Digital Commons Network^™

Environmental Effects Of Fast Fashion: A Study On How Increased Knowledge May Affect Buying Behavior Of Bryant Students, Talia Vicente

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

The goal of this study is to determine whether there is a relationship between an increase in knowledge about the environmental effects of fast fashion and the potential impact on the future purchasing behavior of Bryant students. To this end, I conducted a survey analysis of students' purchasing behavior, including the frequency of purchasing clothes, the major brands from which they purchase clothes, and their awareness of the environmental impact of purchasing clothes. I analyzed the overall findings for both male and female students, as well as the relationship between the most frequently shopped-at brands and the frequency of purchasing …

Promoting Information And Visual Literacy Skills In Undergraduate Students Using Infographics, Nicole Kalaf-Hughes

Political Science Faculty Publications

Because research and communication proficiency is ubiquitous in the academic and professional world, teaching students the necessary information literacy (IL) and visual literacy (VL) skills has become increasingly important. Integrating IL and VL pedagogy into substantive coursework can enhance students’ comprehension of the material and teach them to make a meaningful contribution to public awareness and understanding of political science. Yet, faculty often find it challenging to include instruction in these skills with necessary coverage of substantive course material. This article discusses the use of an infographic assignment in an introductory American government course as a tool to teach literacy …

"I Can't Even Bring Peanut Butter To School": The Gun Violence Prevention Movement, Emily Simon

Sociology 323 Racial and Ethnic Relations

Gun control does not equal gun violence prevention.

Do Our Eyes Deceive Us?: Polarization And The American Electorate, Lukus Perry

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

The political divide in the American electorate seems to have increased in recent times. In order to address and hopefully mend the division we need to look deeper into the causes of political polarization. Religiosity, media usage, class, and location all play roles in this equation and the goal is to see which factor is more divisive. Are religiously active people more polarized than others? The idea of perception vs reality also arises in this discussion, but based on moral alignments with candidates and issues, I presume that the most polarizing factor is religiosity. Using survey data from the American …

Helms School Of Government Newsletter- Spring 2023, Liberty University

The Helms School of Government Newsletter

Helms School of Government Newsletter- Spring 2023

Gender And Contentious Politics: Women's Effect On The Success Of Maximalist Protests, Elizabeth Gaver

ASPIRE 2023

This research addresses the question, “Does gender affect the success of maximalist protest movements?” Using Erica Chenoweth’s Women in Resistance (WiRe) and Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes (NAVCO) datasets, this research analyzes 338 maximalist campaigns (protests with the goal of overthrowing a regime) in order to determine if women-led protests are more successful than other types of protests. This quantitative analysis is followed by a case study of the contemporary Iranian women’s movement to test Chenoweth’s theory on nonviolent protests, women, and success.

How Can Social Media Improve Youth Voter Engagement?, Anton M. Kopti

Honors Projects

This study examines the impact of social media on political engagement and its potential to strengthen democratic participation, focusing on the nonpartisan Valley Votes Project. By implementing literature-based social media tactics, the project aims to measure the success of each tactic based on digital interaction and viewership. The findings suggest that social media can be an effective tool to promote youth civic engagement in the political process. The study concludes that further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of these methods in different contexts and settings. Ultimately, promoting youth civic engagement is essential for a healthy democracy, and social …

The Impact Of Candidate Sex On Electoral Success In Nonpartisan State Supreme Court Elections, Emma Dickson

Senior Theses

Women in the United States remain underrepresented in politics, both in the legislature and the judiciary. As the court of last resort in each state, state supreme courts serve as important judicial policymakers, and women should be involved in their decision-making processes. This study examines the impact of a judicial candidate’s gender on electoral success and competitiveness to determine if voters hold biases against women fueled by gender stereotypes. I test my theory using general election data from the 15 states that held nonpartisan state supreme court elections from 2000 to 2020. The influence of candidate sex is assessed using …

Jury Representation: Are Minnesota Counties Ensuring A Jury Of Your Peers?, Madison E. Weyker

