Digital Commons Network^™

China’S "Greek Gift" To Africa: A Myth Or Reality, Chibuzo Uchechukwu Victor Obasi

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Two differing perceptions have dominated explanations of the relationship between China and Africa. The first is often held in the West and sees China as an exploitative force that has latched onto Africa's quest for development partnerships to exploit the continent economically. The second considers the China-Africa partnership more positively and views China as a trustworthy ally. Advocates argue that China has no history of colonial ambitions in Africa. Instead, China intervened in Africa to fill the financing gap and tackle the development challenges in Africa with no political strings attached. Perception of which view is mainly correct depends on …

Patterns Of Co-Optation And Repression In Autocracies: Lessons From Cambodia And Beyond, Limeng Ong

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Autocratic regimes’ primary interest is in maintaining their power. To achieve so, they rely on two main strategies: repression and co-optation. Repression can be a violation of life (hard repression) or a violation of liberty (soft repression), while co-optation can be an arrangement of power sharing (formal co-optation) or a distribution of material benefits (informal co-optation). Some autocratic regimes are more likely to deploy certain forms of co-optation and repression than others. What explains this difference in the ways that autocratic regimes maintain their power? Using a case study of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) which has shifted its political …

Freedom And Heteronomy In The Anthropocene, Alexander M. Stoner, Harry F. Dahms

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Strategies Global Virtual Team Leaders Use To Improve Trust And Communication, Sarah Crandell Monday

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Global virtual team (GVT) members’ inability to effectively build trust and communication has the potential to negatively impact organizational outcomes. Organizational leaders are concerned with team members’ inability to build trust and communication, as it is the leading cause of reduced productivity and efficiency levels within GVTs. Grounded in the social exchange theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies GVT leaders use to improve trust and communication among GVT members. The participants were 18 GVT business leaders from six organizations located in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Data were collected using semistructured …

U.S. Senate And House Perspectives On Missile Defense Systems Opposed By Russia And China, Constance Valarie Baroudos

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States and its allies and partners have deployed three missile defense systems to protect against Iranian and North Korean missile threats: the European Phased Adaptive Approach, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, and Ground-based Missile Defense. Russia and China oppose these systems because they view them as undermining their strategic interests. The purpose of the present study was to better understand the perspectives of Senate and House Armed Services Committee HASC members about the three missile defense systems in congressional hearings. The three models of the congressional behavior model, the preference, simple party, and asymmetric categories, and neorealism and …

Criminology And Violent Extremist Radicalization, Starlett Michele Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, research on foreign terrorism became extensive in the United States while research on domestic terrorism and violent extremist radicalization was lacking. Despite the research that has been done, there was a lapse in scholarship analyzing terrorism radicalization and its relationship with criminology. The purpose of this general qualitative study was to analyze the perceptions of experts in terrorism and criminology about how factors of criminology can explain violent extremist radicalization. This study used two conceptual models of terrorism radicalization: (a) the staircase to terrorism and the (b) 4-stage model of the terrorist mindset. In addition, …

U.S. Senate And House Perspectives On Missile Defense Systems Opposed By Russia And China, Constance Valarie Baroudos

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States and its allies and partners have deployed three missile defense systems to protect against Iranian and North Korean missile threats: the European Phased Adaptive Approach, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, and Ground-based Missile Defense. Russia and China oppose these systems because they view them as undermining their strategic interests. The purpose of the present study was to better understand the perspectives of Senate and House Armed Services Committee HASC members about the three missile defense systems in congressional hearings. The three models of the congressional behavior model, the preference, simple party, and asymmetric categories, and neorealism and …

Criminology And Violent Extremist Radicalization, Starlett Michele Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, research on foreign terrorism became extensive in the United States while research on domestic terrorism and violent extremist radicalization was lacking. Despite the research that has been done, there was a lapse in scholarship analyzing terrorism radicalization and its relationship with criminology. The purpose of this general qualitative study was to analyze the perceptions of experts in terrorism and criminology about how factors of criminology can explain violent extremist radicalization. This study used two conceptual models of terrorism radicalization: (a) the staircase to terrorism and the (b) 4-stage model of the terrorist mindset. In addition, …

The American Founding Documents And Democratic Social Change: A Constructivist Grounded Theory, A I. Forde

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Existing social disparities in the United States are inconsistent with the promise of democracy; therefore, there was a need for critical conceptualization of the first principles that undergird American democracy and the genesis of democratic social change in America. This constructivist grounded theory study aimed to construct a grounded theory that provides an understanding of the process of American democratic social change as it emerged from the nation’s founding documents. A post hoc polytheoretical framework including Foucault’s, Bourdieu’s, and Marx and Engels’s theories of power was used to understand power dynamics. The research question focused on understanding the process of …

Book Review: Comparative Election Law, Lori A. Ringhand

Scholarly Works

Review of the book Comparative Election Law by James A Gardner, ed. (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022) 544 p.

