Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Victim Impact: The Manson Murders And The Rise Of The Victims’ Rights Movement, Merrill W. Steeg

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Federalist Society And Constitutional Interpretation: Who Gets To Say What The Constitution Says, Deborah L. Toscano

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The Federalist Society was organized in 1982 by conservative law students to counteract what they perceived to be a liberal bias in law schools, the courts, and government administration. Forty years later there is an acknowledgement of a rightward turn in the Supreme Court which scholars have attributed in part to the efforts of the Federalist Society. However, there is still little understanding of just how that change came about. This dissertation takes a step toward understanding that question. Viewing the Federalist Society as the center of a network of lawyers, think tanks, and legal institutions, I examine the influence …

Early Voting Versus Election Day Voting: Identifying Individual Indicators Of Election Stage Participation In Louisiana Elections, 2015-2016, Anthony Licciardi Jr.

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Does early voting advance the democratic process in achieving political equality? Does it create more equity in the representativeness of an electorate? According to rational choice and economic theory, the expanded opportunity to vote should reduce an individual’s cost to vote, thus resulting in higher voter turnouts where traditionally marginalized voters will take advantage of early voting opportunities.

This research conducts an individual-level analysis of more than five-million voter cases over four consecutive Louisiana statewide elections of all individuals who voted in each of the elections from 2015 to 2016. These elections include the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a …

Media Coverage Of Lgbt Issues: Legal, Religious, And Political Frames, Scott N. Nolan

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This project creates an original dataset of 1,008 randomly sampled news items that discussed LGBT political issues posted online between 2011 and 2017 by Huffington Post Queer Voices, NPR, and Fox News. I use quantitative methods and content analysis to locate the 14 most popular LGBT political issues in media coverage and to confirm there are three competing media frames of political discussion in coverage of LGBT political issues. There are three results chapters. Chapter 5 describes the 14 LGBT political issues that appear most often in political science research and to what extent media coverage of these 14 issues …

The Hydraulic Dimension Of Reconstruction In Louisiana, 1863-1879, Matthew P. Carlin

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Louisiana developed an extensive system of levees throughout the Atchafalaya Basin and along its territorial Mississippi River. This system reached its zenith on the eve of the American Civil War. It went into dramatic decline following the conflict due to the confluence of military activity, protracted irregular warfare, and neglect stemming from labor and capital revolution. These shifts intensified with the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and finally consolidated after the ratification of Louisiana’s Constitution of 1879. The shift of responsibility for the construction and maintenance of levees during the Reconstruction Era led to many significant changes in the character and function …

Seeing Red: Immigration And Asymmetrical Partisan Polarization In The United States, Robert M. Worth

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Since the mid-1970s, partisan polarization has been increasing in Congress and the Presidency, and, although most voters lack a stable, consistent ideology, non-ideological forms of partisan polarization have emerged in the mass public in recent decades. Moreover, ideological polarization among elites is highly asymmetrical, with increased Republican conservatism accounting for most of the increased ideological distance between the parties. Here, I develop a racial-threat backlash theory and argue that increased rates of immigration are associated with increased asymmetrical ideological polarization among elites and in the mass public. Tests of this theory on voters, the mass public in the states, state …

The Louisiana Granting Resources And Autonomies For Diplomas Act: Exploring The Impact Of A Performance-Based Funding Policy On Higher Education Effectiveness, Bridget S. Peters

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In 2010 the Louisiana legislature adopted the Louisiana Granting Resources and Autonomies for Diplomas (GRAD) Act, a statewide performance-based funding policy designed to improve performance among public colleges. This study, utilizing data collected from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) on 15 two-year public colleges over eight years, applied Generalized Least Squares (GLS) regression to retention rates, graduation rates, and degree productivity. Results suggest that the introduction of the policy had little immediate effect on overall institutional performance; however, there were some modest increases in long-term certificate productivity. Additionally, there were significant improvements in data quality throughout higher education …

An Examination Of Voter Groups That Make Up The Emerging Democratic Majority Thesis, Jason Waguespack

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In 2002, John Judis and Ruy Teixeira published The Emerging Democratic Majority, a book that postulated that the United States was in the beginning of a political realignment that would spell the end of the Reagan-era coalition that gave Republicans an electoral advantage on the presidency. The authors claimed an electorate that would favor the Democratic Party would emerge to take its place. Since Senator Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 presidential election was powered by a coalition that looked much like the one Judis and Teixeira described, it appeared the authors’ thesis was being borne out by actual …

We Wear The Mask: Exploring The Talented Tenth And African American Political Philosophy In 21st Century Politics, Lauryn T. Minter

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have suggested that Blacks who express linked racial fate are ideologically liberal. Given the prominence of Black philosophical thought and salience of race, I suggest that linked racial fate results in conservative ideology, which exists on a separate ideological dimension than the traditional conservative ideological dimension. This new ideological dimension, referred to as conservatism among Blacks, is vital to understanding Black political thought in the 21^st century. Using data from the 1996 National Black Election Study, 2008 National Annenberg Election Study, and focus group data I argue that the conservative ideas espoused by Blacks, specifically members of the …

Leap Of Faith: Clergy In State Legislative Elections, Victonio B. Spencer

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study expands the literature on clergy as political actors by shedding light on the relative electoral performance of clergy who hold office in state legislatures. Kinney’s 2008 study on the occurrence of clergy in local office, as well as other works showing the divergence in attitudes towards church-state separation among racial groups and religious traditions, illustrate potential factors affecting the performance of clergy in elections. The analyses examine the factors related to differences in vote percentages, margins of victory, and campaign funding between clergy and non-clergy. These factors include racial and religious traditions and how their effects interact. The …

Southern States’ Lower Legislative Districts And The Perverse Effects Thesis, Shannon R. Sinegal

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In the post-1990 round of redistricting a number of majority-African American legislative districts were created, especially in the South. The new majority-African American districts were created by “pulling” many of the African Americans from surrounding districts into a single district, leaving the adjacent districts with a higher percentage of whites. These adjacent districts are often referred to as “bleached” districts. As the number of African Americans elected in the new majority-African American districts increased, so did the number of Republicans. This is referred to as the “perverse effect thesis.” This thesis has been widely acclaimed, but scholars have found minimal …

Statehouse Mosaics And The American Electorate: How State Legislatures Affect Political Participation, Robynn Kuhlmann

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Comparatively few studies have explored how variations in state governing institutions influence voting behavior. Utilizing lower chamber state legislative election returns from the years 2000 through 2010, and the 2002 through 2010 GSS data series, this dissertation focuses on how US state legislatures influence voting behavior and political attitudes of the American electorate. Specifically, this research takes on a comparative approach and illustrates how institutional differences in the size, capacity, and composition of the US state legislatures affect the electorates’ propensity to vote and how politically efficacious people feel.

The Closure Of New Orleans' Charity Hospital After Hurricane Katrina: A Case Of Disaster Capitalism, Kenneth Brad Ott

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Amidst the worst disaster to impact a major U.S. city in one hundred years, New Orleans’ main trauma and safety net medical center, the Reverend Avery C. Alexander Charity Hospital, was permanently closed. Charity’s administrative operator, Louisiana State University (LSU), ordered an end to its attempted reopening by its workers and U.S. military personnel in the weeks following the August 29, 2005 storm. Drawing upon rigorous review of literature and an exhaustive analysis of primary and secondary data, this case study found that Charity Hospital was closed as a result of disaster capitalism. LSU, backed by Louisiana state officials, …