Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Campaigning In The Digital Age: How Social Media Changed The Framework Of Elections, Faith Hamelin

Honors Theses

Throughout the 21st century, it is normal for social media users to see politics on virtually every platform an individual uses, ranging from LinkedIn to TikTok. Broadcast news, including television and radio have always aired political discussions, as mass communication became the most common and favorable way for politicians to communicate with constituents. However, politics were not a prominent aspect of social media use until less than a decade and a half ago. As the internet became further integrated into our daily lives, through radio, television, and cellular or smart phones, we found ourselves invested in politics at a previously …

Litigating Reproductive Rights: The Evolving Support Structure In The United States, Allison Anker

Honors Theses

The Supreme Court of the United States functions as the highest judicial body in the country, with its decisions having the capability to reverberate change across the nation. Understanding why they make certain decisions has long been a point of scholarship, with multiple theories emerging as to what exactly influences their rulings. One such theory is the support structure, proposed by Charles Epp in The Rights Revolution (1998), which is a theory exploring how social movements influence litigation and the establishment of certain rights. This theory states that legal mobilization at the Supreme Court rests “on resources, and resources for …

Political Scandal And Party Identification, Michael Sekich

Honors Theses

How do voters react to political scandal, especially when a like-minded partisan is involved? We look to answer that question by utilizing the concept of self-monitoring. Before collecting the data, expectations were that high self-monitors would identify as an independent when exposed to the partisan political scandal. But, when presented with a non-partisan political scandal, high self-monitors would feel more comfortable identifying as their own partisanship. This study offers mixed results. We found that high self-monitors had the only meaningful differences, and low self-monitors did not display significant differences across the versions. The Republican scandal yielded the most meaningful response, …

Party Identification At Western Michigan University, Melissa Heinz

Honors Theses

A high self-monitor is an individual who changes his/her political views to improve an impression made to others. This past election contained very controversial candidates making individuals very reluctant to show strong support for either party. My thesis topic examines the link between self-monitoring and party identification after the controversial election. I will be testing to see Western Michigan University students’ willingness to disguise political views based on what others think of them by using three different versions of the same survey. Many students are in positions on campus as well as off campus that require them to present themselves …

The Effects Of Repealing The Estate Tax And Reducing The Corporate Tax Rate Coupled With A Repatriation Act, Trenton Vanderlende

Honors Theses

Given that significant U.S. federal tax reform is taking place for the first time in over 30 years, this paper examines how changing specific tax provisions may affect the average individual taxpayer as well as the wealthiest 1% of Americans. Three potential federal tax law changes are addressed: repealing the estate tax, reducing the corporate statutory income tax rate, and offering a repatriation holiday for remitting the foreign profits earned by U.S. businesses. These changes are analyzed using publicly available data from U.S. Congressional hearings, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Based on this …

Analyzing The Legislative Productivity Of Congress During The Obama Administration, Zachary Hunkins

Honors Theses

Our nation looks to Congress to solve problems by producing legislation. Four congressional sessions took place during the eight years of the Obama administration; these were the 111^th (2009-2011), 112^th (2011-2013), 113^th (2013-2015), and 114^th (2015-2017). These four congressional sessions were often labeled and stigmatized as some of the least productive sessions in our nation’s history. This raises the questions, what explains legislative productivity? What variables effect it? Were the four sessions that took place during the Obama administration that ineffective? How do these sessions compare to sessions that took place during past presidential administrations? This …

Allied Paper Landfill, A Case Study Of Superfund, Kaitlin Braunschweig

Honors Theses

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (1980), more commonly known as Superfund, delegates the responsibility for cleanup of more than 1,300 hazardous waste sites to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This thesis is designed as a case study to investigate the Superfund program through the lens of the Allied Paper Landfill portion of the Kalamazoo River Superfund Site. Through interviews with key stakeholders an evaluation was completed based on the following research questions: 1) are the current goals of Superfund appropriate, 2) is the funding mechanism sufficient to fulfill the goals of Superfund, and 3) is the …

Do Parties Matter? A Political Model Of Monetary Policy In Open Economies, Hulya Unlusoy

