American Politics Commons^™

Democracy Later, Dave A. Gentile Mr

Capstones

My idea was to investigate what happened during the Queens County Committee debacle over the summer. If you aren't familiar, the NYTimes covered it a bit, but basically a whole bunch of candidates associated with the New Queens Dems, myself included, running for Queens County Committee got screwed and forced off the ballots in favor of candidates who did not even know they were running.

I have access to virtually every one of the candidates who was forced off the ballot, as well access to some of the candidates who replaced us unknowingly and unwillfully. I also have total access …

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 …

Thoughts And Prayers, Chloe Kardasopoulos

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Examining the symbolic Gun against its tangible counterpart illuminates abstract attachments of power and superiority this nation associates with the weapon. These elements loaded in the Gun transform the weapon into an object representative of American identity. Analyzing ideological commitments within the Gun guides a critical response to examine disproportionately increasing national gun violence against stagnant federal gun control. The ongoing gun debate must be analyzed in its entirety, beginning at its source - the Second Amendment. Scholars such as Gary Wills dissect the Second Amendment to extract its contextualized intent from modern writers’ manipulated interpretations. It is not the …

Perceived Public Opinion Vs. Actual Public Opinion And Media's Influence., Sarah Carey

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

This paper examines the extent of polarization in the United States in the current political climate. It was predicted that individual beliefs would be less polarized than news media makes it seem because while the political parties are moving further toward the poles, there is no evidence to suggest that individuals are doing the same. Using Berkeley’s Survey Documentation and Analysis tool, data from the American National Election Studies (ANES) was analyzed to test this premise. The ANES measured individuals’ party identification. The analysis focused on those who identify as Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. The survey then asked those same …

Hutchinson, Julian Terrence, Jr., 1933-2004 (Sc 3298), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3298. Lists, drafts, receipts, and campaign and organizational materials relating to Julian T. Hutchinson’s involvement in Democratic politics in Fayette County, Kentucky. Includes material relating to the formation of the Blue Grass Fayette County Democratic Club and the Fayette County Young Democrats Club, and to Hutchinson’s 1965 campaign for the Democratic nomination to represent Kentucky’s 54^th District in the state legislature.

1911 Triangle Factory Fire — Building Safety Codes, Paul H. Robinson, Sarah M. Robinson

All Faculty Scholarship

Can a crime make our world better? Crimes are the worst of humanity’s wrongs but, oddly, they sometimes do more than anything else to improve our lives. As it turns out, it is often the outrageousness itself that does the work. Ordinary crimes are accepted as the background noise of our everyday existence but some crimes make people stop and take notice – because they are so outrageous, or so curious, or so heart-wrenching. These “trigger crimes” are the cases that this book is about.

They offer some incredible stories about how people, good and bad, change the world around …

Maga, Memes And Magnificent Hair: How White Nationalism Become Rooted In American History, Gabriel A. Tucker

Celebration of Learning

This work seeks to analyze the history of white nationalist ideologies in American political history and compare them to the current political environment today. The primary analysis rests on the rhetoric used, clothing chosen and cultural artifacts that have been appropriated by white nationalists in attempts to further their cause.

Flyer: Save The Date Nwpc Convention "Politics, Power & Parity" May 2-6, 2001

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Flyer for National Women's Political Caucus Convention held at Hyatt Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

U.S. Presidential Leadership And Crisis Rhetoric, Robert Mccabe

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

My capstone project seeks to determine what are U.S. presidents attempting to accomplish in (or with) their speeches? This matters because presidential responses to crises can reflect how a president’s leadership abilities are perceived by the people he serves. This perception plays a large role in determining how much political strength the president has to accomplish his agenda. I address this research question by analyzing four different speeches: President Kennedy’s Address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy’s Address on the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Bush’s National Cathedral Speech after the September 11th …

Kaepernick’S Kneel: A Misinterpretation Of A Movement, Meghan Costello

3690: A Journal of First-Year Student Research Writing

Overview: I am most proud of singing the national anthem. It gave me the opportunity to share my musical gift, building my confidence along the way. I performed the national anthem for over thirty athletic events. I sang for a men’s regional hockey game, a women’s regional volleyball game, three men’s regional volleyball games and for women’s basketball and men’s football games. Every time I sang the national anthem, I felt full. It became an important song to me and a reminder of principal memories. As an influential song to me and many others, it was absurd that athletes abused …

