Political Science Commons^™

The Making And Silencing Of “Axé-Ocracy” In Brazil: Black Women Writers’ Spiritual, Political And Literary Movement In São Paulo, Sarah S. Ohmer

Publications and Research

In this article, I will focus on two influential writers from the south of Brazil, Cristiane Sobral who currently lives in Brasília, from Rio de Janeiro, and Conceição Evaristo who currently lives in Rio de Janeiro state, from Minas Gerais. I got to know them in São Paulo in 2015 at a public event: the “Afroétnica Flink! Sampa Festival of Black Thought, Literature and Culture.” I will include references to some of their younger contemporaries such as Raquel Almeida, Jenyffer Nascimento, and Elizandra Souza, all of whom reside in São Paulo, in order to illustrate the Black Brazilian women writers’ …

Working For The Worker? A Study Of The Union Générale Tunisienne Du Travail (Ugtt), Ava Erfani

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study attempts to explore the nature of the Tunisian national trade union, the Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT), as it operates in Tunisia today. This was achieved by conducting in-depth interviews with Tunisians living in the greater Tunis area in the fall of 2019. Through the lens of both those affiliated with the UGTT and those who have no ties to the organization, an image of the UGTT is able to be revealed as a conspicuous entity. Is its aim to hold power in government? Or rather stay outside of the sphere of national politics to effect change? …

La Integración Y Percepción De Los Inmigrantes Venezolanos En Tacna Y Prácticas Transnacionalistas, Darla Chavez Chavez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hay dos objetivos dentro de este estudio. El primer objetivo es examinar la percepción de los peruanos que residen en Tacna en relación con los migrantes venezolanos. El segundo objetivo es estudiar la integración de los migrantes venezolanos en la sociedad y la cultura tacneña. Desde la caída de los precios del petróleo en Venezuela en 2014, la economía venezolana se ha contraído drásticamente. La inestabilidad económica de Venezuela ha impactado en una variedad de sectores y, en general, ha tenido un impacto negativo en los ciudadanos venezolanos. Esto ha provocado una migración masiva de ciudadanos venezolanos que buscan oportunidades …

An Addiction To Capitalism: A Rhetorical Criticism Of Mainstream Environmentalism, Jake Engel

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

No abstract provided.

Infinity Wars: Post 9/11 Superhero Films And American Empire, Peter J. Bruno

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the last two decades, superhero films have accounted for some of the most popular and financially lucrative films of all time. This thesis analyzes some of the aesthetic and ideological dimensions of various superhero films following their post 9/11 boom. Beginning with America’s response to the events of 9/11 and a subsequent retreat into a Manichean world of good versus evil, I introduce the term “empirical reality” in order to account for the ways daily American life is shielded from the worst effects of U.S. foreign policy. On screen this manifests by perpetuating the myth of the “clean war” …

Measuring Mediated Deliberation In Hong Kong Newspapers : Case Studies Of The Hong Kong Section Of The Express Rail Link And The Hong Kong International Airport Three-Vumway System Construction Projects, Ka Chun Ng

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

In contemporary societies, the role of the mass media is indispensable in the process of opinion formation on public policies and the mass media is also the major communicative setting that offers an arena for truly public deliberation, in other words, the public deliberation process in contemporary societies is largely mediated with the help of professional communicators. As such, the role of the mass media in constructing mediated deliberation is important in contemporary societies, but this research field is still somewhat underdeveloped.

This thesis investigates the role of Hong Kong newspapers in constructing mediated deliberation and measures the deliberative quality …

Digital Political Information Consumption And Ambivalent Political Attitudes., Dane Ryan Warner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understating how individuals form, reinforce, or change attitudes has a long history in political science research. This study seeks to contribute to the existing literature by bridging the gap between the ambivalence and digital political communications literature by examining the relationship between digital political information consumption and ambivalent political attitudes. Using the American National Election Studies 2016 Time Series Study, I examine the role of digital political information consumption as a moderator of value conflict and ambivalent political attitudes. The findings suggest that increased levels of information gather significantly reduce group ambivalence, candidate ambivalence, and value ambivalence.