Dissertations

In this doctoral dissertation, I present an original political model of monetary policy in open economies that reframes the Mundell-Fleming model when party politics and long-term interest rates are examined with the three economic variables (monetary policy autonomy, capital mobility, fixed exchange rate) that form the basis of the Mundell-Fleming model. The Mundell-Fleming model explains that there is no monetary policy autonomy in the short term under high capital mobility and a fixed exchange rate system. To see whether I arrive at a different conclusion than the Mundell-Fleming model, I pose the following two research questions: 1. What explains variations …

Why Abstain? Trends In And Origins Of Indifference And Estrangement In The United States, 1968-2012, Christopher R. Keeler

Masters Theses

Abstention rates have remained quite high in the United States for the last several decades. This thesis explores the trends in and origins of the nonvoters from 1968 to 2012 using a statistical model of abstention in presidential elections. The objective is to determine why nonvoters have chosen to abstain and who are they?

Using data from the American National Elections Studies, four groups of nonvoters are identified – voters who are both alienated and indifferent, voters who are neither alienated nor indifference, voters who are only alienated, and voters who are only indifferent. The two groups exclusively analyzed are …

Mediated Homestyle: Congressional Strategy And Local Press Relations In The 111th House Of Representatives, Michael K. Romano

Dissertations

For over thirty years, research on Congressional behavior has provided evidence of a link between constituent opinions and the ways in which members publically conduct themselves. Homestyle (Fenno, 1978: pg. 32), the way members “cultivate their constituencies,” has emphasized that personal encounters between members and their constituents is an effective strategy for decreasing the level of uncertainty members have about their approval. Homestyle, however, overlooks the fact that members of Congress cannot directly interact with their constituents on a daily basis. The mass media, specifically local media outlets, help legislators by transmitting relevant information about political events and legislators’ actions …

Like Oil And Water: How Federalism Muddies The Waters Of Interest Group Decision-Making, Melissa Shaffer-O’Connell

Dissertations

Federalism often creates additional decisions for interest groups in determining how best to advocate for their policy recommendations in the legislative process. Should they focus their advocacy at the local, state, or national level of government? What activities should they use at each level of government? This dissertation examines interest group behaviors in water quality policy in the Great Lakes region from 1940 to 2000, in oil policy in the Beaufort Sea region from 1970 to 2000, and in both policy areas in 2010-2013. I evaluate the reasons for interest group decisions in choice of tactics and targeted level of …

The Supreme Court: A Decade Of Opinion, Matthew A. Bahleda

Honors Theses

Conventional wisdom would have us believe that the Bush v. Gore (2000) decision marked a large change in public approval of the Supreme Court. To analyze this claim, a series of landmark cases for the years 2000-2010 will be reduced to a data set that will allow for the observation of specific variables and the roles each variable may play in determining the change in public opinion. From there, conclusions are made that substantively explicate the relations between the indicated relevant variables and the change in opinion. Ultimately, the Bush v. Gore decision is found to have not had the …

Learning Organization Principles: The Impact On A Midwest State Government As Perceived By Its Employees, Rosalee Billingslea Rush

Dissertations

This study sought to determine the extent to which learning organization constructs influence performance in state government. The overarching purpose was to examine the relationship between Peter Senge’s five learning disciplines and organizational performance.

The study utilized an ex post facto survey design. The sample population was composed of supervisors and professional and administrative staff within the 19 agencies of a Midwestern state government. Participants were administered an instrument that asked them to rate their perception of the organization and its performance along seven dimensions of learning. Of the randomly selected 381 participants, 110 (or 28.9%) returned the survey instrument. …

Deference Of Defiance? Principal-Agent Theory And The Us Courts Of Appeals During The Rehnquist And Burger Courts, Nathaniel R. Vanden Brook

Masters Theses

By examining cases from the Courts of Appeals in several issue areas between 1969 and 2002 (e.g., the Burger and Rehnquist Courts), this research examines both the fear of reversal from the high court (judicial impact theory) and whether this results in differences in response from these courts to Supreme Court precedent (principal-agent theory). The study finds that when the Supreme Court grants review to a decreasing number of lower court cases and thus gives a longer leash to these courts that instead of deferring to their principal, the appellate courts often defy the high court and seek to advance …

Who Voted?: Social Class And Participation In United States Presidential Elections, Uisoon Kwon

