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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Seeing Red: Immigration And Asymmetrical Partisan Polarization In The United States, Robert M. Worth Dec 2018

Seeing Red: Immigration And Asymmetrical Partisan Polarization In The United States, Robert M. Worth

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Since the mid-1970s, partisan polarization has been increasing in Congress and the Presidency, and, although most voters lack a stable, consistent ideology, non-ideological forms of partisan polarization have emerged in the mass public in recent decades. Moreover, ideological polarization among elites is highly asymmetrical, with increased Republican conservatism accounting for most of the increased ideological distance between the parties. Here, I develop a racial-threat backlash theory and argue that increased rates of immigration are associated with increased asymmetrical ideological polarization among elites and in the mass public. Tests of this theory on voters, the mass public in the states, state …


Robin Hood Politics: An Analysis Of Wealth Redistributive Policies And The Impact Of Political Donations, Marley R. Dizney Swanson Dec 2018

Robin Hood Politics: An Analysis Of Wealth Redistributive Policies And The Impact Of Political Donations, Marley R. Dizney Swanson

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

Both Democrats and Republicans have taken strong positions on wealth redistribution. But is there variance within the parties? I hypothesize that while moderate non-donors and moderate donors will favor increases in federal spending for such policies at similar rates, both liberal and conservative donors will be less likely to favor spending due to attachment to their personal wealth. This paper analyzes the differences in support for increasing the budgets of five wealth redistributive policies while controlling for political donations: public schools, welfare, aid to the poor, childcare, and Social Security. The research finds that moderates and moderate donors support do …


Achieving Development In Destinations: Effects Of Tourism On Poverty, Inequality, And Quality Of Life, Jessica R. Linder Sep 2018

Achieving Development In Destinations: Effects Of Tourism On Poverty, Inequality, And Quality Of Life, Jessica R. Linder

Theses and Dissertations

For decades, political scientists and development practitioners have focused on poverty and inequality alleviation, as well as increased quality of life as key goals for the field of development. Research focused on key concepts such as social capital and tools like microfinance and trickle-down tax structures for achieving these goals. Tourism, however, remained largely unstudied as a development tool, with most prior research focusing on sustainability and the economics of the industry. This study seeks to determine the effectiveness of tourism as a tool for development by examining its effects on poverty, inequality, and quality of life, as it becomes …


Unequal Influence: The Impact Of Inequality On Trade Policy, Brian William Fitzpatrick Jan 2018

Unequal Influence: The Impact Of Inequality On Trade Policy, Brian William Fitzpatrick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Trade was a central issue in the 2016 US presidential election, with both major party candidates debating how trade impacts American workers. However, the current literature on trade policy outcomes and inequality has insufficient measures of public opinion on trade. I examine the varying roles the public and interest groups play in the trade policy formation process as inequality changes in democratic societies. I expect, as inequality increases, the public and mass based interest groups will have less resources to expend on influencing policymakers. Also, as inequality increases economic elites’ and business interest groups’ resources will increase, and they will …