Digital Commons Network^™

Experiential Spillover In Public Views Of Police And Courts, Emma Henderson, Matthew Mettler, Jeffery J. Mondak, Mark Peffley

Political Science Faculty Publications

Personal experiences with public officials influence how those officials are perceived. We question whether these experiential effects extend to other officials. If people draw on what they know to make inferences about unfamiliar evaluative targets, then interactions with one actor may shape evaluations of other independent actors. Focusing on police and courts, analyses of data from two surveys reveal that personal interactions with public officials produce spillover effects on appraisals of officials in different sectors. The findings indicate that experiential spillover constitutes an underappreciated force in public opinion, one that operates outside the control of the actors being evaluated.

Just War Theory In The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins’S Critique Of Violence, Power, And Rebellion, Laila Hannum

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis applies just war theory to Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games trilogy, arguing that while the districts' rebellion satisfies the principles of jus ad bellum (justice in going to war), it systematically violates jus in bello (justice in the conduct of war) and jus post bellum (justice after war), and ultimately replicates the oppressive structures of the Capitol it sought to overthrow.

Drawing primarily on Michael Walzer's Just and Unjust Wars and on Brian Orend's ideas on post-war justice, this thesis traces the rebellion's moral arc across all three novels. Chapter One shows that the rebellion meets the criteria …

Fear, Memory, And Deterrence: Reassessing Nuclear Peace In The 21st Century, Nathan H. Schroeder

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research investigates the paradox of nuclear peace theory: the idea that nuclear weapons, despite their destructive capacity, have contributed to a more stable global order. By tracing the historical development of nuclear arsenals and the strategic logic of deterrence, the project examines whether the post-1945 decline in large-scale wars between superpowers and wartime deaths can be attributed to the threat of mutual annihilation. It also explores the psychological and cultural consequences of this deterrence-based peace, including the normalization of fear and its potential link to desensitization toward violence in younger generations. From Cold War-era school drills to modern apocalyptic …

Breaking The Cycle: Substance Use Disorders, Recidivism, And The Role Of Reentry Programs, Sophia R. Veloz

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This Honors Research Paper examines the relationship between substance use treatment and recidivism among justice-involved individuals, gathering from my academic background as a dual major in psychology and national security and my internship at Oriana House in Akron, Ohio. Oriana House is a private nonprofit organization that provides inpatient and outpatient services for adults with substance use disorders, including detoxification, motivational interviewing (MI), Substance Use Disorder (SUD) counseling, telehealth, and 12-step facilitation. Their mission emphasizes reducing recidivism by addressing substance use and supporting long-term recovery. The main research question in this study is whether taking part in structured, community-based treatment …

The Discord Revolutions: A Study Of Media Influence And Regime Changes, Justin C. Eason

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will be a paper analyzing the influence of Media on regime changes, specifically as it pertains to the two recent revolutions in Nepal and Madagascar. I will show how past regime changes and historical events have been shaped by media influence, and how the revolutions in Nepal and Madagascar are different, and could set a different pattern when compared to previous rebellions.

Health Care Governance And Structural Exclusion In Florida: A Human Rights Analysis Of Access For Latinx Communities, Natalie Medrano

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Access to health care in the United States is a complex system shaped by statutory programs and the discretionary powers of state governance. This thesis examines how Florida’s healthcare system structures access through administrative design, with particular attention to its impact on Latinx communities. Although formally race-neutral, Florida’s reliance on Medicaid non-expansion, managed care delivery, and complex eligibility processes produces systemic barriers that limit access for low-income populations. Drawing on the international right-to-health framework articulated in General Comment No. 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, alongside Latinx Critical Race Theory (LatCrit), this study analyzes how …

C.A.S. Full Assessment Report: State Of Florida Government Portal, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

The purpose of this assessment is to evaluate the cognitive overhead, transparency, and attentional integrity of

official State of Florida digital interfaces using the Cognitive Attentional Standards (C.A.S.) platform.

