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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Surfing The Revolutionary Wave 2010-12: A Social Theory Of Agency, Resistance, And Orders Of Dissent In Contemporary Social Movements, Athina Karatzogianni, Michael Schandorf Dec 2016

Surfing The Revolutionary Wave 2010-12: A Social Theory Of Agency, Resistance, And Orders Of Dissent In Contemporary Social Movements, Athina Karatzogianni, Michael Schandorf

Athina Karatzogianni

The theorisation and understanding of contemporary social movements, socio-technological phenomena, and the intersection of the two are limited by an incommensurability between the conceptualisations of individual agency and the disciplining powers of social structures. We introduce a theory of sociotechnological agency that bridges the individual and the social through a reconceptualization of the conventional notion of intentionality. Drawing from recent theories of affect and embodiment, posthuman-influenced materialisms and realisms, postmodern critical theory, and critiques of network theory, we introduce a model for understanding sociopolitical action and dissent that accounts for individual human agency as a nexus of overlapping and often …


De L'Affaire Katanga Au Contrat Social Global: Un Regard Sur La Cour Pénale Internationale, Juan Branco Nov 2016

De L'Affaire Katanga Au Contrat Social Global: Un Regard Sur La Cour Pénale Internationale, Juan Branco

Juan Branco

No abstract provided.


Inaugural Issue Of Dignity, Donna M. Hughes Dr. Nov 2016

Inaugural Issue Of Dignity, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

No abstract provided.


Rising Assertiveness Versus Peaceful Development: Making Sense Of China’S Ambivalent International Behavior, Lukas K. Danner Nov 2016

Rising Assertiveness Versus Peaceful Development: Making Sense Of China’S Ambivalent International Behavior, Lukas K. Danner

Dr. Lukas K. Danner

In the past few years, especially after the 2008 global financial crisis, China has become more assertive, not just in its military posture but also in its diplomatic affairs and economic interactions. Despite this rising assertiveness, China’s grand strategy officially remains that of ‘Peaceful Development.’ In consequence, scholars have disagreed about the trajectory of China’s grand strategy in light of its often ambivalent behavior. To explain this ambivalence, this article will take a closer empirical look at  two important developments regarding China’s international affairs: The softening on China’s preoccupation with territorial integrity and sovereignty has been exhibited in taking sides …


Creative Tension: Turn The Challenges Of Learning Together Into Opportunities, Christina L. Dobbs, Jacy Ippolito, Megin Charner-Laird Nov 2016

Creative Tension: Turn The Challenges Of Learning Together Into Opportunities, Christina L. Dobbs, Jacy Ippolito, Megin Charner-Laird

Jacy Ippolito

Participants in a high school literacy initiative learn to navigate the productive tensions that arise as they grapple with and attempt new instructional practices.


Citizen Trust In Civil Servants: A Cross-National Examination, David J. Houston, Nurgul R. Aitalieva Ph.D., Andrew L. Morelock, Chris A. Shults Nov 2016

Citizen Trust In Civil Servants: A Cross-National Examination, David J. Houston, Nurgul R. Aitalieva Ph.D., Andrew L. Morelock, Chris A. Shults

Nurgul R. Aitalieva, Ph.D.

How trusting of civil servants are citizens in North America and Europe? What individual-level and national-level attributes correlate with trust in civil servants? To answer these questions, data from national samples across 21 countries are taken from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) 2006 Role of Government module and are analyzed by estimating multilevel binary logistic regression models. Trust is correlated with both subjective (at the individual-level) and objective (at the national-level) indicators of performance. The quality of institutions also matters as countries with lower levels of public sector corruption experience higher levels of trust in the civil service.


