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Moving From Harm Mitigation To Affirmative Discrimination Mitigation: The Untapped Potential Of Artificial Intelligence To Fight School Segregation And Other Forms Of Racial Discrimination, Andrew Gall

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Invisible Strings: The Impacts Of Race On Attitudes Toward Abortion Among The Highly Religious, Marin Deevers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Following an influential Supreme Court decision regarding the legality of abortion, America seems to be split now more than ever on their attitudes towards this care. At the same time, researchers have shown that America has been shifting towards a more diverse and liberal population on social issues. With the increased presence of diverse groups, cross-pressures have grown in individuals belonging to multiple social groups that may hold conflicting opinions about political issues such as abortion care. Race and frequent religiosity have been salient identities in predicting attitudes towards abortion. This research set out to test whether these identities can …

A Wolf In Sheep’S Clothing: Christian Nationalist Belief And Behavior In The United States, Tommy Nanto

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Christian nationalism is a buzzword in American politics, but insufficiently researched in the intersection of politics, religion, and psychology. In a country where individual Christian practice is declining, why is this strand of nationalism seemingly on the rise? Through an original study, I establish an empirical link between Christian nationalism and racial resentment, finding that racial resentment is the single greatest predictor of Christian nationalist beliefs. I frame Christian nationalist beliefs separately from behavior. I find initial empirical evidence that racial resentment and Republican partisanship predict both belief and behavior, but religiosity does not predict Christian nationalist behavior.

A Gamefied Synthetic Environment For Evaluation Of Counter-Disinformation Solutions, Jesse Richman, Lora Pitman, Girish S. Nandakumar

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

This paper presents a simulation-based approach to countering online dis/misinformation. This disruptive technology experiment incorporated a synthetic environment component, based on adapted SIR epidemiological model to evaluate and visualize the effectiveness of suggested solutions to the issue. The participants in the simulation were given a realistic scenario depicting a dis/misinformation threat and were asked to select a number of solutions, described in IoS (Ideas-of-Systems) cards. During the event, the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the IoS cards, were tested in a synthetic environment (SEN), built after a Susceptible-Infected-Resistant (SIR) model. The participants, divided into teams, presented and justified their dis/misinformation …

Neopatrimonialism And Civil Conflict, Nick Florian

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The thesis examines the relationship between neopatrimonial regimes, those with institutionalized patronage networks, high levels of regime corruption, and single authoritarian leaders, and civil conflict. The primary emphasis of this research, borrowing from the understanding of horizontal inequalities among groups, is to present three theoretical mechanisms by which grievances may diffuse in a manner to mobilize resistance in non-ethnic civil conflict. This approach focuses mainly on attempting to disaggregate authoritarian regime qualities which may contribute to grievance diffusion. A current psychological understanding of ethnic conflict focuses heavily on the perception of group-grievances as a prerequisite to armed, organized conflict against …

The Political Power Of Religious Elites In Shaping Restrictive Reproductive Policies: A Comparative Analysis Of Poland And Indonesia, Patricia Buczynski

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Why do some religiously conservative countries advance in reproductive rights while others do not? Previous research emphasizes that religiosity, political institutionalism, and social movement strategies influence political actors, including members of the legislature, to shape preferred abortion policy outcomes. This thesis seeks to contribute to the literature by arguing that the political power of religious elites explains restrictive reproductive policy outcomes. In this thesis, I investigate the case of Poland and Indonesia. Despite differences in colonial history, religion, culture, and region, both countries share similar outcomes of restrictive reproductive policies and powerful religious elites, which makes for a unique and …

Full Issue

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Brandeis Psychology In The Late Fifties: Further Comment On Feigenbaum (2020), Jeffrey H. Golland

Comparative Civilizations Review

Recent articles in this journal spoke about A.H. Maslow and the Brandeis University Psychology Department of the 1960s (Feigenbaum, 2020, Lester, 2020), the first from a former junior faculty member, the second from a former graduate student. I learned from each of them, and they triggered my own memories as an undergraduate psychology major who went on to earn a PhD in clinical psychology. Maslow taught the introductory course in fall semester; I took it in the spring (1958) with Ricardo Morant, who succeeded Maslow as department chair, and held that position for decades.

