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Why Latinas Swing Left: Ideological Self-Identification In Conservative Chile, Kristyn A. Call

Master's Theses and Capstones

As recently as 2006, Latin American citizens have shifted to the left ideologically. This study begins by exploring the ideological orientation of women in socially conservative Chile. After analyzing existing literature on gender and ideology, this study goes on to suggest what has led Chilean women to ideologically self-identify to the left. Using a combination of case study analysis and Latin America Public Opinion Project analysis, this thesis proposes that specific social demographics, attitudes toward social issues, the economy, and government intervention are related to the ideological orientation of women. This study focused on multivariate ordinary least squares regression model …

Neo-Conservatism And Foreign Policy, Ted Boettner

Master's Theses and Capstones

Since the 1960s, neo-conservatives advanced their agenda through journals, think tanks, coalitions, and by serving as high-level government officials. While scholars have noted this influence, there's little written on how neo-conservative ideas have evolved and influenced foreign policy under these changing historical circumstances. Moreover, very little scholarship foils neo-conservatism against the two dominant approaches to foreign policy in the 20th century---realism and liberalism---to discover how they are held together as a group. This thesis finds that neo-conservatism is a political ideology of American foreign policy that has developed several common tendencies over the last forty years. These include an ardent …

Explaining Partition: Reconsidering The Role Of The Security Dilemma In The Cyprus Crisis Of 1974, Michael Todd Smith

Master's Theses and Capstones

In this thesis the proposed link between a security dilemma at the domestic-level of analysis and partition following ethnic conflict is examined in the context of the Cyprus crisis of 1974. The original framework of the argument being examined was offered by Chaim Kaufmann and is analyzed here by comparing and contrasting the history of Cyprus with the components of the framework. The thesis suggests that the framework does not adequately explain the partition in the case of Cyprus, as the history of that conflict does not reflect the components observable in the proposed linkage between the security dilemma and …

Saudi Arabia's Use Of Air Power Capabilities To Secure Its National Security Assets In The Northern Persian Gulf Arena, Ian M. Raimundo

Master's Theses and Capstones

Iran represents the primary threat to Saudi Arabia's foreign national security interests. Iranian hostility originates in the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution and also consists of threats to Saudi Arabia's internal security.1 Saudi Arabia's strategy to safeguard its national security assets, including petroleum processing and export facilities vital to the smooth flow of crude oil, relies on an advanced air defense capability to provide early warning of an aircraft or ballistic missile attack.

In contrast to the expected outcome of Robert Jervis' theory, a greater quantity of weapons but an overall decreased level of security, Saudi Arabia has increased their foreign …

The Limits Of Democracy And Economic Growth: Institutionalized Inequality In Peru, Elizabeth Kyriacou

Master's Theses and Capstones

The gap between the rich and the poor is widening at the global level, and at national level in many Latin American states. The poor distribution of assets and resources serves as an obstacle to overall economic development and threatens political and social stability. Such inequality has persisted despite substantial economic and political change in many Latin American states, fueling a development debate among theorists, economists, social scientists, and policymakers. How can persistent inequality be explained? As a nation with high inequality, economic growth, and democracy Peru serves as a pertinent case study. A qualitative analysis of regime type, economic …

The Transformative North Atlantic Treaty Organization: An Alliance's Out-Of-Area Policy And Journey To Afghanistan, Laura Kash

Master's Theses and Capstones

NATO was formed in 1949 to safeguard and promote stability for its members throughout the North Atlantic. Since its formation its members have sought to uphold its mission and objectives while expanding its agenda and engaging in a broad range of activities. These activities have included engagements that lay outside the traditional European boundaries of the Alliance. Historically, the member nations were unable to carry out an out-of-area policy due to disagreements between interests, ideologies, and viewpoints. The end of the Cold War signaled a shift in member nations' attitudes and policy regarding out-of-area operations. Throughout the 1990s and early …

The Taxpayer As Reformer: 'Pocketbook Politics' And The Law, 1860--1940, Linda Upham-Bornstein

Doctoral Dissertations

Taxes and the citizens' tax burden have always been at the hub of American politics. This dissertation opens up consideration of taxpayers as political and legal actors, who saw paying taxes as a source of political legitimacy and empowerment. It examines the powerful connection between organized taxpayer activity, political reform, and the law.

Organized taxpayers have relied heavily on the law in general, and on taxpayers' lawsuits in particular, to promote their interests and political reform. During the last half of the nineteenth century courts, and legislatures throughout the nation came to recognize the right of taxpayers to bring suit …

The Role Of Integrated Border Enforcement Teams In Maintaining A Safe And Open Canada-United States Border, Jessica Shultz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration believed that the Canada-US border, which was largely unguarded between official ports of entry, was at risk to terrorism and other criminal activity. Canada's economic stability depends on the US market and open Canada-US border, so Canadian policymakers proposed a bilateral border security agreement to keep the border open to trade and closed to illegal activity. The result was the Smart Border Declaration, implemented in December 2001. The Declaration stipulated that Integrated Border Enforcement Teams (IBETs) would be expanded across Canada and the US. These joint Canada-US teams share intelligence and patrol …

Essays On The Role Of Law In Judicial Decision Making, Ryan Black

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Forty years ago C. Herman Prichett: 1969) observed that "[P]olitical scientists who have done so much to put the `political' in `political jurisprudence' need to emphasize that it is still `jurisprudence.'" In this dissertation project I seek to help correct this imbalance by providing three fresh approaches to understanding how legal factors influence the choices judges and justices make. Essay 1 focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court's agenda setting decisions. Drawing from the archival papers of Justice Harry A. Blackmun, I analyze the extent to which considerations such as legal conflict among the circuit courts motivate justices to deviate from …

Placing Federal District Courts In The Judicial Hierarchy, Christina Boyd

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Over forty years after Richardson and Vines: 1967) complained that federal courts have seldom been investigated as a system of interactions," the same problem continues to plague judicial scholarship, particularly concerning federal district courts. Viewed as the sum of its three essays, this dissertation project seeks to remedy this deficit. The project relies on the collection and coding of thousands of case dockets, opinions, and other court documents across multiple years: 2000-2006 for essay 1, 2000-2004 for essays 2 and 3), nearly 30 district courts, and numerous issues areas that together account for about 40 percent of federal district court …