Digital Commons Network^™

Strategic Engagement And Legal Pluralism : Navigating Knowledge And Expertise In Mining Disputes, Sara K. Phillips

Journal of Social Sciences

This article explores how community and civil society actors in mining conflicts strategically engage with legal and technical vocabularies to assert legitimacy, contest exclusion, and influence mining governance. Drawing on an empirical case study of Thailand’s Chatree gold mine, the article analyzes how affected groups navigate overlapping normative systems, such as state law, transnational norms, and technocratic discourses, through informal learning and strategic appropriation of expert language. Framed through the conceptual lens of legal pluralism, the study highlights how actors interpret and mobilize diverse normative orders to articulate grievances, shape narratives, and attempt to gain access to decision-making spaces. These …

Genocide, Memory & Prevention: Ethical Inquiry And Critical Thinking Through Research & Ai, Linda Humes

Open Educational Resources

This assignment engages students in ethical inquiry and critical analysis by examining lesser-known or silenced genocides within a global and historical context. Using academic sources alongside responsible use of generative AI, students compare dominant and marginalized narratives, analyze recurring patterns and causes of genocide, and reflect on prevention strategies. The assignment emphasizes ethical AI use, historical memory, and the development of civic awareness, empathy, and critical thinking in the study of race, power, and inequality.

Constitutional Powers Midterm Exam, Jordan Reitzfeld

Open Educational Resources

Students apply constitutional principles and court decisions to contemporary questions about the powers of Congress, the president, and the judiciary. They defend positions on possible reforms and analyze property rights, copyright, and trademark issues.

Crimes Of The Powerful And The Looting Of Contemporary Nigeria: An Integrated Theoretical Perspective, Charles Ubah

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

Crime of the powerful is a humongous social problem with the potential to ravage development and threaten the corporate existence of nation states. The case of contemporary Nigeria is the focal point of analysis in this paper. The objective of the paper, therefore, is to investigate the menace in Nigeria from an integrated theoretical perspective. The methodology was exploratory survey and review of literature which were content analyzed. The theoretical framework is a kind of Modified Multiple Reinforcing Social Forces Theory. Findings indicate that, beside its high prevalence rate, elite criminality in the various forms of corruption, property and environmental …

Understanding The Flow: Deconstructing The Link Between Immigrants And Fentanyl, Madeline F. Nesbitt

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explains how a false link between undocumented immigration and fentanyl becomes widely accepted in the United States. Empirical data show that most fentanyl enters through legal ports of entry and that U.S. citizens account for the majority of those caught transporting it. Why, then, do 41% of Americans attribute overdose deaths to migrants trafficking fentanyl? This project examines how this myth is built, repeated, and sustained, and what policy consequences follow from it.

When complex social problems lack clear culprits, political actors often manufacture them through scapegoating. Current literature documents how political actors link immigrants to drug crimes, …

The Future Of U.S. Higher Education: Equity Implications Of Shifting Immigration Policies, Research Institute For Social Equity Rise

Research Institute for Social Equity

This report examines the impact of U.S. immigration policies on higher education and international students from 2000 to 2025. It traces five major policy eras, from the post- 9/11 security overhaul and Obama-era expansion to the restrictive turns of 2017–2020 and 2025, and analyzes how shifting regulations have influenced enrollment patterns, economic contributions, and student well-being. Despite hosting more than 1.1 million international students in 2023–2024, the U.S. share of the global student market has fallen from 20% to 16%, underscoring how policy volatility and restrictive measures weaken national competitiveness. Drawing on federal data, scholarly research, and institutional reports, this …

Religion And International Relations: The Concept Of Soft Power And Orthodoxy In Kazakhstan, Ali Ukenov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article examines the role of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan (OCK), a constituent part of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), within the framework of religious soft power. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the relationship between the ROC, Russian foreign policy, and transnational religious influence has attracted increased scholarly attention. Drawing on the concept of soft power and constructivist approaches, the study combines qualitative field research with media content analysis. The empirical material includes twenty semi-structured interviews conducted with Orthodox clergy and active parishioners across Kazakhstan, as well as an examination of the case of former priest Yakov …

Why Does The U.S. Still Practice The Death Penalty? An Application Of Waltz's Three Images, Anika Tracy

University Honors Program Senior Projects

The United States is the only Western democracy that still practices the death penalty, and legal scholars, domestic politics scholars, and comparativists have written extensively about American capital punishment. In this thesis, I will synthesize this scholarship to present a multifaceted explanation for America’s uniquely continued use of the death penalty through Kenneth Waltz’s three “images” or levels of analysis. While Waltz’s three levels of analysis is an established theory in the field of international relations (IR), the utilization of IR theory for an analysis of American capital punishment is particularly enriching because death penalty abolition is a norm in …

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.

