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Articles 1 - 27 of 27
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
American Political Polarization, Kristin Leonard
American Political Polarization, Kristin Leonard
Honors Theses
The United States has become politically polarized. Our political ideas have moved away from the political center and trend towards ends. Our high levels of party loyalty have opened the doors for extreme polarization. The push for party differentiation has seen the political elite widen the gap between their party ideas. The polarization of the elite has moved the parties and their voters further from the center. Television news promotes our political issues as partisan problems that villainize the other party. This leads viewers to push for further extreme ideas and to move away from the other side. The two-party …
Man In The Arena: The Evolution Of The Executive Office, Jack Sandone
Man In The Arena: The Evolution Of The Executive Office, Jack Sandone
Honors Theses
Through an historical case study, this paper will answer the question: just how powerful has the presidency become? Has it really, through various tangible tools and the evolution of institutions, become a king-like figure, rising above the vaunted Legislative and Judicial Branches? The conclusion is this: based on the precedent of “prerogative,” a term to be explained and analyzed, presidents have been granted access to extraconstitutional actions that were not outside of the purview of the founding fathers. The usage of unilateral legislation, like the executive order, creates a surgeon’s knife of a political tool, allowing presidents to force legislation …
Ideological Extremism, Conspiratorial Thought, And Support For Authoritarianism In The United States, Sophie N. Martino
Ideological Extremism, Conspiratorial Thought, And Support For Authoritarianism In The United States, Sophie N. Martino
Honors Theses
Since the nation’s founding, Americans have tended to take democracy for granted. People see democracy as a given, believing that adherence to democratic values will persist. However, in the past few election cycles, there has been a trend in support for authoritarianism in the United States – not just with political leaders and figures, but also with individuals susceptible to authoritarian values and signals. This thesis seeks to address this apparent threat of authoritarianism in the United States, delving into possible factors that play a role in the growing support for authoritarian attitudes among Americans. I believe that two phenomena …
Overlooked Diplomacy: A Look Into Missed Diplomatic Efforts In The Pacific Theater Of World War Ii, Maxwell Melanson
Overlooked Diplomacy: A Look Into Missed Diplomatic Efforts In The Pacific Theater Of World War Ii, Maxwell Melanson
Honors Theses
This thesis examines possible diplomatic solutions that may have ceased United States-Japanese conflict throughout the late 1930s and 40s. The first chapter analyzes the declaration of the policy of unconditional surrender, and what this policy entailed. Despite Roosevelt claiming that the idea just came to him, it was a carefully developed policy, and was chosen to be enacted for a multitude of reasons. After the Casablanca conference in January 1943, unconditional surrender became a unifying policy and a politically smart policy in Roosevelt's favor. The second chapter then analyzes the tensions rising between Japan and the United States through the …
Revisiting Realignment Theory: Transformation In Suburban And Rural America From 2008 To 2020, Nathaniel Hutton
Revisiting Realignment Theory: Transformation In Suburban And Rural America From 2008 To 2020, Nathaniel Hutton
Honors Theses
My thesis topic evaluates Democratic and Republican electoral performance in suburban and rural areas through the lens of realignment theory. Aided by GIS maps, my analysis utilizes election data from the 2008 and 2020 presidential elections. I went about this by first reviewing relevant literature on realignment theory, beginning with its genesis in by V.O. Key in 1955. I then began reviewing literature on rural and suburban voting patterns, as well as research on geographic influences on electoral coalitions. My original research is thus aimed at bridging the gap between three distinct fields of political science literature: geographic sorting/polarization and …
The Effects Of “No Pro Homo” Policies On Lgbtq+ Perceptions In The American South, Isabella L. Brocato
The Effects Of “No Pro Homo” Policies On Lgbtq+ Perceptions In The American South, Isabella L. Brocato
Honors Theses
Five states in the American South currently have “no pro homo” policies in place, while an increasing number of bills targeting discussions about sexuality and gender identity in public schools are being introduced to House floors around the country. Although there is extensive research on the ways in which these policies put the physical and mental well-being of LGBTQ+ students at risk, there is little to no research about how they shape public perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community collectively. With inspiration from Kenneth and Mamie Clark’s social science study cited in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), this study works …
Media Framing And Respectability Narratives In #Blacklivesmatter: A Twitter Analysis, Sherrice Wright
