Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A New Era Of Islamophobia: Muslim Women Fight To Find Place After Trump Fueled Hate, Doha Madani

Capstones

"A New Era of Islamophobia: Muslim Women Fight to Find Place After Trump Fueled Hate" focuses on the trend of violence and harassment against Muslim women from 2015 to 2016. The story weaves personal stories and expert opinions about the trend, which seemingly sparked from Donald J. Trump's campaign rhetoric regarding Muslims and minorities.

https://dohamadani.atavist.com/a-new-era-of-islamophobia

The Assault On Medicaid Could Endanger Millions Of Americans, Jeremy S. Smith

Capstones

Since 1965, Medicaid has been the forgotten child of the federal entitlement programs, even though it costs less and covers more people than Medicare. And in 2010, the Affordable Care Act expanded the program to give millions of more people coverage. But Republicans in Congress, and Trump, are on the precipice of radically altering the program in a way that could cost tens of millions people their health insurance.

http://jeremysilksmith.com/the-assault-on-medicaid-could-endanger-millions-of-americans/

Woof, Joseph D. Jaafari

Capstones

About 10 percent of Americans identify as polyamorous, defined as having multiple love affairs within a single relationship. Those relationships are as diverse as they are complicated with some ranging from having multiple people within a relationship to a couple having outside individual relationships.

Within the gay world, polyamory and open relationships has become a norm, and within the gay fetish scene it’s almost a requirement.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_MnWyJVYJneYVAzXzcxU2U3bFE

But polyamory has its own set of complications legally. Because in America we have a system where only one person can receive benefits (be it through marriage or blood), there are complications if, …

Libertarian Party Grows...And So Do Its Critics, Nicole Andrea Ashley

Capstones

The Libertarian Party, which calls itself “The Party of Principle,” seems to have had a special appeal during the 2016 presidential election—a campaign in which the two major party candidates started out with historically low approval numbers.

Supporters of the party, such as Doug Braff, a film student from NYU, remained loyal to the party even after the election season was over. These supporters have received backlash from disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters who believe that Clinton could have won the presidency if she had garnered the votes that, instead, went to Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate.

Here is a link …

The 11 Percent: Black Conservatives In America, Janae M. Hunter

Capstones

For years, most African-Americans have voted democrat in presidential elections. But this year, Republican and president-elect Donald J. Trump got 8 percent of the black vote. And as of 2014, 11 percent of black Americans identified as a republican. Who are some of America's black republicans and conservatives, and did they vote for Trump? For this project, I spoke with several black republicans and black people with conservative ideologies about whether or not the voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election, and what it's like to be in the minority among other African-Americans.

https://medium.com/@janae.hunter/the-11-percent-black-conservatives-in-america-a57e37c02691#.5xs5my5mh

The Decline Of Agriculture And The Rise Of Republican Party Strength In The South, John Marshall Dickey

Doctoral Dissertations

In recent decades, there has been an extensive examination of the resurgence of the Republican Party in the American South in the period after World War II. There were many events that occurred during this time period that might have helped the Republican Party achieve increased success at getting Republican candidates elected in the South. One of the relationships that should be explored is the relationship between the decline of agriculture as the primary provider of jobs and economic prosperity, and the increased ability of the Republican Party to win election to public office. The purpose of this project is …

A Nudge Towards Excellence: The Application Of Behavioral Economics In Education Policy, Jack Dimatteo

HON499 projects

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the potential for the application of behavioral economics to the field of education policy through “nudges.” Given the difficulty of passing effective comprehensive education reform legislation, the application of nudges represents a low-cost, high-impact approaching to improve student outcomes. This paper offers definitions of several key concepts in the fields of behavioral economics and education: education reform, behavioral economics, choice architecture, nudges, and why behavioral economics is particularly relevant to education reform. Also, the paper describes past education reform attempts, including two that incorporated behavioral economics and two that did not, and …

Across Systems: Preventing, Countering, And Defusing Violent Extremism—A Discussion Of Strategy, Policy, Practice, And Theory, Keenan Powers

Capstone Collection

This paper explores today’s landscape of violent conflict in the context of the now 15-year-old “War on Terror” and its defining trait of strengthened, nimble, and networked violent extremist non-state militant groups. Through an exploration of primarily United Nations and United States strategies, policies, and programming the concepts of Countering Violent Extremism and Preventing Violent Extremism are melded into a discussion of the shifting frameworks and broadening notions of what it takes to create human security. This paper is particularly concerned with how the traditionally at odds fields of Counter Terrorism, Military Security, Development Assistance, and Peacebuilding practice are co-thinking …