While the Florida Digital Bill of Rights (FDBR) establishes strict regulatory guardrails for consumer data

transparency, tracking opt-outs, and attentional safeguards, the State of Florida explicitly exempts its own

government agencies, public universities, and non-profit entities from complying with these rules.

This assessment serves to investigate the tension between legislative intent and government execution. By

analyzing public sector websites through the C.A.S. platform, this project will establish a “state-enforced vs.

state-executed” …

Examining Institutional And Personal Barriers To Women's Participation In The U.S. Foreign Service, Isabella Thompson

2026 Research Poster Competition

Gender equality and equal representation for women have become heavily debated topics in the global community over the last few decades. Some countries have constitutional policies in place that promote gender equality, while others have extreme gaps between the rights of men and women. One area commonly used to assess how far a country has progressed toward gender equality is women’s representation in government and politics. A growing body of scholarly research in International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis examines the representation of women in foreign policy and diplomacy. Descriptive statistics show wide gaps between countries in women’s representation in …

Immigration Securitization And Educational Access: The Impact Of U.S. Immigration Policy On International Students, Cossir Carter

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study examines the securitization of international students within the broader transformation of United States immigration policy from the post-9/11 era to the present administration. Following the September 11 attacks, immigration governance was increasingly reorganized under a national security framework, significantly altering the regulatory environment surrounding student visas. Subsequent policy shifts have intensified monitoring mechanisms and administrative controls that directly shape international students’ access to education and mobility. Given the sensitivity of immigration-related participation in the current political climate, this research employs qualitative policy analysis rather than direct student surveys. Under the Trump administration, this securitization intensified through stricter visa …

The Impact Of Social Media Movements On Policy Changes Made In The United States, Michelle Levy Korine

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study focuses on researching the relationship between social media movements and policy changes in the United States. Over the last decade, digital platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and X have become important tools to encourage political involvement. These platforms have led to an increase in public participation, movements to become more popular and to organize protests. Many current studies focus on the social and cultural aspects of online activism, but fewer examine wither these movements lead to the legislative change asked for.

This thesis relies on the question, "To what extent does social media activism contribute to policy change …

Examining The Relation Between Cognitive Reflection And Directional Reasoning In The Context Of Political Affiliation, Ian Dargitz

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

The intent of the study was to examine contributing factors to political bias, in particular the role of cognitive reflection. I hypothesized that in an explicitly partisan context, cognitive reflection would be predictive of greater bias.

Participants completed the cognitive reflection test (CRT). They then read a prompt claiming that people with either conservative or liberal beliefs tended to score higher on the CRT, using either explicitly partisan (e.g., "Medicare for All") or relatively neutral language (e.g., "low-cost health insurance.") After reading this prompt, they were asked whether they believe the CRT is a valid measure of reflective ability. Participants …

Constructing The Political “Other”: Affective Polarization And Cross-Ideological Portrayals On Instagram, Amanda M. Novellin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Instagram has frequently been characterized by users as a platform that permits the circulation of hostile and adversarial political content due to comparatively limited moderation practices. In January 2025, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced changes to content moderation policies on Facebook and Instagram, including the removal of third-party fact-checking mechanisms. These platform-level changes further reshaped the political information environment in which online discourse occurs. However, even prior to these policy changes, Instagram had established itself as a prominent space for highly polarized political expression across the ideological spectrum.

