Comparative Politics Commons^™

Peace-Building And Stability After Civil Wars: The Cases Of Angola And The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Ali Elsharkawy

Theses and Dissertations

Why do some rebel groups successfully establish stable and sustainable states after civil wars, while others fail? Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are two African countries that experienced long and bloody civil wars. Despite the commonalities, the two cases strongly diverged in the political outcomes after civil war. Angola successfully made the transition to stability and prosperity, while the DRC slipped back into violence. This thesis compares and contrasts between the two peace- building processes in both countries. The results illustrate that two main variables made the difference between the two cases, the geography of the capital …

Politics Of Urban Design: Racist Agendas Built Into The Environment, Chassidy Titley

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Discourse And Controversy In The Israel-Palestine Conflict - A Review Of The Literature, Irteza Atique

Major Papers

The Israel-Palestine conflict has been ongoing for more than 75 years and has many historical, geographical, religious, and ethnic components. Despite several attempts at resolution, the war persists, resulting in continued violence, human misery, and regional instability. This study dives into the highly contentious dispute over labelling Israel as an apartheid state, a subject that has prompted heated debate in academic literature, college campuses, the media, and diplomacy. Using a wide range of scholarly literature and trustworthy news sources, we investigate the origins of the war, important historical events, and the numerous factors that have shaped the current conflict. Beginning …

Media Censorship’S Development In The Information Age: Authoritarian Case Studies In Europe During The 20th And 21st Centuries, Carter R. Linke

Honors Thesis

The Information Age has dramatically changed how people consume information. With the availability of smart devices and the Internet greater than ever before, a population’s ability to receive multiple news reports and instant messaging has continued to prove beneficial to democratic societies. With these same technology improvements, authoritarian governments have been forced to adapt censorship policies to eliminate the Information Age’s push towards the free press. Since the 20^th century, authoritarian countries have introduced policy solutions to the growing connectivity across the globe. From the German Holocaust to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, censorship has aimed to control their …

Populists For And Against Technocracy: A Comparative Study Of Rafael Correa And Donald Trump, Sofia Antonella Chamorro Pilacuan

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

This paper proposes a comparative analysis of two cases of populism in the United States and Latin America. The comparison between these democracies with distinct features is used to highlight two contrasting variants of populism. Therefore, the populism developed in the United States by Donald Trump and in Ecuador by Rafael Correa will be explored to argue that Correa implemented a technopopulist government, while Trump in the United States developed an anti-technocratic populism. These two case studies will be used to assert that both forms of populism are equally dangerous because they polarize societies, put democratic institutions into question, and …

Factors In Decision Making Of Political Candidates, Levi Ramirez Garcia

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

What factors impact the decision to run as non-partisan over one of the major US parties? It is essential to analyze this phenomenon to determine the real motivations of candidates and the party they represent because they impact society as a whole. The candidates' ideologies and how the candidates feel representing the parties' ideologies are the main reasons for choosing non-partisan over one of the major US parties. This occurs because humans tend to work where they feel comfortable and in places with the same values and ideologies as them. It is the same in the case of candidates; they …

Peacekeeping The Commons: Un Peacekeeping Moderates The Effects Of Climate Change On Intercommunal Conflict, Cara Hunter

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The effects of climate change have been increasingly linked to the risk of intercommunal conflict, as climatic shocks have been shown to increase resource scarcity. Policymakers and academics agree that effectively designed institutions are critical variables in preventing and mitigating conflict, particularly in ecologically-fragile areas. However, there is a lack of evidence on the specific ways to strengthen institutions in the face of climate change, especially in conflict-affected settings. We argue that UN Peacekeeping Operations moderate the effects of climate change on intercommunal conflict by strengthening institutions governing common-pool resources (CPRs) to increase cooperation between communities sharing scarce resources. We …

Beyond Birth: Nurturing Careers, Elevating Women In Southern Europe, Avery Samer

International Relations Honors Papers

The expansion of female labor force participation has a strong, positive effect on economic growth. Maternity leave policies aim to support women’s employment continuity through a reduction of labor tradeoffs. Variation in maternity leave policies between countries spotlights the effect of maternity leave on female labor force participation, as shown in a comparison of countries in Southern Europe. This thesis provides an empirical analysis of maternity leave policy and female labor force participation rates in Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Greece. After the empirical study, the thesis analyzes changes in gender equality policies and women’s labor force participation in Spain, beginning …

City On A Hill: A Reflection On Christian Ethic And Human Morality, Mayce Combs

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

In John Winthrop’s sermon A Model of Christian Charity (1630), he spoke to his congregation of the mission God had called them to. With the creation of a new blended nation, the only way to be exceptional was to reflect the gospel in policy, action, and foremost thought. Philosophers from ancient times to today acknowledge that an individual is made up of the soul and their body. From the soul, comes thought, reason, empathy, and a connection to a divine being who deciphers what is morally unjust. The body is a sinful, self-seeking vessel that does not have the ability …

How The Global Migration Crisis Created Social Change In Europe., Brandon Piehler

Honors Projects

The Global Migration crisis started in 2015, when refugees began arriving on the shores of Europe. Europe had not seen a large-scale movement of refugees from middle eastern countries. This tested long standing agreements that defined relations between European countries. As a result, countries began to seek measures to restrict the flow of migrants across the continent. Migrants were meet with hostility from local populations and not welcomed by communities. The point of this honors project was to explore the social changes that the migration crisis caused. The historical backgrounds of different European countries helped dictate how they responded to …

