Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

C-Dem 2023 Partners' Meeting Notes, Consortium On Electoral Democracy

Meeting Notes

No abstract provided.

C-Dem 2023 Partners' Meeting Agenda May 5, Consortium On Electoral Democracy

Meeting Notes

No abstract provided.

C-Dem 2023 Partners' Meeting May 5 Powerpoint Presentation, Consortium On Electoral Democracy

Meeting Notes

No abstract provided.

Of Humans, Machines, And Extremism: The Role Of Platforms In Facilitating Undemocratic Cognition, Julia R. Decook, Jennifer Forestal

Political Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The events surrounding the 2020 U.S. election and the January 6 insurrection have challenged scholarly understanding of concepts like collective action, radicalization, and mobilization. In this article, we argue that online far-right radicalization is better understood as a form of distributed cognition, in which the groups’ online environment incentivizes certain patterns of behavior over others. Namely, these platforms organize their users in ways that facilitate a nefarious form of collective intelligence, which is amplified and strengthened by systems of algorithmic curation. In short, these platforms reflect and facilitate undemocratic cognition, fueled by affective networks, contributing to events like the …

Voting Behavior And Primary Elections, Amber Anderson

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

The United States of America has become increasingly polarized, so elections are more important than ever. This research paper analyzes voting behavior in primary elections throughout the United States. The four most recent Presidential primary election cycles are used as case studies. The purpose of this research is to determine the extent to which voters are more concerned with issues and ideology over electability in primary elections and how changing polarization and the timing of primary elections affects these results. The hypothesis argues that in increasingly polarized eras, voters become less concerned with voting based on issues and ideology; instead, …

Batson V. Kentucky Guidelines And The Use Of Peremptory Challenges In Arkansas Courts: A Case Study, Abigail Lindsey

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The peremptory challenge is a method by which attorneys can strike a potential juror from the jury pool without a valid reason. With Batson v. Kentucky (1986), the Supreme Court ruled that peremptory challenges cannot be issued on the basis of race, however, there are many problems with the way this precedent has been followed in various states. The goal of this research is to analyze how Arkansas courts implement the Batson precedent. This research also studies whether the way in which Arkansas courts utilize the peremptory challenge creates ideologically imbalanced juries.

The Questionable Death Of Jim Crow: How Systemic Racism Impacts Voting Accessibility By Ways Of Wait Times, Icarus Laduke-Lott

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Racial identity and perception thereof are consistent themes throughout the history of the United States. Countless studies have attempted to measure the impact of this factor on everyday life, with present research finding the lives of non-white individuals to be needlessly burdened due to systemic and individual prejudice. But how does this extend to the realm of political accessibility? And if the impact is great, can we truly claim that the era of Jim Crow is over? To address this question, I utilized the data collected by the Cooperative Election Study in 2020, working to emphasize the impact of systemic …

How Donald Trump And The 2016 Presidential Election Eclipsed Frank Underwood’S Election In ‘House Of Cards’, Charna Flam

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

In 2016, the U.S. faced a seismic change in national politics and the evolution of the entertainment industry. As the rise of streaming services had finally hit its stride, Netflix, the industry disruptor, had released a steady stream of critically acclaimed series, most notably beginning with the platform’s first original program, House of Cards. The series’ main character, Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) would become a fixture within the television landscape at the time, as both political dramas and anti-hero series were at all-time high, but what the writers of House of Cards did not expect was how their plotlines would …

Investigating And Addressing Tiger Conservation In The Himalayas, Pramod Kumar Yadav

All Dissertations

In 2010, tiger conservation received global attention following a dangerously low estimation of 3,200 tigers in the wild. In response, leaders from the 13 tiger range countries committed to doubling the wild tiger population by 2022. In recent years, tiger numbers have increased considerably in the Himalayan region as the species is venturing into higher-altitude landscapes. As the tiger and human populations increase in the region, the probability of the two species interacting also increases. Therefore, this dissertation, comprised of three independent studies, aimed to identify, and address tiger conservation issues in the Himalayan region from a social science perspective. …

