Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Voter Id Laws And Gendered Impacts On Voter Turnout, Jacqueline D. Franolich

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Since well before the U.S. presidential election of 2020, voter identification laws have been a topic of discussion amongst politicians, voters, the news media, and scholars. Many have questioned the focus and true reason for their creation, their implementation, their effects and potential unintended consequences. Specifically, many have argued that voter identification laws pose too great a barrier to potential voters to be worth the benefits gained in election security. Since the election of 2020, those discussions seemed to magnify. For example, in a May 2021 speech, President Biden repeated similar assertions made in the past by scholars and activists …

Authoritarian Tendencies In The American Presidency, Erica Serros

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis attempts to determine if authoritarian tendencies are becoming more or less prevalent in the modern American presidency. Presidential and authoritarian scholars agree that authoritarianism is trending in a more insidious manner in the modern world and that most democracies today are being subverted more inconspicuously by elected officials. The most powerful checks on the power of the president are Congress and the judicial branch, two institutions that do exercise their constitutionally granted powers in some cases, but do not always exert their power in solidarity, leading to discrepancies in the constraint of the president. The presence of conflict …

Evaluating Imf Structural Conditionality And Good Governance: Has Streamlining Worked To Reduce Corruption?, Yila Ataman

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

At the turn of the century, while facing significant criticism for the inherent invasiveness of structural conditionality, the frequently high number of conditional requirements attached to loans, and relatively low implementation rates of conditional reforms, the IMF made a series of changes to their conditionality practices to streamline back to their core organizational mission of macroeconomic stability. The IMF defends its continued use of structural conditions with the institutional transparency and accountability that these conditions seek to impose, thereby reducing corruption. IMF structural conditions can however create new opportunities for corrupt linkages to develop and limit the state’s institutional capacity …

Climate Shocks And Violent Conflict Incentives: Evidence From The Indian Sub-Continent, Thomas Campbell

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

How much do climate shocks impact different societal actors’ incentives to commit direct acts of violence? This thesis argues that different climate shocks and their effects introduce incentives for different societal actors to increase and reduce their likelihood of committing direct acts of violence, which is in line with Brzoska’s (2018) claim. The results of this thesis’ analysis support that different climate shocks can lead different societal actors to commit acts of violence.

Arguing For The Philosophy Of Political Science, Robert Herold

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

While there are many working scientists who engage in things like theory building and empirical testing, there has also been a group of scientists who sought to better understand the philosophy behind science. This philosophical study of science as a project is referred to as the philosophy of science and there are different sub-fields for each of the natural and social sciences, except for political science. This lack of an explicit sub-field dedicated to reflecting on our philosophy of science, i.e., our beliefs, values, methods, etc., has caused this knowledge to become tacit within our community. Because the knowledge of …

Votes And Voices: Minority Languages And Electoral Substate Nationalism In Spain And The United Kingdom, Valeryn Shepherd

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Substate nationalist political parties are a key component of the electoral politics of Spain and the United Kingdom. The demographic support that these parties receive is often tied to speakers of regional languages. In this paper, six regions in the two countries - Scotland, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Galicia - are examined using geographic data analysis to determine whether communities with a high level of minority language speakers are more likely to vote for substate nationalist parties. In most of the cases, I find that there is a strong connection between the two.

Diplomatic Intervention And The Effects Of Third-Party State Power On Intrastate War Outcome, Alexann Sandberg

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This paper seeks to examine the role third-party states may play as diplomatic intervenors in intrastate wars. Because diplomatic interventions seek settlement outcomes over military victory, understanding the efficacy of these interventions may provide support for their usage over non-diplomatic options. I hypothesize that third-party state power, in the form of military, economic, and political capabilities, will impact the likelihood of diplomatic intervention outcome; more powerful third-party states will have a greater likelihood of producing preferred outcomes. I use 12 multinomial regression models to examine this relationship. I find that economic capabilities are the only factor of state power that …

Ethnic Fractionalization, Corruption, And Trust In The Courts, Sinan Nadarevic

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has examined the effects of ethnic fractionalization on trust in political institutions. However, most of the literature focuses on a general understanding of political trust, disregarding the relationship between ethnic fractionalization and individual trust in the legal system. I argue that high levels of ethnic fractionalization decrease trust in the courts. To provide empirical support for my theory, I use individual-level survey data from 32 African and Latin American countries from 2013 and I produce two findings. First, using multiple OLS fixed effects regression analysis, I find that ethnic fractionalization decreases trust in the courts. Second, using mediation …

