Digital Commons Network^™

Overlapping Human Rights Jurisdictions In Europe: An Application Of Constructivism To Regional Studies, William Thompson Yon

Honors Papers

In December 2009, the Lisbon Treaty expanded the European Court of Justice's jurisdiction into regional human rights protection. In the 27 EU member states this jurisdiction would overlap with the European Court of Human Rights. This paper describes how this situation developed through a historical analyses of each institutions' constitutional and functional developments, and attempts to extrapolate future action based on how actors' use and define symbols. It concludes that the European human rights regime is likely to see the ECJ establish itself in a monist hierarchy underneath the ECtHR in the area of human rights, while maintaining a supremacy …

Short Term Strategies For Long Term Power: The Rise And Potential Fall Of Hugo Chávez, Linden E.S. Schult

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the route to power of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez and the methods by which he has remained in power throughout his presidency. Also, it explores the potential for Chávez to lose power, given the current economic and political situation in Venezuela. The importance of the oil industry, Chávez's suppression of the opposition and control of the media, and constitutional changes and reforms are all discussed as keys to Chávez's continuance in power.

Dammed And The Damned: Draining The Bucket Dry, Carla Steiger

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how people displaced from the construction of large dams in seek environmental justice. I studied the importance of regime type, the creation of protest groups and the formation of alliances with national, international organizations, and the media. In a comparison between protest movements against the Three Gorges Dam in China and the Sardar Sarovar Dam in India, displaced populations suffered from loss of community, livelihood, and health and were victimized by corrupt actors that supported the dams. The rapid economic development of these two countries emerged as a major point of comparison between the two. Regime type …

We Call Ourselves By Many Names: Storytelling And Inter-Minority Coalition-Building, Celina Su

Publications and Research

Scholars debate whether new immigrants will join minority native-born groups, especially African-Americans, in battling racial disparities, income inequalities, and discrimination in the United States. Although scholars have investigated inter-minority coalition-building in the context of electoral politics, a substantial share of newer immigrant social and political action has not been formalized. Social change organizations play an integral role in less formalized politics. The article draws upon ethnographic data on two case study organizations to investigate how they built coalitions between immigrants and non-immigrants. It pinpoints the ways in which they engaged in storytelling to emphasize multiple identity – namely, how any …

Understanding Hayek, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although some of this will be familiar to a number of you all,I will talk a bit about Friedrich A. Hayek since I am goingfirst. I’ll say a little bit about his life, how he came to theideas that he became so famous for espousing, and then a little bitabout his liberalism and the contribution he has made to liberaltheory and to intellectual life.

A Realist Interpretation Of U.S.Relations With China, Xiansheng Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Realism theory provides the most powerful explanation for the state of war and the rise and fall of great powers. It expounds the important concepts and themes like national sovereignty, security, survival, interests, balance of power, balance of terror, alliance, dominance, hegemony and polarity. Realism can be classified as classical realism, structural realism and neoclassical realism. In recent years, liberalism, globalism and constructivism also have greatly influenced academics and policy-makers under the new phenomena of globalization and terrorism. This paper explores how classical realism theory has been applied to and revealed in the issue of American policy towards China. The …

Understanding Terrorism: Religious & Political Dimensions, Christopher Cusano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Terrorism in the twenty-first century has had one of greatest effects on the status quo of international relations, peace and war. It has become the 'specter' of our era and in many instances, it has been referred to as the predominant threat of modern civilization. Furthermore, it has the potential to drastically change the world we live in. For these reasons it has rightfully earned our attention and focus. Many efforts to understand terrorism have fallen short of recognizing the underlying causes. In many cases, acts of terror have either been of purely political motivation or have had socioeconomic conditions …

Doubting Thomas: A Study Of Thomas Hobbes's Post-Restoration Dialogues, Adam George Yoksas

Dissertations

This study explores the possibility that Thomas Hobbes's post-Restoration writings have a teaching that is somewhat different than the teaching contained in his scientific treatises. Specifically, Hobbes seems to express doubt in his dialogues that his science as outlined in Leviathan and elsewhere is a realistic solution to the problems of the commonwealth. His knowledge of the English Civil War and the peace that followed may have been instrumental in reorienting Hobbes towards a more pragmatic and realistic philosophy that recognized the limits of science to create stability in the political arena. The Hobbes of the dialogues seems to focus …

