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Articles 1 - 30 of 50
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Ruling In The Shadows: Analysis Of The Supreme Court’S Use Of The ‘Shadow Docket’ And Its Effects, Emilee Smart
Ruling In The Shadows: Analysis Of The Supreme Court’S Use Of The ‘Shadow Docket’ And Its Effects, Emilee Smart
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
The recent increased use of the shadow docket has left the public and scholars with unanswered questions about how procedures influence outcomes and behavior. Many of these shadow docket cases have been petitioned to the justices as emergencies in very important policy areas such as immigration, abortion, elections, and transgender rights. I collect a large dataset of all outcomes of the Supreme Court's shadow docket from 2010-2022. I examine the language the justices use to justify their decisions made using alternate procedures. I find unique differences in the justifying behavior of the justices as well as significant differences in the …
Location, Location, Location: Geographic Qualities Of Political Instability And Military Coups, William O'Connell
Location, Location, Location: Geographic Qualities Of Political Instability And Military Coups, William O'Connell
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Previous research has shown that political instability can lead to military coups, especially when it occurs close to the capital. However, other than proximity to the capital, no other geographic qualities of instability and their relationship to coups have been explored. Therefore, this dissertation serves as a detailed analysis of how the location of instability conditions its impact on coups.
To show how the locational qualities of instability influence coup likelihood, I borrow from expected utility models of coups, and explore how instability influences militaries’ disposition and ability to coup differently when it occurs in different areas within a country. …
Public Justice: Analyzing The Interactions Of Supreme Court Justices With The American Public, Abbie Wood
Public Justice: Analyzing The Interactions Of Supreme Court Justices With The American Public, Abbie Wood
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
When and how do Supreme Court justices choose to interact with the public? What motivating factors spur a justice to make a public appearance? In the fields of political science, public law, and legal studies, research has overwhelmingly studied on-the-bench behavior. Scholars have analyzed judicial voting patterns, opinion writing, oral arguments, and more. Despite the prevalence and importance of non-decision making activities as well as the growing reporting by media outlets concerning justices' public appearances, there remains a lack of attention devoted to exploring how justices behave off-the-bench. In this dissertation, I seek to develop this neglected area within judicial …
The Spread Of Nuclear Technology: The Difficulty Of Arms Control And The Consequences Of Nuclear Proliferation, Bryce Allen Beschorner
The Spread Of Nuclear Technology: The Difficulty Of Arms Control And The Consequences Of Nuclear Proliferation, Bryce Allen Beschorner
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
The potential impact of nuclear technology on international relations raises a number of important questions for scholars and policymakers. This dissertation focuses on different aspects of nuclear-related cooperation and competition and attempts to answer some of these questions. In this dissertation, I address three main puzzles related to nuclear politics using a mixed methods approach. First, I examine the consequences of the spread of nuclear technology on the outcomes of international crises, specifically focusing on the impact of nuclear weapons tests on crisis outcomes. Using data on nuclear weapons tests, I argue and find support for the notion that nuclear …
Damsels In Defense: Exploring The Relationship Between Women And Violence Against Civilians During Armed Conflict, Baylee Harrell
Damsels In Defense: Exploring The Relationship Between Women And Violence Against Civilians During Armed Conflict, Baylee Harrell
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Conventional wisdom dictates that women are mostly victims of violence in armed conflict, but recent studies reveal women are often active participants and perpetrators of violence as well. Meanwhile, research shows armed group composition is a frequent determinant of violence against civilians, but many unconventional, yet influential, actors have received little attention regarding this outcome. Furthermore, few studies provide quantitative and cross-national evidence of how women’s shifting roles from victim to perpetrator affects violence against civilians. In this dissertation I examine the relationship between armed group composition, women, and violence against civilians in civil war by evaluating women’s roles as …
Coalition Of The Ending: Why States Withdraw From International Military Coalitions, Weiss Mehrabi
Coalition Of The Ending: Why States Withdraw From International Military Coalitions, Weiss Mehrabi
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
This dissertation examines the causes and conditions motivating states to discontinue supporting an ongoing military coalition operation and prematurely abandon their partners. In exploring coalition defection through a three-article dissertation, I advance three separate theoretical arguments focusing on three levels of analysis.
