Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Framing The Policy Debate: Competing Portrayals Of Technology In Online Content Regulation And Lessons From Science And Technology Studies, Jeremy John Mauger

Theses and Dissertations

In an effort to control access to certain online content, the U.S. Congress has repeatedly mandated the use of powerful regulatory technologies such as Domain Name System blocking, Internet Service Provider filtering, age verification systems, and commercial filtering software. The application of these enforcement mechanisms may have serious implications for constitutional rights, individual freedom, and autonomy. This research will show that policies including the Communications Decency Act, the Child Online Protection Act, the Children's Internet Protection Act, the Stop Online Piracy Act, and the PROTECT Intellectual Property Act all have the potential to negatively impact these rights. Although the motivations …

Curse Or Cure? Remittances And Corruption In The Developing World, Michael D. Tyburski

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship between migrant remittances, money earned by migrant workers and sent back home, and corruption. Remittances total more $400 billion US a year, making them an important capital flow with understudied political consequences. Some scholarship argues that remittances increase corruption by allowing governments to reduce their provision of public goods and redistribute wealth to political supporters as private goods. In contrast, I argue that the relationship between remittances and corruption varies by regime type. Remittances will likely aggravate corruption in relatively authoritarian regimes where governments require smaller supporting coalitions and may be more likely to view …

Essays On Religion And Political Behavior: How Religion Facilitates Political Development And Change, Sky L. Ammann

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates several unexplored topics regarding the influence of Americans' religion on their political attitudes and behaviors. First, it posits that religious socialization enables and constrains the development of a child's party identification and moral issue attitudes over time. Using the Youth Parent Socialization Panel Study, three indicators of a parent's religion are employed to predict a child's politics early in life, over time, and across generations. The results show an evolving role of parental religious socialization on individuals' party identification and moral issue attitudes. In particular, for newer generations, parental religious beliefs have supplanted historical, religious-belonging-based religious measures …

Golden Opportunities: Vacancies And Representation In The U.S. Senate, Timothy Lynch

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how vacancies in the United States Senate are filled. Despite the ability of states to set the institution for naming replacements, gubernatorial appointment continues to be the dominant method of selecting successors. The popularity of gubernatorial appointment - which empowers a single individual to substitute his/her judgment for the decision of the state electorate - is curious given that one goal of the Seventeenth Amendment was to democratize the selection of senators. However, appointments provide a notable benefit over elections by creating shorter vacancies. Drawing on biographies of governors and appointees, and primary-source accounts of appointments, ambition …

Scotus On Cert: A Look At The Blackmun Papers, Zachary Wallander

Theses and Dissertations

Many studies aim to capture the influence of the Supreme Court over political actors who provide information to the justices. However, it seems reasonable to suggest that the reciprocal effect might also occur. Certain groups and individuals, hence political actors, might influence the Court through information mechanisms. With increasing requests for certiorari and thousands of cases being petitioned to the Court, the justices are faced with the daunting task of trying to decide which cases merit review. Reviewing 80-100 cases a year, the justices must rely upon political actors to help ease their burden of decision making. Employing the Blackmun …

An Investigation Of Competitive And Non-Competitive Framing Effects: Interpreting The Relationship Between Elite Rhetoric And Support For Preventive War, Jeffrey Alan Guse

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

AN INVESTIGATION OF COMPETITIVE AND NON-COMPETITIVE FRAMING EFFECTS: INTERPRETING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELITE RHETORIC AND SUPPORT FOR PREVENTIVE WAR

by

Jeffrey Guse

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,

Under the Supervision of Professor Steven B. Redd

This dissertation examines how competitive and non-competitive framing environments influence public opinion towards the use of preventive force. I attempt to develop a theory that helps to explain which factors are responsible for influencing public opinion for those who possess strong predispositions towards or against the use of force in contrast to those who possess weak predispositions towards or against the use of force. I …

The (Rail)Road Not Traveled: The Failure Of The Krm Commuter Rail Proposal In Greater Milwaukee, Wi, Neal A. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail (KRM) proposal was one of many passenger rail proposals studied for the greater Milwaukee area over the past few decades. The proposed line would have connected the cities of Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee, as well as communities in northern Illinois, along already existing rail lines. An analysis of archival information, newspaper coverage, and interviews with key stakeholders were conducted to explore the influence of an auto-dominated culture, the role of politics, local and regional expectations, funding issues, and the legacy of earlier local debates to determine why the KRM commuter rail proposal failed. In the beginning, …