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment states that the defendant in the courtroom is meant to have a jury that is largely representative of the local community in which the trial is held. This raises the question of whether juries are representative of the population in which they reside. To analyze this question, I compare the demographics of the 87 counties in Minnesota gather and analyze data from the Minnesota Judicial Branch’s Committee of Equality and Justice (Wahi et al., 2021). The results show that there are discrepancies at each stage of the jury process. Additionally, they show …

Geopolitics Of Semiconductor Supply Chains: The Case Of Tsmc, Us-China-Taiwan Relations, And The Covid-19 Crisis, Aditya Sehgal

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As the demand for more advanced forms of technology continues to grow, so does the global importance and reliance on semiconductors. This research paper examines the impact of semiconductor shortages on both consumer and military production, as well as the geopolitical implications embedded within the global supply chain.

The paper begins by providing an overview of semiconductors, the global semiconductor market, and the impact of COVID-19 on the industry’s supply chain. It also discusses the importance of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in the industry and its role in addressing semiconductor shortages.

Next, the paper discusses the impact of …

How Texas Migration Patterns Changed During The Pandemic, Pia M. Orrenius, Madeline Zavodny

Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center Research

The Covid-19 pandemic led to changes in where Americans work and live. The pandemic also affected international migration as borders were closed to nonessential travel and consulates shut down, slowing visa processing. These changes had implications for Texas, a state that has traditionally experienced large-scale domestic and international migration. This project also talks about the factors that positioned Texas to benefit from pandemic-induced changes in domestic migration patterns.

Replacing Notorious: Barret, Ginsburg, And Postfeminist Positioning, Calvin R. Coker

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This essay offers a rhetorical reading of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings to make sense of how widespread outrage over replacing the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a conservative idealogue was resolved through the invocation of postfeminist motherhood. I argue that GOP Senators and Barrett herself positioned her nomination as the achievement of feminist goals, justified through rhetorics of choice and the idealization of (white) motherhood. These strategies cement Barrett as the logical and defensible successor to both Ginsburg’s seat and her legacy of feminist work. I conclude with the implications of this circulation of postfeminist motherhood, with focus on …

Explaining Guatemalan Vigilantism, Bryant Mcconkie

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Ripped from his home in Concepción, Guatemala, the evening of October 13, 2015, Mayor Bacilio Juracán was brutally beaten, doused with gasoline, and burned to death by attackers convinced he had orchestrated the murder of a political rival they supported. In just this one isolated incident, the town hall, various cars, and at least six additional buildings were burned along with the mayor (“Linchan y Queman” 2015). A growing number of similar lynchings—vigilante attacks in which victims of the mob are severely injured or killed—across Guatemala have thrust Guatemalan vigilantism into the public consciousness, perplexing governments and political theorists alike …

The Impact Of Gender On The Acceptance Of Surveillance Technology, Jody Messick

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

A classic dilemma facing governments and citizens alike is the trade-off between privacy and security. This concept is found in the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which implies that citizens have a right to be protected against “unreasonable searches and seizures by the government” (FindLaw 2019). The technological revolution, and its implications for privacy, has complicated the nature of this right. Different types of data require different approaches to the privacy versus security tradeoff. A 2003 panel by Wright et. al asks how “sensor data,” data that is collected through technology that tracks a user’s online or real-world movements, should be approached, …

Just Choices? Judicial Selection, Ideology, And Partisanship In The Ohio Supreme Court, Margo D'Agostino

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

This thesis joins the conversation on judicial selection and impacts on judicial ideology. This is a multifaceted question that engages with the history of judicial selection, differences between states, growing polarization and partisanship, and an influx in campaign spending that can all influence Justices’ behavior while on the bench. While other theorists have used more quantitative or statistical analytics, more research is still needed on the nuanced and qualitative questions surrounding the judiciary in the United States, especially on the state level. I look at three Ohio Supreme Court Justices—Maureen O’Connor, Jennifer Brunner, and Sharon Kennedy—and decisions they have penned …

When Consensus Is Reached, Miguel Ruiz Cabañas

Faculty Journal Articles

The outcome of the UN climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh gives hope for climate justice, but leaves behind many challenges for the upcoming COP28 in Dubai.

