Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Weaknesses Of Opponents, Strengths Of The Taliban: The Success Of The Taliban Insurgency, Isabella Ryan

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

How did the Taliban insurgency succeed in gaining control of the Afghan state in 2021 following the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001? This paper argues that the Taliban’s success resulted from two key dynamics: the weaknesses of opponents and strengths of the Taliban. The Afghan State was undermined by governance failures including the 2004 Constitution, overcentralization, lack of rural governance, corruption, and a dependence on foreign aid. These internal weaknesses were compounded by international policy failures, including the Bonn Agreement, inconsistent counterinsurgency (COIN) and counterterrorism (CT) strategies, the failed peace process design embedded in the Doha Agreement, and …

The Costs Of Selective Intervention: Why The Obama Administration Chose To Intervene In Libya Over Syria, Rayanne Attar

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

This paper examines the Obama administration’s selective military intervention during the Arab Spring, comparing case studies of Libya and Syria. I argue that the decision for the Obama administration to militarily intervene in Libya but not Syria was justified because intervention in Syria was far more costly in terms of risks. In Libya, Qaddafi’s regime lacked strong external support, relied on dated military systems, and faced a fragmented opposition, making intervention politically feasible. In contrast, in Syria, Assad’s alliance with Russia and Iran, threatening air defense capabilities, and internal sociopolitical divisions made military action highly risky and unlikely to produce …

Guerillas, Manpads, And How To Shift A Conflict In Favor Of The Weaker Side, Augustus Mfxu Giller

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

The Soviet Afghan War has emerged in popular culture and scholarship as a quintessential case of an innovative and superior technology being able to foil an enemy that would have otherwise emerged as the victor of a conflict. This is almost always in reference to the Afghan Mujahedin being able to counter technologically superior Soviet MI-24 Gunship Helicopters with American heat-seeking missiles. However, this assumption is largely shortsighted to the actual dynamics present in the Soviet Afghan conflict. Specifically, the failure to understand how an unconventional conflict like the Soviet Afghan war is fought, and an ineffective assessment of the …

Everybody Wants To Rule The World: How Ballistic Missile Defenses Can Reduce The Risk Of War, Aanya Ghosh

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

Debates over ballistic missile defense often assume that defensive capability inherently destabilizes deterrence by eroding mutual vulnerability. This article challenges that assumption by arguing that the strategic effects of missile defense are neither predetermined nor uniform. Limited and layered defensive systems generate two simultaneous pressures: stabilizing deterrence-by-denial effects against limited coercive threats and destabilizing uncertainty regarding long-term retaliatory viability. Which mechanism prevails depends not on defensive technology alone, but on policy design—specifically system scale, doctrinal framing, and integration within the broader offense-defense relationship. Drawing on classical deterrence theory, offense-defense scholarship, and contemporary analyses by Roberts, Wilkening, and Daalder, Goldgeier, and …

Constitutionalization Of The Right To Vote: The Necessity For Democracy, Hanmo Yang

Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research

The Civic Debate Consortium is an intercollegiate debate conference dedicated to serving as a “hub of inspiration, innovation, education and civic engagement” (Civic Debate Consortium, n.d.) through productive dialogue. The Social Justice Debates are one of the consortium's competitive series, focused on discussing the distribution of wealth and resources in U.S. society. For the 2025-2026 debate season, debaters researched for or against the motion: “The United States should Constitutionalize the Right to Vote.” First affirmative speeches begin by defining the terms of the round, listing contentions to the argument, and then providing analysis to support the contentions. This paper serves …

Communist Yugoslavia: Non-Alignment, Solidarity, And Webs Of Diplomacy, Morgan Dillon

Honors Projects

The Non-Alignment Movement has been covered extensively in Cold War scholarship, yet the relationship between Yugoslavia and Indonesia is often underexplored, especially in the realm of IR theory. This project examines Yugoslavia and Indonesia between 1945 and 1966 to propose an imagined community, as conceptualized by Benedict Anderson, that serves as a microcosm for a wider Non-Aligned community in the Third World. This is achieved by using Social Constructivism to synthesize the histories, foreign policies, and national/political identities of these two nations, and then placing the theoretical community against Yugoslavia’s relationships with the U.S and the USSR for contrast. Through …

"Principle Before Party": Samuel "Golden Rule" Jones And The 1899 Ohio Gubernatorial Election, Connor Hand

