Law Commons^™

Sovereign Authority And Rule Of Law: The Effect Of U.S. Use Of Torture On Political Legitimacy, Sydney Bradley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Governmental sovereignty is created and maintained by mutual respect for the rule of law by the government and citizens. To maintain legitimacy, a government must act within the bounds of the contract that created it. Otherwise, the relationship founded by said contract would be nullified, as would the duties and obligations that flow from that relationship. Torture exemplifies an ultra vires act used by the United States to show the consequences of over-extended authority on political legitimacy and the rule of law. Founded on the philosophies of Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, and Christine Korsgaard, this research investigates the nature of …

Terrorism In The 2020s: Examining The Global Threat Landscape, Landon W. Swearngin

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis uses quantitative and qualitative research methods to (1) explore the global trends and trajectories of terrorism, (2) identify emerging strategic challenges, and (3) outline an opportunity analysis for U.S. counterterrorism strategy. Collectively, this project provides a strategic forecast for terrorism in the 2020s, demonstrating that terrorism is becoming increasingly dangerous, dynamic, and difficult to defeat.

The Role Of Women In Terrorism, Zeynep Bayar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The main purpose of this paper is to understand what motivate women to join terrorist groups and why these organizations prefer to work with female terrorists. Although each woman has different reasons to involve in terrorist groups, this research demonstrates 'religious, political and personal' reasons as the major motivating factors. This study also focuses on the question of why women are the targets of terror recruiters. In order to answer these, the research analysis examines 'psychological, gender, and media' factors as major recruitment reasons of terrorist organizations. This study also analyzes the similarities and differences between female terrorists' profiles of …

The Rise Of American Extremism: An Exploratory Analysis Of American Religious And Political Extremism From Presidents Jimmy Carter To Barack Obama: 1977-2016, Alwyn J. Melton

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative case study was to address the problem of domestic terrorism facing the United States. This concern led to a comprehensive examination of historical documents that focused on the temporal evolution of the problem beginning with the Carter administration and continuing through the Obama administration. The conceptual foundation centered on resolving the research question and validating three hypotheses directed at qualifying the escalation of domestic incidents of terrorism. This led to developing a behavioral model to assist law enforcement agencies in combating the issue of domestic terrorism. Bivariate and clustering statistical analysis validated the data while …

Gender And Terrorism: A Homeland Security Perspective, Diana Rosa Rodriguez-Spahia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While scholars have been studying the growing trend of female terrorists for several years, their research has not permeated politics or the media to help inform our Homeland Security policies. The findings from this body of research indicate that there is hesitance on behalf of the public (especially politicians and law enforcement) to acknowledge that women can be terrorists due to deeply engrained gender norms and expectations about gender roles. Terrorist groups are exploiting this unwillingness by recruiting more women to perpetrate terrorist acts (Lele, 2014; Bloom, 2011). Against the backdrop of the changes in gender norms and expectations that …

Islamic Terrorism In The United States – The Association Of Religious Fundamentalism With Social Isolation & Paths Leading To Extreme Violence Through Processes Of Radicalization., Shay Shiran

Student Theses

This exploratory study focuses on identifying motivations for religious terrorism and Islamic terrorism in the United States in particular. Terrorism is a crime of extreme violence with the end purpose of political influence. This crime is challenging to encounter for its multi-faced characteristics, the unusual motivations of its actors, and their semi-militant conduct. The hypothesis of this study asserts that religious terrorists are radicalized by passing from fundamental to extreme devout agendas, caused by isolation from the dominant society, and resulted in high potential to impose those agendas by extreme violence. Under the theoretical framework of subculture in criminology, this …

An Examination Of Factors Affecting Information Sharing Among Law Enforcement Agencies, Scott Driskill Bransford

Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate using survey data to find factors or barriers which contributed to local law enforcement participation and support of intelligence information sharing. Following the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York City and Arlington, Virginia, new homeland security initiatives and directives were created from the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. Several new initiatives and directives provided new communication opportunities for partnerships between all levels of law enforcement to combat the future threat of domestic terrorism.

The evaluation literature indicated that a majority of post-9/11, initiatives, including the creation of …