Media Framing And Respectability Narratives In #Blacklivesmatter: A Twitter Analysis, Sherrice Wright
Honors Theses
The purpose of this study is to examine community dialogues on the social media platform, Twitter, in order to better understand how conventional media framing influences conversations on social media. The Black Lives Matter movement, one of the most prominent, current social justice movements, was founded on Twitter. Since then this platform has played a pivotal role in gaining awareness for issues of marginalized citizens. While Black Lives Matter has had a key role in the development of public perception, so has the traditional media. Through the use of media framing, the dominant class has the ability to reinforce or …
Voting Behavior And Motivations Across Generations: Evidence From A Nationally Representative U.S. Survey, Angela Alexander
Voting Behavior And Motivations Across Generations: Evidence From A Nationally Representative U.S. Survey, Angela Alexander
Honors Theses
The four generations of Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z are all distinct in nature as it relates to their characteristics, which are shaped by the American culture in which they were born. These generations as a whole also have different levels of political participation and political ideals. The purpose of this study is to examine how these differences correlate to voting behavior. The goal is to draw conclusions about the differences between voting behavior across generational lines, discovering patterns especially as it relates to motivations for voting. Through the use of a nationally representative survey, I was …
Education, Media Coverage, And Ballot Roll-Off: Evidence From Three Ballot Measures In Mississippi, Morgan Atkins
Education, Media Coverage, And Ballot Roll-Off: Evidence From Three Ballot Measures In Mississippi, Morgan Atkins
Honors Theses
Ballot roll-off is an issue that continues to plague American society, leaving thousands of ballots incomplete every election cycle. In my research, I investigate what influences the likelihood of voters rolling off on three ballot measures in the 2020 Mississippi elections. I hypothesize that educational attainment and newspaper coverage in voters’ counties will have an impact on ballot roll-off. I observe previous research on the influences of ballot roll-off, and I combine the data I collected for voter turnout in Mississippi in 2020 and newspaper coverage of ballot measures from six sources to evaluate the influence of each of these …
How Religion And Age Are Correlated With Partisan Geographical Sorting In The United States, Claire Monsour
How Religion And Age Are Correlated With Partisan Geographical Sorting In The United States, Claire Monsour
Honors Theses
This study explores the intersection of two main demographic variables, religion and age, and the ongoing phenomenon of partisan geographical sorting in the United States. Americans have been migrating to areas composed of politically like-minded individuals for the past few decades, resulting in the existence of Republican and Democratic clusters throughout the country. Republicans are sorting into rural areas, while Democrats are sorting into urban areas. Republicans and rural residents as a whole are more religious than are Democrats and urban residents. In addition, on average, Republicans and rural residents are older than Democrats and urban residents. Moreover, religion and …
Delineating The Source And Implications Of Social Polarization, Logan Kohan
Delineating The Source And Implications Of Social Polarization, Logan Kohan
Honors Theses
The purpose of this research was to examine the causes and consequences that meta-perceptions of polarization in the United States entails. The survey used in this study assessed respondents demographic and political information prior to questions regarding polarization. This study found that the polarization in the United States results from a multitude of variables, including: the intrusion of partisan cues into everyday life, social sorting, polarization’s implicit effect, and differences in moral concern. Moreover, polarization encompasses and variety of ramifications that include disease, amplified interparty animosity, biased policy evaluation, reduced governmental efficiency, intraparty polarization, tribalism, and the quest to achieve …
Employing A Public Policy Evaluative Framework: An Analysis Of Domestic Theme Park Development, Anthony Gray Houser
Employing A Public Policy Evaluative Framework: An Analysis Of Domestic Theme Park Development, Anthony Gray Houser
Honors Theses
The intention of the thesis is to examine the relationship between the development of the Walt Disney Company’s theme parks and public policy. Using the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California and the Walt Disney World Resort outside of Orlando, Florida as case studies, this thesis will execute a comparative analysis to better understand the relationship between the Walt Disney Company’s theme parks and public policy. Using an evaluative framework, this thesis will provide a deeper understanding of how public policy affected the development and the current operations of these theme parks. The driving research question in this thesis is, ‘what …
#Blacklivesmatter: Critical Political Implications Of Twitter Discourse In The Wake Of George Floyd, Jillian C. Waterhouse
