Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Demographics Impact On Feelings Towards The Democratic And Republican Parties, Quinn Layden

Honors Projects

The purpose of this paper is to determine how the demographics of gender, race, religion, age, income, education, and political party affect feelings toward the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States. The American National Elections Study (ANES) data was used to create a multivariate linear regression for each of the Democratic and Republican parties that modeled how the demographics felt towards the parties. The ANES feeling thermometer was used to represent the group’s feelings towards each party. The model showed that there was a slightly strong correlation between demographics and feelings towards the Democratic and Republican parties. With …

Modeling The Development & Expression Of Political Opinion: A Zallerian Approach, Avery C. Ellis

Honors Projects

Research focused on John Zaller's famous RAS model of political opinion formation and change from "The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion" (1992). Analyzed the mathematical and psychological underpinnings of the model, the first paper to do so in over fifteen years and the first to do so through an analysis of motivated reasoning and Bayesian reasoning. Synthesized existing critiques of Zaller's model and other literature to suggest ways to build on Zaller, utilizing fundamental reunderstandings of opinions and messages from political and mathematical perspectives. Found verification for Zaller's model, confirming its value, but also found support for the proposed …

Learning The Legislative Process With A Board Game, Michael Posadny

Honors Projects

Standard methods of teaching classroom material can generally work effectively for educating the majority of a class’s students, but some students may still struggle to find the information to be comprehensive, enjoyable to learn, or even necessary. Alternative methods of instruction can be used to educate students in different ways, and this study looks into the educational merit that a board game can provide to learning new material. Previous research has shown the effectiveness of board games on various elements of education, and this project addresses the findings of previous works to predict the effects that a game will have …

The Independent State Legislature Theory And Partisan Gerrymandering: How Moore V. Harper May Reshape Congressional Elections, Luke Porter

Honors Projects

In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Rucho v. Common Cause that partisan gerrymandering is not a justiciable question for federal courts. Four years later, the Court is reviewing a new case, Moore v. Harper. In Moore, the question presented is whether state courts can review partisan gerrymandering.

The central question in Moore is the validity of the Independent State Legislature Theory. Proponents of the ISLT believe that state legislatures derive their authority to draw Congressional districts from the Federal Constitution and are therefore not subject to state-level checks and balances such as gubernatorial vetoes and state courts …

Growing Pains: Toward A Coalition-Based Theory Of State Land Use Policy, Patrick Rochford

Honors Projects

In the decades following World War II, mass suburbanization remade the American landscape. While suburbs accounted for 83% of the nation’s growth between 1950 and 1970, cities bled their populations and natural resources dwindled. Treating the postwar era as a critical juncture, this thesis examines the political history of twentieth-century state land use policy to illuminate how competing interests have shaped policy outcomes across the United States. Specifically, the paper seeks to explain the passage of statewide growth management and smart growth programs. After providing a history of American suburbanization, the paper considers an emergent challenge to the postwar growth …

Is Faith The Ultimate Divider?: The Intersections Between Religion And Political Behavior In The United States, Ryan Supple

Honors Projects

This thesis examines the complex relationship between religiosity and voting behavior in the United States. In a country where religion has diminished in importance over time, it seems rather fascinating that it still plays such a large role in the inner-workings of American politics. Chapter One analyzes the varying ways in which scholars have approached emergent political trends between religious groups, particularly with regards to political parties, voting behavior, and government representation. Chapter Two extends this analysis to the American National Election Studies (ANES), a national survey distributed to random samples of Americans during election seasons. The information from the …

Liberty And Its Legacy An Analysis Of Freedom And Liberty In American Political Rhetoric, Ryan S. Kovarovics

Honors Projects

The concept of freedom has always been central to the American identity, but its meaning has never been agreed on by all and has long been the subject of debate. An abridged explanation of the evolution of liberty’s meaning in political thought and American history is presented in the first chapter of this project. It demonstrates the long-standing importance of individual freedom in America and highlights some historical moments when liberty has come into conflict with other societal values. When used in American political rhetoric today, “freedom” and “liberty” typically take on a “negative” meaning that is focused mostly on …