American Authoritarianism In Black And White, Matthew C. Macwilliams

Doctoral Dissertations

How can African Americans be described simultaneously by political scientists as one of the most liberal and the most authoritarian groups in the United States? This conundrum frames the puzzle at the core of this dissertation. I argue that the political behavior of many African Americans is caught in a tug of war between their racial identity and their predisposition to authoritarianism. When the issue at hand engages African Americans’ authoritarian predisposition, authoritarianism can trump racial identity, produce attitudes that defy conventional wisdom, and dash the common theoretical assumption that African American political behavior is homogeneous. Counter to some of …

Examining The Civil-Military Divide Through New (Institutional) Lenses: The Influence Of The Supreme Court, Allen Linken

Doctoral Dissertations

Civil-military relations have existed for as long as there has been a military, but only in the last sixty years has research in the field began to examine the relationships between civilian elites and the military. Who controls the military? What level of influence by the military is acceptable in a liberal society, such as the United States? What is the appropriate role of the military? Who serves in the military? What pattern of civil-military relations best ensures the effectiveness of the military instrument? The study of these questions began with examining relationships between the military and the President, and …

Nixon's War On Terrorism: The Fbi, Leftist Guerrillas, And The Origins Of Watergate, Daniel S. Chard

Doctoral Dissertations

In 1969, militant factions within both Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Black Panther Party (BPP) began to form the United States’ first clandestine revolutionary urban guerrilla organizations: the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army (BLA). These groups carried out bombings, police ambushes, and other attacks throughout the country, prompting responses from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the administration of President Richard M. Nixon. Several historians have analyzed U.S. leftist guerrillas’ motives, and much has been written on FBI operations against the Black Power movement and New Left, including the Bureau’s covert counterintelligence programs (COINTELPROs) …

No Witnesses: Protest Policing And The Media At The 2008 Republican National Convention, Robert David Frenzel

Institute for the Humanities Theses

The importance of First Amendment protections for assembly, speech, and the press is manifest during protest events in a way that is not seen in many other situations. Entrenched political and commercial powers, which benefit from the status quo and resist the change supported by the protesters, use many tactics to suppress the message and repress the messenger. One of the tools of repression is the policing of protests. Protest policing, where the government uses law enforcement personnel as a tool to impose its will on the protesters, has evolved over the years. Another of the power center’s tactics is …

“God Is Near": American Theocracy And The Political Theology Of Joseph Smith, Alan P. Koenig

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Mormon prophet Joseph Smith established the quintessentially “American religion” according to religious critics like Harold Bloom, perhaps the last major religion to emerge in the Western world. Founded during the rise of Jacksonian Democracy, early Mormonism espoused many populist and egalitarian tenets, yet behind Smith’s theology of an ever more exalted path to individual godhood lay an extraordinary politics demanding a new, theocratic hierarchy. This dissertation will discuss how Smith’s apocalypticism and exceptional politics of continual revelation confronted a pluralistic Protestant society with the superseding aim of creating a uniquely American kingdom. As a political theorist, Smith’s apocalyptic theology …

Normalization Policies With Cuba: Implications For Political And Economic Reform, Ramona N. Khan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For longer than the past half century, the relationship between the United States and Cuba has been one of antagonism, mistrust, betrayal, hostility and defiance. Decades of mutual hostility arising from Cuba’s post revolution adoption of an economic system that emulated that of the Soviet Union, along with the long history of U.S. interference in Cuba’s domestic and international affairs that predated the Castro revolution and continued afterward, have resulted in this rancorous relationship. Cuba’s move to communism shortly after the Castro regime came to power was regarded as a threat to both democracy and capitalism by the United States, …

Movements, Moments, And Movement-Moments: Generational Approaches To Organizing For Social Change, Carissa Tinker

Capstone Collection

Due to a recent upswing of college protests, and generational theory authors positioning Millennials as powerful players in building a new left to shift American politics, this research seeks to understand how different generations of organizers for social change approach their work. Emerging literature on social movements, political efficacy, and generational frameworks, combined with an analysis of the current political climate, illustrate the strong possibility of this new left being built.

