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Articles 1 - 30 of 45
Full-Text Articles in History
Women’S Representation In State Legislatures And Women-Friendly Policy Outcomes, Hoan La
Women’S Representation In State Legislatures And Women-Friendly Policy Outcomes, Hoan La
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
This paper adds to the literature on the relationship between women's representation and policy outcomes. The literature argues that female legislators are more likely than male colleagues to support policies that benefit women, children, and families. Therefore, increasing women's representation in legislative bodies will likely result in more policy outcomes that reflect women's interests. This paper employs data from 50 U.S. state legislatures in three years: 2010, 2015, and 2020 to examine the relationship between female legislators and women-friendly policies. The analysis indicates that female legislators play an important role in introducing, discussing, and debating women-friendly bills but have yet …
Disaggregating Foreign Aid: What Have We Learned From Research On Sub-National Foreign Aid?, Josiah F. Marineau
Disaggregating Foreign Aid: What Have We Learned From Research On Sub-National Foreign Aid?, Josiah F. Marineau
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Over the past several years, a new wave of research has mapped the location of foreign aid projects within countries to understand the causes and effects of sub-national aid allocation. This effort, affiliated with the AidData research program (albeit not exclusively), is ongoing, and new datasets on foreign aid donors and for particular countries are being released. After several years of continuing research into the correlates and effects of sub-national foreign aid on aid-recipient countries, it is worthwhile to pause and consider what this research program has uncovered and suggest directions where it might go.
The Mobilizing Effect Of Descriptive Representation? The Impact Of Representatives’ Race And Gender On Participation, Akayla Henson, Brittany Wood
The Mobilizing Effect Of Descriptive Representation? The Impact Of Representatives’ Race And Gender On Participation, Akayla Henson, Brittany Wood
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Studies on the effect of increased descriptive representation on political participation have yielded mixed results. This research explores the relationship between descriptive representation and political participation. Specifically, we are interested in understanding how the race and gender of political representatives affect electorate participation. We conduct a unique survey experiment where participants receive communication from a political representative. The treatment conditions varied based on representative race (black, white) and gender (man, woman). We hypothesized that participants who receive correspondence from a representative of the same gender and race as themselves (i.e., in-group) would be more likely to participate than a participant …
Centralizing The Selection Of Circuit Court Nominees In The George W. Bush, Obama, And Trump Administrations, Paul Foote, Austin Trantham
Centralizing The Selection Of Circuit Court Nominees In The George W. Bush, Obama, And Trump Administrations, Paul Foote, Austin Trantham
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Nominations to the federal judiciary are among the most important decisions made by American presidents. Provided lifetime tenure upon confirmation, judges nominated by a given president are likely to serve well past the Chief Executive’s time in office—allowing them the ability to give voice to the nominating president’s ideological views, in some cases, for decades. While shared partisanship is a key consideration in making judicial nominations, do presidents also tend to nominate individuals with common career backgrounds and life experiences? This paper employs a comparative framework to analyze the characteristics of individuals appointed at the circuit court level by Presidents …
Democracy For Some: Greek-American Institutions And The Greek Junta, 1967-1974, Olga Koulisis
Democracy For Some: Greek-American Institutions And The Greek Junta, 1967-1974, Olga Koulisis
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
In 1967 a military junta took over Greece, silencing the democratic process in Democracy’s birthplace with the tacit approval of Democracy’s heir apparent, the United States of America. The tolerance, if not support, of Greek-American institutions to the establishment of the Greek Junta and the U.S. government’s support for that regime offers a case study of why democratic publics accept, if not bolster, their own government’s support for anti-democratic regimes. This case offers an intriguing juxtaposition because of the historical claims that U.S., Greek, and Greek diaspora identities make on democratic practice and commitment. This study examines how junta-tolerant Greek …
Crime, Documentation Status, And Content Analysis: Evidence From American Surveys Evaluating The Public’S Perception Of Deportations, Madelyn Einhorn
