Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Manumission In Virginia: The Anti-Slavery Legacy Of John Lynch, Stephen Langeland

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

This paper is in no way an apology for the institution of slavery in any form. In fact, it is a reiteration of Biblical doctrine and natural rights philosophy that posit all humans are created equal. The institution of slavery knew few bounds throughout recorded history and was as ubiquitous and durable as the activities of marriage or warfare, practiced by every culture and religion (Drescher 2009, 7-8, 12-39). Biblical text is devoid of specific prohibition against slavery, a fact sadly used as justification for its continuation. The Quakers, however, were one of the few religious groups who invoked Scriptural …

Understanding Sovereignty And The Us Constitution: A View From The Massachusetts And Virginia State Ratifying Conventions, Hannah Novotny

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Eighteenth-century American politics does more than simply provide us with the US Constitution. According to Gordon Wood (1991, 32), the stakes of eighteenth-century historical arguments are very high, as they deal with “nothing less than the kind of society we have been, or ought to become.” Barry Shain (1994, xiv) concurs with Wood, arguing that an understanding of the American founding “defines how Americans understand themselves as a historical people, as well as constraining what they might become.” As Wood and Shain indicate, an understanding of eighteenth-century American political thought shapes how we understand our past and informs the decisions …

The Politics Of Annexation: Oligarchic Power In A Southern City, John V. Moeser, Rutledge M. Dennis

The Politics of Annexation

This Open Access Edition of The Politics of Annexation presents a newly formatted version of the original 1982 edition. The text itself has been edited only for non-substantive style changes and corrections. The Preface, the new Introduction (“Fifty Years Later”), and the index were prepared especially for this edition. The original edition was published by Schenkman Publishing Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is available online through the UR Scholarship Repository at https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/307/

The Politics of Annexation examines the process of American cities using annexation of suburban areas as a tool to increase their tax base and generate new revenue. The authors …

2020 Virginia House Of Delegates: Demographics And Voting Behavior, Nathan Tatum

Student Publications

The focus of this project is on the demographic makeup of the 2020 Virginia House of Delegates, and how various demographic factors - political affiliation, gender/sex, race, religious affiliation, education level, and age - may influence their voting behavior on different legislation. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part explains the measures and methodology used in the creation of the dataset. The second and third parts make use of the information collected in the dataset. The second part details the demographic makeup of the 2020 Va. House and compares the makeup of the House to the makeup …

Human Trafficking Definitions To Eradication In Virginia: A Legislative Analysis, Hannah Kay Byrum

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The gap between the reality of human trafficking in Virginia and the necessary legislative systems, remedies, and support afforded to victims, is wide. My research arose from my experience navigating this incongruity in Virginia law and its impacts, through a delegate’s office, the office of a United States Senator, and a government relations firm. This research articulates the significant, material legislative initiatives required in Virginia’s human trafficking legislative landscape. In surveying this landscape, this research articulates where incongruences ex-unified language and legislative definitions, exist in key areas. This research addresses the need for expansion on the parameters to which victims …

Scott Family - Letters To (Sc 3318), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3318. Letters to the Scott family of Ashland, Kentucky, chiefly to Sarah Asenath Scott from Fred Osborne, written from Clinchco, Virginia prior to their marriage. Fred refers to his work and health, their marriage plans, and a pending legal case. Other letters to Sarah are from childhood friends and classmates and friends of her mother. Includes a family letter to Sarah’s mother, and letters to her father from his sister and her children in Knoxville, Tennessee, which refer to farming operations and hopes for an improved economy under the new president, Franklin Roosevelt.

Developing And Sustaining Political Citizenship For Poor And Marginalized People: The Evelyn T. Butts Story, Kenneth Cooper Alexander

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study tells the deep, rich story of Evelyn T. Butts, a grassroots civil rights champion in Norfolk, Virginia, whose bridge leadership style can teach and inspire new generations about political, community, and social change. Butts used neighbor-to-neighbor skills to keep her community connected with the national civil rights movement, which had heavily relied on grassroots leaders—especially women—for much of its success in overthrowing America’s Jim Crow system of segregation and suppression. She is best-known for her 1963 lawsuit that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1966 decision to ban poll taxes for state and local elections, a democratizing event …

[Introduction To] The Dream Is Lost: Voting Rights And The Politics Of Race In Richmond, Virginia, Julian Maxwell Hayter