British Populism: Ideals Over The Individual, David Pipitone

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

Over the course of the last decade or so, a wave of populism - especially of the right-wing type - has crashed upon many democratic countries across the globe. Through this wave, sitting governments have been ousted, the direction of policy has been turned around completely, and to this day, debates about the future of democracy continue in each of them. So too was the United Kingdom hit by this wave. A boiling of right-wing resentment of David Cameron led him to call a referendum on British membership in the European Union to placate the United Kingdom Independence Party in …

Exploring Demagoguery And Political Rhetoric’S Impact Through Social Media, Avery Palsma

Honors Thesis

Demagoguery refers to political rhetoric and activity that seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people. Demagogues are political leaders, such as Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler, who gain power by using a destructive approach to popular discourse. They influence culture by perpetuating and influencing ideologies, allowing them to take advantage of and fuel a dominating culture. Demagogues are present in today’s culture as the political divide becomes greater. This study aims to explain why demagogues are so influential and how social media might be contributing to their growth. In order to do this, three communication …

Impact Of Religious Extremism On Government Stability, Jasmine Usmanova

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

What causes government instability? This question has sparked various arguments. While some attribute government instability to economic factors like income inequality, others point to political dynamics such as the number of effective parties, or social factors like trust in the government. However, this paper argues that religious extremism, particularly when propagated by states through the adoption and enforcement of laws, policies, and practices that excessively integrate religious doctrines into the legal and governance framework, is a significant driver of government instability.

In this paper, we specifically utilize data from the year 2013. We employ the Gini index to account for …

Searching Govinfo.Gov/, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) database provides access to information legal, legislative, and regulatory information produced on multiple subjects by the U.S. Government. Content includes congressional bills, congressional committee hearings and prints (studies), reports on legislation, the text of laws, regulations, and executive orders and multiple U.S. Government information resources covering subjects from accounting to zoology.

التحديات الداخلية والخارجية لإعادة بناء الدولة, Dena Sabeeh Masoud Shqair, Amin Awwad Muhanna Almashqbeh

Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Research in Higher Education (مجلة اتحاد الجامعات العربية (للبحوث في التعليم العالي

هدف المقال التعرف على التحديات الداخلية والخارجية لإعادة بناء الدولة من خلال التعرف على الظروف التاريخية التي بلورت مفهوم إعادة بناء الدولة، وتسليط الضوء على عدد من التحديات الداخلية والخارجية السياسية والاقتصادية والاجتماعية والأمنية التي تحد من إعادة البناء. وانطلقت الدراسة من فرضية رئيسة مفادها أن "هناك علاقة ارتباطية بين عدد من التحديات السياسية والاقتصادية والاجتماعية والأمنية الداخلية والخارجية وبين إعادة بناء الدولة"، وبعد توظيف المنهجية العلمية الملائمة لهذه الدراسة ممثلةً بالمنهج الوصفي التحليلي، اتضح صحة هذه الفرضية؛ إذ تبيّن أن التحديات الداخلية ممثلةً بغياب الديمقراطية، والفساد، والعنف السياسي، والبطالة، والفقر، والهجرة الخارجية، والتحديات الخارجية ممثلةً باللجوء والتدخل الخارجي، ذات …

The Consequences Of Civil-Military Relations On Civil Wars In The Middle East, Alaa Bahnasy

Theses and Dissertations

To unravel the complex dynamics surrounding the outbreak of civil wars in the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings, one of the first questions that come to mind is the reason why some Arab countries have witnessed civil wars whilst others have not. The civil-military relations play a significant role in the matter. While much of the existing literature on the causes of civil wars, there is a scarcity of papers that take into consideration the role of civil-military relations. This research focuses primarily on two variables independent variables, namely the civil-military relations and the diversified ethnicities alongside the dependent …

Conspiracy Theories And Religion: Christian Nationalism And The Rise Of North American Populism, Carmen Celestini

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Global Criminal Justice Practices And Public Safety, Rachel Hwang

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Popular political discourse in the U.S. assumes that more funding for law enforcement and prison facilities will make civilians safer, presumably by reducing crime and sense of disorder. However, studies have shown that the relationship between these factors may not be as straightforward. With the killing of George Floyd and increased media coverage of police brutality, existing literature focuses mainly on the relationship between police and crime in the U.S. The impact of incarceration (the result of procedural justice) on the community (for whom procedural justice exists) is less known, especially on a global scale. We argue that cycling people …

Advocacy Coalitions And Canadian Energy Policy Decision: Navigating Four Pipeline Projects, Md Jannatul Ferdous Nayeem

Major Papers

The conflicting goals of sustaining the Canadian economy through energy and prioritizing climate action lead to diverse interest groups with varying views on policies advocating their positions to government. Despite energy's economic importance, climate change remains central for the Liberal government under Justin Trudeau. The management of pipeline proposals such as Transmountain, Northern Gateway, Energy East, Keystone Xl under this government showcased its balancing act between economic interests and environmental commitments. Applying the Advocacy Coalition Framework, this paper examines how governments and regulatory authorities modify the process for accepting or rejecting pipeline proposals, the evolution of interest groups in shaping …

How Climate Change Is Altering Energy Finance And Governance In China And The United Arab Emirates, Hans Gebauer

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Climate change is an environmental problem with catastrophic ecological, economic, social, and political impacts. The dramatic scale of the problem has appropriately earned it the name of “climate crisis.” As a protracted crisis, climate change will dominate national and international agendas while transforming institutional politics. Conflicts within policy communities, new interest alignments, social pressure on governments, and ecological collapse could conceivably transform the norms and institutions through which economics, policy, and politics are conducted. Nowhere is this clearer than the energy sector, which is responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions and wherein massive institutional shifts are just beginning to occur. …