Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Oer Syllabus Political Science 63, Grace Trotman

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Clausewitzian Theory Of War In The Age Of Cognitive Warfare, Amber Brittain-Hale, Amber Brittain-Hale

Education Division Scholarship

We can reconceptualise warfare by contrasting Clausewitz with the modern practice of cognitive warfare, as evidenced by Ukraine’s defence methodologies. The strategic orchestration of ‘infopolitik’ and the sophisticated use of social media can shape narratives and public perception. This article revisits Clausewitz’s tenet of war as a political instrument and juxtaposes it with contemporary conflict’s multidimensional tactics. By scrutinising Ukraine’s digital and psychological warfare tactics, one may question the applicability of Clausewitz’s framework, seeking to understand if these novel dimensions of warfare compel a redefinition or an expansion of his thesis to navigate the complexities of contemporary geopolitical confrontations.

Evaluating Militant Decision-Making With Information Science: The Irish Republican Movement During The "Troubles", Joshua C. Eastin, Emily Kalah Gade, Michael Gabbay

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Why do militant groups decide to escalate or deescalate their use of violence in conflict? Examining the case of the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, we analyze groups that adopt violence as a political strategy and evaluate factors that influence its application. To do so, we adopt a novel empirical approach to the study of militant groups. Drawn from information science, this approach enables estimation of variable influence and uncertainty within structured case studies, and is thus ideal for topics such as militant decision-making where systematic data collection is difficult.

Face Of Terror In Gaza: Hamas’ Birth, Evolution And A Nuanced Rethink, Debangana Chatterjee

Popular Media

Excerpt:

While discussing Hamas now, with terrorism and the ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip by Israel as the backdrop, we must consider the backstory of politics and international relations. And that the growth of Hamas had a lot to do with its isolation as the ruling authority in Gaza. Isolation, which handed it unaccountable access to resources that came its way.

Legislating Criminal Justice Reform In Louisiana, Jason Callegari

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While best practices in criminal justice reform have been studied and identified, the point at which reform legislation is decided upon and factors related to its passage is a traditionally understudied. My research will explore the factors that influence the political will of legislators who pass criminal justice reforms. Using a constructivist view of grounded theory, my research uses qualitative data to determine patterns of words and generalities implicit in decision-making for legislators in the state of Louisiana by way of semi-structured interviews with current and former state legislators. Coded results will show patterns associated with participants' willingness to support …

Polisci 3210f: Feasibility Of A National Disability Insurance Plan (Ndip) In Canada, Twana Hassan, Aditi Priya, Dylan Poole, Samantha Rubin, Ethan Chen

Community Engaged Learning Final Projects

This research report presents an overview of the feasibility and reliability of a National Disability Insurance Plan (NDIP) in Canada. Several Global North countries are leading the way in disability legislation and disability funding in comparison to Canada's inaction on the matter. A National Disability Insurance Plan in Canada will have social and economic benefits for everyone in Canada. The report concluded that Canada is capable of implementing a NDIP and doing so is the right choice.

Who Is Interested In Participating In Participatory Budgeting?, David Doherty, Raluca G. Pavel, Madeline Jackson, Dana Garbarski

Political Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Inequalities in terms of who participates in politics yield policy outcomes that fail to reflect the interests of the broader public. Because these processes fail to engage the full citizenry in political decision-making processes, they are also markers of an anemic civic culture. Advocates of participatory budgeting (PB) – a process implemented at the subnational level in thousands of cities in the United States and beyond that invites residents to participate directly in the process of allocating public resources for local projects – argue that it can alleviate these inequalities. They argue that features of the PB process make it …

The Roots Of Blood, Debangana Chatterjee

Popular Media

With innocent lives being lost in Israel and Palestine, we must not forget where it all began and remain vigilant of the imperial white-washing of history.

