Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Legislating Criminal Justice Reform In Louisiana, Jason Callegari

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While best practices in criminal justice reform have been studied and identified, the point at which reform legislation is decided upon and factors related to its passage is a traditionally understudied. My research will explore the factors that influence the political will of legislators who pass criminal justice reforms. Using a constructivist view of grounded theory, my research uses qualitative data to determine patterns of words and generalities implicit in decision-making for legislators in the state of Louisiana by way of semi-structured interviews with current and former state legislators. Coded results will show patterns associated with participants' willingness to support …

Introducing Just Competition Theory: Christian Realist Strategic Risk Management In Great Power Competition, Jason A. Byrd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

How can a Christian Realist approach shape United States security policy to manage strategic risk during Great Power Competition? This work finds that Just War Theory, in particular jus in bello (behavior in war), is a common method used by Christian Realists to determine actions and manage consequences in war; however, it is not optimal for the challenges posed in Competition. A complementary structure uniquely applicable to actions below the threshold of armed conflict is needed. This argument is manifested through Just Competition Theory or jus in contentione. In a complex environment of Great Power Competition, principles of jus in …

The Etiology Of A New Era: Where Heroes Become Zeros And Victims Become Villains, Traci Jo Harmon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The United States is in a state of turmoil. Unlike any time before this, division in the country is overtaking the COVID-19 pandemic as the biggest threat to life and liberty. Previous research is contradictive in identifying the etiology of anti-police rhetoric, anti-Christian rhetoric, and victim-blaming. The current research attempts to find out if mainstream and or social media is the etiology of the racial, religious, and victim division in The United States. Attitudes towards law enforcement, Christians, and victims were measured against platforms for current events, hours per day on mainstream and social media, age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Significant …

The Evolution Of The Artesh: 1980 To Present, Ryan Charles Touchstone

Masters Theses

Despite the large media coverage around Iran’s military actions, the role of the Artesh in Iran’s national security structure is often unmentioned. Looking at the evolution of the Artesh since the fall of the Shah of Iran, this study uses firsthand accounts, recent research, and governmental statements and reports to trace the Artesh’s journey to present day. It examines several battlefield successes and failures during the Iran-Iraq War to gauge the ability of the Artesh to adjust in a wartime environment. These adjustments are mixed with some valuable lessons being implemented to later battles while other important lessons remained unapplied. …

Irregular Competition: Contemporary Lessons Learned And Implications For The Future, Jeremiah Carl Lumbaca

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Irregular Competition is defined in this study as “State and non-state actors proactively engaging in activities to influence populations and affect legitimacy during times of peace, competition, and conflict.” The research question asked by this study is “Derived from contemporary case study lessons learned, what are the implications for the future of Irregular Competition in support of greater US national security objectives?” In answering the research question, Hans Morgenthau’s Realist Theory of International Politics was applied, although other aspects of realism and theories of international relations theory were considered. The rationale for this study is that despite a general reprioritization …

The Intellectual And Diplomatic Discourse Of American Progressives And The Late Ottomans, 1830–1930, Brigitte Maricich Powell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The American intellectual and diplomatic discourse with the late Ottoman Empire is an understudied field of history. Major works to date are primarily focused on the US relations with the Turkish Republic starting in 1924, which at best may highlight the Barbary Wars and the Treaties of 1830 and 1862 as a precursor. Few works offer, if any, a comprehensive insight into the diplomatic relationship that evolved between the US and the Near East from 1830 to 1930. This research is meant to fill the absence by probing into the service of key American diplomats and intellectuals who visited and …

Reforming Illinois K-12 Public Education Through A Four-Pronged Approach, Seth Brooks

Senior Honors Theses

Public education in the United States has produced lackluster results in the past decades. Various forms of school choice have emerged in recent years to combat the poor results seen in the public education system, but these private schools are financially unattainable for many Americans. Bureaucratic overload, city corruption, inequities in funding, and frequent teachers’ strikes have certainly contributed to the destitute state of Illinois’ public education. In this thesis, the attainability of fiscal relief for Illinois families who choose alternative education and the necessity of the state in permitting such alternatives is discussed.

Current school choice policies in the …

Bigger Is Better? Re-Evaluating Nato Enlargement In The Post-Cold War Period, Matthew Mccracken

Senior Honors Theses

Since the end of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has grown substantially from its pre-1990 boundary between the two Germanys to encompass 15 new members with its border pressing eastward toward the former Soviet states and up to Russia proper. At the same time, East-West relations have sunk from a high point in the 1990s to a new low unseen since the Cold War culminating in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Top-ranking officials on both sides of the Atlantic cautioned successive U.S. administrations against heedlessly seeking to admit new members into NATO for fear that it …

Federal Law Enforcement Reform: Depoliticization Into A Constitutional Framework To Restore Public Confidence, Christopher J. Boosey

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis proposes that there is a lack of public confidence in federal law enforcement agencies and that this is because these agencies have become political weapons, investigating individuals rather than crimes, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Following multiple scandals, from the historical targeting of the Civil Rights movement to present attempts to designate parents critical of school administrators as domestic terrorists, wholesale reform of these agencies is urgent. Therefore, this thesis will address the issue of politicization, political corruption, and the lack of adherence to constitutional principles through the problem, significance, and solution method. This thesis will first …

At Any And All Hazards: Manifest Destiny, The Monroe Doctrine, And The Balance Of Power In North America, Keith Thomas Ressa

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Contrary to the beliefs of New Left historians seeking to revive the once discredited theory that American territorial expansion was driven by a motivation to expand the institution of slavery, a position that I have dubbed the Neo-Abolitionist view, rather that Manifest Destiny developed as an early national security strategy and primitive strategic doctrine, what might be termed in today’s vernacular as a kind of preemptive threat displacement theory. That is, early on in the history of the Republic, many American statesmen believed that the most effective means of preventing a “balance of power” geopolitical system from being established in …