Madame Justice Will Save Our Democracy: Gender Bias And Perceptions Of The High Court In Transitional Regimes, Christopher Shortell, Melody E. Valdini

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

While existing literature has established that women leaders are stereotyped as more likely to uphold the norms of democracy, the power of this effect in the non-democratic context is not established. We address this gap and argue that the context of regime transition cultivates a unique dynamic in which the stereotypes associated with women justices become especially valuable to both citizens and the state. However, we argue that this perception of women contributing to the health of democracy is not constant across all citizens equally; instead, those people with high levels of hostile bias against women are more likely to …

Legislative Passage Of Marijuana And Pac Contributions: An Analysis Of Illinois And New York Political Donations, Luke Elliott

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The growing prominence of Political Action Committees (PACs) calls for the analysis of their impact on state legislatures and the passing of bills. This thesis sought to determine the relationship between PACs and the state legislatures of New York and Illinois as it relates to the passage of statutes that legalized recreational marijuana. This was done by collecting contribution disclosures from the individuals who voted on the bills and finding the aggregate amounts given to a candidate by in-state and out-of-state PACs and non-PACs. Then the data was subjected to a Pearson Correlation analysis. If the Pearson Correlation indicated a …

Medication Errors In Pediatric Care And Preventative Solutions, Tyler Tidwell

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The research presented extensively examines previous reports covering pediatric medication errors (PMEs). Utilizing specific studies into the frequency and types of medication errors along with public surveys and policy discussion, the data and suggestions here provide commentary on the scope of PMEs, suggested institutional reform, and most importantly, legislative recommended action necessary to stymie the tide of PMEs. A significant portion of the research contained fixates on the literature review to provide ample familiarity with the background and scope of PMEs, but the subsequent sections will discuss their implication. After providing details on the magnitude of the issue, regulatory and …

Economic Anxiety Among Contingent Survey Workers, Meghan Condon, Amber Wichowsky

Political Science Faculty Research and Publications

Psychologists and other social scientists increasingly conduct experiments with online convenience samples from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk Marketplace (MTurk). MTurk and population-based samples differ in well-documented ways, but whether or not compositional differences are problematic for experiments remains controversial. We highlight a critically important characteristic that is likely to interact with many experimental treatments in the psychological and behavioral sciences, and that has not been identified by other studies of MTurk samples: economic anxiety. We document a sizable difference between contingent survey workers and the general population and explain the ways in which economic anxiety is likely to interact with experimental …

Judicial Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion: How Do Diverse Judges Affect Sentencing Guidelines In The State Of Minnesota, Morgan Bausman

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Equal representation within the judicial system is very important. The state of Minnesota has four-hundred-forty-one judges, all different. When the legal system was created, the stereotypical judge was a white male. The legal system that represents the country should grow and diversify along with society. The issue of diversified judicial representation, with a focus on the race and gender of such judges, is a contentious debate across the country. Prior research has studied judges at the federal level and showed that diversity matters, but there have been no studies done at the state level, specifically in Minnesota. I gather data …

The Effect Of Uncertainty On Explanatory Preference, Eli Schwartz-Yermack

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous research on political extremism has led to two competing perspectives. One views extremists as being more knowledgeable and informed about politics than moderates, while the other claims it is moderates who know more. These two views appear to have arisen from studies that examined different types of political knowledge. This phenomenon could be explained by extremists and moderates having different preferences when it comes to their consumption of political information. We hypothesized that participants indirectly manipulated to feel more extreme conviction in their political views by manipulating them to feel uncertain would prefer more simple explanations of political issues …

An Examination Of Parental Transmission On Young Voters’ Political Party Affiliation, Parenting Style Mediations, Kelly J. Truax '23

Honor Scholar Theses

This paper examines the relationship of parental transmission and young voter’s political affiliation by examining parental and offsprings’ political affiliations within the United States. Correlations between both maternal and paternal political affiliations with offspring political affiliations were significant. Paternal types of authoritative and permissive parenting acted as mediators of parental transmission. Examining literature from psychological, political science, historical, and sociological tests, the thesis explores how young voters’ develop their political affiliations. Suggestions from the text emphasize the importance of examining voters’ identities, historical events, and the priorities of the generation to understand young voters’ political behavior.