U.S. Invasion Of Afghanistan: A Critical Analysis Of American South Asian Policy, Kerem Tasdan

Student Research – Politics and Government

This study will offer a critical analysis of U.S. foreign policy in South Asia specifically centered around America’s invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and its aftereffects. The 2001 Invasion of Afghanistan was a pivotal moment not only in the geopolitical landscape of the nation of Afghanistan but also in shaping the outline of American foreign policy in the broader South Asia region. This study embarks on a critical examination of the multifaceted repercussions stemming from the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, analyzing its profound impact on the destabilization of Afghanistan itself and its intricate ramifications on the broader South Asian geopolitical …

“This Forum Is Not A Democracy”: The Role Of Norms And Moderation In Cultivating (Anti)Democratic Incel Identities, Jennifer Forestal

Political Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Incels (short for “involuntarily celibate”) have recently gained notoriety for their aggressive, often violent, misogyny, yet incels were not always an antidemocratic social group. They thus pose a challenge for thinking about democracy and identity in (anonymous) digital environments: how can we create spaces for marginalized social groups while ensuring the resulting identities remain democratic? While many scholars point to technological affordances or corporate content moderation policies as providing some solutions, in this article I propose a more democratic approach. Drawing from incel wikis and archived forum posts from two early incel communities—IncelSupport and LoveShy—I argue that a community's social …

Continuity And Change In Saudi Arabia’S Development And Humanitarian Aid, Narayani Sritharan, Ammar A. Malik, Asad Sami

AidData

This paper delves into the motivations and drivers behind Saudi Arabia’s foreign aid, shedding light on the interplay between geopolitics, religious affinity, and strategic objectives. Drawing on newly released empirical data from the Saudi Aid Platform (SAP) dataset, encompassing 47 years of aid delivery, the study seeks to answer the long-standing debate surrounding the factors shaping Saudi Arabia’s foreign aid decisions. The study focuses on two pivotal periods: the Bosnian War and the post-Arab Spring era. By examining Saudi aid allocations during these periods, we investigate the influence of foreign policy and geostrategic objectives versus the humanitarian needs of the …

The Dynamics Of Informal Institutions And Counter-Hegemony: Introducing A Brics Convergence Index, Mihaela Papa, Zhen 'Arc' Han, Frank O'Donnell

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

Informal institutions are important platforms for renegotiating global governance, but there is disagreement on how they operate and challenge the United States (US). Realists view some informal institutions like Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) as counter-hegemonic entities, while rational institutionalists focus on their structure and performance in specific areas. However, neither approach explains the internal dynamics that make these institutions robust and potentially counter-hegemonic. To fill this gap, we first develop a new convergence approach for analysing informal institutional dynamics, and then we apply this approach to examine BRICS robustness and BRICS–US relations. Our BRICS Convergence Index …

Dividing The Body Politic, James A. Gardner

Journal Articles

It has long been assumed in large, modern, democratic states that the successful practice of democratic politics requires some kind of internal division of the polity into subunits. In the United States, the appropriate methods and justifications for doing so have long been deeply and inconclusively contested. One reason for the intractability of these disputes is that American practices of political self-division are rooted in, and have been largely carried forward from, premodern practices that rested originally on overtly illiberal assumptions and justifications that are difficult or impossible to square with contemporary commitments to philosophical liberalism.

The possibility of sorting …

Human Rights Regime In West Africa: The Case Of Ecowas And The Journey To Nigeria's Fourth Republic, Fatima Mercy Aigbomian

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As regional economic communities within Africa expanded into courts to resolve economic disputes and these courts further metamorphosed into human rights courts, scholars of international human rights law have theorized about the reason for the “proliferation” of human rights mechanisms in Africa. This article examines why regional economic communities have courts whose jurisdiction have been expanded to hear human rights claims. I focus on the role of domestic politics and the strategic leadership of dominant member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Contrary to approaches that emphasize human rights courts are a well-orchestrated showmanship utilized as …

Demystifying The Panorama Of Electoral Violence In Nigeria: Exploring Education And E-Library Resources As Antidotes, Grace Ogechukwu Ugwonna, Phd, Chizoba Jovita Akudike, Josephine Ngozi Morah, Anthony Chikadibia Ugwonna

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The incidence of electoral violence in Nigeria and the involvement of youth, has remained a threat to the survival of Democracy. Given the damaging impact it has on the socioeconomic, cultural, religious, and political lives of the people and its threat to human existence, scholars have continued to explore ways of dealing with the enigma. This study therefore sought to ascertain the extent to which Civic education and voter education are relevant in curbing electoral violence among the youth and the extent of using e-library resources by the youth to access political information. This research effort was driven by the …