Bigger Is Better? Re-Evaluating Nato Enlargement In The Post-Cold War Period, Matthew Mccracken

Senior Honors Theses

Since the end of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has grown substantially from its pre-1990 boundary between the two Germanys to encompass 15 new members with its border pressing eastward toward the former Soviet states and up to Russia proper. At the same time, East-West relations have sunk from a high point in the 1990s to a new low unseen since the Cold War culminating in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Top-ranking officials on both sides of the Atlantic cautioned successive U.S. administrations against heedlessly seeking to admit new members into NATO for fear that it …

Federal Law Enforcement Reform: Depoliticization Into A Constitutional Framework To Restore Public Confidence, Christopher J. Boosey

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis proposes that there is a lack of public confidence in federal law enforcement agencies and that this is because these agencies have become political weapons, investigating individuals rather than crimes, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Following multiple scandals, from the historical targeting of the Civil Rights movement to present attempts to designate parents critical of school administrators as domestic terrorists, wholesale reform of these agencies is urgent. Therefore, this thesis will address the issue of politicization, political corruption, and the lack of adherence to constitutional principles through the problem, significance, and solution method. This thesis will first …

Judicial Off-Bench Resistance In Post-Revolution Tunisia, Farah Tolu-Honary

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since the populist Kaid Said has risen to the office of the presidency in Tunisia, the country has been experiencing its largest threat to its hard-fought democracy since the 2011 Revolution. In this paper, I argue that Tunisian judges have utilized off-bench resistance tactics to protect their own autonomy from executive encroachment. I find that judges’ strikes are the dominant form of off-bench resistance. I explain this by looking at the relationships that judges’ unions maintain with other civil society organizations and unions, particularly the UGTT. I argue that the post-revolutionary environment, the strong union culture in Tunisia, and the …

Paved With Good Intentions? A Geopolitical Analysis Of The Belt And Road Initiative In Central And Eastern Europe, Vincent Zhang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this analysis is to reveal the geopolitical and geoeconomic significance of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to the region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Launched in 2013 as a proposal for increased economic interconnectivity between China and Kazakhstan, the BRI has since grown to encompass hundreds of countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe. The region of CEE is of note as it is coterminous with important regional groupings like the 14 + 1 Cooperative Framework between China & CEE and a point of overlapping interests from actors like the European Union (EU), North Atlantic Treaty …

Investigating The Detriment Of Development Assistance: A Geopolitical Analysis Of Sino-Djibouti Relations Through The Lens Of China’S Belt And Road Initiative, Elizabeth Elenwo-Roger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research paper will evaluate Africa’s past with debt accumulation, focusing on the role of the Washington Consensus spearheaded by the Bretton Woods Institutions in its failed attempts to relieve the continent’s debt distresses and further aggravate Africa’s already fractured relationship with the West. It will highlight the goals of the Belt and Road Initiative, assessing China’s South-South cooperation approach to its relations with Djibouti and the Horn of Africa. Specifically, it will investigate claims of China engaging in debt-trap diplomacy and the extent to which this term infringes upon the agency of African leaders. The general research question investigates …

Views Of Judaism And Jewish People In Jordan: Political, Social, Historical, And Religious Considerations, Thalia Gustina

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this research was to find out what the general view of Judaism and Jewish people is within Jordan and what factors play into these views. There were a few aspects of this topic that were specifically focused on in this study. The impact of Israel on the way that Jewish people are perceived was one of the main topics explored. Part of this was looking at the history of Judaism and Jewish people in the Arab World and how the relationship between them and their non-Jewish neighbors changed after the creation of Israel. As a majority Muslim …

Discovering Dune: Essays On Frank Herbert’S Epic Saga., Edited By Dominic J. Nardi And N. Trevor Brierly, G. Connor Salter

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

G. Connor Salter reviews Discovering Dune: Essays on Frank Herbert’s Epic Saga, edited by Dominic J. Nardi and N. Trevor Brierly, considering its new contributions to studies of Frank Herbert's work. Essays included fit into four categories (Politics and Power, History and Religion, Biology and Ecology, and Philosophy, Choice and Ethics) and range from Herbert's use of ecology in Dune to how game theory may help explain certain characters' apparent ability to see the future. Discovering Dune also includes an appendix which contains the only up-to-date bibliography of Herbert's work (primary and secondary sources).