Finnish Response To Nato - Views From The Evangelical Lutheran Church And Christians In Finnish Politics, Miro Leporanta

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt:

Finland placed an application for NATO in May of 2022, together with Sweden, with whom Finland’s foreign policy goals had been aligned for years.

Finnish Christianity and Finnish Churches have offered a variety of responses to the end of Finland’s non-military alignment. Of historical institutions in Finland, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church (hereafter FELC) has a prominent social influence and is regarded as an institution that represents that country's values. This applies to Finnish defense policy as well. The church is a prominent player in the Finnish army and conscript service. On the FELC website, the Church states that: …

In Double Jeopardy: For Ukrainian Orthodox Church, A War On Two Fronts, Geraldine Fagan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church faces trouble from its own government as well as its Russian brethren.

Religion On Campus: A Minority Are Religious And With A Foot Out The Door, Paul Djupe

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Equitable Access To Voting Practices In Marginalized Communities, Ryan Bergman

Social Justice | Senior Theses

For two hundred years Americans have had to fight for the right to vote, yet it is still an ongoing challenge for many communities, the Latinx community in particular. In this study I analyzed what factors determine an individual’s access and participation in the voting process, focusing on the Latinx community in the Canal District of San Rafael, who are impacted by the barriers intended to limit their ability to vote. This study used a mixed methodology to understand these factors with the aim of providing guidelines for supporting marginalized voters. In addition to using qualitative data from interviews with …

The Rise Of Lobbying And Interest Groups In The States During The Progressive Era, Adam Chamberlain, James Strickland, Alixandra B. Yanus

Political Science

The postbellum rise of voluntary, federated associations set the stage for modern pressure politics in the American states, yet the connection between associations and lobbying in this era is grossly understudied. Relying on associations' own records and a new dataset of state lobbyists, we explore this relationship more deeply, documenting how federated associations gained membership, created political agendas, and lobbied state legislators for reform. To understand better the processes linking group strength with direct lobbying, we present descriptive case studies of the Grange (agriculture), the “Big Four” railroad brotherhoods (skilled labor), and the American Bankers' Association (finance). Our findings reveal …

Democratizing International Relations, Antonio De Aguiar Patriota

Faculty Journal Articles

Former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali deserves to be remembered for his defense of the application of democratic principles to the international order. Today, the multipolarity of the contemporary world can help further Botrous-Ghali’s vision.

Odd Bedfellows & Marriage Of Necessity: Public Health And Politics In American Federalism, Gabriella Victoria Chianese

Honors Theses and Capstones

In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, while the public disagrees over mask mandates, required vaccinations, and social distancing, it seems like one common sentiment exists – a distaste for the odd bedfellows of politics and public health. There are those who cry for the compartmentalization of the science of public health and the art of politics to rectify this situation. In the wake of so much confusion and chaos, it is not unjustified to demand the depoliticization of public health; however, this response is unrealistic given the modern political climate, demonstrates a narrow understanding of the …

A Free Speech-Based Response To Media Polarization, R. George Wright

FIU Law Review

The degree of polarization, distrust, and animosity in the political elements of our social media have reached remarkable levels. But any attempt to address the relevant problems that requires legal enforcement inevitably raises serious issues of free speech and free press. Relying instead on fact checkers has its own numerous, substantial, and inevitable limitations, some of which parallel the very problems sought to be addressed. More promising are political social media reforms, akin to that proposed herein, that are voluntary, generally pluralistic and critical, reflective of the relevant social science evidence, and unlikely to raise problems of free speech and …

How Economic Distribution Impacts Human Rights On An International Level: A Case Study In Africa And The Balkans, Lindsey G. Ingraham

Honors Program Theses

Data from Reporters Without Borders and the World Bank was used in this small case study to assess correlations between economic dispersion, freedom of the press, and measures of gender equality in eight countries. These countries were selected from two regions, with four from both Africa and the Balkans to total eight: Angola, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Zimbabwe. The regions were selected to account for any regional trends affecting the data. These countries were selected based on their Gini Coefficients with the hopes of identifying correlations between economic distribution and their measures of human rights. …

