Political Theory Commons^™

The Value Of Your Life By The Numbers Crowdfunded Medical Debt, Grayson Highsmith

The Commons: Puget Sound Journal of Politics

For centuries, components of culture from Pacific Island States have been commodified in various forms of media within the cultural tourism industry. In recent years, though these media representations have shifted away from encouraging direct colonial exploitation, cultural tourism efforts still pose complicated questions about the amount of agency Polynesian individuals have how they are represented. While tourism is a significant sector of the economy in Pacific Islands Countries (PICs), it’s important to consider whether or not Polynesian people have the economic and social freedoms to influence how they share their culture rather than having it be offered up for …

Tourism And Cultural Commodification In The Polynesian Island-State Economies, Sowmya Kannan

The Commons: Puget Sound Journal of Politics

For centuries, components of culture from Pacific Island States have been commodified in various forms of media within the cultural tourism industry. In recent years, though these media representations have shifted away from encouraging direct colonial exploitation, cultural tourism efforts still pose complicated questions about the amount of agency Polynesian individuals have how they are represented. While tourism is a significant sector of the economy in Pacific Islands Countries (PICs), it’s important to consider whether or not Polynesian people have the economic and social freedoms to influence how they share their culture rather than having it be offered up for …

Political Bias In Large Language Models, Lucas Gover

The Commons: Puget Sound Journal of Politics

Recent research has found that large language models consistently capture and replicate undesirable societal biases relating to race, religion, and gender. However, political bias is not well explored. This study investigates the political bias present in the state-of-the-art large language model GPT-3. To investigate political bias, I apply Natural Language Processing techniques to develop a political sentiment analysis model. Using this model, I analyze the ideological bias present in political essays written by GPT-3, finding that GPT-3 has a moderate left-leaning bias and tends to replicate the ideological bias of prompt text.

The Panamanian Puzzle Successful Democratization And Foreign-Imposed Regime Change, Paige Saller

The Commons: Puget Sound Journal of Politics

Panama represents one of the only modern success stories of foreign-imposed regime change (FIRC) following Operation Just Cause, a military intervention led by the United States to remove Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. Literature on foreign military interventions as a whole traditionally suggests that FIRC is not effective long-term in countries trying to democratize. Panama’s democratization therefore represents a puzzle in why it has succeeded where so many others failed. This puzzle is compounded by the fact that Panama’s transition has not received much attention from political scientists despite Latin America generally being of interest to FIRC scholars. This paper posits …

Populists In International Relations, Melanie Siacotos

The Commons: Puget Sound Journal of Politics

Abstract

Electoral System Failure In The 2017 French Elections, Eli Schwanitz

The Commons: Puget Sound Journal of Politics

Abstract

Inception, Legitimization, And Preservation Of Competitive Authoritarian Regimes In Turkey, Zachary Andrews

The Commons: Puget Sound Journal of Politics

Abstract

Proto-Nationalism In Scandinavia: Swedish State Building In The Middle Ages, Alexander Jacobson

Honors Program Theses

Nationalism is usually considered a modern socio-political development and a product of the French and Industrial Revolutions. However most scholarship done on nationalism largely overlooks religion, and excludes both its presence in the Middle Ages and its development in Scandinavia--focusing heavily on German, British, French, and Central European variations of nationalism. For Scandinavians in the late Middle Ages and Early Modern era, nationalism did not emerge exactly like their European counterparts. It was the product of early religious, technological, and economic changes over the course of the 15th and 16th Centuries that restructured European politics, society, and identity. Using early …

Nuclear Deterrence And Low-Yield Nuclear Weapons In Russia And The United States, Anneke R. Taylor

The Commons: Puget Sound Journal of Politics

This essay examines the impact of new stockpiles of low-yield nuclear weapons in various countries (specifically Russia and the United States) on the current international balance of peace, which is commonly held to be based on mutually assured destruction due to major powers' possession of nuclear weapons.

