Political Science Commons^™

Building For Culture: How Municipal Ownership Of Cultural Facilities Influences Annual Arts Funding In American Cities, Adam M. Sachs

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores how local government support for arts and culture varies across 24 American cities. It has proven to be challenging for researchers to accurately measure municipal arts support. Research on cultural policy has also often focused on the federal level, despite total city expenditures far exceeding national or state government support. This thesis attempts to take an accurate pulse of city expenditures in 2017 and correlates those spending levels to the variation in city ownership of arts facilities. Rooted in the historical perspectives of the ‘new institutionalism’ and path-dependency, this paper argues that past decisions about taking ownership …

Reclaiming Indiana: The Politics Of Crisis Amid The Failures Of Liberal Capitalist Modernity, Chris Grove

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This ethnography examines grassroots political responses to the economic crisis that began in 2008, foremost in the US Midwest, which arguably laid the groundwork both for the election of President Donald Trump and presidential candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders. President Obama launched his $787 billion stimulus plan in Elkhart, Indiana, in early 2009. At the height of the crisis, unemployment skyrocketed from four to 20 percent in Elkhart, and it became central to struggles over the political direction of the US. With few safety nets, Elkhart residents struggled to meet their basic needs, creating conditions for political organizing on both …

Immigrants And Their Voting Power In Nevada, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This Fact Sheet presents the number of both documented and undocumented immigrants in Nevada, synthesizing data provided by New American Economy (NAE), a bipartisan research non-profit organization. To estimate the total number of immigrants in the U.S. and across each of the 50 states, researchers reviewed various data sources including the U.S. Census, the American Community Survey, the Center for Migration Studies, and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Sanctuary Cities And Their Respective Effect On Crime Rates, Adam R. Schutt

Undergraduate Economic Review

According to the U.S. Center for Immigration Studies (2017), cities or counties in twenty-four states declare themselves as a place of “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants. This study addresses the following question: Do sanctuary cities experience higher crime rates than those cities that are not? Using publicly available data, this regression analysis investigates the relationship between crime rates in selected cities and independent variables which the research literature or the media has linked to criminal activity. Results of this research reveal that sanctuary cities do not experience higher violent or property crime rates than those cities that are not sanctuary cities.

Co-Predatory Rule: International Cooperation With Respect To Cryptocurrency Taxation In Russia And Belarus, Jim Mignano

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This article presents an example of how globalization and digitization force states to rely on international organization. Examining tax policy with respect to cryptocurrency—an innovative, global technology—the implication is that a state levying taxes on cryptocurrency must turn to international monitoring and enforcement regimes to support effective taxation. Based on Margaret Levi’s theory of predatory rule, I submit a theory of “co-predation” to explain international cooperation with respect to taxation of novel, cross-border technologies such as cryptocurrency. The Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), an anti-tax evasion framework promulgated by the OECD, serves as an example of international cooperation. A comparison …

Understanding The Relationship Between Economic And Institutional Trends And Public University Presidential Turnover, Jeffrey P. Levine

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Presidents are leaving public colleges and universities at higher rates than they previously were over the last several decades. Previous studies on college and university presidential departure primarily have focused on internal institutional factors to offer explanations of understanding of why they leave office. Public university presidents earn less than private ones, and have to add successful (or unsuccessful) navigation of state politics to their skill sets. This study focused on both internal institutional factors and external environmental factors specifically within each state the public college or university is located. These include both external economic and political factors.

These external …

Forgotten: A Study Of The Long-Term Economic Ramifications Suffered By Survivors Of Violence Against Females Sustained During State-Terror Such As Genocides, Natasha Holmark Andersen

Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations

In an attempt to answer the question: What are the long-term economic ramifications of sexual violence against females in state terror such as genocide? This paper explores the thematic elements, conducive factors and the effects of the existence of sexual violence in state-terror genocides.