The American Founding Documents And Democratic Social Change: A Constructivist Grounded Theory, A I. Forde

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractExisting social disparities in the United States are inconsistent with the promise of democracy; therefore, there was a need for critical conceptualization of the first principles that undergird American democracy and the genesis of democratic social change in America. This constructivist grounded theory study aimed to construct a grounded theory that provides an understanding of the process of American democratic social change as it emerged from the nation’s founding documents. A post hoc polytheoretical framework including Foucault’s, Bourdieu’s, and Marx and Engels’s theories of power was used to understand power dynamics. The research question focused on understanding the process of …

Conceptual Metaphor Usage In Glenn Youngkin’S 2021 Gubernatorial Campaign, Sara Rose Hotaling

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

In “Conceptual Metaphor in Everyday Language,” Lakoff and Johnson suggest that conceptual metaphors pervade everyday language and produce the reality of our world. Conceptual metaphors act similarly within the occupational register of political campaigns in that they both support and construct a set of beliefs that become the reality of politicians, political parties, and constituents. In this language research, the conceptual metaphors employed by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin during his 2021 gubernatorial campaign were identified, analyzed, and categorized. The corpus of this research consists of two gubernatorial debates, three campaign speeches, and one television interview. An example of conceptual metaphor …

What Losing The Iran Deal Could Mean For The Region, Seyed Hossein Mousavian

Faculty Journal Articles

If President Joe Biden is seeking to restore sustainable peace and security in the region, he has to start with reviving the JCPOA.

Investigating Perceptions Of Out-Groups In Sport And United States Politics, Cody T. Havard, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

The current study investigated how fans and supporters of sport teams and political parties in the United States viewed relevant out-groups and out-group members. Specifically, perceptions of rival sport teams and political parties were compared to determine how fans and supporters differed in their views and likely behaviors toward out-groups. Findings showed that sport fans reported more positive attitudes toward their favorite teams and more negative attitudes of the rival team than in politics. However, political supporters reported more negative perceptions and likely behaviors toward the out-group than fans of sport. Additional analysis revealed that the common in-group influenced perceptions. …

The Political Consequences Of Racialized Ethnic Identities, Kimberly Cardenas, Heather Silber Mohamed, Melissa R. Michelson

Political Science

Racial classifications are a social construct with no basis in biology; yet, race is an omnipresent and powerful factor in U.S. politics, shaping electoral boundaries, disbursement of resources, and political alliances (Omi and Winant 1994, Haney López 1994). Race, then, is a malleable construct wielded by varying interests, with racial definitions changing in response to social and political battles. Some new immigrant groups initially classified as not white have been reclassified as white over time, thereby benefitting from associated legal, economic, and sociopolitical privileges. More recently, however, some Latinos have sought recognition as a distinct non-white racial group, in acknowledgment …

Social Welfare Policy In Post-Transition Chile: Social Democratic Or Neoliberal?, Paul W. Posner

Political Science

Chile’s massive 2019 protests indicate a pronounced discrepancy between the country’s alleged establishment of social democracy and the public’s perception of pervasive inequity. To understand this discrepancy, this analysis evaluates the extent to which Chilean social welfare policy conforms to social democratic norms of promoting solidarity, equity, and universalism. Analysis of poverty reduction, pension, health care, and education policy demonstrates that Chile’s center-left governments succeeded in mitigating some of the more extreme elements of the social welfare policies inherited from the Pinochet regime. However, they failed to reverse their underlying logic, which reinforces stratification and inequity and undermines incentives for …

The Role Of Symbolic Politics In Shaping Political Attitudes: A Study Of Trump And Biden's Campaign Speeches, Nimra Asif

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this study, five speeches by Donald Trump and six by Joe Biden were comprehensively analyzed for their symbolic politics on immigration and social issues. The data revealed a consistent trend, with Trump featuring a greater number of mentions in comparison to Biden—66 and 26, respectively. Furthermore, Trump's symbolic politics exhibited a predominantly negative tone, while Biden's approach was predominantly positive. The results of this analysis confirm my hypotheses, highlighting notable disparities in the rhetoric employed by each candidate. Trump amplified a negative outlook on social issues and immigration, whereas Biden strategically mentioned and positively framed these issues. This research …

