Digital Commons Network^™

Presidential Debates Or Political Theatre?, Mike Beukema

COD Library Student Research and Award Symposium

This essay investigates the current condition of the United States presidential debate structure. Research has shown that candidates participating in these debates often direct most of their attention to form the most bold and catchy one-liners in order to capture the hearts and minds of the American people. As a result, citizens are not gaining enough knowledge of their presidential candidates. The focus on personal attacks and grand statements puts policy and campaign strategy out of the spotlight. Candidates are given around five minutes to address a serious question about our nation. In a perfect world with no interruptions this …

Anti-Semitism As A Political Tool Of Tyrannical Government, Bailey Gordon, Kimberly Hale

Honors Theses

Anti-Semitism has been a form of hatred and racism among movements and governmental organizations since Babylonian times. It was institutionalized however in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries as a form of political tool to garner support for tyrannical establishments. Although anti-Semitism has been around for centuries, it has been used more recently to rally people in a tribal-nationalistic spirit. As the populace becomes normalized to anti-Semitic beliefs, they eventually become more accepting of a tyrannical government whose policies are rooted in anti-Semitism. To appease the masses, this tyrannical government must then stay in motion. This constant …

Cases Studied In Genocide Studies And Prevention And Journal Of Genocide Research And Implications For The Field Of Genocide Studies, Jeffrey Bachman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The adoption of the Genocide Convention in 1948 was accompanied by the emergence of genocide as a field of study, first in the form of Holocaust Studies, followed by Genocide Studies, then Comparative Genocide Studies and, most recently, Critical Genocide Studies. Over the last 20-30 years, the field of genocide studies has greatly expanded. According to Alexander Hinton, “As the outlines of the field emerge more clearly, the time is right to engage in critical reflections about the state of the field.” This article seeks to enhance the field of genocide studies by answering Hinton’s call for reflective analysis. It …

The Politicization Of The Genocide Label: Genocide Rhetoric In The Un Security Council, Michelle E. Ringrose

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article examines the intersection of language, power and national interest by discussing how the UN Security Council permanent five (P5) members navigate the linguistic rhetoric of genocide in debates surrounding the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A discourse analysis methodology is adopted to ascertain how P5 member-states framed the genocide in Srebrenica through an analysis of linguistic themes and silences in council debates. This article argues that UN P5 members use language as a mechanism to frame a conflict in a particular way that aligns with their own national political interests. The article reaffirms the importance of genocide recognition, …

Putting The Pieces Together: Ideology Beyond Policy, Natalia Quevedo De La Espriella

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

Ideological differences exist far beyond policy preferences. Our ideologies are built from much more intrinsic building blocks, and as such the effects of this are seen far outside of what is generally considered the political realm of existence. When explaining these ideologies we must look past the policy preferences and more into the base parts of what makes people who they are. Liberals and conservatives differ on important measures, and these differences between us have a deeper root than most see. Morality, motivations, and personality all combine to form the expression of ideology. This paper explores these three aspects of …

Taking Terrorists At Their Word: Testing The Co-Religionist Hypothesis In Islamic State Propaganda, Joel Elliott

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

This dissertation operates on the idea that, as conflict researchers, we can look to Islamic State’s (referred to from here on as ‘Daesh’) own recruitment propaganda to identify the best people to counter Daesh’s violent rhetoric. This project analyzes Daesh’s main print publication, Dabiq, to catalogue and classify the types of people and institutions Daesh targets most, and which types of arguments Daesh uses to attack those targets. It uses this information to test the Co-Religionist Hypothesis, which predicts that the most effective peaceful interveners in a religious conflict will be of the same religion as the belligerents. Conventional …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Politics Of Gun Control In The United States And Australia, Nicholas Leone

College Honors Program

This thesis centers on the interrelationships and differences in firearm legislation and culture within the United States of America and Australia. As a result of the Port Arthur Massacre on April 28, 1996, Australia was faced with an unprecedented mass shooting that completely shifted Australian politics and culture regarding firearm safety and availability. Thus, the thesis inquiries into the effectiveness of Australia’s buyback program as well as the cultural and political factors that allowed for such legislation to be passed. After suffering 118 mass shootings in the U.S. since 1982, the history of the United States regarding gun control is …