Iran's Involvement In The Syrian Civil War Before And After Jcpoa, Kaitlin Coulter

Honors Theses

The Syrian civil war has been going on for over a decade and has caused the death of over 500,000 people and the displacement of thirteen million more. Ending the war has been difficult for policy makers worldwide due to the number of outside actors involved in the conflict. The most prominent actor that has made this task so difficult is Iran. Syria and Iran have been staunch allies since the inception of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Despite religious differences, their support for each other through the decades has proven extremely beneficial for both countries. When the Syrian civil …

The Effects Of Medical Malpractice Laws In The American States On Healthcare Expenditures, Madison Fulton

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The relationship between medical malpractice laws and healthcare has been an issue battling since the early 1980s. The relationship differs among states because some states have stricter malpractice laws and others have less strict laws, which ultimately affects the healthcare costs within that state. It is argued that because of the risks of lawsuits against doctors, they tend to practice more defensive medicine, affecting health costs and lawsuit rewards. I analyze data from The National Conference of State Legislatures, The Court Statistics Project, and The Kaiser Family Foundation to assess the correlation between state tort laws and their effect on …

An Emergentist Critique Of The Contract Theory Of The State Of Nature, With A Consideration On Two Types Of Polity And Their Origins., Ryan A. Apperson

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The theories of the state of nature provided by the political philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke have made a significant impact in the general conceptions of the origin of states. Though there are many critical differences in the conceptions of the state of nature between each in their seminal works, they both possess of a view of states that is rational and constructivist.

In this paper, I use the game theory concepts of the coordination game, collective action problem, and focal point to illustrate a lacuna in this rational and constructivist conception of the origin of states, as their …

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

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

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 …

The Origins Of The Iraq War: The Role Of Anthrax In The Weapons Of Mass Destruction Claims, John P. Koenig

Student Theses and Dissertations

The 2001 Anthrax Attacks were a critical factor in the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) claims that sparked the Iraq War. Despite its significance, little systematic work has been done regarding the topic. Existing studies primarily focus on the role of the Military Industrial Complex and intelligence failures as the primary explanations for the origins of the Iraq War. These explanations are limited, as they rely on hindsight biases. This thesis contends that anthrax was the catalyst for WMD claims that sparked the Iraq War. The 2001 Anthrax Attacks reinforced the belief that Iraq harbored WMDs and posed a threat …

Seeking Justice For Jews From Mena Countries Through International Law: Comparing The Cases Of Morocco And Iraq, Jessica E. Yeroshalmi

Student Theses and Dissertations

Little is known of the Jews of Middle Eastern North African (MENA) origin whose long standing history in the region did not protect them from discrimination, persecution, and ethnic cleansing. Although much of the research on contemporary Jewish history and persecution revolves around the Holocaust and European events and its implications for Jews and international law, far less is researched about the uprooting of nearly one million Jews from the MENA region. In this investigation, I aim to reconstruct that narrative, applying international law to Jewish refugees from Arab countries. My thesis will be a comparative analysis of Morocco and …

Can Renewable Portfolio Standards Explain The U.S. States’ Advancement Of Wind Energy?, Elise Monson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Women In Southern Politics: How The Southern Experience Shaped Two Contemporary Forces, Liza Montgomery

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Numerous books, papers, journals, articles, and newspapers have explored the human experience in the American South for many decades. Much of this recorded history and further academic and historical literature spans the time period since the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Most of these works, while claiming to focus on the entire population, address only the life experiences of men while assuming their information pertains to the entire population. Although a portion of these accounts focus on the African American experience overall, just a fraction examines the female experience. In this paper I will be examining women’s political …

The Us War In Afghanistan And The War Powers Act: A Natural Experiment, Burrell Fletcher V

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

How Can the War Powers Act of 1972 be Reformed to Increase the Chances of Winning Wars?