Challenges Of Ethnic Party Adaptation In Power-Sharing Systems: Evidence From Malaysia, Sebastian Carl Dettman

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In authoritarian systems, ethnic power-sharing arrangements include important ethnic groups in government and decision-making while putting restraints on political competition. However, under conditions of democratization, we might expect power-sharing arrangements to fragment as political parties seize opportunities to expand their base and appeal across ethnic lines. This article draws from the case of Malaysia, where multiethnic coalitions built around ethnic parties ruled for 61 years but where increasing electoral competitiveness has destabilized coalition politics. I focus on the Democratic Action Party (DAP), one of the country's most successful parties, which has sought to build a more multiethnic support base. I …

Fear Of Immigrants And Immigration In American Society, Sabrina Laib

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Immigrants, regardless of status, are portrayed as a threat to American society through the media. This paper will investigate Americans and their fear of non White immigrants and naturalized citizens through the theories of immigration threat, social identity theory, group cue, and the so-called freeloader problem. Due to the rise of xenophobic rhetoric being parroted by American politicians such as the Muslim ban enacted during the time of former President Trump’s presidency, the U.S. border control’s violence towards central American refugees, as well as undocumented laborers that Florida’s Governor DeSantis did not want working in his state anymore, leading to …

The Role Of Generational Status In Latino Voting Behavior And Partisanship, Isabella Stoddart

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

In recent years, there has been a notable divergence in the voting behavior of Latinos and Hispanics in the United States across generations, including an uptick in Republican vote share in regions such as South Florida. There has been a lack of consensus as to why this is occurring and literature seeking to explain this phenomenon has been limited in its evaluations and has failed to control for variables such as age, gender, education level, and religiosity. There has also been an overemphasis on the role political assimilation and voter participation play for this minority group. This study theorizes that …

Media Consumption And Islamophobia, Anastasia Athanasiadi

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Islamophobia has been a growing issue in the United States, especially after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center twin towers in 2001, from innocent people being harassed on the street or various social media platforms to a Muslim ban implemented by former President Donald Trump. The rise of online media has allowed individuals, organizations, politicians, and news outlets to post their opinions/ articles that perpetuate a fear of Muslims in the United States and worldwide. As media consumption has skyrocketed in recent years, American society has become more exposed to Islamophobic content than ever before, and its effects …

The Pride Pipeline: Violent Nationalism In The United States, Emily Veloz

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

A striking rise in American Nationalism has emerged due to varying factors; however, a particular selection of identities have acted as primary contributors to this phenomenon. This piece navigates the increasing application of violence in the political arena in tandem with the impacts of racial, socioeconomic, and social factors that have fueled this collective aggression. Previous research points toward the hyperpolarization that has been perpetuated by political figures and media outlets, the augmentation of a psychological us-vs.-them mentality, and the perceived threat to American hegemony across the globe. Through an analysis of data provided by the 9th edition of the …

The Professionalization Of The Supreme Court, Ruben Lopez-Apodaca

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The professional and personal backgrounds of Supreme Court Justices are becoming increasingly similar. Nearly all sitting justices hold degrees from an Ivy league law school and have experience as federal circuit judges. In earlier periods this was not the case. The Stone Court of the 1940’s had six Ivy League alumni and one judge with federal circuit experience. This begs the question, when and why did this shift take place? This study will provide an overview of the occupational and educational backgrounds of every justice from 1910 to the present, in addition to Supreme Court nominees of the same period …

Who Is Most Likely To Fear Financial Collapse, Robert Hutchens

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

§The United States has the largest economy in the world and yet Americans are often worried or concerned about the state of the economy and the effect of the economy on their lives. In this paper I examine the complex relationships between groups of people and their fear and opinion of financial collapse; specifically looking into the rationale and influences behind those opinions. Using the Chapman University American Fears Survey, I found a strong correlation between low income and fear of financial collapse, especially amongst those who make less than fifty thousand dollars a year. Education is also shown to …

America’S Fear Of Civil Unrest Through The Lens Of 2020 Blm Protests And January 6th, Morgan Romine

