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Deterrence Versus Brutalization: Capital Punishment's Differing Impacts Among States, Joanna M. Shepherd

Faculty Articles

Recent empirical studies by economists have shown, without exception, that capital punishment deters crime. Using large data sets that combine information from all fifty states over many years, the studies show that, on average, an additional execution deters many murders. The studies have received much publicity, and death penalty advocates often cite them to show that capital punishment is sound policy.

Indeed, deterrence is the central basis that many policymakers and courts cite for capital punishment. For example, President Bush believes that capital punishment deters crime and that deterrence is the only valid reason for capital punishment. Likewise, the Supreme …

Exploring Committee Outliers In A Weak Party State Legislature: The Louisiana House, 2000-2003, Trisha Mari Sandahl

LSU Master's Theses

Studies on the role of committees in legislatures have focused primarily on the U.S. Congress. In this study I expand on these studies by determining whether or not the distributive, informational, or major party cartel theory used to explain the role of committees at the national level can be extended to the state level; i.e. the Louisiana house legislature. Hypotheses are tested by using roll call votes in the Louisiana House for the years 2000-2003. This study finds substantial support for the informational theory and minimal support for the distributive and major party cartel theories in the Louisiana House legislature.

The Courts And The Politics Of Prison Reform, Heather L. Garvock

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of "Gerald Ford And The Challenges Of The 1970s," By Yanek Mieczkowski, Michael A. Genovese

Political Science and International Relations Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Afghanistan, Greg Sanders

Human Rights & Human Welfare

After September 11, Afghanistan became the first battleground of the War on Terror when the Taliban government refused to turn over Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda members. Human rights concerns about these events fall in two areas. First, did the United States violate human rights when it launched Operation Enduring Freedom to overthrow the Taliban and during the subsequent occupation? Second, have the occupation forces and new regime of under the leadership of Hamid Karzai done enough to improve the previously miserable human rights situation in Afghanistan?

Colombia, Travis Ning

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The events of September 11 continued of the pattern of redefinition in the conflict in Colombia. The complex war of today actually began decades ago as a small political struggle, which has gradually developed into a large-scale civil war. The continuation and growth of civil strife in Colombia witnessed the emergence of several organized anti-government guerrilla movements. Some of these groups have since been defeated or have integrated themselves into the recognized political system. Others have continued to violently challenge Colombian government authority. Currently, the two most significant anti-government insurgency groups are the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and …

Europe, Victoria Lowdon, Angela Woolliams, Robin Davey

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Both individually and collectively, European countries have vast experience with international and domestic terrorism. Because the point of terrorist attacks is primarily within a particular country (United Kingdom, Turkey and Spain), terrorism has come to be viewed by these states as a domestic problem. At the same time European countries have recognized the value of inter-governmental cooperation, which has been codified in various bilateral and multilateral agreements and conventions dating back to the 1950’s.

University Students From Four Ethnopolitical Conflict Zones: An Exploratory Study Of Perceptions Of Self And Country, Sean Byrne, Colleen Mcleod, Brian Polkinghorn

Peace and Conflict Studies

This exploratory comparative case study examines hopes and fears for self and country of 300 students attending university in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. Students report living in stressful societies where ethno political and state violence were the norm. The results of this qualitative study indicate that while the young people are optimistic about their life changes, they are concerned that the conflicts could re-ignite and spiral out of control. In particular, the students’ images indicate the importance of the self-society relationship and that these young adults relish the challenge of being productive citizens in their post-conflict …

James Bryce: The American Commonwealth Study Guide, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Psychology Of Terrorism, Randy Borum

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Women Representing Women's Interests In Congress, Carmen R. Allen

Masters Theses

Do congresswomen try to represent women's interests in Congress? Are congresswomen more likely than congressmen to sponsor bills dealing with women's issues? In the past, research has shown that women do seem to sponsor more legislation than men that deals directly with women. Research has also shown that women legislators feel that they are responsible for representing the interests of all women. This research looks at bill sponsorship in the U.S. House of Representatives during the 106th and 107th Congresses. The data from these two Congresses show that women do sponsor more women's issue legislation than men do. They also …

