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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Multipolar Melting Pot: A Spatial Analysis Of Political Orientation In The United States, Nathanael Baumann
Multipolar Melting Pot: A Spatial Analysis Of Political Orientation In The United States, Nathanael Baumann
CMC Senior Theses
Politics at the national level seems increasingly polarized – but what does polarization really mean in a political context? Is the American political landscape so unidimensional that voters throughout the country can be represented by a linear left-right spectrum? By classifying gubernatorial candidates across the country based on their distinct social and economic positions, then mapping them in a two-dimensional space, I posit a very different kind of political landscape – one made up of diffuse, fluid political preferences.
An Epidemic Of Skepticism: Examining Right-Wing Populist Responses To The Covid-19 Crisis In Germany, Rachel Moline
An Epidemic Of Skepticism: Examining Right-Wing Populist Responses To The Covid-19 Crisis In Germany, Rachel Moline
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This thesis examines the role of far-right populist groups in the framing of global health crises. To understand the impact far-right populism has had on the response to health crises, I will be analyzing the case of the Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD), or Alternative for Germany, and their response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. I evaluate three distinct time periods in the AfD’s history and determine how the AfD has framed and reframed its crisis narrative in response to the coronavirus compared to previous crises, such as the refugee crisis of 2015. I hypothesize that new crises will lead far-right …
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 …
Sovereign Authority And Rule Of Law: The Effect Of U.S. Use Of Torture On Political Legitimacy, Sydney Bradley
Sovereign Authority And Rule Of Law: The Effect Of U.S. Use Of Torture On Political Legitimacy, Sydney Bradley
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Governmental sovereignty is created and maintained by mutual respect for the rule of law by the government and citizens. To maintain legitimacy, a government must act within the bounds of the contract that created it. Otherwise, the relationship founded by said contract would be nullified, as would the duties and obligations that flow from that relationship. Torture exemplifies an ultra vires act used by the United States to show the consequences of over-extended authority on political legitimacy and the rule of law. Founded on the philosophies of Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, and Christine Korsgaard, this research investigates the nature of …
Curb-Sided: How Technology Disrupts The American Transportation Planning Process, Mary Angelica Painter
Curb-Sided: How Technology Disrupts The American Transportation Planning Process, Mary Angelica Painter
Dissertations
The disruptive arrival of Uber, Lyft, and other transportation network companies (TNCs) into American cities ignited arguments on how policy-makers should regulate such entities. Policy debates started among policymakers, companies, and existing industries and interests. In attempts to persuade policy, actors adopted a variety of language and used different levels of government to achieve policy goals. In almost all cases, TNCs were able to gain favorable policy through image framing and venue shopping – the key components to Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET). This analysis looks at the policy process of three American cities: Chicago, IL, St. Louis, MO, and Austin, …
Healthy And Unhealthy Responses To American Democratic Institutional Failure, Thomas D'Anieri
Healthy And Unhealthy Responses To American Democratic Institutional Failure, Thomas D'Anieri
CMC Senior Theses
I have set out on the hunch that politics in America “feels different,” that we are frustrated both with our institutions as well as with one another. First, I will seek to empirically verify this claim beyond mere “feelings.” If it can be shown that these kinds of discontent genuinely exist to the extent that I believe they do, I will then explain why people feel this way and why things are different this time from the economic, political, and social points of view. Next, I will examine two potential responses, what I will call the populist and the institutional …
Factors Influencing The Likelihood Of Women Winning Elections, Natalie Browning
Factors Influencing The Likelihood Of Women Winning Elections, Natalie Browning
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
This study analyzes variables that increase the likelihood of women winning an election for the United States Congress spanning from 1970 to 2020. This study analyzes the relationship between how liberal the United States is and the likelihood of women winning elections. A dependent relationship was found between the level of liberalism rising in the US and women winning elections. Some of this study is also used to analyze a possible relationship between women being more likely to win open seats or those with incumbents seeking reelection. A possible relationship was found between those two variables, but it was decided …
Constraint And Control, Patricia Ayres
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.