This thesis examines how political polarization in the United States is reflected …

The Influence Of China’S Economic Soft Power: The Perceptions Of Youth In The Case Of Cambodia As A Small State, Mommarolin Srey

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The debate on the continued rise of China remains relevant and central in global politics. China has been employing soft power as a strategic approach to enhance its reputation as a global power on the international stage. While China has made tremendous efforts in soft power diplomacy to foster positive perceptions among many countries, the global survey on the perception of China remains largely negative with only a slight increase in positive perceptions. This thesis examines the younger generation or youth perceptions of China’s economic soft power. This qualitative research uses the case study of Cambodia as small state and …

Detection Of Financial And Political Fake News As A Measure To Prevent Instability In Financial Markets, Konstantyn Malyshenko

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This article explores the role of social networks as a catalyst for instability in financial markets. Its purpose is to present strategies for mitigating the media’s influence on adverse outcomes, primarily by analyzing the information cascades and related transactions in stock markets. The innovative aspect of this research lies in the development of methods for analyzing specific types of information, particularly media reports, to identify indicators of fake that distort public perception. The focus of this study is on fake news and the analysis of its potential linguistic features for identification purposes. A significant outcome of this research is the …

Mystics, Oracles, And Bones: Spiritual Resistance For Justice, Healing, And Resolution, Leah Hollis

Comparative Civilizations Review

This conceptual essay examines the enduring human impulse to seek meaning, justice, and healing through mystical traditions in response to suffering and harm. When traditional solutions through grievance, the law, or mediation fails, some individuals may turn to spiritual practices not as superstition, but as embodied strategies of survival, reclamation, and clarity. Comparing diverse traditions from a variety of cultures, including oracle bone divination in ancient China, the Oracle at Delphi in Greece, West African Ifá, Benin’s Voudou, diasporic Hoodoo, Celtic Druidic law, and Sufi mysticism, this paper explores how mystics have long served as interpreters of suffering and perceived …

Police Integrity And The Code Of Silence (Cos): Evidence From A Large-Scale Scenario-Based Survey In Indonesia, Dr. Indarto, S.H., S.Sos., S.I.K., M.Si -

Jurnal Kriminologi Indonesia

Issues of police integrity are not only driven by individual misconduct but are also sustained by organizational norms that inhibit the reporting of wrongdoing, known as the Code of Silence (CoS). This article reports the results of a large-scale, scenario-based police integrity survey conducted among personnel of the Indonesian National Police (Polri). After excluding responses that did not meet the honesty criterion, analyses were conducted on 57,574 respondents. Respondents evaluated six misconduct scenarios and assessed perceived seriousness, perceived deterrence (likelihood of detection and sanction), knowledge of rules, and willingness to report. Reliability tests indicated very strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s α …

Marshall Shulman: Bridging The Gap Between The Academic And Policymaking Worlds And Building Transnational Communities, Cynthia A. Roberts

Publications and Research

This essay examines Marshall D. Shulman’s legacy as a scholar of Soviet foreign policy, a scholar-practitioner who moved between academic and policymaking worlds, and a builder of transnational expert communities. It highlights Shulman’s early challenge to essentialist interpretations of Soviet foreign policy, his conception of the U.S.-Soviet relationship as a “limited adversary relationship,” and his emphasis on managing nuclear competition while avoiding catastrophic war. The essay also traces Shulman’s role in arms control, Track II diplomacy, scientific and expert exchanges, and the development of Russian and Soviet studies at Columbia University. Drawing on the author’s experience as Shulman’s student and …

Nuclear Deterrence And The Security Dilemma In A Complex Multipolar World, Chick Edmond

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Objectives: The purpose of this research project is to examine how nuclear deterrence intersects with the concept of security dilemma, i.e., when a state takes an action intended to increase its own security it may inadvertently create a risk or threat to another state and contribute to increased levels of tension. Fourth, how nuclear and conventional systems are becoming increasingly interconnected, which will serve to potentially amplify risks associated with these systems.

Methods: Utilizing a qualitative analytical approach of documents such as national strategy documents, defense policy statements and historical records of crises dating from 1945-2025, the study identifies four …

The Response Of Diaspora And Religious Institutions On The Refugee Crisis: Case Study Of The Republic Of Croatia, Galyna Sagan Dr., Tetiana Kostiuk Dr.

