Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Muslim Immigration To Connecticut: An Analysis Of Muslim Communities' Role In Immigrant Incorporation, Hannah M. Lynch

Senior Theses and Projects

This research investigates the relationship between Muslim religious identity and immigrant incorporation outcomes in the United States. There is much existing literature discussing the outcomes of different immigrant groups to the United States, but Muslim immigrants have been largely left out of the discussion. Through interviewing Muslim immigrant residents of Connecticut, I discovered a two-fold relationship between Muslim identity and immigrant outcomes. On one hand, Muslim immigrants were able to incorporate more successfully through their Muslim religious community, such as their mosque. On the other hand, Muslim immigrants faced more difficult incorporating because of negative attitudes towards Muslim immigrants from …

Variation In Covid-19 Outcomes In The United States: A Policy Perspective, Lauren Mcrae

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Backsliding: Donald Trump, Conspiracy Theory, & Democratic Decline, Hannah Kessel

Senior Theses and Projects

The relationship between conspiracy and democratic decline is well established in political theory. The tradition of American conspiracy imposes fear, mistrust, and unreality on citizens, which threatens the legitimacy of democratic institutions. Democratic electoral processes rely on a shared sense of objectivity and truth. Without this, electoral legitimacy crumbles. Twitter’s emergence as a new medium for political discourse alongside the Donald Trump presidential administration have jointly posed unique challenges to American democracy within this theoretical framework. The impacts of social media on the electoral process are unmeasured, and the implications of a conspiracy-minded president are unprecedented. I observe this relationship …

A Document Analysis Of Political Rhetoric In 2021-22 South Dakota Higher Education, Carson M. Sehr

Honors Thesis

This study is a document analysis in an attempt to understand political rhetoric from four main players from the end of the 2021 South Dakota Legislative Session to the end of the 2022 Legislative Session. These four players are 1) Governor Noem, 2) the Board of Regents, 3) the South Dakota Legislature, and 4) the Argus Leader. One-hundred eight documents from these sources were analyzed, and deemed “rhetorically political” by presence of the phrases “fairness in women’s sports,” “critical race theory,” or “opportunity center,” or deemed “rhetorically apolitical” by the absence of these phrases. The rates of rhetorically political documents, …

Extremism And Its Effects On Idaho Legislation, Steve D. Sutherland

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

The Capstone Project covers, through documented interviews and insights, practitioners, journalists, and researchers that have endeavored to recognize and reconcile the effects of extremism in Idaho legislation. The referenced articles and academic journals also shed light on how this is not unique to the Gem State and how it is manifesting and evolving within the United States. This paper describes my approaches to researching this topic and the challenges of its polarization and political realities. I cover how creating an innovative approach can bring together different perspectives. Emotional intelligence is vital in exploring a hot-button issue such as this. Awareness …

Monuments Of Folly: The Persistence Of He Lost Cause At The University Of South Carolina, Sean Dedmon

Senior Theses

The recent controversies surrounding the Confederate flag and Confederate monuments has sparked increased interest understanding why many people, particularly in the South, celebrate the Confederate States of America. This thesis seeks to better understand the motivations and emotions behind the persistence of the Lost Cause among students at the University of South Carolina. This study utilizes both deep textual readings and sentiment analysis to analyze student-published newspaper articles printed in The Gamecock from 1960-2006 and survey responses from current University of South Carolina students to capture the scope and history of belief in the Lost Cause at the University of …

Conflicting Narratives In Geology: The Current Debate Surrounding The Beginning Of The Anthropocene Epoch, Carter Mitchell

Student Writing

Geologists currently debate the addition a new Epoch of geologic time called the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is characterized by changes in the lithosphere resulting directly from human activity. This paper analyses the arguments in favor of and against the Anthropocene as well as the conflicting narratives concerning the beginning and scope of the Anthropocene.

2nd Place Contest Entry: Student Governance During The Free Speech Movement, Philip Goodrich

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Philip Goodrich's submission for the 2022 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won second place. It contains their essay on using library resources, their bibliography, and a summary of their research project on student governance during the free speech movement.

Philip is a fourth-year student at Chapman University, majoring in History and Political Science. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Alexander Bay.

Mental Health In Massachusetts Prisons, Jeffrey Yung

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

In November of last year, former Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division released the findings of an investigation of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (MDOC). They found several violations of prisoner’ constitutionals rights for mental health cases under the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishments for criminal defendants. The findings reveal a lack of structured mental health care for MDOC prisoners, untrained employees, and unnecessary abuse of restrictive housing for prisoners designated under a mental health watch program.

