Digital Commons Network^™

Science And Technology Policymaking: A Primer, Deborah D. Stine

Congressional Research Service Reports

Scientific and technical knowledge and guidance influences not just policy related to science and technology, but also many of today’s public policies as policymakers seek knowledge to enhance the quality of their decisions. Science and technology policy is concerned with the allocation of resources for and encouragement of scientific and engineering research and development, the use of scientific and technical knowledge to enhance the nation’s response to societal challenges, and the education of Americans in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Science and engineering research and innovations are intricately linked to societal needs and the nation’s economy in areas such as …

When Church Teachings And Policy Commitments Collide: Perspectives On Catholics In The U.S. House Of Representatives, William E. Hudson, Elizabeth A. Oldmixon

Political Science Faculty Publications

This article investigates the influence of religious values on domestic social policy-making, with a particular focus on Catholics. We analyze roll call votes in the 109^th Congress and find that Catholic identification is associated with support for Catholic Social Teaching, but both younger Catholics and Republican Catholics are found less supportive. In followup interviews with a small sample of Catholic Republicans, we find that they justify voting contrary to Church teaching by seeing its application to domestic social issues as less authoritative than Church moral teachings on issues like abortion.

Political Violence, Child Soldiers, And Neo-Liberal Globalization: The Cases Of Indonesia And Columbia, Curtis Holland

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

Human Rights And Contemporary Slavery, Kevin Bales

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The anti-slavery movement will welcome this important compilation of work on debt bondage slavery. In the academic and policy analysis of contemporary slavery, many of the fundamental areas of enslavement are yet to be explored and brought into systematic presentation. This work by the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver helps to build up our understanding of debt bondage, as well as adding to the emerging discipline of contemporary slavery studies. Debt bondage slavery is one of the oldest forms of slavery that continues into the present day. The date of the establishment of hereditary debt …

Poverty’S Captives, Tim Brauhn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Today’s manifestations of bondage are a marked departure from those of pre-modern slavery. Now the value of the human “goods” is so low that slavers do not have to worry about damaging them. Two hundred years ago, slaves had to at least be treated with a modicum of safety, if for no other reason than to ensure continued profitability. But in the 20th and 21st centuries, slavers have become less like “hunters” and more like “gatherers,” since their work no longer involves raids and chains, at least in the physical sense. No, today’s raids are the false promises of work …

Advocate, January 2008, Vol. [19], No. [3], Gc Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Plan Colombia and the American War on Drugs in Latin America. Michael Busch (p. 1)

Are Hunter’s Graduate Students Paying to Teach? Unpaid Assistantships Spark Controversy on Campus (p. 1)

From the Editor’s Desk: The Rhetoric of Demonization (p. 2)

Graduate Center Technology: Windows Live Email Move on Hold (p. 3)

Dispatches from the Front: In the Classroom of the Critical Mind. Lynne DeSilva-Johnson (p. 4)

Grad Life: Wanted: Wealthy Patron(s) to Fund My Last Year of Dissertation Work. Lindsay Sarah Krasnoff (p. 5)

Adjuncting: The Adjunct Project: Who Are We, What Are We Doing, and How …

Contract Enslavement Of Female Migrant Domestic Workers In Saudi Arabia And The United Arab Emirates, Romina Halabi

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Slavery was not abolished in Saudi Arabia until 1962, and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) until 1963. It is unsurprising, then, that contract slavery of domestic servants continues to thrive in much of the Persian Gulf, where local economies prosper on the immigration of foreign workers. Economic incentives on the part of the sending and receiving nations encourage the migration of female workers from their home countries to Saudi Arabia and to the UAE. These incentives, coupled with restrictive contract systems, bind the female domestic worker to her employer and create an environment conducive to exploitation and involuntary servitude.

Power To The Pupils: Children Speak Out About Their Experiences In Danish Schools, Karen Eisenhut

Whittier Scholars Program

Denmark proclaims a strong commitment to the Nordic concept of en god barndom (the good childhood life), with the central tenets of democracy, egalitarianism, emancipation, cooperation, and solidarity. For instance, Danes recognize democracy as a fundamental value in their society. Researchers have acknowledged that democratic principales extend into schools and influence both the structure and the content of the educational system. Although literature and legislation in Denmark reveals this idea of a Lived democracy” in the school, most studies have been designed, carried out, and analyzed by adult researchers, with little opportunity for input from the actual participants– the children …

A Qualitative Comparative Analysis Of Drug Policies In The United States And The Netherlands, Rebecca Rehfeld

Whittier Scholars Program

This paper is a qualitative comparative analysis of drug policies in the Netherlands and the United States through a review of literature. This project examines the individual, social, political, and philosophical implication of each country’s model for dealing with drug use/addiction and compares and contrast them to deduce which is most effective overall. These two countries specifically are compared because of their polar approaches in dealing with issues of drug use, addiction, and sale. This project explains how the Netherlands recognizes drug use/addiction as a public health issue, while the United States has a punishment- based approach. It also examines …

