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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Factors Of Political Party Competitiveness In Mississippi, Anna Kate Baygents May 2016

Factors Of Political Party Competitiveness In Mississippi, Anna Kate Baygents

Honors Theses

This research project examines the relationship between urbanization and political party competitiveness in Mississippi. Using elections results from the 2011 and the 2015 Mississippi House of Representatives races, this project seeks to find if there is a relationship between urbanization and competitiveness in Mississippi, and if not, which factors do affect competitiveness. Previous research indicates that as an area urbanizes, its elections become more competitive among different political parties. However, this study finds that there is no clear correlation between urbanization and party competitiveness in Mississippi elections, and that other factors, including race, education, and geographic location, may have more …


A Comparative Analysis Between The Histories And Methods Of The Pro-Life And Lgbt Movements, Savanna B. Fox May 2016

A Comparative Analysis Between The Histories And Methods Of The Pro-Life And Lgbt Movements, Savanna B. Fox

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the connection between the elite theory and social movements by comparing the success of the pro-life and gay rights movements in America and investigating the effects that elite influence has had on these movements. The research is deductive in nature, investigating the elite theory in relation to social movements. The methodology of this project is organized as a comparative analysis between the gay rights and pro-life causes. The research discovers that elite influence, whether a social movement appeals to morality politics or interest group politics, and what kind of policy changes a movement seeks to affect all …


Excessive Police Force And Misconduct: A Failing System And How To Improve It, Elise Seale May 2016

Excessive Police Force And Misconduct: A Failing System And How To Improve It, Elise Seale

Honors Theses

The Law Enforcement Misconduct Statute was passed by Congress as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, partly as a reaction to a nationwide debate about excessive use of police force after Rodney King’s brutal killing in 1991. The statute gave the Department of Justice the ability to investigate and file suits against individual police departments; the statute’s intent was both to reform the investigated departments with high amounts of misconduct and excessive force and to incentivize police reform nationwide. However, because of the financial setbacks involved in launching investigations and inconsistency in implementation, this …


A Historical Analysis Of The Early Christian Church Fathers’ Opinions Regarding Abortion, Lauren Taylor Provencher May 2016

A Historical Analysis Of The Early Christian Church Fathers’ Opinions Regarding Abortion, Lauren Taylor Provencher

Honors Theses

Due to scarce material on the subject in the Bible and supposed discord among Early Christian Church Fathers, the debate on abortion is one that is often hotly contested in the United States. From the religious political aspect there is much debate over whether the Early Christian Church had a single mindset towards the notion on abortion or was deeply divided on the subject as we are today. A popular narrative, even among many in academia, is that the Church was not unified on the topic. Some even go so far as to ascribe to a pro-Choice stance on abortion …