Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Constructing Threat: How Americans Identify Economic Competitors, Shelley D. Wick

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

China’s emergence as an economic powerhouse has often been portrayed as threatening to America’s economic strength and to its very identity as “the global hegemon.” The media’s alarmist response to an economic competitor is familiar to those who remember US-Japanese relations in the 1980s. In order to better understand the basis of American threat perception, this study explores the independent and interactive impact of three variables (perceptions of the Other’s capabilities, perceptions of the Other as a threat versus as an opportunity, and perceptions of the Other’s political culture) on attitudes toward two different economic competitors (Japan 1977-1995 and China …

The Discursive Construction Of Japanese Identity And Its Haunting Others, Yoshiko Yamada

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined the formation of Japanese identity politics after World War II. Since World War II, Japan has had to deal with a contradictory image of its national self. On the one hand, as a nation responsible for colonizing fellow Asian countries in the 1930s and 1940s, Japan has struggled with an image/identity as a regional aggressor. On the other hand, having faced the harsh realities of defeat after the war, Japan has seen itself depicted as a victim. By employing the technique of discourse analysis as a way to study identity formation through official foreign policy documents and …

Politics At The Water's Edge: The Presidency, Congress, And The North Korea Policy Of The United States, Taehyung Ahn

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For all their efforts to avoid a nuclear North Korea, the Clinton and Bush administrations failed to achieve this goal, the most important policy objective of the United States in its relations with North Korea for decades, mainly because of inconsistencies in U.S. policy. This dissertation seeks to explain why both administrations ultimately failed to prevent North Korea from going nuclear. It finds the origins of this failure in the implementation of different U.S. policy options toward North Korea during the Clinton and Bush administrations. To explain the lack of policy consistency, the dissertation investigates how the relations between the …

Placing Immigrant Incorporation: Identity, Trust, And Civic Engagement In Little Havana, Richard N. Gioioso

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Immigrant incorporation in the United States has been a topic of concern and debate since the founding of the nation. Scholars have studied many aspects of the phenomenon, including economic, political, social, and spatial. The most influential paradigm of immigrant incorporation in the US has been, and continues to be, assimilation, and the most important place in and scale at which incorporation occurs is the neighborhood. This dissertation captures both of these integral aspects of immigrant incorporation through its consideration of three dimensions of assimilation – identity, trust, and civic engagement – among Latin American immigrants and American-born Latinos in …

Globalizing Governmentality: Sites Of Neoliberal Assemblage In The Americas, Jason R. Weidner

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes processes of globalization, through a critical examination of the dynamics of neoliberalism in the Americas. It employs and also develops a Foucauldian governmentality analytical framework, demonstrating how such a framework contributes to our understanding of world politics. This dissertation also develops the concept of a liberal political imaginary—consisting of the market, society, and the state—and utilizes this as an analytical framework for understanding the globalization of neoliberal forms of governance. The research suggests that discourses and practices of globalization, global civil society, and global governance represent a fundamental transformation in the way that contemporary social and political …

Re-Imagining Yerevan In The Post-Soviet Era: Urban Symbolism And Narratives Of The Nation In The Landscape Of Armenia's Capital, Diana K. Ter-Ghazaryan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The urban landscape of Yerevan has experienced tremendous changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union and Armenia’s independence in 1991. Domestic and foreign investments have poured into Yerevan’s building sector, converting many downtown neighborhoods into sleek modern districts that now cater to foreign investors, tourists, and the newly rich Armenian nationals. Large portions of the city’s green parks and other public spaces have been commercialized for private and exclusive use, creating zones that are accessible only to the affluent. In this dissertation I explore the rapidly transforming landscape of Yerevan and its connections to the development of contemporary Armenian …

Trading Democracy For Security? The Effects Of The International Drug War On The Quality Of Democracy In The Dominican Republic, 1996 -2008, Leah H. Blumenfeld

