Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Truth About Partisan Affiliation: Fear, Trust, And Media, Hailey Merin

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

As the father of Western logic, Aristotle's research of the scientific method of analysis, biology, and psychology has been adopted by present-day America. If America has openly accepted an array of Aristotle's teachings, why have they ignored his observations that political parties are non-Democratic?

This research explores the relationship between political party affiliation, sentiment toward the government, and media influence on fear of corrupt government officials. Firstly, this paper examines the idea that sentiments toward the government are influenced by partisan affiliation. Secondly, it determines that after the 2020 election, Republicans fear corrupt government officials more than any other major …

More Than A Game: Sports Branding In Canadian Politics And The Canadian-American Relationship, Tyler Joseph Rohleder

Major Papers

The topic of sports and politics is extremely relevant in today's world. This paper looks at how sports branding within Canadian politics provides a tangible advantage to former athletes turned politicians, while these branding efforts also provide politicians who associate themselves with the phenomenon of sport a strategic advantage, termed the “Athlete Advantage.” These advantages are in a multitude of areas such as name recognition, higher approval ratings, and further political aspirations. This “athlete advantage” of sports branding is then expanded on in the form of sport diplomacy. With sport diplomacy and branding the concept of the “Athlete Advantage” is …

"The Land That Feminism Forgot": Birthzillas, Madwives, And The Politics Of Chilbirth, Amber Vayo

Doctoral Dissertations

“The Land that Feminism Forgot” is an in-depth exploration of the politics of childbirth that draws together qualitative and quantitative evidence to theorize the connections between treatment in childbirth and maternal mortality. Situating the qualitative research in the larger national context, the second chapter offers a State Reproductive Autonomy Index that provides an overview of the reproductive policy landscape at the national level. The dissertation then explores the role of institutionalized childbirth, medical mistrust, and obstetric violence in the U.S.’s longstanding maternal mortality crisis and offers policy suggestions in key public health areas. Through 120 qualitative interviews with people who …

Network Tango: Examining State Dispositions Toward Attribution In International Cyber Conflict, Robert Riley Turner

University Honors Theses

Cyberspace is an environment of international conflict often sought out due to its ability to create significant effects at little cost, and obfuscating the ready attribution of hostility. One avenue toward streamlining the attribution of hostile actions in cyberspace is the introduction of a due diligence of data transparency amongst states. This level of data transparency must somehow be incentivized. The following study surveys the geopolitical dispositions of three major powers that utilize cyberspace as a venue of conflict: The United States, China, and Russia; in order to determine how each nation might interact with an international due diligence of …

Social Capital, Institutional Rules, And Constitutional Amendment Rates, William D. Blake, Joseph Francesco Cozza, David A. Armstrong Ii, Amanda Friesen

Political Science Publications

Why are some constitutions amended more frequently than others? The literature provides few clear answers, as some scholars focus on institutional factors, whereas others emphasize amendment culture. We bridge this divide with new theoretical and empirical insights. Using data from democratic constitutions worldwide and U.S. state constitutions, we examine how social capital reduces the transaction costs imposed by amendment rules. The results indicate that constitutional rigidity decreases amendment frequency, but group membership, civic activism, and political trust can offset the effect of amendment rules. Our findings have important implications for scholars in public law, constitutional and democratic theory, and social …

Who Changes Who? Political Implications Of The Rising Hispanic Population, Drayton Purvis

Honors Theses

Studying the growth of the Hispanic population yields specific political implications to be drawn based on the rate of growth for each Congressional District. Using Data from 2000, 2010, and 2020 Censuses along with Harvard’s Data Set titled, “Historical Congressional Legislation and District Demographics 1972-2014”, the information allows for interpretations to be made based on a Congressional District’s NOMINATE score and its percentage of the Hispanic population. After researching specific influences that help shape the Latino population in a political sense, like country of origin and level of generation in the United States, there were certain characteristics that have been …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Strict Photo Id Laws On Election Turnout: Do They Discriminate Against Minority Voters?, Josh Gromowsky

Honors Theses

Over the last 20 years, states across the nation have passed photo ID laws requiring potential voters to provide a form of identification before they can cast their ballots. These laws have generated great controversy, with opponents of the laws accusing them of being racially discriminatory. Studies attempting to analyze their effects on turnout have resulted in differing results due to different methodologies, and no consensus has been reached in the academic literature regarding this topic. Recognizing that laws do not exist in isolation and that people can react to their implementation in different ways, this paper examines the effects …

