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Articles 1 - 30 of 66
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Stamford Experience In The Twenty-First Century: Analyzing Urban Development Conflict At The Neighborhood Level, Michael Hernandez
The Stamford Experience In The Twenty-First Century: Analyzing Urban Development Conflict At The Neighborhood Level, Michael Hernandez
Honors Scholar Theses
At a time when mid-size cities around the country are growing rapidly and taking on all kinds of development, it is important for scholars to understand residents’ views on development. This paper reviews some of the extant literature on urban development conflict, with a focus on the legacy of urban renewal, models of citizen participation, urban redevelopment, and the back-to- the-city movement towards an understanding of resident opposition to development. The literature review also helped create a framework to answer three questions: (1) what is (or are) the central conflict(s) over urban development in Stamford, Connecticut since 2007, (2) considering …
Forgotten Immigrant Voices: West Indian Immigrant Experiences And Attitudes Towards Contemporary Immigration, Danielle Cross
Forgotten Immigrant Voices: West Indian Immigrant Experiences And Attitudes Towards Contemporary Immigration, Danielle Cross
Honors Scholar Theses
Scholarly work and media coverage both point to the negative effect that the rhetoric and policy of former US President Donald Trump had on the lived experience and wellbeing of immigrant groups explicitly targeted by it (i.e., the “Trump effect”). Typically, the focus has been on Muslim and Latino immigrants as well as those less-explicitly targeted but still affected by Trump-era policies, such as temporary workers. This thesis explores whether Black immigrants from the English-speaking Caribbean, a group notably missing from the literature of “Trump effects” on immigrant experiences, experienced similar attitudinal or practical effects as a result of contemporary …
Dissecting Discontent: How Stocks And Flows Of County-Level Economic And Social Factors Affect The Vote Shares Of Populist Candidates, Thomas Dowd
Honors Scholar Theses
Across the United States, recent waves of populism have disrupted existing political institutions and fueled the rise of figures like Donald Trump on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left. Myriad research has been conducted to examine the reasons behind this surge; underlying much of the literature is the story of a population who is deeply unsettled by how global changes threaten the social and economic fabric of their communities. This thesis will test many of the possible drivers of populism, including economic wellbeing, income inequality, social capital, and community breakdown. Using data from the 2016 Democratic presidential primary …
As Seen On Screen: American Ambivalence Shown Through Death Penalty And Vigilante Films, Lisette Donewald
As Seen On Screen: American Ambivalence Shown Through Death Penalty And Vigilante Films, Lisette Donewald
Honors Scholar Theses
The United States is one of the last western nations still practicing capital punishment. A history of and commitment to vigilantism and its ideals offers an explanation of America’s retention of capital punishment. Employing scholarship on law and popular culture and vigilantism, this thesis finds that pro-death penalty frames are prevalent in vigilante films while anti-death penalty frames are prevalent in films that focus specifically upon capital punishment. Since the 1960’s however, there has been a gradual shift towards anti-death penalty frames and away from pro-death penalty frames as well as changes in the themes presented in the two genres …
Examining The Relationship Between Male And Female Rotc Experiences And Career Ambition, Anabelle S. Bergstrom
Examining The Relationship Between Male And Female Rotc Experiences And Career Ambition, Anabelle S. Bergstrom
Holster Scholar Projects
An exploratory study of how experiences within ROTC programs affect the career ambitions of male and female cadets. Fourteen cadets from two New England universities were interviewed and asked questions regarding experiential factors including but not limited to physical training, uniforms, and treatment by commanding officers. Air Force and Army ROTC programs are included in the study. Findings not only show how certain experiences of ROTC cadets affect their career ambition, but they also show significant differences in the treatment of female cadets compared to their male counterparts.