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Over the past five years, the United States of America (US) has experienced events which highlight societal weakness and faults in the foundations of the US system. This research paper focuses on the level of fear a participant has of civil unrest in the US, how that fear has evolved following the events of 2020, including the January 6th Insurrection and 2020’s summer of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. Factoring the age, political affiliation, and socio-economic status of the study’s participants into the findings, is a way to understand where the participant’s fear may be stemming from. My research uses …

Information Inflation: How Social Media News Consumption Contributes To Societal And Political Fears, Owen Cotton

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

By permitting each American to be exposed to countless amounts of information through social media, platforms have become even more influential for public perception. Since the establishment of social media platforms the United States has certainly seen an increase in political and social disputes, particularly during the last couple presidencies. In this paper I will examine what is the link between growing concerns of public unrest and social media, and to what extent the next generations of Americans are affected. With a partial focus on feelings resulting from the January 6th riots in 2021, I will examine to what extent …

The Truth About Partisan Affiliation: Fear, Trust, And Media, Hailey Merin

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

As the father of Western logic, Aristotle's research of the scientific method of analysis, biology, and psychology has been adopted by present-day America. If America has openly accepted an array of Aristotle's teachings, why have they ignored his observations that political parties are non-Democratic?

This research explores the relationship between political party affiliation, sentiment toward the government, and media influence on fear of corrupt government officials. Firstly, this paper examines the idea that sentiments toward the government are influenced by partisan affiliation. Secondly, it determines that after the 2020 election, Republicans fear corrupt government officials more than any other major …

Teaching Chinese Politics In The “New Cold War”: A Survey Of Faculty, Sara A. Newland

Government: Faculty Publications

How have worsening US-China relations affected faculty teaching Chinese politics in the US? This paper presents results from a 2022 survey of political science faculty. While student interest in Chinese politics remains high, faculty report a range of new challenges arising from increasingly nationalistic sentiments among both Chinese and American students, negative effects of both US and Chinese government policies, and an increase in anti-Asian bias. This article documents faculty experiences teaching Chinese politics, and offers recommendations for addressing common challenges.

Introduction To The Symposium: China And The Campus, Sara A. Newland

Government: Faculty Publications

The US-China relationship has worsened dramatically in recent years. After decades of pro-engagement policies toward China, a bipartisan consensus began to emerge around 2016 that engagement had neither accomplished US policy goals (such as encouraging China to liberalize politically) nor served US citizens well.1 At the same time, political changes within China have pointed to a declining appetite for engagement with the United States and sidelined the domestic constituencies who remained interested in cooperation and exchange. Further restrictions have shrunk the already limited space for media, civil society groups, and academic exchange in China. Pandemic-related border closures eliminated in-person exchanges …

State Consent And The Legitimacy Of International Law, David Lefkowitz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Like all law, international law is a practice of reason-giving, one in which agents invoke legal norms to justify their conduct. Practitioners of inter- national law generally proceed on the assumption that those norms do, in fact, justify the conduct they sanction. Theorists, in contrast, tend to take a more critical stance towards the practice of international law, including the assumption that the law succeeds in providing a justification for its subjects’ conduct. Why treat the claim that international law prohibits Φ-ing as in itself a reason not to Φ? Or using the terminology I will employ in this chapter, …

The Power Of Weakness: Coercion In The American Alliance Network In Asia, Noelle Claire Troutman

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

How can a weaker ally, or ‘protégé’ coerce their stronger partner, or ‘patron’ for greater autonomy? My primary argument is that protégés have agency; they can and do coerce their patron. I ask two interrelated questions within this study. First, when can allied preferences diverge? Second, if allied disagreement is likely, how can a protégé coerce their patron for greater autonomy? I argue that protégés with insecure regimes can threaten their own collapse to get their patron to give into their demands. This is a tough lie to get away with; patrons are therefore likely to concede when their protégé …

Introducing Just Competition Theory: Christian Realist Strategic Risk Management In Great Power Competition, Jason A. Byrd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

How can a Christian Realist approach shape United States security policy to manage strategic risk during Great Power Competition? This work finds that Just War Theory, in particular jus in bello (behavior in war), is a common method used by Christian Realists to determine actions and manage consequences in war; however, it is not optimal for the challenges posed in Competition. A complementary structure uniquely applicable to actions below the threshold of armed conflict is needed. This argument is manifested through Just Competition Theory or jus in contentione. In a complex environment of Great Power Competition, principles of jus in …