This paper examines the effects of the War Powers Act of 1973’s Authorisation for Use of Military Force (AUMF) system on the conduct of war, especially regarding the ongoing War on Terror. The War on Terror, began in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks when President Bush invaded Afghanistan. Congress, using the War Powers Act, passed the 2001 AUMF in the weeks after the attacks. The 2001 AUMF has been used in twenty-two countries to justify anti-terror operations thus far (Savell, …

Mena Terrorism And The West: Explaining Why Terrorist Groups From The Middle East And North Africa Target Western Democracies, Michael A. Defeo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Terrorist groups from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remain one of the most formidable threats to international security. While their organization and motives have been significantly different over time, a commonality is that they tend to disproportionately target Western democracies. This dissertation argues that this trend is mainly a consequence of the foreign policies that these states pursue in the region. These policies, in terms of support for Israel and interventionism, are theorized as being the precipitous causes of MENA terrorism. Likewise, it is argued that the democratic institutions and extents of globalization in these states are …

The Insurer Of Last Resort: Investigating A Federal Insurance Backstop For Catastrophic Cyber Incidents, Brianna Bace

Political Science

The demand for cyber insurance has accelerated in recent years due to the increased frequency and severity of cyber-attacks. The NotPeyta cyberattack, which spread to countries and systems across the globe and is estimated to have caused over $10 billion in damages, is one example. These kinds of catastrophic cyber incidents are causing insurers to raise premiums and tighten their policies, creating a significant gap in protection in the market. In response to this problem, the United States Treasury Department issued a Request for Comment regarding the potential for a federal insurance response to catastrophic cyber incidents. The aim of …

Are Right-Wing Populists And Right-Wing Populist Parties In America Buoyed By Mass Self-Deception?, Owen Herbert

Political Science

The recent rise of right-wing populist candidates and parties in America and around the globe has (unsurprisingly) been associated with a concomitant growth in scholarship on the causes of individuals voting for right-wing populist candidates and joining the movements with which those candidates associate. Much of the scholarship in this area appeals to economics or culture as reasons why individuals side with right-wing populists or right-wing populist parties and movements. This thesis will begin by examining the significant literature in those two areas. Then, I will raise two questions that the literature has scarcely addressed: (1) What is the psychological …

U.S.-Russia Relationships: How Superpower Relations Affect Conflict Resolution, Julian Terris

Political Science

Russia and the United States struggle for power throughout the 20^th and 21^st century has imprinted itself on many current conflicts. While the post-war international order has focused on avoiding violent conflict, the inability of Russia and U.S. to cooperate has hindered the ability to create peace throughout these zones of conflict. This paper seeks to demonstrate how U.S. and Russian relations have influenced current conflicts as well as which policies they should adopt in order to help resolve conflicts in the future. It specifically analyses ideological, military and economic actions taken by both nations throughout the Ukrainian, …

Systematic Barriers To Success: The Impact Of Redlining On Modern Educational Outcomes In Omaha Public Schools, Sarah Sedivy

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The systemic denial of mortgages, loans, and other financial services to specific neighborhoods on the basis of race, a practice known as redlining, has continued to have a disproportionately negative effect on communities of color since its inception in the 1930s. The contemporary impacts of redlining can be seen in ongoing disparities in household income, property values, generational wealth, and more. This paper uses a three-pronged approach to extensively examine the history, application, and implications of redlining, with an emphasis on how the practice affects modern educational outcomes in Omaha public schools. The paper analyzes statistical data from the Nebraska …