Honors Projects

As partisan loyalty declined and resentment grew against American social, political, and economic conditions at the end of the nineteenth century, political reformers saw an opportunity to spread their ideals for a better society. Most reformers opted against running for office, and those who did often used standard or newly formed political parties. Mayor of Toledo and progressive businessman Samuel Jones differed from the standard reformer by seeking office while embracing a non-partisan ideology. By analyzing Jones’ writings, the partisan response to his movement, and contextualizing him amongst reformers, this essay explores how Jones stood out from the standard political …

Harm Reduction Strategies In Addiction Recovery: Effectiveness, Barriers, And The Role Of Social Stigma, Julia J. Amlin

Honors Projects

Substance use disorders (SUDs) present a major global public health crisis. An estimated 46.3 million individuals are affected in the United States, with only a small fraction receiving any form of treatment. While abstinence-based models have historically dominated addiction treatment methods, harm reduction approaches have emerged as evidence-based alternatives that reduce overdose mortality, improve treatment engagement, and decrease the transmission of infectious diseases. Despite strong empirical support harm reduction interventions continue to face significant social, political, and structural resistance. These harm reduction interventions include supervised consumption sites, overdose prevention centers, medication-assisted treatment, naloxone distribution, and drug checking technologies. This resistance …

Shu World Review- April 27th 2026, Diplolab, Seton Hall University

SHU World Review

No abstract provided.

Luja Volume 6: Issue 1 (Full Volume)

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Power, Knowledge, And Environmental Justice: The Dakota Access Pipeline Controversy, Mya Chapman

Honors Projects

In a time of rife political conflict and debate, it is important to understand the underlying power dynamics that permeate our society in America. As devised by French historian and philosopher Michel Foucault, power and knowledge are mutually constitutive forces that shape our social relations. Through the actions of certain discourses, distinct truths are cultivated that in turn, reinforce existing power structures. In this study, these concepts are applied to the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy in the form of a Foucauldian discourse analysis to understand how the pipeline remained operational in the face of great opposition. Written discourse in the …

Tolkien’S Thomist Triad: A High Medieval Response To Contemporary Jus Ad Bellum, Jeffrey S. Dixon

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This paper reviews the development of the component of just war theory dealing with whether it is just to wage a war in the first place (jus ad bellum) from the early medieval to early modern eras and compares its principles to J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels about Middle-Earth. Tolkien’s views on the concept of jus ad bellum can be dated to a specific point in the medieval era, just before a number of modern, consequentialist criteria were added to Catholic thought on just war. I conclude that Tolkien’s fictional works permit broader justifications for war than do most modern just war …

Impact Of Race On Trust In Government, Nevaeh Johnson

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Past research consistently finds racial differences in federal political trust. Studies using data from the ANES, NAES, GSS and SCCBS surveys show that Black Americans often report lower levels of trust in federal government than White Americans. However, these effects are often reduced when controlling for factors such as partisanship, socioeconomic status, age, religion, and even experiences with discrimination. While past literature highlights the importance of race, the use of control variables makes it harder to isolate races direct impact on trust in federal government. Guided by a deductive theory, this study examines the direct, observational relationship and trust in …

The Impact Of Social Media On Voter Turnout, Madeline M. Hutchison

Research & Creative Achievement Day

I will be observing how the use of social media affects voter turnout in the presidential election. Using data collected by the American National Election studies I compare data on how often respondents are on social media, and if they voted in the most recent election. I hope to find that an increased use of social media leads to citizens being more likely to vote in the presidential election, especially if they get political information from these social media sites. My main hypothesis is that more access to social media leads to a higher voter turnout in American presidential elections, …

Workers' Compensation Court Summer Clerkship: Funded By The Feinstein Institute Summer Fellowship Program, Judy Akid

Political Science Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Leadership & Title Ix: Does Political Ideology Shape Supportive Measures, Jillian Evans

Political Science Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Globalization: Tensions Between National Sovereignty And Global Economy, Isabelle Camoin

Political Science Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Caste, Religion, And Inequality In India, Chloe Johnson, Elyse O’Leary, Diana Tarazi, Claire Geis, Francesca Bambara

Global Studies Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Diasporic Belonging Of Palestinian American Women In New England, Elizabeth Muller

