Political Science Commons^™

Presidential Unilateralism And Political Polarization: Why Today's Congress Lacks The Will And The Way To Stop Presidential Initiatives, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

European Union Integration Theories: Historical Significance And Future Development, Bradley Pederson

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The European Union is a political body like no other. It has maintained its ability to balance a fine line between supranational organization and member state sovereignty. Throughout its conception and subsequent progress, many theorists have attempted to tackle the complexity of the Union’s integration. Some focus on the Union’s need to widen its membership to include more states, while others explain the necessity to deepen the bonds between existing members. In this thesis I will attempt to answer the question of which integration theories have impacted the European Union most drastically to this point and which theories will be …

Toward A New Era Of Russian–American Collaboration On Railroads, Andrew Langsner

Inquiry Journal 2009

No abstract provided.

The Indivisible Constitution, Kermit Roosevelt Iii

All Faculty Scholarship

In The Invisible Constitution, Laurence Tribe argues that many of our most deeply-held constitutional convictions are not to be found in the words of the Constitution itself. They are, instead, part of what he calls the invisible Constitution. This review essay argues that although that claim is true, it is not worth spending a book on. Moreover, its very truth—the fact that certain “invisible” constitutional propositions are as central and well-established as textual ones—undermines the value of treating the “invisible” Constitution as a qualitatively different entity.

Arms Transfers And Stability In The Developing World: A Causal Model, Bryce W. Reeder

McNair Scholars Research Journal

In recent years, several studies have emerged that seek to understand the nature, scope, and significance of arms transfers in the post-Cold War period. A common theme throughout this literature is the assertion that the collapse of the Soviet Union gave birth to a globalized, commercialized US arms industry dependent upon exports to the developing world in order to survive. Using pooled time-series data, this study tests this assertion via Prais- Winsten panel-corrected standard errors regression. The relationship between such transfers and stability in the developing world is also explored. Using a nonrecursive simultaneous equation model, a new measure of …

Killing History: The Effect Of Slavery And Wwii On The Death Penalty In America And Europe, Julie Turley

Global Honors Theses

The author examines the cultural and social factors that have impacted the United States’s and European Union’s opposing stances on capital punishment. Particular focus is paid to the United States’s history of race relations and views on economic inequality and to the influence of World War II on the EU’s human rights and welfare policies. The paper concludes with a discussion on how the US may enact its own path to abolition.

Volume 02, Joseph A. Mann, Kathryn J. Greenly, Scott E. Jenkins, Andrew E. Puckette, Daniel M. Honey, Jeffery P. Ravenhorst, Jamie Elizabeth Mesrobian, Thomas Scott, Jay Crowell, Sarah Spangenberg, Amy S. Eason, Kenny Wolfe, Liz Hale, Rachel Bouchard, Will Semonco, Carley York, Ryan Higgenbothom, Adrienne Heinbaugh, Melissa Dorton, Madeline Hunter, June Ashmore, Clark Barkley, Jay Haley

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

Mike's Nite: New Jazz for an Old Instrument by Joseph A. Mann

Investigation of the use of Cucumis Sativus for Remediation Of Chromium from Contaminated Environmental Matrices: An Interdisciplinary Instrumental Analysis Project by Kathryn J. Greenly, Scott E. Jenkins, and Andrew E. Puckette

Development of GC-MS and Chemometric Methods for the Analysis of Accelerants in Arson Cases by Scott Jenkins

Building and Measuring Scalable Computing Systems by Daniel M. Honey and Jeffery P. Ravenhorst

Nomini Hall: A Case Study in the Use of Archival Resources as Guides for Excavation at An Archaeological Site by …

