Digital Commons Network^™

Agents Of Alignment: Political Realignment As Social Movement Strategy, Matthew Miles Goodrich

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The fields of social movement studies and political realignment theory do not often overlap in political science. But by conceiving of realignment as a strategy of social movements, this paper reveals terrain in the political struggle that conventional scholarship can miss. I draw from two historical case studies – the industrial labor movement in the 1930s and the civil rights movement in Mississippi the 1960s – to explore how social movement strategists fought to shape the contours of emerging political orders to achieve their goals. I find that the labor movement pursued a reciprocal strategy of alignment with the Democratic …

Comparing Campaigns To End The Subminimum Wage With A Multiple Streams Approach, Chris Peraino

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Labor organizations do not significantly represent the interests of restaurant workers in the United States. In the absence of labor representation, nonprofits have become the main advocates for restaurant workers in politics. Among the most active is OneFairWage (OFW), a nonprofit focused on eliminating the subminimum wage for tipped restaurant workers. OFW’s legislative efforts have had mixed outcomes. Two of its campaigns - D.C. and Chicago - were successful. All other campaigns, like those in New York state and Michigan, have struggled to achieve their goal. Why has nearly identical legislation with the same target population of restaurant workers passed …

Moving The Needle: The Policy Of Change On Syringe Access, New York City And State, 1988–2023, Joyce Rivera

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

By the mid-1980s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic breached a longstanding consensus between the political class and its bureaucratic alliances that had relied for decades on attitudes and orientations that championed punitive prohibition toward drugs as a bedrock principle of policy making. This ‘focusing event’ created an opening for HIV/AIDS activists to build a movement that offered an alternative, a more effective and just approach to how government policies and practices can manage illegal drugs and the persons who use drugs.

The dissertation uses several theoretical and methodological tools to address the central research objective that highlights the critical role played by …

Single Mother Poverty In A Global City, Gregory Cala

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The thesis explores how New York City's emergence as a "Global City" and welfare reform uniquely impacted single mothers’ lives on the matter of labor, housing, cost of living and more. New York City’s recovery from near bankruptcy in the 1970s began after cutting social programs and luring corporate firms with financial incentives. As firms moved to the city, so did their workforce of employees with skills in specialized service roles. Concurrently, the need for cheap, part-time, and temporary services emerged. By the 1990s, the growth of these less specialized service jobs outpaced all others, all while calls for work …

Framing Economic Inequality On Tiktok: A Qualitative Analysis Of Gen Z'S Engagement Across Three Issues, Braydan Brown

University Honors Theses

This thesis investigates how economic inequality is framed and engaged with on TikTok, particularly in comparison to two other highly-salient sociopolitical issues to Gen Z: racial justice and climate change. Through a qualitative content analysis of 45 TikTok posts tied to specific public events, the study examines how issues are visually and emotionally presented on a platform heavily used by Gen Z. Drawing on existing literature in digital political expression and social movement theory, the research identifies eight coding categories including tone, emotional appeal, and identity framing, to analyze content. Findings show that economic inequality is consistently portrayed with less …

The Unholy Matrimony: Russia And Violent Non-State Actors, Justin Castro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Russia’s contemporary relationship with violent non-state actors has been at the forefront of news due to the conflict in Ukraine. Despite the international shock at this phenomenon, this is an age-old practice for Russia. Since the 17^th century, the Russian state has developed a strategy of utilizing violent non-state actors in order to achieve its geopolitical objectives that consist of expanding its territory, extending its influence abroad, and weakening the capabilities of adversaries. While this strategy seems clear-cut, it contains a rich history of Russia trying to manage its relationship with non-state actors from a position of weakness and …

Peak Policy Lab Or Chasing Windmills? The Overlooked Issue Of Misaligned Policy Design, Adam Wellstead, Sarah Giest, Ishani Mukherjee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Policy innovation labs (PILs) are relatively new policy actors and are part of a larger global “labification” movement. They are touted as spaces for the novel development and testing of policy solutions. PILs have evolved into various forms–including those at different levels of government (central, sub-national, and local), sectoral (such as food, transportation, and environment), and cross-sectoral labs (social innovation and data labs). After a decade, some practitioners lament the effectiveness of their efforts and question if policy labs are indeed engines of innovation and change. We argue that the approach to policy design by PILs, in part, is an …

Cultural Ecologies And Local Policies: A Comparative Analysis, Alexis M. Gonzalez

University Honors Theses

In recent years, the role of arts and culture in economic development, community outreach, and local government has become focused on as a field of study. However, this is a new field of academic study, and there have not been many systematic comparative analyses of the role of arts and culture at the local level. Indeed, there is limited information at the state and federal level as well. Historically undervalued and underrepresented, yet with a streak of elitism involved, arts and culture is now being looked at as a major economic driver and social connector by policymakers at all levels …

