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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Russian Energy Rents And The Eastward Pivot : Examining The Role Of Russia’S Oil And Gas Industry In Its Foreign Policy Behavior., Kara Stivers
College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses
No abstract provided.
Changing Authority In The Chinese Communist Party, Daniel Bruno Davis
Changing Authority In The Chinese Communist Party, Daniel Bruno Davis
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This paper examines how authority in China has changed from personal, rooted in a leader’s connections, to institutional, rooted in a leader’s position or job. This paper examines two cases, that of Jiang Zemin and the Yang brothers and that of Wen Jiabao and the Wenchuan earthquake, to show how authority is shifted. The examination of these cases reveals that while personal authority routinely was more important than institutional authority leaders with personal authority have died out and not been replaced. Because of China’s recent history, there was no opportunity for new leaders to build up the personal authority of …
The Political Economy Of Going Global: Understanding The Determinants Of Chinese Foreign Direct Investment In The Middle East And Africa, Majid Shirali
UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones
This study seeks to explain the motivating factors behind Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) patterns to the Middle East and Africa through a quantitative framework that utilizes a pooled cross-sectional time-series data set that covers 57 countries from 2003-2010. Prior research on the issue has hypothesized that China attempts to use external FDI to developing areas to promote national interests and help sustain economic growth. However, there has been an almost exclusive focus on economic determinants while generally ignoring political variables. The approach in this project attempts to fill this scholarly void by employing a broad array of independent variables …
The Dilemma Of Surveillance: Predicting The Future Of The Surveillance State, Jade Medrano
The Dilemma Of Surveillance: Predicting The Future Of The Surveillance State, Jade Medrano
Senior Theses and Projects
What is the role of surveillance in modern states and how does it affect stability and security? Policymakers generally believe that increased security through heightened surveillance will increase stability because the more the state is able to see and know about its citizens and adversaries, the better it will be able to prevent challenges to authority. However, in the case of East Germany, Romania, and the Soviet Union, increased surveillance was seemingly unable to forestall regime collapse. In particular, in the Soviet Union and Romania, the problem of preference falsification led to the citizens hiding their true feelings from the …
In Search Of Autonomy: Nepal As A Wedge State Between India And China, Sagar Rijal
In Search Of Autonomy: Nepal As A Wedge State Between India And China, Sagar Rijal
Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations
Traditional International Relations (IR) theories consign small states to the reactive roles of "bargaining, bandwagoning or buffering." Small states are deemed to be inherently vulnerable, forever concerned with their mere survival. However, the present global system of states is characterized by numerous smaller states, many of which are not only surviving but also thriving in both economically and politically spheres.
To unravel this anomaly, this study proposes a theory of wedge states as a separate category of small states, which are compelled to deep engagement with two or more rival powers simultaneously. The study analyzes a case of a typical …
The Fallacy Of The Chinese, Nirvan Govind
The Fallacy Of The Chinese, Nirvan Govind
Dissertations and Theses
A superpower is a country that dominates the global landscape in 4 major categories. These include military, economic, political and cultural. Superpowers have to ability to project immense power and whether it is countries that are trying to counter the impact of a superpower or gain from their strength, global hegemons are important aspects of contemporary international relations. Today, The United States is the only country that has all of these requirements and therefore, is the most powerful country in the world. However, a number of countries have begun to show potential for equaling or usurping the title of superpower. …
China's Strategic Choices Towards North Korea And Iran, Kang-Uk Jung
China's Strategic Choices Towards North Korea And Iran, Kang-Uk Jung
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This study tests two hypotheses. First, China cooperates with the United States only when it is able to obtain material rewards. Second, without material incentives from the United States, China straddles between the United States on one hand and Iran and North Korea on the other. My findings show that neither Structural Realism, which holds anti-hegemonism alliance, nor Constructivism, which holds positive assimilation of the nuclear nonproliferation norm explains Chinese international behavior comprehensively. My balance of interest model explains Chinese foreign policy on the noncompliant states better. The cases cover the Sino-North Korean and Sino-Iranian diplomatic histories from 1990 to …
A Discursive Perspective On China's Global Politics Of Climate Change, 1992–2013, Yi-Tsui Tseng
A Discursive Perspective On China's Global Politics Of Climate Change, 1992–2013, Yi-Tsui Tseng
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation investigates China’s recent shift in its climate change policy with a refined discourse approach. Methodologically, by adopting a neo-Gramscian notion of hegemony, a generative definition of discourse and an ontological pluralist position, the study constructs a theoretical framework named “discursive hegemony” that identifies the “social forces” for enabling social change and focuses on the role of discursive mechanisms via which the forces operate and produce effects.
