Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Extremism And Its Effects On Idaho Legislation, Steve D. Sutherland

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

The Capstone Project covers, through documented interviews and insights, practitioners, journalists, and researchers that have endeavored to recognize and reconcile the effects of extremism in Idaho legislation. The referenced articles and academic journals also shed light on how this is not unique to the Gem State and how it is manifesting and evolving within the United States. This paper describes my approaches to researching this topic and the challenges of its polarization and political realities. I cover how creating an innovative approach can bring together different perspectives. Emotional intelligence is vital in exploring a hot-button issue such as this. Awareness …

The Trump Administration Feuded With State And Local Leaders Over Pandemic Response – Now The Biden Administration Is Trying To Turn Back A Page In History, Ana Maria Dimand, Benjamin M. Brunjes

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

As the U.S. recovers from the pandemic, the Biden administration is working to rebuild relationships across levels of government, from the top to the bottom, that were strained during the presidency of Donald Trump.

In November 2020, Biden offered urban leaders a seat at the table in coronavirus recovery efforts, promising to avoid partisanship. Addressing the National League of Cities in March 2021, Harris praised urban leadership on COVID-19 – cities like Seattle and New York were among the first to respond to the pandemic, developing testing protocols, tracking new infections and supplying equipment for hospitals – and highlighted the …

How America’S Partisan Divide Over Pandemic Responses Played Out In The States, Julie Vandusky-Allen, Olga Shvetsova

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a partisan divide has existed over the appropriate government response to the public health crisis. Democrats have been more likely to favor stricter policies such as prolonged economic shutdowns, limits on gathering in groups and mask mandates. Republicans overall have favored less stringent policies.

The Unintentional Gerrymandering Of America: How Population Shifts In Congressional Districts Contribute To The Wasting Of Votes, As Measured By The Efficiency Gap, Hannah Sharp

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Thanks to the foresight of our Founding Fathers we are required by law to redraw legislative boundaries every ten years, after the decennial census. These boundaries create districts at both the state and federal legislative level, and there are many guidelines which govern how districts can be drawn in order to provide for fair competition and accurate representation. Population distribution is key to how electoral districts are drawn at all levels. In recent decades, increasing concentrated populations of Democrats in urban areas and decreasing population in rural, more Republican areas has made it harder to draw competitive districts at the …

Presidential Influence And Competitive Grant Funding: Reexamining Presidential Pork, Benjamin Albert

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

How does partisan alignment with the president affect the distribution of federal competitive grant funding? This analysis contributes to the literature on distributive politics by reexamining the relationship between alignment with the president and competitive grant funding over the time period of 2001 to 2017. Furthermore, the analysis will test if the relationship between alignment and competitive grant funding changed after the enactment of the 2011 earmark moratorium. Fractional probit regression is used to model the relationship between a representative’s partisan alignment with the president and the portion of annual competitive grant funding that their district receives. The results suggest …

Man Bites Blue Dog: Are Moderates Really More Electable Than Ideologues?, Stephen M. Utych

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Are ideologically moderate candidates more electable than ideologically extreme candidates? Historically, both research in political science and conventional wisdom answer yes to this question. However, given the rise of ideologues on both the right and the left in recent years, it is important to consider whether this assumption is still accurate. I find that, while moderates have historically enjoyed an advantage over ideologically extreme candidates in congressional elections, this gap has disappeared in recent years, where moderates and ideologically extreme candidates are equally likely to be elected. This change persists for both Democratic and Republican candidates.

Decolonizing Urban Indian Institutions: Indigenous Authority In Boise, Idaho, Melanie Lee Fillmore

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

American Indigenous populations are underrepresented in American political science discourse. There is a lack of knowledge on public perception of political trust within Indigenous communities. I argue that contemporary discourses on data and political participation of American Indigenous people are incomplete without framing that data within the context of ongoing settler colonialism. National data shows that nearly 71% of all American Indigenous people live in urban settings. Framing American Indigenous political participation requires an in depth examination of the role of American Settler colonialism. Studies need to account for the impact of Federal government use of authority has had on …

Why Does The Us Pay So Much For The Defense Of Its Allies?: 5 Questions Answered, Michael E. Flynn, Carla Martinez Machain, Michael A. Allen

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since the start of Donald Trump’s run for the U.S. presidency in 2015, he has been critical of the amount of money U.S. allies contribute to their own defense.

Now, the Trump administration is demanding that Japan and South Korea pay more for hosting U.S. troops stationed in those countries.

The media also reported that U.S. military leadership in South Korea discussed the possibility of withdrawing up to 4,000 troops from South Korea if it does not increase its contributions. The Pentagon has since denied having such plans.

