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Full-Text Articles in Political Science

Backlash And The Ada: Conflicting Constructions Of Disability In U.S. Policy, Bess Connolly May 2025

Backlash And The Ada: Conflicting Constructions Of Disability In U.S. Policy, Bess Connolly

Political Science Honors Projects

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has faced significant judicial and regulatory backlash, even after the passage of the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA). Examining the legislative histories and trends in ADA litigation, I argue that this backlash arises from conflicts between the medical and social models of disability embedded in both laws. Compromises made during both legislative processes resulted in a law that accommodates multiple conceptions of disability, allowing courts to reshape the law according to their own views. Ultimately, the ADA remains a site of contestation as its internal contradictions have gone unresolved.


The Law Of The Biggest Pump: Legal Consciousness And The Texas Groundwater Dilemma, Riley Hodin May 2025

The Law Of The Biggest Pump: Legal Consciousness And The Texas Groundwater Dilemma, Riley Hodin

Political Science Honors Projects

Texas’s localized system of groundwater regulation is complicated by its strong tradition of property rights. This paper examines the legal consciousness of the everyday people subjected to that system. It relies on interviews with local water authorities, as well as an analysis of public comments made by stakeholders. When conflicts emerge, stakeholders tend to attribute negative outcomes to a failure to properly follow legal procedure, or to the improper intrusion of some non-legal entity. Authorities, however, blame the law itself. Both groups feel the law’s presence but struggle to locate its specific source or meaning.


Deadly Choices: Political, Legal, And Moral Understandings Of U.S. Supreme Court Death Penalty Decisions, Anabelle S. Bergstrom May 2025

Deadly Choices: Political, Legal, And Moral Understandings Of U.S. Supreme Court Death Penalty Decisions, Anabelle S. Bergstrom

University Scholar Projects

This thesis explores the political, legal, and moral factors that influence Supreme Court justices when penning capital punishment decisions. It also examines the evolution of thinking toward the death penalty by former justices John Paul Stevens and Harry Blackmun throughout their tenure on the Court. Cases are analyzed through fact-pattern analysis and the jurisprudential regime theory, which quantitatively build upon existing literature detailing the theoretical background of judicial decision-making through the attitudinal model. An analysis of Justices Blackmun and Stevens’ papers at the Library of Congress focuses on rhetoric that reflects utilitarian and retributive theories of punishment. Findings show that …


Does The Private Prison Industry Perpetrate More Staff Sexual Misconduct Than In Federal Prisons?, Abigail Lutrick May 2025

Does The Private Prison Industry Perpetrate More Staff Sexual Misconduct Than In Federal Prisons?, Abigail Lutrick

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper compares the reported statistics of staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct allegations in privately and federally operated correctional facilities. The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was first created with the goal of protecting public safety and promoting rehabilitation for criminal offenders humanely. As decades have passed, and the support for the validity of this mission has wavered, the federal government has implemented oversight and remedial programs to report on the misconduct that is evident in prison management in an attempt to curb these incidents. Previous research in this field highlights the waning reliability of institutional indicators to the success of correctional …


The Different Rhetoric Between Upholding And Overriding Disability Rights Inside The United States Supreme Court, Shane Egan May 2025

The Different Rhetoric Between Upholding And Overriding Disability Rights Inside The United States Supreme Court, Shane Egan

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper seeks to explain the rhetoric the U.S. Supreme Court uses when deciding disability cases, specifically when the Court upholds or overrides disability rights. The paper attempts to show how when the Court upholds disabled rights they use passive and weak rhetoric, and utilizes active and enforcing rhetoric when overriding disability rights. This paper analyzes this rhetoric inside education, healthcare, and employment cases heard by the Supreme Court.


Trading Diversity? Judicial Diversity And Case Outcomes In Federal Courts, Ryan W. Copus, Ryan Hübert, Paige Pellaton May 2025

Trading Diversity? Judicial Diversity And Case Outcomes In Federal Courts, Ryan W. Copus, Ryan Hübert, Paige Pellaton

Faculty Works

Are federal lawsuits resolved differently based on the race or gender of the judges assigned to hear them? Recent empirical research posits that women and judges of color decide cases more liberally, at least in some identity-salient areas of law. However, these studies analyze small numbers of cases and judges, and use research designs that limit their causal interpretations. Using an original dataset of all civil rights cases filed in 20 federal district courts over multiple decades and a strong causal identification strategy, we find that assignment of cases to judges of color or women has no statistically significant effect …


Customs, Courts, And Conflict: Strengthening The Legal System In South Sudan, Anusha Sheila Aubeelack May 2025

Customs, Courts, And Conflict: Strengthening The Legal System In South Sudan, Anusha Sheila Aubeelack

