the relationship between the perception of a threat to elite power and …

Television Exposure, Feelings Of Fear And Confidence In The United States Government: Is The Government Using Media To Create A Culture Of Fear?, Janine Marie Soule

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study examines the relation between television media and fear as it pertains to the trust or confidence in the United States government. Using the fundamental hypothesis of cultivation theory (i.e., heavy viewers of television are more likely to believe that the world is a "mean and scary" place), the relation between the amount of television one watches, one's corresponding level of fear, and one's level of confidence in each branch of the United States federal government is examined. It is hypothesized that fear will have a mediating effect on the relation between heavy television consumption and respondents' confidence in …

Can Less Mean More In International Aid: Public Opinion Of International Assistance In Ghana, Michael Bena

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study examines public opinion of international aid in Ghana with a focus on a multivariate ordinary least squares regression model. It first examines the country of Ghana and the events that led to involvement with the International Monetary Fund under the Economic Recovery Program. After analyzing existing literature on satisfaction with government and economic programs, the study goes on to suggest what might drive citizen satisfaction with these programs. Using information from the Afrobarometer survey, this thesis proposes that public opinion of international aid programs is related to the tangible benefits they provide and the publics' perceptions of inequality …

Walter Beach, Paul J. Rich

Paul J. Rich

A variation of these remarks was part of the memorial service I led for Walter at the Southern Political Science and American Political Science Associations after his death, and was published in the Policy Studies Journal and Review of Policy Research. He was my predecessor as President of the Policy Studies Organization and he also was a friend and mentor. We miss him dearly but fortunately he lived long enough to see the PSO move to Washington, only a couple blocks from his office.