To do this, the paper first explores the elements of terrorism and apply them directly to state terror. The notion that states are immune from the blame of terrorism is acknowledged and debunked, furthering the association between terrorism and acts of state terror. Next, genocide is defined as the most atrocious act of state terror, and …

The Association Between Family Income And Adults’ Attitudes On Whether The Government Should Help The Poor, Emily Malloy

Honors Projects

This research examines whether people in different social classes have varying views on whether the government should help the poor and whether that depends on political affiliation. Income inequality has become a greater problem in the U.S. in recent decades. This means that the poor could require more assistance and it is important to know if the public thinks the government should help the poor. Knowing what influences public opinion on this issue could help policy makers make informed decisions about whether the government should help the poor. Data from the 2008 (N=2,023) and 2018 (N=2,348) General Social Survey (GSS) …

Imitators To Creators: The Emergence Of A Confident National Identity In Contemporary Korea As Observed Through K-Pop And Masculinity, Kaitlyn Diane Read

Honors Theses

South Korea’s national narrative has evolved from one familiar with destruction and outside control to one that can now afford to be more challenging and confrontational. Korea’s ascent to both economic and political prominence on the international landscape in record time is well established. The rapid transformation currently impacts Korean society with the country choosing to concentrate on strengthening its soft power and nation brand exporting. This thesis aims to reveal how Korea’s recently acquired position of significance on the global stage permits the Korean national identity to be assured and stimulating, in contrast with a derivative narrative once perceived …

Colonial Legacies And Institutional Legitimacy: Explaining Variation In State-Level Informal Economy Size, Makayla Barker

Political Science Honors Projects

Abstract: Why are some states’ economies more formal than others? This question has critical significance for policy-makers who endeavor to tap into the reservoir of tax revenue and entrepreneurship that informal economies contain. More importantly, large informal economies inhibit public good provision and perpetuate the impoverishment, marginaliza- tion, and political instability of select communities. Despite major variation in the size of informal economies across states, most scholarship on the informal economy concentrates only on the causes and consequences of the phenomenon, while neglecting to address its variation. This thesis builds on a canon of scholarship surrounding colonial legacies, new- institutional …

How Socialism Failed Venezuela, Ben Abrahamson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

In the 1970s, Venezuela was considered one of the wealthiest nations in the world. They enjoyed high oil prices after the discovery of OPEC, they were a democratized country in a continent where most of it was still undeveloped. Unfortunately, in the 1980s a major cut in oil prices caused economic turmoil, and leading into the 90s there were bloody riots, political disparity, attempted coups and building poverty. In 1998 came Hugo Chavez, a newly elected president to rid their economic issues and end corruption. However, that all turned out to be the opposite of what he did. The country …

Is China Stealing Our Tech? A Look Into The Role Of Intellectual Property Rights In Us-China Trade Relations, Ryan Chester

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis aims to further the current scholarship on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and their effects on international trade and the US-China trade relationship more specifically. The main analysis of this thesis is a quantitative cross-country analysis of over 100 countries to see how IPR plays a role in international trade, while analyzing how the Sino-US trade relationship fits into larger trends. This thesis aims to answer the questions as follows: What are the current policies surrounding Intellectual Property Rights between China and the US? Does increasing the strength of IPR laws influence imports? Does the strength of a country’s …

Ethnic Conflict's Effect On Internet And Black Male Feminism, Seraphin Tala

Honors Scholar Theses

Within the study of democratic institutions worldwide there exists the need to study factors within states, countries, and or territories that elicit or hinder democracy. Among these are the relationships that exist between ethnic cultures that interact within the same governmental structure and the roles they play within that institution. Throughout the African continent, there are many governmental structures that support hundreds of tribes holding various sociocultural differences. These differences have led to ethnic conflicts throughout African history and even escalated to civil war which pose social, political and economic detriments to the nation involved. In recent years the internet …

Presidential Influence And Competitive Grant Funding: Reexamining Presidential Pork, Benjamin Albert

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

How does partisan alignment with the president affect the distribution of federal competitive grant funding? This analysis contributes to the literature on distributive politics by reexamining the relationship between alignment with the president and competitive grant funding over the time period of 2001 to 2017. Furthermore, the analysis will test if the relationship between alignment and competitive grant funding changed after the enactment of the 2011 earmark moratorium. Fractional probit regression is used to model the relationship between a representative’s partisan alignment with the president and the portion of annual competitive grant funding that their district receives. The results suggest …

"Bad Hombres" And The Bully Pulpit: A Study Of Presidential Rhetoric On Social Media And Behavioral Responses Of The Immigrant Population, Mary Vlamis

Honors Scholar Theses

For years, social scientists have studied the impact of presidential rhetoric on public opinion and consumer behavior. This paper adds to the literature on presidential rhetoric by investigating how presidential statements on social media change public behavior in a reaction to these statements. President Trump's immigration policy tweets are used to examine if there is a relationship between the president's statements and changes in behavior using and Google searches. I find no relationship between the instance of a President Trump’s tweet and changes in searching for related topics among both large immigrant populations and Trump supporters.