What Is The Difference Between “Muslim” And “Islamic”?, Ahmed E. Souaiaia Nov 2016

What Is The Difference Between “Muslim” And “Islamic”?, Ahmed E. Souaiaia

Ahmed E SOUAIAIA

Social labels and categories are exercise in control. They describe opponents, create boundaries, exclude social groups, justify discrimination, and promote persecution. They are imbued with sociopolitical power. Muslims used labels, internally for the first time, during the formative period of the community to privilege the elite and marginalize dissenters. They called those who challenged the established order, Khawarij [Outsiders]. Today, Muslims living in Western societies are often labeled radical Islamic extremists. But aside from this politically charged phrase, even common adjectives, such as Islamic and Muslim, are misused. So in what contexts should these adjectives be appropriately used and …


The 2002 Senate Farm Bill: The Ban On Packer Ownership Of Livestock, Roger A. Mceowen, Peter C. Carstensen, Neil E. Harl Oct 2016

The 2002 Senate Farm Bill: The Ban On Packer Ownership Of Livestock, Roger A. Mceowen, Peter C. Carstensen, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

On December 13, 2001, the United States Senate approved an amendment to the Senate Farm Bill making it unlawful for a packer to own, feed, or control livestock intended for slaughter more than fourteen days prior to slaughter. 1 The amendment includes exemptions for packing houses owned by farmer cooperatives, and packers with less than two percent of national slaughter. The amendment was approved 51-46, and became part of the Senate Farm Bill.2 In early 2002, the amendment language was clarified to prohibit arrangements that give packers ―operational, managerial, or supervisory control over the livestock, or over the farming operation …


Not So Private: A Political Theology Of Church And Family, Jana Marguerite Bennett Oct 2016

Not So Private: A Political Theology Of Church And Family, Jana Marguerite Bennett

Jana M. Bennett

The words used to describe that relationship are public and private, words that frequently appear in both secular and Christian conversations about marriage and family. We name "family" and "church" as private matters, parts of life that are necessarily held distinctly from public matters, as in political life. At the same time, because Christians rightly understand family as a place where people learn discipleship and a place where formation and evangelization happen,3 we care very much about how to think about families in relation to church and state. There is a relationship between these three entities, American Christians insist, and …


Vaclav Havel, Jan Patocka: The Powerless And The Shaken, Daniel Brennan Oct 2016

Vaclav Havel, Jan Patocka: The Powerless And The Shaken, Daniel Brennan

Daniel Brennan

This article makes a case for considering Vaclav Havel's political theory of the nature of dissent as more politically grounded than that of his mentor fan Patoka. Against the criticism of Havel, which describes him as a less rigorous repeater of Patocka's ideas, this paper demonstrates how Havel appropriated Patocka's idea that the dissident is, similarly to a World War I trench soldier, fighting in a contemporary front in a demobilized war. However I argue that in Havel's thought, the understanding of dissent takes on a more practical and useful complexion than that of Patocka. This paper will explain and …


The Middle Class, Urban Schools And Choice, Michael Lewyn Oct 2016

The Middle Class, Urban Schools And Choice, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Urban schools tend to be less attractive to middle-class parents than suburban schools; as a result, the public school system generates suburban sprawl.  This talk discusses both egalitarian and market-oriented means of making cities more attractive to parents.


University Of Rhode Island Presentations At Interdisciplinary Conference On Human Trafficking, Donna M. Hughes Dr. Oct 2016

University Of Rhode Island Presentations At Interdisciplinary Conference On Human Trafficking, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

No abstract provided.


