Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Erosion Of Democracy: Gerrymandering In The United States, Matthew P. Ruiz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Every ten years in the United States, we redraw our congressional districts that elect the 435 members of the House of Representatives after the decennial census data has been collected and organized. Politicians around the country have taken to using these map revisions for their party’s own political gains and have been doing so since the time even before the United States Constitution was ratified. This process where politicians draw district lines to favor their own party and expand their political power is called gerrymandering (Trickey, 2017). The purpose of this mixed method study is to understand the impact gerrymandering …

Evaluating Livelihood Vulnerability Of Farming Communities To Winter Storms In Iowa, Yiyi Zhang

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Driven by unusually warm air in the Arctic, severe winter weather moves southward to mid-latitude areas, indicating the complexity in the ways that climate change may affect local weather extremes. The vulnerability of farming communities to climate risks and differential response capabilities have drawn much research attention. Winter storms are recognized as one of the common catastrophic events leading to agricultural damage and loss. However, research is notably lacking in understanding the consequences extreme winter weather could bring in farmer livelihood.

This study is concerned with the vulnerability patterns of farming communities shaped under varying climate and socio-physical conditions. Focusing …