Other Political Science Commons^™

The Specter Of Intolerance: Understanding Religious Violence In Pakistan, Syeda Haider

Honors Scholar Theses

The role of religion in Pakistani political and civil life has had a defining role in the political development of the nation. The country is now a breeding ground for religious extremism, with militant groups conducting brutal attacks against the Shia, Ahmedi, Christian and Hindu communities of Pakistan. There have been few explanations attempting to describe the problem of religious violence domestically, within Pakistan’s borders towards Pakistani citizens. This essay examines how, despite Pakistan’s initial conception as a secular state, the country has become haunted by intense religious violence. It links the lack of consensus around national identity with the …

Wing-Nut: A Mobile Political Magazine For Millennials, Eric Lyons

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Wing-Nut is a mobile based political magazine/news outlet for millennials. It is one of the first magazines designed specifically for mobile devices in an attempt to better appeal to the tech obsessed, smartphone addicted millennial generation. The magazine was designed to engage 18-to-25-year olds and make them think about political issues and how politics affect their everyday lives. The overall goal of the media outlet is to get the political discussion or conversation started between millennials: get them informed and get them involved.

Visualizing The "Hermit Kingdom" Graphing, Mapping, And Analyzing The 2008 North Korean Census, Molly Linhorst

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Discussion rarely takes a dispassionate view of North Korea and its people, and ingrained aversion to the idea of promoting a better understanding of the state distracts from serious, empirical study of the population. This research makes use of the 2008 North Korean census, an extensive set of fifty-three tables, which received little attention and remained in PDF format. This research project first translates and publishes machine-readable formats of the census data and then employs R statistical programming to create visualizations of select tables and conduct simple data analysis, including p-tests and Mantel-Haenzel tests. Males and urban residents were found …

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 …

Adapting To A Changing Climate: Local Drivers For Policy Response, Andrew J. Bilich

Honors Scholar Theses

Responding to the present and looming effects of global climate change presents a challenging task for policymakers at all levels of governance. The outcomes of climate change do present serious adaptation problems for global policy makers, but the implications of climate change are more immediately experienced by local communities and policy makers. Historical policymaking models suggest that economic well-being is an influential driver in local policy adoption. This particular analysis explores the relationship between economic variables and the development of climate adaptation policies by Connecticut municipalities. To test the degree of interaction present, adaptation policy data in the form of …

The Virtues Of Justice, John Thrasher, David Schmidtz

Philosophy Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"This essay considers (and endorses) three complementary conceptions of justice as virtue. To the two senses of justice just mentioned-justice as a virtue of the soul and of the polis-we add a third that bridges these two. Virtue can be a kind of outreach rather than a kind of internal harmony, because we are talking about essentially social beings. The harmony that is this virtue's object is harmony with a community. Thus, a person who is just in this sense is disposed to respect (play within the rules of) institutions that command respect by virtue of actually working-that is, actually …

Post-Development Theory And Food Security: A Case Study In Swaziland, Lauren Karplus

Capstone Projects – Politics and Government

Post-development theory argues that development theory and the practice of Post-World War II development projects have failed because the entire concept of development is a Western, non-universal measure of progress. Indeed, examples of failed development interventions abound from around the world. While development experts argue amongst themselves about how best to deliver development interventions in order to minimize the failures of development, post-development theorists believe that no amount of tweaking will make the development agenda a success. They argue that the problem with development is not about how it is implemented, but rather that development itself is a flawed concept …

Urban Foraging And The Relational Ecologies Of Belonging, Melissa R. Poe, Joyce Lecompte, Rebecca J. Mclain, Patrick T. Hurley

Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Through a discussion of urban foraging in Seattle, Washington, USA, we examine how people's plant and mushroom harvesting practices in cities are linked to relationships with species, spaces, and ecologies. Bringing a relational approach to political ecology, we discuss the ways that these particular nature–society relationships are formed, legitimated, and mobilized in discursive and material ways in urban ecosystems. Engaging closely with and as foragers, we develop an ethnographically grounded ‘relational ecologies of belonging’ framework to conceptualize and examine three constituent themes: cultural belonging and identity, belonging and place, and belonging and more-than-human agency. Through this case study, we show …

