Political Science Commons^™

A Political Ecology Of Information: Media And The Dilemma Of State Power In China, Michael L. Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I employ a Weberian concept of social power in order to theorize the challenges posed by, and the varieties of state response to, the dilemma of state power: the need of all states to empower societies with social capacities that may, in turn, threaten state interests. Through a comparison of traditional and new forms of media in China, I show that rather than posing qualitatively new types of challenges to authoritarian states, new media exacerbate the dilemma of state power. They do so because along each of three dimensions of social control, new media shift the relationship …

Data-Driven Public Diplomacy: A Critical And Reflexive Assessment, Hamilton Bean, Edward Comor

FIMS Publications

This essay presents a critical and reflexive assessment of contemporary efforts

to innovate the measurement and evaluation of public diplomacy. Analyzing a

recent and pivotal report called “Data-Driven Public Diplomacy,” it explains

how the institutional and ideological residue of the Cold War underwrites

these initiatives in the context of American activities in its contemporary “War

on Terror.” Inspired by Marx’s concept of the fetish—n under-represented

conceptual approach to public diplomacy research—he authors critique

the thinking of public diplomacy scholars and officials, arguing that both an

omnipresent past and a powerful form of technological fetishism are discernible

in the “Data-Driven Public …

The Trump Presidency And The Press, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "It is not difficult to understand why presidents frequently voice frustration with the press. Imagine being subjected to critical analysis 24/7 by reporters, bloggers and pundits who often lack complete and accurate information but face competitive pressure to publish quickly."

Cameras As Weapons Of Resistance: Refugees Disrupting The Colonial Narrative Through Photography, Shannon Elder

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

This project analyzes the photography project “#RefugeeCameras”, where German photojournalist Kevin McElvaney gave disposable cameras to refugees to document their own experiences. The project includes close examination of the photography collection and considers the photographic depiction of landless people by other landless people in juxtaposition to the concept of the refugee as a ‘terrorist’. The examination of these images will reveal how photographs become a tool that can disrupt ideological stances that harm innocent people such as Islamophobia and fear mongering towards refugees that are deemed a threat by the Trump administration’s Executive Order, “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist …

Bringing The State Home: Neoliberalism In Global Models Of Public Housing, Nicholas Alfino

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

Global public housing authorities in state versus market capitalism take different approaches to provide housing for multicultural demographics. This capstone project looks at that of New York City and Singapore as case studies of ideologies of welfare, multicultural national identity and public policies representative of their political economies. With special attention paid the spatial relations of ethnic enclaves in both urban environments, focus is placed on a social, lived experience shaped by both 'productivist' versus 'cynical' ideology and privatization versus state authoritarianism. Each political economic system of welfare reaches from larger concepts of national and global economy to the local …

News Media Bias And The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Marisa S. Campanella

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since 2011, turmoil has erupted in Syria causing the displacement of many individuals now seeking refuge. It has impacted other areas of the world, filling the media with stories of daily events surrounding the initial attacks. The increase in media coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis led me to question whether the stories in the news were accurate representations of what was actually happening. I chose to compare two distinct sources of news in a content analysis, Fox News and CNN, to see whether there was a discrepancy in how they reported the same topics. After analyzing seven articles from …

Paradoxes Of Violence: A Post-Colonial 'Gaze' On Chicago's Segregation, Zackary Rupp

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

Although post-colonial theory was developed to examine the legacy of colonial powers, this project proposes that post-colonial theory can nonetheless fruitfully be used for a literary analysis of the Fair Housing Act to account for the typically non-colonial legacy of US segregation. Even though Chicago is not a city in the colonial context, the post-colonial discourse of violence, territorialization, and citizenship are useful tools for understanding the language in legislation that shaped American systemic segregation. Through a post-colonial lens, the research shifts the individual attention away from the marginalized offender and focuses on systemic othering that has shaped spaces suffering …

A Content Analysis Of The 2014 Immigration Crisis Media Coverage: An Intergroup Threat Theory Approach On The Age Of Immigrants, Carolee Lantigua

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The purpose of this research is to understand, through the intergroup threat theory, how the national and local press perceive unaccompanied minors through their media coverage. Using the 2014 immigration crisis, during which an exodus of unaccompanied minors crossed into the United States beginning in 2013, this paper investigates two central ideas: first, how does media coverage of young unaccompanied immigrants differ from the media coverage of non-minor immigrants? Second, how does spatial proximity to the American-Mexican border affect the tone of the media coverage young unaccompanied immigrants receive? I sampled two national newspapers and two local newspapers to interpret, …

Presidential Campaigns And Social Networks: How Clinton And Trump Used Facebook And Twitter During The 2016 Election, Jack Davis

