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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Designing For Democracy: How Democratizing States Design International Organizations, Marissa Wyant Jan 2021

Designing For Democracy: How Democratizing States Design International Organizations, Marissa Wyant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Building on work by Paul Poast and Johannes Urpelainen that suggests that democratizing states are more likely to form new international governmental organizations rather than join existing ones, I ask the question: how do these states design the organizations they form, and how do those design choices compare to the choices made by consolidated democracies and by nondemocracies? I focus on three design choices made by states regarding membership constraints, voting procedures, and dispute resolution processes. By comparing and analyzing founding charters, I find that democratizing states were more likely to constrain access to membership into these organizations to regional …


Who Is Running Against Me?: The Influence Of District Demographics On Primary Competition Against Black House Incumbents, Stacy Darel Carter Jan 2021

Who Is Running Against Me?: The Influence Of District Demographics On Primary Competition Against Black House Incumbents, Stacy Darel Carter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I seek to answer is there a variation between the number of challengers who emerge against black incumbents in majority-minority and minority-influence congressional districts? This study will examine how demographic composition affects candidate emergence in congressional districts and other factors that might have an influence on candidate emergence such as margin of victory, incumbent’s ethnicity, political party identification, incumbent’s decision to seek reelection and length of time in office by using existing primary and secondary data to address these questions. At the conclusion of this study, one will have a clear understanding of the impact of district demographic composition on …


The Effect Of Deontic Anger On Political Attitudes Toward Immigration And Redistribution, Nichole Gligor Jan 2021

The Effect Of Deontic Anger On Political Attitudes Toward Immigration And Redistribution, Nichole Gligor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Findings in political science suggest that negative emotions play a significant role in our understanding of 1) which factors affect our political attitudes (e.g. Brader 2006) and 2) which factors motivate our political behavior (e.g. Lamprianou and Ellinas 2019; Miller 2011). Further, anger has been established as a negative emotion that significantly affects both political attitudes (e.g. Brader 2006) and political behavior (e.g. Lamprianou and Ellinas 2019; Miller 2011). However, there is evidence to suggest that we are motivated differently by three established types of anger (i.e. personal, empathic, and deontic) (Batson et al. 2007), and so each type of …


Economic Development Policy And Economic Growth In The American States, Mohammed Shariful Islam Jan 2021

Economic Development Policy And Economic Growth In The American States, Mohammed Shariful Islam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The American states routinely adopt various economic development policies but those policies do not always contribute to economic growth in the state. Scholars identify several reasons to explain why the policies do not always work. First, policies that do not address market demand; rather, provide economic incentives to bring inward industrial investments do not contribute to economic growth because the cost it takes to create jobs by such industrial recruitments is too high. Second, policies that are adopted out of inertia chosen from traditionally practiced policies do not work because they are not evaluated for their effectiveness in terms of …


Components Of War: How Combat Shapes Political Behavior, Travis W. Endicott Jan 2021

Components Of War: How Combat Shapes Political Behavior, Travis W. Endicott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After military service is over, veterans are left to try to acclimate to their new lives. They take the lessons learned through their military career and they apply it to their daily life. One area of veteran life that remains understudied is the way that military service, combat experience specifically, alters political attitudes and behavior. The main focus of this dissertation is to understand the way that military combat alters political attitudes among military veterans. Instead of analyzing military veterans as one homogenous group, I separate veterans by combat experience. Building from the military psychology literature on combat trauma, I …


Illiberal Influences: Extreme Right-Wing Support And Its Consequences, Jeff Borland Jan 2021

Illiberal Influences: Extreme Right-Wing Support And Its Consequences, Jeff Borland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies the recent rise of extreme right-wing parties in the European context and explores their origins of support and consequences of their presence. This project follows the three-paper method, studying the movement from three distinct perspectives: immigration, globalization, and party influence. Using a variety of data, I employ hierarchical modeling to test hypotheses concerning these three areas in which extreme parties have an impact. My hypotheses focus on the relationship changes in the local population and economic conditions have on the support these parties receive, and how these parties modify the behavior of other right-wing parties. My results …


The Biggest Winner: How Loss Aversion And Negativity Bias Can Increase Affective Polarization, Austin Cutler Jan 2021