The Unintentional Gerrymandering Of America: How Population Shifts In Congressional Districts Contribute To The Wasting Of Votes, As Measured By The Efficiency Gap, Hannah Sharp

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Thanks to the foresight of our Founding Fathers we are required by law to redraw legislative boundaries every ten years, after the decennial census. These boundaries create districts at both the state and federal legislative level, and there are many guidelines which govern how districts can be drawn in order to provide for fair competition and accurate representation. Population distribution is key to how electoral districts are drawn at all levels. In recent decades, increasing concentrated populations of Democrats in urban areas and decreasing population in rural, more Republican areas has made it harder to draw competitive districts at the …

Girl’S Education In Africa: The Importance Of Culture And State Capacity, Hadley Olivia Hobbs

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Why is girls’ education participation notably below average in countries throughout both North and Sub-Saharan Africa? Previous research has concluded that the low rates of girls’ education in Africa are attributed to economics and more specifically wealth. While wealth needs to be addressed as a part of the discussion of issues surrounding girl’s education, it does not seem to be the primary cause of low participation outcomes. I argue that culture and governance are the primary factors effecting girls’ education in Africa. Moreover, government effectiveness and female genital mutilation are primary causes of the outcomes of girl’s education and appear …

Organized Crime And Development In Low And Middle-Income Countries, Katie Kelshaw

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The presence of organized crime is common across all income levels, but the effects of organized crime differ between low-income and middle-income countries. Institutionally, socially, and economically, criminal organizations make contributions which affect the states they are in. This paper theorizes that the contributions made by organized crime help development in low-income countries, then later harms development in middle-income countries. Empirical tests find that the direct effects of organized crime are not significant in low and middle-income countries. The indirect effects of organized crime – corruption in the public sector — have a negative effect on development.

Weaponizing The Epa: Presidential Control And Wicked Problems, Craig A. Jones

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In its broadest sense, presidential control encompasses all the actions, in both word and deed, whereby presidents “go it alone” to adopt policies in the absence of congressional will to do so, and sometimes directly contrary to it. This dissertation studies how President Obama used rhetorical and administrative tools of presidential control to address the “wicked problem” of climate change. The “administrative presidency” and the “rhetorical presidency” are familiar political science terms, but in the case of climate change policy, they appear to be moving policymaking in a new and perhaps profound direction, which this study refers to as “post-deliberative …

Presidential Influence And Competitive Grant Funding: Reexamining Presidential Pork, Benjamin Albert

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

How does partisan alignment with the president affect the distribution of federal competitive grant funding? This analysis contributes to the literature on distributive politics by reexamining the relationship between alignment with the president and competitive grant funding over the time period of 2001 to 2017. Furthermore, the analysis will test if the relationship between alignment and competitive grant funding changed after the enactment of the 2011 earmark moratorium. Fractional probit regression is used to model the relationship between a representative’s partisan alignment with the president and the portion of annual competitive grant funding that their district receives. The results suggest …

Globalization: A Blessing Or A Curse For Women In Developing Countries, Magaly Denisse Carrillo Terriquez

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Countries have been able to exchange goods and services as well as intellectual property. However, they have not addressed how these changes affect those that are considered a vulnerable population, women. The feminization of poverty is a real problem in our globalized society, where women form 70% of the world’s poor. This paper investigates globalization’s impact on women empowerment by focusing on maternal mortality and female primary education in eighty-seven developing countries. The literature suggests that an increase of globalization leads to a decrease in maternal death and to an increase in female primary education. The pooled data set was …

Stability Through Economic Growth In Afghanistan, Abdul Qadir Khan

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the Afghan public’s opinion to identify the overall direction of the country, whether the country, in terms of economic growth, is moving in a positive direction or not. How do economic factors affect the public’s views on the direction of the country? Based on that, this study finds that economic growth has an effect on the Afghan public’s opinion on the country’s direction.