Why Democracy Has Lost The Trust Of Modern People In The Modern Era, Erica Rubel

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the growing crisis of democratic legitimacy among young people in the 21st century. Across the United States and globally, young people are increasingly disillusioned with formal democratic systems, not because they are disengaged or apathetic, but because they feel systematically excluded from structures that claim to represent them. Through an interdisciplinary framework rooted in political theory, affect studies, intersectionality, and critical media analysis, this research argues that democratic trust cannot be repaired without emotional truth, structural accountability, and reimagined participation.

Drawing on the work of Lipset (1959), Crenshaw (1989), Cohen (2020), Papacharissi (2015), and Spade (2020), this …

Sociology: Culture, Marcia Morrison

Open Educational Resources

This work examine culture. It begins by examining the foundations of culture to include norms, values, language, symbols and knowledge. In looking at each, it breaks down the implication of each to the development of ourselves as well as the person in the environment. It moves on to look at contexts of culture such as dominant cultures juxtapose to competing cultural systems, and how the various elements of culture can serve to either promote or minimize the various cultural constructs within society.

The Activists’ Choice: Ballot Initiatives As A Step Towards Pro-Choice Efforts, Levi C. Mahler

Culture, Society, and Praxis

Following the overturn of Roe V. Wade, many U.S. state legislatures failed to implement abortion rights that satisfy the general population. When the public disapproves of legislative law, some U.S. states allow citizens and activists the right to pursue a ballot initiative. With enough voter signatures, these ballots can turn into new laws. However, with ballot initiatives being a multi-step, lengthy process, what ultimately pushes activists to pursue this path? My research analyzes this novel intersection of political science and sociology fields to contribute to the current lack of literature on activists' decisions to pursue ballot measures for abortion rights. …

Their Will Is Wealth: American Billionaires, Illiberal Capital, And Their Immunity To Federal Law, Conor Kawika Carroll

Dissertations and Theses

Billionaires are inherently unique political actors. They, and their wealth, are a species apart. This rarity is measurable by quantifying relative consequences for actions made on behalf of that wealth. This thesis explores whether or not a billionaire's political power provides them with immunity to federal laws and regulations that govern wealth and its political use. The objective of this research is two-fold: to illustrate the scholarship gap regarding American billionaires and their relative immunity from federal law, and to instigate academia to study billionaires politically at increasing rates, providing more data for lawmakers regarding the most economically powerful political …

The Failure Of The Annan Plan And Suggestions For Peace In Cyprus, Haley Grace Morrow

Dissertations and Theses

The following study explicates the conflict in Cyprus between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots. The conflict began around 70 years ago and came to its height in the 1970s when a Greek coup occurred, and subsequently, Turkey invaded the northern part of the island. This drove the two parties apart physically and mentally. The Annan Plan, a UN peace plan in 2004, attempted to bring peace to the island by reunifying the two parties into a bi-communal federation. However, this plan failed as the Greek Cypriots voted against it. The failure of the plan was primarily due to …

An Antidote To Populist Ill-Rule? Polycentricity, And Excess Mortality In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Michael Lee

Publications and Research

It has often proven difficult for scholars of populist governance to untangle the policy results produced by populist governments from the conditions that might lead voters to elect populist leaders. The COVID-19 pandemic – an exogenous event occurring amidst the rise of populist governments to power in many of the world’s democracies – offers a unique window into populist crisis management. Are populists less effective crisis managers when the stakes are high? And if so, what factors might mitigate populist ill-rule? In this paper I present evidence that populist-led governments experienced greater levels of excess mortality in the COVID-19 pandemic …

A Jus Ad Bellum Analysis Of The American Revolution, Lindsey Allen

Senior Honors Theses

America is a rose among the thorns of history, owing her existence to her remarkable victory in the Revolutionary War. However, America's end cannot necessarily justify the means of her creation. This qualitative thesis will determine whether the American Revolution was just by examining the jus ad bellum perspective of Just War Theory. This philosophical purview will focus on the justness of the colonists’ initiation of the American Revolution, with its criteria being last resort, legitimate authority, just cause, probability of success, right intention, and proportionality. This thesis will synthesize the contributing elements and arguments for the defense of the …

Reassessing Policy Responses To Irregular Migration In Receiving Democracies: A Process-Tracing Analysis Of Transactional Migration Governance, Otoniel Ramos