We have each studied overseas deployments of U.S. military personnel for nearly …

The Relevance Of The Constitution In Today's Society, Matthew Reiber

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

How relevant is the Constitution in today’s society? This is the document that guides the three branches of government in day to day operation, demonstrating that what the Constitution means to the people of the United States is essential in gauging how relevant people think our government is. In this experiment, I surveyed 348 different college students on Boise State campus with a list of different questions to first find out their general knowledge of our Constitution, then their opinion of it. Students were randomly assigned to receive a text about a Supreme Court case that involves interpreting the Constitution …

The Trump Administration Wants To Dismantle The Agency Overseeing 2 Million Federal Workers – And Weaken Safeguards Against Partisanship, Matthew May

University Author Recognition Bibliography: 2019

The U.S. government has put expertise and competence ahead of political considerations when it hires people for more than 135 years.

As a result of changes made during President Chester Arthur’s administration, the vast majority of government jobs can only be awarded on the basis of merit. Prospective employees historically had to complete a competitive exam and today must complete detailed applications, undergo interviews and get their background checked. Employees also cannot be fired or demoted for political reasons.

These rules apply to all but about 4,000 politically appointed employees among the 2 million people who work for the federal …

The Trump Administration Is Scrapping A Collaborative Sage Grouse Protection Plan To Expand Oil And Gas Drilling, John Freemuth

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Trump administration has released plans to open up nine million acres of sage grouse habitat in six western states to oil and gas drilling. This initiative dramatically cuts back an elaborate plan developed under the Obama administration to steer energy development away from sage grouse habitat. Predictably, environmentalists oppose it and the energy industry supports it.

Primary Challengers: Examining Competition In U.S. House Primary Elections With Female Candidates, Savannah Nicole Renslow

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has established that voters and political elites hold gendered stereotypes toward female candidates. Additionally, traditional family roles and gendered expectations are found to affect the self-confidence of women and their political ambition. However, little is known about how potential challengers perceive women as candidates. To fill this gap, I examine whether the presence of a woman in a primary election influences the entry of prospective candidates. Are women perceived to be more vulnerable candidates, thus attracting more competition in primary elections?

To answer this, I estimate a negative binomial regression with primary election data for the U.S. House …

Trump, Saudi Arabia And The Khashoggi Case: What Would Obama Have Done?, Steven Feldstein

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

After weeks of ratcheting tension about who authorized the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Donald Trump sought to put an end to the debate.

A County In Idaho Offered Spanish-Language Ballots For The First Time And Here’S What Happened, Gabe Osterhout

University Author Recognition Bibliography: 2018

On the morning of Election Day, the top trending search on Google was “donde votar,” which means “where to vote” in Spanish.

The Sage Grouse Isn’T Just A Bird – It’S A Proxy For Control Of Western Lands, John Freemuth

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Trump administration is clashing with conservation groups and others over protection for the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), a bird widely known for its dramatic mating displays. The grouse is found across sagebrush country from the Rocky Mountains on the east to the Sierra and Cascade mountain ranges on the west.

Rethinking Reporting On Polls In Time For Midterm Elections, Stephen Utych

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Associated Press, a nonprofit news wire published by 1,300 papers and broadcasters, has updated its stylebook to clarify that “poll results that seek to preview the outcome of an election must never be the lead, headline or single subject of any story.”

Federal Employees Work For Both Democrats And Republicans – Even Kellyanne Conway, Matthew May

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Federal ethics lawyers determined earlier this month that White House adviser Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits a variety of political activities by federal employees. During two television appearances last year, Conway, a Republican, had encouraged Alabama voters to vote against the Democratic senate candidate in a special election.

The Energy Covenant: Energy Dominance And The Rhetoric Of The Aggrieved, Jen Schneider, Jennifer Peeples

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Trump Administration has adopted “energy dominance” as its guiding ideology for energy policy, marking a notable shift from decades of “energy security” rhetoric. This paper analyzes how Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke, one of the administration’s key spokespeople for energy dominance, uses “energy covenant renewal” to frame the importance of energy dominance for the conservative base. Covenant renewal is a modified form of the jeremiad; Zinke uses it to unite conservative identities around energy politics and policies. Energy dominance thus invites those who feel aggrieved under Obama administration regulatory policy and the multicultural identity politics of the left to …

Interior Secretary Zinke Invokes Teddy Roosevelt As Model, But His Public Land Policies Don’T, John Freemuth

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendations to shrink four national monuments and allow fossil fuel development activities on others is just the latest sign that this administration sees natural resource use and extraction as the highest priority for public lands.