The Biggest Winner: How Loss Aversion And Negativity Bias Can Increase Affective Polarization, Austin Cutler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Affective polarization is on the rise, which makes understanding the origins of it increasingly important. Some work finds that partisan sorting is associated with increased polarization, due to a lack of exposure to conflicting opinions as well as the ease of making generalizations about the opposing side (Iyengar2019-zg). Individuals with more closely aligned ideological and partisan identities are more likely to exhibit hostility towards the other party, and react more emotionally to information that threatens their party or issue stance (Mason2015). The aim of this paper is to analyze how contextual factors, specifically the partisan distribution of an area, can …


Social Identity, Economic Interest, And The Formation Of Host Attitudes Toward Refugees, Jeremy Cox Jan 2019

Social Identity, Economic Interest, And The Formation Of Host Attitudes Toward Refugees, Jeremy Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scholarly studies of refugee crises have historically focused on the causes of refugee flight, the experience of the refugees themselves, or the impacts of refugees on host countries. More recently, a growing body of literature has examined the interaction of refugees and host populations, and more specifically the orientations of host individuals toward refugees. This study focuses on attitude formation during refugee crises, seeking to better understand the role of social and economic factors in shaping the attitudes of host populations. The core questions for this study are whether and how social identity and economic considerations relate to attitudes. Original …


Shifting Power, Status Quo Dissatisfaction, And Power Parity: Their Effect On The Use Of Coercive Foreign Policy In International Relations, Nathan Alvin Andrew Jan 2019

Shifting Power, Status Quo Dissatisfaction, And Power Parity: Their Effect On The Use Of Coercive Foreign Policy In International Relations, Nathan Alvin Andrew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How do shifts in the distribution of power effect the foreign policy decisions of states? In this dissertation, I argue that shifts in the distribution of power, status quo dissatisfaction, and power parity work together to significantly impact these decisions. Until this time, the conditional effect of these three variables has only been included in studies of major- or regional-power war, within the theoretical framework of power transition theory. To what extent do these correlates of war apply to foreign policy in general? Borrowing the insights of foreign policy substitution and the logic of the bargaining theory of war, I …


Mandated Representation: The Effect Of Legislative Gender Quotas On Attitudes Toward Gender Equality, Rustin Suray Jan 2019

Mandated Representation: The Effect Of Legislative Gender Quotas On Attitudes Toward Gender Equality, Rustin Suray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Do gender quotas actually change attitudes toward gender equality? Research suggests that quotas influence gender norms but very little work has looked at whether individual attitudes themselves change when gender quotas are enacted. This paper attempts to fill this void by studying the relationship between quota implementation and gender attitudes at a cross-national level using longitudinal survey data from the World Values Survey in a two-level random intercept multi-level model. This type of model is appropriate because it does not assume that individual observations in the data are independent from one another. The individual respondents from the WVS data are …


The Politics Of Place, The Urban-Rural Divide, And Geographic Identities In American Politics, Daniel Fudge Jan 2019

The Politics Of Place, The Urban-Rural Divide, And Geographic Identities In American Politics, Daniel Fudge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To test these theories, I conduct a series of empirical tests using survey data from the American National Election Survey (ANES) and an original survey experiment. Chapter two examines how people’s ideological perceptions are moderated by living in a particular area. Using the ANES data, I conduct a regression analysis with an interaction of the respondent’s ideology and the geographic location. Chapter three analyzes how individuals perceive a political candidate based on partisan and geographic information presented to the respondent. Using an original survey experiment, this study seeks to illustrate how individuals across urban and rural America perceive Republican and …


Social Links Abroad: The Role Of Social Identity Theory In The Formation Of Public Opinion Towards U.S. Foreign Policy, Antwain Hannibal Leach Jan 2017

Social Links Abroad: The Role Of Social Identity Theory In The Formation Of Public Opinion Towards U.S. Foreign Policy, Antwain Hannibal Leach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Even though U.S. foreign policy has gained considerable traction over the years in terms of a serious issue domain at both the mass level and within the academy, we are still just beginning to understand how the American people inform their views in this area of government activity. We often notice that support among the American public is mixed when it comes to U.S. foreign policy standing to benefit different groups. Americans tend to be supportive of foreign policies that may benefit one group of people while giving lukewarm support if another group of people may benefit. Prior studies on …