Senior Theses

The advancement in social media technology has greatly improved how people from around the world can communicate with each other. This has been quite apparent during the 2016 presidential election year, as many people have taken to social media to find their news sources and share opinions. This paper examines the use of Facebook and Twitter by the Clinton and Trump campaigns to connect with voters. These two modes of communication have been used by the campaigns to advertise their campaign and take stances on a variety of issues. By using content analysis, data from the two campaigns’ social media …

Analyzing The Effects Of Preprimary Broadcast Media On Presidential Nominations From 1980-2016, Jarred Ralston Cuellar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study attempts to discover if broadcast media released during the preprimary period has an effect on the Presidential nomination process, and if so in what way? Several OLS regression models, based on Randall Adkins and Andrew Dowdle’s Presidential nomination forecasting models, were created as an attempt to not only find a statistically significant effect between broadcast media and aggregate vote percentage, but also in an effort to create more effective forecasts. I have drawn my sample from every open nomination race dating back to 1980, and used both cable and network broadcasting sources. I have covered not only the …

Information Sharing, Transparency, And E-Governance Among County Government Offices In Southeastern Michigan, Lawrence Bosek

All NMU Master's Theses

The Internet has given rise to the availability of information at our fingertips. While the public, particularly consumers, are more commonly described as being the leading users and beneficiaries of electronic information services, businesses and governments are also players in the arena for sharing official information. Information can be easily stored on Internet websites for the public, businesses, and other governmental offices to search and peruse when needed. This study examined the ease of locating county governmental information, such as contact information for public officials and financial reports, and surveyed elected county officials for purposes of identifying how information is …

The Dialectics Of The Community: Mexican Production Of Death, Blanca Judith Martinez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work attempts to provide a discussion of the current waves of violence present in the northern border of Mexico. The country became a neoliberal state during the late 1980s and the early 1990s. The external debt and the historical corruption of the Mexican government placed Mexico in a vulnerable stage leaving its sovereignty with a fissure before the eyes of international circles of power. The adoption of a neoliberal economic system has impacted all the social tissue. The euphoric discourse of advancement and opportunity was spread by ideological apparatus, and people in constant need accepted positively the system. The …

Sensors Everywhere: Using Satellites And Mobile Phones To Reduce Information Uncertainty In Human Rights Crisis Research, Christoph Koettl

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article critically reviews the use of ICTs for human rights crisis research. While focusing on two specific technologies—satellite imagery and mobile phone technology—it proposes a general framework for analyzing the added value of ICTs. The author suggests that their added value in mass atrocities research arises from their ability to reduce information uncertainty, a challenge that is exacerbated in the digital age. This is different from delivering “truth”, an inaccurate description that only leads to unfulfilled expectations and hopes. The article is written from a practitioner’s perspective, drawing from the work of a global human rights watchdog, thus avoiding …

And That's The Word: Effects Of The Colbert Report On Political Knowledge And Participation, Nicholas Canfield

Student Research – Stevenson Center

The Colbert Report was a satirical, political, and “fake” news show that lasted for almost a decade on the Comedy Central Network. Although many scholars have argued the program was less impactful and influential than Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, phenomena such as the “Colbert Bump” show a definite impact on the political lives of many Americans. Using four quantitative surveys from 2008 to 2012, this thesis investigates the effects of watching The Colbert Report on individuals’ political knowledge and political participation. Results indicate non-Republican viewers increased their political knowledge, but not participation, from watching the show. The educational …

Churchill’S Argument Against Democracy: The Average Voter. Information Levels And News Sources Among Americans, Kyle Priest

Political Science Theses and Capstones

A democracy needs an informed public. However, I investigate low levels of political awareness among Americans. I focus on whether people understand issues incorrectly or are simply disengaged and inattentive. There is an important difference between them. Those who are uninformed simply do not know, which would make it easier to turn them into informed citizens. All that would be needed is for them to access the right information. For those who are misinformed, however, it is a tougher task. They believe that their answer is right, and even though they are in fact wrong, they are more willing to …

Knowing Where The Votes Are: Using The 2015 Louisiana Gubernatorial Race To Locate Key Democratic Precincts, Jacques A. Petit

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Writing On The Walls: Street Art As A Site Of Participation In Discourse And A Platform For Voice In The Moroccan Public Sphere, Natalie Johnson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Street art is a form of mass communication and a platform for public discourse (Chaffee, 1993, p. 4). Public discourse in the Moroccan context is undergoing a process of limited liberalization, characterized by the hybrid regime’s allowance of a greater plurality of voices to legitimately participate in public discourse while still maintaining surveillance and control over who participates and how they participate (Desrues, 2013). Through qualitative research methods, this study analyzes how individual actors and the Moroccan hybrid regime use street art in the Rabat-Casablanca urban space to participate in public discourse and how street art is related to the …

