Political Science Commons^™

Buying-Up Europe No More? How The European Union Has Responded To The Challenges Of Chinese Foreign Direct Investment, Ethan Kable

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

towards Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) has evolved over the past decade. I contend that the EU was quite receptive to Chinese OFDI at the beginning of the decade, due to both ideological leanings and the economic context of a post-crisis Europe. I then illustrate how the EU slowly adopted a more guarded and critical approach towards Chinese OFDI. This paper will focus specifically on four key issues surrounding Chinese OFDI policy: national security, technology transfers and IP theft, state support for Chinese firms, and market access, ultimately arguing that bilateral investment treaty (BIT) negotiations and the new EU …

Europe's (Lack Of) Welfare Chauvinism: Evidence From Surveys And Spending, Ethan Davis

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Immigration’s effect on European welfare states is complicated. On one hand, increased immigration might undermine social solidarity and impose greater fiscal burdens on redistribution, reducing support for welfare spending. On the other, natives could respond to greater globalization with economic anxiety, increasing support for redistribution in order to mitigate risk. Welfare chauvinism predicts a mixed effect—increased spending for programs that middle-class natives use and reduced spending for programs that benefit immigrants disproportionately. I test this theory by analyzing (1) European attitudes towards immigration and welfare spending and (2) actual spending on these programs, particularly social housing. Additionally, I present a …

The Finch Effect: Evolutionary Metaphors And Illiberal Democracy In Central And Eastern Europe, Abigail Woodfield

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

In recent years, several states in Central and Eastern Europe have seen democratic digression. Such illiberal resurgences came as a surprise to the many political scientists who assumed that the future of these states was democratic. Indeed, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the world largely regarded liberal democracy as the predominant system of government. The future seemed bright, and it was tempting to understand that future in evolutionary terms—just as humans evolved under natural selection to become the dominant species, democracy had survived a similar competition and defeated all other systems of government to become the dominant regime. …

Trade Union Trade-Offs: Unions, Voters, And The Rise Of Right-Wing Populism, Kim Gabbitas

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Trade union membership in European Union member states has been in decline for decades, which has many concerned about the future of workers’ rights. While existing work examines the reasons for this decline, my research shifts the focus from union density to the functions unions serve and how these functions affect and are affected by changing electoral behavior. I examine the rise of right-wing populist movements in Europe and how these movements and the challenges today’s labor unions face can be traced to the same underlying forces. I argue that, as the relevance of trade unions declines for blue-collar workers, …

Finland's Economic Freeze, Shivang Mehta

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Abstract

The Eurozone sovereign debt crisis has been well documented and so has Germany’s booming manufacturing economy but these events are relatively easy to explain. Greece’s troubles can easily be traced to its social security structure and lack of land registry while Germany’s success is a result of labour reforms, an undervalued currency and an emphasis on small scale businesses which form the backbone of the economy. A relatively paradoxical case has been that of Finland; ranked second for global innovation by the World Economic Forum and with over $1.8 billion being invested by the government in the country’s tech …

The Eu Budget's Impact On Public Opinion, Kai Stern

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Public opinion on the European Union (EU) is significant and therefore a worthwhile topic of consideration. Analyses have identified and ordered the factors that impact public opinion on the EU, as well analyzed the efficacy of EU funds. Yet the confluence of these two lines of inquiry is understudied. Some Member States have surpluses and others deficits relative to the EU budget, which could impact citizens’ perceptions of the EU. To gauge this potential relationship, this article notes deficit and surplus Member States and responses to one Eurobarometer question about trust in the European Commission from 2000-2013. These variables are …

Game Theory Meets The Humanities And Both Win Or Book Review: Game Theory And The Humanities: Bridging Two Worlds, By Steven J. Brams, Karl-Dieter Crisman

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This review discusses Brams' wide-ranging book Game Theory and the Humanities and gives some basic examples of the methodology and style, including how the Theory of Moves contributes to understanding such games.