Crime, Documentation Status, And Content Analysis: Evidence From American Surveys Evaluating The Public’S Perception Of Deportations, Madelyn Einhorn
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
How does the public evaluate US deportations? This paper conducts two original, experimental surveys in the United States, asking the public about their perceptions of immigrant deportations from the US. The first section of this paper utilizes an experimental design to determine how documentation status and criminality impact the public’s views of deportations. The second section of this paper asks an open-ended question about perceptions of deportations and uses automatic content analysis to determine the emotional sentiment of respondents’ answers. This paper determines that Americans view deportations as an appropriate punitive measure for undocumented immigrants and immigrants who have committed …
Party Registration Deadlines And Hidden Partisanship: An Individual Analysis, Matthew Thornburg
Party Registration Deadlines And Hidden Partisanship: An Individual Analysis, Matthew Thornburg
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Many voters in states with party affiliation identify with or lean towards one political party but are not registered with it. This sort of “hidden partisanship” may be intentional be it may also result from a combination of changes in a voter’s party identification and the electoral institutions in place. In many states it is difficult to change party registration due to early deadlines intended to prevent crossover voting. Using individual-level survey data, I find that hidden partisanship in a state increases, the further in advance of the primary the deadline to change party affiliation is. This deadline affects primary …
Fictional Foreign Policy: How Madam Secretary And House Of Cards Depict United States Foreign Policy., John Heyrman
Fictional Foreign Policy: How Madam Secretary And House Of Cards Depict United States Foreign Policy., John Heyrman
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
This paper analyzes the ways that United States foreign policy is depicted in two prominent current television programs: House of Cards and Madam Secretary. Both of these programs have had frequent plots in which the fictional foreign policy of the U.S. deals with issues very similar to those that the United States has actually confronted in recent years. Examples include nuclear proliferation negotiations with Iran and U.S. concern over anti-gay legislation in Russia. Several of these fictional stories are analyzed here to consider how processes and policies of the U.S. are portrayed. Madam Secretary does much more to demonstrate …
The Nature And Extent Of Presidential Pardon Power: An Analysis In Light Of Recent Political Developments, Max Guirguis Ph.D.
The Nature And Extent Of Presidential Pardon Power: An Analysis In Light Of Recent Political Developments, Max Guirguis Ph.D.
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Long recognized as the most sweeping and least checked power vested in the Chief Executive, the pardon power received renewed scholarly attention with the federal investigation of the Trump White House. President Trump’s assertion via a Twitter post that “the U.S. President has the complete power to pardon” provoked a heated national debate on the reach of his pardoning authority. This paper is an attempt to elucidate the nature of the pardon power by examining its historical contours and the constitutional principles governing its exercise.
Perceptions Of Discrimination In The Legal Profession, Sabrina Collins
Perceptions Of Discrimination In The Legal Profession, Sabrina Collins
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Historically, the legal profession has been dominated by white men (García-López 2008). Over time, the barriers hindering diverse participation have been somewhat lifted. In recent years, law schools enrolled equal percentages of men and women, and the number of minority students has also increased. So, how has the legal profession adapted to these changes? The hiring of women and minorities in the field of law does not reflect the increasing diversity seen in law school. Today, only 36% of lawyers are women. While existing research shows discrimination present in the field of law, few studies have examined the relationship between …
Politics At The Pulpit: Elite Religious Cues And Immigration Attitudes, Benjamin Knoll, Matthew Baker
Politics At The Pulpit: Elite Religious Cues And Immigration Attitudes, Benjamin Knoll, Matthew Baker
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Previous scholarship has demonstrated a link between religiosity and immigration attitudes, often inferring the effect of cues from religious leaders as the motivating source. This study directly examines the “elite cues” linking mechanism with an experiment embedded in a nationally representative public opinion survey. We improve on previous research designs by introducing a pretest that measures immigration policy attitudes among respondents which can then be directly compared to posttest measures after the introduction of the elite cue stimulus. Multivariate analysis of the survey results reveal no support for the elite cues explanation. We discuss the implications of these findings for …