Moral Psychology And Political Campaigns, Joel Andrew Hanel Jan 2017

Moral Psychology And Political Campaigns, Joel Andrew Hanel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Theories of moral psychology suggest that American partisans rely on different moral domains to inform their political decision making (Haidt 2012; Lakoff 1996). This project addresses the use of moral framing, language, and traits in American political campaigns. It first examines the language of campaigns to ascertain if Democratic and Republican candidates use moral language in line with moral theories and then attempts to understand if using this language can affect the public in a meaningful way. Overall, the research suggests that campaigns frequently use moral language, though it does not strictly conform to the predictions of existing moral theory …


Citizen Security And Democratization In Latin America: Implications Of Law Enforcement Reforms And Demilitarization, Fernanda Andrea Gutierrez Merino Jan 2017

Citizen Security And Democratization In Latin America: Implications Of Law Enforcement Reforms And Demilitarization, Fernanda Andrea Gutierrez Merino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Latin American region has transitioned to democracy in the last forty-thirty years and along with many policy reforms, citizen security has not been left behind. As these changes evolve, the relationship between internal security and the development of a stable democracy has acquired a great importance in terms of the factors that contribute to a free world. The purpose of this research is to look at how security policy and policing in Argentina, Chile, el Salvador, and Mexico have contributed to the democratization process in regards to how the recent reforms in law enforcement in the region have created favorable …


Women’S Rights And Public Confidence: The Connection Between International Human Rights Norms And Public Confidence In Women’S Organizations, Druanna Marie Mozingo Jan 2017

Women’S Rights And Public Confidence: The Connection Between International Human Rights Norms And Public Confidence In Women’S Organizations, Druanna Marie Mozingo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1949, human rights has been a constant concern. Women, in particular, are particular objects of distress in that they still face the most inequality globally. Despite the need for better women’s rights, public confidence in women’s organizations is varied widely. This paper explains the variations in public confidence of women’s organizations. I argue that the variation in confidence is a function of the state’s level of internalization of international norms of basic women’s rights. This paper uses the Convention to End Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as the foundation for international women’s rights. …


The Role Of Partisanship In Selecting Ideal Communities, Kayla M. Butler Jan 2016

The Role Of Partisanship In Selecting Ideal Communities, Kayla M. Butler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been much debate as to whether partisanship matters on the local level in the United States. This thesis specifically seeks to test whether partisanship plays a role in an individuals’ selection of their ideal communities. Using data from the Kinder Houston Area Survey from 1982–2013, this thesis tests the effect of partisan differences in willingness to pay for: maintaining current levels of local services, public schools, and access to healthcare. As well as, partisan differences in selecting policy areas of concern for the City of Houston, and partisan differences in feelings towards ethnic diversity. I examine whether residents …


Motivated Reasoning, Ambivalence, And The Local Economy: Asymmetric Biases In The Formation Of Economic Perceptions, Bradley Dickerson Jan 2016

Motivated Reasoning, Ambivalence, And The Local Economy: Asymmetric Biases In The Formation Of Economic Perceptions, Bradley Dickerson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through motivated reasoning, citizens tend to process information in ways that confirm their prior beliefs. This motivation is seen perhaps most clearly in how voters view the economy -- citizens identifying with the incumbent party view the economy favorably, while those opposed to the incumbent party view the economy unfavorably. Thus, while all citizens exist within the same national economy at a given point in time, they also display wide variations in how they perceive that same economy. This study investigates the role the direction of partisan attachments, levels of political knowledge, and the local economic environment play in the …


Rebel Leaders And Conflict Processes: An Individual Level Analysis, Serhan Yalciner Jan 2015

Rebel Leaders And Conflict Processes: An Individual Level Analysis, Serhan Yalciner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Civil conflict is a complex and ambiguous phenomenon that requires a multi-dimensional investigation. A concentration on rebel leaders in the study of conflict promises a good amount of potential for obtaining interesting findings. This dissertation examines rebel leader survival and rebel leaders’ influence on various conflict processes. It demonstrates that relative rebel strength, external support favoring the government, and oil production of the state have a significant impact on rebel leader tenure. To explain why we observe some considerable increases in the number of civilian killings in the course of conflict, the dissertation develops a theoretical model, putting the emphasis …


The Dynamics Of Compression On Presidential Nominations, Samuel Raymond Gedman Jan 2015