Communitarianism And Republicanism, Richard Dagger

Political Science Faculty Publications

Communitarianism and republicanism are closely related schools of thought - so closely related that friend and foe alike sometimes conflate them. The relationship is evident in their Latin roots: communitarians are concerned with communitas, the common life of people who form a community, and republicans are devoted to the res publica, the good of the public. Of the two, however, only republicanism traces its lineage as well as its name to ancient Rome. Indeed, scholars often look beyond Rome to the philosophers and city-states of ancient Greece, particularly Aristotle and Sparta, for the origins of republicanism. For the …

New Orleans Police Department Recruitment And Retention Survey, Susan Howell

Survey Research Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Crime Legislation: History And Harshness, Victoria Nourse

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

There is a truth about the criminal law that scholars evade as much as they criticize: the criminal law is produced by legislators (rather than the experts). The author states she does not know of any way to make law in a democracy other than through the voters' representatives. And, yet, it is the standard pose of the criminal law scholar to denigrate legislatures and politicians as vindictive, hysterical, or stupid. All of these things may be true but name-calling is a poor substitute for analysis. As in constitutional law, so too in criminal law, it is time to put …

Politics And International Justice In A World Of States, J. Peter Pham

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

War Crimes and Realpolitik: International Justice from World War I to the 21st Century by Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004. 267 pp.

Compellence: An Empirical Perspective, Michael G. Dziubinski

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Compellence, the use of a contingent threat of force to get a target state to modify a behavior, is an understudied area of international relations. An empirical examination of this area reveals patterns of the frequency of attempted compellence and successful compellence that are not explained by current research or broader international relations theories. In the post-World War II period (1946–2001), the pattern is a rapid drop and continued suppression of success, but a continuation of compellence attempts at the historic level. Existing compellence research and international relations theory do not explain this puzzling disparity of low success and continued …

Motivation And Aviation As A Terrorism Target, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes the content and dynamics of terrorist motivation towards targeting aviation.

Trends. Non-Physical Approaches To Physical Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the vulnerabilities of protecting physical assets with purely physical means, as well as the potential benefits of non-physical approaches.

Matthew S. Weinert On Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle For Social Justice By Geoffrey Robertson. New York: The New Press, 1999 (Revised 2002). 658pp., Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle for Social Justice by Geoffrey Robertson. New York: The New Press, 1999 (revised 2002). 658pp.

Trends. Suicidal Terrorism And The Death Penalty, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses why an established death penalty for terrorists who would, by their own actions, suicide might be appropriate.

The Contribution Of Education And The Role Of The Media In Creating And Promoting Justice, Lavinia A. Baxter

Masters Theses

The issue of creating and promoting justice is becoming more and more significant in our era of democratization. Thus it is important to understand how countries as diverse as South Africa, Germany and the United States have managed to address the issue of providing justice to groups that suffered under previous regimes in these countries. I examine victims’ groups as diverse as former Japanese American internees, ex-German slave and forced laborers, and black South Africans. My hypothesis in this study is that two factors, the media and public education through quasi-legal commissions are critical for redress campaigns to be visible, …

“Bin Laden’S Brain”: The Abrasively Negativistic Personality Of Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Aubrey Immelman, Kathryn Kuhlmann

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network at the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States and allegedly chief strategist for al-Qaida operations and personal physician to Osama bin Laden.

Al-Zawahiri’s primary personality patterns were found to be Contentious/oppositional and Dominant/controlling, with secondary features of the Dauntless/dissenting and Ambitious/self-serving patterns.

The amalgam of Contentious (negativistic, or passive-aggressive) and Dominant (aggressive, or sadistic) patterns in al-Zawahiri’s profile suggests the presence of the “abrasive negativist” syndrome. For these personalities, minor frictions easily …

The Psychopolitics Of Sexual Scandal: Can Gorgias Of Leontini Help?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the political implications of sexual scandal, considering the advice of Georgias of Leontini in his “Ecomium of Helen” that was written sometime after 427 B.C.E.