Rise Of Police Unions On The Back Of The Black Liberation Movement, Ayesha Bell Hardaway
Rise Of Police Unions On The Back Of The Black Liberation Movement, Ayesha Bell Hardaway
Connecticut Law Review
Police unions have garnered the attention of the media and some scholars in recent years. That attention has often focused on exploring the seemingly inexplicable and routine power police unions have to shield problem officers from accountability. This Article shows that police union power did not surreptitiously arrive on the doorsteps of American cities. Instead, collective bargaining rights for law enforcement began to gain firm footing during the 1960s as white Americans remained committed to preserving their place in the nation’s racial hierarchy as it related to housing, jobs, education, and entertainment. Existing legal scholarship has successfully highlighted the depth …
The Senator And The Citizen: Comparing The Agendas Of The U.S. Senate And Populace, Christian Chlebowski
The Senator And The Citizen: Comparing The Agendas Of The U.S. Senate And Populace, Christian Chlebowski
Holster Scholar Projects
How responsive is the United States Senate to the attitudes and beliefs of the constituents it serves? Using data from the Cooperative Election Study and the United States Census, as well as an investigation into Senate roll-call votes, I will examine Senate responsiveness for the 111th through 116th Congresses.
Explaining Reproductive Health Disparities: Violence In The “Colorblind” Institution Of Medicine, Chineze Osakwe
Explaining Reproductive Health Disparities: Violence In The “Colorblind” Institution Of Medicine, Chineze Osakwe
Honors Scholar Theses
Medical policies have resulted in violence that has a formal role in regulating the reproductive rights of women of African descent in the United States from the Jim Crow era (circa 1965) to present day (2021), resulting in significantly racialized reproductive health disparities regardless of social or economic influences. This thesis explores why reproductive violence against African-American women persists, regardless of women’s own class and educational background. I have focused on the potential impact of two structural components that I hypothesized contributed to the perpetuation of reproductive violence against Black women and persistent health disparities. The two factors explored in …
Knowing China, Losing China: Discourse And Power In U.S.-China Relations, Shankara Narayanan
Knowing China, Losing China: Discourse And Power In U.S.-China Relations, Shankara Narayanan
University Scholar Projects
The U.S. government’s 2017 National Security Strategy claimed, “China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.”[1] Three years later, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the U.S. foreign policy community’s discursive shift towards Realist competition with China, with officials from the past three presidential administrations coming to view China as a threat to democratic governance and America’s security posture in Asia. The discourse underpinning the U.S.-China relationship, however, remains understudied. During key moments in the relationship, U.S. policymakers’ Realist intellectual frameworks failed to account for Chinese nationalism, suggesting a problem embedded within …
Knowing China, Losing China: Discourse And Power In U.S.-China Relations, Shankara Narayanan
Knowing China, Losing China: Discourse And Power In U.S.-China Relations, Shankara Narayanan
Honors Scholar Theses
The U.S. government’s 2017 National Security Strategy claimed, “China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.”[1] Three years later, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the U.S. foreign policy community’s discursive shift towards Realist competition with China, with officials from the past three presidential administrations coming to view China as a threat to democratic governance and America’s security posture in Asia. The discourse underpinning the U.S.-China relationship, however, remains understudied. During key moments in the relationship, U.S. policymakers’ Realist intellectual frameworks failed to account for Chinese nationalism, suggesting a problem embedded within …
Untold Stories Of The African Diaspora: The Lived Experiences Of Black Caribbean Immigrants In The Greater Hartford Area, Shanelle A. Jones
Untold Stories Of The African Diaspora: The Lived Experiences Of Black Caribbean Immigrants In The Greater Hartford Area, Shanelle A. Jones
University Scholar Projects
The African Diaspora represents vastly complex migratory patterns. This project studies the journeys of English-speaking Afro-Caribbeans who immigrated to the US for economic reasons between the 1980s-present day. While some researchers emphasize the success of West Indian immigrants, others highlight the issue of downward assimilation many face upon arrival in the US. This paper explores the prospect of economic incorporation into American society for West Indian immigrants. I conducted and analyzed data from an online survey and 10 oral histories of West Indian economic migrants residing in the Greater Hartford Area to gain a broader perspective on the economic attainment …
Governing A Continent Of Trash: The Global Politics Of Oceanic Pollution, Anne Longo
Governing A Continent Of Trash: The Global Politics Of Oceanic Pollution, Anne Longo
Honors Scholar Theses