And That’S The Word: Effects Of The Colbert Report On Political Knowledge And Participation, Nicholas Anthony Canfield

Theses and Dissertations

The Colbert Report was a satirical, political, and “fake” news show that lasted for almost a decade on the Comedy Central Network. Although many scholars have argued the program was less impactful and influential than Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, phenomena such as the “Colbert Bump” show a definite impact on the political lives of many Americans. Using four quantitative surveys from 2008 to 2012, this thesis investigates the effects of watching The Colbert Report on individuals’ political knowledge and political participation. Results indicate non-Republican viewers increased their political knowledge, but not participation, from watching the show. The educational effect …

Fake News? Know The Source, Question Motivation Behind Stories, Gerrod Lambrecht

UCF Forum

When was the first time you heard the term “fake news”? For me it was right after last year’s presidential election.

Reducing Partisan Bias In Political Reporting For A Better Informed Public, Emily Holland

Journalism

This study focused on bias in political journalism, attempting to find how political journalists today can improve the quality of their work for a better informed public. By collecting data from the literature currently available, gaps within said literature were found. Therefore, three experts within the relevant fields of political communications research, political journalism, and editing were asked the same questionnaire in an individual interview setting in order to resolve the unanswered questions. These interviews were used to further the information already available in the literature, while also attempting to fill in the research question gaps.

After the data was …

Metaphors That Communicate Weight-Based Stigma In Political News: A Case Study Of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, J. Anderson, Y. Zhu, J. Zhuang, J.C. Nelson, M.J. Bresnahan, X. Yan

Communication Studies Publications

News media use metaphors to describe politics (Landau & Keefer, 2014) and obesity (Barry,Brescoll, Brownell, & Schlesinger, 2009). Weight-based stigma is prevalent in U.S. news media (Heuer,McClure, & Puhl, 2011). Media coverage of politicians’ body size may contain metaphors that stigmatizeweight. Metaphors reflect and shape how people think about important issues like politics or obesity(Landau, Sullivan, & Greenberg, 2009; Landau, Meier, & Keefer, 2010; Landau & Keefer, 2014).
Objective – This study uses stigma communication theory (Smith, 2007) to examine stigmatizing metaphors used in media coverage of a United States politician, and candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, New …

Ua3/9/7 Statement On Immigration Ban, Wku President's Office - Ransdell

WKU Administration Documents

Email from WKU president Gary Ransdell to faculty, staff and students regarding presidential executive order banning travel to the United States from seven countries.

Inside The Coal Industry’S Rhetorical Playbook, Steve Schwarze, Jennifer Peeples, Jen Schneider, Pete Bsumek

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

If citizens have heard anything about the upheaval in the U.S. coal industry, it is probably the insistence that President Obama and the EPA have waged a “war on coal.” This phrase is written into President-elect Donald Trump’s energy platform, which promises to “end the war on coal.”

[Accepted Article Manuscript Version (Postprint)] Citizen Journalism Practice Increases Civic Participation, Seungahn Nah, Kang Namkoong, Rachael Record, Stephanie Van Stee

Communication and Media Faculty Works

Drawing on the theory of reasoned action, this study examines direct and indirect effects of citizen journalism on civic participation. Through a quasi-experimental design, analyses show that citizen journalism practice has a direct effect on civic participation and enhances attitudes toward nonprofi t and voluntary organizations leading to volunteering and donating behavioral intentions.

2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest 1st Place--Donald Trump: The Modern Day Killer Of The First Amendment, Ryann Schoenbaechler

Constitution Day Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest 3rd Place--The Fine Line Between Criticism And Control: How The Trump Administration Is Weakening Freedom Of The Press, Michael Di Girolamo

Constitution Day Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

Hitting The "Bullseye" In Supreme Court Coverage: News Quality In The Court's 2014 Term, Michael A. Zilis, Justin Wedeking, Alexander Denison

Political Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest Honorable Mention--On The Consequences Of “Free Speech”, Duncan Barron

Constitution Day Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

Deborah Olsen Public Service Scholarship Essay, Maura Hand

Examples of Student Work

In this essay, Maura Hand reflects on the ten weeks she spent interning with the State Department's Office of Foreign Missions (OFM) in San Francisco, California.

Ua25/2 Memoranda, Wku Human Resources

WKU Administration Documents

Memoranda issued by WKU Human Resources to faculty & staff via email.

• Personnel Actions Approval Procedures
• Governor's Proposal for Public Pension Reform
• Keeping the Promise Highlights
• Keeping the Promise KERS-NH/CERS-NH
• Keeping the Promise KTRS
• Keeping the Promise KERS HAZ. / CERS HAZ. / SPRS
• Keeping the Promise - Legislative Retirement
• Keeping the Promise - Judicial Retirement
• Keeping the Promise - Additional Reforms