Candles In The Wind: Resisting Repression In Liberia (1979-2003), Robert Press

Faculty Publications

Scholars have been extending social-movement analysis beyond its base in the industrialized West to Latin America and Asia, but rarely to Africa. Social movements resisting repression in nondemocratic settings have usually had the help of external "opportunities" or favorable circumstances. This study, however, examines a peaceful social movement in Liberia, a movement that resisted repression under two regimes, advocating for human rights and democratic freedom without such "opportunities." How did this happen? The study finds four explanations: the formation of a microsocial movement with no formal leadership and only loosely connected strands of resistance, which were harder to control; a …

The Impact Of The Summer Olympics On Its Host City: The Costs Outweigh The Tangible Benefits, Steven Rosenblum

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

In the eyes of a host city, the reason to host the Summer Olympic Games has evolved from shining glory on athletic feats to receiving the perceived benefits from the opportunity. In the current times, there are a record number of Olympic events generating a demand for the construction of a larger amount of Games facilities than ever before. However, nations still vie for the winning bid to host the Olympics in one of their cities. This paper seeks to show that the costs of hosting the Games outweigh its tangible benefits. In detail, it will look at the financial, …

Following In The Footsteps Of Policy Entrepreneurs: Policy Advocates And Pro Forma Adopters, Brian Wampler

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The third wave of democratization has been accompanied by the spread of new institutions that allow citizens to directly participate in shaping policy outcomes. Leading international organizations, such as the World Bank and UN Habitat, have disseminated “best practice” programs identified with “good government” policy reform efforts. One of the most well-known programs, Participatory Budgeting (PB), was first adopted by an entrepreneurial government in 1989 as a means to promote social justice, accountability, and transparency. Yet, when these programs are copied by policy advocates and pro forma adopters the political pay-offs for government officials are smaller, which leads them to …

Creating A "Green Bubble" On Campus: A Model For Programming In A Green Living-Learning Community, David Whiteman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

(In-)Coherence In Eu Foreign Policy: Exploring Sources And Remedies, Clara Portela, Kolja Raube

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

How does the EU deal with incoherence and coherence? In this paper we try to answer this research question in order to draw conclusions on the specific nature of the EU as a foreign policy actor. We define coherence and incoherence in EU foreign policy as our dependent variable in a first step. Coherence is understood as a principle guiding foreign policies in the EU as well as other international actors. Effectiveness is crucially linked to the principle of coherence, not only in the EU. However, the way in which the principle of coherence is implemented differs in ideal type …

Campaign Advertising And American Democracy, Caroline Heldman

Caroline Heldman

Book review.

Violence And Deprivation: Arendt And The Pervasiveness Of Superfluous Life, Emma Norman

Emma R. Norman

This paper emerges from, and engages with, the current proliferation of discussions concerning Arendt’s views on sovereignty, humanity, and superfluousness. Tracing some of the different strands of her notion of human superfluousness, I look at how the exclusion and deprivation inherent in the idea of superfluousness is reflected in, and illuminated by, contemporary questions surrounding stateless persons, and several key experiences of terrorism. I argue that the strong and radical connections this notion has with Arendt´s concept of violence deserve more emphasis than it has hitherto received. For the link between superfluousness and the biopolitical ‘administration of bare lives’ undertaken …

Foreign Aid, Debt Relief And Africa’S Development: Problems And Prospects, Shola J. Omotola, Hassan A. Saliu

Shola J. Omotola Mr

In recent years, the Paris club granted a number of African countries, including Nigeria, debt relief. This elicited widespread celebration in the capital cities of affected countries, where it was portrayed as averitable launch-pad to Africa’s development. This paper takes a critical look at the debt relief, with emphasis on its problems and prospects for Africa’s development. It is argued that while debt relief does offer some prospects for development, there is little or no evidence to suggest that such an outcome is automatic. The conditions that precipitated the debt crisis in the first instance, including an inequitable international economic …

Heribert Adam And Kogila Moodley, Seeking Mandela: Peacemaking Between Israelis And Palestinians (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2005), Mehmet Ozkan

Mehmet OZKAN

No abstract provided.