There is a new continent growing in the North Pacific Ocean known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Patch is composed of a vast array of marine pollution, discarded single-use items, and mostly microplastics. This thesis explores how and why governments and other entities do or do not deal with the growing problem of ocean pollution. Sovereignty roadblocks and balance of power prove to be obstacles for such efforts. This thesis then attempts to create the ideal model of governance for ocean plastics using the policy-making process. The policy analysis reviews bilateral, multilateral, and non-governmental solutions for the removal …
March Like A Girl: A Case Study Of The Women’S Movements In Spain And The United States, Magdalena Klin
March Like A Girl: A Case Study Of The Women’S Movements In Spain And The United States, Magdalena Klin
Honors Scholar Theses
Between 2017 and 2018, the gender equality movement exploded in Spain and the United States due to two independent catalysts. In each respective country, there was one main grassroots coalition that channeled public outrage into a coherent display of protest. As the initial passion from the catalyst events diminished, these coalitions did not fade away. Instead, they grew into their nation's face of women’s advocacy. Given the comparable set of circumstances in Spain and the U.S., I identify how two temporary, newborn coalitions were able to capitalize on a burst of fame and develop into leading organizations. This paper examines …
"Bad Hombres" And The Bully Pulpit: A Study Of Presidential Rhetoric On Social Media And Behavioral Responses Of The Immigrant Population, Mary Vlamis
Honors Scholar Theses
For years, social scientists have studied the impact of presidential rhetoric on public opinion and consumer behavior. This paper adds to the literature on presidential rhetoric by investigating how presidential statements on social media change public behavior in a reaction to these statements. President Trump's immigration policy tweets are used to examine if there is a relationship between the president's statements and changes in behavior using and Google searches. I find no relationship between the instance of a President Trump’s tweet and changes in searching for related topics among both large immigrant populations and Trump supporters.
How Oil-Reliant, Autocratic Regimes Transition To Renewable Energy, Brady Harman
How Oil-Reliant, Autocratic Regimes Transition To Renewable Energy, Brady Harman
Honors Scholar Theses
Climate change is here, yet even as states transition to green energy, oil remains supreme at both the international and national levels. Many nations around the world have based their economies on the production of fossil fuels, leaving these countries entrapped in the “resource curse,” often contributing to the development of autocratic regimes. As the world economy moves away from fossil fuels, these countries will be left with the question of how to transition to green energy sources. In this paper I examine how the approach to green energy implementation differs between autocracies and democracies. More specifically, I demonstrate the …
What Does It Take? The Informal Factors That Are Conducive To The Passage Of A Participatory Amendment, Connor Huydic
What Does It Take? The Informal Factors That Are Conducive To The Passage Of A Participatory Amendment, Connor Huydic
Honors Scholar Theses
Hundreds of Constitutional revisions are proposed in our national legislature every year, yet only twenty-seven have been ratified as amendments in the 243-year history of the United States. The Constitution outlines the formal factors required to ratify an amendment, but this paper will focus on the informal factors that are integral to the eventual passage of a participatory amendment. Through case studies of the Nineteenth and Twenty-Sixth Amendments, this thesis examines the factors that contributed to the ratification of these amendments to find similarities in the circumstances that helped propel these bills to eventual adoption as amendments. Non-radical social movements, …
Public Matters? Comparing Decision-Making By Appointed And Elected Prosecutors In Cases Of Deadly Use-Of-Force By Police In The Hartford Judicial District And Suffolk County, Andrew E. Dubsky
Honors Scholar Theses
This thesis dissects prosecutor discretion for appointed and elected prosecutors after a “catalyst” event shifts public opinion. Previous studies have shown that elected prosecutors are more likely to use discretion favoring the opinion of the public than their appointed counterparts (Bandyopadhyay 2014, Nelson 2014, and Valenti 2011). Because elected prosecutors are more likely to follow public opinion, they should also be more likely to respond to the demands of the public than their appointed counterparts. In effect, elected prosecutors are expected to be more likely to exercise discretion in their charging and prosecuting. To test this, I use the 2014 …
Driven Towards Whiteness: The 1968 Election And White Supremacy, Arianna Tsikitas
Driven Towards Whiteness: The 1968 Election And White Supremacy, Arianna Tsikitas
Honors Scholar Theses
Existing literature highlights the political interaction between the Republican party and civil rights, how civil rights impacted the white ethnic revival, and the appeals made by the Republican party to keep their new voters happy. Many are familiar with the history of discrimination against Eastern European immigrants, yet the process through which they adopted white identity politics is another matter. The role of right-wing activists and leaders during the Wallace Presidential campaign was instrumental in connecting these dots for the Republican leadership, however this too goes largely unnoticed. My thesis will complement existing literature by tracing the involvement of these …