Oppression In Xinjiang: Rhetorical Parallels To The Causal Mechanisms, Christina Elizabeth Anderson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This paper compares the framings of ethnic conflict with theoretical political science explanations of the causes of such conflict. Framings are statements used to portray the who, what, and why of an issue through the emphasis or exclusion of information to create a specific agenda. The theoretical expectation from social science is that ethnic conflict is a result of a commitment problem, where the two parties in the conflict cannot credibly guarantee the protection of the other. This arises from situations where there is a large minority group population that is underrepresented from government and has grievances from economic disparities …

The Levant: Climate Change’S Effects On Domestic And Foreign Security Policy, Mary Mckenna Kump

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This project applies a comparative analysis of climate effects on security perspectives in the Levant (Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon) with evidence from historical events and modern processes. In other words, how do the effects of climate change threaten states’ core national security interests? What areas of the system are likely to be impacted by climate effects? Researchers project that climate change will affect current and future global conditions, so how does it impact how states perceive the environment in relation to their national security interests? To examine these questions, I have developed a relatively informal cause-and-effect relationship between climate …

Views Of Judaism And Jewish People In Jordan: Political, Social, Historical, And Religious Considerations, Thalia Gustina

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this research was to find out what the general view of Judaism and Jewish people is within Jordan and what factors play into these views. There were a few aspects of this topic that were specifically focused on in this study. The impact of Israel on the way that Jewish people are perceived was one of the main topics explored. Part of this was looking at the history of Judaism and Jewish people in the Arab World and how the relationship between them and their non-Jewish neighbors changed after the creation of Israel. As a majority Muslim …

The Evolution Of Spanish Nationalism, Anna Sutherland

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The primary objective of this study is to discover how diversity and immigration affect Spanish nationalism and learn more about the contemporary Spanish mindset. The paper contains a literature review of researchers’ findings on the history of Spanish nationalism. In addition, data from the World Values Survey on Spain from 1996 and 2023 demonstrates a shift in societal values. Following is my hypothesis based on the research and data found. A methodology is included with information about the research process. Appendix A contains survey questions and Appendix B interview questions regarding topics including immigration, nationalism, personal identity, and values. The …

The Study Of Peace: Proposing And Designing A Peace Studies Class For Wwu, Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This proposed course explores the field of peace studies, examining the state of peace and conflict in the world from the perspective of international relations and comparative politics. Is peace simply the absence of conflict? Are humans naturally drawn towards war? How do we achieve peace? Where has peace worked and where has it failed? What institutions or processes lead to or inhibit the establishment of peace? The course dives into conflict prevention, the erosion of peace, methods of conflict resolution and management, the issue of peacekeeping, and the process of peace building. Through group presentations, in-depth reading, and individual …

Political Rhetoric: A Personal And Scientific Exploration, Joshua Mcneal

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

An essay going over the existing Political Science and Communications research behind Political Rhetoric. Specifically: what political rhetoric is, by what mechanisms it works, and various examples of political rhetoric in practice (eg: populism, sacred rhetoric, classical rhetoric, etc.). Also a component at the beginning and end that ties the findings of this paper back philosophically to my honors education, personal realizations, and future goals.

Nebraska Politics And The Environment: Framing Political Communication In The State Of Nebraska In Comparison To National Level Discourse, Samuel Taylor

Honors Theses

Environmental public policy has seen little change on the national level in recent decades due to Congressional gridlock. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have entrenched their opposing viewpoints, and their communication on the topic utilizes issue frames to help sway the public to see their side. On the Republican side, these issue frames take the form of the “scientific uncertainty” and “economic consequences” frames. This study, based on issue framing, surveys the communication of Nebraska’s Republican State Senators to determine if they utilize the same issue frames or if they diverge from their national counterparts. By analyzing recent …

We The People. Who? The Face Of Future American Politics Is Shaped By Perceived Foreignness Of Candidates Of Color, Patrizia Chirco, Tonya M. Buchanan