Eric Munoz On The Geopolitics Of Hunger 2000-2001: Hunger And Power Edited By Action Against Hunger. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2000. 354pp., Eric Muñoz

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Geopolitics of Hunger 2000-2001: Hunger and Power edited by Action Against Hunger. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2000. 354pp.

The Effects Of U.S. Legislation On Acts Of Terrorism Against Americans Abroad, James Myles Casey

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, acts of international terrorism against Americans, even acts that have been conducted outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, have been handled with a diplomatic, intelligence and/or military response. In 1985, the United States began using a law enforcement or prosecutive model of responding to such acts of international terrorism. In this study, a review of the recent criminal and civil legislation against international terrorism was conducted. Further, a quantitative analysis of Americans killed overseas in acts of international terrorism, both prior to and after the initiation of U.S. legislation, was conducted in an attempt to discern if …

Trends. Aviation Security: Thinking About Capps, Capps Ii, And Beyond, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses computer assisted passenger prescreening systems (CAPPS) and aviation security.

Advocate, March 2003, Vol. [14], No. [1?], Gc Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CUNY Budget Under Attack. Marriah Star (p. 1)

Rolling Up the Welcome Mat on Foreign Nationals. Kimberly Chase (p. 1)

DSC Issues: Statement Against War on Iraq. James Trimarco (p. 1)

Editorial: The War, the Budget, and the Parochial Presidency (p. 2)

Masthead (p. 2)

Short Takes (p. 2)

Bread & Roses. [8^th Annual Women’s Open Poetry and Performance Event]. Brecht Forum.

Mass Confusion: Recycling Still in Effect for Metal and Mixed Paper. NYC.Gov.

Be Protest-Savvy: Know Your Rights. New York Civil Liberties Union.

Multi-Faith Panel Discussion.

Award Named After Professor Edouard Glissant.

Global Citizen Education. …

Kuhn's Paradigm As A Parable For The Cold War: Incommensurability And Its Discontents From Fuller's Tale Of Harvard To Fleck's Unsung Lvov, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

In a journal issue dedicated to a discussion of Steve Fuller's Thomas Kuhn: A Philosophical History for Our Times, I argue that Kuhn’s limited acknowledgment of Fleck’s influence on his The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was due to a foundational incommensurability between the standard conceptual framework for philosophical studies of science and Fleck’s historico-social and praxis-oriented approach to scientific progress. The incommensurability in question constituted an insurmountable tension between the kind of language and thinking manifest in Fleck’s study and the conceptual language evident in Kuhn and characteristic of one might still call the received view’ in philosophy of science. …

Reconceptualizing Criminal Law Defenses, Victoria Nourse

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In 1933, one of the leading theorists of the criminal law, Jerome Michael, wrote openly of the criminal law "as an instrument of the state." Today, criminal law is largely allergic to claims of political theory; commentators obsess about theories of deterrence and retribution, and the technical details of model codes and sentencing grids, but rarely speak of institutional effects or political commitments. In this article, the author aims to change that emphasis and to examine the criminal law as a tool for governance. Her approach is explicitly constructive: it accepts the criminal law that we have, places it in …

Communicative Action, Strategic Action, And Inter-Group Dialogue, Michael James

Faculty Journal Articles

A consensus has emerged among many normative theorists of cultural pluralism that dialogue is the key to securing just relations among ethnic or cultural groups. However, few normative theorists have explored the conditions or incentives that enable inter-group dialogue versus those that encourage inter-group conflict. To address this problem, I use Habermas’s distinction between communicative and strategic action, since many models of inter-group dialogue implicitly rely upon communicative action, while many accounts of inter-group conflict rest upon strategic action. Drawing on explanatory accounts of inter-group conflict, I outline five strategic logics of group conflict, what I call the resource, political, …