Digital Commons Network^™

Digital Media, Political Priming, And The Strategy Of Donald J. Trump’S 2024 Presidential Campaign, Emma Dayton

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis applies the priming theory of communications and examines its effectiveness in the political realm, specifically, within the digital strategies implemented throughout the 2024 presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump. It was asked to what extent Donald Trump’s digital political priming on social media influenced the most important issues to voters in the 2024 election. The use and impact of rhetoric, images, and partnerships were analyzed in this study to determine the extent to which Trump was able to influence the issues voters deemed as most important. By comparing Trump’s social media use with polling showing the economy and …

Campaign Finance And Democratic Integrity: Studying The Effects Of Campaign Finance On Elections, Abigail C. Johnson

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Using data collected from the Stanford Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and Elections (DIME) this paper examines the connection between campaign finance results in independent expenditures. Focusing on 2022 and 2024 United States Senatorial election cycles, this research investigates whether or not female and male senatorial candidates receive higher or lower rates of supportive and opposing funding and how such funding effects the electoral outcomes of female candidates. Through logit regression analyses and descriptive statistics, like histogram and distribution graphs conducted in RStudio, this research measures how financial backing from outside groups affects probability in Senatorial primary electoral …

Creating A Gis-Based Site Suitability Index For A Major Sports Stadium In Kansas City, Theodore E. Blair

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

There are many considerations taken when siting major sports stadiums. Most literature, though, has focused on the political and economic considerations, the negative outcomes of using public money for private projects. However, geographic considerations play a major part in deciding where to site a stadium. These considerations are wide-ranging and can change with the times. This thesis determines ten modern site suitability criteria, and with them, creates a site suitability index using GIS to determine and quantify more and less suitable areas for stadium development. It applies this index to the Kansas City area, as the city is currently in …

An Alternative To Armageddon: O.P. Weyland And The Development Of Tactical Air Power, Paul Wells

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Theorists and advocates of air power argued that aircraft, not ground forces, would become the dominant platform for victory in war. They promoted the concept of strategic bombing, using aircraft to bypass ground forces and directly attack a nation's industrial capacity to wage war, hoping to ensure quick victory and avoid a repeat of the prolonged slaughter in the trenches of WWI. In 1947, led by advocates of strategic bombing, the United States Air Force (USAF) became an independent and equal branch of the U.S. military. The USAF developed the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to meet the requirements of the …

Silence Or Self-Disclosure? Examining The Psychological And Relational Factors Shaping Political Communication Between Gen Z And Their Families, Bradford E. Netherton

Communication (PhD) Dissertations

This dissertation examines the psychological and relational factors shaping political communication between Generation Z and their families. Using Communication Privacy Management (CPM) and Family Communication Patterns (FCP) theories as a dual framework, the study investigates how emotions, relational turbulence, and family orientations influence political self-disclosure during face-to-face gatherings. Data were collected via an online survey of 488 Gen Z participants (ages 18–28) following the 2025 Thanksgiving holiday. The results reveal a critical distinction between negative and positive privacy boundary strength. Negative boundary strength, characterized by defensive and restrictive regulation, was consistently associated with heightened experiences of fear, anger, frustration, and …

Teaching Machines To Deter: Exploring Strategic Deterrence In Ai Models, Will Taylor

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This capstone project investigates whether deterrence can emerge as a meaningful strategy within a zero-sum stochastic game using multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL). After outlining core concepts in game theory and deterrence, the study models a simplified deterrence environment in which two minimax-Q agents repeatedly interact under uncertainty and adversarial incentives. The agents learn from rewards shaped by escalation costs, unilateral vulnerability, and the stabilizing benefits of restraint. Results show that both agents consistently converge toward a conservative, status-quo strategy, overwhelmingly selecting the Maintain action while avoiding both escalation and restraint in most scenarios. This behavior reflects the risk-averse logic of …

Against Their Own Interests? Latinos And The Rightward Shift, Marianna S. Visbal

Honors College Theses

This study examines whether Latino voters in the United States are acting against their self-interests when supporting right-wing Republican candidates, particularly in recent elections characterized by increased Latino support for figures like Donald Trump despite harmful rhetoric. While existing literature and public discourse often assume that Latino voters share a clear set of interests aligned with progressive politics, this research questions that assumption. Motivated by underrepresentation in political research and personal observations within Latino communities, I explore how political self-interest is defined and understood. Using qualitative expert interviews with Latino elected officials, journalists, and political professionals based in New York …