Complete Issue - Volume 5, Number 1 (2021)
Complete Issue - Volume 5, Number 1 (2021)
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Complete Issue
Consequences Of Sexual Violence During Civil Conflicts For Post-Colonial Democratization, Kathleen Clark
Consequences Of Sexual Violence During Civil Conflicts For Post-Colonial Democratization, Kathleen Clark
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Countries face large obstacles in the post-civil conflict period, including democratization. The nature of the warfare during the civil conflict may have important implications for the prospects for future democratization. Specifically, the experience of sexual violence during civil conflicts may hinder democratization. I argue that countries that experience prevalent sexual violence during civil conflicts have lower chances for post-conflict democratization than those without. This occurs through the psychological consequences of sexual violence on victims and communities. Sexual violence negatively impacts victims, but it can also have more widespread negative consequences for society. Communities of the victims may collectively respond to …
The Great Divide: The Political Implications Of Southern Regional Identification In Kentucky, Joel Turner
The Great Divide: The Political Implications Of Southern Regional Identification In Kentucky, Joel Turner
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Kentucky occupies a unique place on the American political landscape. The Commonwealth has never been fully embraced as Southern by most observers, but at the same time it is not necessarily a Northern state. As the intersection of North and South in the United States, Kentucky presentes a unique opportunity to study the impact of regional identity on public opinion. Utilizing data from a 2014 survey of a random sample of Kentucky residents, we are able to demonstrate that Southern regional identification is fairly high in Kentucky, and that this identification has a significant influence on opinion regard politicians and …
The Phantom Segregationist: Kentucky's 1996 Desegregation Amendment And The Limits Of Direct Democracy, D. Stephen Voss
The Phantom Segregationist: Kentucky's 1996 Desegregation Amendment And The Limits Of Direct Democracy, D. Stephen Voss
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Decades after Kentucky abolished de jure racial distinctions in education, the state legislature asked voters to strip segregationist language from their venerable constitution. Political elites were stunned when a third of the state's voters, and majorities in five countries, rejected the change. However, the prime culprit for Kentucky's 1996 constitutional amendment vote was not white racism, because African-American voters endorsed segregation at rates similar to whites. Rather, the Kentucky vote offers a particularly clear and particularly dramatic example of the limits of ballot-box policy making. It should alert scholars that highly publicized referenda in high-profile states - the focus of …
Holding School Leaders Accountable: Estimating The Effects Of Retrospective Evaluations Of Kentucky School District Superintendents, Martin Battle, James C. Clinger
Holding School Leaders Accountable: Estimating The Effects Of Retrospective Evaluations Of Kentucky School District Superintendents, Martin Battle, James C. Clinger
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
This research represents an attempt to apply the theory of retrospective voting to the issue of turnover among Kentucky school district superintendents. The analysis tests the hypothesis that poor school district performance should increase superintendent performance. The hypothesis is tested using accountability data compiled by the Kentucky Department of Education. The analysis reveals somewhat mixed support for the hypothesis. Different performance measures have different kinds of impact. Schools with students scoring high on math and writing were more likely to experience superintendent turnover than other school districts were. The index scores for science and social studies had a negative, statistically …
A Case Study On American Social Media Privacy: Facebook And Government Oversight, Sarah Fink
A Case Study On American Social Media Privacy: Facebook And Government Oversight, Sarah Fink
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
As we move further into the age of technology, there is no reason to expect the use of social media and the internet will decline. The government's inability to create a uniform technological landscape across offices and departments around the nation along with the shifting view of privacy in America has created openings for non-governmental companies, like Facebook, to collect the information freely given by citizens. This makes the privacy policies of social media companies civil rights and liberties issues for individual citizens as well as a national security concern. This paper argues that until the public, and policy makers, …
Red Dog, Blue Dog, Yellow Dog: How Democrats Can Use Strategic Communications To Attract Republican And Conservative Voters, B. Gammon Fain