The Dynamics Of Compression On Presidential Nominations, Samuel Raymond Gedman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The way in which political parties in the United States choose to nominate presidential candidates is a dynamic process. States operate with a great deal of autonomy as to when and what type of contest to hold, strategic candidates seek to enter the race at an advantageous time, and voters adjust to the electoral environment presented to them. The movement of statewide contests earlier in the nomination calendar, the shortening time between subsequent contests, and the expedited conclusion that is often reached before the official nominating convention has led to a compression of the nomination contest. This compression of the …


The Political Power Of The Black Church, Chanse Jamal Travis Jan 2015

The Political Power Of The Black Church, Chanse Jamal Travis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black churches are more than spiritual gathering places, they are power centers within the black community. Dr. King and Malcolm X used churches as mobilization centers in their attempts to equip African Americans with political information and the frame of mind needed for political change. When combining the various roles of the black church, over time, the church has gained leverage within the community and this leverage has translated into the church having political power. How exactly does this political power translate? From the pulpit, to be exact, through the power of persuasion. The public face of any church, especially …


Divided Schools And Divided Societies: Ethnic Saliency, Socialization, And Attitudes Among High School Seniors In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Matthew Thomas Becker Jan 2015

Divided Schools And Divided Societies: Ethnic Saliency, Socialization, And Attitudes Among High School Seniors In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Matthew Thomas Becker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the role of schools, families, and other-group contact on ethnic saliency and student attitudes towards outside groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) via statistical analysis. It was found that families, via familial example, have a statistically significant (p < 0.001) effect on increasing tolerance towards outside groups, and schools tend to play a secondary role due to a high degree of ethnic homogeneity within secondary schools. Frequency of religious service attendance also plays a statistically significant role in increasing ethnic saliency. Another significant finding is that a majority of high school seniors are not opposed to socializing outside of their own respective ethno-national groups. This dissertation finds that a coupling and de-coupling of ethno-national identity and religion are currently taking place in BiH; among Bosniaks and Croats they are coupled, whereas among Serbs and self-identifying Bosnians they are de-coupled. Data was gathered via field surveys taken by high school seniors from 78 high schools in 53 cities and towns located across the country.


#Democracy: The Internet And Support For Democracy In Central And Eastern Europe, Matthew Alan Placek Jan 2014

#Democracy: The Internet And Support For Democracy In Central And Eastern Europe, Matthew Alan Placek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since 1989, the countries in central and eastern Europe have undergone a tremendous amount of societal and political change. While previous studies have noted the importance of citizen support for democracy in providing a base for regime stability in these new democracies, there is considerable debate in what influences these values. One possible mechanism of attitude change is mass media. Previous studies in political science have noted the importance of mass media in influencing citizen attitudes and behavior. Though this research has uncovered a plethora of effects that the media can have, the extant literature has mostly focused on this …


Un Peacekeeping Impacts On Human Rights, Elise Durant Jan 2014

Un Peacekeeping Impacts On Human Rights, Elise Durant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper seeks to explore the impacts of peacekeeping operations by the United Nations on the human rights abuses associated with civil wars. Previous research has consistently found evidence that civil wars increase human rights abuses; however, the literature has not adequately analyzed possible factors that could decrease this violence or the affects peacekeeping could have on human rights performances. The UN has four types of peacekeeping operations: observer, traditional, multidimensional, and enforcement. The results of a Heckman selection model for 57 countries that have experienced a civil war between 1976 and 2012 suggest peacekeeping does impact human rights performances, …


The Impact Of Black Political Representation On The Racial Attitudes, Policy Preferences, And Vote Choice Of Whites In Minority Majority Congressional Districts, Emmitt Y. Riley Jan 2014

The Impact Of Black Political Representation On The Racial Attitudes, Policy Preferences, And Vote Choice Of Whites In Minority Majority Congressional Districts, Emmitt Y. Riley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scholars examining black political representation have focused on the degree to which African American politicians can impact the everyday living conditions of African Americans. Despite years of African American political representation within the United States House of Representatives, political scientists have devoted very little scholarship to examining how whites react to African American leadership. Given that African Americans remain under represented in government and current legal challenges threaten the future of minority majority districts, it is important to gain better insight into how black representation might impact the white community. Prior studies that do examine how whites react to African …