The Double Desert Dichotomy And Its Political Consequences, Sophie Coker

Political Science

Millions of Americans lack adequate broadband access. While there is a lack of clear consensus of the number of households without broadband services between Federal Communications Commission and independent estimates, one factor is clear: rural communities are disproportionately excluded from adequate broadband coverage. The same areas which lack broadband access find themselves in news deserts, or a community that is no longer covered by daily or nondaily newspapers. Moreover, there is a crossover between the communities underserved by broadband services and the communities lacking local news sources. Double deserts, where lack of broadband and local news access meet, are threats …

Multicultural Nationalism And The Politics Of Belonging In Australia, Grace Mancuso

Political Science

In contemporary political discourse, nationalism and multiculturalism are often stated to be fundamentally opposing forces. With nationalism emphasizing unity and shared identity, and multiculturalism emphasizing cultural diversity and difference. As the world becomes more interconnected and discourse around immigration has become rampant, many nations are looking for a way to unify their currently divided populations. Multicultural nationalism has been called upon by many scholars as a potential solution to growing divisions, especially in countries with high levels of social diversity such as Australia and the United States. However, many politicians and social scientists are skeptical of this notion fearing it …

Social And Economic Identity As Predictors Of Voter Support For Government Poverty Spending And Redistribution In Mississippi: A Study Of Mississippi Poll Responses, Alexandra L. Williams

Honors Theses

This study examines the factors that shape voters’ opinions on government spending for the poor in Mississippi, with particular attention to the roles of sex, race, party identification, income, and education. Drawing on pooled data from the 2010, 2012, and 2014 Mississippi Polls conducted by Dr. Steve Shaffer and the Mississippi State University Social Science Research Center, this research employs both bivariate and multivariate analyses to evaluate how social (demographic) and economic variables influence political attitudes toward poverty-related government spending.

The findings indicate that both social and economic variables play meaningful roles in shaping political preferences. Women and Black Mississippians …

Barriers To Justice: A Comparative Analysis Of Barriers To Legal Aid Across Missouri Counties, Grace Fentress

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study explores the complexity of the issue of legal aid and specifically the disparity in access to it across the state of Missouri’s counties, as they represent 115 different counties with diverse demographics throughout the state. By examining the number of legal aid organizations, funding levels, eligibility thresholds and geographical barriers, this study aims to identify what underlying factors contribute to disparities in legal accessibility. It is critical to address this question as the need for legal services is ever present and it is important that everyone has access to adequate representation. The findings of this study would ultimately …

Do I Say This Out Loud? Perceived Popular Campus Opinion And Political Voice Among College Students In A Hyperpolarized Climate, Madeline T. Dauphin

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The purpose of this study was to see if college students who perceive their political beliefs to be in the minority on campus will be less likely to express their political opinions in a hyperpolarized environment. This was done by fielding an original study to collect quantitative data from college students, mainly in the Midwest. The survey measured students’ perceptions of their campus political climate, student comfort expressing their own political opinions, and the frequency with which they self-censor their political opinions. I found that perceiving one’s political views to be in the minority on campus was associated with a …

Do Clothes Make The Man? Ftm Crossdressing In The 18th-19th C. Anglo-American World, Aidrian Graber

Theses and Dissertations

This paper seeks to analyze the legacy of "Female Husbands" and other female-to-male crossdressers in the 18/19th c. Anglo-American world and how such people can illuminate the field of transgender history.

A Plague On Both Your Houses: Archetypes Of Political Choice, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

In times of political polarization, we are well-advised to heed Spinoza’s injunction, “Not to lament, not to curse, but to understand.” Understanding can be facilitated by ideas about the archetypal structures of political choice. This paper offers a systems theoretic analysis of a set of such archetypes focusing solely on their structures and not advocating any specific political positions. The primary question that must be answered is whether available or desirable political choices are dyadic or triadic, and if dyadic, whether the two alternatives of the dyad should be viewed as good versus bad or as complementary.  Various modes of …

Kroc Ipj Border Fellows Report 2024 — English, Rebeca Cázares Adame

Kroc IPJ Research and Resources

The Kroc Border Fellows Program brings together change agents from academia, civil society, the public sector, and the private sector to build a more inclusive and peaceful Mexico-U.S. border region through action-oriented research and meaningful community partnerships.