Is China Stealing Our Tech? A Look Into The Role Of Intellectual Property Rights In Us-China Trade Relations, Ryan Chester
Is China Stealing Our Tech? A Look Into The Role Of Intellectual Property Rights In Us-China Trade Relations, Ryan Chester
Honors Scholar Theses
This thesis aims to further the current scholarship on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and their effects on international trade and the US-China trade relationship more specifically. The main analysis of this thesis is a quantitative cross-country analysis of over 100 countries to see how IPR plays a role in international trade, while analyzing how the Sino-US trade relationship fits into larger trends. This thesis aims to answer the questions as follows: What are the current policies surrounding Intellectual Property Rights between China and the US? Does increasing the strength of IPR laws influence imports? Does the strength of a country’s …
Ethnic Conflict's Effect On Internet And Black Male Feminism, Seraphin Tala
Ethnic Conflict's Effect On Internet And Black Male Feminism, Seraphin Tala
Honors Scholar Theses
Within the study of democratic institutions worldwide there exists the need to study factors within states, countries, and or territories that elicit or hinder democracy. Among these are the relationships that exist between ethnic cultures that interact within the same governmental structure and the roles they play within that institution. Throughout the African continent, there are many governmental structures that support hundreds of tribes holding various sociocultural differences. These differences have led to ethnic conflicts throughout African history and even escalated to civil war which pose social, political and economic detriments to the nation involved. In recent years the internet …
The Impact Of Location On Healthcare Access For Individuals With Disabilities, Addison Kimber
The Impact Of Location On Healthcare Access For Individuals With Disabilities, Addison Kimber
Honors Scholar Theses
This paper analyzes healthcare access for individuals with disabilities living in rural areas. In current political discussion, we typically think of insurance coverage as the metric to analyze healthcare access. However, as demonstrated by studies of healthcare in the United Kingdom, people with disabilities continue to face barriers to health care even with universal healthcare systems. In particular, individuals in rural areas have less healthcare access than urban residents. This is due to factors including socioeconomic status, insurance coverage, access to competent care, and transportation. This study aims to understand if disability status exacerbates the issue of access in rural …
Cooperation Or Conflict: Using Alliance Theory To Explain The Current Gulf Cooperation Council Crisis, Pierre Aguirre
Cooperation Or Conflict: Using Alliance Theory To Explain The Current Gulf Cooperation Council Crisis, Pierre Aguirre
Honors Scholar Theses
What caused the current diplomatic crisis between countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council? I analyze this question through the lens of alliance politics. In the past, scholars have used these different theories to explain the formation and sustainability of certain alliances, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Specifically, I test Walt's theory of the Balance of Threat against others to see which can best explain the Council's downfall. Using a case study research design, I disaggregate the alliance into three notable periods: formation, sustained cooperation, and discord. My findings reveal that Walt’s theory lacks certain …
Decentralization And The Provision Of Public Services: A Case Study Of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Mishaal Afteb
Decentralization And The Provision Of Public Services: A Case Study Of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Mishaal Afteb
Honors Scholar Theses
The effective provision of public services is integral to a functioning democracy as it connects the public to the government and grants it legitimacy. Public services are ones that are provided by the federal and local governments and paid for with constituent taxes. Public services provided by the state are education, health, water/sanitation, environmental measures, security, policing, labor and legal guidelines and so on. Whether the structure of the government is centralized or decentralized is an important factor which impacts the provision of services. Decentralized governments are state or local governments which receive monetary and institutional resources from the federal …
Determining Defense: Bureaucracy, Threat And Missile Defense, Emilyn Tuomala
Determining Defense: Bureaucracy, Threat And Missile Defense, Emilyn Tuomala
Honors Scholar Theses
What caused interest in the U.S. missile defense systems to change over time, starting as an impossible idea and now a multibillion dollar reality? The common belief is that national security decisions and technological choices are rationally determined in response to external threats. Is it possible that technological defense decisions are shaped by bureaucracy and political ideology as well? Was funding poured into SDI due to pressure from Russian threats? From U.S. policymakers with close ties to defense contractors? I measure interest in missile defense through the amount of money allocated to these projects, evaluating how it has changed since …