Afghans are not enjoying stability in their country yet, after the majority of Afghans accepted U.S. military intervention in 2001 and the establishment of the new government to end instability. It was not an …

Globalization And The Diffusion Of Military Capabilities, Eddie Stokes

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

I analyze the effects of economic and informational globalization on the diffusion of military capabilities in the 20th and 21st centuries. To test these relationships, I use the KOF Swiss Economic Institute’s data on economic and informational globalization and the Correlates of War data on National Material Capabilities for all states of the international system from 1970 to 2011. Using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression of all states with standard errors clustered at the state-level, I find that economic globalization negatively correlates with increases in military capabilities; while informational globalization positively correlates with increases in military capabilities. These findings …

Decolonizing Urban Indian Institutions: Indigenous Authority In Boise, Idaho, Melanie Lee Fillmore

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

American Indigenous populations are underrepresented in American political science discourse. There is a lack of knowledge on public perception of political trust within Indigenous communities. I argue that contemporary discourses on data and political participation of American Indigenous people are incomplete without framing that data within the context of ongoing settler colonialism. National data shows that nearly 71% of all American Indigenous people live in urban settings. Framing American Indigenous political participation requires an in depth examination of the role of American Settler colonialism. Studies need to account for the impact of Federal government use of authority has had on …

The Relevance Of The Constitution In Today's Society, Matthew Reiber

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

How relevant is the Constitution in today’s society? This is the document that guides the three branches of government in day to day operation, demonstrating that what the Constitution means to the people of the United States is essential in gauging how relevant people think our government is. In this experiment, I surveyed 348 different college students on Boise State campus with a list of different questions to first find out their general knowledge of our Constitution, then their opinion of it. Students were randomly assigned to receive a text about a Supreme Court case that involves interpreting the Constitution …

Primary Challengers: Examining Competition In U.S. House Primary Elections With Female Candidates, Savannah Nicole Renslow

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has established that voters and political elites hold gendered stereotypes toward female candidates. Additionally, traditional family roles and gendered expectations are found to affect the self-confidence of women and their political ambition. However, little is known about how potential challengers perceive women as candidates. To fill this gap, I examine whether the presence of a woman in a primary election influences the entry of prospective candidates. Are women perceived to be more vulnerable candidates, thus attracting more competition in primary elections?

To answer this, I estimate a negative binomial regression with primary election data for the U.S. House …

Explaining Destination Countries Of Human Trafficking With Factors Relevant To Traffickers, Gabrielle Denae Boliou

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Awareness of human trafficking is increasing. This thesis aims to deepen our understanding of why traffickers prefer some countries over others as destination countries for their victims. Existing studies tend to neglect two elements when researching international human trafficking: factors that appeal to traffickers themselves and the significance of the country’s role in the international network as a destination country (rather than a source or transit country). In this thesis, I demonstrate that drug trafficking flows, legalized prostitution, and higher levels of corruption will appeal to traffickers and make countries more likely to be destination countries. I test this using …

A Matter Of Experience And Perception: Examining Corruption In Latin America, Nicolás Adrián Diaz

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The pervasive nature of corruption poses many challenges to nations. In particular, it can hamper progress and threaten stability. However, a citizen’s awareness of corruption is not exclusively based on encountering it personally. I claim that experience and perception of corruption are two distinct features, influencing an individual’s satisfaction with democracy. This study utilizes a mediation analysis to determine the impact of corruption, both experienced and perceived, on an individual’s satisfaction with democracy in Latin America. The statistical technique distinguishes the influence of experiencing corruption first-hand and having a high perception of it when determining a citizen’s support for democratic …

Monarchical Stability In The Gulf Coast States, Sean Miner

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council are thriving today, despite the decline of monarchies everywhere else in the world. I explore the significant factors that allow these countries to maintain monarchy as a viable governing system. I find that Gulf Cooperation Council states employ a diverse set of tools to control the populace and provide stability. These tools include generous social welfare programs, a repressive state security apparatus, a large guest worker population, and strong ties and cooperation with other gulf monarchies. Using these tools allows these states to overcome the political challenges that threaten monarchical stability in our …

Housing The Homeless: A Regional Analysis Of The Impact Of Available Beds On Rates Of Homelessness, Cassandra Nicole Solmonsen