Confrontation Cinema In The Age Of Neoliberalism; Where Brazil And The United States Meet, Rachel F. Rosenfeld

CMC Senior Theses

Contents: Introduction; The Smell of Revolution and Popcorn; Filling the Gaps: Historical Context; Brazilian Cinema in the Age of Neoliberalism and Political Discourse of the New Brazilian Left; US Films and the Iraq War: This isn’t my America; Epilogue

Roe V. Wade And Its Progency: The Impact Of State Legislative And Judicial Actions On Abortion Rates In Five States, Maria Klimash

LSU Master's Theses

By looking at the courts and legislatures as agents of social change, this study seeks to assess the impact of judicial decisions in a particularly contentious area, the right to bodily privacy. Specifically, I seek to understand the competing effects of state supreme court decisions and state statutes on the consumers of their public policy choices. Past studies have found conflicting results concerning the impact of court decisions. Literature assessing the effect of legislation finds that statutes, which are specific in nature, engender significant effects. For this study I focus specifically on court decisions and legislation that are concerned with …

Women And The Democracy Project: A Feminist Take On Women's Political Participation In The Philippines, Ma. Lourdes Veneracion-Rallonza

Political Science Department Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Political Science And Public Administration, Mark Jendrysik

UND Departmental Histories

This departmental history was written on the occasion of the UND Quasquicentennial in 2008.

Politics - To Engage Or Not To Engage? Seeking A Biblical Perspective, John Wesley Taylor V

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

Hispanic Citizenship, Registration, And Voting Patterns: A Comparative Analysis Of The 2000 And 2004 Presidential Elections, Debora Upegui

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines citizenship, registration, and voting patterns among Latinos in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: There is no doubt that the Hispanic population in the United States has consistently grown in the last two decades and continues to be the largest growing minority group within the United States. According to the 2004 census, …

Michel Foucault Meets Gary Becker: Criminality Beyond Discipline And Punish, Andrew Dilts

Political Science and International Relations Faculty Works

Among the numerous reasons why Discipline and Punish continues to be read and to shape the contours of criminology, sociology, political theory, and philosophy, is its attention to the development of criminal subjectivity. The ascendancy of the disciplinary age brought about the “fabrication” of the delinquent as a by-product of the discursive needs of the penitentiary technique and the requirements of the juridical law. The figure of the delinquent comes into existence both historically and theoretically at the intersection between discursive orders to manage the contradictions between them, providing a suitable subject for both the court and the penitentiary. The …

Beyond Liberals And Conservatives To Political Genotypes And Phenotypes, John R. Alford, Carolyn L. Funk, John R. Hibbing

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

In the past, most political scientists have been oblivious to the growing empirical evidence challenging environmental determinism. Professor Charney, apparently as a result of the fact that genes and the environment interact in a complex fashion, advocates that this passive unawareness be replaced by active denial. Science, however, does not advance by avoiding important relationships merely because they are complicated and, fortunately, science is not heeding Charney’s ideologically-based fears. Molecular geneticists, often working in tandem with political scientists, are quickly moving beyond twin studies to identify the specific suites of genes and biological systems that predict variation in core political …

Evolution Of Political Cleavages And Entry Of The Far-Right In Government Coalitions In Italy And Poland, Maxim Chernyshev

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project focuses on a comparative analysis of governing coalitions between conservative and far-right parties in recent years in Italy (1994) and Poland (2005). The aim is to show how the inclusion of the radical right in government coalitions in these countries reflects recent changes in Western and Eastern European party systems through the reformulation of the old and formation of new party cleavages. The focus in the recent literature on personality clashes of party leaders over the distribution of ministry portfolios does not explain the nature of the disagreement between these leaders about key issues of national politics. I …

Media, Civil Society And Political Culture In West Africa, Mohamed S. Camara

Security Studies & International Affairs - Daytona Beach

From the premise that a free and democratic society is impossible without free and responsible media and an active civil society and that freedom and democracy must evolve from within a particular society in order to mature into a way of life for the society and its media, the present study examines the symbiotic role of the media and civil society in West Africa’s struggle for democratic governance. It addresses the question of the independence and accountability of West Africa’s media vis-à-vis foreign donors, local business and political forces along with the effects on local audiences of giant Western/global media …

Media, Civil Society And Political Culture In West Africa, Mohamed Saliou Camara

Humanities & Communication - Daytona Beach

From the premise that a free and democratic society is impossible without free and responsible media and an active civil society and that freedom and democracy must evolve from within a particular society in order to mature into a way of life for the society and its media, the present study examines the symbiotic role of the media and civil society in West Africa’s struggle for democratic governance. It addresses the question of the independence and accountability of West Africa’s media vis-à-vis foreign donors, local business and political forces along with the effects on local audiences of giant Western/global media …

Ayse Betul Celik On The Age Of Apology: Facing Up To The Past Edited By Mark Gibney, Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, Jean-Marc Coicaud, And Niklaus Steiner. Philadelphia: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. 333 Pages., Ayse Betul Celik

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Age of Apology: Facing Up to the Past edited by Mark Gibney, Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, Jean-Marc Coicaud, and Niklaus Steiner. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. 333 pages.

