American Politics Commons^™

Grassroots Vs. Big Oil: Measure P And The Fight To Ban Fracking In Santa Barbara County, California, Corrie Grosse

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

In 2014, volunteers in Santa Barbara County, California, collected over 20,000 signatures in three weeks to qualify an anti-fracking initiative for the November election. The initiative, Measure P, met over six million dollars in opposition from oil corporations. Despite mobilizing 1,000 volunteers, the proponents of the measure failed to garner enough votes for success. Drawing on 43 in-depth interviews and participant observation with environmental groups before, during, and after the campaign, this article examines the strengths and weaknesses of grassroots organizing behind Measure P. Organizers, especially during the signature drive, successfully garnered broad-based support in the southern part of the …

What Congress's Repeal Efforts Can Teach Us About Regulatory Reform, Cary Coglianese, Gabriel Scheffler

All Faculty Scholarship

Major legislative actions during the early part of the 115th Congress have undermined the central argument for regulatory reform measures such as the REINS Act, a bill that would require congressional approval of all new major regulations. Proponents of the REINS Act argue that it would make the federal regulatory system more democratic by shifting responsibility for regulatory decisions away from unelected bureaucrats and toward the people’s representatives in Congress. But separate legislative actions in the opening of the 115th Congress only call this argument into question. Congress’s most significant initiatives during this period — its derailed attempts to repeal …

Constitutional Barriers To Congressional Reform, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

Americans celebrate our Constitution as a beacon that can guide us through difficult situations. And justly so. But at times, the Constitution also has stood as a barrier to necessary reform.

Populist Economic Charade Ends – Plutocracy Wins, Evan Barrett

Highlands College

A newspaper column by Evan Barrett.

Published newspaper columns written by Evan Barrett on this topic, which vary somewhat in content from this commentary, appeared in the following publications:

Harve Daily News, December 22, 2017

Daily Interlake, December 24, 2017

Montana Standard, December 26, 2017

Helena Independent Record, December 27, 2017

Missoulian, December 27, 2017

Ermold Files Paperwork To Challenge Davis, The Morehead News

Media Collection

No abstract provided.

Ermold Filed His Paperwork With Davis, Raycom Media, The Daily Independent

Media Collection

No abstract provided.

Who Is David Ermold? Gay Man Enters County Clerk Race After Discrimination, Preeti Maheshwari

Media Collection

No abstract provided.

Gay Man Denied A Marriage License By Kim Davis Wants To Run Against Her, Benjamin Butterworth

Media Collection

No abstract provided.

Kim Davis Denied Him A Marriage License. He’S Running To Replace Her., Niraj Chokshi

Media Collection

No abstract provided.

Gay Man Denied Marriage License Hopes To Unseat County Clerk, Adam Beam

Media Collection

No abstract provided.

Kim Davis Denied His Right To Marry Another Man. Now David Ermold Is Going To Run Against Her., Eli Rosenberg

Media Collection

No abstract provided.

Nineteenth-Century American Religion And Politics In The West: Doctrinal Shifts In Mormonism And The Creation Of Utah, Katherine Manning

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

American religion and politics have always been closely intertwined. Though America was founded on ideals of religious pluralism and tolerance, the actual landscape of American religion often resembled the opposite of these ideas. As a religious majority, Protestants in the nineteenth-century believed in a specific American identity—one which championed the “virtuous” family and a capitalist market system. Yet, some religious organizations challenged these norms, making them the object of intense persecution. One of the most famous of these examples is the Mormons. From their “peculiar” beliefs to their separatist goals, Mormons presented the American people with a religious group which …

Gop Congress: Faith Over Facts; Politics Over Policy, Evan Barrett

Highlands College

A newspaper column by Evan Barrett.

