Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Political Rhetoric And Latino Public Opinion: A Study Of Abortion In The U.S., Fernanda Valdez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studies political rhetoric and Latino public opinion on abortion in the United States. Mainly, this thesis asks: Is political rhetoric on abortion shaping the Latino vote? This thesis conducted a content analysis of political rhetoric through speeches, interviews, debates, political advertisements, and social media accounts from Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidates. The gubernatorial races studied in this thesis are those from California and Texas from 2010 to 2022. In the content analysis, this research accounted for words and phrases that referenced abortion and the type of arguments (reproductive rights-based and moral-based arguments) made in those references. Then, this …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Eagle Eye Vs. Gear Jammer, Jessica Danielle Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

Where similarities in class struggle have historically operated as a unifying force globally, the American crafted mythos isolates the individual and dehumanizes those that do not fall within the parameters of the cowboy archetype. The national protagonist is turned into a class traitor and an extension of government power.

Environmental Governance For Whom? Examining The Political, Institutional, Fiscal, And Legal Determinants Of State Environmental Agency Budget Policy In The Us, Andrew R. Duggan

Theses and Dissertations

Budgets are a prospective tool of governance, and appropriations are a planning vehicle reflecting: bureaucracies’ values, complex interactions, collective preferences, political influences, and available resources. Research spanning 30 years finds that environmental pollution is a key determinant of environmental budgets in the US, though myriad factors, actors, and subsystems are important to consider. Due to federalism and devolution of responsibilities and authorities, environmental governance falls largely to the states. While the dynamics that shape state environmental budget policy have received scholarly interest, theoretically-driven examinations of environmental appropriations remain limited within the public budgeting and environmental policy literature.

Using panel data …

Constraint And Control, Patricia Ayres

Theses and Dissertations

I have long considered themes of the body. Drawing on my knowledge as a fashion designer, I bring materials and hardware from the fashion industry into my artwork transforming and rendering them non-functional. My sculptures relate to stories of isolation, separation, and confinement. The following pages will analyze how the United States penal system controls, constrains and restricts the body through physical and psychological wounds. Furthermore, they will examine how the Catholic Church controls people’s minds and behavior through a ritualistic belief system.

Proposition 47 And Crime: A Difference In Differences Analysis Of Incarceration Rates And Crime Using Border Counties, Brian J. Fischer

Theses and Dissertations

California passed Proposition 47 by vote and changed the way the state punishes drug and theft. I find an increase in crime using a difference in differences model by computing the change in thefts with the change in inmates. This effect sides with anecdotal claims and disagrees with empirical studies.

A Study Of Collaboration Between The Defense Logistics Agency And The U.S. Agency For International Development In The Conduct Of Humanitarian Operations, Jessica M. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Many organizations are finding it advantageous and often necessary to form collaborative alliances with strategic partners in order to solve collective problems and jointly work towards mutually desirable ends. This research examines a single case study of inter-agency coordination between the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and their involvement in humanitarian relief efforts. Pursuit of advancement through two collaboration models provided the framework of the research and contributed to the analysis of data. Resulting outcomes offer incentives for both organizations to develop stronger social networks assisting in a deeper understanding of the others …

In Media Res, Christopher Andrew Sisk

Theses and Dissertations

We are inundated by a constant feed of media that responds and adapts in real time to the impulses of our psyches and the dimensions of our devices. Beneath the surface, this stream of information is directed by hidden, automated controls and steered by political agendas. The transmission of information has evolved into a spiral of entropy, and the boundaries between author, content, platform, and receiver have blurred. This reductive space of responsive media is a catalyst for immense political and cultural change, causing us to question our notions of authority, truth, and reality.

The Tea Party Versus Planning: A Study Of Tea Party Activism And Its Impact On Local Government Planning, Spencer A. Norman

Theses and Dissertations

The Tea Party movement’s effect on local and regional planning in Virginia has received little study. This work identifies how conservative political activism has impacted planning in the Commonwealth and how planners have responded. The study relies on a qualitative approach involving 22 semi-structured interviews with activists, planners, and citizens, as well as textual analyses of planning documents, local and regional news reports, and Tea Party social media. The resultant findings show that Tea Party activism is rooted in deep seated ideals about private property rights and individualism. It also reveals that planning processes that increased the amount of public …

Seeing The Sausage Made: How Compromise Works In Large Groups And Representative Bodies, James E. Crawford Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Inspired by the lack of Congressional compromise during the 2013 federal shutdown, I explore how compromise works in large groups and representative bodies. An on-line survey, personal interviews, and a discourse analysis of the Congressional Record yield a diverse collection of data, including personal and public stories of compromise. I examine the stories and other data through an eclectic mix of contemporary scholarship, borrowing literary theory from the Russian critic Mikhail Bakhtin, socio-linguistic concepts from American linguist James Paul Gee, and moral philosophy from Israeli thinker Avishai Margalit. I also incorporate the work of political scientists Amy Gutmann and Dennis …

The 1966 Republican Campaign In North Dakota, Joseph Charles Crawford

Theses and Dissertations

The 1966 Republican Campaign in North Dakota discusses the efforts of the Party from May, 1965 through November, 1966. The pre-convention period illustrates the effort of the North Dakota Republicans to rebuild their organization after the 1964 defeat. Analysis of this effort is made with regard to finances, organization, and research.

The study then discusses the 1966 state convention, the rise of youth in the Party organization, background and insight into all the races, and a complete tabulation of all ballots. Special emphasis is placed on the problem of the John Birch Society and on how that problem was resolved …

Methods Of Support Used In The Senate Debate On The Seating Of Reed Smoot: A Content Analysis, Beverly Alice Berry

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how methods of support functioned in the senate debate on the seating of Reed Smoot. In order to clarify the directions of the study, answers to the following questions were sought:
1. How extensively were methods of support used by each side?
2. What was the frequency of supports per assertion by each side?
3. How was the use of support materials distributed among the speakers?
4. How many different methods of support were used by each side?
5. What were the most frequently used methods of support by each side?
6. …

The Campaign And Election Of Quentin Burdick, 1958, Herbert A. Thorson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Forces And Events Leading To The Repeal Of Prohibition And The Adoption Of A Liquor Control System, George Harmon Skyles

Theses and Dissertations

During the Nineteenth Century, a reform agitation known as the prohibition movement began to gather momentum in the United States. Led chiefly by the Women's Christian Temperance Union and pushed also by the Prohibition Party, this movement grew only slowly until a general spirit of reform began to sweep the country at the end of the century. With the W.C.T.U. and the American Anti-Saloon League leading the fight during the Progressive Era, the tide of public opinion finally took form in the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, an amendment which forbade "the manufacture, sale or transportation …

John Moses And The New Deal In North Dakota, Adam J. Schweitzer

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.