Commonality, Competition, And Stereotypes: Can Whites, Blacks, And Latinos Play Politics Together In The United States, Betina Cutaia Wilkinson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The literature on racial attitudes and coalition formation has focused on Latinos and African Americans in the U.S. In this project, I present a theoretical framework exploring what whites, blacks and Latinos think of each other specifically examining perceptions of commonality, competition and stereotypes. The two major theories that I test are contact theory and the racial threat hypothesis. This project is unique in its comprehensive analysis of the precursors of coalition formation regarding African Americans, Latinos and whites and its adoption of quantitative and qualitative approaches to answer the main research questions. Moreover, very little research has explored the …

Three Worlds Of Western Punishment: A Regime Theory Of Cross-National Incarceration Rate Variation, 1960-2002, Matthew Demichele

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation offers an explanation of cross national incarceration rate variation for 17 industrialized countries for the second half of the 20^th century. Both historical case studies and time-series cross-section analyses are used to provide an institutional explanation of incarceration rate differences. Borrowing from Weber’s Sociology of Law and comparative legal scholarship, it is suggested that three types of legal thinking exist among western democracies—Common, Romano-Germanic, and Nordic law. A regime approach commonly applied in political economic explanations of welfare state development is used to quantify the legal and criminal justice institutional differences between 1960 and 2002 to assert …

Citizenship In The Humanities And Social Sciences: A Selective Bibliography, 2000-2009, Wayne State University School Of Library And Information Science, Winter 2010 Lis 7160, James E. Van Loon, H.G.B. Anghelescu

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Citizenship in the Humanities and Social Sciences is a selective bibliography consisting of citations to works published during the years 2000-2009 on citizenship-related topics in the humanities and social sciences. Primarily consisting of books/chapters and scholarly journal articles, the bibliography also includes other materials (case studies, reports, dissertations, and working papers) for which scholarship, authority and relevance have been established. Most cited works are published in the English language, although articles published in other languages using a Latin alphabet are also included. Citations were retrieved during January-March 2010 from a variety of aggregated databases accessed through the Wayne State University …

Obedience, Schooling, And Political Participation, Davin Chor, Filipe R. Campante

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper proposes a framework for understanding the joint evolution of cultural norms and human capital investment, and how these affect patterns of political participation. We first present some empirical evidence that cultural attitudes towards obedience systematically influence an individual's propensity to engage in different political activities: obedience discourages more confrontational modes of political activity (such as public demonstrations), while raising participation in non-confrontational civic acts (such as voting). These cultural attitudes further appear to be determined in part by cultural transmission across generations. Motivated by this evidence, we develop a dynamic model in which human capital and obedience are …

An Argument For Guest Worker Programs, Javier S. Hidalgo

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Several noted economists and prominent international organizations have recently advocated for the implementation of guest worker programs in developed states.1 Their primary argument is that guest worker programs would serve as a powerful mechanism for reducing global poverty and inequality. For example, economist Dani Rodrik estimates that guest worker programs in wealthy states would generate $200 billion or more annually for poor countries. According to Rodrik, liberalizing the temporary movement of workers would “produce the largest possible gains for the world economy, and for poor countries in particular” in comparison with other policies, such as trade liberalization.

Probing The Finance Gap Theory: Does Gender Affect Campaign Contributions?, Rhonda Wrzenski

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In our field, scholarly literature contends that women win a similar percentage of the vote and raise a similar amount of money as their male opponents when they campaign (Newman 1994; Burrell 1994; Seltzer et al. 1997; Dolan 2006; Darcy et al. 1994; Wilhite and Theilmann 1986; Burrell 1985; Uhlaner and Schlozman 1986; Welch et al. 1985). However, women are still underrepresented at all levels of government and this may be a function of biases in the campaign finance network that have gone largely undetected. Differences may be more readily apparent at the sub-national level and among particular classes of …

Introduction To America's Four Gods: What We Say About God And What That Says About Us, Paul Froese, Christoper Bader

Sociology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Despite all the hype surrounding the "New Atheism," the United States remains one of the most religious nations on Earth. In fact, 95% of Americans believe in God--a level of agreement rarely seen in American life. The greatest divisions in America are not between atheists and believers, or even between people of different faiths. What divides us, this groundbreaking book shows, is how we conceive of God and the role He plays in our daily lives.

