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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Swords Into Stethoscopes: How The U.S. Military Could Conduct Medical Diplomacy, Oliver Kendall May 2015

Swords Into Stethoscopes: How The U.S. Military Could Conduct Medical Diplomacy, Oliver Kendall

Political Science Honors Projects

Since the early 1960’s, Cuba and China have won international appreciation by sending doctors abroad to help where they are needed. While there was surprise in some quarters when U.S. military personnel were deployed to combat Ebola in the last months of 2014, the Department of Defense actually has a long history of medical activity. In its current form, DoD medical outreach cannot likely garner soft power in the way that the Chinese and Cuban programs can, but with a few modifications, the U.S. military could be a serious conductor of medical diplomacy that would save countless lives and benefit …


Unequal Democracy: The Political Position Of Croats In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Valentino Grbavac Apr 2015

Unequal Democracy: The Political Position Of Croats In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Valentino Grbavac

Political Science Honors Projects

Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been marginalized during the last 15 years. Bosniaks have elected a Croat member of the Presidency and formed a federal government twice without legitimate Croat support, completely ignoring Croat electoral will. Bosnia and Herzegovina is at a crossroads today, choosing between the potential for a prosperous future in the EU and the status quo. Reforms of government structures are necessary in order to solve the Croat issue and allow Bosnia and Herzegovina to ascend to the EU. In this paper I map out the history of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the 1990s …


Courtroom To Classroom: Judicial Policymaking And Affirmative Action, Dylan Britton Saul Apr 2015

Courtroom To Classroom: Judicial Policymaking And Affirmative Action, Dylan Britton Saul

Political Science Honors Projects

The judicial branch, by exercising judicial review, can replace public policies with ones of their own creation. To test the hypothesis that judicial policymaking is desirable only when courts possess high capacity and necessity, I propose an original model incorporating six variables: generalism, bi-polarity, minimalism, legitimization, structural impediments, and public support. Applying the model to a comparative case study of court-sanctioned affirmative action policies in higher education and K-12 public schools, I find that a lack of structural impediments and bi-polarity limits the desirability of judicial race-based remedies in education. Courts must restrain themselves when engaging in such policymaking.


The Preschool Puzzle: Exploring Variations In Early Childhood Education Teacher Quality Across States, Alice Rockswold Apr 2015

The Preschool Puzzle: Exploring Variations In Early Childhood Education Teacher Quality Across States, Alice Rockswold

Political Science Honors Projects

There is a growing consensus in the early childhood education community that it is necessary to raise the qualifications of preschool teachers. Yet, little is known about why rigorous degree and training standards have advanced further in some states than others. In this analysis, I explore various political and demographic factors that might account for the uneven support for such standards, with special attention to the role of Head Start as a driver of quality, given its presence and variation in strength across states. Using longitudinal data from the National Institute of Early Childhood Education, I find weak evidence that …


Escaping Thucydides' Trap: Change, Conflict, And The Future Of The American-Led Order, Elijah Wohl Apr 2015

Escaping Thucydides' Trap: Change, Conflict, And The Future Of The American-Led Order, Elijah Wohl

Political Science Honors Projects

For centuries the discourse surrounding change in the international system has revolved around Thucydides’ thesis that change and conflict are synonymous as great powers rise and fall. This argument has regularly provided a historical model for major change in the international system. It remains pertinent today as the rise of new great powers – particularly Brazil, India, and China – have fundamentally altered the balance of power in the international system. This has resulted in an international order increasingly susceptible to pressures for change across economic, political, and structural spectrums. In this study I argue that as power shifts from …


Improving U.S. State Department Cultural Exchanges With The Middle East: A Case Study Comparison Of Iraq And Jordan, Irene K. Gibson Apr 2015

Improving U.S. State Department Cultural Exchanges With The Middle East: A Case Study Comparison Of Iraq And Jordan, Irene K. Gibson

Political Science Honors Projects

The U.S. State Department conducts cultural exchanges with the purpose of encouraging participants to instigate changes in their home countries. Despite extensive efforts by programs to measure their impact on participants, these effects are only indirect correlates or background variables for the ultimate goal of direct action. This thesis explores the impact of State Department cultural exchanges with the Middle East by drawing on eight interviews with exchange administrators of numerous programs in Iraq and Jordan. The case studies of Iraq and Jordan allow more careful scrutiny of the types of factors, both internal and external to programs, that affect …