The Symbolic Politics Of Same-Sex Marriage Legalization, Kaden Sinning

Honors Projects

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, many commentators highlighted increasing resistance to the ruling. Some observed typical public backlash, but others noted targeted LGBTQ rights bills from state legislators. While much of the scholarly literature suggests that public backlash is short-lived and tends to resolve toward Supreme Court doctrine, less clear is the impact of state legislative efforts following judicial decisions. To help clarify this discrepancy, this research examines the effect of Obergefell on state bill proposals. I argue that Obergefell acts as a trigger for state legislators to …

Interns And Institutions: Interactions Between Unpaid Interns And Public Policy, Hannah G. Waterman

Honors Projects

Political, and especially Congressional, internships are all but mandatory to launch a career in politics. This text examines the demographics of how these internships are dispersed, how they are paid, who is paid, and how this manifests in full-time Congressional staff demographics. Data shows that both paid and unpaid Congressional internships belong disproportionately to white students. Top staff in the House of Representatives is similarly disproportionately white. The text also examines the inherent danger of working in Congress and the broader case for paid internships.

Inspiring Active Citizenship In The Community From Within The Classroom, Nathan A. Halm

Honors Projects

This project presents an alternative to contemporary civic education courses and methods in an attempt to inspire students to become Active Citizens. Fighting against common sentiments surrounding contemporary politics such as divisiveness, polarization, apathy, and disenfranchisement, this project provides a framework for students to engage at the local level in an effective and genuine way.

Securing The Future Of Democracy Through The Continued Education Of "Divisive" Concepts, Rachel Larsen

Honors Projects

Research shows that social studies education should be about more than just teaching standards to a test. The curriculum should be integrated with student life, to prepare them for a future of participating in our democracy. House Bills 322 and 327 would directly prevent these efforts and further alienate students of color and LGBTQ+ students. Students should be included and feel welcome in the school building, considering they will spend the majority of their childhood learning there. A preferred policy alternative to the two House Bills would be to draft legislation that protects divisive concepts, provides training for teachers and …

For Our Future: Why Suffrage Must Be Extended To Disenfranchised Youth, Nolan Mchugh

Honors Projects

Is our democracy truly representative if large portions of our population consistently fail to make their voices heard at the polls? 18-24 year olds consistently turn out to vote at the lowest levels of any age group, and yet these are the voters who will live the longest with the policy decisions being made today: how can we improve voter turnout and civic engagement in the next generation to ensure our democracy is truly "by the people and for the people?" To answer this question, we must turn to another group whose voices are not heard at the ballot box, …

Why The Philanthropic Donations Of Wealthy Individuals Are Not As Great As We May Think, Alyissa Horn

Honors Projects

Largely overlooked when it comes to nonprofit organizations and their influence in society are the practices and influences of wealthy donors. Throughout history, wealthy individuals have been able to find immense amounts of influence through the donation of their wealth to the nonprofit sector. As individuals, we struggle to be critical of a sector that creates such an immense amount of good. However, this article pushes readers to ask: “What are the true motivations of wealthy donors?” Through a critical analysis of the philanthropic practices of Andrew Carnegie, who is often credited with the start of modern-day big philanthropic giving, …

Best Practices For Voter Engagement Within Higher Education, Alyssa Tomins

Honors Projects

It is imperative that higher education institutions learn more about how to recruit members of younger generations to participate in future elections. Young people have historically voted at low rates, but that trend has started to change in recent years as more resources are being devoted to voter engagement among young people. This leads to the interest of understanding what best practices and strategies have academic institutions utilized to advance voter engagement on their campuses. This qualitative study analyzes these best practices and strategies at 84 colleges and universities, all of whom are members of The Andrew Goodman Foundation Vote …

It’S #Prisonabolition Until The Bad Guys Show Up: Conflicting Discourses On Twitter About Carceral Networks In 2020, Tam Phan