The first article contributes to the literature by investigating the effects of political regime types on coalition abandonment during interstate wars. I argue that anocracies are dependable wartime partners and will not abandon coalition warfare earlier than autocracies and democracies. I advance two arguments for the theory of anocratic reliability. First, leaders of mixed regimes expect severe post-defeat …
Welcome Visitor Or Nosy Neighbor: Executive Branch Presence In Federal And State Judicial Affairs, Audrey Baricovich
Welcome Visitor Or Nosy Neighbor: Executive Branch Presence In Federal And State Judicial Affairs, Audrey Baricovich
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Interaction and overlap between branches of government in a separation of powers system is important for maintaining the checks and balances central to democracy. In this dissertation, I examine the effects of executive and judicial branch interaction. This work meaningfully contributes to our understanding of the nature and impacts of executive branch presence in judicial affairs.
In the first chapter, I look at perceptions of presidential influence in Supreme Court justices’ decision-making process. I analyze a national representative survey to examine the conditions under which respondents are willing to credit the president with influence over the decision-making process at the …
The Un-Intended Effects Of Risky Mandates, Robert Wood
The Un-Intended Effects Of Risky Mandates, Robert Wood
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
In May 1948, the United Nations launched its first peacekeeping mission named the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO). Since this first mission, the United Nations has launched over 70 peacekeeping missions in regions such as Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa (Bellamy and Williams, 2015). The overarching goal of the United Nations, and the Security Council as the organ responsible for authorizing peacekeeping missions, is to protect international peace (United Nations, 1945a). However, the means of achieving international peace differs across missions. One source of variation concerning the means of achieving peace is found in peacekeeping mission mandates. While …
Home Is Where The Heart Is: Rural Residents, Deprivation, And The Impact Of Prd On Governmental Representation, Mary Rachael Blandau
Home Is Where The Heart Is: Rural Residents, Deprivation, And The Impact Of Prd On Governmental Representation, Mary Rachael Blandau
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
How does rural deprivation, defined here as the perception that rural residents are deprived of economic and social capital that comparatively disadvantages them more than their urban and suburban counterparts, impact their political attitudes? And how do these perceptions, termed perceived rural deprivation, impact their attitudes towards the government? While scholars have long studied rural behavior, interest in the topic was reinvigorated during the Trump presidency once it became clear that rural voters contributed to Donald Trump’s election in 2016 and became some of his strongest and most loyal supporters during his presidency.
Before we can answer the question of …
Citizen Demand For Cultural Censorship: A Mixed Methods Study, Kelly Grenier
Citizen Demand For Cultural Censorship: A Mixed Methods Study, Kelly Grenier
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
This dissertation investigates the political causes and consequences of cultural censorship. One of the central arguments of this project is that cultural censorship is often a response to citizen demand. Using a mixed methods approach, this dissertation explores the demand for censorship and benefits a regime receives from censoring citizens in an effort to understand the calculus of cultural censorship. This project focuses on the Americas and looks at censorship in both democracies and autocracies across time. Leveraging high quality archival data, a survey experiment, and regional datasets, this project aims to understand the rationale behind cultural censorship and finds …
The Influence Of The Federalist Society On Judical Politics And Law In The United States, Peter S. K. Lynch
The Influence Of The Federalist Society On Judical Politics And Law In The United States, Peter S. K. Lynch
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
This dissertation examines the Federalist Society, which is a network of conservative and libertarian attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. The organization was founded by law students at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and the University of Chicago Law School in 1982, and has, over the last four decades, come to play a central role in law and politics in the United States. Individuals affiliated with the Federalist Society influence the law through a variety of avenues.