Student Research

This policy brief analyzes the growing use of transactional migration agreements (TMAs) by receiving democracies—bilateral arrangements that exchange financial or diplomatic concessions for the external enforcement of migration control. While politically expedient, TMAs often generate long-term strategic liabilities: they reduce state control over enforcement outcomes, expose receiving states to coercive leverage by partner states, and weaken normative commitments to transparency and rights protection. Using analytic process tracing and formal modeling, this paper identifies four recurring mechanisms by which TMAs evolve into systems of asymmetric dependence. It then evaluates three alternative policy frameworks—Exit Doctrine, Legal Category Reform, and a Structured Conditionality …

Lobbying Laws And Campaign Finance: Shaping The Trajectory Of Post-2008 Financial Reforms, Jessica Plepi

Student Theses and Dissertations

Following the 2008 financial crisis, the United States enacted financial crisis reforms, particularly the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, to prevent future failures and enhance regulatory oversight of financial corporations. However, financial institutions pushed back against these reforms by utilizing lobbying and campaign finance mechanisms to weaken key provisions. Their efforts increased following the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), which allowed unlimited corporate spending. This thesis argues that financial corporations significantly weakened key provisions of post-2008 financial reforms through lobbying efforts and campaign finance. Through a case study of JPMorgan Chase, …

The Influence Of (Post-) Colonial Language Policies On Local Languages In Cameroon: An Acquisition Planning Perspective, Alain Flaubert Takam

Journal of African Policy Studies

This paper examines language policy and planning in favour of minority languages during the colonial era and immediately after. It is based on the observation that local languages in Cameroon do not seem to have the ethnolinguistic vitality necessary for their long-term survival. The situation of these languages begs the following question: Did the promotion strategies of national languages in colonial Cameroon pave the way for language attrition that is observable today or is it the language policy choice of the political authorities in independent Cameroon that has caused this language issue? This paper, which falls within the general framework …

The Political Economy Of Pension Reforms: An Analysis Of Policy Design And Practice In Ghana, Michael Kpessa-Whyte

Journal of African Policy Studies

There is a gradual move away in African pension policy from the hitherto predominantly pay-as-you-go social insurance schemes to new social security policies that prioritize private pension. But in African economies where capital market is underdeveloped and private sector is generally fragile, the shift to private pensions has implications for income security of the elderly. This study examines the design and practice of three-tier pension scheme with dual private pillars introduced a little over a decade ago. While discussing the various categories of private pension schemes that operate under the three-tier pension plan, it echoes the view that, the design …

#Justicepouradama : The Problem Of Police Brutality With French Police Targeting Former French African Colony Immigrants, Madalyn Von Hassel

Senior Theses

There is an urgent need to address systemic police violence and racial profiling in France, particularly against Black and African communities. It poses a critical question: how do instances of police brutality reflect and reinforce systemic discrimination in French society, and what can be done to dismantle these structures? To answer this, the analysis begins with the 2005 riots, a landmark moment of collective outrage triggered by police actions, which set a precedent for future protests and highlighted the grievances of marginalized communities in the banlieues. It then shifts to the death of Adama Traoré in 2016, whose case became …

"La Vida Es Un Carnaval": An Exploration Of Cuban Identity And Nostalgia Through Dance/Movement Therapy - A Community Engagement Project, Maria Fernanda Mendez Mendoza

Expressive Therapies Theses

“La Vida Es Un Carnaval” is a community engagement project and thesis that explores how identity and nostalgic resilience show up through dance/movement therapy with Cuban immigrants living in the United States, specifically Massachusetts. This project brought together six Cuban-born participants, ages 26 to 67, each with their own unique migration stories; from the Rafter Balsero Crisis of 1994, to the “Wet-Foot/Dry-Foot” policy, and family reunification. Through a mix of in-person and online sessions, participants explored their experiences using intermodal activities including dance/movement therapy techniques, conversation, journaling, artwork, and music. Themes of cultural pride, “Cubanía” – Cuban-ness, culture shock, and …

Drone Strikes In Pakistan, Muhammad Shumail

Capstones

my capstone maps all the drone strikes in Pakistan from 2004 to 2018. it show how many drone strikes were conducted during each president tenure and how many civilians were killed.

https://techman96.github.io/drone-strikes/

Frontlines Of Influence: State Vs. Nonstate Disinformation Campaigns, Lily Wershbale

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

This paper examines the evolution of disinformation campaigns conducted by state and nonstate actors, focusing specifically on Russia and the Islamic State as representative case studies. Through historical examples and qualitative comparative analysis, this research identifies the similarities and differences in disinformation’s role in actors’ core missions, resource allocation, and targeting decisions. This paper further explores the implications of artificial intelligence on disinformation campaigns, investigating how emerging technology will impact the influence operations of state governments and nonstate organizations alike. The findings reveal that while the ultimate intent of both state and non-state actors is to destabilize societies, their approaches …