#Blacklivesmatter: Critical Political Implications Of Twitter Discourse In The Wake Of George Floyd, Jillian C. Waterhouse
Honors Theses
As we move forward into a digitalized age of communication, social media becomes increasingly powerful with each passing day. Digital forms of interaction foster an active political discourse and influence the behavior of both the public and government officials. The freedom to deliver public statements at will has been effectively utilized by individuals, local activists, and representatives of the legislative branch to interact in discourse concerning current events, therefore furthering the mobilization of social media to shape the American public policy stage as a whole. As a result of the accessibility of the internet, social media has become the most …
“Effective Immediately”: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Reaction Of Mississippi Newspapers To 1969’S Alexander V. Holmes County Board Of Education Decision, Phoebe Waters
Honors Theses
This qualitative study analyzed articles from Mississippi newspapers in three regions. In North Mississippi, Greenville and Tupelo were surveyed. In Central Mississippi, Jackson, Meridian, and Natchez were surveyed. In South Mississippi, Hattiesburg, McComb, and Biloxi were surveyed. These newspapers were chosen as they were among the biggest in the state and reported either daily or weekly and would be able to provide a wide range of opinions. These newspapers were surveyed from October 30, 1969, through November 14, 1969, and headlines, editorials, and other opinion pieces were analyzed. This study analyzed articles in order to investigate what the media response, …
Campaigning In The Digital Age: How Social Media Changed The Framework Of Elections, Faith Hamelin
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 …
Designing Democracy: A Normative And Empirical Analysis Of Redistricting Reform, Morgan Deckert
Designing Democracy: A Normative And Empirical Analysis Of Redistricting Reform, Morgan Deckert
Honors Theses
A democracy is more than just an empirically observable mode of governance; it is an actively adopted ideal, an inherently value-laden concept that affects and permeates throughout all dimensions of society. It encompasses corresponding rights held by all democratic citizens, and various state obligations that arise directly from this unique status. As political institutions and practices are given tangible form in a democracy, these moral principles provide both a mandatory set of requirements and an ideal to be oriented towards in their construction. In majoritarian systems with single-member districts, the establishment of electoral boundaries through redistricting is one such process. …
Court Legitimacy & The Shadow Docket, Colton Tilley
Court Legitimacy & The Shadow Docket, Colton Tilley
Honors Theses
No abstract provided.
Litigating Reproductive Rights: The Evolving Support Structure In The United States, Allison Anker
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 …
Examining The Impact Of Political Identification And Morality On Compliance With Covid-19 Public Health Measures, Jessica Stump
Examining The Impact Of Political Identification And Morality On Compliance With Covid-19 Public Health Measures, Jessica Stump
Honors Theses
COVID-19 provides a unique opportunity to study the influence of individual and group differences on beliefs and behavior. In the present work, we examine COVID beliefs and behavior as a function of morality, ideology, and emotion. Data were collected in the spring of 2021 and the fall of 2021, allowing for distinct snapshots of an undergraduate sample at two periods of the pandemic. Of primary interest was the relationship between political ideology, moral foundation endorsement, and COVID-19 behaviors and beliefs. The results reveal that ideology drives COVID-19-related beliefs and behaviors. The results from Study 2 suggest that political liberals were …
The Public’S Preferences In Supreme Court Rationale, William Svob
The Public’S Preferences In Supreme Court Rationale, William Svob
Honors Theses
Public approval of the Supreme Court has been decreasing in recent years. Given the literature’s consensus that Supreme Court rulings coincide with popular opinion more often than not, the decrease in popularity cannot be explained away by assuming the justices have made a series of widely despised rulings. This raises questions about what exactly the public wants the Supreme Court to do. There is an abundance of research covering the many factors that influence a justice to rule in a particular manner, but there is little written about what the average American believes should influence the Court. This study is …
Legislative Bill 519: Creating And Lobbying For Original Legislation, Brooklyn Terrill
Legislative Bill 519: Creating And Lobbying For Original Legislation, Brooklyn Terrill
Honors Theses
This project reflects the process of writing and attempting to pass state legislation, Legislative Bill 519, as a college student. LB 519 is an immunity policy for certain drug and alcohol charges that would be potentially prohibitive to a survivor or witness of sexual assault reporting the crime. The first several sections cover the process of developing and introducing legislation. These sections cover the process of developing the idea for LB 519 and the thought process behind the language and structure of the bill. It then covers the advocacy portion of passing a bill which includes testifying and lobbying for …
