History Commons^™

Europe’S Refugee Crisis: Assessing The Factors Preventing A Coordinated Eu Response, Ali Albassam

Master's Theses

In order to escape increasing political violence in the Middle East and Africa, many refugees are fleeing by sea to seek asylum in Europe. As a result, Europe has witnessed the highest influx of refugees since World War Two. European Union member states have scrambled for a solution, seemingly unable to form a collective response. The reemergence of nationalism amid the arrival of thousands of refugees not only clouds Europe’s moral compass, but also weakens the EU and its founding principles. In an effort to contribute to the protection of refugees and the EU and its values, this thesis aims …

Building Canadian National Identity Within The State And Through Ice Hockey: A Political Analysis Of The Donation Of The Stanley Cup, 1888-1893, Jordan Goldstein

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Stanley Cup elicits strong emotions related to Canadian national identity despite its association as a professional ice hockey trophy. This strong link between the Cup and Canadian national identity emerged in its creation and donation. Lord Stanley, in addition to his love of ice hockey, donated the Cup partly as a political action. The cup stood as a physical symbol to unite the disparate Canadian population around a new national sport. Given Lord Stanley’s position as Governor General (1888-1893) this donation carried political authority. The purpose of this study is to investigate the donation of the Stanley Cup as …

Incentives To Incarcerate: Corporation Involvement In Prison Labor And The Privatization Of The Prison System, Alythea S. Morrell

Master's Projects and Capstones

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the entire world. The United States accounts for approximately 5% of the world’s population, yet it accounts for 25% of the world’s prisoners. Not only does the United States mercilessly incarcerate its own citizens, it disproportionately incarcerates African American and Latino men. This fact on its own is disturbing; however, when it is coupled with the fact that corporations profit from and lobby for an overly aggressive and ineffective criminal justice system, makes these statistics even more horrendous. Private prison companies such as Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group admit …

Nevada Legal Services: The Legal Services Corporation Restrictions And The Diminishing Capacity Of Access To Justice For The Poor, William Todd Ashmore

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The lofty idea of equal justice for all is not the reason legal aid began in the United States. Legal aid was born from the indignation over injustices committed against the poor. Unable to afford an attorney, the poor could not effectively assert their rights within the criminal and civil justice system. Without access to justice through the courts, the extralegal activities required to defend oneself and exact justice such as personally forcing an employer to pay rightful wages, are deemed criminal in most cases. By providing legal resources to the poor, legal aid not only brought order to society …

Ronald Reagan In 2016: The Symbolic And Political Uses Of Collective Memory, Alex Plant

Politics & Government Undergraduate Theses

While not all references are as blatant as Donald Trump’s slogan, “Let’s Make America Great Again,” it is hard to deny that Ronald Reagan is everywhere in the 2016 Presidential campaign. Whether it is the Republican primary debate in front of his Air Force One, Jeb Bush’s “Reagan-Bush 80” t-shirt, or the frequent rhetorical evocations by the candidates, it is hard to miss Reagan’s shadow hanging over the Republican candidates, their policies, and their visions for America. But how exactly are these candidates using Ronald Reagan? What kind of role do these references play in overall campaign strategy? What can …

Carl Schmitt And Political Catholicism: Friend Or Foe?, Brian J. Fox

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The scholarship on controversial German constitutional lawyer and political theorist Carl Schmitt (1888-1985) has long accepted what can be called a "standard narrative" as regards his intellectual development. This narrative treats Schmitt as, on the whole, a "Catholic" intellectual and "political theologian" until the mid-1920s when he turns decidedly towards a secular decisionism. Commentators frequently point to Schmitt's non-canonical second marriage in 1926 as the biographically salient factor in dating a turn from an early association with political Catholicism to his later nationalist authoritarianism. This later approach to politics led Schmitt to promote plebiscitary dictatorship in the last years of …

Elusive Peace, Security, And Justice In Post-Conflict Guatemala: An Exploration Of Transitional Justice And The International Commission Against Impunity In Guatemala (Cicig), Daniel W. Schloss

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Guatemala has, until today, struggled to achieve security and justice following the end of nearly half a century of civil war in 1996. One specific institution, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), has been implemented to rectify many of the Guatemalan state’s difficulties in establishing and maintaining the rule of law. In this thesis, I look to better explain CICIG’s role in Guatemala relative to security and justice in a post-conflict setting: I define CICIG as an institution potentially capable of building societal trust, and I explain how the inclusion of procedural justice within transitional justice can help …

A Think Tank On The Left: The Institute For Policy Studies And Cold War America, 1963-1989, Brian Scott Mueller