The Dilemma Of Banned Books: Questioning The Ethics Of Censoring Literature In Schools, Kyle King

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

Literature, specifically in the form of novels, has been a vital organ of the public education system within the United States. Not only does reading such works transform us into better close readers and strengthen our vocabulary, but the texts at hand can be very essential to analyze specific contexts or issues that might have existed either throughout history or even in the present day. In today’s country, the issue of banning certain books from school curricula has become as prevalent as ever, where mostly Southern Republican officials are calling for lists of books to be restricted from teaching due …

From Pacifism To Pipe Bombs: A History Of The Extremist Anti-Abortion Movement In The United States, Stella Masucci

Senior Theses

This paper traces the history of the extremist wing of the anti-abortion movement, both the violent and non-violent branches, from its origins in the 1970s. The movement began with local, leftwing Catholic groups conducting “sit-ins,” then turned into a massive crusade of fundamentalist conservatives under Randall Terry’s group Operation Rescue. I also examine the movement’s descent into violence in the 1980s and 1990s and the federal government’s response to this threat, namely the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act in 1994, and how it has shaped both the pacifist and violent branches of the movement in the years since. …

The Political Dynamics Of Legislative Reform: Potential Drivers Of The Next Communications Statute, Christopher S. Yoo, Tiffany Keung

All Faculty Scholarship

Although most studies of major communications reform legislation focus on the merits of their substantive provisions, analyzing the political dynamics that led to the enactment of such legislation can yield important insights. An examination of the tradeoffs that led the major industry segments to support the Telecommunications Act of 1996 provides a useful illustration of the political bargain that it embodies. Application of a similar analysis to the current context identifies seven components that could form the basis for the next communications statute: universal service, pole attachments, privacy, intermediary immunity, net neutrality, spectrum policy, and antitrust reform. Determining how these …

Lobbying, Onu Institute For Civics And Public Policy, Kennedy Aikey, Hailey Trimpey

Critical Questions

Lobbying is a profession that many do not fully understand or appreciate. Lobbyists play a very essential part in our democratic process and they can be extremely impactful. Not only is it important to understand what lobbyists do, but also to understand the many misconceptions about them. They often get a bad reputation because of people's assumptions of how lobbying works, but it is actually a very ethical and lawful practice. Lobbying is also something that anyone can get involved in on an individual level by advocating and contacting your representatives.

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 …

Women In Politics, Onu Institute For Civics And Public Policy, Kennedy Aikey, Hailey Trimpey, Andrea Hoffman

Critical Questions

Just over a century ago, women were given the legal right to participate in politics by earning the right to vote. Up until that point, women found creative ways to participate in public affairs. A century later, however, women are still underrepresented among public officials. This can be traced back to two main reasons–aversion to electoral politics by women and voter bias. Nonetheless, many notable Ohio women have contributed to robust representation in public office.

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 …

Fighting Gerrymandering By Automating Congressional Redistricting, Jacob Jenness

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

Gerrymandering is a political problem that the United States has had for more than 200 years. Politicians have taken the dull and routine process of drawing congressional districts and turned it into a highly-partisan process. However, with recent improvements in redistricting algorithms, researchers Harry Levin and Sorelle Friedler have introduced their recursive Divide and Conquer Redistricting Algorithm. This algorithm has the potential to automate the process of congressional redistricting, thereby removing the potential for bias. By utilizing a set of partitioning and swapping algorithms, the Divide and Conquer Redistricting Algorithm achieves desirable goals, such as low population deviation, and high …

Has Academic Freedom Failed? Can Liberalism Defend It?, Dan Becker

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Patrick Deneen has argued that both the philosophy of liberalism and the principle of academic freedom are fundamentally flawed. In this piece I argue that the liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill provides a convincing counterargument to Deneen’s criticisms.

Author information: Dan Becker graduated from Ursinus College in May of 2019 with degrees in philosophy and psychology.

Suburban Cosmopolitanism: How Niceness Undermines Patriotism, Joseph Natali

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Many prominent conservatives of the 20th century have commented on moral superiority of a love of a particular place and community over a general cosmopolitan love of humanity. For a multitude of reasons, suburban living does not help to foster this love of one’s immediate surroundings. Suburbs, despite being a “nice” and “comfortable” place to live, create a set of conditions that undermine the development of a genuine love of one’s land and neighbor by physically separating one from two of the most important aspects of human existence: work and community. In the absence of a genuine love of place, …

No Justice, No Peace: An Examination Of The Conditions Of The George Floyd Protests To Determine How To Facilitate Successful State Legislative Outcomes, Emily R. Funk

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This thesis examines the relationship between the conditions of the George Floyd protests from May to August of 2020 to the impact they had state on policing reforms within state legislatures. I examine protests in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, looking at those protests’ size, media coverage, and violence and compare that to the degree of policy change achieved within each state. I find that, contrary to expectations, protest size was not associated with policy change, but that the party control of the state government was a strong predictor of how states responded to protests. Within some …