Recension: Gerardo L. Munck (Ed.) "Regimes And Democracy In Latin America: Theories And Methods", New York, Oxford University Press, Fernando Barrientos Del Monte

Fernando Barrientos Del Monte

Recensión. El análisis politológico comparado sobre América Latina (AL) en las últimas décadas ha contribuido sistemáticamente al desarrollo de la Ciencia Política a nivel mundial. Los procesos de democratización de los años ochenta abrieron un amplio abanico de propuestas de estudio para la disciplina, quizá similar al impulso que los procesos de descolonización de la segunda posguerra del siglo XX dieron a la corriente de estudios sobre el desarrollo político en los años sesenta y setenta. Los trabajos reunidos en Regimes and Democracy in Latin America: Theories and Methods representan una importante contribución al desarrollo de la política comparada contemporánea …

The 800-Pound Gaijin In The Room: Strategies And Tactics For Conducting Fieldwork In Japan And Abroad, Daniel P. Aldrich

Daniel P Aldrich

Most graduate school training for United States-based political scientists focuses on details ranging from properly defining one’s independent variable to ensuring that we have sufficient cases from which to draw broader conclusions. And doctoral candidates regularly fly off to carry out fieldwork in developing and developed nations alike with two suitcases, several semesters of language training and a recently approved prospectus. But few of us receive advice on how to handle religious and cultural differences between ourselves and our informants or how to respond to situations in which we feel uncomfortable or perhaps in danger. Rarer still is advice on …

A Man Bites Dog Story: Picky Academic Praises Journalist

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Well, I don’t think I’m actually quite as bad when it comes to giving reporters their due as the title I’ve selected for this post suggests, as I have recently gone on record praising a variety of journalists based in China. Still, the ones I typically say the best things about are people who have a long-term commitment to the country (though I’ve been critical of some of these, of course), while the ones I most often pick on for things like missing important aspects of a story or failing to go to the best possible specialists for quotes are …

Five Quirky Blogs To Check Out

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A few blogs we’ve stumbled across in recent weeks that, depending on your interests, may merit your further attention:

1. “China Book Reviews” runs (as you might expect) reviews of an unusual selection of China books, including a few we’ve mentioned or reviewed ourselves, like Jeff Wasserstrom’s Brave New World and Mobo Gao’s The Battle for China’s Past (which Kate Merkel-Hess reviewed for TLS last spring).

2. Anna Greenspan wrote a piece for China in 2008 about the tainted milk scandal in China last fall. Now she is keeping her own blog about her experiment with placing her three-year old …

Living The Game: Wow-China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Last fall, we ran an interview with UCI Professor of Informatics Bonnie Nardi, who was conducting research on the different ways World of Warcraft (an MMO-RPG, Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) was used in China and the US.

Recently, a reader drew our attention to interesting images where Chinese players envisioned themselves in the game (often quite playfully). In honor of Chinese New Year (a game players celebrate in-game as “Lunar Festival”), WoW-China invited players to submit photos of themselves “blending their Lunar New Year celebration with their enthusiasm for World of Warcraft.” The contest received more than eight thousand …

Aas Blogging

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Jeff Wasserstrom (3/28/09, 7:41 a.m.):

This is, of course, the first AAS meeting at which a book associated with the China Beat has been displayed. And nicely displayed it definitely is, as the accompanying photo illustrates (and note that it is shown in the company of books like Voices Carry, China Ink and The Subject of Gender, which have been discussed on our site before). More than that, though, this is also a conference that, overall, has some features that run in tandem with some of the goals of China Beat. For example, just as we’ve tried to encourage more …

Economic Development In Cold War South Carolina, R. Phillip Stone Ii

Faculty Scholarship

Argues that South Carolina did not benefit from Cold War-influenced economic development because of the lack of industry in the state and the lack of skilled workers. South Carolina's focus on low-wage, low-value added production continued well into the modern era.