Dissertations

Low turnout remains a persistent problem in American politics. The decline in turnout has been studied in various ways. In some cases scholars analyze aggregate turnout data and compare turnout in election districts with high and low concentrations o f particular ,social groups (Neimi and Weisberg, 1993). In other cases, surveys provide an opportunity to examine the causes and correlates o f turnout at the individual level. Various researchers find that socio-economic factors are related to turnout. People with more education vote at much higher rates than those with less education, higher income and middle class people are more likely …

The United States Supreme Court And American Individualism, Gary C. Roberts

Dissertations

The United States Supreme Court occupies an unusual, oftentimes paradoxical position within American democracy. On one hand, it is an institution that seemingly lacks democratic legitimacy, and on the other, it is an institution that dutifully gives meaning to the nation's democratic values. The uniqueness and possibly the grandeur of the American Supreme Court is that it has historically been able to successfully combine these two apparently contradictory aspects in such a manner as to expand upon the nation's traditional sense of individualism--the whole notion of an individual's inalienable right to life, liberty, and property.

Using legal case analysis, the …

The Federal Election Commission: An Analysis Of Administrative Behavior, Maurice C. Sheppard

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Mitigating The Defects Of Pluralism: Interest Group Coalitions Before The Supreme Court, Jason Frederick Jagemann

Dissertations

This project examines interest group coalitional activity before the Supreme Court in affirmative action cases between 1971 and 1995. First, I address the characteristics and dynamics of amicus participants over time. Second, I examine the extent to which organizations with a smaller base of resources, in terms of staff and the number of years that organizations have been on the scene, engage in coalitional activity. I find that organizations with smaller staffs are more likely to participate in coalitions, and, contrary to my expectations, organizations that have been on the scene longer are more likely to engage in coalitional activity. …

Thomas Jefferson And The United States Constitution: A Comparative Study Of Jefferson As Maturing Political Thinker To Jefferson The Political Operative, Thomas A. Parker

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to use historical, qualitative, and comparative methods of research in studying the life of Thomas Jefferson, his views on governance, and his impact on the highest law of our land, the United States Constitution. Thomas Jefferson's constitutional thoughts and theories evolved first as a maturing political thinker and later as a political operative on the state, national and international stage. His beliefs were shaped by many factors including Jefferson's own principles and character, his scholarship via learned men and life experiences, American and overseas events in and out of his control, titles and offices …

The Supreme Court, Judicial Review, And American Democracy, Gary C. Roberts

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to find some rational justification for the existence of the Supreme Court and its power of judicial review within a democratic framework of government. The avenue I take to complete this task involves two aspects: (1) questioning the validity of American democracy, and (2) examining the effectiveness of various influences or restraints on the power of the Court.

My conclusions are somewhat mixed. First of all, I feel it more accurate to refer to American government not as a democracy but as a constitutional democracy. In that respect, we are a government with limited …

The Unprepossessing Mr. Ryan: Understanding Exemplary Legislative Leadership, Barbara A. K. Adams

Dissertations

This study focuses on the character attributes, philosophy, political skills, policy agenda, and administrative activities of William A. Ryan, Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1969 through 1974 and a House member from 1958 through 1982. The case study is embedded in a history of Michigan’s political culture, which is characterized by moralistic and individualistic strands often in conflict with one another.

The research hypothesis was that administrative virtue in legislative leadership is best described in terms of utilitarian ethics, the ability to control and manage factionalism in the interest of incremental change. The rival hypothesis was that …

The Nixon Doctrine: Its Application In The Arabian Gulf, Abdulwahed Al-Mawlawi

Masters Theses

Western Europe and Japan have been heavily dependent on Arabian Gulf oil; the United States' dependency is growing. Hence, the "security" of this region and consequently the securing of the oil flow has become a major strategic issue to the Western and particularly the U. s. policy makers. To the U. s., the British "withdrawal" from the Gulf in 1971 created a strategic "vacuum". Aggressive arms sales to the region and the "policeman" role of the Shah of Iran in the Gulf served as the main U.S. instruments of filling this vacuum. This was a direct application of the "Nixon …

The Congressional Phase Of The Military Budget, 1961: A Study In Civil Military Relations, Leland E. Hall

Masters Theses

Introduction

Civilian control of the military in the United States is widely conceived to be Congressional control. The ultimate goal of Congressional procedures is believed to be the "effective Congressional--and civilian--control of the military establishment."¹ It is questionable, however, if the United States Constitution intends Congress to be the instrument that exercises civilian control of the military.