Other Political Science Commons^™

The Singapore Opposition: “Credibility” – The Primary Impediment To Coalition Building, Brian Steinberg

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This thesis studies opposition party behavior in competitive authoritarian regimes using the Singapore 2011 general election as a case study. The study asks, what is the primary reason Worker’s Party, the strongest opposition party in Singapore, did not pursue the formation of a pre-electoral coalition? I analyzed the pre- existing theories and conducted fieldwork, interviewing opposition party leaders, academics and activists, to ascertain a direct impediment and not just a background condition to coalition building. Many of the pre-existing theories contained insights relevant in Singapore, but the operationalization of the variable limited their significance. I demonstrate that Worker’s Party did …

Social Media And Its Potential Effects On Civic Engagement, Kathleen Elizabeth Walpole

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Social media has been predicted as a tool to change the democratic process and turn around the substantial decline in political participation that has occurred among American citizens in the most recent years. Yet, since it is still relatively young and unharnessed, many argue that any effect that social media can have on civic engagement cannot be determined yet. This thesis explores and discusses how the emergence of social media as a campaign tool could effect traditional forms of civic engagement as well as produce new forms.

In the 2008 election, social media was capitalized by the presidential campaign of …

Foundations Of Euroskepticism In The United Kingdom: Declining Support For The European Union, Kayla Walsh

Honors Capstone Projects - All

I discuss two questions pertaining to the relationship of the United Kingdom and Europe: why has support always been lower in the United Kingdom for Europe than other member states and why is support for Europe in decline?

To show the low support as well as the decline in support, I look at two referendums in the UK on membership, one in 1975 and another in 2011 that show two end points for how low support has fallen. I then discuss the history of the United Kingdom and her relationship with the European institutions to lay the foundation of the …

The "Troubles:" Northern Irish Political Contention From Sunningdale To The Good Friday Agreement, Daniel J. Foley

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This paper looks to answer the question: Can the contentious politics thesis of Doug McAdam, Sidney Tarrow, and Charles Tilly explain why the Good Friday Agreement (1998) (GFA) successfully produced a lasting peace in Northern Ireland, when the Sunningdale (1973) and the Anglo-Irish (1985) agreements failed to do so? I set out to study the buildup and aftermath of each agreement and subsequently examine each through the lens of the contentious politics thesis, searching for causal mechanisms and processes that explain the success of the GFA. The purpose of the contentious politics thesis is not to examine various forms of …

Dual Citizenship In Asia, Mindy Eiko Tadai

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Among all regions, Asia lags behind in terms of the number of countries that recognize dual citizenship, but why have some Asian countries permitted dual citizenship while others have not? As of 2009, only seven countries in Asia recognize dual citizenship: Sri Lanka, Cambodia, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam. This study analyzes data for twenty-two Asian countries and conducts four case studies. The first two cases, India and the Philippines, recognize dual citizenship, while the second two cases, Nepal and Mongolia, do not. I examine three hypothesized factors that contribute to state recognition of dual citizenship in Asia: …

Reflections Of A Young Journalist Working Within The Parliament Of The United Kingdom, Joe Frandino

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The purpose of my Capstone project is to present a personalized insight into the British political and journalistic systems, and how they contrast with their respective American counterparts. As an intern in the British Houses of Parliament, and with the news department of the Liberal Democratic Party of the United Kingdom, I will present my significant experiences and understandings, as well as the changes I underwent during my study-abroad semester in London, England during the spring of 2009.

Native American Elementary Education In The Syracuse City School District: A Microcosm Of The Native American Struggle For Self-Determination And Tribal Sovereignty, Margaret Eleni Mcweeney

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This intent of this paper is to research Native American education in theSyracuseCitySchool District. This paper examines the relationship of the Onondaga Nation and the New York State Department of Education. The Onondaga Nation is a Native American Nation that neighbors the City ofSyracuse. The Nation is one of a Confederacy of Six Native American Nations inNew YorkStatecalled the Haudenosaunee.

Native American students across theUnited Stateshave extremely low graduation rates in city public schools. The Onondaga Nation attributes this to policies of marginalization and insensitive curriculum materials in public school. Many theories have been proposed that minority students often suffer …

A Student’S Guide To The Unique Iranian Theocracy, Evan Linhardt

Honors Capstone Projects - All

When listening to the news one day I heard the president of a nation describe wiping another country off the map. Later I heard from the same president that his country would defy United Nation recommendations and continue their nuclear program. The media took a great interest in this mans’ speeches and their potential implications. They portrayedIranas a country on the brink, challenging the world to stop them. The media unfortunately was focusing on the wrong man’s rhetoric because although he is labeled as president ofIran, he will not have a say in declaring war on another nation nor will …

The Federal Minimum Wage, Political Thought And Citizenship, Thomas P. Hackman

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Several questions about the minimum wage have not been answered adequately by scholars. The wage’s origins, its reasons for federal passage, the roots of its decline, and its future prospects are all up for debate in the current literature. This paper weighs in on these questions, hoping to improve the debate surrounding them. In the process, the importance of linking the wage to citizenship becomes clear. As the political thought of the issue has moved away from conceiving of minimum wages as tools for reaffirming the status of low wage workers, support for the wage, and its monetary value, has …