Honors Projects

“Twitter Revolutions” in Iran, Tunisia, Egypt, and Moldova illustrate social media’s capacity to mobilize citizens in uprooting systems of injustice. As non-democratic regimes, these “Twitter Revolutions” offer insight into how Twitter’s microblogging, hashtags, and global user connections help broker relations between activists hoping to challenge the government. However, this thesis focuses on the democratic regime of the US and how Twitter plays a role in aiding the prison abolition movement in their effort to dismantle carceral networks that inflict racial and political violence on Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color. The thesis outlines how, under the US’ classification as …

The United States’ And United Kingdom’S Responses To 2016 Russian Election Interference: Through The Lens Of Bureaucratic Politics, Katherine Davidson

Honors Projects

Russia’s 2016 disinformation campaign during the U.S. elections represented the first large-scale campaign against the United States and was intended to cause American citizens to question the fundamental security and resilience of U.S. democracy. A similar campaign during the 2016 U.K. Brexit referendum supported the campaign to leave the European Union. This paper assesses the policy formation process in the United States and United Kingdom in response to 2016 Russian disinformation using a bureaucratic politics framework. Focusing on the role of sub-state organizations in policy formation, the paper identifies challenges to establishing an effective policy response to foreign disinformation, particularly …

Can Small Donations Have Big Consequences? Candidate Ideology, Small Donations, And Election Results In The 2016 And 2018 Congressional Cycles, Michael Borecki

Honors Projects

Small donors have provided an increased share of total campaign contributions in the 2016, 2018, and 2020 U.S. federal election cycles, including about $3 billion of the $14.4 billion raised in 2020. Campaign funding is still dominated by an influential set of large donors, but small donations may be the basis for an effective response to the disproportionate amount of “big money” in politics. This study investigates whether candidates who are more extreme perform better with small donors, and then examines the impact of small donations and overall funding on election results. These analyses were performed using linear sum-of-squares regression …

The Association Between Family Income And Adults’ Attitudes On Whether The Government Should Help The Poor, Emily Malloy

Honors Projects

This research examines whether people in different social classes have varying views on whether the government should help the poor and whether that depends on political affiliation. Income inequality has become a greater problem in the U.S. in recent decades. This means that the poor could require more assistance and it is important to know if the public thinks the government should help the poor. Knowing what influences public opinion on this issue could help policy makers make informed decisions about whether the government should help the poor. Data from the 2008 (N=2,023) and 2018 (N=2,348) General Social Survey (GSS) …

Trust, Political Participation, And Poverty: The Effects Of Poverty On Political Behavior, Melanie Cain

Honors Projects

With the upcoming 2020 election, the right to vote and otherwise participate in politics is as important as ever. In this research, I have examine the relationship between trust in government, political efficacy, participation in politics, and poverty to study why those in low-income households have lower rates of political participation and offer solutions to raise the rate of participation.

Enemy Combatants And Unitary Executives: Presidential Power In Theory And Practice During The War On Terror, Rohini Kurup

Honors Projects

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the Bush administration decided that suspected terrorists and those determined to have aided terrorists would be detained and classified as “enemy combatants.” This was a largely new category of prisoners who were neither prisoners of war protected under international law nor civilians. They included noncitizens and citizens—those captured on foreign battlefields and on American soil. They would be detained by the United States, held indefinitely without charge or access to a lawyer, and subject to trial by military commission. The administration’s enemy combatant policies were based on a theory of inherent executive …

The Soviet And American Wars In Afghanistan: Applying Clausewitzian Concepts To Modern Military Failure, Artur Kalandarov

Honors Projects

This paper evaluates the validity of three concepts from Carl von Clausewitz’s On War as they relate to contemporary military conflict. Utilizing the Soviet and American Wars in Afghanistan as case studies, the paper also offers a model for comparative conflict analysis by expanding upon Clausewitz’s culminating point concept. It argues that – despite limitations to Clausewitz’s theory of war – his concepts of culminating points in military operations, mass and concentration, and changing war aims provide useful insights into counterinsurgency military failures. Chapter One identifies the Soviet and American culminating points. Concluding that the concept of a culminating point …

The Annexation Of Hawai'i: A Violation Of Foreign Sovereignty By The United States Of America, Larissa R. Schuermyer