Federalist Society-members advance the goals of the conservative legal movement in a variety of capacities—by writing amicus curiae briefs providing the …
Staying Compliant Or Staying In Office? International Cooperation, Post-Coup Signals, And Coup-Born Regimes, Jennifer Flinchum
Staying Compliant Or Staying In Office? International Cooperation, Post-Coup Signals, And Coup-Born Regimes, Jennifer Flinchum
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Although there has been a great deal of scholarly work that explores the various determinants of coups, their effects have received considerably less attention, especially in the realm of international cooperation. Even less attention has been paid to the consequences of post-coup signals sent to the new regimes that staged these coups from the international community. This dissertation investigates how both the presence of leaders who seized power via coup and how the international community reacts to such a power grab affects their behavior, specifically in areas where there is either an obligation to comply with pre-existing international legal agreements …
News Treatment Of The Supreme Court: Language Selection, Ideological Directions, And Public Support, Alexander Denison
News Treatment Of The Supreme Court: Language Selection, Ideological Directions, And Public Support, Alexander Denison
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
In an increasingly diverse media landscape, how much of the ideological trends seen in current news reporting affect coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court? This work examines two different aspects of the Court's activities, their decisions and the confirmation hearings of Court nominees, analyzing what factors, if any, lead to differences in coverage language. Finally, through the use of a survey experiment, I analyze whether these differences in language, in combination with positive symbolic imagery, affect attitudes toward the institution. This work provides a novel consideration of whether the Court is subject to the same ideological slant found in coverage …
International Cooperation Networks And Economic Sanction Effectiveness, Gargi Vyas
International Cooperation Networks And Economic Sanction Effectiveness, Gargi Vyas
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
An economic sanction issued by a group of states can impose large costs on a target state and induce a change in its behavior. However, there is considerable variation in the success of multilateral sanctions. I argue that multilateral sanctions will be more effective with higher cohesion within the sender network. This is because linked senders can use the threat of withdrawing cooperation on other issues to encourage their partners to enforce sanction laws domestically. I contend that the likelihood of sanction effectiveness increases with higher cohesion within the sender network and test this argument using social network analysis. Results …
The Transnational Diffusion Of Human Trafficking Policy, Glenn M. Harden
The Transnational Diffusion Of Human Trafficking Policy, Glenn M. Harden
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Globalization has promoted the transnational diffusion of public policies. Recognizing that policies of one country are shaped by policies of others, scholars have developed several theories to explain policy diffusion. Because empirical evidence for these theories is contested, this study evaluates the relative explanatory power of the major theories of policy diffusion for human trafficking policies. To test competing theoretical claims, this study uses quantitative methods on an original, cross-national data set to analyze how human trafficking policies diffused. The results reveal that for the diffusion of human trafficking policies coercion and constructivist theories have robust support, while support is …
The Political Consequences Of State Action On Violence Against Women: How Victims And Non-Victims Form Opinions About Government, Helen Rabello Kras
The Political Consequences Of State Action On Violence Against Women: How Victims And Non-Victims Form Opinions About Government, Helen Rabello Kras
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
This dissertation examines the impact of public policies designed to prevent, address, and punish violence against women (VAW) on citizens’ political attitudes as well as news coverage in Brazil. Despite being politically important, these topics are understudied, particularly in the context of Latin America. In the dissertation, I investigate the following research questions: 1) How does government attention to gender-based violence shape news media coverage of violence against women? 2) How do policies on violence against women shape intimate partner violence survivors’ political attitudes? 3) How do encounters with the police shape survivors’ political opinions and bystander intervention attitudes? By …
From Hobbes To Habermas: The Anti-Cultural Turn In Western Political Thought, Ralph Gert Schoellhammer
From Hobbes To Habermas: The Anti-Cultural Turn In Western Political Thought, Ralph Gert Schoellhammer
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
The theme of this dissertation is the anti-cultural turn of Western Political Thought that has emerged out of Enlightenment thinking and was first turned into a comprehensive political idea by Thomas Hobbes.