Religiosity And Its Impact On Individual Support For Welfare Spending Over Time, John P. Adams Ii

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

In this paper, I will argue that individual preferences toward religion have a significant relationship with an individual’s level of support for welfare spending. Specifically, this research finds that as religiosity increases support for welfare spending decreases. This assessment is reached through Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions using the World Values Survey (WVS). Furthermore it looks to address the potential for a temporal pattern that results from these preferences. The objective of this work is to not only establish the relationship between these two individual preferences but to also illustrate the implication they may have on federal policy toward welfare …

Constructing Fortress Europe: Third Country Nationals As Unwelcome Guests, Robertus Anders

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Ever since the introduction of the EU’s four freedoms, EU citizens have been promised the freedom to move freely within the confines of the EU. As the EU’s population expanded through enlargement, in conjunction with growing pressure on labor market, wages and employment, European public attitudes toward immigration seem to become more polarized. Thus, immigration, especially that of the admittance of non-EU third-country nationals, may be rendered as a highly contested issue within Europe’s two-level systems. However, what is happening inside the EU, in terms of intra-EU immigration, is rarely considered within such contestation. This paper plans to address this …

The Politics And Future Of Carbon Cap-And-Trade: Lessons From The European Union, Alice H. Chang

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Economists and policy analysts recognize a well-designed cap-and-trade scheme as the premier approach to effectively reduce carbon emissions. However, politics is bound to play a major role in the policymaking process—more so with carbon dioxide emissions than other pollutants like sulfur dioxide. This paper examines the political climate in which the major trading scheme in the European Union was proposed in order to explore how politics affects the programs’ environmental integrity and ultimate policy outcome. Based on an analysis of the EU’s program, many pieces need to align within the political landscape for a cap-and-trade system to pass the policymaking …

European Integration And Anti-Money Laundering Cooperation, Allison Blauvelt

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This paper compares European Union anti-money laundering (AML) efforts with international efforts in scope and intensity through an analysis of the timeline of AML cooperation in Europe from 1980 to 2012, showing the creation or adoption date for relevant organizations and legislation, referred to as actions. The actors include United Nations bodies, the Financial Action Task Force, the Council of Europe, and European Union bodies. This paper also comments on the utility of different European Union (EU) integration theories in explaining the patterns in cooperation. The key finding of this paper is that international AML cooperation operates in waves, with …

Delayed Complementarity: How Schengen Area Membership Influenced German And Austrian Investment In Central And Eastern Europe, Romy L. Franks

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This paper considers the mutually beneficial relationship of German and Austrian foreign direct investment (FDI) in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) between 2004 and 2007, and the impact that the CEE states' belated membership in the Schengen Area had on further economic integration. It analyzes how excluding CEE member states from immediate membership in the Schengen Area upon their accession to the EU in 2004 and 2007 affected the economies of Germany, Austria, and the CEE member states. The paper argues that, in reviewing actual FDI and migration numbers following EU enlargements, fears over the potentially negative effects of labor …

The Political Hindrances In Solving The European Sovereign Debt Crisis, C. Cole Fairbanks

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Once revered as a progressive supranational success story, the European Union now faces excessive public debt, unemployment, and stagnation partly due to its flawed institutional design. This has become apparent in southern Eurozone countries like Portugal and Greece, which continue to suffer from strict austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund, European Commission, and European Central Bank (Troika). This report examines the politics behind the European Sovereign Debt Crisis, including the rise of Eurosceptic populist parties. Furthermore, it analyzes austerity in southern Europe, the ‘moral hazard’ argument, and the German government’s reluctance to lead Europe out the crisis. This …

No Light At The End Of The Tunnel: Ideological And Systematic Causes Of Spain's Economic Paralysis, Taylor S. Shippen

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Since 2008, Spain’s economy has suffered from an unemployment crisis. In response, voters elevated the Partido Popular (PP) to power in 2011 after becoming frustrated with the Partido Socialista Obrero Español’s (PSOE) lack of effective action. However, since the election of 2011, very little has changed in Spain’s stagnant economy. Unemployment remains high despite initially promising reforms in Spain’s labor market and a bailout for Spain’s larger banks in 2012 has done little to bring foreign investment back into the country. In this paper, I contend that the PP’s timid response to the unemployment crisis is the result of a …

The Economic Crisis And Esdp: Friends Or Foes?, Amelia Adams

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Strong Euro Weakening Dollar: A Potential Economic Demise, Guadalupe F. Garcia

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Eu's Common Foreign Policies Towards Russia: Past, Present And Future, Yigit Canay

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Icy/Hot: Norwegian And Finnish Policy Toward The European Union, Mia Bennett

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Theorizing The Odds: The European Union, Online Gambling Regulation And Integration Theory, Alexis Spencer-Notabartolo

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Economic And Monetary Union: A Study Of Domestic Influence In The European Union From 1989-1993, Jason Grishkoff

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Eu Oversight On Corporate Governance In The German Auto Industry, Jason Gorn

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Rival Models To Capitalism: Can The Nordic Model Survive The New Global Economic System?, Robbie Block

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.