Presidential Power Couples: Does A Strong First Lady Correlate With A Strong President?, Misha Jethwa
Presidential Power Couples: Does A Strong First Lady Correlate With A Strong President?, Misha Jethwa
Honors Scholar Theses
This thesis explores the extent to which a strong first lady correlates with a strong president, and if she impacts public perceptions of his success. To do this, I have run a cross-tabulation through STATA with comprehensive rankings on presidents and first ladies from C-SPAN and Siena College respectively. Both consist of 10 categories that factor into the overall rankings. I have also compiled brief case studies on statistically significant first ladies in order to discover why some of these women are ranked as such. The correlations between rankings are most prominent at the bottom of the rankings - with …
We Love Big Brother: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Orwell’S Nineteen Eighty-Four And Modern Politics In The United States And Europe, Edward Pankowski
We Love Big Brother: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Orwell’S Nineteen Eighty-Four And Modern Politics In The United States And Europe, Edward Pankowski
Honors Scholar Theses
In recent months since the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States in November 2016, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four has seen a resurgence in sales, and terms invented by Orwell or brought about by his work, such as “Orwellian,” have re-entered the popular discourse. This is not a new phenomenon, however, as Nineteen Eighty-Four has had a unique impact on each of the generations that have read it, and the impact has stretched across racial, ethnic, political, and gender lines. This thesis project will examine the critical, popular, and scholarly reception of Nineteen Eighty-Four since its …
An Unlikely Populist: Donald Trump And The Rhetoric Of Elite And Minority Resentment, Jared Quigley
An Unlikely Populist: Donald Trump And The Rhetoric Of Elite And Minority Resentment, Jared Quigley
University Scholar Projects
Populist rhetoric is a political language employed by individual leaders which divides the populace into two categories: a pure, moral people and a corrupt elite. In this paper, I examine Donald Trump as a populist, focusing on Moffit’s political style approach (Moffit 2016) and Mudde’s definition of populism as an ideology (Mudde 2004). Listening to speeches from the campaign, I study how the components of these definitions of populism apply to Trump. I also examine the groups that Trump defined as “the people,” “the elite,” and the “undeserving minority groups.” I argue that while Trump does exhibit certain behaviors expected …
An Unlikely Populist: Donald Trump And The Rhetoric Of Elite And Minority Resentment, Jared Quigley
An Unlikely Populist: Donald Trump And The Rhetoric Of Elite And Minority Resentment, Jared Quigley
Honors Scholar Theses
Populist rhetoric is a political language employed by individual leaders which divides the populace into two categories: a pure, moral people and a corrupt elite. In this paper, I examine Donald Trump as a populist, focusing on Moffit’s political style approach (Moffit 2016) and Mudde’s definition of populism as an ideology (Mudde 2004). Listening to speeches from the campaign, I study how the components of these definitions of populism apply to Trump. I also examine the groups that Trump defined as “the people,” “the elite,” and the “undeserving minority groups.” I argue that while Trump does exhibit certain behaviors expected …
The Path To Terrorism: The Islamic State And Its Recruitment Strategies, Laura Turner
The Path To Terrorism: The Islamic State And Its Recruitment Strategies, Laura Turner
Honors Scholar Theses
The Islamic State, commonly known as ISIS, a terrorist organization that commits acts of such brutality that even Al Qaeda has denounced it, has recruited approximately 21,000 foreign fighters from countries all over the world. Why is this group so appealing? What has made it so effective at recruitment? What methods does it employ to recruit so many individuals? This paper seeks to answer these questions by examining the recruitment strategies of ISIS. Case studies of individual foreign fighters are analyzed to assess the strength of three explanations of ISIS’ recruitment methods that dominate the current literature: strategic targeting, online …
Running Comes Before Winning: Explaining The Gender Differential In State Legislatures, Marissa Piccolo
Running Comes Before Winning: Explaining The Gender Differential In State Legislatures, Marissa Piccolo
University Scholar Projects
What factors influence the likelihood that a woman runs for, wins, and holds political office across the country? Is it easier to explain why a woman runs in, than that she ultimately represents, a certain district? I compare a series of state-level and district-level independent variables and relate them to two different dependent variables: that a woman ran for a district seat, and that a woman represents a district. I explore what, and how much, political geography and contextual factors can explain. My preliminary findings show that it is easier to explain the probability that a woman runs, than that …