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This thesis examines the dual legal system in South Sudan and how it can be strengthened as the country transitions to a democracy. It gives a brief historical account of the evolution of the South Sudanese legal system and the current challenges posed by overlapping normative frameworks. It argues that while customary law remains deeply embedded in South Sudanese society, its co-existence with statutory law has created jurisdictional ambiguities, inconsistencies in the delivery of justice and public mistrust in state institutions. Reforms such as the drafting of the Permanent Constitution of South Sudan to harmonize both legal traditions, the formal …


The Affordable Care Act: Analyzing Rates Of Healthcare Claim Denial, Lauren Sitter May 2025

The Affordable Care Act: Analyzing Rates Of Healthcare Claim Denial, Lauren Sitter

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The United States healthcare industry is an integral aspect of every American’s life. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 reformed the healthcare system by expanding coverage to millions of Americans and eliminating claim denials due to pre-existing conditions. It requires participating states to submit transparency data. Despite these reforms, coverage denials continue and vary by plan category, metal level, and among different states. I analyze data from The Kaiser Family Foundation (2023) and The CommonWealth Fund to test the correlation between claim denial and a variety of variables, including state political culture, plan type, metal level, and out-of-pocket costs. …


Koxinga: The Catalyst Of Taiwan's Current Geopolitical Conflict, Lauren Masterson May 2025

Koxinga: The Catalyst Of Taiwan's Current Geopolitical Conflict, Lauren Masterson

Honors College Theses

Taiwan, strategically located in the South China Sea, has long faced challenges in asserting its sovereignty. While much of the existing scholarship focuses on the 20th-century conflict between the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) and the Chinese Communist Party, this study turns to the mid-17th century to trace the roots of the island’s contested status. It centers on Zheng Chenggong (1624–1662), also known as Koxinga, who established the Ming loyalist Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan (1661–1683) following the fall of the Ming dynasty. By examining Koxinga’s actions and the legacy he left behind, this research draws parallels between his retreat …


The Effectiveness Of International Courts In Contributing To Rebuilding And Resolving Conflicts In Societies Post-Genocide, Garrett Connely May 2025

The Effectiveness Of International Courts In Contributing To Rebuilding And Resolving Conflicts In Societies Post-Genocide, Garrett Connely

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

In the aftermath of mass atrocities, international courts have emerged as key mechanisms for delivering justice and fostering post-conflict reconciliation. Rooted in the precedent set by the Nuremberg Trials after World War II, these institutions aim to prosecute crimes that often go beyond national legal systems. However, their effectiveness remains contested, largely due to their dependence on state cooperation and the complexity of post-conflict environments. This project examines the societal impact of international courts in two significant cases – Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Through a comparative analysis of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal …


Influence Of The Solicitors General On The Supreme Court: 2011-2023, Maxwell Tobin May 2025

Influence Of The Solicitors General On The Supreme Court: 2011-2023, Maxwell Tobin

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

This project looks at the success rate of the OSG and how the data indicates that the government-more specifically between the executive and judicial- is not getting along. In doing so, this scholarship uses 337 Supreme Court cases where the OSG filed on these cases as an amicus brief. This project aims to fill the research gap since 2014. I argue the salience of this research is in 2020-2022 where SCOTUS has 3 new conservative members and the President during this time was leaning more progressive (even more than Obama). All of this works to explain the low success rate …


Deadly Choices: Political, Legal, And Moral Understandings Of U.S. Supreme Court Death Penalty Decisions, Anabelle S. Bergstrom May 2025

Deadly Choices: Political, Legal, And Moral Understandings Of U.S. Supreme Court Death Penalty Decisions, Anabelle S. Bergstrom

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis explores the political, legal, and moral factors that influence Supreme Court justices when penning capital punishment decisions. It also examines the evolution of thinking toward the death penalty by former justices John Paul Stevens and Harry Blackmun throughout their tenure on the Court. Cases are analyzed through fact-pattern analysis and the jurisprudential regime theory, which quantitatively build upon existing literature detailing the theoretical background of judicial decision-making through the attitudinal model. An analysis of Justices Blackmun and Stevens’ papers at the Library of Congress focuses on rhetoric that reflects utilitarian and retributive theories of punishment. Findings show that …


Contracted Wars, Compromised Oversight: Private Military Companies In Iraq, Afghanistan, And The Decline Of U.S. Accountability Standards, Brianna N. Buzzell May 2025

Contracted Wars, Compromised Oversight: Private Military Companies In Iraq, Afghanistan, And The Decline Of U.S. Accountability Standards, Brianna N. Buzzell