This study asked participants of multiple generations about their experiences in the field to uncover perceptions of their role in the movement, differences in collective and external efficacy, and …

The Impact Of Presidential Visits On Midterm Gubernatorial Elections, Tyler James Holden

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Scholarship on the impact of visits by the president of the United States on midterm gubernatorial elections is limited. This paper will examine the effects of such visits by the president of the United States on midterm gubernatorial elections. Cohen, Kreassa, and Hamman (1991) analyzed the impact of presidential visits on senate races and discovered these visits are strategic; also, when the president gets involved in an election, the president has a positive impact. I also believe that when different visits are split out different types of visits will have different effects. This is based on the time commitment of …

How The City Of Indianapolis Came To Have African American Policemen And Firemen 80 Years Before The Modern Civil Rights Movement., Leon E. Bates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores a series of events that occurred in the spring of 1876. The relationship between the Indianapolis city government, the Marion County Courts, the Indianapolis Police Department, and the African American community came together to usher in changes never before envisioned. The Indianapolis Police Department (IPD) was formed in 1855, then disbanded 12 months later in a political dispute. From 1857-to-1876, the IPD was all white. These changes took place as the Reconstruction era was coming to a close. The first Ku Klux Klan was at its apex, terrorizing black communities, and Jim Crow was coming into its …

Why Doesn't Worcester Vote?, Molly B. Kazin

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This research presents findings from a study of voter turnout and registration in Worcester, Massachusetts and takes steps to examine possible reasons why turnout has been consistently low in municipal elections. Specifically, it assesses educational attainment, income, race and ethnicity, and types and function of municipal government as reasons for the minimal turnout. Drawing on literature, case studies throughout the United States, and census and city clerk data, this paper will discuss reasons for voters’ lack of involvement, a comparison of seven municipalities throughout Massachusetts, and recommendations for creating a more civically engaged community in Worcester.

The Social Corporation: Firms, Networks, And Politics, Michael Kowal

Doctoral Dissertations

Scholars have long looked at business as a source of political power, but have come to differing conclusions about how corporations behave in pursuit of interests. Building on organizational theory and conditional choice literature, I hypothesize that corporations react to the actions of those around them, leading to cooperation and coordination. While others point to the importance of social ties created through corporate board memberships, I locate an additional social tie that takes place through trade association memberships. In addition, I demonstrate that rather than fragmenting in recent years, business has in fact become more cohesive in their giving patterns. …

Assessing The Effects Of Heuristic Perceptions On Voter Turnout, Amanda Aziz

Masters Theses

Democracy in the United States operates under two contradictory norms: that it is a civic duty to vote, and that it is irresponsible to cast an uninformed vote. Do these contrasting norms suppress voter turnout? Why do some uninformed Americans turn out to vote while others do not? This study seeks to understand the information barriers that Americans perceive to be in the way of voting by studying how voters and nonvoters differ in their perceptions of the importance of various heuristics. By analyzing a 2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Study survey question that measures respondents’ prioritization of these information shortcuts, …

American Popular Culture, Politics, And Comedy: How Saturday Nigh Live Delivers The "News", Jillian Callanan

Honors Theses

Saturday Night Live has delved into the realm of politics throughout its forty-one seasons as a means of generating humor through satirical and parodical representations of politicians. This thesis explores Saturday Night Live during election years in particular, when the show generates a great deal of its content from the surrounding political atmosphere to comment on the issues at hand in a way that most often contrasts the style of reporting done by traditional hard news programs. The increasing role of entertainment in news delivery sheds light on the blurred lines between news and entertainment news, and this thesis will …

The One Exhibition The Roots Of The Lgbt Equality Movement One Magazine & The First Gay Supreme Court Case In U.S. History 1943-1958, Joshua R. Edmundson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The ONE Exhibition explores an era in American history marked by intense government sponsored anti-gay persecution and the genesis of the LGBT equality movement. The study begins during World War II, continues through the McCarthy era and the founding of the nation’s first gay magazine, and ends in 1958 with the first gay Supreme Court case in U.S. history.