Gregory J. Moore On The U.N. Secretary General And Moral Authority: Ethics And Religion In International Leadership. Edited By Kent J. Kille. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. 2007. 370pp., Gregory J. Moore

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The U.N. Secretary General and Moral Authority: Ethics and Religion in International Leadership. Edited by Kent J. Kille. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. 2007. 370pp.

Eric A. Heinze On Humanitarianism And Suffering: The Mobilization Of Empathy Edited By Richard Ashby Wilson & Richard D. Brown. New York, Ny: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 328pp., Eric A. Heinze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Humanitarianism and Suffering: The Mobilization of Empathy edited by Richard Ashby Wilson & Richard D. Brown. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 328pp.

Rights And The Hijâb: Rationality And Discourse In The Public Sphere, Howard Adelman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Rights of Others: Aliens, Residents, and Citizens by Seyla Benhabib. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 251 pp.

and

Why the French Don’t Like Headscarves: Islam, the State, and Public Space by John R. Bowen. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006. 290 pp.

and

Muslim Girls and the Other France: Race, Identity Politics & Social Exclusion by Trica Danielle Keaton. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. 223 pp.

and

Human Rights and Religion: The Islamic Headscarf Debate in Europe by Dominic McGoldrick. Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing, 2006. 320 pp.

Bonded Labor In India, Devin Finn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Bonded labor, which is characterized by a long-term relationship between employer and employee, is usually solidified through a loan, and is embedded intricately in India’s socio-economic culture—a culture that is a product of class relations, a colonial history, and persistent poverty among many citizens. Also known as debt bondage, bonded labor is a specific form of forced labor in which compulsion into servitude is derived from debt. Categorized and examined in the scholarly literature as a type of forced labor, bonded labor entails constraints on the conditions and duration of work by an individual. Not all bonded labor is forced, …

Democratic Failure: Tracking The Ebb Of Democracy's Flow, 1800–2006, Sanja E. Sray

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Scant attention has focused on the systematic study of democratic failure. This dissertation partially corrects this oversight. Tracing the roots of antidemocratic sentiment across the centuries, it first argues that the advance of institutions, fueled by underlying shifts in values and innovation in political philosophy, was key to freeing democracy from its bondage as a most disparaged form of governance. Focusing on the measurable aspects of these institutions, the study focuses on describing patterns of behavior when democracies fail. First, it shows that there have been clusters of democratic failure. These clusters, or counterwaves, find their roots in ancient antidemocratic …

For Whom The Tel Tolls: Can State Tax And Expenditure Limits Effectively Reduce Spending?, Thad Kousser, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Ellen Moule

Faculty Scholarship

Can voters stop state governments from spending at high rates through the enactment of tax and expenditure limits (TELs), or do these laws become dead letters? We draw upon the principal-agent literature to theorize that TELs – one of the most frequent uses of the initiative process across the country – may be circumvented by the sorts of elected officials who would inspire their passage.

In order to investigate our claim, we conduct an event study. First, we test for the effectiveness of TELs across states using a differences-in-differences model. Second, we dissect our treatment variable using different legal provisions …

Opportunity, Tools And Support: Ngo Engagement In The Security And Disarmament Field, Sarah Estabrooks

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

NGOs have been consistently excluded from multilateral proceedings in the security and disarmament sector where states are concerned about their national security interests. And yet, they have found avenues to participate in the multilateral process through the negotiation of treaties, provision of expert research and testimony, systematic monitoring of state compliance, documentation of UN proceedings, and even as members of government delegations. This paper explores the conditions that enable NGOs to engage directly in the state-centric system of the United Nations, addressing political opportunity, enabling resources, and institutional support. I explore how NGOs contribute to international politics, using a constructivist …

Ambivalence About Social Welfare : An Evaluation Of Measurement Approaches., Jason Gainous

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Research across disciplines, including political science, has embraced the idea that individuals often possess ambivalent attitudes, but there is considerable disagreement about how to measure ambivalence. Determining an effective way of capturing such phenomena is important to our understanding of politics and public opinion. The literature offers several meta-attitudinal and operative measures of ambivalence. I discuss strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches and conduct a test of the relative construct validity of two meta-attitudinal and two operative measures of social welfare ambivalence using data from a statewide survey of Florida residents in 2004. The findings suggest that one …

Russia And The Cis In 2007 : Putin's Final Year?, Charles E. Ziegler

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Russia in 2007 moved further away from a constitutional order governed by the rule of law as President Vladimir Putin's second term drew to a close and the country prepared for parliamentary and presidential elections. High oil and gas prices buoyed the economy, but little progress was made in addressing Russia's serious social problems. In foreign policy, confrontation with the West was balanced by excellent relations with most of Asia.