Theses and Dissertations

For American intellectuals, the Cold War involved a battle far more important than the ones taking place in faraway lands. While the nearly half-decade conflict never degenerated into a nuclear war, the combat between intellectuals resembled a nuclear explosion at times. Participants in the war of words believed that intellectual debates would determine the direction of American foreign policy, and possibly whether the United States survived the Cold War. Led by groups such as the Americans for Democratic Action, liberal intellectuals held the dominant position during the first decades of the Cold War as they became hardened Cold Warriors intent …

Structural Limitations To The Success Of Third Parties In The American Political System: A Study Of The Life Cycle Of The Republican Party, Louis Fierro

Honors Theses

American Politics has been dominated by the Democratic and Republican Parties for much of its history. Third parties, those bodies representing a challenge to the political system from outside the Democratic and Republican structures, have been largely unsuccessful in challenging for power. The sole exception to this rule was the Republican’s ascension to a main party following the collapse of the Whig Party in 1860, no other third party has been able to replicate this maneuver due largely to structural characteristics associated with American politics and the winner-take-all voting system it employs in most elections. Despite not directly posing a …

Conservatives And The End Of The Draft, Shad Ashcroft

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

While conservatives of all stripes generally supported the Vietnam War, particularly at its onset, I will show that the debate to end conscription reveals a rift between traditional conservatives who supported the draft and libertarian conservatives who opposed it (while generally supporting the war). Furthermore, though they shared the goal of ending the draft, libertarian conservatives and New Left protesters agreed on little else. The protesters' primary goal was to prevent future wars like Vietnam. Conservatives, on the other hand, embraced the all-volunteer army in part to maintain executive branch independence in foreign affiars.

Michael Manley’S Nationalism In The 1970s: An Analysis Of The Speeches As Prime Minister Of Jamaica., Peta-Ann Cherie Long

Theses - ALL

Abstract

Leaders and aspiring leaders nurture visions of the nations they want to develop. To fulfill their visions, they develop platforms based on their perceptions of national problems. Ideally, platforms become programs that can create better futures for their people. This concept of governance illuminates the leadership of Michael Manley, who embraced a democratic socialist philosophy to map the future of Jamaica in the 1970s. With campaign slogans like “Better Must Come” and “Forward Together,” Manley conceived of a nation that would embody principles of equality, social justice, and co-operation. I argue that his efforts to develop this new society …

Political Harvests: Transnational Farmers' Movements In North Dakota And Saskatchewan, 1905-1950, Jason Mccollom

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research uses as a case study farmers' movements in North Dakota and Saskatchewan, two identical locales in terms of wheat monoculture, demographics, and agrarian ideology, and traces the differing Social, economic, and political outcomes between 1905 and 1950. The research, however, moves beyond this and also investigates the transnational integration, connections, and engagements among agrarian groups across the broader North American northern plains and across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, to Europe, the Soviet Union, and Australia. Methodologically, this study applies Social movement theory, pioneered by sociologists Doug McAdam, Sidney Tarrow, and Charles Tilley, which seeks to replace a …

A Comparative Study Of The Assyrian And Guatemalan Genocides, Bernadette Mary Lazar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This century has witnessed many genocides throughout the world by the hands of leaders and citizens alike. These unjustifiable acts have not failed to exist even today. Although a lot of research and scholarly work has been dedicated towards the study of genocide, there is no single reason as to why it occurs; rather there are many theories that indicate what leads to genocide. The question still remains why does genocide happen? This thesis will attempt to answer this question by analyzing various theoretical perspectives, as well as comparatively observing two case studies that have not been extensively discussed. In …

Resurrecting The "Dead" Second Amendment: How The Libertarian Legal Movement Has Shaped Gun Control Litigation, Anthony M. Sierzega

Politics Honors Papers

For nearly two centuries following its adoption, the Second Amendment was largely ignored and even referred to as a “dead amendment.” Virtually all legal scholarship considered the right protected by the amendment to be a collective right written into the Constitution to protect local militias from a powerful federal standing army. However, beginning in the late 1970s a surge of libertarian scholarship began to emerge promoting the Second Amendment as a safeguard for an individual right to bear arms without any connection to military service. Promoted by the National Rifle Association and libertarian theorists, the individual-right theory began to gain …

Cult Of Personality: North Korea Under Kim Il-Sung, Tyler Lutz

Senior Capstone Theses

This paper is about origins of the totalitarian regime in North Korea and it's founding father, Kim Il-Sung. Specifically, the paper talks about how Kim was able to rise to power, the cult of personality he was able to construct around himself, and how he is deified through propaganda.