Terrorism: Libya’S Role In The Instability Of The Region, Cara Rabe-Hemp, Cayla Comens

Graduate Research - Criminal Justice

When media focuses its attention on the subject of terrorism, the country of Libya is not typically at the forefront of the discussion. However, Libya has a deep hand in terrorism dating back to when Colonel Muammar Qaddafi took control of the country in 1969. During the years that Qaddafi was in control, he financially backed terrorist organizations, who repeatedly aimed their sights on the United States and their allies. Even after the fall of Qaddafi’s regime, terrorism is still a part of the governmental strategy in the country. The attack in Benghazi against an American compound, which resulted in …

Politics Of Environmental Policy: A Case Study Of Alamor And The Yasuní National Park, Katie Weber

Capstone Projects – Politics and Government

In 2008 Ecuador made environmental history by giving rights to Mother Nature in its constitution and was widely recognized as the most environmentally friendly country in the world. This paper examines the environmental movement in the following years and seeks to understand the primary actors that make decisions as well as who benefits and who is harmed when the environment is not protected. In order to answer these questions, the paper focuses on two distinct cases; that of the small town of Alamor in southern Ecuador and that of the Yasuní National Park in the Amazon.

Arizona's Vulnerable Populations, Jonathan G.S. Koppell, Warren Prostollo, Jay Kittle, Arlan Colton, Kim Demarchi, Darryl Dobras, Susan Goldsmith, Billie Fidlin, Jim Holoway, Tara Jackson, Rita Maguire, Elizabeth Mcnamee, Patrick Mcwhortor, Ray Newton, Pat Norris, Steve Pedigo, Scott Rhodes, Fred Rosenfed, Chad Sampson, David Snider, Bob Strain, Marissa Theisen, Devan Wastchak, Terri Wogan, Larry Woods, Antonia Adams-Clement, Nina Babich, Andrea Banks, Eric Bjorklund, Luke Black, Luis De La Cruz-Parra, Richard Fabes, Felicia Ganther, Joseph Garcia, Maria Harper-Marinick, Kevin Hengehold, Lane Kenworthy, Julie Knapp, Kelly Mcgowan, Ray Ostos, Kathleen Perales, Suzanne Pfister, Michael S. Shafer, Julia Grace Smith, Ed Strong, Cynthia Zwick

Publications from President Jonathan G.S. Koppell

Arizona’s vulnerable populations are struggling on a daily basis but usually do so in silence, undetected by traditional radar and rankings, often unaware themselves of their high risk for being pushed or pulled into a full crisis. Ineligible for financial assistance under strict eligibility guidelines, they don’t qualify as poor because vulnerable populations are not yet in full crisis. To be clear, this report is not about the “poor,” at least not in the limited sense of the word. It is about our underemployed wage earners, our single-parent households, our deployed or returning military members, our under-educated and unskilled workforce, …

Zero-Sum Politics As A Trust Dilemma? How Race And Gender Affect Trust In Obama’S And Clinton’S Representation Of Group Interests, Shayla Nunnally

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

- 103 - Zero-Sum Politics as a Trust Dilemma? How Race and Gender Affect Trust in Obama’s and Clinton’s Representation of Group Interests Shayla C. Nunnally University of Connecticut This analysis deploys multiple regression Models and uses embedded survey experiments from a 2007 national web-based survey to determine African American, Latino, and Caucasian Democrats’ trust in Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to represent racial, gender, and intersectional interests. Three hypotheses are tested to discern whether respondents’ trust varies based on their: 1) race trumping gender, 2) gender trumping race, and/or 3) intersectionality enhancing trust, when their race and gender mirror …

Vanguards No Longer: Challenges To Al Qaeda Leadership Of The Jihadist Community, Byron J. Doerfer

Senior Theses and Projects

2014 marks the first time that al Qaeda’s supremacy in the Jihadist community has been challenged. al Qaeda’s former franchise in Iraq, now called the “Islamic State,” has declared the organization responsible for 9/11 “Tyrants” and “Apostates.” The Islamic State has begun openly attacking al Qaeda’s official franchise in Syria, Jabhat al Nusra. These events are a consequence of the strategy of franchising that al Qaeda undertook following 9/11. The root of the issue between al Qaeda and its former Iraqi franchise is over a difference over the importance placed on popular support as a key ingredient in achieving the …