Political Science Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

How Does Corruption Impact The Growth Of Globalization And Poverty In Brazil, Olivia Taveira

Political Science Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Diverse Children's Books In Shaping Social And Political Identity: Exploring The Effects Of Representation, Banning, And Cultural Perception In Arab-American Children's Literature, Judy Akid

Political Science Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Effective Courts Of Last Resort: The Supreme Court’S Limited Docket And The Rise Of The Courts Of Appeals As Final Arbiter On Minors’ First Amendment Rights, Lillian Powers

Honors Theses

This thesis explores how the Supreme Court’s power of selecting its own docket has resulted in fewer cases being addressed annually and its effect on minors’ First Amendment rights. Minors’ First Amendment rights is one of the many niche areas of law that do not receive hearings in front of the Supreme Court. My research shows that the Supreme Court’s neglect of these issues led to Court of Appeals taking on the role of a court of last resort. As precedent from select Supreme Court cases such as Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), Bethel School District …

Corrupt, Control, Repress, Noah Schimenti

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This three-article dissertation discusses the competition for power and resources in regimes with weak or nonexistent democratic accountability. I begin with an overview in the introduction and then turn to the individual articles in each chapter. In chapter 2 I investigate the composition of post-conflict transitional power-sharing governments. I hypothesize that a greater number of rebel organizations included in the transitional government is associated with increased corruption levels. Using data on 44 post-conflict countries, I find little support for this hypothesis; the number of rebel organizations in the transitional cabinet has no effect on corruption levels.

In chapter 3 I …

The Causes And Consequences Of Territorial Disputes, Amaan Charaniya

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how external actors and events shape territorial disputes and their influence on domestic public opinion. While traditional approaches to international relations treat territorial conflicts as isolated bilateral interactions, I argue that disputes are interconnected across international actors and domestic arenas. Thus, external actors and proximate disputes influence how conflicts start and domestic foreign policy attitudes. The first chapter shows how borders imposed by third-party actors capture unstable political and geographical features that lead to border instability. Using original historical data and a unique typology of borders, I find that borders imposed by external actors increase the likelihood …

Three Papers On The Impacts Of Electoral Rules On The Behavior Of Politicians, Jordon Tyler Newton

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is composed of three papers that examine the ways that electoral rules may provide elites incentives that cut against citizen interests. In the first, titled ``Maybe Later: Term Limits and Strategy Behind Candidate Entry," I use the context of term limits to reexamine conditions for candidate entry. I argue they reduce the number of candidates who challenge incumbents, leading to a lock-in effect. By increasing the frequency of open races, term limits incentivize potential challengers to wait for an open race. To demonstrate this, I analyze primary data from 85 legislative chambers in 44 states over a two-decade …

Church, Mosque, And State: The Impacts Of Sectarian Politics On Lebanon’S Democracy, Tonia Attie

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

As Lebanon seeks to reform multiple sectors of the country, it is crucial to understand how its consociational government, centered on religious identities, interacts with its citizens. Electoral accountability is the process by which an electorate holds politicians liable for their actions while in office. While previous studies, such as Vincent Hutchings’ “Public Opinion and Democratic Accountability,” have shown how electoral accountability functions within traditional party systems based on political ideology, there is little research on how accountability mechanisms operate in confessional party systems based on religion. This paper posits that within countries with confessional systems, voters are less able …

Full Issue Vol. 1 2026

The Penguin Review

No abstract provided.

Why Do We Romanticize “Old World” Europe?, Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

“Old World” Europe feels timeless—but that feeling is constructed. What we’re drawn to isn’t just age, it’s preservation.

The Global Rise Of "Aesthetic Culture", Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

Aesthetic culture feels harmless—until you realize how much it edits out. What gets labeled as “Scandinavian,” “Japanese,” or “French” style is usually the most digestible version of something much more complicated. It’s culture without friction.

Should We Let Robots Take Our Jobs?: A.I And Our Future, Alycia Carrasco

The Penguin Review

I don’t take many liberties in the text below, but one thing I will assume is that whoever may be reading this piece does not own and will not inherit any large company, particularly any large tech company.

For the average person, generative AI and its rapid development can be confusing. Information is kept elusive by even the most transparent of AI companies.1 It can feel hopeless to even care about AI considering its trajectory is largely decided by the top executives at the most powerful tech companies (and the U.S. military).2 However, the metaphorical ship has already sailed, and …