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the research is to study the relationship between international drug interdiction policies and domestic politics in fragile democracies, and to demonstrate how international drug control policies and the use of force fit the rhetoric of war, are legitimized by the principles of a just war, but may also cause collateral damage and negative unintended consequences. The method used is a case study of the Dominican Republic. The research has found that international drug control regimes, primarily led by the U.S. and narrowly focused on interdiction, have influenced an increasingly militarized approach to domestic law enforcement in the …

Translating International Norms: Filters To Women's Rights In Lebanon, Rita A. Sabat

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1979 the United Nations passed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an international bill of rights for women. Much scholarship has focused on the degree to which states have adopted these new international gender norms, but have paid little attention to the fact that norms change in the processes of implementation. This dissertation focuses on that process assessing the translation of international gender equality norm in Lebanon. The study traces global gender equality norms as they are translated into a complex context characterized by a political structure that divides powers according to …

Tocqueville In Miami : Political Culture And Political Organizing In Miami's Cuban Community, Robert Ceresa

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effectiveness of civic organizations focusing on leadership and the role of culture in politics. The study is based on a quasi-experimental research design and relies primarily on qualitative data. The study focuses on Miami's Cuban community in order to examine the role of public initiative in grassroots civic and community organizations.

The Miami Cuban community is a large, institutionally complex and cohesive ethnic community with dense networks of community organizations. The political and economic success of the community makes it an opportune setting for a study of civic organizing. The sheer number of civic organizations to …

The United States Congress And Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, Mariano J. Beillard

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Soviet Union's dissolution in December 1991 marks the end of the Cold War and the elimination of the United States' main rival for global political-economic leadership. For decades U.S. foreign policymakers had formulated policies aimed at containing the spread of Soviet communism and Moscow's interventionist policies in the Americas. They now assumed that Latin American leftist revolutionary upheavals could also be committed to history.

This study explores how Congress takes an active role in U.S. foreign policymaking when dealing with revolutionary changes in Latin America. This study finds that despite Chavez's vitriolic statements and U.S. economic vulnerability due to …

Re-Thinking Place In International Relations : Phenomenology And The Geopolitics Of Knowledge In Latin American-U.S. Relations, Mauro J. Caraccioli

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What constitutes the meaning of a place? In what ways does place affect our ways of thought? This study seeks to explore the geopolitical relationship between place and the study of International Relations (IR). By re-conceptualizing the category of place as a situated and geo-historical marker of human identity, new spaces of inclusion and collaboration in Latin American-U.S. relations can be uncovered, linking the study of phenomenology to contemporary IR theories. With attention on the lived-experience and existential nature of geopolitics behind Latin American-U.S. Cold War relations, the study of geopolitics can be de-colonized from the monopoly of dominant centers …

Lions And Roses: An Interpretive History Of Israeli-Iranian Relations, Marsha B. Cohen

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This multi-disciplinary research project explores the religious and cultural foundations within the “master commemorative narratives” that frame Israeli and Iranian political discourse. In articulating their grievances against one another, Israeli and Iranian leaders express the tensions between religion, nationalism, and modernity in their own societies. The theoretical and methodological approach of this dissertation is constructivist-interpretivist. The concept of “master commemorative narratives” is adapted from Yael Zerubavel’s study of ritualized remembrance in Israeli political culture, and applied to both Israeli and Iranian foreign policy. Israel’s master commemorative narrative draws heavily upon the language of the Hebrew Bible, situating foreign policy discourse …

I Had A Different Way Of Governing : The Evangelical Presidential Style Of Jimmy Carter And His Mission For Middle East Peace, D. Jason Berggren

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

President Jimmy Carter once said, “I had a different way of governing.” In attempting to explain what he meant by this, Carter has been variously described as a political amateur, a trustee, a non-political politician, an “active-positive” president, and a forerunner of the 1990s’ New Democrats. It is argued here, however, that mere secular descriptions and categories such as these do not adequately capture the essence of Carter’s brand of politics and his understanding of the presidency.