Sex Trafficking Of Women Around U.S. Military Bases In South Korea: Impact Of New U.S. Laws And Policies Since 2000, Amy Levesque, Donna M. Hughes Dr. Sep 2016

Sex Trafficking Of Women Around U.S. Military Bases In South Korea: Impact Of New U.S. Laws And Policies Since 2000, Amy Levesque, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Since the Korean War and permanent stationing of U.S. troops in the Republic of Korea (ROK), U.S. servicemen stationed in the ROK have purchased sex from women trafficked domestically and across international borders to work in bars and clubs surrounding U.S. military bases. For decades, the Department of Defense (DoD) and United States Forces Korea (USFK) denied that U.S. servicemen purchased sex and did not enforce the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 138-34 Pandering and Prostitution, which states that buying sex is illegal and punishable by military law. The DoD and USFK did not connect women working in bars …


Gender Attitudes, Gendered Partisanship: Feminism And Support For Sarah Palin And Hillary Clinton Among Party Activists, Elizabeth Sharrow, Dara Z. Strolovitch, Michael T. Heaney, Seth E. Masket, Joanne M. Miller Sep 2016

Gender Attitudes, Gendered Partisanship: Feminism And Support For Sarah Palin And Hillary Clinton Among Party Activists, Elizabeth Sharrow, Dara Z. Strolovitch, Michael T. Heaney, Seth E. Masket, Joanne M. Miller

Elizabeth Sharrow

Activists in the Democratic and Republican parties have distinct concerns about women’s place in American politics and society. These views lead them to evaluate female candidates through different ideological lenses that are conditioned, in part, on their divergent attitudes about gender.  We explore the implications of these diverging lenses through an examination of the 2008 candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, using data from an original survey of Democratic and Republican National Convention delegates.  We find that delegate sex did not affect their evaluations but that evaluations were influenced by the interaction of partisanship and attitudes about women’s roles.    


America’S Legendary Ignorance About Africa Persists, Julius A. Amin Sep 2016

America’S Legendary Ignorance About Africa Persists, Julius A. Amin

Julius A. Amin

In an increasingly interconnected and technological global environment, ignorance of Africa is no longer acceptable. This, especially from major political leaders. Yet, examples of such ignorance are evident in the current American presidential campaign. Neither the Republican nominee Donald J. Trump nor the democratic nominee Hillary R. Clinton has articulated any concrete vision for an African policy.


The Value Of Precedent : Appellate Briefs And Judicial Opinions In The U.S. Courts Of Appeals., Laura P. Moyer, Todd A. Collins, Susan B. Haire Sep 2016

The Value Of Precedent : Appellate Briefs And Judicial Opinions In The U.S. Courts Of Appeals., Laura P. Moyer, Todd A. Collins, Susan B. Haire

Laura Moyer

This study of appellate advocacy examines factors that affect judicial treatment of precedents identified in litigant briefs. Although we find some attorney and party characteristics influence whether a court addresses precedent cited by a party, legal resources are not as influential in determining whether the court adopts a party’s use of a precedent. At times, ideological congruence between the circuit panel and the litigant can increase the likelihood that the court’s opinion will use a precedent in the same way as presented by the litigants. There is also some support for the importance of attorney experience. Even when their clients …


Judicial Innovation And Sexual Harassment Doctrine In The U.S. Court Of Appeals., Laura P. Moyer, Holley Takersley Sep 2016

Judicial Innovation And Sexual Harassment Doctrine In The U.S. Court Of Appeals., Laura P. Moyer, Holley Takersley

Laura Moyer

The determination that sexual harassment constituted “discrimination based on sex” under Title VII was first made by the lower federal courts, not Congress. Drawing from the literature on policy diffusion, this article examines the adoption of hostile work environment standards across the U.S. Courts of Appeals in the absence of controlling Supreme Court precedent. The results bolster recent findings about the influence of female judges on their male colleagues and suggest that in addition to siding with female plaintiffs, female judges also helped to shape legal rules that promoted gender equality in the workplace.


Diversity, Deliberations, And Judicial Opinion Writing., Susan B. Haire, Laura P. Moyer, Shawn Treier Sep 2016

Diversity, Deliberations, And Judicial Opinion Writing., Susan B. Haire, Laura P. Moyer, Shawn Treier

Laura Moyer

Underlying scholarly interest in diversity is the premise that a representative body contributes to robust decision-making processes. Using an innovative measure of opinion content, we examine this premise by analyzing deliberative outputs in the US courts of appeals (1997-2002). While the presence of a single female or minority did not affect the attention to issues in the majority opinion, panels composed of a majority of women or minorities produced opinions with significantly more points of law compared to panels with three Caucasian males.


