Other Political Science Commons^™

Socially Racialized And Statistically Invisible: U.S. Census Recognition Of The Middle Eastern And North African Diaspora, Aliana J. Jabbary

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis delves into the recent decision by the U.S. Executive’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to revise the statistical categorization of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) individuals within federal statistical collection, particularly focusing on the U.S. Decennial Census’ racial and ethnic classifications as outlined in the OMB’s Statistical Policy Directive no. 15. Historically classified solely as racially White, the MENA diaspora’s statistical invisibility within federal data has significant impacts on policy eligibility and access to legal protections, contributing to their social erasure from the national identity. Through a comprehensive analysis of racialization and Orientalism scholarship, alongside an …

Is No News Good News?: Exploring The Impact Of Social Media Use On Misinformation Beliefs, Corbin Poyer

Student Research Submissions

Does diminishing access to print news have an impact on people’s propensity to believe misinformation? What if this misinformation emanates from an online source as opposed to a print source? The focus of recent research on misinformation has been narrow: (1) recognizing its existence and acknowledging its potential impact, and (2) generating and categorizing potential analytical types of misinformation. However, the ramifications of vanishing print media have so far been overlooked. This paper asserts a connection between news sources and misinformation beliefs, further positing that the decline in the quality and availability of quality print journalism predicates an individual’s belief …

Navigating Murky Waters: State-Level Strategies For Wetland Preservation And Tile Drainage Regulation After Sackett V. Epa, Caleb M. Swanson

Honors Thesis

Wetlands are some of the world’s most valuable ecosystems, serving as provisioners of species habitat, carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, water quality purification, and other ecosystem services. Human development has resulted in substantial wetland loss the world over. In the 1970s, the United States Congress passed the Clean Water Act, giving the EPA broad authority over wetland protection. However, in the summer of 2023, the United States Supreme Court decided Sackett v. EPA, limiting the EPA’s jurisdiction over wetlands to those indistinguishably connected to generally recognized “Waters of the United States” and removing federal protection for millions of acres of wetlands, …

Rhetorical Demagoguery: An Exploration Of Trump’S And Hitler’S Rise To Power, Tanner Horne

Undergraduate Honors Theses

While many scholars have examined the rhetoric of President Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler individually, there is a void of scholarly work that highlights the similarities between the two leaders’ use of grandiloquent language to stoke the passions of their perspective nations. In the past one hundred years, rhetoric and propaganda have been employed to push political agendas that are divisive and dangerous. Trump’s incendiary vocabulary–“enemy of the people,” “vermin,” “retribution,” etc., employed frequently throughout his campaign and presidency, in many ways echoes Hitler's speeches and declarations. While their political strategies ultimately differed greatly, a close analysis of their speeches, …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

More Than A Game: Sports Branding In Canadian Politics And The Canadian-American Relationship, Tyler Joseph Rohleder

Major Papers

The topic of sports and politics is extremely relevant in today's world. This paper looks at how sports branding within Canadian politics provides a tangible advantage to former athletes turned politicians, while these branding efforts also provide politicians who associate themselves with the phenomenon of sport a strategic advantage, termed the “Athlete Advantage.” These advantages are in a multitude of areas such as name recognition, higher approval ratings, and further political aspirations. This “athlete advantage” of sports branding is then expanded on in the form of sport diplomacy. With sport diplomacy and branding the concept of the “Athlete Advantage” is …

The Relationship Between “Black Lives Matter” Movement Protests And Police Arrests In New York City, Chicago, And Los Angeles: An Empirical Analysis, Lukas Louwagie

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The summer of 2020 marked a boiling point of protest and frustration at long-criticized police behavior in the United States. The events that summer revealed the “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) movement as something that could not be ignored and was capable of drawing national support and attention across many dividing lines (Mitchell 2020). Today, it seems evident that the BLM movement has had a substantial impact on modern political discourse—yet its impact on police behavior and reform, the primary target of the movement, is murky. Police departments across the nation are pushing back against calls to defund and reform their …

"The Land That Feminism Forgot": Birthzillas, Madwives, And The Politics Of Chilbirth, Amber Vayo

Doctoral Dissertations

“The Land that Feminism Forgot” is an in-depth exploration of the politics of childbirth that draws together qualitative and quantitative evidence to theorize the connections between treatment in childbirth and maternal mortality. Situating the qualitative research in the larger national context, the second chapter offers a State Reproductive Autonomy Index that provides an overview of the reproductive policy landscape at the national level. The dissertation then explores the role of institutionalized childbirth, medical mistrust, and obstetric violence in the U.S.’s longstanding maternal mortality crisis and offers policy suggestions in key public health areas. Through 120 qualitative interviews with people who …

