Other Political Science Commons^™

Manufacturing Legitimacy: A Critical Theory Of Election News Coverage, Gabriel N. Elias

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

To what degree does instrumental reason influence election news coverage? Using Habermas's understanding of system/life-world as a heuristic, I map the rationalization process of political communication. This illuminates the institutional logics at play in the field of politics and the field of journalism, and the way the social dynamics between them enable the framing of political life as a strategic game. This understanding is then contextualized within an analysis of the media frames that informed the Canadian federal election of 2011. I find that news coverage does tend to focus on political strategy; but this is not wholly at the …

A Dissatisfied Partner: A Conflict - Integration Analysis Of Britain's Membership In The European Union, Osman Goktug Tanrikulu

Dissertations and Theses

Since 2009, the European Union has faced the worst economic crisis of its history. Due to the devastating impact of the Eurozone crisis on their economies, European countries realized the need to deepen the integration. Without a fiscal union, the Monetary Union would always be prone to economic crises. However, the efforts to reinforce the Union’s economy have been hampered by the UK due to its obsession with national sovereignty and lack of European ideals. In opposing further integration, the UK officials have started to speak out about the probability of leaving the EU.

The purpose of this paper is …

An Archaeology Of Capitalism: Exploring Ideology Through Ceramics From The Fort Vancouver And Village Sites, Dana Lynn Holschuh

Dissertations and Theses

The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), a mercantile venture that was founded by royal charter in 1670, conceived, constructed and ran Fort Vancouver as its economic center in the Pacific Northwest, a colonial outpost at the edge of the company's holdings in North America. Research into the history of the HBC revealed that the company was motivated by mercantile interests, and that Fort Vancouver operated under feudal land policies while steadily adopting a hierarchical structure.

Following the work of Marxist archaeologist Mark Leone whose work in Annapolis, Maryland explored the effects of capitalist ideology on archaeological assemblages of ceramics, this study …

Macroeconomic And Political Determinants Of Foreign Direct Investment In The Middle East, Robin Barnaby Calver

Dissertations and Theses

This study argues that governments with sustained GDP growth, open markets, low country risk, high levels and low standard deviation of government performance, and few or no occurrences of war, will see larger levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) over time. Scholarship on the determinants of FDI variously argues the influence of GDP growth, the openness of a country's economy, a government's level of political capacity, the level of country risk, and the negative effects of inter-, intra- and extrastate conflict. These studies on the various effects on FDI, while providing insightful and substantial statistical results, fail to capture the …

Postwar Reconstruction In Liberia: The Participation And Recognition Of Women In Politics In Liberia, Roland Tuwea Clarke

Dissertations and Theses

Despite the remarkable contributions made by women to secure peace in Liberia, women's representation in politics is still low. The first female African President has been elected, as well as a few women to strategic government positions, but the vast majority of women remain invisible. The reliance on these few women in government is inadequate to produce the significant changes that will be required to bring equality for all women.

This study examines the recognition of women's relative participation and recognition in postwar reconstruction in Liberia. Differences between traditional and non-traditional women's participation in Liberia were found.

This study includes …

The Confessional Model And Sectarian Politics: Lessons From Lebanon And The Future Of Iraq, Scott Preston

Honors Theses

This paper uses education policy as a case study in order to examine the issues affiliated with the Confessional model of government and compares Lebanon’s education sector with Iraq to inspect the universality of those issues. There are many features that make the country of Lebanon unique, but perhaps none more characterizing than its one-of-a-kind Confessional government. According to the tenants of Confessionalism specific government offices are to be reserved for specific ethnic groups. The system was an innovative experiment imposed by the French as a means to guarantee various communal groups representation within the government in an effort to …

Movementism And Party Institutionalization In Venezuela, Miguel Davila

Honors College Theses

The charismatic authority of Hugo Chávez often led analysts to affirm that the Bolivarian Revolution was dependent on his leadership. This study attempts to assess the degree of that dependence by examining whether the Bolivarian Revolution has institutionalized or not. Three variables were examined: the discourse of President Chávez, the political unity of PSUV deputies in the National Assembly, and the bypass of the electoral framework by Chávez. Two hypotheses were then formulated. The first one stipulated that the aspects of movementism found in the Bolivarian Revolution were relevant enough to disqualify it as an institutionalized system. The second one …