Beginning with an overview of psychological research into the phenomenon of culture I put forward the argument that human beings are by nature social and individualistic, but that they oscillate between their ability to put group-interests before individual interests and vice versa. Culture is the main mechanism that influences which interest we give priority. This mechanism work through emotional attachments that create intuitions about what is morally right …
Predicting Positive Attitudes Toward Immigrants With Altruism, Kati Elizabeth Stafford
Predicting Positive Attitudes Toward Immigrants With Altruism, Kati Elizabeth Stafford
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Immigration is one of the most salient and divisive issues in the US and a host of other countries, with public opinion polarized and elites deadlocked on the issue. One limitation of research on immigration attitudes is the tendency for scholars to focus exclusively on dark motivations driving hostility toward immigrants rather than those leading to compassion and support for immigrants. Using 2016 American National Election Studies (ANES) data, I examine the relationship between attitudes towards immigration and several Big Five personality traits, focusing on Altruism. I find that personality traits, especially those related to Altruism, are crucial determinants of …
Why Weak States Balance: National Mobilization And The Security Strategies Of Post-Soviet States, Eteri Tsintsadze-Maass
Why Weak States Balance: National Mobilization And The Security Strategies Of Post-Soviet States, Eteri Tsintsadze-Maass
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 14 post-Soviet states adopted dramatically differing security strategies towards Russia: some sought security by bandwagoning with Russia while others strove to balance against it. Why did states with similar experiences under Soviet rule and similar asymmetric power positions vis-à-vis Russia adopt such diverse security strategies in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s disintegration? In contrast to prevailing theories focusing on power, economic interdependence, and cultural similarities, I propose that these variations in post-Soviet states’ security strategies can be best explained by their diverse experiences with national mobilization. The central argument of this …
Judicial Elections, Public Opinion, And Their Impact On State Criminal Justice Policy, Travis N. Taylor
Judicial Elections, Public Opinion, And Their Impact On State Criminal Justice Policy, Travis N. Taylor
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
This dissertation explores whether and how the re-election prospects faced by trial court judges in many American states influence criminal justice policy, specifically, state levels of incarceration, as well as the disparity in rates of incarceration for Whites and Blacks. Do states where trial court judges must worry about facing reelection tend to encourage judicial behavior that results in higher incarceration rates? And are levels of incarceration and racial disparities in the states influenced by the proportion of the state publics who want more punitive policies? These are clearly important questions because they speak directly to several normative and empirical …
Piecing Together Coalition War: Threat, Politics, And Coalition Structure, Stephen Joiner
Piecing Together Coalition War: Threat, Politics, And Coalition Structure, Stephen Joiner
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Military coalitions are both a common feature of interstate warfare and an example of the highest level of cooperation between states. Despite their tremendous importance in international relations, military coalitions remain poorly understood. This project investigates critical questions related to coalition structures, and uses quantitative and qualitative methods to show that both the threat and political opportunity facing coalitions helps to determine the shape of their structures. This project utilizes a dataset of all coalition wars since 1816, as well as case studies of six coalitions to investigate these relationships. Key contributions include novel theoretical arguments and the findings that …
Repression And Women’S Dissent: Gender And Protests, Dakota Thomas
Repression And Women’S Dissent: Gender And Protests, Dakota Thomas
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Why do women protest? Why do women protest “as women”? Why do some women participate in protests but not others? In the wake of the Women’s March of 2017, perhaps the largest single day protest event in history, these questions are particularly timely and deserve scholarly attention. One important but understudied and undertheorized motivation for women’s protests is state sanctioned violence, particularly repression. This dissertation explicitly theorizes about how state perpetration of violence, particularly state use of repression, both motivates and shapes women’s protests on a global scale.
In this dissertation, I argue that one key motivation for women’s protest …
Perceptions Of Fairness And Political Support In The Face Of Economic Inequality, Gregory W. Saxton
Perceptions Of Fairness And Political Support In The Face Of Economic Inequality, Gregory W. Saxton
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
In this dissertation, I investigate two key questions: 1) What are the specific conditions under which economic inequality undermines democratic legitimacy; and 2) How does inequality map onto individuals’ perceptions of fairness and subsequently affect satisfaction with democracy and trust in political institutions? I first argue that individuals’ perceptions of distributive unfairness are key factors whereby economic inequality undermines democratic legitimacy. Inequality - and subsequent perceptions that the economic distribution is unfair - undermine political support by signaling that the democratic process is not functioning properly and by challenging people’s normative expectations about what democracy should do in practice.
