Digital Commons Network^™

Kissing Up, Kicking Down: How Brics Enables South African Sub-Imperialism, Karan Kuppa-Apte

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

South Africa has framed its BRICS membership as a strategic pivot from the West to the Global South. However, the country remains close to the Western-led order and reproduces unequal economic relations with its regional neighbors. This paper argues that South Africa's inability to break its dependency on the West and reorient itself towards BRICS is caused by an elite-driven approach to IPE that deepens longstanding dependencies, feeds into corruption, and encourages accumulation by dispossession. After establishing a theoretical framework based on dependency theory, world systems theory, and sub-imperialism, this paper identifies the minerals-energy complex (MEC), neoliberal post-apartheid reforms, and …

Weaknesses Of Opponents, Strengths Of The Taliban: The Success Of The Taliban Insurgency, Isabella Ryan

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

How did the Taliban insurgency succeed in gaining control of the Afghan state in 2021 following the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001? This paper argues that the Taliban’s success resulted from two key dynamics: the weaknesses of opponents and strengths of the Taliban. The Afghan State was undermined by governance failures including the 2004 Constitution, overcentralization, lack of rural governance, corruption, and a dependence on foreign aid. These internal weaknesses were compounded by international policy failures, including the Bonn Agreement, inconsistent counterinsurgency (COIN) and counterterrorism (CT) strategies, the failed peace process design embedded in the Doha Agreement, and …

Guerillas, Manpads, And How To Shift A Conflict In Favor Of The Weaker Side, Augustus Mfxu Giller

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

The Soviet Afghan War has emerged in popular culture and scholarship as a quintessential case of an innovative and superior technology being able to foil an enemy that would have otherwise emerged as the victor of a conflict. This is almost always in reference to the Afghan Mujahedin being able to counter technologically superior Soviet MI-24 Gunship Helicopters with American heat-seeking missiles. However, this assumption is largely shortsighted to the actual dynamics present in the Soviet Afghan conflict. Specifically, the failure to understand how an unconventional conflict like the Soviet Afghan war is fought, and an ineffective assessment of the …

Everybody Wants To Rule The World: How Ballistic Missile Defenses Can Reduce The Risk Of War, Aanya Ghosh

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

Debates over ballistic missile defense often assume that defensive capability inherently destabilizes deterrence by eroding mutual vulnerability. This article challenges that assumption by arguing that the strategic effects of missile defense are neither predetermined nor uniform. Limited and layered defensive systems generate two simultaneous pressures: stabilizing deterrence-by-denial effects against limited coercive threats and destabilizing uncertainty regarding long-term retaliatory viability. Which mechanism prevails depends not on defensive technology alone, but on policy design—specifically system scale, doctrinal framing, and integration within the broader offense-defense relationship. Drawing on classical deterrence theory, offense-defense scholarship, and contemporary analyses by Roberts, Wilkening, and Daalder, Goldgeier, and …

Constitutionalization Of The Right To Vote: The Necessity For Democracy, Hanmo Yang

Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research

The Civic Debate Consortium is an intercollegiate debate conference dedicated to serving as a “hub of inspiration, innovation, education and civic engagement” (Civic Debate Consortium, n.d.) through productive dialogue. The Social Justice Debates are one of the consortium's competitive series, focused on discussing the distribution of wealth and resources in U.S. society. For the 2025-2026 debate season, debaters researched for or against the motion: “The United States should Constitutionalize the Right to Vote.” First affirmative speeches begin by defining the terms of the round, listing contentions to the argument, and then providing analysis to support the contentions. This paper serves …

"Principle Before Party": Samuel "Golden Rule" Jones And The 1899 Ohio Gubernatorial Election, Connor Hand

Honors Projects

As partisan loyalty declined and resentment grew against American social, political, and economic conditions at the end of the nineteenth century, political reformers saw an opportunity to spread their ideals for a better society. Most reformers opted against running for office, and those who did often used standard or newly formed political parties. Mayor of Toledo and progressive businessman Samuel Jones differed from the standard reformer by seeking office while embracing a non-partisan ideology. By analyzing Jones’ writings, the partisan response to his movement, and contextualizing him amongst reformers, this essay explores how Jones stood out from the standard political …

Luja Volume 6: Issue 1 (Full Volume)

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Shu World Review- April 27th 2026, Diplolab, Seton Hall University

SHU World Review

No abstract provided.