Gender And Judicial Decision-Making, Alexandra Just

Undergraduate Theses

This study employs a unique two-tiered approach, involving both quantitative and qualitative methodology to analyze the influences – specifically, a judge’s gender – on the judicial decision-making process. First, a quantitative bivariate regression analysis was conducted to determine whether a Federal District Court judge’s gender had a statistically significant influence on the ideological direction of case outcomes (which is either liberal, meaning the decision was in favor of the petitioner, or conservative, meaning the decision was against the petitioner). Data was analyzed using the statistical program SPSS and was pulled from the 2016 Carp-Manning database, which contains over 110,000 federal …

The Case Of Kashmir: Ethnic Mobilization And Insurgency, Kayla Hofmann

Politics Honors Papers

This paper analyzes ethnic identity and potential reasons for conflict through a constructivist lens. Using the case study of Kashmir, I explore the past and present events in the state and the salience of ethnicity, specifically Kashmiri Muslims and Indian Hindus.

Health Care Access For Children In Latinx Immigrant Families In The Greater Philadelphia Area, Sophia King

Politics Honors Papers

This work examines the gap that exists in access to health care in the Greater Philadelphia Region for children of Latinx immigrant families in comparison to other children in the nation. It provides a critical analysis of the gap in access to coverage, noting that this exists despite wide support for a human right to health. This study draws on existing scholarly research as well as interviews with staff at two health clinics and one community outreach center that are located in Greater Philadelphia. It demonstrates that Latinx immigrant families are less likely to have health insurance and get primary …

The Effectiveness Of Education Aid In Kenya: Using Women's Access To Education As An Indicator Of Welfare, Dawn Dimick

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Global Journal reported an estimated 10 million NGOs worldwide and in Kenya alone, the number rose to 11,262 by June 2019 (Non-Governmental Organizations Co-ordination Board, 2019). Though committed to alleviating the same issues, the existence of so many organizations breeds vast differences in approaches. Are the issues simply too complex for a handful of organizations to fix or are the organizations themselves becoming an integral part of the problem? Most organizations fall short in evaluating their effectiveness, partly because there is no standard model by which to measure success. While it would be nearly impossible to design a perfect …

Contemporary Francophone West African Social Movements In The Rise Of Neo Pan-Africanism: A Case Study Of Y En A Marre In Senegal., Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Ndiaye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of the Y en a marre movement in 2011 has reshaped the face of social activism in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa. In less than a decade of its existence, Y’en a marre has become iconic in Senegalese civil society and beyond. Their effective opposition to the Wade regime between 2011 and 2012 reverberated beyond the Senegalese border through their slogan “touche pas à ma constitution” (Do not touch my constitution), a rallying cry that young people in Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo later appropriated, thus giving the movement a Pan-African platform. The birth of Y’en …

Challenging Bosnian Women’S Identity As Rape Victims: The Fetishization Of Sexual Violence In Post-Conflict Discourse, Rebecca Jacobi

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

How does one call attention to the gender dimensions of war violence or postwar inequalities without reproducing images of passive female victimhood and support for patriarchal notions of the protection of women? In the case of the Bosnian War, because of the large scale of sexual violence and the attention focused on this violence, Bosnian women have been stereotyped and relegated to the role of rape victim. Although women suffered from grave violations of human rights, this stereotypical portrayal is not adequate, and neglects the active role played in the perpetration of violence by some women. It also neglects women’s …

College Students And Their Political Participation, Emily Williams

Honors Projects

Historically, college students have had a low voter turnout despite having particularly high political engagement. This is a problem because it is instilling a bad habit of not politically engaging to the extent that a productive United States citizen should. By not voting, Americans are losing their rights to representation that reflects their views and beliefs. In this paper I discuss why this low voter turnout is negative and what the United States can do, via the government and educational institutions, to increase voter turnout. In this research, the reader will discover the reasons for low voting rates among college …

The Impact Of Location On Healthcare Access For Individuals With Disabilities, Addison Kimber

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper analyzes healthcare access for individuals with disabilities living in rural areas. In current political discussion, we typically think of insurance coverage as the metric to analyze healthcare access. However, as demonstrated by studies of healthcare in the United Kingdom, people with disabilities continue to face barriers to health care even with universal healthcare systems. In particular, individuals in rural areas have less healthcare access than urban residents. This is due to factors including socioeconomic status, insurance coverage, access to competent care, and transportation. This study aims to understand if disability status exacerbates the issue of access in rural …