I …
Seeds Of Suspicion: The Perpetual Cycle Of Anti-Muslim Stereotypes, Middle East Intervention, And Terrorism, Christopher Ledford
Seeds Of Suspicion: The Perpetual Cycle Of Anti-Muslim Stereotypes, Middle East Intervention, And Terrorism, Christopher Ledford
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
The central theory guiding my research is that interstate conflict, at least as covered in mass media, leaves residual cultural attitudes that can shape the political context in which elites formulate policy. Specifically, U.S. interventionism in the Middle East has given rise to fundamental hostilities, founded on misguided biases, that shape involvement in the region today. I focus on one step within that broader theory, to test it empirically: the hypothesis that anti-Muslim stereotypes, when activated, will shape an individual’s foreign-policy preferences. I begin by considering competing accounts that link 1) ethnocentrism or 2) targeted stereotypes with support for the …
The Effect Of States Of Emergency On Gubernatorial Approval Ratings, Meghan Steinbeiss
The Effect Of States Of Emergency On Gubernatorial Approval Ratings, Meghan Steinbeiss
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
To what extent do unexpected, apolitical events affect governors’ popularity? Individuals’ attitudes towards government are often random, and executives at both the state-level and national-level are held accountable for events that they have little control over. In this study, I seek to understand how these unplanned events affect support for elected officials. Specifically, I examine the effect of the declaration of a State of Emergency on gubernatorial approval. I use an ordinary least squares (OLS) model and data from FEMA as well as the United States Officials Job Approval Ratings dataset to answer such questions. The results indicate that not …
Outlaw Heaven: Why States Become Tax Havens, Charles A. Dainoff
Outlaw Heaven: Why States Become Tax Havens, Charles A. Dainoff
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
It is the argument of this dissertation that states become tax havens as a conscious economic development strategy. These states – more properly referred to as "jurisdictions" because some lack the sovereignty of the traditional Westphalian state – do not have the natural resources or the population to pursue more traditional economic development strategies, but they do have the ability to write or implement laws that create a virtual resource: banking secrecy. These jurisdictions are able to carry out this strategy because they tend to be well-governed, stable, and relatively wealthy, making them attractive partners for the international banking, legal, …
Things Fall Apart: The Determinants Of Military Mutinies, Jaclyn M. Johnson
Things Fall Apart: The Determinants Of Military Mutinies, Jaclyn M. Johnson
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Military mutinies are occurring more frequently in the last two decades than ever before. Mutinies impact every region of the world. Given that they are occurring more frequently, impact every region, and often have disastrous implications, scholars must answer the foundational question: why do mutinies occur? What are the proximate domestic conditions that give rise to military mutinies? This project makes three contributions. First, I set out to formally define mutinies and collect a new dataset that will allow scholars to examine mutinies empirically. Second, I present a theoretical framework that explains when and why mutinies will occur. Finally, I …
Voting As A (Mandatory) Duty: Citizen Attitudes, Political Engagement, And Party Outreach Under Compulsory Voting, Gabriela Sainati Rangel
Voting As A (Mandatory) Duty: Citizen Attitudes, Political Engagement, And Party Outreach Under Compulsory Voting, Gabriela Sainati Rangel
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Political participation is paramount to the well being of a democracy. Concerns over low turnout rates across the world have prompted a growing body of research on the potential for political institutions to foster electoral participation. Amongst those institutions, compulsory voting is found to have the largest and most robust impact on maximizing participation rates. Under this system, eligible citizens are required by law to go to the polls on election day, and are subject to penalties if they fail to do so. Beyond its positive impact on turnout, we know far less about what other aspects of the democratic …
The State House And The White House: Gubernatorial Rhetoric During The Obama Administration, Austin Peyton Trantham
The State House And The White House: Gubernatorial Rhetoric During The Obama Administration, Austin Peyton Trantham
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
What is the importance of political speechmaking? Do state governors discuss presidential priorities? This study addresses these questions by analyzing the contents of annual State of the State addresses given by governors from 2012 to 2014 during the presidency of Barack Obama. A descriptive paper provides evidence that governors primarily discuss employment and economic issues in their addresses, are discussing greater number of policy issues than in previous decades, and are delivering their address before the presidential State of the Union message. Examining health care and immigration policy in separate empirical papers, I theorize that contextual factors, including legislative partisanship, …
Ethnic Xenophobia As Symbolic Politics: A Cross-National Study Of Anti-Migrant Activism From Brussels To Beirut, Annamarie M. Rannou
Ethnic Xenophobia As Symbolic Politics: A Cross-National Study Of Anti-Migrant Activism From Brussels To Beirut, Annamarie M. Rannou
Theses and Dissertations--Political Science
Xenophobia is examined almost exclusively as a prejudice of advanced western nations. I argue that the field of study of xenophobia must be re-conceptualized in order for comparative, cross-regional inquiry to take place. With a new concept of ethnic xenophobia, this dissertation examines the determinants and causal mechanisms of ethnic xenophobic activity across developed and developing countries. I integrate studies of xenophobia and theories of ethnic threat to explain that political elites rely on structural dimensions of threat to convert native anxieties into ethnic xenophobia through the use of anti-migrant myths and symbols. I extend Stuart Kaufman’s theory of …