Conference Report: Asia And The Environment, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

I began reading Pallavi Aiyar’s Smoke and Mirrors on my flight to Philadelphia last week to get me into a China-India frame of mind before I attended the “Asia and the Environment” conference held at Saint Joseph’s University on March 20-21. Although Friday’s sessions (which I unfortunately missed) were devoted to India, and Saturday’s topic was China, the goal of the conference organizers was to encourage some comparative discussion of the environmental problems—and possible solutions—shared by the two countries. Readers interested in specific presentations should watch the above SJU website, where podcasts of the talks will be available in the …

Blogging Aas

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

From Paul Katz (3/28/09, 2:27 p.m.):

Saturday morning was a disaster, or at least full of fascinating panels about disaster and resulting relief efforts. Panel #139, alluded to by Kate Edgerton-Tarpley in her earlier post, explored the sociocultural impacts of the Great Leap Famine. Relevant research has also been done by Steve A. Smith in his “Talking Toads and Chinless Ghosts” article, published in The American Historical Review in 2006, and he has also written on this topic for the China Beat. There was also Panel #167, organized largely by a group of German scholars, which builds on the pioneering …

Blogging The Aas

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The Association for Asian Studies annual meeting is taking place this weekend in Chicago. We’ll be posting occasional updates from China Beatniks who are attending the meeting and will be checking in about the sessions and meetings they’ve participated in. Below, our first two postings from the meeting.

From Jeff Wasserstrom (3/26/09, 11:53 a.m.):

As Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies, I needed to be on site a couple of days before the Association for Asian Studies panels and other main events begin, and I have been struck since arriving by how many things I’ve seen inside or near …

Iran's Other Ticking Time Bomb, William Wunderle, Gabriel Lajeunesse

William Wunderle

With all the focus on Iran's nuclear-development program, one can forget that the Islamic Republic is also involved in a variety of subversive activities that could also plunge the states of the region into war. Iran's support of terror is not limited to Hezbollah or Hamas, but also extends to Iraq and Afghanistan, Turkey and Sudan, among other states, write these two visiting associates from Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.

Response To Book Review (To Lead The World: American Strategy After The Bush Doctrine, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro

Political Science Faculty Publications

Response to Book Review (To Lead the World: American Strategy after the Bush Doctrine)

We want to thank the commentators for their thoughtful and constructive remarks on our book. We think they highlight some of the key attributes of the volume and raise key issues for further reflection.

In order for readers of H-Diplo to understand the comments, we want to reiterate here what we stated in the introduction to the book. We tried to bring together some of the nation’s most renowned scholars and public intellectuals from all sides of the political spectrum to focus on what …

From The Aas

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

From Kate Edgerton-Tarpley (3/27/09, 4:03 p.m.):

Attending Panel 44, “Visualizing Order: Images and the Construction of Legal Culture in Ming and Qing China” inspired me to continue Paul Katz’s discussion of religion — as well as law and ritual — for a moment. Both Katz’s paper on representations of underworld justice in late imperial China and Yanhong Wu’s paper on legal order in Ming case stories and illustrations provided fascinating examples of ghosts, spirits, birds, and leaves entering courtrooms to either exonerate an innocent person or condemn a guilty one. Katz argued that Underworld justice was seen as less corrupt …

Coming Distraction: Shanghai Girls

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Lisa See has written seven books set in China–including novels like Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, mysteries like Flower Net, and an account of her family’s immigration from China to the U.S., On Gold Mountain. Her most recent book,Shanghai Girls, will be released on May 26, 2009.

Kate Merkel-Hess: Your forthcoming book, Shanghai Girls, will be released in May. What is the book about? What inspired the novel’s subject?

Lisa See: Shanghai Girls is about two sisters who leave Shanghai in 1937 and come to Los Angeles in arranged marriages. Four things inspired me. First, I’ve been collecting Shanghai …