The Dimensions Of Secession In California., Jared J Thomas

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The purpose of this research paper was to determine whether annual income is an indicator of a respondent’s level of support for the Californian independence movement. Ultimately, the analysis here determined that there is not a statistically significant relationship between the income of the participant and their support for secession in California. However, the data analysis did yield that there is a correlation between an index of ‘Support for Secession’, ‘Interest in Secession’ and ‘Seriousness of Claim’ and income. In addition, this research project determined that there is not a statistically significant relationship between the political ideology of the respondents …

Media Framing And Immigration Reform: An Examination Of The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, And Immigration Modernization Act Of 2013, Lorena Paredes

Political Science & International Studies | Senior Theses

As of 2020, there are 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States? Recently, the topic of immigration in the United States has become more controversial. In 2013, the U.S. Senate passed S.744 the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013. When this bill was introduced many believed that it had a good chance of making it through the legislative process. The bill represented a compromise between Republicans and Democrats and addressed many problems associated with immigration. However, the bill was not passed by the House of Representatives, leaving the issue of immigration reform unresolved. The role …

Asymmetric Threats: Analyzing The Future Of Nuclear Terrorism & Cyber Attacks; The Value Of Deterrence Theory For Addressing The Challenges Of Nuclear Terrorism In The Age Of 21st Century Cybersecurity, Oliver Demmert-Shelfo

Political Science & International Studies | Senior Theses

Given the rapid development and ease of access to technology, the threat of extremist organizations utilizing cyberspace as a means to target critical American strategic infrastructure is of increasing concern. The risk posed by the acquisition of fissile material, sabotage, or use of a nuclear device by an extremist organization has been exasperated due to technological development outpacing strategy. Despite policy-makers’ attempts to protect the public from cyber-attacks and nuclear terrorism, the federal policies in place have failed to account for the continual evolution of technology and the gaps in security that this advancement brings. Through examining documents from congressional …

The Violence Against Women's Act: From The Criminalization Of Domestic Violence Through Modern Political Challenges, Carrie Anderson

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The Violence Against Women’s Act, or VAWA, is a landmark piece of federal legislation to combat domestic violence in the United States. It passed in 1994 following various state efforts to stop intimate partner violence. Broad federal legislation was needed to end domestic violence because of the unique nature of the crime including the strong connection between victims and perpetrators, the vast scale of the problem, and the reoccurring nature of domestic violence (Fagan, p. 28-29, 1996). VAWA has been expanded through reauthorization efforts in 2000, 2005, and 2013. Reform efforts have focused on increasing protections for victims especially focusing …

Weaponizing The Epa: Presidential Control And Wicked Problems, Craig A. Jones

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In its broadest sense, presidential control encompasses all the actions, in both word and deed, whereby presidents “go it alone” to adopt policies in the absence of congressional will to do so, and sometimes directly contrary to it. This dissertation studies how President Obama used rhetorical and administrative tools of presidential control to address the “wicked problem” of climate change. The “administrative presidency” and the “rhetorical presidency” are familiar political science terms, but in the case of climate change policy, they appear to be moving policymaking in a new and perhaps profound direction, which this study refers to as “post-deliberative …

The Intersection Of Free Speech And Abortion: How Federal Courts Are Influencing Doctrine To Further Anti-Abortion Goals, Gina Tan

Political Science

Maintaining the accessibility to abortion has been a longstanding battle. While funding for Crisis Pregnancy Centers is increasing, states are cutting funding for abortion clinics (Ludden, 2015) and they are closing at a rate of 1.5 each week (Redden, 2015). Since Roe v. Wade (1973), hundreds of cases have been brought to challenge its legality and limit it as much as possible. The inability to challenge Roe directly has led many conservative legislators to play abortion politics by proxy, regulating what goes on inside and outside clinics, and the federal courts’ play a pivotal role in reviewing these regulations. During …

How Political Engagement Helps Indigenous Communities In Their Fight For Rights, Danielle Duguid

Political Science

How does political engagement help indigenous communities in fighting for their rights? Indigenous communities have faced immense levels of oppression and discrimination throughout history. A growing global trend shows that more communities are fighting back and gaining their rights through political means. This paper looks at the multiple ways communities have mobilized, focusing specifically on non-violent, political methods of resistance. This is done by examining politically active indigenous populations from North, Central, and South America and the states that they reside in. Even though the Inuit, Mayan, and Quechua communities have faced similar discrimination, have the same goals, and reside …

U.S.- China Policy: How Mistreatment Of The Uighurs Affects Foreign Policy, Divya Forbes