El Debate En Torno A La Cientificidad De La Ciencia Política, Fernando Barrientos Del Monte

Fernando Barrientos Del Monte

En este breve ensayo se presentan y discuten algunos de los argumentos que han precedido el debate en torno al estatus y cientificidad de la Ciencia Política contemporánea. Desde principios del siglo XX quienes pusieron las bases de la disciplina tenían dudas sobre su grado de autonomía respecto de otras ciencias sociales, su objeto de estudio y la metodología que la distinguiera de otras ciencias sociales. La revolución conductista de los años 50 del siglo XX significó un parteaguas en el desarrollo de la Ciencia Política al poner los cimientos de su autonomía, pero esta ruta fue ampliamente cuestionada. A …

Evaluating Forcible Humanitarian Intervention In The Case Of Genocide, Claire Nadolski

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

When confronted with one of the most terrible atrocities the world has seen, we often see differing reactions from the international community. Genocide has long been a difficult topic to grapple with due to its gruesome nature and its conflicts with sovereignty. Many nations believe to intervene would be to step on the national sovereignty of the country in question, while others believe that in ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) we are obligated to intervene in the name of peacekeeping and preservation of life. What remains to be evaluated …

Explaining Ballot Initiative Contest Outcomes In California, Oregon, And Washington, Hans Daniel Stroo

Dissertations and Theses

What explains the outcomes of ballot initiative contests? What factors determine the passage or rejection of an initiative? This paper describes and evaluates three approaches to explaining ballot initiative contest outcomes. The first approach involves using the expenditures of Yes and No campaigns as the causal factor in explaining why passage or defeat is the respective outcome of a given contest. The second explanatory approach emphasizes the logic of collective action problems. The third approach incorporates the larger constellation of policymaking institutions in which each ballot initiative process exists. Specifically, in what ways is the process shaped by the larger …

The Path To Regulation Of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles In The United States, Jeremy Straub, Joe Vacek

Jeremy Straub

This poster presents an overview of proposed regulations that are presented in [1] related to a re-vised approach to small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) regulation in the United States. Prospective strategies for enhancing UAV regulation are consid-ered as is the pathway to develop and implement these regulations. The benefits of changing the UAV regulatory regime are discussed, on both a user/prospective user and societal scale.

The Continuing Significance Of Exile In American Politics, Nicol Rae

Center for Humanities in an Urban Environment Archives

No abstract provided.

Game Theory Meets The Humanities And Both Win Or Book Review: Game Theory And The Humanities: Bridging Two Worlds, By Steven J. Brams, Karl-Dieter Crisman

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This review discusses Brams' wide-ranging book Game Theory and the Humanities and gives some basic examples of the methodology and style, including how the Theory of Moves contributes to understanding such games.

Goodbye To Europe And Hello To Asia: The New Imperialism Of “Chindia” In Africa, Sybil Gelin (Class Of 2014)

Writing Across the Curriculum

In 2006, the Chinese government released its first ever Africa policy paper. In the document, the government of China announced its plans to forge a strong and enduring relationship with Africa on the basis of four ideals: mutual tolerance despite differing ideologies, cooperation in international politics, economic intercourse predicated upon fairness, and observance of Africa’s right to choose its own path to economic development.[1] This document, along with the third Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (or FOCAC) (at which more than forty-five African leaders gathered to discuss the future of China-Africa relations), served as a springboard for future Chinese engagement …

Balancing Preservation And Promotion Of Natural Resources: A Case Study Of Newaygo County, Michigan, Jeffrey Koch

Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development—Student Research

Natural resource management (NRM) involves a multitude of levels and interests. Options for sustainable management must involve all stakeholders and balance levels of decision-makers, whether local, regional, or national. No one-size-fits-all approach applies to NRM; instead, co-management of resources and multi-stakeholder collaborations assist in achieving sustainable solutions, given the multiple interest groups involved in the commons. Through good governance, flexibility to change, and community engagement efforts, NRM has a better chance for success and sustainability.