West Virginia’S Sugary Drink Tax: Examining Print Media Frames In Local News Sources, Lauri Andress, Ogaga Urhie, Christine Compton

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Framing is an important aspect of the policy process that helps the public and decision makers sort through and resolve highly charged claims about an issue. Through slight changes in the presentation of issues, a framing effect may alter public support. The way a proposed sugary drink tax is discussed in public discourse and by the media significantly influences policy acceptance. Given the public health significance of obesity and diabetes in West Virginia (WV) the study of media frames employed to represent a sugary drink tax policy is useful.

Methods: Using quantitative content analysis, this study assessed news articles—published …

Media Discourses That Normalize Colonial Relations: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of (Im)Migrants And Refugees, Meng Zhao, Jorge Rodriguez, Lilia D. Monzó

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The im(migration) and refugee crisis that are being exacerbated under the Trump administration, is a manifestation of empire-building and the long history of colonization of the Global South. A Marxist-humanist perspective recognizes these as consistent aspects of a clearly racist global capitalism that functions in the interest of multibillion dollar U.S.–based corporations and increasingly transnational corporations. Trade agreements, international economic policy, political intervention, invasion or the threat of these, often secure corporate interests in specific countries and regions. The authors use critical discourse analysis to examine the discourses around Mexican, Central American, and Syrian im(migrants) and refugees as examples of …

The Fear And Biopolitical Control Of The ‘Terrorist Other’, Percy Percy Sherwood

Western Research Forum

“I think Islam hates us,” Donald Trump said as a presidential candidate in a CNN interview in March 2016, conflating the religion with ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’ Trump’s statement exemplifies the prevailing fabricated enemy and resulting Islamophobia in the context of the ‘global war on terror.’ Since 9/11, powerful actors are using abstractions, ideologies, and narratives—that are usually defined along racial lines—to conjure up a fear so permeable that it serves to legitimize massive levels of violence in the name of self-righteousness. How do the racist abstractions, ideologies, and narratives that are associated with Islam and Muslims produce fear and insecurity …

How State Legislators Can Use The Media To Affect Policy Change In State Government Agencies: A Case Study With The Department Of Motor Vehicles, Alisha Gallon

Journalism

This study was done to understand how a member of the state legislature used the media to effect policy change. This subject is discussed using the California Department of Motor Vehicles as a case study. There is a long-standing and well-understood relationship between legislators and the media. It is common knowledge that legislators in the minority party use the media to pressure members of the majority party. Research shows those in the minority benefit from this kind of coverage. However previous studies are mostly silent about whether using the media to pressure the party in control of the government actually …

When Youth Run For Office, P. Francis Wilson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The purpose of this work is threefold: to define the term ‘youth candidate’, to create a public data archive of youth candidates around the U.S., and to reveal what role age plays on the campaign trail for younger candidates. The first study shows the increase in young people running for office in the U.S.. The second study tells of age discrimination towards younger candidates on the campaign trail. Also within this document is an archive and photo album of youth candidates and their campaigns. The results of this research tell a data and experience-driven story of the quickly changing and …

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh And Accusations Of Sexual Assault In The Media, Joleen Traynor

Political Analysis

No abstract provided.

The Technology Gap Across Generations: How Social Media Affects The Youth Vote, Yamiemily Hernandez

Political Analysis

There appears to exist today a generational tug-of-war between Millennials and Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers tend to see Millennials as lazy kids who do not appreciate the value of hard work, spend all day glued to their cell phones, and expect successes to be handed to them on a silver platter. Millennials seem to think that Boomers have harbored all the wealth and success in America without thinking about future generations; they cannot wait for Boomers to retire and create vacancies for key positions in companies. While the accusations generations make against each other rely on stereotypes and may not …

Thinking About Engaging North Korea: A Study On The Framing Of The U.S. Human Rights Public Discourse In The Washington Post And New York Times Between 2001 And 2017, Rachael M. Rudolph

History and Social Sciences Faculty Journal Articles

North Korea said in January 2019 that it was exploring ways to engage the human rights issue. This was a much welcomed announcement because the issue must be addressed in order for the two countries to reach a formal, comprehensive peace agreement and the lifting or easing of unilateral sanctions. This study utilizes framing as an analytical tool to examine how the North Korean human rights discourse is framed in the United States for the purpose of identifying the salient rights‐based issues covered in two traditional media outlets, namely, the Washington Post and New York Times. Next, it reframes the …