Communist Yugoslavia: Non-Alignment, Solidarity, And Webs Of Diplomacy, Morgan Dillon

Honors Projects

The Non-Alignment Movement has been covered extensively in Cold War scholarship, yet the relationship between Yugoslavia and Indonesia is often underexplored, especially in the realm of IR theory. This project examines Yugoslavia and Indonesia between 1945 and 1966 to propose an imagined community, as conceptualized by Benedict Anderson, that serves as a microcosm for a wider Non-Aligned community in the Third World. This is achieved by using Social Constructivism to synthesize the histories, foreign policies, and national/political identities of these two nations, and then placing the theoretical community against Yugoslavia’s relationships with the U.S and the USSR for contrast. Through …

Power, Knowledge, And Environmental Justice: The Dakota Access Pipeline Controversy, Mya Chapman

Honors Projects

In a time of rife political conflict and debate, it is important to understand the underlying power dynamics that permeate our society in America. As devised by French historian and philosopher Michel Foucault, power and knowledge are mutually constitutive forces that shape our social relations. Through the actions of certain discourses, distinct truths are cultivated that in turn, reinforce existing power structures. In this study, these concepts are applied to the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy in the form of a Foucauldian discourse analysis to understand how the pipeline remained operational in the face of great opposition. Written discourse in the …

Harm Reduction Strategies In Addiction Recovery: Effectiveness, Barriers, And The Role Of Social Stigma, Julia J. Amlin

Honors Projects

Substance use disorders (SUDs) present a major global public health crisis. An estimated 46.3 million individuals are affected in the United States, with only a small fraction receiving any form of treatment. While abstinence-based models have historically dominated addiction treatment methods, harm reduction approaches have emerged as evidence-based alternatives that reduce overdose mortality, improve treatment engagement, and decrease the transmission of infectious diseases. Despite strong empirical support harm reduction interventions continue to face significant social, political, and structural resistance. These harm reduction interventions include supervised consumption sites, overdose prevention centers, medication-assisted treatment, naloxone distribution, and drug checking technologies. This resistance …

Tolkien’S Thomist Triad: A High Medieval Response To Contemporary Jus Ad Bellum, Jeffrey S. Dixon

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This paper reviews the development of the component of just war theory dealing with whether it is just to wage a war in the first place (jus ad bellum) from the early medieval to early modern eras and compares its principles to J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels about Middle-Earth. Tolkien’s views on the concept of jus ad bellum can be dated to a specific point in the medieval era, just before a number of modern, consequentialist criteria were added to Catholic thought on just war. I conclude that Tolkien’s fictional works permit broader justifications for war than do most modern just war …

The Impact Of Social Media On Voter Turnout, Madeline M. Hutchison

Research & Creative Achievement Day

I will be observing how the use of social media affects voter turnout in the presidential election. Using data collected by the American National Election studies I compare data on how often respondents are on social media, and if they voted in the most recent election. I hope to find that an increased use of social media leads to citizens being more likely to vote in the presidential election, especially if they get political information from these social media sites. My main hypothesis is that more access to social media leads to a higher voter turnout in American presidential elections, …

Church, Mosque, And State: The Impacts Of Sectarian Politics On Lebanon’S Democracy, Tonia Attie

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

As Lebanon seeks to reform multiple sectors of the country, it is crucial to understand how its consociational government, centered on religious identities, interacts with its citizens. Electoral accountability is the process by which an electorate holds politicians liable for their actions while in office. While previous studies, such as Vincent Hutchings’ “Public Opinion and Democratic Accountability,” have shown how electoral accountability functions within traditional party systems based on political ideology, there is little research on how accountability mechanisms operate in confessional party systems based on religion. This paper posits that within countries with confessional systems, voters are less able …

The Fall Of Saigon And Its Legacy In The United States, Logan J. Kemp

The Penguin Review

The topic of South Vietnam has always been one close to home. My mother and grandma were evacuated from Saigon before the country fell to North Vietnam in 1975. They hopped on a US military helicopter, taking multiple stops on ships and islands before eventually landing in Orange County, California. Because of the evacuation, my family members were forced to start a new life; however, it was better than being sent to a re-education camp. My Grandma had done some business with an American, and she could have lost her life if she had been sent to the camps. Tens …

Annual Archaeology Update: The Valley Of Kings, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

There can be no contest for the Review’s annual archaeological highlight for 2025. Exactly one hundred years after Egyptologists discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun (King Tut) in the Valley of Kings, archaeologists discovered a series of steps buried by rockfall.