Returning To Complex Strategic Analysis: A Discussion On The Diminishing Window Of Opportunity For United States Nuclear Policy Preparation With Respect To China, Christopher Keith Giuliano

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

American upheaval over the Chinese technologically advanced strategic threat permeates throughout the government and political culture. The response to this fear is a somewhat nascent reactive U.S. policy toward China as it relates to strategic weapon systems. The U.S. currently is responding by attempting to revitalize an aging nuclear architecture, and re-prioritize strategic weapons in U.S. defense spending. However, U.S. policy must move beyond justifying nuclear weapons and requesting increased funding. What is necessary for this balance beyond an arms race is the intellectual prescription for the calculated employment or fielding of those arms.

Ultimately, this paper suggests the U.S. …

Mind Your Youth: Youth Unemployment And Islamic Radicalization, Caleb Ray

Honors Theses

This study examines the potential existence of a correlation between youth unemployment and Islamic Radicalization in the MENA using data from the World Bank, the Global Terrorism Database, and the Arab Barometer. It aims to add to the current body of research regarding socioeconomic drivers for radicalization and terrorism.

A Thumb On The Scale: Chinese Investment And Influence In Ecuador And Colombia, Christina Pendergrast

Honors Theses

Over the past two decades, Chinese involvement in the developing world has increased dramatically, raising concerns over the intentions behind the provision of development packages. Critics have accused China of a practice known as debt-trap diplomacy, a method of ensnaring less developed nations by providing more loans than those nations have the ability to feasibly pay back. While China denies that their loan and investment packages are provided with any ulterior motive, the influence held by an investor like China has the potential to impact these partner countries for decades to come. In light of the scope of China’s role …

Nationalism Beyond A Nation: Non-Iberian Spanish Nationalism Examined, George Ruggiero Iv

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I explore differences between certain non-Spanish nationalist movements within Spain. To do this, I examine similarities and differences in economic, political, and cultural factors that may explain why some Spanish autonomous communities exhibit major nationalist movements and some do not. These factors include the presence of proclaimed nationalist political parties, strongly identified cultural identities, and historical elements that point to the existence of a non-Spanish identity or nationalist movement.

Australian National Audit Office: Evaluating Australian Army Program Performance, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) evaluates the management and financial performance of Australian government programs for the Australian Parliament, Australian government agencies, Australian taxpayers, and individuals interested in the performance of these programs globally. This article examines how ANAO has examined the performance of Australian Army programs and strengths and weaknesses found in these programs while recommending changes to improve program performance. It also examines how government agencies and corporations which have been the subject of ANAO analyses have reacted to ANAO findings. This assessment also examines how Plan B (the possibility that Australia might have to rely less …

What Went Wrong With Economics?: Milton Friedman, Alexander Meiklejon, And The Reorientation Of Freedom, Aria Mia Loberti

Senior Honors Projects

Economics went wrong in the midst of the Cold War, specifically the time of the terror of communism in the 1950s. It went wrong in Chicago economics in particular—exacerbated by a reorientation in how to understand and conceptualize freedom. Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom trumpets the virtues of economic freedom, or the freedom of choice within the competitive market. It represents the Chicago neoliberal position. In contrast, the luminary Alexander Meiklejohn advocates a radically different conception of freedom, and his ideas echo the voices pre-1950 Chicago economics. Meiklejohn promotes political freedom over economic freedom: championing absolute protection for free speech, …

How Does The World Bank Influence The Development Policy Priorities Of Low-Income And Lower-Middle Income Countries?, Stephen Knack, Bradley C. Parks, Ani Harutyunyan, Matthew Dilorenzo

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

This study investigates the World Bank’s use of lending and non-lending instruments to affect the policy priorities of developing countries. In a typical year, the World Bank lends more than $30 billion to its client countries. It also spends approximately $200 million on the provision of analytical and advisory products each year. However, insufficiently granular data on the nature, timing, and distribution of these analytical and advisory products and the policy priorities of client countries has made it difficult for policymakers and scholars to understand which World Bank instruments are most useful for effectuating change in the direction of government …

Good Intentions, Mixed Results: Why Aid In Uganda Is Fragmented And What Can Be Done About It, Samuel D. Johnston

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines the phenomenon of aid fragmentation and donor proliferation in Uganda. As the development cooperation landscape has become increasingly complex in recent years, there is significant interest in examining how this complexity, also called fragmentation, affects development outcomes in recipient countries. Specifically, this paper sets out to understand the driving forces behind aid fragmentation in Uganda, the recent trends in fragmentation and coordination, and potential pathways forward to address the problem.