Turning Back Time: Implications Of Originalist Legal Theory For Women's Rights, Emma Mays
Turning Back Time: Implications Of Originalist Legal Theory For Women's Rights, Emma Mays
Honors Theses
Since America’s foundation, women’s rights have expanded to lengths that would have been unimaginable to the Founding Fathers including the right to vote, the ability to work outside the home, and some aspects of bodily autonomy. These legal adaptations, along with a larger cultural shift towards liberation, have left many modern-day women with a false sense of security in the face of growing judicial sentiments that threaten the rights of women. The legal theory of originalism that has been growing in force significantly since the 1980s argues that in interpreting constitutional matters, judges should uncover and promote the meaning of …
The Power Of One: Majority Leadership Power In The United States Senate, Andrew Taylor Ordentlich
The Power Of One: Majority Leadership Power In The United States Senate, Andrew Taylor Ordentlich
Honors Theses
The United States Senate has long been heralded as an institution known for its strong reliance upon procedural rules and the leadership that is able to use those rules to their advantage. Recent leaders including Senators Reid, McConnell, and Schumer have attempted to reform the rules of the Senate to its advantage. But why are we seeing this influx in reform now? This thesis utilizes the theory of Conditional Party Government (CPG) to explain the prevalence and lack of reform between 1900 and today. Using roll-call vote data and primary sources such as historical newspapers and the Congressional Record, this …
The Importance Of Cultural Knowledge In Counterinsurgency, Allee Norvell
The Importance Of Cultural Knowledge In Counterinsurgency, Allee Norvell
Honors Theses
This thesis discusses the importance and usefulness of cultural knowledge in counterinsurgency. When combatting insurgent groups, it can be difficult to identify insurgents and utilize conventional warfare. Insurgents use various tactics and strategies to promote their goals while living among the local population. These aspects require intervening countries and counterinsurgency to take the varying strategies into consideration when making their military decisions. The most important aspect needed for these counterinsurgency operations is cultural knowledge. Having an understanding of the intervening population and its dynamics with the insurgent group can be proven to be very beneficial. Specifically, in the cases of …
From The End Of Politics To Legitimate Opposition: Political Perceptions Of The 37th Congress Of The United States In The North 1860-1862, Lauren Dubas
Honors Theses
This paper intends to explore the political landscape of the Union during the first two years of the Civil War, specifically how the people in the North perceived what remained of the Congress from 1860-1862. I will be using a combination of primary and secondary sources to cover the 37th Congress of the United States, whose members were elected in 1860 and legislated until the next Congressional election in 1862. My research shows several significant stages in the political landscape during this period and uses these stages of partisan politics as the foundation for understanding how the federal government, …
The Legislative Branch Revolves Around The White House: A Copernican Understanding Of The Evolving Relationship Between The President And Congress, Lukas K. Alexander
The Legislative Branch Revolves Around The White House: A Copernican Understanding Of The Evolving Relationship Between The President And Congress, Lukas K. Alexander
Honors Theses
Executive-centered partisanship is a new scholarly idea that focuses on the growing centrality of the president in party and governmental affairs. Scholars have looked at the president’s growing electoral, administrative, and organizational responsibilities to support the theory. While the evidence is compelling, there is a key aspect of our Federal government that is omitted in their theory - the president’s role in Congress. In this thesis, I look at the effect that the president has on legislative voting behavior between the 107th and 116th Congresses. To analyze the data, I examine the effect of the president on Senator voting behavior …
“…To Represent The Needs Of The Residents—Not The Needs Of The Outsiders” California’S Housing Crisis And The Dilemma Of Local Control, Ravi S. Joshi-Wander
“…To Represent The Needs Of The Residents—Not The Needs Of The Outsiders” California’S Housing Crisis And The Dilemma Of Local Control, Ravi S. Joshi-Wander
Honors Theses
This thesis examines the role played by city-level governments in determining the availability of housing within their locale. I propose an overarching hypothesis that features of government which provide greater opportunity for the public to influence their local governments will lead to a decreased availability of housing. This hypothesis is tested over the course of two chapters. First, through an analysis of cities throughout California, the effect of different structural features of government are tested against several dependent variables which measure housing availability in a series of linear regressions. A statistically significant positive correlation is found between the presence of …