Red Dog, Blue Dog, Yellow Dog: How Democrats Can Use Strategic Communications To Attract Republican And Conservative Voters, B. Gammon Fain
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
In recent election cycles, a rightward shift among white Southerners, and in some cases the loss of African-American supporters through racial redistricting, turned many long-held Democratic districts in the South red. Kentucky is an excellent example of this shift in voting behavior. Even though registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, the GOP controls the Governor's mansion, most other statewide elected offices, both chamber of the state legislature, and all but one of Kentucky's congressional seats. To win back those seats, Democrats in states like Kentucky will need to appeal to conservative voters. Unfortunately, little scholarly research directly addresses the practical question they …
The Paradox Of The Progressive Presidency: How The Democratization Of The Presidential Selection System Has Degraded The Office, Jeffrey T. Syck
The Paradox Of The Progressive Presidency: How The Democratization Of The Presidential Selection System Has Degraded The Office, Jeffrey T. Syck
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Every U.S. president leaves a lasting mark on the institution, few more significantly than the small number who have impacted the way presidents are selected. This paper examines how the presidential selection system has evolved over time and the negative effects this evolution has produced. The Framers created a complicated selection process hoping the Electoral College would attract and elevate "men of first character." Although the system failed to operate as its architects intended as a result of the early and inevitable development of political parties, Martin Van Buren helped to adapt the selection system to the new environment in …
Resilient Communists: How Fidel Castro Survived The Soviet Collapse And Cuba's Uncertain Road To Democracy, Max J. Prowant
Resilient Communists: How Fidel Castro Survived The Soviet Collapse And Cuba's Uncertain Road To Democracy, Max J. Prowant
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
It is easy to conclude that Fidel Castro was nothing more than a pawn of the Soviet Union, and Cuba, a communist satellite throughout the Cold War. The island received an annual subsidy of four billion dollars from the U.S.S.R. and hosted Soviet troops; its economic dependence was so extensive that when the Soviet Union collapsed more than 25 years ago, Cuba experienced a GDP contraction of between 30 and 40 percent. Despite this, Cuba's communist regime survived, even as many formerly communist countries in Eastern Europe embraced new democratic constitutions. This project seeks to explain how--in spite of the …
Complete Issue - Volume 4, Number 1 (2017)
Complete Issue - Volume 4, Number 1 (2017)
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Complete Issue
The Theological Foundations Of Religious Liberty In The Thought Of John Locke And James Madison, Edward M. Yager
The Theological Foundations Of Religious Liberty In The Thought Of John Locke And James Madison, Edward M. Yager
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Religious liberty is an important human right supported by both religious and secular m:guments. This work explores John Locke's Letter Concerning Toleration and James Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance and identifies a common theological or religious argument supporting religions liberty as the requisite means to satisfy the duties of conscience to the Creator. Since individual duty and accountability to God is a shared premise among theistic faith traditions, this approach to advancing religions liberty and religious pluralism may have broader appeal and utility to reformers in faith traditions not especially responsive to secular arguments.
The Steward In Statesmanship: Taking Responsibility For The Most Important Things, Timothy L. Simpson
The Steward In Statesmanship: Taking Responsibility For The Most Important Things, Timothy L. Simpson
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Even though the American Framers self-consciously designed a system of government that did not depend on an enlightened statesman being at the helm, this paper argues that they believed statesmanship was not only compatible with republican government, but that it could act as a kind of antidote to some of the ailments most likely to afflict it. Scholars today generally dispute this suggestion. They m:gne that statesmanship is, in several important respects, positively antithetical to important democratic ideals. Having surveyed those objections, this paper argues that the contemporary understanding is flawed because it rests on a misconception of democracy and …
Thomas M. Keck, Judicial Politics In Polarized Time., Paul Foote
Thomas M. Keck, Judicial Politics In Polarized Time., Paul Foote
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Book Review. Thomas M. Keck, Judicial Politics in Polarized Times. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press Books, 2014. 352 pp. ($77.27 cloth, $23.40 paper).