Learning The Legislative Process With A Board Game, Michael Posadny

Honors Projects

Standard methods of teaching classroom material can generally work effectively for educating the majority of a class’s students, but some students may still struggle to find the information to be comprehensive, enjoyable to learn, or even necessary. Alternative methods of instruction can be used to educate students in different ways, and this study looks into the educational merit that a board game can provide to learning new material. Previous research has shown the effectiveness of board games on various elements of education, and this project addresses the findings of previous works to predict the effects that a game will have …

Cuban Embargo: An Insufficient Measure To Encourage Us Foreign Policy Interests, Esme Jm Prowse

Major Papers

This major paper examines the Cuban embargo as an ineffective hard power policy and explores the potential of soft, hard, and smart power as alternative approaches to resolve the failures of the 60-year-old blockade. The paper analyzes the historical context and rationale behind the embargo and assesses its impact on Cuban-American relations, regional stability, and U.S. national interests. The study argues that the embargo has failed to achieve its intended goals and has instead perpetuated a cycle of hostility, isolation, and human rights abuses. By drawing on the theoretical frameworks of soft, hard, and smart power, the paper presents policy …

Legislative Passage Of Marijuana And Pac Contributions: An Analysis Of Illinois And New York Political Donations, Luke Elliott

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The growing prominence of Political Action Committees (PACs) calls for the analysis of their impact on state legislatures and the passing of bills. This thesis sought to determine the relationship between PACs and the state legislatures of New York and Illinois as it relates to the passage of statutes that legalized recreational marijuana. This was done by collecting contribution disclosures from the individuals who voted on the bills and finding the aggregate amounts given to a candidate by in-state and out-of-state PACs and non-PACs. Then the data was subjected to a Pearson Correlation analysis. If the Pearson Correlation indicated a …

The Role Of Symbolic Politics In Shaping Political Attitudes: A Study Of Trump And Biden's Campaign Speeches, Nimra Asif

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this study, five speeches by Donald Trump and six by Joe Biden were comprehensively analyzed for their symbolic politics on immigration and social issues. The data revealed a consistent trend, with Trump featuring a greater number of mentions in comparison to Biden—66 and 26, respectively. Furthermore, Trump's symbolic politics exhibited a predominantly negative tone, while Biden's approach was predominantly positive. The results of this analysis confirm my hypotheses, highlighting notable disparities in the rhetoric employed by each candidate. Trump amplified a negative outlook on social issues and immigration, whereas Biden strategically mentioned and positively framed these issues. This research …

Home Is Where The Heart Is: Rural Residents, Deprivation, And The Impact Of Prd On Governmental Representation, Mary Rachael Blandau

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

How does rural deprivation, defined here as the perception that rural residents are deprived of economic and social capital that comparatively disadvantages them more than their urban and suburban counterparts, impact their political attitudes? And how do these perceptions, termed perceived rural deprivation, impact their attitudes towards the government? While scholars have long studied rural behavior, interest in the topic was reinvigorated during the Trump presidency once it became clear that rural voters contributed to Donald Trump’s election in 2016 and became some of his strongest and most loyal supporters during his presidency.

Before we can answer the question of …

The Cult Fascist: Establishing Cultic Behavior In Proud Boys And Incels, Aj Ashland

University Honors Theses

Is the Alt-Right a cult? Certainly, we can see religious fervor intertwine with politics as we see in the far-right, with artwork of Trump being crucified like Jesus, pierced in his side by Nancy Pelosi analogous to Longinus (Cole, 2020), or in the golden statue of Trump at CPAC (Beauchamp, 2021). But, do we see similar, potentially cultic, behavior within Alt-Right groups? It turns out we do see this behavior. Within this study, I determine via the Advanced Bonewits' Cult Danger Evaluation Frame what level of cultic behavior exists within Incels and Proud Boys. In doing so, I intend to …

The American Grammar Of Policing As An Afterlife Of Slavery: Arguments For An Abolition Democracy, Emily E. Buss

University Honors Theses

Prison abolition has entered mainstream conversation in recent years as the uniquely American carceral system comes increasingly under fire for its racial disparities, police brutality and prison labor. While these issues are sometimes framed as newly emerging, this paper utilizes a Foucauldian genealogical approach in conversation with works by W. E. B. Du Bois, Angela Davis, and other thinkers from the black radical tradition to interrogate the evolving tendencies and underlying historical forces of racial capitalism and white supremacy that shape the contemporary American prison industrial complex. Emerging out of the experience of racial slavery, these forces constitute what Hortense …