Published newspaper columns written by Evan Barrett on this topic, which vary somewhat in content from this commentary, appeared in the following publications:

Livingston Enterprise, December 4, 2017

Montana Standard, December 6, 2017

Havre Daily News, December 11, 2017

Helena Independent Record, December 13, 2017

The Missoulian, December 13, 2017

H-Diplo Roundtable Xix, 14 On Dynamic Détente: The United States And Europe, 1964-1975, Thomas Schwartz, Werner Lippert, Luke A. Nichter, Kenneth Weisbrode, Stephan Kieninger

Presidential Studies Faculty Articles and Research

A set of reviews of Stephan Kieninger's Dynamic Détente: The United States and Europe, 1964-1975, with a response from the author.

An Examination Of Political Attitudes And Behavior Using Regulatory Focus Theory, Kristen D. Deppe

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Using Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT, Higgins 1997), I take a broad look at the manner in which political behaviors and attitudes are impacted by the promotion and prevention motivational systems. I first look at how behavior in life generally and political life specifically are similar in terms of regulatory focus. Second, I look at how RFT is related to political attitudes. Specifically, I look at whether there is a connection between regulatory focus and ideological attitudes, whether there is a relationship between policy context and motivational systems, and whether the status quo of a policy leads to a relationship between …

Sexual Misconduct And Congressional Self-Governance, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "Over the past year, a number of prominent politicians (including President Donald Trump) have been publicly accused of serious sexual misconduct and abuse of power. The question therefore has arisen: Can these politicians either be barred from taking office or removed from office on the basis of these accusations?

There is only way to remove a sitting president: impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate. But the topic of impeaching and removing a president warrants its own column. This column will instead focus on what Congress may do when its members and members-elect face charges …

Time To Pony Up For Butte, Bp, Evan Barrett

Highlands College

A newspaper column by Evan Barrett.

Published newspaper columns written by Evan Barrett on this topic, which vary somewhat in content from this commentary, appeared in the following publications:

Montana Standard, November 15, 2017

American Populism Shouldn’T Have To Embrace Ignorance, Daniel R. Denicola

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Public ignorance is an inherent threat to democracy. It breeds superstition, prejudice, and error; and it prevents both a clear-eyed understanding of the world and the formulation of wise policies to adapt to that world.

Plato believed it was more than a threat: He thought it characterized democracies, and would lead them inevitably into anarchy and ultimately tyranny. But the liberal democracies of the modern era, grudgingly extending suffrage, have extended public education in parallel, in the hope of cultivating an informed citizenry. Yet today, given the persistence and severity of public ignorance, the ideal of an enlightened electorate seems …

Clay, Henry, 1777-1852 (Sc 3162), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3162. Envelope addressed to P. R. Fendall, Esq., Washington, D.C., from Henry Clay, Lexington, Kentucky. The date of receipt is listed as 21 November 1829. On the left margin Fendall, a journalist, attorney, and politician in Washington, D.C. has noted when he replied to Clay in January 1830. The red wax seal remains attached; the envelope is empty.

Candidates Flock To Courthouse To File For 2018 Election, Brad Stacy

Media Collection

No abstract provided.

First Trump, Now Clinton -- Investigative Hand-Grenades Keep Flying, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

As long as there has been politics, there has been corruption. So the investigative hand-grenades which have been flying for the past year, first at the Trump campaign, now at Mrs. Clinton’s, are not exactly new in American political life. What is new, however, is the geography.

Corruption used to be something American politicians did with other Americans. Now, it’s become something that involves other countries, and one in particular – Russia – which can’t be accused of friendly intentions toward the United States.

Curiously, at the beginning of the nation, Americans were confident that political corruption would never happen …

Honor And Compromise, And Getting History Right, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly does not have a Ph.D. in history, although he does have two master’s degrees, in Strategic Studies (from the National Defense University) and in National Security Affairs from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. So perhaps it was simply that he believed what he said about the Civil War this past Monday on Laura Ingraham’s new Fox News ‘Ingraham Angle’ was so innocuous that he could also believe that it wouldn’t even become a blip on anyone’s radar screen. (excerpt)

Nunn, Louie Broady, 1924-2004 (Sc 3159), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3159. Telegram, 29 September 1956, from Louie B. Nunn, Republican State Campaign Chairman for Kentucky, to Mr. and Mrs. William Pennycook, Jr., Louisville, Kentucky, inviting them to a dinner at the Phoenix Hotel on October 1 in honor of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Includes a ticket to the dinner and to the welcoming event at Memorial Coliseum.

