Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Winning Public Hearts And Minds: Security And Development Aid In The 21st Century, Mohammad Ashraf

Dissertations

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, foreign aid has focused on winning public hearts and minds in the aid recipient states as a hedge against insecurity and means to achieve progress in the “war on terror.” Western donors, especially the United States, argue foreign aid is an effective tool to expand government capacity and control over territory, win public hearts and minds, and ultimately mitigate the need and significant military costs of deployment to counter insecurity, extremism, and terrorism in weak, fragile and failing states.

This dissertation uses case studies to explore the …

Party Blight In Rural Missouri: Causes And Consequences Of Local Organizational Decline, Joseph Anthony

Dissertations

Political parties are fundamental institutions to representative democracies, and they have been an integral part of the American political fabric since the early 1800s. Changes in the political landscape have pressed social scientists to engage in a now long-running academic debate as to whether political parties are in a state of reform and adaptation in the modern campaign environment, or if they are in an overall state of decline. While there has been considerable attention given to national and state party organizations, very little is known about how local party organizations are faring in the modern campaign environment. This dissertation …

The Influence Of Media Consumption On Trust, Political Efficacy And Social Media Activism Among Young Adults, Kerra Mccorkle- Akanbi

Dissertations

For many years, trust in government and political efficacy has increasingly been an area of interest for political scientist. Recently, social media activism has become just as intriguing. With social media playing such a dominant role in society, individuals are consuming news through their social media timelines, without having to seek it out themselves. This is especially true for young adults. Through the advancement of non-traditional media outlets, this generation is submerged in endless Facebook statuses, tweets, and television coverage of civil unrest and political polarization that has certainly had both social and political implications. While past studies conducted by …