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 …

Locked In: The High Price Of Overcrowding And The Strain Of America's Growing Prison System, Kaitlyn N. Timmerman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Over the past several decades, the number of people incarcerated in the United States has increased substantially, placing a significant strain on correctional systems. This project examines long-term trends in incarceration to better understand how population growth may relate to concerns about overcrowding. Specifically, it asks: How has the total incarcerated population in the United States changed from 1925 to 2022? Which type of correctional system (state prisons, federal prisons, or local jails) has experienced the most growth? And to what extent can changes in incarceration counts and facility distribution be used as indicators of overcrowding?

Using historical data and …

A Look Deeper Into Ohio’S Opioid Crisis And The Lasting Political Effects Of The Issue, Robert C. Dunn

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research studies how the opioid crisis deepened partisan divisions in Ohio from the late 1990s to the present. By investigating political responses from both policy-makers and voter behavior following the introduction of OxyContin. This study will focus on the relationship between addiction and overdose rates, which influences those ideological divides. Using qualitative research, such as political rhetoric and legislative responses, and quantitative research, such as election results, to find a correlation between the opioid crisis and partisan polarization. This project aims to highlight how politically motivated decision-making can prevent proper bipartisan responses.

Democracy In Practice, Stefanos Milkidis

Open Educational Resources

In this assignment, students are asked to write a public-facing blog post that connects a theme from American government to a current issue, event, or personal experience. The goal is to practice civic dialogue and critical thinking, while contributing to a broader public conversation about American government, politics, and democracy.

Institutional Constraints On Investigative Oversight: Accountability And Governance Of The Investigation Supervision Bureau (Biro Pengawas Penyidikan) Of The Indonesian National Police, Mastalina Sinaga, Dhiajeng Prativi

Jurnal Kriminologi Indonesia

Investigative professionalism constitutes a fundamental pillar of the criminal justice system; however, its realization is frequently constrained by institutional design and procedural limitations within oversight mechanisms. This article examines the role of the Investigation Supervision Bureau (Biro Pengawas Penyidikan (Birowassidik)) of the Criminal Investigation Agency (Badan Reserse Kriminal (Bareskrim)) of the Indonesian National Police (Polri) in handling public complaints related to investigative performance. Rather than presuming the existence of a unified ‘Code of Silence’, this study adopts a qualitative critical analysis to assess the structural and procedural constraints inherent in Birowassidik’s mandate as a complaint-based supervisory institution. The analysis demonstrates …

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 …

Symbolic Racism And Punitive Policy Preferences In The First Quarter Of The Twenty-First Century, Anthony T. Fulinello

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Despite the decay in the acceptability of explicit racism brought about by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, implicit racism may continue to inform individual decision making even into the first quarter of the twenty-first century. Utilizing data from 25 years of the General Social Survey, this study examines how indicators of symbolic racism, a form of implicit racism, impact punitive policy preferences among the general United States population using separate logistic regression models isolating each indicator, plus a full model, for each outcome. Punitive policy preferences were operationalized as support for increased spending on crime prevention …

Racial Resentment, Immigration Attitudes, And The Politics Of State Immigrant Policy Adoption In The United States, Cindy Osei Agyemang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Immigration remains one of the most contested public policy issues in the United States, and racial attitudes have become increasingly important in shaping public opinion and political debate. While prior research has shown a strong relationship between racial resentment and restrictive immigration attitudes, less is known about whether these attitudes extend to legislative discourse and the adoption of immigrant-inclusive state policies. This dissertation addresses that gap by examining the relationship between racial resentment and immigration politics across three levels of analysis: public opinion, legislative discourse, and state policy adoption. Using a mixed-methods research design, the study combines quantitative and qualitative …

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 …

'But George Floyd Wasn't A Saint': A Critical Discourse Analysis Pre And Post George Floyd, Raya Berkley-Jacobs

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

May 25, 2020, George Floyd died at the hands of former police officer Derek Chauvin after he placed his knee on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. His death sparked outrage, protests, and calls for accountability, justice, and reform. This study addresses the impact of George Floyd’s death as a focusing event that created a policy window under which federal legislation was introduced as a response to his death. Drawing on Punctuated Equilibrium Theory and Social Construction Theory, the study utilizes a critical discourse analysis to test how the death of George Floyd impacted the amount and …

Beyond Precedent: Sexual Violence As An Act Of Genocide In The International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda, Ciara Kilroy

Peace and Conflict Studies

Wartime sexual violence (WSV) has been a characteristic of violent conflict throughout recorded history, yet has failed to illicit the same international attention and condemnation as other war crimes. WSV has also been a particularly pervasive method of destruction during genocide, in which women make up the majority of victims and are targeted for both their gender and group membership. However, sexual violence is not enumerated as a crime of genocide in the 1948 Genocide Convention. Despite its absence from the formal genocide convention, legal institutions have still attempted to hold perpetrators responsible for sexual violence during genocide. This paper …