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has been collecting national data on the homeless population and the beds available to these individuals since 2007. This analysis utilizes those data by separating the United States into 11 regions and examining the impact of bed types on five demographics of the homeless population. This study finds that the impact of each bed type varies by region depending on these demographics. One striking finding is that while Safe Haven beds increase the homeless population in several regions, they cause a decrease in multiple homeless demographics in Region 6 [Prairie]. My analysis …

The Impact Of American Sign Language Interpreter Licensure Laws On D/Deaf Defendants In Criminal Cases, Kymberly Marie Couch

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law which, among many other regulations, requires that d/Deaf individuals involved in criminal cases be provided with a qualified interpreter of their language, usually American Sign Language (ASL). A qualified interpreter is not defined within the law and states are left to determine what does or does not constitute qualified. This study analyzes the various ways in which d/Deaf individuals should be treated differently within the justice system due to their differences in communication, as well as how statutes defining the qualification of interpreters may be most inclusive of the variances …

Top-Two Primary Reform And State Legislature Ideology, Devon Downey

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Louisiana, Washington, and California have changed their primary election system to top-two primary systems. In this system, candidates are no longer nominated by voters in their own party. Instead, the two candidates receiving the most votes proceed to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. Proponents of the reform argue that it will moderate their state legislatures, helping to reduce gridlock and polarization. The parties and politicians argue that it will not change anything, but rather harm those in office and those who are running for office. Little research had been done on the validity of reformers claims, and most …

Modeling The Drivers Of Land Use Change In Ada County And Canyon County, Idaho, Using A Regression Discontinuity Design, Christopher Hans Felt

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Urbanization and land use change are widespread phenomena and the primary drivers of global ecological change. Researchers from both the social and natural sciences have investigated the effects that land use change has on environmental services and the effectiveness of regulatory bodies in mitigating its harmful impacts. Although there is research on local governmental bodies and their effectiveness in controlling land use change, county governments have often been overlooked. In this article, I study the effectiveness of county governments in controlling land use change using a regression discontinuity design (RDD). The RDD is a quasi-experimental approach that provides stronger support …

Personal Economics And Political Ideology, Derrick Hill

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

While plenty of evidence suggests prospective and retrospective sociotropic economic voting happens in the electorate, it is hard to find evidence that supports prospective economic voting based on personal economic forecasts. Furthermore, it has been argued that the Republican Party is able to attract poor and working class individuals because of their conservative position on social issues. This research looks at the relationship between pocketbook prospective economic beliefs and ideological sentiments. I find that individuals who are optimistic about their personal economic future are more likely to be conservative, and that this personal optimism has a greater impact on ideology …

Particularism Vs. Entrepreneurialism: President Obama And Race To The Top, Jodi A. Hoalst

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis compares two contending political science theories about why presidents use their unilateral authority as I investigate whether President Obama acted as an entrepreneurial president or a particularistic president when awarding grants to states through the Race to the Top competition. To do so, I evaluate the 12 winning states in two areas. First, I analyze how each of the states ranked nationally in the Editorial Projects in Education Quality Counts Report 2009 and then determine whether each of the winning states needed education reform policies. If so, then it is likely the Obama Administration was acting in a …

Navigating The Arab Spring: The Power Of Food Prices And The Stability Of Monarchies, Evan Andrew Buck

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Arab Spring shocked the world of political science and international relations due to the collapse of many regimes that were commonly seen as stable. This research seeks to uncover how food pricing, which acted as a “threat multiplier,” incentivized unrest. Through the study of five nations from the Arab Spring—Egypt, Syria, Libya, Tunisia, and Jordan—two things are apparent. First, the monarchy of Jordan is the only regime that remained stable. Second, food prices played an important role in the mobilization of protest. This leads to a quantitative analysis between state fragility, food prices, and monarchies in the Middle East …

Analysis Of Cyber Incidents Between Dyadic Rivals, Barry Edwin Newell

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Cyber conflict between states is a growing trend. There is a large body of research on cyber conflict, but there is very little quantitative analysis to support the theories or to assist in predicting future use of cyber operations. Using a logistic regression analysis, this thesis studies cyber conflicts between dyadic rivals from 2001 to 2011 to answer under what conditions cyber incidents occur between dyadic rivals in the past in the hopes to better analyze and predict future cyber incidents. The data demonstrate that the geographic proximity between dyads increases the probability of a cyber incident occurring while any …