David Christian. Maps Of Time: An Introduction To Big History. University Of California Press, New Edition, 2004. Leonid E. Grinin, Andrey V. Korotayev, Barry H. Rodrigue, Eds. Evolution: A Big History Perspective. Volgograd: Uchitel Publishing House, 2011., Stephen T. Satkiewicz

Comparative Civilizations Review

What is history? Or rather, what are the appropriate time-scales that can be constituted as “history”? The general consensus among scholars is that history is the study of approximately the last 5,000 years or so due to the existence of written records. Anything prior to that is generally considered pre-history, at least as far as it concerns the existence of human beings on earth. As for the creation of the earth we live upon, or the solar system our planet dwells within, or the universe as a whole these are considered outside the formal domain of historical …

Learning From History: Real And Perceived Threats To National Security, David Dupont

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Significant changes in American domestic security policies were generally associated with periods of military conflicts. Laws that would pave the way for legalizing the surveillance and internment of civilian populations have their origin in the Quasi-War. Likewise, the practice of state property seizure under the Office of Alien Property Custodian and limited internment programs were first established during WWI. Mass civilian internment came into existence leading up to WWII. This trajectory continued in modern times with the extensive system of domestic surveillance post-9/11. In this paper, I argue for gaining a historical comprehension of these issues by exploring their origins …

Public Trust And Citizen Engagement As Tools Of Democrcay For Good Governance In Nigeria, Olukayode Gilbert Ojo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractSince Nigeria gained independence in 1960, political leaders' and elected officials' behavior and actions have contributed to a decline in public trust and people's engagement with the democratic system. It is currently unknown whether the concepts of public trust and citizen engagement can be democratic tools for good governance in Nigeria, with its diverse religions, ethnicities, and cultural values. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the Yoruba people’s perceptions of the barriers to and facilitators of public trust and citizen engagement in the Nigerian democratic system. The theoretical framework was polarities of democracy theory, espoused by …

Economic Propaganda In The United States, Brooklyn Montgomery

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis aims to identify and analyze three different forms of economic propaganda: cultural, structural, and political. I first examine ‘Do What You Love’ culture and its impact on the labor force. Chapter Two explores the propagation of neoliberal economics as an objective study, and the final chapter analyzes the use of Black capitalism as a political mechanism to quell Black radical sentiment. In detailing these phenomenons, I investigate the implementation, normalization, and effects, as well as the material repercussions of these ideas and structures.

Mixing Sports And Politics: How Totalitarian Regimes Used Sports To Achieve The Goals Of The State, Caroline Phillips

CMC Senior Theses

This paper explores how sports were used by totalitarian regimes to achieve the goals of the state. The three case studies involve the totalitarian governments of interwar Europe: Italian Fascism, German Nazism, and Spanish Francoism. Three main trends were identified. Sports were used to improve their nation’s health and fitness for military preparation, construct a national identity, and as a diplomatic tool to improve their international reputation. I also explore what ideological themes lent themselves to construction of these three specific goals.

Mano Dura And Beyond: An Analysis Of Police Reform In Latin America, Ari Moore

CMC Senior Theses

Physical insecurity and high rates of crime plague Latin America. The problem is economically costly, detrimental to physical and mental health, and damaging to political legitimacy, while also fueling a migration crisis and negatively impacting societal views on human rights. The police are tasked with responding to and investigating crime, but have been historically ineffective at doing so. In recent decades, many countries in the region have implemented significant police reforms in pursuit of decreasing crime and insecurity. This thesis will analyze reforms in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico to determine regional themes of reform. The lessons from those case …

The Impact Of Social Movements On Austerity Measures: An Analysis Of Argentina’S Piquetero Movement And Greece’S Anti-Austerity Movement, Katrina D. Frei-Herrmann

CMC Senior Theses

Social movements have sprung up in countries after their respective economies experience an economic crisis and the International Monetary Fund places restrictions on a country’s fiscal policy. Argentina’s piquetero movement and Greece’s anti-austerity movement have both mobilized after economic crises to protest the neoliberal shifts to their economics, yet their success at shifting those policies have not been studied sufficiently. The dominant explanation for social movement success involves analyzing political opportunities or seeing the social movement as an actor with limited resources. These existent methods fail to answer how nuances about internal decisions or forms of protest could influence the …