The non-residential fellowship spans 10 months and provides financial and technical support for Fellow-designed and -implemented projects. This model reflects a core belief that those closest to border communities' challenges are best positioned to develop effective solutions — and that lasting change must be built on existing community assets and strengths.

Throughout the fellowship, cohort members meet regularly to foster collaboration, mutual learning, …

Illuminating The Shadows: Building An Empirical Dataset To Analyze The Shadow Docket, Natalie Marx

Senior Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Bawaslu’S Sigaplapor For Electoral Justice In Indonesia’S 2024 Election, Nur Hidayat, Muhtar Muhtar

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This article assesses the effectiveness of the Election Violation Handling and Reporting Information System (SiGapLapor) operated by Indonesia’s Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) as a case of digitalising electoral oversight. Using a qualitative-exploratory case study, the research draws on document analysis (regulations, internal reports, and SiGapLapor web statistics) and semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with election supervisors and ICT managers. Findings indicate that SiGapLapor works reasonably well as an administrative registry and an internal reporting tool, but remains weak as a participatory public complaints mechanism and as an instrument of electoral justice. Key constraints include a non-user-centred interface, predominantly manual …

The Challenge Of Responsible Sovereignty And The Dilemma Of Responsibility To Protect: A Case Study In The Middle East, Mona Shujaieh

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This thesis applies the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) framework to examine the evolving relationship between state sovereignty and humanitarian intervention in the modern international system. It develops the concept of “responsible sovereignty” to show how sovereignty has shifted from an absolute principle of non-interference toward a socially constructed and conditional norm increasingly linked to a state’s responsibility to protect its population. By tracing the transition from Westphalian sovereignty to contemporary understandings of sovereignty as responsibility, the study highlights how international norms reshape expectations of state behavior while also generating persistent tensions in practice. Focusing on the Middle East, the thesis …

An Invasion Of The Intimate Sphere: The Manipulation Of Libido Under Totalitarian Regimes, Elyssa Lucero

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This paper examines the temporal nature of libidinal control in the totalitarian systems represented in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Arguing that the most enduring forms of domination operate through the reorganization of desire, the essay explores how regimes intervene in familial, romantic, and social attachments to redirect affective energy towards the state. Orwell depicts a primitive, reactive phase of control in which attachments are violently ruptured, whereas Huxley imagines an advanced system that operates through preemption, never allowing attachments to form. Drawing on Freud’s theory of redirected libido, Berlant’s theory of Cruel Optimism, Marxist …

Investigación Reciente (Resumenes Académicos), Sebastian Dorantes, Erica Jensen, Faith Manchester, Isabelle Stoddard

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Por Qué Las Personas Hacen (Y No Hacen) Donaciones, Sebastian Dorantes

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

La filantropía es una práctica mundial formada por la cultura, los ingresos y las normas sociales. Su escala es considerable y puede ser medible a través de datos e informes. En los Estados Unidos, las donaciones benéficas alcanzaron $592,500 millones de dólares en 2024, la cifra más alta registrada. Las personas contribuyeron con aproximadamente $392,000 millones de dólares de esa cantidad, o aproximadamente dos terceras partes del total de las donaciones. A nivel mundial, la generosidad sigue siendo muy común. Países como Estados Unidos, Myanmar y Nueva Zelanda figuran consistentemente como los más caritativos, con grandes porcentajes de personas que …

Mapping The Global Classroom: An Innovation Spotlight On The Ngo Education Survey Directory Database, Angie Holzer, Roseanne M. Mirabella

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This article highlights the NGO Education Survey Directory Database as a critical tool for strengthening global nonprofit infrastructure by addressing longstanding gaps in data on nonprofit education programs. It maps the global landscape of nonprofit management education with detailed, institution-level insights, enabling researchers, funders, and practitioners to better understand capacity-building efforts worldwide. By improving transparency and access to information, the directory supports more strategic philanthropy, fosters collaboration, and promotes the development of locally grounded leadership within the nonprofit sector.