"The Chinese Animation Industry: From The Mao Era To The Digital Age", Stephanie Jones

Master's Projects and Capstones

Since the 1950’s the Chinese Animation industry has been trying to create a unique national style for China. The national style of the 1950’s and early 1960’s was one of freedom, fantasy, and creativity. With the success of “Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland”/草原英雄小姐妹(1965), the government administration, namely Jiang Qing of the “Gang of Four”, demanded that all animation should follow specific guidelines based on Social Realism guidelines. This in turn, ushered in a new national style of animation during the Cultural Revolution(1966-1976). During this ten-year period government policies imposed strict restrictions on animators and cause a drain of creative …

Typed Document: The College And University Women’S Public Leadership Consortium

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Outstanding Senior Women Leadership Award list. Typed on The College and University Women's Public Leadership Consortium letterhead. No date given.

Typed Document: The College And University Women’S Public Leadership Consortium Mentors

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

List of mentors for The College and University Women's Public Leadership Consortium. No date given Box: 7 Folder: 15

Silence As A Strategy, Jarvis L. Steele

Honors College Theses

Understanding the struggle that is peaceful protest is a task that has two unexplored components. The first is how leaders of political movements and protest groups are able to influence the masses to not waiver in their non-violent, peaceful approach. The second is how political groups learn from the failures and successes of the previous campaigns. We are given these circumstances where governmental violence and abuse would normally lead to a retaliatory response from groups, but in order to maintain the fidelity of the movement leaders of these political protests have to protect the nonviolent approach. These are instances where …

Syrian Crisis Representation In The Media: The Cnn Effect, Framing, And Tone, Savannah S. Day

Venture: The University of Mississippi Undergraduate Research Journal

Over the past seven years of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian refugees have been painted in a negative light by news media outlets around the world. History of media coverage regarding global humanitarian crises shows that with various tools and processes, media can shape public opinion and policy in whichever direction it desires, and oftentimes policymakers and the public are quick, as well as emotional, to react. In this paper, my objectives are to analyze specific examples of this CNN Effect phenomena within news coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis, as well as generally explain the negatively correlating relationship between …

Dumbing Down?: Trends In The Complexity Of Political Communication, Kenneth Benoit, Kevin Munger, Arthur Spirling

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Commentators and some political scholars claim to have observed a “dumbing down” in the level of sophistication of political language, leading to anxiety over the quality of democratic deliberation, knowledge, policy design, and implementation. This work typically focuses on the president’s State of the Union addresses. Using quantitative indicators of textual complexity, we measure trends since 1790 in that and other key political corpora, including rulings of the Supreme Court, the Congressional Record, and presidential executive orders. To draw comparative lessons, we also study political texts from the United Kingdom, in the form of party broadcasts and manifestos. Not only …

How To Discuss Politics Without Wanting To Kill Someone, Jessica Craven

Senior Honors Projects

Studies conclude that from 1990 to today, American society has become increasingly politically polarized, making cooperation among people who hold opposing views difficult and striking compromise on issues increasingly unlikely. Polarization is a major impediment to effective policy-making and communication; which is necessary for policy decision-making and implementation.

The first step to effective cooperation is an open conversation between opposing sides. This project seeks to determine methods, based on moral framing, that create an open conversation between proponents of opposing views on a given political issue. The national gun debate, gun rights versus gun control, was used to create political …

The Influence Of Media Consumption On Trust, Political Efficacy And Social Media Activism Among Young Adults, Kerra Mccorkle- Akanbi

Dissertations

For many years, trust in government and political efficacy has increasingly been an area of interest for political scientist. Recently, social media activism has become just as intriguing. With social media playing such a dominant role in society, individuals are consuming news through their social media timelines, without having to seek it out themselves. This is especially true for young adults. Through the advancement of non-traditional media outlets, this generation is submerged in endless Facebook statuses, tweets, and television coverage of civil unrest and political polarization that has certainly had both social and political implications. While past studies conducted by …

"It's Important To Just Have Your Voice Heard": Young Voters Changing Perceptions Of Political Efficacy [Poster], Christopher Matthew Merck