It is argued that while low-yield weapons might, in certain circumstances, contribute to nuclear deterrence, they introduce far too many destabilizing issues for any additional level of deterrence to be worth the risk. The possibility of miscalculations due to the frequent dual-use of launch systems for both high and low yield weapons and …

The Past And The Present: Two Paradigms Of The Sino-African Investment, Emma Weirich

International Political Economy Theses

Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) has obvious economic and political connections between the recipient and donor countries. Such investment can benefit both sides and carry certain costs to both, whether through global scrutiny or domestic struggles. This these seeks to add to the ongoing discussion of China's OFDI to Africa by comparing China's investment during its socialist period (1949-1976) and its post-socialist era (1977 – present). This comparison reveals that China's foreign policy has transitioned from a socialist paradigm to a capitalist one in the last seven decades, which brought significant changes in its OFDI policies and practice. In the …

A Historiography Of Nationalism: And The Case For Scandinavia, Alexander L. Jacobson

Summer Research

This project surveys the historiography of nationalism and its theoretical shortcomings. It builds upon the work of emerging theorists and revisionists across a wide variety of disciplines and this project then contextualizes nationalism and its related theories in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. After establishing a firm history, the project ends with a quick survey of Medieval Scandinavian History and suggest that this region developed a proto-nationalism during the period. Moreover, this project looks to insert the developments of the Middle Ages into the scholarly discourse surrounding nationalism. In opposition to modernist theories of nationalism—who point to the …

Chinese Government’S Inability To Use Film – One Of The Most Powerful Cultural Tools Of Soft Power Expansion – To Achieve Its Soft Power Expansion Goals: Lessons For China To Tackle Its Soft Power-Deficit Problem, Kyungin Kim

International Political Economy Theses

Many scholars of Chinese soft power commonly believe that despite the fact that China has been working hard to achieve successful soft power expansion, one of the biggest factors that leads to Chinese soft power deficit or failure of the Chinese government to effectively trump “China threat” is its inability to use its cultural industries as a tool to fulfill its soft power expansion goals. This is a major obstacle to China in achieving its goal of successful Chinese soft power expansion, as it is said that culture is the most traditional and powerful source of soft power expansion. This …

Who Supports Donald J. Trump?: A Narrative-Based Analysis Of His Supporters And Of The Candidate Himself, Mitchell A. Carlson 7886304

Summer Research

The rise of Donald J. Trump in the 2016 presidential election cycle has astounded the media, the Washington political establishment, and the general public. A former reality TV star, tabloid subject, and creator of a global luxury brand, Trump is by no means what many would have expected from the Republican Party, with its establishment ready for a complete repudiation of Democratic control of the executive branch. This project sought to understand what accounts for mobilization behind Trump, to recognize the political identity of the Trump voter, and to challenge the notion that Trump supporters are “crazy,” racist, uneducated, or …

Hunting The Dark Knight: Books On The Batman, Ian N. Fox

Book Collecting Contest Essays

My essay and annotate bibliography explores the many facets of Batman as both a cultural icon and as a morally and politically complicated character. I explore the merits of comics and superheroes as a modern mythology that deserves serious academic study. Ultimately this is the expression of my personal growth by learning about the Batman and hope that others will pursue their respective passions.

The Power To Resist: A Study Of Dissidence Movements In Eastern Europe, Melanie Reiff

Summer Research

Can resistance to a totalitarian regime be possible? When a regime is so tightly controlled by a single leader or a group of people, opposition may seem impossible. Through the theories of Hannah Arendt and Vaclav Havel and the activism of Adam Michnik, I explore the question of the possibility of resistance. Given their different perceptions of totalitarianism, Arendt and Havel see extremely different possibilities of resistance. For Arendt, with a regime controlled by a single leader who has complete power over all aspects of life, opposition is extremely unlikely. However, Havel and Michnik see that resistance is possible because …

Back To Basics: A New Approach To The Unitary Executive Theory, Amanda Nicol

Summer Research

Post-9/11 American politics has seen an unprecedented rise in presidential power and what has come to be known as the ‘imperial presidency’. The Bush Administration met with sharp criticism for its unusually strong interpretation of the unitary executive theory, which states that control of the executive branch should be vested solely in the president; certain administration officials argued that the unorthodox nature of the war on terror required that the president be granted absolute power under the unitary executive theory, devoid of usual legislative and judicial checks. Scholars are sharply divided over whether there is a constitutional basis for this …