Honors Projects

The Kingdom of Hawai’i was annexed by the United States of America in 1898 and was given statehood in 1959. Prior to its annexation, the Kingdom of Hawai’i had a legitimate functioning government with sovereign recognition from many in the international arena, including the United States, as early as 1840. This article analyzes current and past definitions of the state and sovereignty, as well as precedence from international law, to determine if the United States violated the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawai’i before and during the annexation process. A preponderance of evidence, including explanations of the preexisting Hawaiian political …

Midterm Decline In Comparative Perspective, Duncan Gans

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Presidential Selection: A Difference In Opinion, Jj Aylyng

Honors Projects

This examination contrasts the views of the Founding Fathers and Woodrow Wilson on the matter of how the President of the United States of America ought to be selected. While Wilson is commendable for his vision of empowering the rank-and-file to select their president through direct national primaries, his views directly conflict with those of the Founders. This purpose of this essay is to spark an interest in the political thought of United States presidential selection and in political theory in general. This analysis acknowledges the fact that the Founders were deceased long before Wilson wrote on this topic. For …

The American Political Mindset: The Relationship Of Exceptionalism And Cynicism In Public Opinion, Anya Kaiser 3068310

Honors Projects

This research investigates the pervasiveness of both political cynicism and American exceptionalism within American society. Throughout history, there has been an interaction between the public's feelings of American exceptionalism and cynicism in the United States, starting at the nation’s founding and continuing into recent times (Chaloupka, 1999). As an inter-disciplinary and mixed-methods study, this research utilizes both a nationally representative quantitative data-set and a qualitative analysis of Allen Ginsberg’s (1959) poem “America,” a cultural representation of the relationship between American exceptionalism and cynicism. Using the American National Election Studies’ 2012 survey on trust in government (N = 5,914), I examine …

Politics, Technology, And Libertarianism, Thomas J. Perry

Honors Projects

In recent years, technology has started to play a major role in the U.S. political climate. Specifically, it has created a platform for outside groups, such as libertarians, to have their voices heard. This brought forward an important research question: How has technology helped or hindered the ability of individually focused libertarians to organize for collective action? Through the exploration of previous research, two major findings are discovered: 1) technology and the growth of individualism in politics are intertwined and 2) technology and individualism both have ties to libertarianism. The implications of libertarianism are analyzed further through the study of …

The Message, Medium And Messenger: A Study Of Political Persuasion Through A Case Study Of Planned Parenthood, Jodi Leah Kraushar

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Fact Vs. Faction: Polarization In The Information Age, Noah Finberg

Honors Projects

How can individuals in the contemporary media and political environment form better political beliefs? In chapter one, this thesis considers what it means to say American politics is polarized. It evaluates the extent of polarization in American politics. And it presents original evidence that suggests that just as the public and members of Congress have polarized, so too has American political discourse. Through the lens of political psychology, chapter two investigates how America’s polarized politics has influenced the quality of individuals’ beliefs. Chapter three explores the role that the media plays in encouraging or minimizing the biased information processing practices …

We The People: A Simulation For Young Voters, Jessee Hankins

Honors Projects

This project discusses the evolution of my project from its inception through its completion. As a pre-service teacher in student teaching, my experiences directly influenced the development of this project. The project is one that discusses the use of simulations in a social studies classroom, and includes a lesson plan of the lesson that I used within my student teaching experience. The lesson plan also comes with materials that teachers may take advantage of the lesson plan, using it in their classroom to teach their students about the compromises that were created at the Constitutional Convention.

Linking Language To Latino Turnout, Alexander C. Ervin

Honors Projects

After Latino-Americans demonstrated their power in the 2012 presidential election, securing increased minority support at the polls has become a primary goal for both major U.S. political parties. A reliable bloc of Latino voters on one’s side could mean more wins, yet Latinos have a low voter turnout rate. This paper explores how to increase Latino turnout and argues that the use of the Spanish language in electoral advertising will have a positive effect and actually raise the rate of Latino participation. By comparing statewide Latino turnout data during both the 2002 midterm elections and the 2008 presidential election, I …