Bookshelf

Once the capital of the Confederacy and the industrial hub of slave-based tobacco production, Richmond, Virginia has been largely overlooked in the context of twentieth century urban and political history. By the early 1960s, the city served as an important center for integrated politics, as African Americans fought for fair representation and mobilized voters in order to overcome discriminatory policies. Richmond’s African Americans struggled to serve their growing communities in the face of unyielding discrimination. Yet, due to their dedication to strengthening the Voting Rights Act of 1965, African American politicians held a city council majority by the late 1970s. …

The Tea Party Versus Planning: A Study Of Tea Party Activism And Its Impact On Local Government Planning, Spencer A. Norman

Theses and Dissertations

The Tea Party movement’s effect on local and regional planning in Virginia has received little study. This work identifies how conservative political activism has impacted planning in the Commonwealth and how planners have responded. The study relies on a qualitative approach involving 22 semi-structured interviews with activists, planners, and citizens, as well as textual analyses of planning documents, local and regional news reports, and Tea Party social media. The resultant findings show that Tea Party activism is rooted in deep seated ideals about private property rights and individualism. It also reveals that planning processes that increased the amount of public …

Virginia Voters And Governmental Power: Evaluations Of Federal And State Performance, Stephen J. Farnsworth

Political Science and International Affairs

An analysis using a 2013 survey of 1,004 Virginia residents reveals that one's overall feelings about the federal government are tied closely to assessments of President Obama and Governor McDonnell with pro-Obama and anti-McDonnell respondents notably less critical of Washington. The reverse pattern applies to assessments of the state government. Partisanship and ideology are also factors, with Democrats favoring Washington over Richmond and the Republicans preferring Richmond. The Virginia findings are consistent with national research regarding the key role that partisan identification and assessments of top political figures play in citizen assessments of national and state government authority.

Thomason Political Folklore Collection (Fa 774), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archive Project 774. The Thomason Political Folklore Collection includes projects conducted by students from a number of counties in the state of Kentucky and few from nearby states. The collection includes information pertaining to those counties political oral traditions. This project was conducted by students at Western Kentucky University for class credit.

Underwood Collection (Mss 58), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and selected full-text scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Collection 58. Correspondence, diaries, papers, and genealogical materials of Joseph Rogers Underwood, U.S. Senator from Bowling Green, Kentucky, his wife Elizabeth Cox Underwood, his brother Warner Lewis Underwood, and his son, John Cox Underwood.

Mcdonald, Dan Allyn, 1905-1974 - Collector (Mss 343), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 343. Correspondence, legal papers, financial records and sundry other documents related to Eugene Scott Brown and his father-in-law, Gilbert Marshall Mulligan, attorneys of Scottsville, Allen County, Kentucky. Also includes stray Allen County court records, research notes related to the Civil War, and records about early telephone service in Allen County.

Through The Looking Glass: Finding And Freeing Modern-Day Slaves At The State Level, Michelle L. Rickert

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article delves into the interaction between federal and state laws prohibiting human trafficking. The article advocates for comprehensive human trafficking laws at the state level, including police training, victim aftercare, forfeiture, and prosecution as essential elements. It looks comprehensively at the existing state laws prohibiting human trafficking. Additionally it examines the five existing models for state law and suggests benefits and potential improvements for each model. The article concludes y advocating a holistic law prohibiting human trafficking in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Procter Family (Sc 2077), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2077. Genealogical notes and correspondence relating to the Procter, Carson and Dinwiddie families. Includes a certified copy of the will of Evan Shelby, father of Isaac Shelby, the first governor of Kentucky.

Temple Collection (Mss 55), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 55. Correspondence, 1931-1970 (33 items), chiefly of William Montgomery Temple, originally of Bowling Green, Kentucky, an autograph collector; his collection of papers of Kentucky governors, 1805-1951 (50); other autograph letters, 1715-1941 (17); and articles about Bowling Green, etc., (23).

