Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Nordic Cooperation In The Post-Cold War Era: A Case Study Of Institutional Persistence, Pavla Landiss

Dissertations

Long-lasting cooperation among a group of nations is rare. Scholars of different traditions disagree about the possibilities of sustained cooperation. This dissertation focuses on the cooperation among the five nations in Northern Europe sometimes referred to as the Nordics – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, plus three self-governing territories – the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and the Åland Islands. They form a distinct region with a common identity and a well developed cooperation. The overarching norm is cooperation based on respect for national sovereignty. It started emerging in the 19th century, but was formalized first after World War II. The …

Varieties Of Politics, Varieties Of Capitalism: The Effects Of Political Institutions On Capitalist Diversity, Matthew P. Arsenault

Dissertations

A strong correlation exists between varieties of political regimes and varieties of capitalism (VOC). Majoritarian political regimes are correlated with liberal market economies (LMEs) and consensus political regimes are correlated with coordinated market economies (CMEs). Still, correlation is not causation. The purpose of this project is to open the “black box” and identify mechanisms linking political institutions and variation in capitalist systems. Empirical findings illustrate that partisanship and policy legacies, the number of political parties, electoral rules, and constitutional constraints are significant indicators of LMEs and CMEs. I find that majoritarian institutions are conducive to an environment of adversarial politics …

The Social And Political Philosophy Of Bertolt Brecht, Anthony Squiers

Dissertations

Bertolt Brecht is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in Twentieth Century literature. An acclaimed poet, he is best known as a playwright and director. His 'epic theatre' revolutionized the theatre by creating radical breaks from traditional literary and theatrical form. These radical breaks were done in an effort to facilitate radical social change. Specifically, Brecht designed his epic theatre as a revolutionary aesthetic which would help bring about the advent of a Marxist revolution. There is a broad corpus of academic work which analyzes the formalistic elements of his work. However, this body of work …

The Contours Of Judicial Tenure In State Courts Of Last Resort: Accountability Vs. Independence, Todd A. Curry

Dissertations

The study of state courts of last resort is a field which has, up until recently, been significantly underrepresented in political science (Baum 1987, Dubois 1980). The bulk of work in judicial politics over the last fifty years has focused on the federal system. Furthermore, the study of state courts allows for a true comparative analysis. The methods of selection used for the staffing of state courts of last resort are highly varied. There are five distinctly different methods which are used for judicial selection in the states, and many states have institutional nuances that provide further variation for study. …

Shopping For Identity: An Economic Explanation For The Post-2003 Violence In Iraq, Alan M. Noory

Dissertations

The American occupation of Iraq revealed intense intra-society violence in Iraq that was not possible to take note of during decades of the state’s systematic practice of violence against society and the organized counter-violence in response to it. The occupation, along with the collapse of a regime without any viable governing alternative, and the historic ethno-sectarian tensions are attractive explanatory factors for the ongoing intra-society violence in Iraq. Yet, they fail to explain another civil war that took place in Iraqi Kurdistan a decade earlier. This forgotten war took place in an almost all Kurd/ all Sunni society, after three …

New Media, New Politics: The Emergence Of The Internet In American Politics, Michael Robert Artime

Dissertations

The Internet is viewed by some as a great tool for democracy. Indeed, if we believe in the value of a marketplace of ideas, there is no greater forum through which individuals can express any and every opinion on a variety of issues than the Internet. However, it is unclear whether this free and unfettered expression of ideas has been helpful or harmful to American democracy. This dissertation demonstrates, through the use of National Election Studies (NES) data that those using the Internet tend to have more negative attitudes toward political leaders and institutions than their counterparts who either do …

A Comparison Of Institutional Climates In Higher Education In The United States And South Africa, Juanyce Deanna Taylor

Dissertations

Increasing opportunities and access of historically underrepresented populations to higher education in both the United States and South Africa have proved challenging due to institutional climates that are perceived as unwelcoming and unsupportive. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors relating to institutional climates to uncover social constructs that positively and negatively impact the institutional environment. Transformational leadership serves as the theoretical framework for this study.

Data results from institutional climate studies administered higher education institutions in the United States and South Africa were analyzed and compared. Collegiality and collaboration; communication; diversity and equity; governance and strategy; harassment …

Determinants Of Tax Effort: A Cross Country Analysis, Mark Alan Mccoon

Dissertations

This paper analyzes the determinants of tax effort. Tax effort is defined as the aggregate tax level of a country divided by its Gross Domestic Product. A country‘s tax effort is an expression of the tax burden the government imposes on the economy. One of the most fundamental issues confronting a society is the size of the governmental sector. How large should the government be relative to the size of the economy? The nations of the world have crafted many different answers to that question as evidenced by the fact that tax effort and the size of government sectors varies …

Making Politics Personal: Leadership Programs As A Tool For Developing Political Interest And Efficacy In Young Women, Dayna Marie Stock

Dissertations

Encouraging young women to pursue careers in electoral politics is seen as one strategy for ameliorating the gender disparity that has characterized American political institutions for decades. This multi-method project focuses on outcomes obtained by participants in four "NEW Leadership™" Training Institutes that claim to "educate and empower the next generation of women leaders." Using original survey data from 2011, participant observations, and interviews with program alumnae, I explore the relationship between program participation and political interest and efficacy. The findings suggest that graduates of the NEW Leadership™ program report increased knowledge of women in politics and methods for participating …

The Road To Virtue And The Road To Fortune: The Scottish Enlightenment And The Problem Of Individualism In Commercial Society, Sarah Ramirez

Dissertations

As commercial society began to emerge in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe, it was widely thought to be inherently individualistic--whether such individualism was viewed as a strength, in the Mandevillean view, or as a weakness, by the civic humanists. Five thinkers from the Scottish Enlightenment--Francis Hutcheson, David Hume, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, and John Millar--confronted this problem. First, they questioned whether some aspects of individualism constitute genuine problems at all. For instance, their analysis of conspicuous consumption or luxury indicated that it could inspire an individual's virtue by sensitizing him to the beautiful and the fitting. Second, they pointed out that …