Less Meat, Less Heat: Analyzing Meat Consumption Through The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Identity, Past Behavior, And Conservatism, Madeleine Powers

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Meat reduction is a largely underutilized means of combatting climate change that warrants further investigation. The current study utilized an extended model of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to predict intention to eat red meat. In addition to traditional TPB components of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, this study adds to the literature by including meat-eating identity, past meat-eating behavior, and conservatism as predictors of meat consumption intentions. 744 participants were recruited via Mturk and compensated $1 for completing surveys assessing the extended TPB constructs related to meat consumption. The sample was 57% men, and 81% white, …

The Limits Of Community: Wendell Berry, Books Bans, And Intellectual Freedom As An Individual Right, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

Beginning with a broad overview of community-oriented arguments for or against intellectual freedom (exemplified, in one case, by the writer and activist Wendell Berry), this chapter defines two forms of community: one active, the other passive. But do appeals to community make sense in environments increasingly hostile to intellectual freedom? In what ways have both of these forms already been weaponized by right-wing actors? It can certainly be argued that intellectual freedom benefits communities, but what if a community rejects intellectual freedom altogether? After detailing a recent case involving Nikole Hannah-Jones’s The 1619 Project as well as subsequent efforts to …

กระบวนการจัดการแรงงานของคนไทยในรัฐซาบาห์และซาราวัก ประเทศมาเลเซีย, ชนายุส ศรีจันทรา

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

เมื่อแรงงานไทยเผชิญปัญหาในต่างประเทศ พวกเขาจะขอความช่วยเหลือจากสถานเอกอัครราชทูตหรือสถานกงสุลไทยที่มีอำนาจครอบคลุมพื้นที่ที่ตนอยู่อาศัยเป็นหลัก แต่แรงงานไทยในรัฐซาบาห์ และรัฐซาราวัก ประเทศมาเลเซีย เป็นกลุ่มที่ไม่ค่อยได้รับการช่วยเหลือจากทางภาครัฐเวลาที่พวกเขาประสบปัญหา เพราะพื้นที่ดังกล่าวไม่มีสถานเอกอัครราชทูตหรือสถานกงสุลไทยตั้งอยู่ และด้วยความที่แรงงานไทยส่วนใหญ่ในรัฐซาบาห์ซาราวักเดินทางเข้ามาด้วยวีซ่านักท่องเที่ยวและลักลอบทำงานโดยไม่มีใบอนุญาต กรณีเช่นนี้ทำให้พวกเขาเป็นแรงงานผิดกฎหมาย ทำให้ไม่ได้รับสวัสดิการและการคุ้มครองแรงงานที่ถูกต้อง เพราะขอบข่ายการคุ้มครองแรงงานไทยที่ไปทำงานในต่างประเทศของกระทรวงแรงงานไม่ได้ครอบคลุมกรณีนี้ เนื่องจากสถานะในการเดินทางไปทำงานในต่างประเทศของบุคคลเหล่านี้ไม่ใช่ แรงงานย้ายถิ่น แต่เป็น “แรงงานผิดกฎหมาย” อย่างไรก็ตาม เมื่อพิจารณาปรากฏการณ์ข้างต้น กลับพบว่ากลุ่มแรงงานไทยนี้มียุทธศาสตร์สำคัญในการเอาตัวรอดจากปัญหาที่ประสบในต่างแดน คือ การใช้ประโยชน์จากเครือข่ายทางสังคม (Social Network) ระหว่างคนไทยในรัฐซาบาห์และรัฐซาราวัก โดยเฉพาะกลุ่มเพื่อนคนไทยที่สร้างขึ้น ผ่านทางร้านอาหารไทยแห่งหนึ่ง และผ่านช่องทางออนไลน์ในการช่วยเหลือเกื้อกูลกัน ดั้งนั้นจึงนำมาสู่คำถามวิจัยที่ว่า แรงงานไทยในรัฐซาบาห์ และรัฐซาราวักเผชิญปัญหาอุปสรรคอะไรบ้าง และการจัดการแรงงานของคนไทยในพื้นที่ดังกล่าวเป็นอย่างไร โดยผู้วิจัยจะอาศัยกรอบแนวคิดเครือข่ายทางสังคมและแนวคิดภาวะข้ามชาติเพื่อตอบคำถามวิจัยและอธิบายสภาพการณ์ที่เกิดขึ้น เพื่อนำไปสู่การทำความเข้าใจว่าอิทธิพลของเครือข่ายทางสังคมดังกล่าวส่งผลการดำรงชีพเพื่อความอยู่ดีมีสุขของแรงงานไทยเหล่านี้อย่างไร ระหว่างที่ทำงานในต่างประเทศ ซึ่งจะช่วยให้ได้องค์ความรู้ที่สามารถนำเสนอเป็นนโยบายในการช่วยเหลือแรงงานให้มีประสิทธิภาพต่อไป

พลวัตของแนวคิดและการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรน้ำในยุคหลังการรัฐประหาร พ.ศ. 2557 และผลกระทบต่อชุมชนพื้นที่รับน้ำ อ.บางบาล จ.พระนครศรีอยุธยา, อาทิตย์ ภูบุญคง

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยฉบับนี้ประกอบด้วยวัตถุประสงค์การศึกษา 3 ส่วนคือ 1) เพื่อศึกษาแนวคิดและพัฒนาการของการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรน้ำในประเทศไทย ก่อนและหลังรัฐประหาร 2557 2) เพื่อศึกษาปฏิบัติการ กลไกการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรน้ำที่เกิดขึ้นจริงในระดับพื้นที่ และ 3) เพื่อศึกษาผลกระทบของการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรน้ำในระดับชุมชน ผลการศึกษาพบว่า การจัดการน้ำในยุคหลังการรัฐประหาร พ.ศ. 2557 ถูกกำหนดทิศทางโดยโครงสร้างใหม่ผ่าน 3 เสาหลัก ประกอบด้วย สำนักงานทรัพยากรน้ำแห่งชาติ แผนแม่บทการบริหารจัดการทรัพยากรน้ำ 20 ปี และพระราชบัญญัติทรัพยากรน้ำ พ.ศ. 2561 โครงสร้างนี้มีเป้าประสงค์ร่วมคือการแก้ปัญหาการจัดการน้ำของไทยที่ขาดการบูรณาการ และยังมุ่งเปิดพื้นที่ให้ประชาชนเข้ามามีส่วนร่วมในการจัดการน้ำระดับลุ่มน้ำและระดับพื้นที่อีกด้วย อย่างไรก็ตาม แม้ในเชิงเนื้อหาการจัดการน้ำที่สถาปนาขึ้นใหม่เสมือนมีความก้าวหน้าอย่างมาก ทว่ายังมีรายละเอียดหลายส่วนที่ยังคงสะท้อนว่าอำนาจการจัดการน้ำยังคงรวมศูนย์ไว้ที่รัฐ สำหรับการจัดการน้ำระดับปฏิบัติการในพื้นที่รับน้ำบางบาลนั้น ได้มีการกำหนดโครงสร้างการจัดการน้ำหลายระดับให้สอดคล้องกับโครงสร้างระดับชาติ เช่น การจัดตั้งคณะกรรมการลุ่มน้ำเจ้าพระยา และการจัดตั้งกลุ่มผู้ใช้น้ำในพื้นที่ ไม่เพียงเท่านั้น การจัดการน้ำในพื้นที่แห่งนี้ยังอยู่ภายใต้นโยบายพื้นที่รับน้ำบางบาล ซึ่งมุ่งปกป้องพื้นที่เมืองและอุตสาหกรรมให้ปลอดภัยจากปัญหาน้ำท่วม ซึ่งกระบวนการกำหนดนโยบายนี้ดำเนินไปโดยปราศจากการมีส่วนร่วมของประชาชนที่มีความหมาย ภายใต้โครงสร้างการจัดการน้ำที่ที่โยนภาระให้ชาวบ้านรับน้ำ ประกอบกับการกระจายอำนาจและการมีส่วนร่วมยังไม่เกิดขึ้นจริงนั้น ได้ก่อให้เกิดผลกระทบหลายประการในพื้นที่ทั้งปัญหาน้ำท่วมและการขาดแคลนน้ำ เหตุดังนี้ ชาวบ้านในพื้นที่จึงสร้างพื้นที่การต่อสู้ต่อรองเพื่อเปลี่ยนแปลงการจัดการน้ำที่เป็นอยู่ให้เป็นธรรมมากยิ่งขึ้น 2 รูปแบบได้แก่ การต่อสู้ต่อรองในพื้นที่สื่อ และการต่อสู้ต่อรองในพรมแดนความรู้ผ่านงานวิจัยชาวบ้าน