The Evolution Of Kentucky's Constitutions: A Comparison Of The Original And Second Constitutions, Ashley Taulbee
The Evolution Of Kentucky's Constitutions: A Comparison Of The Original And Second Constitutions, Ashley Taulbee
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Timing is everything, especially to a developing state. This paper highlights the changes that time required Kentucky to make in order to gain her statehood and then ensure that she would continue to prosper as time . passed. Kentucky gained a lot of wisdom during her first fifty-eight years ranging from how to elect our Governor to whom this state should remain loyal to -- a question that in 1792 was quite conflicted. Reviewing the two documents that began shaping Kentucky into the state she is now is just one of the ways to appreciate this beautiful and unique Commonwealth. …
Do Coal Unions And Racial Diversity Affect Split Ticket Voting In Kentucky?, Kelli South, Chase Deppen, Mathew Gilbert, Ryan Mcdonald
Do Coal Unions And Racial Diversity Affect Split Ticket Voting In Kentucky?, Kelli South, Chase Deppen, Mathew Gilbert, Ryan Mcdonald
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
This paper performs an in-depth historical analysis in order to attempt to discover why Kentucky voters often split ticket vote between the national and local levels. Two theories are analyzed for validity: the coal union influence school of thought and the racial diversity school of thought Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. The coal union influence theory was p1·oved not to have significance; the coal unions have had little influence on Kentucky voting patterns throughout history and into the present day. The racial diversity school of thought was proven to have some significance; voters are influenced to a certain …
Complete Issue - Volume 3, Number 1 (2015)
Complete Issue - Volume 3, Number 1 (2015)
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Complete Issue
Explaining State-Level Student Dropout Rates: The Impact Of Exit Exams And Public School Resources, Martin Battle, James C. Clinger
Explaining State-Level Student Dropout Rates: The Impact Of Exit Exams And Public School Resources, Martin Battle, James C. Clinger
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
This paper examines one key indicator of school performance, the dropout rate among the public school students at the state level from 1998 to 2002, using a. pooled, cross-sectional time series research design. In this analysis the effects of high stakes testing (i.e., exit exams required for graduation), funding levels, and other school resources are examined. The results ind.irate that exit exams have no statistically significant effects upon dropout rates. Per pupil expenditures do not seem to reduce dropouts and may in fact have a positive effect at the state level. However, the analysis indicates that high pupil to teacher …
Decisions Dictated By Perceptions: The Influences Of Society And Education In Scalia's Originalism, Nathan Mcnichols
Decisions Dictated By Perceptions: The Influences Of Society And Education In Scalia's Originalism, Nathan Mcnichols
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Prior to this analysis of Justice Antonin Scalia's tendencies in Supreme Court (SCOTUS) adjudication, it is primarily necessary to elaborate upon the condition of the SCOTUS as an institution; secondarily, it is necessary to establish an intellectual foundation from which one may deduce objective observations regarding the quality of a decision rendered in comparison to the ideals of justice and equality. To establish this requires an existential analysis of the adjudication process, which will also take place during this phase of the discussion, and finally, the remainder of this analysis will focus on applying these objective observations to the decisions …
Operation Nudge: How Non-Sovereign Organizations Gain Quasi-Sovereign Powers To Solve Public Choice Problems, Kelly Grenier
Operation Nudge: How Non-Sovereign Organizations Gain Quasi-Sovereign Powers To Solve Public Choice Problems, Kelly Grenier
Commonwealth Review of Political Science
Captain Crunch, Tony the Tiger, and Toucan Sam are watching you. Particularly, they are watching children. With their eyes gazing downward at a 9.6 degree angle, these characters make eye contact with individuals to encourage feelings of friendliness which will in turn increase the sales of the product. It is not that we are "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs," but rather that we are being covertly nudged to buy these products (Musicus). Cereal companies are not the first to figure this out; we are nudged all day long. Our behaviors are encouraged and discouraged through choice architecture. We take the stairs …