Hudson, Beulah Olive, 1903-1997 - Collector (Sc 3158), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3158. Material sent to Beulah Hudson, Louisville, Kentucky, related to the election campaign for the Republican presidential ticket of Richard M. Nixon and Spiro Agnew. Includes letters sent to Hudson encouraging her to volunteer for the campaign and printed material. Hudson was appointed as the Kentucky State Chairman for the Secretaries for Nixon-Agnew in 1968.

Latino Voter Registration And Participation Rates In The November 2016 Presidential Election, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction:

The Latino electorate, citizens 18 years of age and older, has increased impressively between 1992 when it stood at approximately 8.8 million eligible voters and 2016 when there were 26.6 million eligible Latino voters. Yet, in every presidential election from 1992 through 2016 about 47% to 48% of all potential Latino voters actually went to the polls.

Methods:

These data are based on the data presented by the U.S. Census Bureau for each presidential election and accessible on the Bureau’s Voting and Registration web site at https://www.census.gov/topics/public-sector/voting/data/tables.html. The 2016 data, released on May 11, 2017 are based on samples …

The Geopolitics Of Rare Earth Elements: Emerging Challenge For U.S. National Security And Economics, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Rare earth elements (REE) contain unique chemical and physical properties such as lanthanum, are found in small concentrations, need extensive precise processes to separate, and are critical components of modern technologies such as laser guidance systems, personal electronics such as IPhones, satellites, and military weapons systems as varied as Virginia-class fast attack submarines, DDG- 51 Aegis destroyers, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and precision guided munitions. The U.S. has some rare earth resources, but is heavily dependent on access to them from countries as varied as Afghanistan, Bolivia, and China. Losing access to these resources would have significant adverse economic, …

Archiving Constituent Services Data Of The U.S. Congress, Danielle Emerling, John Caldwell, Hope Bibens, Natalie Bond, Alison White

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The Society of American Archivists Congressional Papers Section formed the CSS/CMS Task Force in August 2016 to study the issue of constituent correspondence management systems, and this report addresses the ongoing development and use of constituent services data in Congress; the vendors, systems, and functionality; and the obstacles faced by collecting repositories. It provides an overview of research conducted with analog constituent correspondence and the vast potential for research with constituent data. The report recommends a vested advocacy coalition to support management guidelines in member offices, in commercial vendors working with congressional offices, and in collecting repositories, and it calls …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 19, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Coyle, Cameron. Students Express Concern Over WKU Alert System
• Alvey, Rebekah. Faculty Regent Reflects on Term – Barbara Burch
• Eastham, Lillie. Glow Walk Honors People Affected by Cancer – Relay for Life
• Ziege, Nicole. Student Government Association Fails to Pass Resolution Supporting Dreamers – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
• DeLetter, Emily. Scheduling Software Aims to Simplify Registration
• Huff, Taylor. Do You Support the Fairness Ordinance?
• Austin, Emma. Editorial Cartoon re: Faculty Regent Election
• Part-time Faculty Deserve a Say in Faculty Regent Election
• Hormell, David. The …

Lives And Numbers Count As Trump Tweets, Evan Barrett

Highlands College

A newspaper column by Evan Barrett.

Published newspaper columns written by Evan Barrett on this topic, which vary somewhat in content from this commentary, appeared in the following publications:

Helena Independent Record, October 25, 2017

Missoulian, October 24, 2017

Montana Standard, October 22, 2017

Healthcare: What Comes Next?, William H. Lane

English Faculty Publications

Where do we go from here on healthcare?

America has been talking about fixing its fragmented and overly expensive healthcare system for quite a while now. At times, it seems as though we simply keep having the same conversation (or argument, if you prefer) over and over again without making much progress in ensuring access to affordable care to all Americans. In fact, however, some significant gains have been made. Twenty million left without insurance (our situation now) has got to be better than forty million left without (our situation a decade ago).