Political Science

The United States and China have a complex relationship that is influenced by security issues, climate change, combatting terrorism, strategic stability, and human rights violations. The United States has held the position that China is a crucial trading partner due to the vast level of economic interdependence between the two nations. However, the United States is a protector of human rights and has not shied away from intervening to protect persecuted religious groups from human rights violations. This paper seeks to distinguish the plight of the Uighur Muslim population in the Xinjiang province in China. It discusses how United States …

The Opaque Operations Of 21st Century Populism, Konnor Callihan

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

In my capstone, I claim that the populism of the 21st century should be considered a political style as elucidated by Benjamin Moffitt. But Moffitis’s understanding of political style does not adequately address how populism morphs through new technological systems, such as algorithms, filter bubbles, echo chambers in our internet devices. This theoretical framework takes necessary elements from past theories and stresses the performance that is vital to populism in our modern media ecosystem. The charismatic leader is no longer necessary, but the "opaque operations"( i.e algorithms, filter bubbles,echo chambers) allow populism to be almost self replicating. These “populist actors” …

America’S Second-Class Children: An Examination Of President Trump’S Immigration Policies On Migrant Children And Inquiry On Justice Through The Catholic Perspective, Gabriel Sáenz

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Prevailing Facets Of Spanish Colonialism: The Roots Of Exploitation And Inequality In Latin America, Camden Eckler

Honors Theses

Four main facets characterized Spanish colonialism in Latin America and contributed to the persistence of inequality and exploitation in colonial institutions – conversion, easy money, centralism, and political violence. The facets of conversion, easy money, centralism, and political violence are not institutions in themselves, but rather practices and logics of Spanish colonialism whose presence can be seen in social, political, and economic institutions and traced throughout history despite changes and developments in institutions. These facets’ entrenched presence in the foundations of Latin American social, political, and economic institutions has manifested throughout the shared and unique histories of Latin American countries. …

Portrait Of Modern Pluralism: A Practitioner's Perspective On Interest Group Politics And Theory., Mary Ellen Wiederwohl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a practitioner’s view on interest groups and interest group theory based primarily on Mancur Olson’s conclusions that small, organized minority interests have an advantage over the large, disorganized majority interests in the policymaking process; it tests the “why” behind this theory through an examination of a variety of factors, including the influence of money, the power of communications tools deployed by these interests, and the lobbyists’ role. It includes an introduction plus four chapters, including literature review, research methods, participant observations and in-depth interviews, and conclusion. The research methods included primarily participant observation based on a two-decade …

Al-Shabaab And Boko Haram: Recruitment Strategies, J. Tochukwu Omenma, Cheryl Hendricks, Nnamdi C. Ajaebili

Peace and Conflict Studies

This paper is an examination of the membership recruitment strategies of two violent extremist organizations (VEOs), namely al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. The majority of the literature on VEOs concentrates on the conceptualization of terrorism, motivations for terrorism and counter-terrorism strategies, as well as a focus on the frequency of VEO attacks, number of fatalities and funding sources. The literature tends to portray poverty as the main driver of recruitment. The focus on recruitment strategies has been relatively recent. There is therefore still a lack of in-depth analyses on the processes of recruitment of specific extremist groups, and this impacts on …

Estranged Political Relationships: Demystifying The Root Causes Of Violent Conflicts In South Sudan, Sam A. Onapa

Peace and Conflict Studies

Abstract

The breaking of peace agreements and the subsequent perpetuation of civil war in South Sudan are sustained by the failure to adopt broad interventions addressing the many layers of the conflict. An understanding of the multiple causes of the conflict can form the basis for a successful and durable peace agreement. To investigate why violent conflict persists, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 29 major stakeholders, including conflict parties, mediators, eminent South Sudanese personalities, scholars and civil society leaders. The responses were grouped into five major themes: historical conflicts, estranged political relationships, power struggles, resource control and ethnic violence …

Lobbying On The German Federal Level: The Unknown Shift Through Digital Transformation, Kathrin Stürmer, Gearóid Ó' Súilleabháin, Pio Fenton, Lars Rademacher

Dept. of Marketing & International Business Publications

Against the background of technological change, increasing information flow, and a rising number of communication channels, new opportunities and challenges are arising for communication between interest groups and federal policymakers in Germany. To keep up with further technological developments and the increasingly fast-paced political communication system, it is crucial to analyze lobbying in the context of digital transformation in greater detail. Lobbying as a traditionally non-public part of political communication has been a challenging setting for research. Understanding the general contours of this activity is an important public need - especially for digital lobbying, where a lack of academic research …