Strategies For Seeding Police Abolition In A Minefield, Kaden Paulson-Smith

Feminist Pedagogy

A major challenge for abolitionist teaching is uprooting the assumption that carceral systems are natural and inevitable. This essay describes strategies for teaching about the colonial capitalist origins and white cisheteropatriarchal development of the police, and the critical theorization and abolition of policing, in a hyper-politicized minefield. These strategies emerged from teaching, “The Global Politics of Policing,” after the Summer of 2020 in the Midwest, where abolitionist critiques were frequently met with burning resentment. Three overarching strategies to facilitate learning about police abolition include: 1) consistent engagement with learning materials; 2) critical analysis as a learning objective and theoretical framework; …

Rethinking Coercion: Moving Beyond Moralized Accounts Of Coercion, Lorenz N. Soukup

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

Coercion is often portrayed as a vile act, which is inherently immoral. Typical examples include blackmail or receiving an offer at gunpoint. Most contemporary theories centre around this characteristic immorality of coercion. In the following paper I will argue that coercion need not involve an immoral act. I will look at two distinctly different theories of coercion. On the one hand, a moralised account proposed by Jennifer Lackey and on the other hand, an account refraining from moralising coercion brought forward by Scott Anderson. The aim of this paper is not to define coercion but to motivate a shift in …

Recurring Patterns In Democratic Backsliding: The United States, Hungary, And Israel, Leah Brouda

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

Utilizing a three-pronged analysis method, this article argues that not only is democratic backsliding – the degrading quality of democratic institutions in a state – on the rise but that it has frequent recurring themes. These themes are consolidation of executive authority, changes in court power and judicial independence, and election manipulation. Utilizing a combination of public opinion research and indexes such as Freedom House and the Global State of Democracy Index (GSDI), these themes emerge as patterns that are both understood and misconstrued by citizens in each country and of the world. The analysis is based on themes in …

Pronatalism In The United States: How Political Ideals Surrounding Family And Reproductive Health Care Contribute To Neglect In The Foster Care System, Carson Sebree

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Within the past decade, conservative reproductive politics in the United States have experienced an ideological shift from pro-life toward pronatalism. This has been intensified through the rollback of reproductive rights and the rise of Christian nationalism. However, there has been no commensurate additional funding for the foster care system. This project asks the interrelated questions of: “how is pronatalism linked to neglect within the foster care system?; and, how do theories of democratic care highlight the necessity to rethink support for the foster care system and create policies that will address its shortcomings, given the rise of pronatalist aw and …

Trump’S Lasting Impact On The U.S. Presidency, Imer Kj Cespedes-Alvarado

Political Science Student Research

The first presidency of Donald J. Trump had a lasting impact on the American Presidency, expanding executive power through robust assertions of constitutional power, unconventional communications, and an unprecedented disregard for political norms. The two terms further blurred the line between governance and personal branding, cultivating this new model of leadership that depends on constant public exposure and polarization among the American people. This research examines how Trump's executive power and political tactics during both of his presidencies redefined expectations of presidential behavior and accountability by consolidating executive authority, reorganizing federal institutions, and placing even greater emphasis on loyalty and …

Force And Fallout: Experimental Evidence From A National Test Of The Community Expectations Standard, Christopher J. Marier, Conor Goodwin

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

A persistent ``reasonableness divide'' exists between the legal standards governing police use of force and the public’s expectations, producing ``lawful but awful'' uses of force. This study empirically tests the ``Community Expectations Standard'' (CES), a model that identifies five criteria the public uses to evaluate force: underlying governmental interest, avoidability, officer motivation, subject resistance, and the presence of a ``highly dangerous'' environment. Using a factorial survey experiment with a national sample of nearly 2,000 U.S. adults, we analyzed responses to a hypothetical vignette depicting non-lethal force using t-tests and Bayesian linear regression models. The results show that underlying governmental interest …

Substance Use And Rural Homelessness In Texas Communities: The Need For Supportive Services, Abraham David Benavides, Federickia Washington, Chandra Donnell Carey, Justin Watts, Jyoti Aggarwal

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

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An Oral History Of African American Seniors Seeking Housing, Health, And Climate Justice In The Gulf Coast After Hurricane Harvey, Jessica April Ward, Glenn S. Johnson

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

none

Police Killings In The Mountain West, 2013-2023, Isabelle G. Graham, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents data on police killings between 2013 and 2023 for the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The Brookings Institution report, “The state of police reform: measuring progress in each state,” tracks the total number of killings by police and the number of killings by police per one million residents in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. This fact sheet reports data on the total number of people killed by police and the rate of police killings per capita for each Mountain West state.

Engaging The Somali Diaspora: A Case Study Of One Agency’S Community Programming Approach, Farhia Abdi

The Journal of Social Encounters

This case study investigates how a local community agency engages with the Somali diaspora to design and implement culturally responsive services, such as the Settlement and Integration Program. It also explores the potential of fostering meaningful dialogue with community members to inform the development of culturally sensitive programming. The research question guiding this study was developed by findings from previous research, which highlighted the significance of community engagement, sustained dialogue, and the necessity for agencies to design clearly defined programs. These programs should prioritize active participation from community members in both the creation and implementation of tailored initiatives.