America's Four Gods draws on the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, and illuminating survey of American's religious beliefs ever conducted to offer a systematic exploration of …

The Religious Divide: Why Religion Seems To Be Thriving In The United States And Waning In Europe, Steven Pfaff

Sociology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"In the decades following the Second World War, most social scientists expected convergence among the Western industrial democracies. Modernization was expected to bring prosperity and opportunity, initiating a “culture shift” to posttraditional values and lifestyles.

However, in recent years observers have remarked on a growing divide between Europeans and Americans. This divergence may be nowhere greater than in the religious sphere. While faith is loudly proclaimed and a bustling diversity of religious organizations jostles for attention in all arenas of public life in the United States, the European Union (EU) is described as thoroughly secularized, comprised of societies in which …

The Mirage Of Non-State Governance, Ralf Michaels

Faculty Scholarship

In this Essay, I offer three theses, all of which are critical. First, non‑state governance is conceptually unattractive; it is a concept that makes little sense. Second, non‑state governance is empirically unattractive; meaningful non‑state governance rarely exists. Third, meaningful non‑state governance is normatively unattractive; we would rarely want it, and people postulating it usually expect the state to play an important role. However, I also have something constructive: a proposed trajectory. Talk about the state and the non‑state can only be an intermediary stage in a trajectory of a theory of governance that might lead to a new paradigm of …

In Case You Missed It: Learning From Hangzhou, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

I took this photo on my first day in Hangzhou when I arrived there in July 2005 for a six-week Chinese language course. I didn’t find the billboard especially interesting, but one of my friends hails from Kohler, Wisconsin, and I thought he might enjoy seeing that his hometown is known in a Chinese city that I’m fairly certain he had never heard of before I announced I would be spending the summer there. At the time, I didn’t give much thought to the billboard itself, or the thousands of other advertisements affixed to the sides of buildings, encircling construction …

Project Animate: Promoting Student Civic Participation Through Latino Voter Mobilization, Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado

Faculty Books and Monographs

This project sought to expand voter outreach and mobilization of new registered and Latino voters through a series of activities to be undertaken in winter of 2007 leading up to the 2008 General Election in the greater Omaha metropolitan area. Following the successful development of a voter mobilization project undertaken in the 2006 election cycle, this project conducted a series of door-to-door canvassing activities utilizing University of Nebraska at Omaha students to distribute nonpartisan voter information, and engage in “get out the vote” activities with new Latino registered voters in Ward 4 of Douglas County, Nebraska and among Southeast Omaha’s …

Community Outreach And Empowerment Through Service Learning And Volunteerism, Christopher Malone

Cornerstone 2 Reports : Community Outreach and Empowerment Through Service Learning and Volunteerism

Pace University and Vote 18 are teaming up in 2009-2010 to launch an exciting program for NYC high school kids to provide them with an in-depth experience in political literacy and civic engagement. The NYC Political Literacy Project brings Vote 18 together with Pace University students to provide high schoolers with a dynamic way to get involved with local, state, and national politics. The object is to teach civic engagement and literacy through direct interaction with real campaigns, issues, events, and people in each of the high school students’ local communities. Students will engage the events of their communities through …

Why We Don't Understand The Rule Of Law, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This paper presents an assessment of current theories of law and their continuing failure to account in a convincing way for the rule of law as an ideal that guides and reassures modern democratic societies. It then explores the possibility that emerging understandings of human evolution and brain function may help us understand the process of convention making in a way that could reveal the underlying moral and epistemological context of law and allow us to identify a complete set of standards for the rule of law in human societies.

Organizational Life And Political Incorporation Of Two Asian Immigrant Groups: A Case Study, Sofya Aptekar

Publications and Research

Civil society is the foundation of a healthy democracy but its immigrant element has received little attention. This paper is a case study of immigrant organizations of highly skilled Asian Indians and Chinese immigrants in a suburban town of Edison, New Jersey. I find that civic participation of Asian Indian immigrants spills over into political incorporation while Chinese immigrant organizations remain margin- alized. I argue that local processes of racialization are central in explaining differences in political incorporation of immigrants. In the local context, the Chinese are seen as successful but conformist model minorities and Asian Indians as invaders and …

Repression And Punishment In North Korea: Survey Evidence Of Prison Camp Experiences, Stephan Haggard, Marcus Noland