Building Our Own Houses: Aapis In Congress, Daenerys Pineda

CMC Senior Theses

During the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian hate peaked and came to national attention. Given the country-wide scope of this issue, a potential avenue for its address is through federal representatives, and particularly through those representatives who identify as Asian-American. This community’s political participation began long before 2020, and this thesis evaluates how Asian-American representatives have provided meaningful political representation in various situations for a national Asian-American constituency. For the purpose of this thesis, I define substantive representation as an action of a representative, using their particular political powers and privileges, in the interest of their constituents. I conduct three case studies …

Beliefs, Information, And Institutions: Public Perception Of Climate Change Information Provided By Government Versus The Market, Cherie Metcalf, Jonathan R. Nash

Faculty Articles

Despite scientific consensus over the threat posed by climate change, governmental actions remain modest or stalled, often because of profound societal polarization: more liberal individuals tend to accept climate change as real, anthropogenic, and as posing a substantial (if not existential) threat, while more conservative individuals tend to doubt such assertions. The standard explanation for this phenomenon is that liberals tend to believe government-provided information—as information about climate change tends to be—while conservatives tend to doubt it. Commentators suggest that market-generated climate change information would more likely sway conservatives.

But this assertion lacks any empirical support. This Article explores this …

A Critique Of Frederick Nietzsche's Philosophy On Law, God, And Morality, Rebekah Vaughn

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Friedrich Nietzsche is the last of the modern philosophers. His philosophy has influenced fields such as literature, psychology, and ethics. Nietzsche’s philosophy on ethics is primarily what will be covered. Nietzsche wishes to sever the connection between western civilization and God. He sees that people may no longer believe in God, but they still follow Christian morality. Nietzsche argues for a new morality, one humanity will create themselves. His famous line “God is dead” is an expression of what humanity needs to do with God. Nietzsche then argues the Overman will take over humanity, leading towards a world with a …

Structural Causes Of The “Gender Gap” In Nuclear Security: An Overview, Şebnem Udum

International Journal of Nuclear Security

This article elaborates on the discussion from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS) 2020 conference and discusses the reasons for the gender gap between professionals working in nuclear security. It puts forward the structural causes for women's choice of field and the formation of gender biases from the perspective of Political Science. It emphasizes the importance of having role-models for women working in the field and provides recommendations to increase the number of women working in nuclear security.

Ethnic Nationalism In Postcolonial Disputes: The Epistemic Re-Evaluation Of Interest-Driven Knowledge Claims, Hahyeon Lee

Senior Independent Study Theses

This thesis combines the disciplines of political science and philosophy to illuminate the conceptual links between ethnic nationalism, postcolonial disputes, and epistemology. In doing so, it proposes a novel understanding of postcolonial disputes that moves beyond the politics of national sentiments and socially constructed historical memory to one that also recognizes the epistemic stakes in the contestation. To this end, the research question is stated as, “If postcolonial disputes are intensified by ethnic nationalism, are postcolonial disputes an instance of epistemic subjectivism?” To answer the question, the thesis pursues two objectives (the empirical and the philosophical) that ultimately tie in …

Sport, Masculinity, Race And Nation: A Case Of Fandom And The Football Industry, Paula Andreina Natera Benitez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Football (or soccer in America) is one of the most popular sports in the world, it is played worldwide from the United Kingdom to the Laos Islands. Usually called the beautiful game, fans' traditions are inherited from parents to children, and legendary players are venerated as demigods. However, with its growth, also came the growth of a billions-worth “non-profit” industry governed by FIFA. The love of the game is also used to explore the concept of “nation” and has a long history with dictatorships using “passion” to cover up their human rights violations as well as attempts to use it …

Smoke Filled Back Hollars: The Impact Of Traditional Barbecue On Modern Political Campaigns Within Western Virginia, Monica Thomas Fury

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The first political barbecue took place in Virginia during the Colonial period. Since then, barbecue has remained an essential part of American civic life. Western Virginia, defined for the purposes of this thesis as the political borders of the sixth and ninth Congressional Districts in Virginia as drawn in 2021, is largely a rural area, considered by most political consultants to be heavily Republican and not winnable seats for Democratic candidates. The state Democratic Party of Virginia has rarely earmarked funds or support for candidates within those districts for the past two decades. Ironically, the Democratic party controlled this same …