Clearly, natural resources cross governmental boundaries and jurisdictions, and NRM strategies must compensate for this dynamic. The region of West Michigan contains a wealth of …

Empowering Women In China: The Role Of Women’S Organizations And Civil Society, Amany Khodair

Political Science

Egypt and china share cultural, constitutional and historical similarities make it possible for Egypt to benefit from the Chinese Model of women empowerment. The ALL-China Women Federation (ACWF) has succeeded to negotiate an effective and instrumental role in the development of the status of women and their empowerment in China through its collaborative efforts with both the Party and the Government. The Egyptian National Council for Women (NCW) can follow in its foot-steps and adopt similar approaches to develop incremental long-term empowerment achievement programs.

Unintended Consequences: The Posse Comitatus Act In The Modern Era, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

America was born in revolution. Outraged at numerous abuses by the British crown—to include the conduct of British soldiers in the colonists’ daily lives—Americans declared their independence, creating a new republic with deep suspicions of a standing army. These suspicions were intensely debated at the time of the nation’s formation and enshrined in the Constitution. But congressional limitations on the role of the military in day-to-day affairs would have to wait. This did not occur until after the Civil War when Southern congressmen successfully co-opted the framers’ earlier concerns of a standing army and passed a criminal statute—the 1878 Posse …

Not Without Political Power: Gays And Lesbians, Equal Protection And The Suspect Class Doctrine, Darren L. Hutchinson

Faculty Articles

The Supreme Court purportedly utilizes the suspect class doctrine in order to balance institutional concerns with the protection of important constitutional rights. The Court, however, inconsistently applies this doctrine, and it has not precisely defined its contours. The political powerlessness factor is especially undertheorized and contradictorily applied. Nevertheless, this factor has become salient in recent equal protection cases brought by gay and lesbian plaintiffs.

A growing body of and federal and state-court precedent addresses the flaws of the Court's suspect class doctrine. This Article discusses the inadequacies of the suspect class doctrine and highlights problems within the emerging scholarship and …

Does Having A Major And Lucrative Sports Arena Improve A Neighborhood’S Economy & Quality Of Life?, Natalie Hernandez

Master in Public Administration Theses

No abstract provided.

Elect Her Campaign College Women To Win Program, Judith Puncochar

Grants

ELECT HER Campaign College Women to Win Program encourages and trains young women to run for student government on college campuses and become active in civic engagement. Northern Michigan University was one of 10 universities selected for the first ELECT HER programs. Elect Her has been an on-going annual March event at NMU since 2010. Four of the last five ASNMU presidents have received Elect Her training.

Natural Phenomena As Potential Influence On Social And Political Behavior: The Earth’S Magnetic Field, Jackie R. East

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Researchers use natural phenomena in a number of disciplines to help explain human behavioral outcomes. Research regarding the potential effects of magnetic fields on animal and human behavior indicates that fields could influence outcomes of interest to social scientists. Tests so far have been limited in scope. This work is a preliminary evaluation of whether the earth’s magnetic field influences human behavior it examines the baseline relationship exhibited between geomagnetic readings and a host of social and political outcomes. The emphasis on breadth of topical coverage in these statistical trials, rather than on depth of development for any one model, …

Policy Briefing: Addressing Migrant Bodies On Europe’S Southern Frontier. An Agenda For Research And Practice, Simon Robins, Iosif Kovras, Anna Vallianatou

Iosif Kovras

In recent years thousands of undocumented migrants have died in shipwrecks at the coasts of Greece, Spain and Italy in their effort to enter the EU. This brief draws on field research on the Greek island of Lesbos, one of the key entry points of migrants to the EU that has seen repeated incidents of deadly shipwrecks. The note underlines the gaps and flaws in the policies pursued by local, national and EU authorities. Research shows that although several local agencies engage with the problem, none assumes responsibility. It reveals the absence of any provision for identification of victims or …

La Defensa De La Democracia Dentro Y Fueras De Las Fronteras. El Proceso Político De La Mesa De Diálogo De La Oea Del Año 2000, Daniel Soria Luján

Daniel Soria Luján

No abstract provided.

Half A Decade Of Pressure On Wages And Collective Bargaining, Magdalena Bernaciak, Torsten Müller, Kurt Vandaele

Kurt Vandaele

No abstract provided.