How Do Gender Focused Political Action Campaigns, Such As Emily’S List, Contribute To The Number Of Women Running For Office?, Paige Franzen

Student Honors Theses

2018 is already being called the “Year of the Woman.” As we begin to see political movements rise such as the #MeToo movement, or #TimesUp, women of all socioeconomic statues, cultures, political parties, and ages come together to bring awareness to women’s issues, such as the gender pay gap, sexual assault and harassment, and the misrepresentation of women in politics. One political action committee, EMILY’s list, works to elect democratic, pro-choice, female candidates to all levels of state and local office. According to their mission statement, EMILY’S List, which is an acronym that stands for “Early Money is Like Yeast,” …

Selby, Isabella M. (Sc 3208), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3208. Letter to an editor, apparently drafted by Isabella M. Selby or a member of her family. Likely in reference to the “Eaton affair” or “Petticoat affair,” the letter complains of “abuse” of President Andrew Jackson and his cabinet by newspapers that are patronized “by the Clay & Adams party in this part of Kentucky”; specifically, the letter objects to characterizing the Administration’s replacement of some officeholders as “sin” or “anti-republican.”

Engaging Democracy: The Trouble With Trump, Jeff Vanderwerff

Northwestern Review

In its original version, this brief essay was delivered as a talk on the Northwestern College campus. The author reflects on Christian evangelical engagement in politics in “The Age of Trump”—as a believer, a political scientist, and a former candidate for state legislative office. Love, he argues—God’s love for us, and our love for God—is the key. As God’s love for each and all was made manifest in Christ on the cross, evangelicals should not lose sight of such love in engaging in public debate and policy-making. Insofar as uncritical evangelical support for Trump is the case, that is politics …

It’S Like Déjà Vu All Over Again: Seismic Changes In The American Experiment, David King

Bridge/Work

“I’ve never seen anything like this.” “Is this the end of the country?”

In 2016, it seemed that both of those statements, or something similar, was on the tongues of nearly every American. No matter who you supported, there seemed to be something entirely new about the election cycle that the nation found itself in. There is no doubt that for this generation, the 2016 election is a watershed moment for the United States. For the U.S., however, watershed moments in democracy are not the exception but the rule. To fully understand how our democracy transitions, one must return to …

The Sunday After The Tuesday: The 2016 Presidential Election In The Pulpit, Matthew Boedy

Sermon Studies

The 2016 presidential election divided Christians along racial, economic, and theological lines. The central question of my study was how did ministers frame the election, if at all? Through analysis of transcripts of 47 sermons from across the country (14 states plus Washington D.C.), from multiple denominations and various sized congregations given on November 13 or thereabouts, I claim that the paradox of the dual citizenship of Christians was the predominant theme in these sermons. Second, only one minister directly endorsed a candidate and only a handful indirectly endorsed. Many preached a form of unity.

What Does “All Men Are Created Equal” Mean?, Morgan Keith

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Some have all too quickly used the term “post-racial” to describe America now that a black president has been elected and re-elected for a second term. It will take much more time than just eight years to reverse the wrongdoings of centuries past.

Author information: Morgan Keith is a junior studying investigative reporting at the University of Missouri. She currently works as a beat reporter at the Columbia Missourian.

The Problem Of The West[Ern], Kiley Duhn

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Three great Western films—Stagecoach, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and the contemporary No Country for Old Men—delve deep into the American psyche and make a broad claim that the American way of mixing freedom and rule is inherently flawed.

Author information: Kiley Duhn is a Business Economics and Accountancy double major and Political Science minor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After graduating in the Class of 2019, she plans to pursue a career in tax consulting at a public accounting firm.

The Role Of Christianity In Hobbes’S Political Project, David Soper

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

For Hobbes, religion is not inherently beneficial for society. Instead, good theology is required in order to make religion useful.

Author information: David Soper is a recent graduate from Carleton College where he studied political science. He hopes to continue his studies in political theory at the Ph.D. level.

Constitutional Individualism: The Ninth Amendment And The “Natural Rights Of Man”, Lucas B. Drill

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

The Ninth Amendment is not a one-off historical anachronism aimed at protecting nonexistent rights. Instead, it should be construed by the courts as a bulwark against undue governmental interference in people’s private lives.

Author information: Lucas B. Drill is from La Cañada Flintridge, California. He is a rising senior in the Joint Program between Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, in which he is simultaneously pursuing Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Jewish History. Lucas is an aspiring lawyer, constitutional scholar, and judge.