In The Eye Of The Storm: A Discourse Analysis Of Disproval And The Internet's Effects On Qanon, Cameron Bortolon

Major Papers

The role of conspiracy theories as a political force has recently attracted the attention of scholars and commentators, but little work exists on the ways in which the internet affects these unique sociopolitical phenomena. Especially noteworthy is the fact that these theories’ proponents are not even remotely bound to rational responses to real-world events, making them political forces that are uniquely difficult to predict and understand. The uncanny case of QAnon, a now-infamous pro-Trump conspiracy theory that developed for years on internet messageboards before manifesting in the January 6th 2021 assault on the US Capitol, has the potential to illuminate …

To The Shores Of Tripoli: A Barbary Retrospective, Kathleen J. Brett

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The First and Second Barbary Wars were incredibly influential in shaping the diplomatic and military tactics of the early United States. These wars were fought against the Barbary states of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers, located on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. The First Barbary War lasted between the years of 1801 to 1805. The First Barbary War began due to the United States’ desire to no longer pay tribute sums to the Barbary states, along with an increase in the number American merchantmen captured and enslaved by the Barbary states. Tripoli served as the primary aggressor in the …

Where The Rainbow Ends: The Hidden Humanitarian Crisis For Members Of The Lgbtqia+ Community In International Business, John R. Krendel

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Before pursuing an international career, members of the LGBTQIA+ community must be aware of the hardship that may be exacerbated by living and working abroad. This study addresses the trends in laws, including employment and anti-discrimination laws, that provide and restrict certain rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community in eight countries. These nations, both progressive and discriminatory, include the United States, England, Switzerland, Germany, Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Kazakhstan. Eight LGBTQIA+ business professionals spoke on their experiences living and working in each of these countries and provided advice to members of the community wishing to pursue an international …

How Religion And Age Are Correlated With Partisan Geographical Sorting In The United States, Claire Monsour

Honors Theses

This study explores the intersection of two main demographic variables, religion and age, and the ongoing phenomenon of partisan geographical sorting in the United States. Americans have been migrating to areas composed of politically like-minded individuals for the past few decades, resulting in the existence of Republican and Democratic clusters throughout the country. Republicans are sorting into rural areas, while Democrats are sorting into urban areas. Republicans and rural residents as a whole are more religious than are Democrats and urban residents. In addition, on average, Republicans and rural residents are older than Democrats and urban residents. Moreover, religion and …

Campaigning In The Digital Age: How Social Media Changed The Framework Of Elections, Faith Hamelin

Honors Theses

Throughout the 21st century, it is normal for social media users to see politics on virtually every platform an individual uses, ranging from LinkedIn to TikTok. Broadcast news, including television and radio have always aired political discussions, as mass communication became the most common and favorable way for politicians to communicate with constituents. However, politics were not a prominent aspect of social media use until less than a decade and a half ago. As the internet became further integrated into our daily lives, through radio, television, and cellular or smart phones, we found ourselves invested in politics at a previously …

Mental Health In Massachusetts Prisons, Jeffrey Yung

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

In November of last year, former Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division released the findings of an investigation of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (MDOC). They found several violations of prisoner’ constitutionals rights for mental health cases under the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishments for criminal defendants. The findings reveal a lack of structured mental health care for MDOC prisoners, untrained employees, and unnecessary abuse of restrictive housing for prisoners designated under a mental health watch program.

Muslim Immigration To Connecticut: An Analysis Of Muslim Communities' Role In Immigrant Incorporation, Hannah M. Lynch

Senior Theses and Projects

This research investigates the relationship between Muslim religious identity and immigrant incorporation outcomes in the United States. There is much existing literature discussing the outcomes of different immigrant groups to the United States, but Muslim immigrants have been largely left out of the discussion. Through interviewing Muslim immigrant residents of Connecticut, I discovered a two-fold relationship between Muslim identity and immigrant outcomes. On one hand, Muslim immigrants were able to incorporate more successfully through their Muslim religious community, such as their mosque. On the other hand, Muslim immigrants faced more difficult incorporating because of negative attitudes towards Muslim immigrants from …

The Influence Of The Federalist Society On Judical Politics And Law In The United States, Peter S. K. Lynch

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation examines the Federalist Society, which is a network of conservative and libertarian attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. The organization was founded by law students at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and the University of Chicago Law School in 1982, and has, over the last four decades, come to play a central role in law and politics in the United States. Individuals affiliated with the Federalist Society influence the law through a variety of avenues.