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article is dedicated to the multifaceted support that Ukrainian diaspora and Catholic organizations in the Republic of Croatia have been providing to Ukrainian refugees since the full-scale Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. The study details the systemic response of such key religious institutions as the Diocese of Križevci, Caritas and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). Particular attention is paid to integration initiatives, like educational programs developed by the Catholic University of Croatia (HKS), and the provision of spiritual and pastoral care, which remains the unique prerogative of the Church. The study emphasizes coordination between ecclesiastical and state …

Politics As Usual: Racial Pay Inequity And The Illusion Of Inclusion In The Rise And Fall Of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, And Accessibility Executive Orders, Francois C. Melville

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

This research examines pressing moral policy questions of our time: who determines when the United States of America has fulfilled its broken promise of equality for all, and what constitutes an appropriate measure of reparative justice. It interrogates why the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Executive Orders (EOs) implemented across presidential administrations, intended to advance social equity, were grounded in conflict and symbolic gestures rather than scientifically evidenced issues such as wage inequality directly linked to upward career mobility. Race conscious policy generates cultural clashes centered on the perception that gains made by Black and Brown Americans come at the …

Navigating Financial Futures: A Case Study Of A Targeted Financial Literacy Program For African American College Students, Michael L. James

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation presents a qualitative analysis of a targeted financial literacy program designed for African American college students. The dissertation examined how African American college students describe and make meaning of their participation in a targeted financial literacy program, particularly in relation to the program’s structure, content, and delivery. Despite growing interest in financial literacy education, interventions that acknowledge the persistent wealth gap and systemic financial inequities faced by African Americans remain underexplored. Employing a case study research method within a program understanding framework, this study investigated a program at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Findings reveal that the …

The U.S. Campaign Gacha System And Youth Underrepresentation, Rebecca Burrows, Eleanor Harris

UROP Posters

This research investigates why young people remain underrepresented in elected U.S. offices and why youth voter turnout has historically remained low. Motivated by persistent shortcomings in U.S. youth turnout, the dominance of older elected officials, and recent high-profile victories by young mayoral candidates, this study asks whether young candidates (< 40) increase youth voter turnout in U.S. elections—and, if so, whether structural factors prevent these candidates from winning. Existing literature on descriptive representation and electoral inequality suggests that young candidates may energize youth voters yet face systemic disadvantages that hinder their success. This research contributes to the literature by exploring how the U.S. campaign finance system shapes young candidates’ electoral viability. Using a qualitative comparative case study design, we analyzed four large U.S. mayoral elections: two with victorious young candidates (Boston 2021; New York City 2025) and two where no candidate under 40 appeared on recent ballots (Los Angeles and Columbus). For each city, candidate eligibility rules, ballot requirements, party bylaws, primary election methods, and campaign finance laws were examined using publicly available legal and institutional documents. This approach allowed us to identify structural barriers while remaining open to unanticipated patterns across cases. Our findings reveal no explicit legal or party rules that impede young candidates. Instead, obstacles lie implicitly in the U.S. campaign finance system’s lack of limits on contributions, candidate spending, and the normalization of high-cost campaigning. These conditions allow older candidates—who are more likely to possess greater financial resources—to outcompete younger challengers, limiting youth descriptive representation and alienating youth from electoral politics. We conclude that youth underrepresentation is sustained less by overt legal barriers than by embedded systemic inequalities in campaign finance, an issue with broader implications for electoral integrity, representative democracy, and youth voter turnout in the United States.

“America Is For Americans Only”: Journalistic Professionalism, Populism, And Latino Ethnic Media In The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Maria Villarroel

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how journalistic professionalism shaped news coverage of Latino-related issues during the 2024 U.S. presidential election across mainstream and Latino ethnic media outlets. In a polarized political environment, immigration and the “Latino vote” were not only central campaign issues but also sites of radicalized rhetoric that frequently targeted Latino communities and journalists. In this context, journalists were tasked with reporting on highly contentious, hostile narratives while adhering to professional norms. This study argues that these norms influenced how journalists selected, framed, and contextualized political rhetoric, and how media coverage further elevated immigration and Latino communities as key electoral …