The key empirical finding of this study was that it was a co-evolution of conditions that shaped the outcome as China’s climate policy shift. In examining the case, a before-after within-case comparison …
Is China The Answer? The Effect Of Chinese Engagement On Economic And Human Development In Africa, Ralph Achacoso
Is China The Answer? The Effect Of Chinese Engagement On Economic And Human Development In Africa, Ralph Achacoso
Dissertations and Theses
Though the relationship between China and Africa dates back to the 1950s, China's ever-increasing demand for energy sources has garnered newfound attention from scholars, coinciding with the rapid expansion of the Chinese economy over the last fifteen years. In order to fuel its economic machine, China has turned to Africa, a resource-rich continent and holder of one-third of the world's oil deposits. Taking a unique approach that blurs the line between aid, trade, and investment, China‘s search for resource security has injected new life into Africa‘s developmental efforts. To Africa's benefit, the relationship has boosted African trade volumes, productivity, physical …
The Fallacy Of The Chinese, Nirvan Govind
The Fallacy Of The Chinese, Nirvan Govind
Dissertations and Theses
A superpower is a country that dominates the global landscape in 4 major categories. These include military, economic, political and cultural. Superpowers have to ability to project immense power and whether it is countries that are trying to counter the impact of a superpower or gain from their strength, global hegemons are important aspects of contemporary international relations. Today, The United States is the only country that has all of these requirements and therefore, is the most powerful country in the world. However, a number of countries have begun to show potential for equaling or usurping the title of superpower. …
Taming A Profession : State And Economists During China's Economic Reform, 1978-2012, Jing Li
Taming A Profession : State And Economists During China's Economic Reform, 1978-2012, Jing Li
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
As neoliberalism comes to reshape the world, economists have increasingly reconstituted themselves into a global profession with sufficient political power over national states. This dissertation examines the professional development of Chinese economists during last thirty years’ economic reform to see whether they have converged with their colleagues elsewhere and triumphed over state power.
A Multi-Disciplinary Analysis Of Web 2.0 Technology Use In Egypt & China, 2005-2010, Monica D. Morales
A Multi-Disciplinary Analysis Of Web 2.0 Technology Use In Egypt & China, 2005-2010, Monica D. Morales
Browse all Theses and Dissertations
Taking a cue from scholars' suggestions to focus on the intersections of various fields of study, this research aims to find the commonalities among representative theories of democracy, mass media and social movements. Assessment of each reveals that all three areas of study encompass space for the interface of the media and the public. The confluence of these elements, when paired with Information and Communication-based technologies, yields what is introduced here as the Integrative Conceptual Model of Internet Analysis. Using this model gives way to a focus on Internet-mediated scenarios through a framework that evaluates the type of agent interaction, …
The Political Economy Of Property Rights In China: Local Officials, Incentive Structure, And Private Enterprises, Ingrid Yingxia Li
The Political Economy Of Property Rights In China: Local Officials, Incentive Structure, And Private Enterprises, Ingrid Yingxia Li
Theses and Dissertations
My dissertation tries to solve two puzzling questions in China’s economic miracle: why some private firms enjoy better property rights protection than others under similar political and economic institutional conditions. Secondly, under the incentive structure designed by the central government, why some local officials in some localities actively protected private property rights than others hence foster local economic development. Existing literature either emphasizes social networks or focuses on fiscal decentralization and personnel control system. But neither these accounts is able to systematically explain the considerable variation of private property rights protection across regions and over time.
I develop a game-theoretical …
Pushing The Limits: International Land Acquisitions In Comparative Perspective, Ariane Goetz
Pushing The Limits: International Land Acquisitions In Comparative Perspective, Ariane Goetz
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
The role of investor countries in large-scale land acquisitions is poorly understood in the contemporary “land grab” literature. Orthodox explanations largely build on deductive analyses that deviate from the emerging empirical evidence, and/or face analytical difficulties when trying to capture why large-scale land acquisitions happen. This thesis investigates the global phenomenon of “land grabbing” from the comparative perspective of two major investor countries: the UK and China. The regional focus is on Sub-Saharan Africa, a major target of land-consuming investments since 2000.
The dissertation advances three arguments: Firstly, the specific details of the home country’s industrial set-up, development challenges, ideological …