The American Political Mindset: The Relationship Of Exceptionalism And Cynicism In Public Opinion, Anya Kaiser 3068310
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 …
The Influence Of Threatened State Preemption On City Council Voting Behavior And Municipal Broadband, Dillon P. Corbridge
The Influence Of Threatened State Preemption On City Council Voting Behavior And Municipal Broadband, Dillon P. Corbridge
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023
The relationship between city and state government has been contentious at times throughout American history. Cities only have the legal authority granted to them by state government, yet many cities have cause to seek policy that may not be in the interest of those who govern the state. Leaders of American states may choose to preempt municipal authority by removing the legal power of a city to perform certain actions. While preemption provides states with a tool for regulating the policies and practices that cities may pursue, it is unclear whether city leaders act cautiously to avoid preemption, or instead …
The Socioeconomic Impact Of Indian Gaming On Kumeyaay Nations: A Case Study Of Barona, Viejas, And Sycuan, 1982 - 2016, Ethan L. Banegas
The Socioeconomic Impact Of Indian Gaming On Kumeyaay Nations: A Case Study Of Barona, Viejas, And Sycuan, 1982 - 2016, Ethan L. Banegas
Theses
This study will use the reservations of Barona, Viejas, and Sycuan to measure the socioeconomic impacts of gaming within the Kumeyaay nation. It will also draw on information available from other gaming tribes. To organize my research, I will use the following categories: health, education, economics and infrastructure. Within these four topics I will cover: investment capital, poverty, higher education, internet access, alcohol addiction, suicide rates, obesity, diabetes, and other socioeconomic indicators. Once this is accomplished I will assess the social and economic impact of gaming on Barona, Viejas, and Sycuan and include the possible implications to heal historical trauma …
The Modern Administrative State: Why We Have ‘Big Government’ And How To Run And Reform Bureaucratic Organizations, Sean Y. Sakaguchi
The Modern Administrative State: Why We Have ‘Big Government’ And How To Run And Reform Bureaucratic Organizations, Sean Y. Sakaguchi
CMC Senior Theses
This work asserts that bureaucratic organization is not only an inevitable part of the modern administrative state, but that a high quality bureaucracy within a strongly empowered executive branch is an ideal mechanism for running government in the modern era. Beginning with a philosophical inquiry into the purpose of American government as we understand it today, this paper responds to criticisms of the role of expanded government and develops a framework for evaluating the quality of differing government structures. Following an evaluation of the current debate surrounding bureaucracies (from both proponents and critics), this thesis outlines the lessons and principles …
The War At Home, Joseph A. Altobelli Mr.
The War At Home, Joseph A. Altobelli Mr.
Capstones
This site was made to show how the cuts to and politics behind the Veterans Affairs Hospital in New York affects the veterans it is set up to care for.
We The People: A Simulation For Young Voters, Jessee Hankins
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.
The Origins Of Wave Elections: Narrative Control Polarization And Turnout In New Hampshire Electoral Politics 2006-2012, Zachary Jonas
The Origins Of Wave Elections: Narrative Control Polarization And Turnout In New Hampshire Electoral Politics 2006-2012, Zachary Jonas
Honors Theses
This thesis investigates the origin of wave elections in New Hampshire in 2006, 2010 and 2012. It finds that recent demographic shifts in the state laid the groundwork for these dramatic electoral results. This paper also examines the nationalization and polarization that have redefined New Hampshire’s political landscape and contributed to massive partisan shifts in state government. The combination of demographic changes and a polarized political culture have created an electoral environment for both Republicans and Democrats that favors turnout, increasing the importance of agenda setting and narrative control in order to produce high turnout among core constituencies. Chapter 1 …
Seeing The Sausage Made: How Compromise Works In Large Groups And Representative Bodies, James E. Crawford Jr.
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 …
Service Satisfaction, Competence And Caring: Examining The Influence Of Experience With The Public Bureaucracy On Citizen Attitudes Of Trust In Government, Lauren Kriston Harding
Service Satisfaction, Competence And Caring: Examining The Influence Of Experience With The Public Bureaucracy On Citizen Attitudes Of Trust In Government, Lauren Kriston Harding
Doctoral Dissertations
Examining the relationship among government performance, service satisfaction and trust in government advocated by the New Public Management, this research contributes to a better understanding of the performance-trust hypothesis and its assumptions. This study evaluates the satisfaction link of the performance-trust hypothesis, investigating influences on service satisfaction and how these translate into trust. In particular, two implicit assumptions of the performance-trust hypothesis are explored. First, citizen experience with public services is examined as a measure of specific support for government. Second, the role of citizen interactions with the bureaucracy is assessed, specifically identifying the influence of citizen attitudes toward public …
Small Groups And Political Influence: A Case Study, Rhonda Q. Hayes
Small Groups And Political Influence: A Case Study, Rhonda Q. Hayes
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
In early civics lessons Americans are taught that theirs is a system of participatory government, that one person's vote does have meaning, and that by making views known to representatives they will be acted upon. They are taught about the governmental process, the steps involved in legislation, the function of the judicial and executive branches, and the means of political participation. Seemingly, they are given a working knowledge of government in action. What they are not made aware of during these lessons is that there are systems within the system and certain unwritten rules which must be followed in order …
An Interagency Approach To Reforming The Administration Of Federal Grant-In-Aid Programs: A Case Study Of The Indian Task Force Of The Western Federal Regional Council, Barry Joseph Wishart
An Interagency Approach To Reforming The Administration Of Federal Grant-In-Aid Programs: A Case Study Of The Indian Task Force Of The Western Federal Regional Council, Barry Joseph Wishart
CGU Theses & Dissertations
The administration of public policy has always been a challenge in the United States because power is divided and dispersed on both an institutional and a regional basis. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the administration of the federal grant-in-aid programs which developed during the 1960's. Effective administration of these programs has been hampered at the intergovernmental level by the tremendous explosion in the number of grant-in-aid programs, the increasing reliance on categorical grant-in-aid programs, the confusing network of red tape, the development of a "function bureaucracy" which has alienated state and local officials, and the lack of a …