Harry Potter & The Riddles Of Political Ideology, Cynthia Perri

Senior Capstone Theses

The purpose of this research project is to assess and evaluate the role of ideology in fostering an individual’s political evaluations of cultural content such as media and literary works. In this paper, I explore the current debate about how ideologies are formed, how ideologies are expressed, and how ideologies influence or shape our political evaluations of content. First I approach the formation of ideology by introducing readers to cultural theory, and its' emphasis on how group versus grid fosters ideology. I then explore how ideologies are expressed by introducing readers to the politics of assent of framework. Next, using …

Eleanor Roosevelt: A Voice For The Oppressed, Molly E. Craig

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

In this thesis, I discuss Eleanor Roosevelt as a political and social activist through the media. ER was the first First Lady to advocate for her own social and political agenda and a way in which she accomplished this was with her extensive relationship with the media. In my thesis, I first give a brief history of other sources regarding aspects of Eleanor Roosevelt’s life that touch my own project. Then, I examine the reasons Eleanor Roosevelt felt compelled toward activism. In the next section I analyze several different media outlets, beginning with her book It’s Up to the Women …

La Dialectique Du Bourreau : Étude Du Bourreau Nazi Dans La Littérature Contemporaine Française, Désirée Lamoureux

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

La parole du bourreau nazi est absente de la majorité des documents historiques. Pour contrer cette carence, certains auteurs ont choisi de donner une place narrative à ce personage sybillin à l’intérieur de leur diégèse. Cette étude a pour but d’analyser la manière dont trois auteurs, soit Robert Merle, Jonathan Littell et Laurent Binet, octroient une place narrative au bourreau nazi. Nous cherchons aussi à élucider les raisons pour lesquelles il existe un intérêt dans la perspective du bourreau au début de ce nouveau millénaire.

Ayn Rand’S Rejection Of Environmentalism: Toward Challenging Right-Wing Inaction On Environmental Issues In The United States, Taylor M. Bailey

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Environmental protection has become a volatile political issue in the United States, especially within the past decade. This toxicity must be remedied to facilitate substantive reform. Anti-environmentalism on the part of the American Right can be partially traced back to the writings of the conservative philosopher Ayn Rand. In this paper, I aim to show that Rand fundamentally misunderstood the mainstream environmental movement in the U.S., and similarly her environmental philosophy, as well as her answers to solving environmental damages, are inadequate in providing answers to collective environmental problems (i.e. climate change). I argue that even in a framework as …

Nation-State Personality Theory: A Qualitative Comparative Historical Analysis Of Russian Behavior, During Social/Political Transition, Mark George Bound

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The study theorizes that a nation-state can manifest a condition similar to that of personality commonly associated with humans. Through the identification of consistent behaviors, a personality like condition is recognizable, and the underlining motivations dictate national policy independent of any current social/political influence. The research examines Russia during two historical periods examining the conflict events and social/political transitions of the period, to identify common behavioral characteristics, which indicate the existence of any independent personality like trait.

The study focuses on two historical periods: the Monarch Period of Peter I (The Great), and the Post-Soviet Union period of Vladimir Putin, …

Climbing The Mountain Of Conflict: Margaret Thatcher's Falklands Crisis, Benjamin F. Waldman

CMC Senior Theses

Early in her Prime Ministership, Margaret Thatcher fought an unlikely diversionary war far from home for the ownership of the Falkland Islands. The Islands lie off of Argentina’s coast about 8,000 miles from London, but have been subject to Britain’s rule since 1836. In April 1982, hoping to distract from domestic political and economic turmoil, Argentina’s military dictatorship ordered a surprise invasion of the Islands. Thatcher, Britain’s first female Prime Minister, responded in full force. By early May, a British fleet reached the Islands. By June, despite American efforts to stop a war between its allies, Britain launched an assault …

Legislating For American Empire : The U.S. Congress And Territorial Policy, Timothy Lindberg

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The United States has always administered territorial governments and the primary entity entrusted with this authority is the United States Congress. This dissertation, using an American Political Development framework, seeks to uncover the variety of ways in which Congressional decision-making over territorial policy has shifted. The goal is to understand how the United States Congress worked toward establishing and maintaining an American Empire via the use of territorial policy. A variety of causal mechanisms causing are investigated, including the demographic targets of policy, partisan conflicts, changing norms and rules of Congress, pressures from other branches or the states, national security …

The Effects Of Forestry Regulations On Rural Communities And The Urban-Rural Divide In Oregon, Jennifer Sitton

CMC Senior Theses

This senior thesis is a study of federal forestry policy in Oregon and its effects on rural communities and the urban-rural division in the state. Looking specifically at the “Timber Wars” of the early 1990s, it delves deeper into the controversy over the protection of the northern spotted owl, the Northwest Forest Plan, and President Clinton’s efforts to solve the conflict between grassroots environmental activists and those with a vested interest in the timber industry. It also analyzes the federal timber payment system created by Congress to solve the problems for rural communities caused by forestry regulations. Lastly, it looks …