Contemporary Perceptions Of The Solidarity Movement Held By Polish Nationals, Nathan P. Buhr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Widespread participation in the 1980s Solidarity movement by Polish nationals of both genders, varying ideologies, and differing political backgrounds has led to diverse views of the history and narrative of the movement that today is interpreted in differing ways by groups and individuals. To gain a better understanding of how Poles view this unique time period of their history a survey featuring 54 questions was dispatched to and completed by over 121 Polish nationals. All questions relate to the Solidarity movement in categories covering: Prominent People, Media, Economics, Religion, and Education and concluding with a free-write section for additional comments …

Who We Are: Incarcerated Students And The New Prison Literature, 1995-2010, Reilly Hannah N. Lorastein

Honors Projects

This project focuses on American prison writings from the late 1990s to the 2000s. Much has been written about American prison intellectuals such as Malcolm X, George Jackson, Eldridge Cleaver, and Angela Davis, who wrote as active participants in black and brown freedom movements in the United States. However the new prison literature that has emerged over the past two decades through higher education programs within prisons has received little to no attention. This study provides a more nuanced view of the steadily growing silent population in the United States through close readings of Openline, an inter-disciplinary journal featuring …

Choosing The Nominee: How Presidential Primaries Came To Be And Their Future In American Politics, Ryan Rainey

Honors Theses

The presidential primary is an event that is crucial to determining potential presidents. It allows the public to see how these politicians stack up against one another and how they conduct a campaign. While the general public has a basic idea of how presidential primaries work, very few know the history and details of them. That is what this thesis will do. In part one, the early history of presidential primaries and how nominees were first chosen will be covered. Also in this section, the different reforms that the Democratic Party has undertaken in order to reform the primary and …

The Nuclear Triangle: A Case Study In Nuclear Operations Policy, Jordan Lewis

Honors Theses

As nuclear power has evolved from the mid-twentieth century to today, it has experienced phases of rapid growth, regulation, and distrust concerning operations and waste disposal. This study will analyze the policy community active in these changes as they have progressed through the policymaking process and will examine the actors within an "iron triangle" framework to evaluate the community's relationships, power structure, and effectiveness. Specifically, this thesis seeks to answer two research questions: 1) how does interest group behavior influence nuclear policy communities, and 2) does the iron triangle framework explain the nuclear policy community relationships and outcomes. While historical …

How The Media Covers Lawmaking: The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, Savannah Priebe

Honors Theses

The mass media holds extreme gatekeeping and framing functions. It is the media's ability to frame stories that tells viewers what to think about during a particular period of time, if not explicitly how to think about a topic. Over the course of health care reform in January of 2009 to April 2010 when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed, key concepts in news coverage were analyzed. The New York Times and The Houston Chronicle's articles at this time were researched in order to provide insight on the use of ideological bias in reporting on policy and …

Landscapes To Learnscapes: Exploring Schoolyard-Based Education, Emily I. Palena, Caroline T. Spurgin

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis explores schoolyard-based education as a viable and necessary method for rectifying the shortcomings within the American public school system and the Nature-deficit Disorder epidemic. We argue that schoolyard-based education should be fully integrated into the school system, not in the sole form of popularized school gardens, but as a standard teaching method. We show this using extensive research and a case study of three elementary schools in Claremont, California.

Grand Strategy In U.S. Foreign Policy: The Carter, Bush, And Obama Doctrines, Sara M. Birkenthal

CMC Senior Theses

This paper seeks to determine under what conditions a U.S. president can implement a grand strategy given the nature of domestic and international opportunities and constraints. It will examine three comparative case studies: Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, with the goal of determining what conditions are necessary at the individual, domestic, and systemic levels of analysis for grand strategy implementation. At the individual level, it will apply operational code analysis, as well as an examination of personal characteristics for each case study. At the domestic level, it will apply a five-prong test for examining factors that are …

China's Soft Power Offensive In The United States: Cultural Diplomacy, Media Campaigning, And Congressional Lobbying, Kalika A. Tullock

CMC Senior Theses

As China’s economic and military power develops and expands, it has been focusing recent efforts on upgrading its soft power in order to quell concerns and apprehensions about its rise. As the two most powerful nations in the world, China and the United States have both attached great importance to Sino-U.S. relations, recognizing that the structure of the future global community will be largely dependent upon these two countries effectively collaborating in shaping the global structure and improving global issues. Facing an American public that views China as a threat and competitor, as well as Western media that consistently paints …