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Pursuing a more equitable political representation of a country's demographics is essential both as a matter of principle and pragmatism (i.e., realpolitik). As such, the goal of the present study was to replicate and expand on research on the impact of voter race/ethnicity and ideology on voting behaviors and interpersonal judgments of political candidates of color from different racial and ethnic groups. After participants (N = 282) saw the same political candidate of color (randomly assigned to identify as Mexican American vs. African American), we assessed interpersonal judgments and behaviors (e.g., expertise, voting intentions), perceived Americanness, and memory for skin …

The Conceptual "New Cold War": A Comparative Analysis Of Great Power Competition, Annie Goodman

Honors Theses

The Cold War was a decades-long competition between the US and the Soviet Union marked mainly by an existential nuclear arms race, the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, and the dire opposition of democracy and communism worldwide. Today, however, the concept of a ‘Cold War,’ a frozen conflict, has expanded to include other forms of competition, and perhaps even new conflicts based in a state’s desire for hegemonic power. In this project, I sought to perform a comparative, qualitative analysis of the US/Soviet Cold War and the ongoing competitions between the US and China to determine if the US/China conflict …

The Symbolic Politics Of Same-Sex Marriage Legalization, Kaden Sinning

Honors Projects

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, many commentators highlighted increasing resistance to the ruling. Some observed typical public backlash, but others noted targeted LGBTQ rights bills from state legislators. While much of the scholarly literature suggests that public backlash is short-lived and tends to resolve toward Supreme Court doctrine, less clear is the impact of state legislative efforts following judicial decisions. To help clarify this discrepancy, this research examines the effect of Obergefell on state bill proposals. I argue that Obergefell acts as a trigger for state legislators to …

The Internal Debate: How National Identity Created The Russo-Ukrainian Conflict, Logan James Weisenfels

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The longstanding conflict in Ukraine has prompted more attention, discussion, and research into the relationship between Ukraine and Russia. This relationship dates back to medieval times, but its importance to contemporary issues begins in the 19-20th Centuries and come to a head after the fall of the Soviet Union. This analysis seeks to understand how and why Ukrainian national identity gradually became a solidified civic identity after the Maiden Revolution and annexation of Crimea in 2014. This starts with providing a short history between Russia and Ukraine, that looks at certain events and regions in their shared history, and are …

Who Fears Strangers And Spiders: Political Ideology And Feeling Threatened, Thomas Lukaszewicz

Honors Theses

In this study, I evaluated the correlations between threat sensitivities and political ideology. Two hypotheses were tested. First, I hypothesized that conservatives would have higher social threat sensitivity than liberals, with social threat defined as a threat dependent on outgroup or social actions (Barclay & Benard, 2020). Second, I hypothesized that conservatives would have higher disgust sensitivity than liberals. To test these and related hypotheses I used a 2018 Qualtrics national demographically representative sample that included 1031 participants. To operationalize threat sensitivity, I used items asking participants to rate how threatened they felt by various fears. These individual items were …

Babes In Arms: An Application Of The Australian Federal Child Care Model To Canada, Nikolas Anthony Prsa

Major Papers

This paper examines the feasibility of implementing the Australian model of federal childcare policy in Canada. A historical institutionalist approach is used to examine this feasibility by means of qualitative and comparative analyses. The distinct policy histories and current measures of both countries are outlined and studied through the course of this paper. Its research finds that, while Australia possesses some similarities in political structure to Canada, their distinct socio-political contexts make much of the former’s model inapplicable to the latter. Canadian federalism’s asymmetry and the political will of its federal units to defend powers conceded to them make it …

How Social Media Affects Political Beliefs And Movements, Alyssa Anderson

Honors Capstones

This project aims to assess how social media influences young adults’ political beliefs and movements. Social media is prominently used through the ages of 18-29 and plays a key role in intellectual development. Engagement online has increased within the last few years discussing topics like politics, COVID-19, and social movements. With the help of social media, young adults feel more empowered and informed by sharing political content. Voter turnout, civic engagement, and participation in social movements have increased with the informative content now available on all social media platforms. In this paper, I assess how social media has affected political …

Wgss Queer Theories And Politics: A Blog Post, Cassidy Vogel

Feminist & Queer Praxis

"Political education is the practice of using knowledge for action, whether its serving and educating the community or taking personal action. This is central Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, but in Dr. Klinker’s Queer Theories and Politics (WGSS 374) students were able to engage in political education beyond the class." Winona State University (WSU) student Cassidy Vogel blog post discusses and shared their experiences engaging in political education beyond the classroom.