Full Issue

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Local Partisan Agreement And Trust, Mike Pulsipher, Kelsey Eyre

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Americans are more distrusting than ever. On every metric, there has been a noticeable and substantial decline in trust of government, media, and business. This important trend has received a lot of academic and press attention and has been identified in nearly every state and every demographic. Curiously, despite decades of falling crime, fraud, and corruption, Americans are also less trusting in each other. While changes in trust for government, media, and business have looked quite different for Democrats and Republicans, partisans have shown similar declining trends in general trust.

Regime Type, Censorship, And Trust In Government With A Special Look At China, Avery K. O'Neill

Student Publications

This research stems from a fascination with the unique social media censorship efforts in China. In order to determine if such heavy social media restrictions are unique to China this study uses data from the World Values Survey to investigate the relationship between regime type and social media censorship. The paper then examines the relationship between government censorship effort and citizens’ trust in government. Ultimately, I find that while regime type is a predictor of censorship, censorship does not have a substantial effect on citizens’ confidence in government overall. However, the data does seem to suggest that censorship may be …

Running For Political Office: These Dentists Did . . . How About You? Insights From Two Dentist-Legislators, W. Erick Rupprecht Dds, Lynn Aronoff

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

The Michigan Dental Association encourages members to seek political office. Why? Having a member dentist hold an elected office improves the profession's visibility and builds relationships with other elected officials and community leaders who can support dentistry's goals. A dentist-legislator becomes a resource with their legislative colleagues when they debate health policy, regulations, and business initiatives. Having member dentists on the inside provides receptive ears when the Association advocates for the profession's needs and priorities.

To give insight into what public service by a dentist looks like, the Journal interviewed two colleagues who have made that commitment, State Representative Steven …

The Future Of Bail Reform In The United States, Mary Gorham

Senior Theses

This thesis examines bail reform, specifically cash bail reform, across several jurisdictions in the United States. The goal of this research is to provide a synthesis of the literature and reform efforts at the state and federal levels. Importantly, this thesis will examine recent modifications to the cash bail systems in four states. in order to get a balanced perspective on the success of these reform efforts. In the pages that follow, there will be a presentation of the literature review and a discussion of the reforms that have been undertaken since 2015. Additionally, this thesis will discuss how the …

The United States After The Third Religious Disestablishment: A Case Study Of The Adf’S Strategies In Prolonging Culture Wars, Rachel Williams

Honors Projects

In the early ‘90s, several conservative Christian legal organizations (CCLOs) sprung up in the United States in response to pluralism. These CCLOs sought to match the strategies and power of long-standing liberal public interest groups, like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Much literature has been produced on the activities of CCLOs, but few have considered the CCLOs’ lasting impact on the nation. Using Willamette University College of Law Professor Steven K. Green's framework of religious disestablishments across U.S. history, this paper proposes that the country has entered a prolonged period of moral reestablishment partly thanks to CCLOs. With a …

Policy Type And Presidential Messaging As Factors Of Legislative Productivity, Madison Garofalo

Honors Projects

This paper attempts to settle scholarly debates around significant legislation’s passage rates within the context of presidential mentions and influence amongst legislation. The first section of this paper will lay out significant literature surrounding topics such as: quantifying congressional-presidential relations, scholarly investigations centered around divided and unified government, works concerning institutional effects on legislative productivity, as well as investigations into legislative success by policy type. Secondly, the paper will discuss the methodological processes and standards used to determine if presidential mentioning is influential on legislative success. The next section will identify key findings to determine if the hypotheses of the …