The Partisan Gender Gap: Why Democratic Women Get Elected But Republican Women Don't (Book Review), Shannon Mcqueen

Political Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Bent, But Not Broken: The Constitutional, Legal, And Procedural Issues In The 2020 Electoral College Vote Certification, Nicholas Kapoor

eJournal of Public Affairs

In 2016, Democrats protested in Trump-won states asking Electoral College members to vote their conscience and against their state’s popular vote. In 2020, President Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6^th demanding that the certification of the Electoral College vote in favor of Joe Biden not move forward. Are the laws, court decisions, and the Constitution itself set up to cause such an uproar around a routine item? Was the 2020 iteration of counting the Electoral College votes an aberration, or is this the new normal? This essay will chronicle the Constitutional, legal, and procedural issues around the …

Book Review: Carol Leonnig And Philip Rucker 2021. I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’S Catastrophic Final Year, Kenneth W. Moffett

eJournal of Public Affairs

This is a book review of Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker's recently released book, I Alone can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year.

The Commonwealth Takes An Important Step In Protecting Our Democracy, Ashish Vaidya

eJournal of Public Affairs

Northern Kentucky University’s President Ashish Vaidya wrote an article celebrating Kentucky’s new bipartisan voting rights bill. Signed into law in April, the legislation is contrary to what we are seeing in other states and expands voting options in Kentucky. As an immigrant to the U.S. from India, President Vaidya has a unique perspective on democracy in America, and he is very passionate about higher education’s role to inform its students on their responsibility.

Introductory Essay: Ejournal Of Public Affairs, Volume 11, Issue 1, Carah L. Ong Whaley

eJournal of Public Affairs

No abstract provided.

Democratic Isolation, Thin Citizenship, And Insurrection: A Theory, Kevin G. Lorentz Ii, Kimberly Saks Mcmanaway

eJournal of Public Affairs

Citizens are deeply cynical of the actual institutions and exercising of representative democracy, resulting in increased isolation and extremism rather than nuanced public debate and democratic involvement. Three interrelated background conditions led to this inevitable point: the erasure of political citizenship by neoliberalism, the ability of technology (especially social media) to provide perfect filtering, and the resulting fragmenting of civic experience. In this paper we outline a theory of democratic isolation that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, exploited by populist politicians, and ultimately led to the January 6 insurrection.

A Democratic Norm Endures January 6th: Congress And Deference To States’ Election Certifications, Kevin R. Kosar, Elayne Allen

eJournal of Public Affairs

Congress rarely overturns elections to either of its chambers. legislators tend to follow a norm of deference to election results lawfully submitted by states. This norm is longstanding and is the product of the Constitution, federal law, and habit. Yet, on January 6, 2021, our national legislature flirted with violating that norm and denying the presidency to Joseph Biden based upon spurious claims of electoral fraud. Fortunately, legislators from both parties forged strong majorities to uphold the norm, and subsequently reaffirmed it during Congress' review of a disputed Iowa congressional election. Viewing both these events closely reveals both that those …

Performing Toxic Masculinity During The January 6 Insurrection, Karen M. Kedrowski

eJournal of Public Affairs

This essay examines the events of the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol through the theoretical lens of toxic masculinity. While toxic masculinity is not the sole cause of the attack on the Capitol, it does explain many of the events of the day, including the large percentage of men in the mob, their militaristic dress and demeanor, and the targeting of Constitutional officers. Moreover, the essay argues that the concepts of democracy, liberty and the peaceful transfer of power are gendered female, which further explains the violence fueled by the myths behind toxic masculinity.

The Temple Of Liberty As Fort Knox: The Securitization Of Democratic Space In The U.S. Capitol, Alisa J. Rosenthal, Lauren C. Bell

eJournal of Public Affairs

In response to security threats in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the U.S. Capitol was made less accessible to the public through a series of security upgrades, including an expansion of the Capitol Police force, new visitor registration programs, and the construction and implementation of physical barriers in and around the Capitol building itself. However, increased safety for members and staff has had consequences for the important symbolic representation that the Capitol building itself provides. As Parkinson (2009, 10) notes: “Capital cities are, by design, by usage or both, symbols of national institutions, values, myths, and norms – they …

Framing An Insurrection: A Typology Of Responses By Evangelical Leaders, Andrea C. Hatcher

eJournal of Public Affairs

As the January 6 insurrection unfolded, religious leaders who had supported Donald Trump were set on a behavioral process of response or silence. Some religious leaders offered statements that largely condemned the violence, others promoted conspiracy theories about the actors involved, and still others offered a defensive response. This study compiles Twitter data of religious leaders from January 1 through the six-month anniversary on July 6, 2021, and finds that their responses form a typology from the conciliatory to the antagonistic. This typology is a useful framework to assess their immediate and changing responses in the contestation of January 6. …