Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Comparative Analysis Of Regional Institution Engagement And Development Trajectories In South America And Eastern Asia, Joel S. Guahnich

Senior Projects Fall 2023

This project analyzes the reasons behind South American struggles connected to regional organizations compared to Southeastern Asian economic and political development in the second half of the 20th century. When exploring the unique characteristics and historical context of South American and Eastern Asian regional blocs such as the Union of South American NationsUSAN/ Union de Naciones Suramericanas, UNASUR, Mercado Común del Sur MERCOSUR; Eastern Asian regional blocs such as The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, and The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). This project seeks to understand the factors contributing to their distinct trajectories, highlighting how they have achieved …

Clinging To Power: Authoritarian Leaders And Coercive Effectiveness, Christian J. Wolfe

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This study identifies three tactics authoritarian leaders use to attempt to effectively coerce their citizens without losing power: 1) performance legitimacy, 2) nationalist legitimacy, and 3) institutional legitimacy. To demonstrate these tactics of what I call “coercive effectiveness,” the author employs a most-different-systems analysis on the regimes of Xi Jinping (2012 2015) and Bashar al-Assad (2000-2004). The author finds that coercion is more likely to be effective under the following conditions: 1) when leaders use economic performance and institutionalist strategies rather than nationalist tactics, 2) when an authoritarian leader climbs the ladder to power rather than inheriting leadership and 3) …

Economic Inequality And Democratic Representative Institutions Across Western Industrialized Democracies, Donald Plungis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effects of political representation on economic inequality across western industrialized democracies. I explore an explanation of increases in economic inequality as a consequence of less representative democratic institutions. Explaining economic inequality in this manner is a shift from to the Transatlantic Consensus that attributes increased economic inequality to globalization. I expect to find that more representative electoral and governments institutions will be associated with lower levels of economic inequality. The analysis takes place across twenty-three countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) over the past forty years using a cross-sectional longitudinal model. Variables …

The Development Of Personal Status Law In Jordan & Iraq, Kelsey Cherland

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the historical development of personal status law, which governs a person’s marriage, divorce, and custody rights. It is significant because it is part of a framework that has defined women’s rights for centuries. I will argue that personal status law is a patriarchal framework that has been reinforced over time, leading up to the creation of nation-states in the Middle East. As such, this is the “institution” of personal status that will be traced using historical institutionalism theory. In this thesis I will argue that personal status has undergone a critical juncture, or crucial moment of potential …

Future Stability In The European Union: Realism, Constructivism, And Institutionalism, Maya Swisa

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

Resilience And Change In Federal Institutions: The Case Of The German Federal Council, Kathleen A. Thelen, Sebastian Karcher

Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs

One of the oldest federalist systems, Germany offers itself as a case study for long-term developments in federalism. Drawing on a burgeoning literature on institutional continuity and change we investigate the development of a key institution of German federalism, the Federal Council (Bundesrat) from the foundation of the German Reich until today. Counter to claims that institutional change occurs mainly during “critical junctures,” the Federal Council has shown remarkable resilience: It persisted through World War I and the 1919 revolution and the writing of the centralist Weimar constitution. Dismantled in 1934, it returned in 1949 after years of dictatorship, war, …

An Institutional Explanation Of The Formation Of Intergovernmental Agreements In Federal Systems, Jeffrey T. Parker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intergovernmental agreements are a common and useful instrument in federal systems, serving a variety of purposes from establishing new social programs, regulating agricultural practices, and even changing a country's constitution. Despite their importance, there have only been limited attempts to understand agreements in a comparative context or to provide a theoretical framework for their study. This dissertation addresses both of these deficiencies by comparing the use of agreements in seven federations and considering why certain federations form more agreements than others.

In order to understand these differences in intergovernmental agreement formation, this thesis proposes an institutionalist approach with two components. …

Hijacked Justice: Domestic Appropriation Of International Norms, Jelena Subotić

Human Rights & Human Welfare

This paper explores the domestic politics of international norm diffusion, using the global transmission of transitional justice norms as the empirical context of the research. Applying sociological institutionalism as the principal theoretical framework, I argue that the motivation of states to adopt international models of transitional justice has changed over time. The transitional justice norm - that posits that war crimes and massive human rights abuses must be dealt with in a proper legal setting and not through “victors’ justice” or impunity - was institutionalized in large part as the result of a strong domestic demand for transitional justice in …