Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ideology Versus Clientelism: Modernization And Electoral Competition In Brazil, Cássio Da Silva Muniz

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates how parties utilize the political dimensions of ideology (left-right) and clientelism (programmatic-patronage) to compete electorally in developing democracies. It proposes a combined utility theory, which suggests polarized competitive elections in modernizing national electoral markets compel programmatic parties to coalesce with clientelistic parties to gain access to regional private electoral markets. Methodologically, this study draws on a mixed-method approach focusing on Brazil as a crucial test case. It applies spatial voting models to assess the validity of ideological competition as well as geospatial voting distribution based on clustering and dispersion to devise a new quantitative measurement of clientelism …

Structural Limitations To The Success Of Third Parties In The American Political System: A Study Of The Life Cycle Of The Republican Party, Louis Fierro

Honors Theses

American Politics has been dominated by the Democratic and Republican Parties for much of its history. Third parties, those bodies representing a challenge to the political system from outside the Democratic and Republican structures, have been largely unsuccessful in challenging for power. The sole exception to this rule was the Republican’s ascension to a main party following the collapse of the Whig Party in 1860, no other third party has been able to replicate this maneuver due largely to structural characteristics associated with American politics and the winner-take-all voting system it employs in most elections. Despite not directly posing a …

Where The Action Is: An Analysis Of Partisan Change In House Of Representatives Open Seat Elections, 2000-2014, Kyle B. Wallace

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research is to better understand what causes partisan change in House of Representatives open seat elections from 2000-2014. Despite being the source of the majority of freshman entering the House and traditionally having a higher rate of partisan change, open seats receive less attention in the political science literature than seats involving incumbents. The most comprehensive look at open seats came from Ronald Keith Gaddie and Charles S Bullock III in their 2000 book Elections to Open Seats in the U.S. House. Since 2000, very little research has been done to update the ever-changing environment …

Meeting In The Middle: The Impact Of Single-Party Dominance On Partisan Politics, William Samuel Adcock

Master's Theses

Polarization within the American government has reached near historic levels in recent decades. One of the most readily apparent results of this partisan atmosphere is the increase in the number of American states that are almost totally controlled by one of the two major political parties. This study seeks to examine the effect this single-party domination has on the policy positions of Senate candidates of the minority parties in these states. It is hypothesized that minority party candidates seeking election in these states will be more likely to adopt policy positions more commonly associated with the platforms of the majority …

The Impact Of Voter Suppression Laws On African American Participation In Florida And North Carolina From 1988 To 2012, Anthony Lewis Daniels

Wayne State University Dissertations

A rich body of research presents conflicting accounts describing how contemporary voter suppression laws impact political participation. This study process traces the political development of North Carolina and Florida from 1988 to 2012 to assess four competing explanations of this process. This study compares three measures of participation that strongly support the discouraging voter hypothesis, which finds that voter suppression laws depress black participation.

This study finds that state officials in Florida adopted a much stricter voter suppression regime than those in North Carolina for the period under study. As a result, the two states developed differing levels of democratization. …

The Influential Role Of The Secretary Of State's Office In The Pacific Northwest, Hailey P. Duffin

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The purpose of this research is to provide a cross-state comparison of the role that the Secretaries of State play in their given state as well as the influence it has on national politics. In order to evaluate the role of the Secretary of State, this research will examine states in the Northwest region of the U.S. (i.e. Pacific Northwest) to determine how their formal and informal powers affect their role in their respective state. The driving research question is: what role does this position play in impacting state and national electoral politics in the U.S? In an attempt to …

From Actor To Object : Political Influence, Political Entertainers, And The Symoblic Construction Of Rush Limbaugh During The 2008 Us Presidential Election, Andrew D. Horvitz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation highlights dynamics of American political culture contributing to the development of political talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh’s political influence. Current research suggests Limbaugh’s political capital is produced from an ability to generate valuable advertising space for media organizations, his role as an opinion leader of a politically active audience, or his position within mediated political networks. Regardless of explanation all assert that Limbaugh’s inclusion into national news and commentary legitimates and reflects Limbaugh’s pre-existing political capital. The research presented here contends that the role of the press must be reevaluated as a possible causal factor in establishing …

Beyond Elections: Ghana's Democracy From The Perspective Of The Citizenry, Ransford Osafo-Danso

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ghana's democracy has been hailed by scholars, practitioners, and the international community in recent years as a shining example in the West African subregion as a result of the country's record of organizing successive elections with minimal or no violence. However, the evaluation of Ghana's democracy has predominantly focused on the elections and disproportionately captures the views of the political elite; conspicuously missing is the perspective of the ordinary Ghanaian. This presents an incomplete picture of Ghana's democracy, given the relevance of citizens' participation in democratic societies. To address this gap in knowledge, this qualitative case study explored the practice …

Demographics As Destiny: Modeling Population Change And Party Strategies On The Electoral Map, 2016-2040, Sam Parker

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the ways demographic change will affect presidential elections over the next 25 years. It utilizes a detailed, interactive model to project the electoral effects of demographic growth in every presidential election from 2016 to 2040; the model allows me to simulate how voting rates by demographic groups might be altered by changes in party strategies. The two alternative Republican strategies this model simulates are a "doubling down" on white voters and a "diversified coalition" approach, where Republicans would reach out to minorities to build a coalition better suited to America's growing diversity.

The model's results indicate that, …