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The penal system has played a central role in the North Korean government’s response to the country’s profound economic and social changes. Two refugee surveys—one conducted in China, one in South Korea—document its changing role. The regime disproportionately targets politically suspect groups, particularly those involved in market-oriented economic activities. Levels of violence and deprivation do not appear to differ substantially between the infamous political prison camps, penitentiaries for felons, and labor camps used to incarcerate individuals for misdemeanors, including economic crimes. Substantial numbers of those incarcerated report experiencing deprivation with respect to food as well as public executions and other …

Interview With Willie Williamson, Lisa Duke

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 79 minutes

Oral history interview of Willie Williamson by Lisa Duke

Mr. Williamson begins by describing his childhood in Grenada, Mississippi, one of nine children, playing baseball and attending Sunday school, and growing up in the Jim Crow South. He recalls how he first learned of Apartheid through a food drive for South African refugees where they learned of the efforts to expel South Africa from the United Nations, which persuaded him and his wife to become involved. He explains how this led him and others to establish the National Anti-Imperialist Movement for Southern Africa Liberation (NAIMSAL). He describes …

Interview With Rosetta Daylie, Sarah Bonkowski

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 71 minutes

Oral history interview of Rosetta Daylie by Sarah Bonkowski

Rosetta Daylie begins by recounting her childhood on the South Side of Chicago, raised by a politically active family. She recalls her initial work in food service at the Illinois Visually Handicapped Institution. She explains how she was working for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a trade union of public employees, when she learned about the anti-Apartheid movement and the Illinois Labor Network Against Apartheid (ILLNAA. She describes her work with ILLNAA and the Coalition of Black Trade Labor Unionists, the Shell boycott …

Adding Race And Ethnicity: Electoral Data Collection Practice And Prospects For New York State, José Cruz, Jacqueline Hayes

Policy Documents

This report provides a comparative analysis of electoral data collection practices with the purpose of making recommendations that will improve electoral data collection in New York. This report answers the following questions: Why does New York State not collect electoral data by race and ethnicity? What explains electoral data collection by race in Alabama, California, Florida, and Pennsylvania? Are there any adverse impacts associated with this practice in these states?

Violence In The House, Katherine Hite

Human Rights & Human Welfare

There was something particularly haunting in reading this Kristof and WuDunn piece during the week’s major US headlines: a girl in California had been imprisoned for eighteen years in the home of a man who kidnapped and raped her, fathered her children, and employed her in his small enterprise—a business card design and printing agency. Business clients interviewed for the story appeared completely taken aback. Clients had always found the now twenty-nine-year-old Jaycee Dugard “professional, polite, and responsive” as well as “creative and talented in her work.” Others expressed similar shock, recounting that Ms. Dugard “was always smiling.” Ms. Dugard’s …

Interview With Tim Wright, Jonathen Vogel

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 69 minutes

Oral history interview of Tim Wright by Jonathen Vogel

Tim Wright was involved in activism and the Anti-apartheid movement since college. He tells of when, while attending UCLA, he was involved in the divestment movement to prevent universities from cooperating with the African regime. He describes his time working as a research assistant with Angela Davis and their time in Angola, South Africa to learn more about the conflict first-hand, where he met Prexy Nesbitt, who became a close colleague. Wright describes his time working with Harold Washington and his administration, taking part initially as a volunteer …

Interview With Mary Scott Boria, Pamela Birchard

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 92 minutes

Oral history interview of Mary Schott Boria by Pamela Birchard

Mary Scott Boria begin by detailing her childhood as the daughter of a divorced, interracial couple in the 1950s. She explains how at the age of 14, she packed a suitcase and joined her mother in Chicago where she participated in the Civil Rights Movement, joining the NAACP and, later, the Black Panther Party while in college. She recalls joining the Chicago Committee in Solidarity with Southern Africa (CCISSA) in the 1980s, working toward the divestment of the Apartheid government, participating in demonstrations, helping put together newsletters, …

Interview With Lisa Ann Brock, Amanda Anderson

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 96 minutes

Oral history interview of Lisa Ann Brock by Amanda Anderson

Dr. Brock was born and raised in Glendale, Ohio. She holds a BA in history from Howard University and a doctorate in history from Northwestern University. She has spent most of her life involved in social justice activism and higher education. She was the founding Academic Director of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College for ten years. She currently works as a JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) consultant.