Why People Do (And Don’T) Give, Sebastian Dorantes, Erica Jensen, Isabelle Stoddard, Faith Manchester

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Philanthropy is a global practice shaped by culture, income, and social norms. Overall giving remains high, but participation is becoming more concentrated. This raises key questions about who gives, why they give, and why others choose not to. Ultimately, the relationship between donors and nonprofit organizations can have a significant impact on philanthropic behavior. It is essential for nonprofits to consider what motivates a person to donate in order to create a point of connection between the donors and the organizations.

Academic Summaries - Philanthropy, Erica Jensen, Sebastian Dorantes, Faith Manchester, Isabelle Stoddard

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Philanthropy - Joni Full Issue April 2026, Angie Holzer, Erica Jensen

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Understanding Modern American Politics Through Identity And Pop Music Between 2018 And 2025: A Musicological Analysis, Emilyn Bedell

Ramifications

This project studies how music impacts our society by examining the ways popular musicians (Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, and Hozier) imbue their songs with their identity. Their music engages their authentic self and social interests, effectively communicating their artistic and social values to their audience. This study examines three artists who recently became popular, so there is less established musicological research focused on them. To explore them deeper, I draw on cultural sources such as newspapers and magazines, in addition to academic journals. I also analyze their music and videos alongside recorded interviews to understand the sociopolitical issues for which …

Separating Access Legitimacy From Utilization Analytics: A Two-Layer Evaluation Model For Philanthropy And Development, Stephanie Zabriskie

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This article introduces a two-layer evaluation model for philanthropic and development decision-making in access-based interventions. The first layer treats Access as Outcome (AAO) as a recognized outcome when essential goods, services or resources are delivered through a viable delivery pathway, without requiring post-access utilization or compliance to validate legitimacy. The second layer evaluates post-access variation through System Coherence Conditions (SCC), defined as internal alignment across governance and decision-making, distribution and logistics, social accountability and norms, and scarcity management and continuity, which explain differences in utilization, continuity, and downstream effects as signals of system coherence rather than as retroactive worthiness thresholds. …

Utilizing Supervised Practice In School Settings As An Opportunity To Increase Student Awareness Of Food Waste Reduction Strategies, Maria Givler

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) play a vital role in facilitating nutritional health across a wide range of settings, from clinical care to community-based environments. As the profession continues to evolve, dietetics training programs are emphasizing experiential learning opportunities that address real-world public health challenges (Wegener, 2018). One such challenge is food waste, an issue with significant nutritional, environmental, and economic implications (Seberini, 2020). Within school food service systems, where millions of meals are served daily (Toossi et al.,2024), reducing waste while maintaining student satisfaction presents both a challenge and an opportunity. This article will discuss four ways supervised practice rotations …

When Social Fundraising Is Active But Hard To Measure: Nonprofit Lessons From Social Media Roi Research, Dr. Blair W. Loveland

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This article examines a nonprofit measurement problem that appears when social media is used to support fundraising but the organization cannot clearly connect that activity to a measurable financial result. The article draws on a non-experimental quantitative survey of 106 participants in roles tied to marketing, sales, or revenue reporting. The findings showed that social media use was common, but visibility into spending, formal ROI tracking, and end-to-end attribution was often weak. Seventy percent of respondents who answered the spend question did not know their organization's annual social media spend, 59 percent of respondents who answered the ROI question said …

Enhancing Transparency And Accountability In Federally Funded Nonprofits: A Convergent Framework Integrating Artificial Intelligence Analytics And Blockchain Technology, David A. Oduro, Vida Adeti

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This study examines how artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology address persistent challenges in federal nonprofit grant management. Through systematic analysis of government pilot programs and nonprofit technology adoption patterns, we develop an integrated implementation framework. Treasury Department and National Science Foundation blockchain prototypes demonstrate 40% reductions in administrative burden, with report generation decreasing from 40 staff-hours to seconds. Nonprofit AI adoption reached 92% by 2026, though significant disparities exist between large organizations (58% using AI for data analytics) and small nonprofits (19%). Drawing on interviews with federal agencies and grant recipients, this research identifies technical capacity constraints, regulatory complexity, …