The War On War: Desensitization's Effects On Society's Moral Fabric, Chelsea E. Johnson, Andrew J. Cudden

The Penguin Review

In an era of constant connectivity, violence is no longer distant or intermittent. Wars, political repression, mass shootings, and humanitarian crises now unfold in real time, shared instantly through twenty-four-hour news cycles and social media. Never before has global suffering been so visible. Yet this unprecedented access has failed to produce sustained moral urgency or collective responsibility. Instead, violence becomes increasingly utilised as fleeting content–viewed, shared, and then displaced by the next trending event. This paradox raises a pressing ethical question: how can a world more informed of suffering become so morally disengaged from it?

Russian And Chinese Propaganda In The Modern Era: Two Case Studies Of Corrupt Nations, Matthew P. Clark

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This work is the culmination of my research for an Honors Thesis in Political Science. In the context of my unique definition of propaganda, I compare propaganda in both Russia and China. During the course of this work, I focus on cultural erasure and transformation, economic propaganda, the prevalence of Russian and Chinese state-controlled media to espouse propaganda, and specific quotations by both presidents Putin and Xi. My central contribution to the field of political science is a unique definition of propaganda and an analysis of two different works. The analysis entails a discussion of to what degree each leader …

When The States Lost Their Senate: The Seventeenth Amendment, Katelyn King

Honors College Theses

To what extent has the Seventeenth Amendment impacted American federalism? The Seventeenth Amendment changed the way United States Senators are chosen from state legislature appointment to popular direct election. However, the framers of the U.S. Constitution established the original method for selecting U.S. Senators to safeguard an important principle in America’s government: federalism. If the Seventeenth Amendment decreased direct state influence in the federal government, it could have weakened federalism in America; consequently, the amendment may have altered how the American system of government is supposed to function. The U.S. Senate’s selection process was not only a safeguard for federalism …

Fostering Nationalism: Education As A Political Tool In India And Pakistan, Ashot Khachaturyan

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Education is regarded globally as a necessity for the youth to develop intellectually, emotionally, and socially. In developing countries around the world, like India and Pakistan, the quality of education, as well as the foundations of the curricula, are subject to cultural ties that promote ideologies of strong national identity. This paper aims to highlight the extent to which education, the most critical aspect of a child’s development, is used as a political tool in India and Pakistan. Analyzing existing research and journals, the reformations of Indian and Pakistani education to drive interpersonal conflicts will be explored, focusing on the …

Public Understanding Of Ai-Enabled Cyber Threats And Its Impact On Cybersecurity Governance In The United States, Charlotte M. Barbrick

LSU Master's Theses

Artificial intelligence is spreading quickly in workplaces and everyday life, and that fast growth is creating cybersecurity and privacy risks that current laws and organizational practices do not fully address. This thesis asks whether AI-specific knowledge shapes public support for cybersecurity governance of AI-enabled systems in the United States. Using nationally representative survey data from the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP) Wave 119, fielded December 12--18, 2022, I estimate weighted regression models to test how objective AI knowledge shapes support for cybersecurity governance. I also test whether concern about data misuse helps explain that relationship and whether AI …

Protecting Free Speech And Promoting Civility: The Dueling Responsibilities Of American Colleges And Universities, Tara N. Parsons

International Journal on Responsibility

Freedom House estimates that 75% of the world’s population lives in countries that experienced a democratic decline in 2020. Even in long established democracies, liberal democratic values have been shaken. As democracy requires an enlightened citizenry cultivated by a college education, many American universities and colleges adopt civic instruction and engagement as a core responsibility and mission. However, growing anti-intellectualism has drawn increased scrutiny and suspicion towards the programming, curriculum, and core values of universities. Powerful political figures regularly accuse universities of stifling conservative voices and discouraging free speech. The tension between free speech and civic dialogue requires a reframing …