Competing Social Movements And Local Political Culture : Voting On Ballot Propositions To Ban Same-Sex Marriage., Arnold Fleischmann, Laura Moyer Sep 2016

Competing Social Movements And Local Political Culture : Voting On Ballot Propositions To Ban Same-Sex Marriage., Arnold Fleischmann, Laura Moyer

Laura Moyer

Objective: This paper uses social movement theory to explain variation in local support for proposed constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage in 22 states during 2004 and 2006. Methods: The analysis uses OLS regression with county-level data to explain variation in local support for the amendments. Results: Support for the amendments in both years was positively related to the proportion of a county that was evangelical or Republican, but negatively related to its level of education and proportion of Catholics. Amendment support was positively related in only one year to the percentage of a county’s population that was professional, young, …


Gender, Race, And Intersectionality On The Federal Appellate Bench., Todd Collins, Laura Moyer Sep 2016

Gender, Race, And Intersectionality On The Federal Appellate Bench., Todd Collins, Laura Moyer

Laura Moyer

While theoretical justifications predict that a judge’s gender and race may influence judicial decisions, empirical support for these arguments has been mixed. However, recent increases in judicial diversity necessitate a reexamination of these earlier studies. Rather than examining individual judges on a single characteristic, such as gender or race alone, this research note argues that the intersection of individual characteristics may provide an alternative approach for evaluating the effects of diversity on the federal appellate bench. The results of cohort models examining the joint effects of race and gender suggest that minority female judges are more likely to support criminal …


Trailblazers And Those That Followed : Personal Experiences, Gender, And Judicial Empathy., Laura P. Moyer, Susan B. Haire Sep 2016

Trailblazers And Those That Followed : Personal Experiences, Gender, And Judicial Empathy., Laura P. Moyer, Susan B. Haire

Laura Moyer

This paper investigates one causal mechanism that may explain why female judges on the federal appellate courts are more likely than men to side with plaintiffs in sex discrimination cases. To test whether personal experiences with inequality are related to empathetic responses to the claims of female plaintiffs, we focus on the first wave of female judges, who attended law school during a time of severe gender inequality. We find that female judges are more likely than their male colleagues to support plaintiffs in sex discrimination cases, but that this difference is seen only in judges who graduated law school …


Russia And The Cis In 2008 : Axis Of Authoritarianism?, Charles E. Ziegler Sep 2016

Russia And The Cis In 2008 : Axis Of Authoritarianism?, Charles E. Ziegler

Charles E. Ziegler

Russia’s seamless presidential succession produced no major changes in domestic politics or foreign policy. Ties with Asia remained strong, though several key relationships—with China, Japan, and the Central Asian states—frayed under the impact of Russia’s military action in Georgia. Impressive economic performance in the first half of the year boosted Russian confidence as a great power, but its vulnerability to the global financial crisis together with the heavy-handed operation in the Caucasus undermined Moscow’s standing with both Asia and Europe by the end of the year.


Russia And The Cis In 2007 : Putin's Final Year?, Charles E. Ziegler Sep 2016

Russia And The Cis In 2007 : Putin's Final Year?, Charles E. Ziegler

Charles E. Ziegler

Russia in 2007 moved further away from a constitutional order governed by the rule of law as President Vladimir Putin's second term drew to a close and the country prepared for parliamentary and presidential elections. High oil and gas prices buoyed the economy, but little progress was made in addressing Russia's serious social problems. In foreign policy, confrontation with the West was balanced by excellent relations with most of Asia.