Election Reform In Virginia: Deliberation And Incremental Change, Daniel J. Palazzolo, John T. Whelan, Elizabeth Peiffer

Political Science Faculty Publications

Several key factors explain the incremental approach to election law after the 2000 presidential election. The close election in Florida spurred lawmakers in Virginia to create the Joint Subcommittee Studying Virginia's Election Process and Voting Technologies. This special subcommittee was formed to learn more about the capacity of election administration. Through that process, Virginia officials concluded that the election system was fundamentally sound, though they identified a need for additional resources to increase staff, improve polling place access for disabled voters, and clean up registration rolls. A declining fiscal outlook limited budget resources and constrained the legislature from adopting the …

Budgeting In Virginia: Power, Politics, And Policy, Daniel Palazzolo, John T. Whelan

Political Science Faculty Publications

In this chapter, we will first sketch out how budget making has evolved from an executive-centered, Democratic dominated process to one in which the executive and the legislature, Democrats and Republicans, share power. Secondly, the makeup of the budget will be analyzed, the major revenue sources and spending programs identified, as well as the trends in those realms. In doing so, we will highlight the constraints and opportunities facing the participants in the budget process. Finally, we will discuss how budgeting during the 1998 session illustrated several institutional and partisan features that had been in place before the session began.

The Effect Of The Mail In Voter Registration Form On Voter Turnout In The Commonwealth Of Virginia, Leroy O. Pfeiffer

Master's Theses

Over the years, many states have undertaken different approaches to increase voter registration and stimulate voter participation in the electoral process. One such approach was the Commonwealth of Virginia's Voter Registration Extension Form, which was instituted in 1989. Using statewide voter registration statistics and a survey of state voter registrars, this paper attempts to measure the impact that this form had on voter registration and turnout in the electoral process from 1989 to 1994. This thesis finds that the registration extension form was reasonably successful in terms of increasing registration. Yet, easing registration requirements does not significantly increase voter turnout.

Southern Strategies, James R. Sweeney

History Faculty Publications

From the mid-1960's, Virginia Republicans, in tune with President Richard Nixon's active "Southern strategy," revived party fortunes in the state by capitalizing on the ongoing degeneration of Virginia Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr.'s powerful conservative Democratic organization and the factionalization of the state Democratic Party. Republican Abner Linwood Holton, Jr., solidly carried the 1969 gubernatorial election. In the 1970 senatorial election Independent Harry Flood Byrd, Jr., defeated Republican Ray Lucian Garland and Democrat George Rawlings. Senator Byrd, Jr., had enjoyed Nixon's "benevolent neutrality," but never did join the Republican Party as the president had hoped; in office he voted with …

Implementing Public Policy : The Virginia Comprehensive Community Corrections Act For Local-Responsible Offenders, Tracey L. Jenkins

Master's Theses

This is a study of how the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) attempted to implement a major crime initiative, the Comprehensive Community Corrections Act (CCCA). The aim is to explain the implementation process in DCJS with reference to organizational models developed by Richard Elmore (1978). A careful analysis of the day-to-day operation and decision-making processes of DCJS, with particular emphasis on the implementation of the CCCA, shows that DCJS normally corresponds with the expectations of the "organizational development" and "bureaucratic process" models described in Elmore's typology of organizations. Still, agencies often must adapt to political and policy changes that …

A Segregationist On The Civil Rights Commission, James R. Sweeney

History Faculty Publications

In 1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed to the newly created Commission on Civil Rights John Stewart Battle, a former longtime Virginia General Assembly member and governor who was also a staunch segregationist. Eisenhower appointed him to represent white Southern opinion and because of his national reputation for deft political conciliation. The article reviews Battle's personal background, political career, racial philosophy, and interactions with other figures prominent in the era's civil rights politics, including Father Theodore Martin Hesburgh, Harry F. Byrd, Sr., and J. Lindsay Almond, Jr. During his service on the commission during 1957-59, Battle's segregationist views kept him …

The 1990 Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act : A Case Study In Public Interest Lobbying, Louise Ryland Thornton

Master's Theses

This thesis compares and contrasts the tactics and techniques used by Virginia public interest lobbyists in the passage of the 1990 VIRGINIA INDOOR CLEAN AIR ACT with Alan Rosenthal's analysis of state legislative lobbying found in his book, THE THIRD HOUSE. Primary sources include personal interviews and legislative documents, while newspaper articles provide the secondary source of information. Lobbyists used the indirect and direct lobbying techniques, suggested in Rosenthal's framework, to persuade others to their point of view. Supporters of the CLEAN AIR BILL had to deviate, in part, from some of Rosenthal's direct lobbying strategies due to Virginia's history …

The Silver Bullet Hypothesis : Case Studies Of Post-Webster Virginia Gubernatorial Elections, Anne M. Morgan