On Mass Media, State Capacity, And Civil Conflict, Jacob Walter Dryden Jan 2014

On Mass Media, State Capacity, And Civil Conflict, Jacob Walter Dryden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

State capacity scholars contend that a state's capabilities objectively predict its likelihood of civil conflict onset. The state capacity literature argues that the likelihood of civil conflict increases when military strength, regime revenue, and/or political institution coherence decrease. However, for this theoretical causal linkage to hold, the state capacity literature must assume that prospective rebels possess complete regime capabilities information; whereas, prospective rebels will know to rebel when the regime has a sufficiently weak, low revenue, and/or an incoherent political institution. I begin my dissertation by contending that incomplete information is more indicative of prospective rebels' informational abilities. Next, I …


Democratic Paradox: The Role Of Regime Type In Civil War Intervention Initiation And Success, Justin Marshall Burnett Jan 2014

Democratic Paradox: The Role Of Regime Type In Civil War Intervention Initiation And Success, Justin Marshall Burnett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract: Justin M. Burnett: democratic paradox: the role of regime type in civil war intervention initiation and success. (Under the direction of Dr. Timothy Nordstrom) regime type is an important yet largely ignored factor in the likelihood of civil war intervention initiation and success. Most research related to intervention processes has analyzed these processes without questioning whether or not domestic political institutions and constraints affect the decision to intervene as well as the probability of success. Democracies have unique institutions and recognized norms that do not exist in non-democratic states. I argue that these differences matter and that domestic political …


Perceptions Of Corruption & External Political Efficacy: Regime Stability & Democratic Legitimacy, Sean Stanley Bentzen Jan 2014

Perceptions Of Corruption & External Political Efficacy: Regime Stability & Democratic Legitimacy, Sean Stanley Bentzen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Do perceptions of corruption affect external political efficacy? If so, how? This paper investigates whether perceptions of corruption contribute to external efficacy on the aggregate, country level, and on the individual level. This paper seeks to expand the scope of the current corruption and efficacy literatures by examining, on the aggregate level, ninety five countries, and on the individual level, all available barometer surveys from the period of 2000-2012. Methods of analysis include time series, standard OLS, and hierarchical, or multilevel, modeling. In addition to the primary research question, this paper investigates the potential interactions between perceptions of corruption and …


Issue Publics Gone Wild Or The End Of Narrow Interests, Michael Calton Bowen Jan 2013

Issue Publics Gone Wild Or The End Of Narrow Interests, Michael Calton Bowen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Issue public theory holds that individuals are more likely to base political judgments, such as the decision of who to vote for on election day, on issues that are particularly important to them. This subset of issues is presumed to be relatively small in quantity for most individuals, allowing them to specialize in information gathering and attention. There is reason to believe the nature of issue publics has significantly changed in recent years as a result of profound shifts in the information environment. Many of the traditional findings within the literature are reassessed using data primarily from the 2008 Presidential …


Women's Substantive Representation In Latin America, Mary A. Gillip Jan 2013

Women's Substantive Representation In Latin America, Mary A. Gillip

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The number of women in Latin American governments has significantly increased throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. However, women are still significantly poorer, less educated, and more prone to disease and death than their male counterparts. If women's representation is improving, why has their quality of life remained the same? Using quantitative methods and a sample of 18 Latin American countries over a time span of twenty years, this work evaluates the possible affects electoral, political party, and quota law institutions may have on the substantive representation of women. The findings support what is assumed in extant literature; the level …


Religious Politics: An Individual Level-Examination Of The Political Implications Of Faith In Brazil, Thatianne A. Moreira Jan 2013

Religious Politics: An Individual Level-Examination Of The Political Implications Of Faith In Brazil, Thatianne A. Moreira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although Brazil is, historically, a catholic country, the Catholic Church is losing its members to the Protestant churches, mainly Pentecostal ones. Between 1940-2010, the number of Protestants increased from 2.6% to 20.2%. On the other hand, between the same period, the number of Catholics decreased from 95% to 68.5%. One of the consequences of this shift in the religious marketplace has been its impact in the political realm; more specifically, in the number of political candidates that have identified themselves as evangélicos. The presence of evangélicos in power seems to be the most studied facet of the growth of Pentecostalism …