Presidential Greatness & Political Science: Assessing The 2014 Apsa Presidents & Executive Politics Section Presidential Greatness Survey, Brandon Rottinghaus, Justin S. Vaughn

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Debates about presidential greatness have been with us for decades, facilitated in part by numerous systematic surveys of scholars with expertise in American history and politics. Nevertheless, the voice of political scientists in this debate has been relatively muted when compared particularly with the role that historians have had in making these determinations. This article introduces and assesses results of a recent effort to capture the attitudes of political science presidency experts about presidential greatness. By surveying the membership of the APSA Presidents and Executive Politics section, we could identify and then compare specifically the attitudes of political scientists against …

The Impact Of American Sign Language Interpreter Licensure Laws On D/Deaf Defendants In Criminal Cases, Kymberly Marie Couch

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law which, among many other regulations, requires that d/Deaf individuals involved in criminal cases be provided with a qualified interpreter of their language, usually American Sign Language (ASL). A qualified interpreter is not defined within the law and states are left to determine what does or does not constitute qualified. This study analyzes the various ways in which d/Deaf individuals should be treated differently within the justice system due to their differences in communication, as well as how statutes defining the qualification of interpreters may be most inclusive of the variances …

Top-Two Primary Reform And State Legislature Ideology, Devon Downey

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Louisiana, Washington, and California have changed their primary election system to top-two primary systems. In this system, candidates are no longer nominated by voters in their own party. Instead, the two candidates receiving the most votes proceed to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. Proponents of the reform argue that it will moderate their state legislatures, helping to reduce gridlock and polarization. The parties and politicians argue that it will not change anything, but rather harm those in office and those who are running for office. Little research had been done on the validity of reformers claims, and most …

Personal Economics And Political Ideology, Derrick Hill

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

While plenty of evidence suggests prospective and retrospective sociotropic economic voting happens in the electorate, it is hard to find evidence that supports prospective economic voting based on personal economic forecasts. Furthermore, it has been argued that the Republican Party is able to attract poor and working class individuals because of their conservative position on social issues. This research looks at the relationship between pocketbook prospective economic beliefs and ideological sentiments. I find that individuals who are optimistic about their personal economic future are more likely to be conservative, and that this personal optimism has a greater impact on ideology …

Particularism Vs. Entrepreneurialism: President Obama And Race To The Top, Jodi A. Hoalst

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis compares two contending political science theories about why presidents use their unilateral authority as I investigate whether President Obama acted as an entrepreneurial president or a particularistic president when awarding grants to states through the Race to the Top competition. To do so, I evaluate the 12 winning states in two areas. First, I analyze how each of the states ranked nationally in the Editorial Projects in Education Quality Counts Report 2009 and then determine whether each of the winning states needed education reform policies. If so, then it is likely the Obama Administration was acting in a …

Can Ryan Zinke Balance Conservation And Development As Interior Secretary?, John Freemuth, Mackenzie Case

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana to head the Department of the Interior follows a tradition of offering this position to westerners. The agency has jurisdiction over a significant portion of federal public lands in western states, including national parks, national wildlife refuges, some forests administered by the Bureau of Land Management and others.

Inside The Coal Industry’S Rhetorical Playbook, Steve Schwarze, Jennifer Peeples, Jen Schneider, Pete Bsumek

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

If citizens have heard anything about the upheaval in the U.S. coal industry, it is probably the insistence that President Obama and the EPA have waged a “war on coal.” This phrase is written into President-elect Donald Trump’s energy platform, which promises to “end the war on coal.”

Dems And The Gop Are Miles Apart On Yet Another Issue: Public Lands, John Freemuth, Mackenzie Case

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

It’s unlikely the presidential candidates will field a question about public lands during their last debate. But public land is an issue that concerns many Americans, with arguments over it flaring up with cyclical regularity.

The History Behind Philippine President Duterte’S Obama Insult, Shelton Woods

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks his mind. He does not back down.

Some believe he took his plain speaking too far this week before leaving the Philippines for a summit in Laos.

Reporters asked how Duterte intended to answer President Obama’s concerns over the more than 1,300 drug suspects killed over the past two months in Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. Using a well-known Tagalog obscenity, the Phillipine president called Obama a son of a bitch.

Corporate Sponsors At Yosemite?: The Case Against Privatizing National Parks, John Freemuth, William Lowry

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

The centennial of the National Park Service is inspiring an impressive amount of soul-searching about the agency and the lands for which it is responsible. This is timely and appropriate, as the NPS faces serious challenges that affect the preservation of these precious lands.

The Impact Of Presidential Visits On Midterm Gubernatorial Elections, Tyler James Holden

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Scholarship on the impact of visits by the president of the United States on midterm gubernatorial elections is limited. This paper will examine the effects of such visits by the president of the United States on midterm gubernatorial elections. Cohen, Kreassa, and Hamman (1991) analyzed the impact of presidential visits on senate races and discovered these visits are strategic; also, when the president gets involved in an election, the president has a positive impact. I also believe that when different visits are split out different types of visits will have different effects. This is based on the time commitment of …