Immigration And Policy: Who Influences Who?, Madison May Albers

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This project examines how public opinion on immigration changes in response to the framing of major immigration policies in the United States. The study is grounded in Policy feedback theory, which argues that shifts in public opinion reflect the dominant frames of policy. The independent variable is the framing of the legislation, measured by presidential State of the Union addresses, and the dependent variable is the public's sentiments on immigration, measured by the media's portrayal. Utilizing a qualitative comparative historical design, the project analyzes the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, DACA in 2012, the Trump travel …

Zero Tolerance Policies In Schools & Subsequent Outcomes, Annalise Loucks

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Zero tolerance policies refer to policies and practices that disproportionately push marginalized students out of classrooms and into the criminal justice system. These patterns contribute to long-term negative outcomes, including higher dropout rates, increased incarceration, and reduced economic and social opportunities.

The Role Of Polarized State Governments In Higher Education Funding., Jackson Sinsel

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

• Polarization is something that has the potential to impact many aspects of daily life. The purpose of this study was to look at polarization in comparison to higher education funding allocations.
• A state-level analysis of 49 U.S. states from 1993-2010 was conducted.
• Overall, there was a statistically significant finding that as polarization increases, higher education allocations decrease

Mister President & May It Please The Executive: Causal Barriers To Court-Packing, Mason Smith

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

As attacks on democracy have become increasingly ubiquitous, scholarship has begun to shed light on a common, effective, and inimical means of subverting governments accountable to the masses: court-packing. So, how can democracies prevent court-packing? Among many implicit causal theories taken from the extant research, which hasn’t directly tackled this problem, two seem the most plausible and ripe for analysis, suggesting that court-packing’s success turns on either the strength (i) of institutional constraints or (ii) of domestic judicial norms. To see which theory works better in practice, I use a narrowly tailored iteration of comparative process tracing, as it best …

Where Do Policy Demanders Come From? Protestants And Party Formation In The Antebellum Period, John W. Compton

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

The early 1830s were years of intense religious fervor, when well-organized moral reform movements seemed destined to remake the political landscape. Curiously, however, the party system that emerged from this period was premised on the exclusion of moral issues from party politics. How did the early Jacksonian Democrats and Whigs manage to construct an essentially amoral party system during a decade marked by large-scale moral reform movements? And why did the resulting system unravel in the mid-1850s? Answering these questions requires shifting the focus from party activists and elected officials to organized religion. Specifically, I show that the nation's largest …

Advancing The Study Of Politics And The Brain: Targets For Research On Neurology And Political Behavior, Glenn W. Rainey Jr.

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

In this paper I argue that advancing research on neurology is creating important opportunities for political scientists to integrate its findings into their research, particularly with regard to the effects of emotional processes on political behavior.  I provide a general background on neural anatomy, genetics, and neurobiological chemicals, and I briefly review techniques of neurological research, the findings that have been developing, and the limitations on the research. I provide an overview of selected key neural anatomy, and neurotransmitters and hormones, that play a role in neurological functions, and particularly in the development and expression of emotions.  I then suggest …

President João Goulart And The Breakdown Of U.S.-Brazilian Relations, Jake Hall

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

The 1950s and 1960s were a tumultuous time for relations between the United States and Brazil. Following the Cuban Revolution and the rise of Castro in 1959, the United States felt vulnerable and feared that the Cuban Revolution would spread communism to other countries in Latin America. Meanwhile, Brazil was experiencing an economic crisis as former President Juscelino Kubitschek had engaged in expensive policies intended to grow Brazil’s economy and spur industrial development. These policies left the country with rampant inflation and an untenable amount of debt, which Brazil had no hope of paying off. President John F. Kennedy’s Alliance …

Complex Systems Mapping Of Fiscal Growth Dynamics At Strategic Maritime Chokepoints Using Time-Series Slopes, Rahul Balamurugan, Preethi Nanjundan, Avichal Sharma

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

This study examines how maritime and trading states allocate public resources between defence, health, and economic growth around three strategic chokepoints the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Suez Canal. The analysis extends the classic “guns versus butter” framing by treating defence and health spending as co-evolving components of an interconnected fiscal-growth system. Using World Development Indicators data (1999-2024), trend slopes are estimated for military spending (% of GDP), healthcare spending (% of GDP), and GDP growth (annual %). Two derived indicators are computed, a defence-to-health slope ratio (military slope/health slope) and a fiscal-balance proxy (health slope …