Central Asia, The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, And American Foreign Policy : From Indifference To Engagement., Charles E. Ziegler Sep 2016

Central Asia, The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, And American Foreign Policy : From Indifference To Engagement., Charles E. Ziegler

Charles E. Ziegler

This paper examines U.S. engagement in Central Asia over the past two decades, with specific reference to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. While alarmist voices occasionally warn of the threat to American interests from China and Russia through the SCO, the organization’s influence appears limited. Washington has engaged it only sporadically, preferring to conduct relations bilaterally with the Central Asian states.


Neomercantilism And Great-Power Energy Competition In Central Asia And The Caspian., Charles E. Ziegler, Rajan Menon Sep 2016

Neomercantilism And Great-Power Energy Competition In Central Asia And The Caspian., Charles E. Ziegler, Rajan Menon

Charles E. Ziegler

The neomercantilist energy policies of China and Russia contribute to what is largely a competitive relationship among all three great powers in Central Asia. While neomercantilist policies do not negate the possibility of cooperation and the development of norms, rules, and institutions designed to promote collective action, they certainly erect formidable barriers.


Rethinking Critical Mass In The Federal Appellate Courts., Laura Moyer Sep 2016

Rethinking Critical Mass In The Federal Appellate Courts., Laura Moyer

Laura Moyer

This article draws from critical mass studies of gender in other political institutions to inform an application to the US Courts of Appeals. The results demonstrate the utility of considering court-level aspects of diversity. As mixed-sex panels become more common within a circuit, both male and female judges increasingly support plaintiffs in civil rights claims, though the magnitude of the effect is larger for women. The presence of a female chief judge is also positively associated with pro-plaintiff decisions by men and women in sex discrimination cases.


The Role Of Case Complexity In Judicial Decision Making., Laura P. Moyer Sep 2016

The Role Of Case Complexity In Judicial Decision Making., Laura P. Moyer

Laura Moyer

The literature on ideology and decision making offers conflicting expectations about how judges’ ideology should affect their votes in cases that raise many legal issues. Using cases from the U.S. Courts of Appeals, I examine the strength of ideology as a predictor of sincere voting in single and multi-issue cases and test whether the same effect for ideology can be seen for liberal and conservative judges. For all judges, ideology yields a larger effect as the number of issues increases; however, conservative judges are much more likely than liberal judges to cast sincere votes at all levels of complexity.


Group Empathy Theory: The Effect Of Group Empathy On U.S. Intergroup Attitudes And Behavior In The Context Of Immigration Threats, Cigdem Sirin, Nicholas Valentino, José Villalobos Aug 2016

Group Empathy Theory: The Effect Of Group Empathy On U.S. Intergroup Attitudes And Behavior In The Context Of Immigration Threats, Cigdem Sirin, Nicholas Valentino, José Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

Group Empathy Theory posits empathy felt by members of one group can boost support for another even when the groups are in direct competition for rights, security, and resources. We employ our theory to explain divergent reactions of majority versus minority groups to immigration threats. We conduct a two-wave national survey experiment with 1,799 participants consisting of a randomized sample of Anglos and randomized, stratified oversamples of African Americans and Latinos. The experiment manipulates racial/ethnic cues in a vignette depicting an ambiguous yet potentially threatening incident at an immigrant detention center. African Americans and Latinos are significantly more likely to …


Living Without Recognition : A Case Study Of Burmese Refugees In Malaysia., Meagan Floyd, Michael Zeller, Jason P. Abbott Aug 2016

Living Without Recognition : A Case Study Of Burmese Refugees In Malaysia., Meagan Floyd, Michael Zeller, Jason P. Abbott

Jason Abbott

No abstract provided.


Review Essay Of Farish Noor's "The Malaysian Islamic Party Pas 1951-2013 : Islamism In A Mottled Nation.", Jason P. Abbott Aug 2016

Review Essay Of Farish Noor's "The Malaysian Islamic Party Pas 1951-2013 : Islamism In A Mottled Nation.", Jason P. Abbott

Jason Abbott

No abstract provided.