Master's Theses

The 1989 Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services U.S. Supreme Court decision triggered a "new politics of abortion," marked by a shift in venue of the abortion political debate to the states and by invigorated mobilization of pro-choice activists alarmed about a potential erosion of abortion rights in state laws. Surfacing in the wake of the decision was a "silver bullet" theory of abortion: that unrestricted support for legal abortion guarantees a candidate's electoral victory. Case studies of two post-Webster gubernatorial elections in Virginia fail to confirm the validity of the silver bullet theory. Public opinion findings reveal that the electorate …

Alienation And Altruism Among Street Level Bureaucrats: A Study Of The Virginia Victim/Witness And Crime Assistance Program, Susan Margaret O'Donnell

Master's Theses

Author Michael Lipsky argues that street-level bureaucrats are unresponsive to clients' needs because of five conditions that characterize the bureaucratic setting. These conditions include a chronic lack of resources, an ever-increasing client load, ambiguous or conflicting agency goal expectations, goal measures that encourage impersonal service, and the lack of a client reference group for workers. One purpose of this paper is to determine if the five conditions of work that frame Lipsky's argument in a street-level bureaucracy exist for the Virginia Victim/Witness and Crime Victim Assistance (V /W-CVA) program. Another objective is to evaluate the implications of these conditions for …

A Look At Black Youth Unemployment (Sixteen To Nineteen Years Of Age) Focusing On Black Youth In Virginia, Mary Martin Tucker

Master's Theses

This thesis will identify patterns of black youth unemployment in the nation and in Virginia and analyze the problem in Virginia. The analysis involves identifying discrepancies in unemployment rates across counties and cities in Virginia, selecting cases in which black youth unemployment is relatively low, and exploring reasons for lower rates. The ultimate aim is to determine why some areas have lower black youth unemployment than others, and to use that information to suggest courses of action for treating the problem. The case studies of Virginia counties and cities reveal that under certain local environmental conditions, such as strong economies, …

The North American Free Trade Agreement And Its Potential Impact On The Commonwealth Of Virginia, Brian Charles Kroll

Master's Theses

This thesis consists of two parts. First, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is described in terms of free trade theory, its precedents, and the text of the treaty. Second, the international aspects of Virginia's economy are examined with regard to NAFTA. This thesis asserts that if implemented, NAFTA will produce the following results for Virginia: merchandise exports to Canada and Mexico will continue to increase; employment supported by merchandise exports will continue to increase; factory relocations and related employment losses will continue to be outpaced by employment growth in other manufacturing areas; trade in services will undergo direct …

Lame Duck Theory Called Into Question, Lawrence Leonard Schack

Master's Theses

The foundations of lame duck theory, the expression connoting the study of executive/legislative relations in association with tenure constraints, are composed of broad generalizations which are generally unchallenged by political scientists. Evidence in support of this assertion is scattered throughout relevant literature, most of which centers upon the national executive, the two-term limitation imposed by the Twenty Second Amendment, and the subsequent lack of influence our country's presidents wield as their "political capital dwindles" proportionate with the temporal progress of their second term. Interestingly, while a great deal of time and energy has been devoted to the discussion of the …

A New Day In The Old Dominion, James R. Sweeney

History Faculty Publications

The presidential campaign of 1964 became a significant turning point in Virginia politics as the 24th Amendment eliminated poll taxes, black political organizations organized voter registration drives, and suburbanites, newcomers, and recent college graduates were attracted to the Republican Party. Republican candidates had made strong showings in elections in 1962 and 1963, due in part to the policies of the Kennedy administration. Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr., publicly opposed many of the fiscal and social policies of the Kennedy-Johnson administration, creating difficulty among Republicans in choosing someone to oppose him. His position also created a rift among pro- and …

Virginia Annexations As Metropolitan Reform Movements : Are They Obsolete?, Demetra Yeapanis Kontos

Master's Theses

The proliferation of local governments and single-purpose regional governmental districts has given local and state government administrators throughout the country many problems. The multiplicity of governments exacerbates conflicts of authority, duplication of services, inadequate service levels, and many other problems. Three basic metropolitan reforms have been implemented to solve these problems: consolidation, disintegration and regional organization. Each of these types of reform has been implemented in Virginia. The most controversial of these reforms is annexation, a form of consolidation where an independent city annexes county land. What contributes to the controversy of annexation movements is that unlike most states, Virginia's …