Gendered Punishment? How The Corruption Of Female Politicians Affects Public Opinion Of Female Political Leadership, Byung-Deuk Woo, Mi-Son Kim, Tracy Osborn

Political Science Faculty Publications

Does the corruption of a woman politician decrease public support for other women political leaders? To answer this question, this article examines how the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, the first female president of South Korea, affects people’s perceptions of women’s political leadership in South Korea. We argue that in South Korea, the high-level political corruption scandal of the first woman president led to lower evaluations of women’s political leadership because of the intense and gendered media coverage of Park’s failure. Using the two waves of the World Values Survey conducted in South Korea before and after Park Geun-hye’s impeachment in …

The Return Of Donald Trump: A Multidisciplinary Analysis Of The 2024 Presidential Election, Joan Hanson

Scripps Senior Theses

Donald Trump’s 2024 victory made him only the second president in American history to win a nonconsecutive reelection bid. This thesis serves as a preliminary investigation into why a decisive share of American voters chose Trump for a second time, drawing on voter behavior theory, analysis of digital political advertising and social media content, as well as recent election data. Theoretical frameworks including retrospective and prospective voting, as well as ideological innocence each offer plausible explanations for Trump’s repeat victory. Analysis of digital advertising and social media content leading up to the 2024 presidential election further suggests that these platforms …

The Politics Of Fatness And The Demand For Our Collective Joy, Sky Caldwell

Scripps Senior Theses

The Politics of Fatness and the Demand for Our Collective Joy aims to assess the political-economic reasonings behind the return of overt anti-fatness and its coincidence with the re-normalization of the far right. My research looks at the sudden mass marketing of GLP-1 drugs and the use of the body as a spatial fix during recession-era economic conditions. First, this interdisciplinary project asks why the body positivity movement has not been successful in the greater fight against anti-fatness. Then, through archival research, discourse analysis, ethnographic interviews, and photography, my project explores various case studies of successful spaces and collectives working …

Redling And Soil Contamination In Los Angles County: Mapping The Influence Of Polutants And Regulatory Landscapes On Enviromental Justice Outcomes, Gillian G. Maynard

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines soil contamination in Los Angeles as a pervasive yet underexamined environmental justice issue, rooted in the region’s history of industrialization, racialized land-use policy, and regulatory failure. It argues that soil operates as both a long-term repository and an active pathway of toxic exposure, embedding environmental risk directly within residential landscapes. Through an analysis of key contamination sources, including legacy lead pollution, urban oil extraction, wildfire-related toxins, and industrial sites such as the Santa Susana Field Laboratory and the Exide battery recycling facility, this study demonstrates how contaminants persist across generations, often long after their original sources have …

Author Biographies

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

The 2025 Michigan Supreme Court Ruling On Lwop Protections: Morally Justifiable?, Asa Smith

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper examines the moral permissibility of the 2025 Michigan Supreme Court ruling that found life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences for 19- and 20-year-olds to be unconstitutional under Michigan state law. The paper supports its argument on whether the ruling was morally permissible by drawing on neuroscientific data as well as moral frameworks such as a rehabilitative theory of punishment and John Rawls’s ‘veil of ignorance’ thought experiment for the application of justified principles in society. The paper considers and replies to potential objections to its argument and to alternative interpretations of the moral frameworks it deploys. It concludes by contending that …

Between Motherhood And The Motherland: Navigating Challenges To Rank Advancement Of Women In The U.S. Army, Valeria Suarez

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Female officers remain a minority in the U.S. Army. Motherhood, dependent care, and sexual assault are some of the reasons why they decide to give up on their Army careers. The following study intends to examine how the impact of policy changes to accommodate female Army officers’ increased retention and consequently promoted the rank advancement of women to the rank of major, or O4 and above. Through conversations with 14 armed forces officers, both men and women, it is evident that the gender neutral culture of the Army proves to be detrimental to women’s rank advancement. For them to be …