Rejecting Richard Neustadt’s prescriptions for effective presidential leadership, Carter thought political bargaining and compromise were “dirty” and “sinful.” He deemed the ways of …

State Legislative Term Limits And The Law Of Unintended Consequences : An Examination Of Member Behavior, Power Structures, And Legislative Organization In Florida, Kathryn Andrews Depalo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The implementation of term limits on state legislators has provided a wealth of data for study. Florida, the second largest state in the Union with term limits, has not been comprehensively studied. This research examines the effects of term limits on electoral competition, member composition, legislator career paths, legislative leadership, and intra- and inter-governmental influences on Florida's legislature. This study looks at the Florida legislature from 1992 when term limits were enacted through 2004, three electoral cycles in which term limits have been in effect. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative data where appropriate. Electoral data is used to …

Examining The Process Of Regime Change In The North Atlantic Treaty Organization : The Divide Between Rhetoric And Reality, Barak Carlson

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a product of the Cold War through which its members organized their military forces for the purpose of collective defense against the common threat of Soviet-backed aggression. Employing the terminology of regime theory, the creation of NATO can be viewed as the introduction of an international security regime. Throughout the Cold War, NATO member states preserved their commitment to mutual defense while increasingly engaging in activities aimed at overcoming the division of Europe and promoting regional stability. The end of the Cold War has served as the catalyst for a new period of …

The Political Party System And Democratic Crisis In Bolivia, Jennifer Marie Cyr

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using Kenneth Roberts’ (2002) party-society linkages framework, this study examined the reasons for the decline of the political party system in Bolivia after 2000. The political party system that emerged in 1985 was connected to society primarily through clientelist-based linkages. The economic and political model adopted after the transition to democracy severely debilitated the party system’s capacity to forge linkages with society beyond clientelism.

Using interviews, survey data, and primary and secondary documents, the study demonstrated that prolonged economic recession and social change revealed the weaknesses of the linkages connecting the political party system with Bolivian society. It concluded that …

Columbian Society In The 1990s : Fragmentation, Legitimacy, And Efficiency, Luis Javier Orjuela

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the nineties, Colombia experienced a two-fold process of restructuring. First, the political system underwent a process of constitutional reform in order to strengthen the state and increase its legitimacy, surpass the exclusionary character of the political regime, and achieve greater equity in the distribution of social resources. Second, the economy made the transition from a Keynesian development strategy to a strategy of "opening" or liberalization and internationalization of the economy, in order to increase the economic efficiency by reducing the “size” of the state and its regulatory role. The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the interplay and …

World Coffee Markets And National Coffee Parastatals Since 1989: A Comparative Study Of Colombia And Cote D'Ivoire, Laura Elizabeth Boudon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The International Coffee Agreements (ICA) involved the majority of nations producing and consuming coffee and provided relative economic stability to the coffee sectors of the exporting Third World countries. This study focuses on the serious impact of the 1989 collapse of the ICA on the domestic coffee sectors of Colombia and Cote d'Ivoire. In particular, the dissertation examines the role of the Colombian and Ivoirian coffee parastatals, the Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia and the Caisse de Stabilisation et Soutien des Prix des Produits Agricoles, during the crisis and their transformation by it.

The theoretical framework employed in …

Political Corruption In The Caribbean Basin : A Comparative Analysis Of Jamaica And Costa Rica, Michael W. Collier

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Political corruption in the Caribbean Basin retards state economic growth and development, undermines government legitimacy, and threatens state security. In spite of recent anti-corruption efforts of intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations (IGO/NGOs), Caribbean political corruption problems appear to be worsening in the post-Cold War period. This dissertation discovers why IGO/NGO efforts to arrest corruption are failing by investigating the domestic and international causes of political corruption in the Caribbean. The dissertation’s theoretical framework centers on an interdisciplinary model of the causes of political corruption built within the rule-oriented constructivist approach to social science. The model first employs a rational choice analysis …