Sundown In Indiana: A Midwest Story Of Racism, Exclusion, And Memory, Kelsey A. Snyder

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Sundown towns were a prominent aspect of the northern life from the early 1900s till in some places till the 1970s but they have been lost to history. These towns have been silenced and erased not just from the history books but from public memory. Indiana is my home state and the three towns that will be discussed have all had an impact on my personal development especially in understanding race. Decatur and Huntington places I have called home, both have been classified as sundown towns. The third, Marion was the location of the one the last known lynchings in …

Does Shakespeare Have A Death Wish?, Alyssa Marie Cordero

COD Library Student Research and Award Symposium

During their reign, both King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I were ruthless in persecuting and executing those who publicly and privately challenged their legitimacy - such opposition was seen not only as treason to the British monarchy but as defiance of the divine will of God. Violence, bloodshed, and cruelty were a norm and custom in Tudor England. Although he began his career catering to the audiences' bloodthirsty appetite, William Shakespeare wrote his later plays exploring the human psyche, the gendered experiences of women, and subtle political criticisms. With the looming threat of tyranny in Julius Caesar to the …

Latino Voter Registration And Participation Rates In The 2016, 2020, And 2024 Presidential Elections, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Abstract

This report examines Latino voter participation in U.S. presidential elections from 2016 to 2024, highlighting significant increases in registration and turnout between 2016 and 2020, followed by declines in 2024.

Methods

The study is a descriptive and comparative analysis using data from the Voting and Registration Tables issued by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Discussion

In 2020, Latino voter registration and turnout reached historic highs but these gains plateaued in 2024 despite continued population growth.

Persistent disparities in Latino voter participation remained across age groups and sex. Additionally, Latino participation rates in 2024 remained lower than that of non-Hispanic white, …

Breaking News And Broken Hopes: Inter-Korean Engagement And The Emotional Consequences Of Media Framing, Sophia Lizanne Trombley

Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes two periods of pro-North Korean engagement regimes in South Korea during the presidencies of Kim Dae-jung (1998-2003), Roh Moo-hyun (2003-2008), and Moon Jae-in (2017-2023). Through analysis of the three aforementioned presidents’ initiatives for engagement with the North, categorization of news headlines from two major South Korean sources, and public opinion polls, I argue that especially high and low emotional reactions among the South Korean public during these periods were exacerbated by news media’s overly dramatized portrayal of inter-Korean interactions, both big and small. This has led to desensitization and emotional exhaustion among the South Korean public, causing …

Living In Paradise? Cameroonian Women In The American Diaspora, Joseph Takougang

Journal of African Policy Studies

For decades after independence, African migration was a phenomenon that could be attributed to a patriarchal culture that encouraged male domination. Later, that traditional mindset was reinforced by a colonial system that often marginalized the role of women in many African societies. Indeed, because young men were more likely to be educated than their female counterparts under the colonial system, they were advantaged after independence to attend institutions of higher learning abroad when it became necessary to train young Africans to occupy important government and other decision-making positions in the newly independent states. Recently, however, women have become important players, …

Transformation Of Artisanal Small-Scale Mining (Asm) In Ghana: From Pre-Colonial To The Modern Era, Emmanuel Ababio Ofosu-Mensah

Journal of African Policy Studies

Literature abounds on the nature and impact of gold mining activities in Ghana, but limited efforts have so far been directed at exploring a concise historical account of the transformation of artisanal small-scale gold mining in Ghana from the pre-colonial era to the present. Against this background, this article traces the history of gold mining policies and regulations that have brought about the transformation of the artisanal small-scale mining sector in Ghana. Drawing on archival documents, interviews, newspaper reports, and a review of secondary materials, this study reveals that, unlike the situation in the pre-colonial era, artisanal mining from the …

The Rural Development Politics Under Prime Minister K.A. Busia Of Ghana, 1969-1972, Kwame Adum-Kyeremeh

Journal of African Policy Studies

This article discusses rural development under the Second Republican government of Ghana. While not directly engaging with the claims of Busia’s unrivalled rural development agenda, this article provides some perspectives as to why the assertions of unqualified success remain popular. Drawing on newspapers and published sources, it discusses the Busia government’s rural development programme and accomplishments, and finds that plans to develop rural Ghana date to several years before the Busia government. By adopting rural development as its flagship programme, Busia directed the government and citizens’ attention towards rapid rural development in the early 1970s. Widespread media publicity has helped …