Us Strategic Culture, Homeland Ballistic Missile Defense, And Mutual Vulnerability, Jacob T. Blank

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Strategic scholars have long understood the indispensable linkage between culture and security policymaking. By shaping the perceptions through which decision-makers formulate security policy, strategic culture analysis adds vital context to the perilously difficult science of understanding and predicting state security outputs. One area where this analytical framework fails to generate the expected result is American missile defense policy. Salient themes of US strategic culture, including an optimistic and problem-solving mindset, positive role of machines, and ahistorical exceptionalism, are reflected in the American way of war – a technologically driven, leadership casualty averse, moralistic, apolitical, and firepower focused enterprise. These factors …

Examining The Relationship Between Male And Female Rotc Experiences And Career Ambition, Anabelle S. Bergstrom

Holster Scholar Projects

An exploratory study of how experiences within ROTC programs affect the career ambitions of male and female cadets. Fourteen cadets from two New England universities were interviewed and asked questions regarding experiential factors including but not limited to physical training, uniforms, and treatment by commanding officers. Air Force and Army ROTC programs are included in the study. Findings not only show how certain experiences of ROTC cadets affect their career ambition, but they also show significant differences in the treatment of female cadets compared to their male counterparts.

Queens Of The Hill: How Title Ix Fares In The Hilltop Neighborhood Of Columbus, Ohio, Georgia Tuckerman

CMC Senior Theses

National research indicates that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 leaves Black girls behind in the pursuit of gender equity. Low rates of participation and high dropout rates in girls sports plague low-income, majority-minority high schools. This thesis investigates whether the national research holds true in Columbus, Ohio, specifically at West High School. Following from a series of interviews with coaches, teachers, and a student, I find that West High School’s athletic program is Title IX compliant, but girls at West High School still face severe barriers to sports participation. A school can comply with Title IX and …

A Hot Conflict Growing Ever Hotter: How Climate Change Provokes Instances Of Violence In South Sudan, Madison Menard

CMC Senior Theses

In South Sudan, people are not engaging in violent altercations because of climate change. People are not deciding to kill other people because the average temperature of the world has risen 1 degree celsius, or harming their neighbor because of irregular rain patterns. Alas the link from climate change to violence is not as direct as that. Rather, climate change has played a non-direct role in the South Sudanese conflict. Within the political marketplace it has subtly altered conditions which later spark or intensify outbreaks of violence. Climate change in this sense should be viewed as a stressor of sorts …

A Socio-Historical Analysis Of The Dynamics Of Genocide In Bosnia 1992-1995: Forces Contributing To The Continuation Of Genocide, Lejla Alvarez

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Despite preventive and diagnostic instruments and mechanisms put in place by the international community, genocide - systematic destruction of social groups - persists as a major regional and global problem. Genocidal processes are multifaceted and involve multiple factors at all levels of analysis interacting to produce genocide. This study examines the most significant socio-historical factors in producing the genocidal war in Bosnia that started in the spring of 1992, carried out generally uninterrupted until late 1995, with some forms of violence continuing years after the official end of the war. The main goals of the research were to contextualize the …

A Literature Review Of Intrapersonal Interventions To Reduce Partisan Affective Polarization, Katrina Powers

A with Honors Projects

This literature review examines research conducted on intrapersonal interventions for the reduction of partisan affective polarization.

The Political Implications Of The Evangelical Right’S Anti-Critical Race Theory Rhetoric, Elizabeth Howell-Egan

Scripps Senior Theses

Critical Race Theory (CRT), once an abstract principle used in academic circles, has exploded onto the national stage as parents fight against their children supposedly being taught its tenets. Through an analysis of key political and religious leaders, I discuss the right’s obsession with CRT in schools, where it came from, and its political implications.

Forgiving Without Forgetting? Privacy In An Age Of Digital Permanence, Rock Park

Political Science Honors Projects

The 21st Century has been marked by increasing digital globalization, and an extensive, complete record of most individual’s public and private lives. This posed enough of a risk to privacy that in 2014, the European Union began to outline and articulate the digital privacy rights of European citizens in a set of policies known as “right to be forgotten” laws. As of 2018, these right to be forgotten protections had been codified into the General Data Privacy Regulation for the EU (GDPR). This paper explores the construction of privacy and subsequent adoption of the right to be forgotten specifically in …