Moving Beyond American Conditional Aid To Haiti, Chang-Dae David Hyun

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

A root cause of Haiti’s poverty is the IMF’s structural adjustment plan. A solution based on Chinese aid, unlike neo-liberal policies, allows Haiti to protect its rice and other industries.

Author information: Chang-Dae David Hyun, former sergeant with the Republic of Korea Air Force, earned his Honors B.A (2017) at the University of Toronto specializing political science. He is the winner of the Kathleen & William Davis Scholarship and Saul & Lois Rae Scholarship at University College (U of Toronto), and spent summer 2017 on a full scholarship to Tsinghua University of China.

Restoring Civic Virtue: The Buckley Model, Moriah Poliakoff

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

The political life of William F. Buckley Jr. stands as a model for reinvigorating the civic virtue that the American founders recognized as necessary.

Author information: Moriah Poliakoff is a junior at Christopher Newport University majoring in American Studies and minoring in Philosophy and US National Security Studies. She has a particular interest in political philosophy.

Omelas And Bensalem: Liberty And Utopias, Alexandria Putman

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Is it possible for a society to be good without liberty? Bacon’s The New Atlantis and Le Guin’s The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas both aid in exploring this important question.

Author information: Alexandria Putman is a Coastal Carolina University student from Tega Cay, S.C. She is a double major in political science and communication. Her research interests include public opinion and utopian political thought, as well as campaigns and elections. She is currently an Edgar Dyer Fellow, an undergraduate research assistant, and the captain of the mock trial team at CCU. Upon graduating, Alexandria hopes to …

The Proof Is In The Pudding: The Myth Of Equality, Emma Lentchner

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Equality is treated as a universal and invariable concept, yet in practice authors manipulate it constantly to articulate their own interpretations, inadvertently transforming it into a political conception.

Author information: Emma Lentchner recently graduated from Smith College (‘18), and majored in Political Theory and Philosophy. She is particularly interested in the underlying patterns that subliminally govern our known world and is continuously looking to explore and deconstruct these mental and institutional constructs.

Originalism: Reclaiming The American Promise, Ayesh Perera

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Originalism best reflects the Founding Fathers’ faith in self-government and also best preserves the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Author information: Ayesh Perera arrived in the United States from Sri Lanka in 2014. He graduated (2018) from Miami University with majors in Economics and Political Science, and is pursuing his Master’s Degree at Harvard University.

When The Tables Are Turned: The Effects Of The 2016 Us Presidential Election On In-Group Favoritism And Out-Group Hostility, Burak Oc, Celia Moore, Michael R. Bashshur

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The outcome of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election was a big surprise to many, as the majority of polls had predicted the opposite outcome. In this two-stage cross-sectional study, we focus on how Democrats and Republicans reacted to this electoral surprise and how these reactions might have influenced the way they allocated resources to each other in small groups. We find that, before the election, Republicans showed greater in-group favoritism than Democrats, who treated others equally, regardless of their political affiliation. We then show that Democrats experienced the election outcome as an ego shock and, in the week following the …

Midterm 2018 And Targeting Latino Community Through Misinformation And Disinformation Online, Manjul Shrestha

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

How has the Latino community been targeted by digital propaganda during the 2018 midterm elections in the US? How might this affect their involvement in and around the election? This thesis starts to answer these questions through a data analysis on two of the most prominent and popular social media platforms for political discussion: Twitter and Reddit. This study analyzed people’s posting patterns over time, the digital traces of the individuals pushing the majority and most popular content, and Latino candidates’ interaction on Twitter. This research provides evidence that on Twitter there are two main actors discussing Latinos and politics: …

Crimes That Changed Our World: Tragedy, Outrage, And Reform: Chapter One: 1911 Triangle Factory Fire: Building Safety Codes, Paul H. Robinson, Sarah M. Robinson

All Faculty Scholarship

This first chapter of the recently published book Crimes That Changed Our World: Tragedy, Outrage, and Reform, examines the process by which the tragic 1911 Triangle Factory Fire provoked enormous outrage that in turn created a local then national movement for workplace and building safety that ultimately became the foundation for today’s building safety codes. What is particularly interesting, however, is that the Triangle Fire was not the worst such tragedy in its day. Why should it be the one that ultimately triggers social progress?

The book has 21 chapters, each of which traces the tragedy-outrage-reform dynamic in a …