Research for this paper came from a series of interviews with economic experts in Uganda, an exploratory study of quantitative indicators of fragmentation over the last decade, …

Do Public Program Benefits Crowd Out Private Transfers In Developing Countries? A Critical Review Of Recent Evidence, Plamen Nikolov, Matthew Bonci

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Precipitated by rapid globalization, rising inequality, population growth, and longevity gains, social protection programs have been on the rise in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the last three decades. However, the introduction of public benefits could displace informal mechanisms for risk-protection, which are especially prevalent in LMICs. If the displacement of private transfers is considerably large, the expansion of social protection programs could even lead to social welfare loss. In this paper, we critically survey the recent empirical literature on crowd-out effects in response to public policies, specifically in the context of LMICs. We review and synthesize patterns from …

Planning For Student Initiative: Creating A Digital Textbook, Ronald Vaughan Morris

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Undergraduate students enrolled in a university class created an elementary social studies book delivered to computers, personal communication devices, and tablets. Students worked in an interdisciplinary team to create the interactive platform. The students worked with both university and community partners to create the text. The study presented described both the content and the process of student generation of material followed by community member review, and the revision cycle used by the students to create features and components of the text materials. A variety of false starts and marketing challenges reflect the obstacles undergraduate students face when creating marketable products …

Juxtaposing Primary- And Intermediate-Elementary Trade Books’ Historical Representation Of Amelia Earhart, Rachael A. Burkhardt

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Amelia Earhart can be used in the classroom not only to interest students but can also be used to cover Common Core State Standards (CCSS), National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) framework, and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). When teaching Amelia Earhart, textbooks, trade books, and primary sources can be used, however one must be careful with the misrepresentations each resource can portray. To look at what is misrepresented, omitted, and included within primary and intermediate grade level trade books, 32 books were scrutinized. The trade books being analyzed were found to have some historically representative and misrepresentative elements …

Hello From The Other Side: Social Studies Faculty Teaching Biography Within State History Courses, Aubrey B. Southall Phd, Lauren Y. Bradshaw Phd

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This paper explores the opinions and interests of pre-service social studies students at two universities enrolled in a state history course taught by a socials studies faculty member. Findings include similar motivation for learning state history and opinions on interactive history lessons, while showcasing different interests in historic figures.

Fighting Money Politics And Shamanic Practices, Guno Tri Tjahjoko

Jurnal Politik

This study aims to describe the efforts of female candidates to break the practice of money politics and the influence of shamans in the 2018 Sriharjo subdistrict election (pilkades). The author used qualitative methods with a case study of the Sriharjo village-head election in Bantul Regency. The author collected primary data through interviews, in-depth group discussions, and observations. Secondary data were collected through a literature review, online articles, photos, and video studies of the pilkades process. The findings of this study show the practice of money politics carried out by “snipers,” whose job is to distribute envelopes containing money from …

Book Review: The Third Pillar: How Markets And The State Leave The Community Behind, George Morrow

Essays in Education

Rajan, Raghuram (2019). The Three Pillars: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind. New York: Penguin.

Mr. Rajan explains the success and failure of societies through the interrelationship of three social sciences (what he calls pillars): economics (the marketplace), political science (government), and sociology (communities). In Section I, Mr. Rajan describes the origins of each pillar starting at the end of the medieval era. Each pillar has its own tale related to it social science but their stories are interwoven as well. An example: the marketplace and the expansion of trade (both territorially and in complexity) could only …

Factors Supporting Turkey’S Policy To Purchase Russian S-400 Anti-Air Strike Defense Units, Chendika Yonanda, Maryam Jamila, Zulkifli Harza, Ilman Syarif Masri

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Turkey is a member of the NATO military alliance since 1952, as a member of NATO, cooperation between Turkey and Russia invites counterparts from other NATO alliance countries. But even with criticism, Turkey continues purchasing S-400 from Russia . Therefore, this study aims to analyze the factors that support Turkey's policy on purchasing S-400.This research is a descriptive research through internet-based literature.Turkey's policy in purchasing S-400 analyzed using the concepts of Arms, Alliances and Security Tradeoffs proposed by James D. Morrow. James stated that there are three factors that influence the state to conduct arming; economic & military technological factors, …