This blog post was intended for the WSU Academic Blog which showcases the exciting and challenging work that WSU Student do.

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 …

Measuring Attitudes And Behavioral Trends As It Pertains To Global Poverty Eradication, Zoe Patrick

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Since the 1990s, approximately 1.1 billion people have escaped poverty across the globe, and they no longer must live on less than $2.00 a day. This progress has been consistent over the last 20 years, but recent social and economic disruptions have led to a steadily increasing number of people struggling under the weight of extreme poverty. Data collected by the World Bank shows that 88 to 115 million people are projected to be pushed into extreme poverty because of the 2020 economic downturn and coronavirus pandemic. There are hundreds of nonprofit organizations that donate time and money towards the …

Understanding And Improving The System: The Effects Of Weighting On The Accuracy Of Political Polling In Arkansas, Beck Williams

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

In an effort to increase the accuracy of statewide political polling in Arkansas, we explore the statistical strategy of weighting with a focus on one yearly opinion poll: The Arkansas Poll. We conduct over 70 weighting experiments on the 2016 and 2020 Arkansas Polls using a variety of variables and opinion questions. From these experiments, we find that while some weighted variables tend to create larger changes, weighting typically results in a single-digit percentage change that does not substantially shift or “flip” the majorities. Due to a greater rate of change through weighting in the 2020 Poll compared to the …

Peer Reviewing The World: Increasing Civil Society Participation In The United Nations Universal Periodic Review, Lucien F. O'Brien

Political Science Honors Projects

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is an exceptional mechanism within the framework of international human rights. The fact that it evaluates all UN member states’ human rights records on a universal basis sets it apart from other enforcement mechanisms that do not give equal time to all countries or do not seek to cover all human rights. Following the introduction of hybrid modalities in the third cycle, the UPR faces a turning point in terms of who is included in the process and how. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with UN officials, diplomatic mission members, civil society representatives, and academics, as …

Pursuit Of The Vote: Factors Utilized In Resisting Discrimination In Democratic Elections, Matthew Nicholson

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

Suffrage movements make use of various social and political factors to pressure their governments to expand the scope of voting rights. Using McAdam’s political process model, I will analyze how disenfranchised groups’ use of nonviolent demonstration, appeals to international pressure, and appeals to religion, affects their success. This will also highlight patterns that emerge when groups are willing to instigate violence in pursuit of their goals. Most studies examine these variables in the context of the pursuit of independence or revolution, whereas this study focuses on groups wishing to remain within a system given their desired reforms. I will analyze …

Mental Health In Massachusetts Prisons, Jeffrey Yung

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

In November of last year, former Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division released the findings of an investigation of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (MDOC). They found several violations of prisoner’ constitutionals rights for mental health cases under the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishments for criminal defendants. The findings reveal a lack of structured mental health care for MDOC prisoners, untrained employees, and unnecessary abuse of restrictive housing for prisoners designated under a mental health watch program.

What Is Political Science? What A Disciplinary Archipelago Says About Political Scholarship And Academia As A Whole, Warren Burroughs

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

“‘Political Science’ is greatly in need of definition” (Smith, 1886, quoted in Sigelman, 2006). This statement is as true today as it was a century and a half ago when it was written in Political Science’s first independent journal’s first article. Throughout its history, the discipline’s purpose and objectives have been contested. A conflict between subdisciplines regarding approaches and desired research outcomes hinders the creation of a comprehensive disciplinary framework. Yet, division is inevitable given the objects of Political Science’s study – people and power. The discipline is having an identity crisis. To illustrate this, Political Science is compared to …

No Justice, No Peace: An Examination Of The Conditions Of The George Floyd Protests To Determine How To Facilitate Successful State Legislative Outcomes, Emily R. Funk

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This thesis examines the relationship between the conditions of the George Floyd protests from May to August of 2020 to the impact they had state on policing reforms within state legislatures. I examine protests in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, looking at those protests’ size, media coverage, and violence and compare that to the degree of policy change achieved within each state. I find that, contrary to expectations, protest size was not associated with policy change, but that the party control of the state government was a strong predictor of how states responded to protests. Within some …