Research in the Capitol

Youth voter turnout in Iowa spiked in the 2018 midterm election. This paper attempts to figure out why. By replicating a 2004 study examining the voting behavior of young Iowans during the 2002 midterms, my study identified significant shifts in how young voters think and communicate about voting. After conducting 37 open-ended interviews with 18-24-year-olds, I found that although young people identified many of the same concerns in 2018 as they had in 2002, they were far more likely to vote. Respondents were more likely to identify the consummatory effects of voting, which in turn led to an increase in …

Communication Goals Of American Universities: A Social Media Content Analysis, Travis Ryan

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Social media is a key communication tool for American universities. This research project is an exploratory look at how universities communicate with stakeholders via social media. In particular, the primary purpose is to explore potential emphasis on academic programs relative to the promotion of athletics as a marketing tool to bolster identity and recruit students. 3000 tweets were collected from 130 NCAA Division 1 American universities. In total, roughly 500,000 tweets have been scraped and classified using an automated script to assess tweet content. Particular emphasis was given to the concept of university rebranding as a broader marketing strategy for …

Archiving Heterosexism: An Investigation Of Gender And Sexuality Politics In Spain's Transitional Justice Movement, Taylor Thompson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper will investigate the ways in which the politics of gender and sexuality during the Franco Regime in Spain (1936-1975) manifest in the transitional justice movement in Spain today. Under the Franco regime, gender and sexuality were policed through a series of ideological and repressive state apparatuses which the current democratic government has attempted to repeal and demolish. Through those apparatuses, bodies were punished, immobilized, and impressed upon in order to sort the demographic into normative hierarchized binaries for the purpose of legitimizing the state and exerting power in the service of domination over the populace. While many of …

Vaccine Hesitancy In The United States And Switzerland, Anna E. Lunderberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Vaccine hesitancy (VH), or the reluctance or refusal to participate in vaccination programs, is a complex phenomenon with far-reaching impacts on society. VH can impact vaccine uptake and facilitate subsequent outbreaks, as seen with the case of measles. Perceptions of vaccination are similar in the United States and Switzerland, and misinformation in each country contributed to VH through impaired parental risk-benefit analysis; parental analysis and subsequent VH is associated with both anti-vaccination messages gaining prominence and a decrease in the public perception of the health risk from vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). There are many proposed strategies for addressing VH on both …

Humanitarian Negotiations & Humanitarian Principles: The Interaction Between Humanitarian Negotiations For Access And Organizations' Ability To Adhere To Humanitarian Principles, Gabriela Gil

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Aim: To examine how do humanitarian organizations apply, or fail to apply, the humanitarian principles through humanitarian negotiations in modern conflict settings.

Methods: A literature review identified relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature on international humanitarian norms and law, the landscape of modern conflict, and existing guidelines on humanitarian negotiations. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts in humanitarian negotiations chosen on the basis of their relevant background. A coded analysis of these interviews was conducted to identify major themes and subthemes in responses.

Background: Multiple international mechanisms outline the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence and States, non-State …

Conditionality, Rationale, And Implications Of Eu Aid For Migration: The Case Of Morocco, Miranda Macaulay Miller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Morocco has a long history as a sending country. However, in recent years, as civil, political, and economic unrest has uprooted many people, Morocco has emerged as a transit country for migrants attempting to reach Europe. Additionally, as borders have become tighter and as migration has become more financially burdensome, many have permanently settled in Morocco. In response to the relationship between Morocco and Europe, many instruments have been developed between the EU and Morocco to manage migration and mobility. In this study, using policy analysis and a semi-structured interview approach, I will examine the motives of the EU for …

Newsworthy Migrants: Sentiment And Text Analysis Of Dutch Newspapers, Nicholas J. Schmitz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Understanding how a migrant population is viewed and displayed by the host country has been a struggle for a long period of time for anyone studying migration. Traditional methods of collecting information were tedious, time intensive and expensive. However, Big data has been providing unique solutions to gaps in information in many different fields across the world. Media plays an important part in developing and assessing the public opinion on a topic. With the availability of a large number of online articles from historical time periods, it is possible to use quantitative analysis, such as text analytics, to can see …