Federalist Society-members advance the goals of the conservative legal movement in a variety of capacities—by writing amicus curiae briefs providing the …

Migration And The Quality Of American Cities, Chase Mendell

CMC Senior Theses

Across the United States, cities are expanding. It is the role of the city leaders to promote policies that benefit both current and incoming residents. While these policies have intended results, the realized benefits and damages are challenging to define because they are the result of individual choices and the unique characteristics of the city. As a result, policymakers need to consider a complex web of factors such as employment, taxation, housing, mobility, and environmental quality. This thesis seeks to analyze these overlapping factors to discuss how policymakers can increase well-being while mitigating potential harms.

The State Of Our Community Social Capital In Kensington, New Hampshire, Sawyer B. Rogers

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study investigates the transformation of social capital over time, using the example of a small New England town: Kensington, New Hampshire. National social capital assessments indicate a substantial decline in social capital since the post-WW2 era. Kensington does not follow this extreme decline in social capital, with a significant rise during the 90s and into the early 2000s. Additionally, Kensington has high levels of social capital when compared to New Hampshire residents overall. Survey findings point to strong trust, yet weak social infrastructure in Kensington. Therefore, the most consistent way to maintain social capital between shifts is to create …

How Has Cultural Marxism Been Used As A Political Tactic In Order To Decrease Trust In Higher Education?, Drew Havnaer

University Honors Theses

This thesis will address the rise in popularity of the political notion of the 'Culture War.' It will trace this theory from its origins in the mid-20th century, through the landmark 1993 Buchanan Culture War speech, and to a modern version, often referred to as the theory of Cultural Marxism. The first part of the argument identifies employment of this theory by modern conservatives, and analyzes how many of us encounter it in our daily life, most prominently in reference to higher education. The second part of the argument targets the effect in colleges and universities specifically. It identifies how …

Recruitment Machines, Community Power And Political Return On Investment (Proi): Economic Development Policy In The Age Of Amazon, Eric G. Griego Montoya

Political Science ETDs

ABSTRACT

A fundamental policy choice in economic development among local policy makers is the appropriate mix of “outside” strategies that use incentives to attract companies, and “inside” strategies that invest in smaller and local businesses. Using a mixed-methods research design, including national and state surveys along with qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with policy elites, I examine the role of ideology, elites, community, competition, social capital (trust and influence), and electoral politics in these policy decisions. I use new descriptive theoretical frameworks called “recruitment machines” and “Political Return on Investment (PROI)” to describe how and why local elected officials support …

El Pueblo Unido: How Threats Increased Latinx Turnout In Arizona’S 2020 General Election, Conner Martinez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Latinx voter turnout in the United States has persisted to remain below White, Black, and Asian Americans. In 2020, county level data shows Latinx turnout reached historic levels in Arizona’s 2020 general election (Pew Research 2020; Census 2020). But throughout the past two decades, Latinx’s in Arizona have faced some of the harshest anti-immigrant policies in the nation. Currently, the literature on Latinx mobilization shows mixed results on the impact of political threats on Latinx turnout (Jones-Correa et al. 2018). Through in depth interviews with Latinx organizational leaders who managed mass mobilization efforts in 2020, this paper explores the role …

An Inferentially Robust Look At Two Competing Explanations For The Surge In Unauthorized Migration From Central America, Nick Santos

Dissertations

The last 8 years have seen a dramatic increase in the flow of Central American apprehensions by the U.S. Border Patrol. Explanations for this surge in apprehensions have been split between two leading hypotheses. Most academic scholars, immigrant advocates, progressive media outlets, and human rights organizations identify poverty and violence (the Poverty and Violence Hypothesis) in Central America as the primary triggers responsible. In contrast, while most government officials, conservative think tanks, and the agencies that work in the immigration and border enforcement realm admit poverty and violence may underlie some decisions to migrate, they instead blame lax U.S. immigration …

Underrepresentation Of Women In American Politics, Lindsey Crane

Master's Theses

In this project I studied why women are underrepresented in state legislatures. I conducted a data set ranging from 2000 to 2018 for forty-three US states, analyzing the percentage of women who won and the number of women who ran in the elections. Using this data, I found evidence that personal life choices have the most effect on rather women want to run for political office and successfully pursue political careers. Having this specific quantitative dataset, the study provides a better understanding to why women are still widely underrepresented on the state level. I also find that my independent variables …