Central to the story is ONE The Homosexual Magazine, and its founders, as they embarked on a quest for LGBT equality by establishing the first ongoing nationwide forum for gay people in the U.S., and challenged the government’s right to engage …

"The Family" & Faith: The Theology Of Power, Erika Phillipo

Senior Theses

The Family & Faith: The Theology of Power hopes to shed light on the relationship between American politics, American history, and the Christian Fundamentalist group known as The Family. This paper uses the book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet as its main source. By connecting the relationship between this mega-group with American politics and politicians, the theme of power arises and refuses to go away. Thus, the focus goes beyond simply just political influence and history and instead results ultimately with how the group gains and maintains their power within the …

Campaign Finance Reform In The United States In The Wake Of Citizens United Vs. Fec 2010, Kayla Junkins

Honors College Theses

The Citizens United v. FEC 2010 Supreme Court case confirmed that it was legal for individuals, corporations, unions, and other groups to make unlimited independent political expenditures. Since this ruling, super PACs have played a significant role in national elections in the United States as there are no legal limits on the size of donations they can accept or political expenditures they can make. Due to the growing influence of money in politics, campaign finance reform has become a major issue for 2016 presidential candidates. Conversation about the influence of money in politics has erupted from all ends of the …

The Evolution And Analysis Of Legal Protection For Medical Conscientious Objectors., John Peter Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conscientious objection has a long tradition of legal and social recognition in America. It evolved as a subset of the constitutional free exercise of religion, and encompassed medical practice as well as the military after Roe v. Wade in 1973. Its constitutional protection abruptly changed with a Supreme Court case in 1990. Thereafter, medical conscientious objection – the exemption from performing certain acts by medical professionals – was regulated largely by legislation. Many of the conflicts arose and were resolved at the state level. Yet there is little study at the state level of why conscientious objection is protected or …

Exchange Patterns And Relations In Collaborative Governance., Charles Wharton Kaye-Essien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collaborative governance has received considerable attention in recent years. From environmental resource management to public safety, collaborative governance continues to play a vital role in regional problem solving. In spite of this increasing popularity previous attempts to model the political, economic, and demographic determinants of collaboration have in most cases produced inconsistent results, thereby undermining the ability to generalize from such findings. Additionally, our understanding of the relational patterns that emanate from collaborative agreements remains fairly rudimentary. The main objective of this research is to address some of the gaps in the literature and improve our understanding of collaborative governance …

Factors Of Political Party Competitiveness In Mississippi, Anna Kate Baygents

Honors Theses

This research project examines the relationship between urbanization and political party competitiveness in Mississippi. Using elections results from the 2011 and the 2015 Mississippi House of Representatives races, this project seeks to find if there is a relationship between urbanization and competitiveness in Mississippi, and if not, which factors do affect competitiveness. Previous research indicates that as an area urbanizes, its elections become more competitive among different political parties. However, this study finds that there is no clear correlation between urbanization and party competitiveness in Mississippi elections, and that other factors, including race, education, and geographic location, may have more …

Fact Vs. Faction: Polarization In The Information Age, Noah Finberg

Honors Projects

How can individuals in the contemporary media and political environment form better political beliefs? In chapter one, this thesis considers what it means to say American politics is polarized. It evaluates the extent of polarization in American politics. And it presents original evidence that suggests that just as the public and members of Congress have polarized, so too has American political discourse. Through the lens of political psychology, chapter two investigates how America’s polarized politics has influenced the quality of individuals’ beliefs. Chapter three explores the role that the media plays in encouraging or minimizing the biased information processing practices …

The Influence Of Agriculture Policy: The Effects Of The Farm Bill On Farm Size, Crop Choice, And Trends In Agriculture, Emma Cotnoir

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The agricultural sector in the United States is accounts for a large portion of the economy as well as environmental degradation, yet agricultural policy is often overlooked. This paper will look at one longstanding piece of legislation known as the Farm Bill, specifically the 2008 and 2014 versions, and the way the Commodity and Crop Insurance measures steer the industry. Secondary data was taken from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), along with peer reviewed journals and studies.

Trends would suggest that while other factors are involved, the Commodity subsidies encourage larger farms as well as a shift towards …

Allied Paper Landfill, A Case Study Of Superfund, Kaitlin Braunschweig

Honors Theses

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (1980), more commonly known as Superfund, delegates the responsibility for cleanup of more than 1,300 hazardous waste sites to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This thesis is designed as a case study to investigate the Superfund program through the lens of the Allied Paper Landfill portion of the Kalamazoo River Superfund Site. Through interviews with key stakeholders an evaluation was completed based on the following research questions: 1) are the current goals of Superfund appropriate, 2) is the funding mechanism sufficient to fulfill the goals of Superfund, and 3) is the …