International Studies (MA) Theses

The Global War on Terror, beginning in 2001, started U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, facilitating the expansion of Private Military Contractors (PMCs) through a combination of operational necessity, strategic policy decisions, and systemic oversight failures. Despite their growing role, PMCs operate in legal and oversight grey zones. Despite a growing body of work on PMC accountability, there remains little agreement on how U.S. military interventions created conditions for their proliferation. This paper examines how U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan facilitated the expansion of PMC influence, resulting in reduced oversight and accountability for both the U.S. government …


Analyzing The Role Of Socio-Political And Cultural Factors In The Implementation Of Transitional Justice In Afghanistan From 2001-2021, Narwan Alawi, Tufail Ahmad Peerzada Apr 2025

Analyzing The Role Of Socio-Political And Cultural Factors In The Implementation Of Transitional Justice In Afghanistan From 2001-2021, Narwan Alawi, Tufail Ahmad Peerzada

Indonesian Journal of International Law

After the end of conflicts, countries generally try to prosecute the criminals who committed war crimes and violations of human rights during conflicts and civil wars to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. In some cases, special courts have been established to trial the perpetrators of these crimes. In post-2001 Afghanistan, as foreign forces led by the USA removed the Taliban from power and with the establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan, a new phase of transitional justice was anticipated. Although the Afghans initially hoped that justice would not be ignored, however, preference was given to establish peace, and the …


What The Uk Can Learn From India About Trans Rights And Inclusive Feminism, Ammel Sharon Apr 2025

What The Uk Can Learn From India About Trans Rights And Inclusive Feminism, Ammel Sharon

Popular Media

The article reflects on the UK Supreme Court’s recent interpretation of “woman” under the Equality Act 2010, noting its impact on trans inclusion in public spaces. In contrast, Indian feminist and queer movements have embraced more inclusive, self-reflective approaches to gender, resisting fixed legal definitions. Drawing on examples from sports activism, legal scholarship, and grassroots organising, the author calls for collective ethics that expand rather than restrict the possibilities of belonging.


Canadian Security Intelligence Service (Csis), Bert Chapman Apr 2025

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (Csis), Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

April 24, 2025 presentation for Canada's GovInfo Day Spring 2025 hosted by Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and Internet Archive Canada. Provides information about the publicly available information resources produced by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) which is the Canadian Government's foremost national intelligence agency. Provides information about this agency's statutory organization, types of publicly available reports they produce, information about other Canadian government intelligence agencies, and parliamentary oversight of Canadian government intelligence operations. Lists additional resources for finding information about CSIS and explains the benefits of having access to these resources for users.


The Right To Gender-Affirming Care, Justin J. Soulas Apr 2025

The Right To Gender-Affirming Care, Justin J. Soulas

Theses and Dissertations

As of recent, twenty-four states have enacted bans on gender-affirming care, restricting minors from accessing medically necessary treatment. Existing scholarship has begun to explore the profound impact of these bans on transgender youth, their parents or guardians, and the medical professionals who support them. However, the body of literature on this rapidly evolving issue remains limited. This thesis aims to fill that gap by offering a legal defense of gender-affirming care, grounded in judicial precedent. It argues that parental rights to make medical decisions for their children—recognized in constitutional jurisprudence—extend to decisions involving gender-affirming treatment. Additionally, it draws on anti-discrimination …


From Doing Business To B-Ready: World Bank’S New Rankings Represent A Rebrand, Not A Revamp, Fernanda G. Nicola, Dhaisy Paredes Guzman Apr 2025

From Doing Business To B-Ready: World Bank’S New Rankings Represent A Rebrand, Not A Revamp, Fernanda G. Nicola, Dhaisy Paredes Guzman

Popular Media

In 2021, the World Bank shut down one of its flagship projects: the Doing Business index, a global ranking system that measured how easy it was to start and run a business in 190 countries. It followed an independent investigation that found World Bank officials had manipulated the rankings to favor powerful countries, including China and Saudi Arabia. The scandal raised serious concerns about the use of global benchmarks to shape development policy. Now, the Bank is trying again. In October 2024, it launched its newest flagship report, Business Ready. The 2025 spring meeting of the World Bank and its …


The Impact Of The Parkland Shooting On Voter Behavior And Preferences: Focus On Gun Control, Mental Health, And School Safety Policies., Brooke Bock Apr 2025

The Impact Of The Parkland Shooting On Voter Behavior And Preferences: Focus On Gun Control, Mental Health, And School Safety Policies., Brooke Bock

Honors Projects in Politics, Law, and Society

This paper thesis examines how the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL has influenced voting behavior within the affected community, specifically regarding candidate and policy preferences related to gun control, mental health support, and school safety. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the study incorporates surveys and interviews to capture voters' opinions and attitudes in the aftermath of the tragic event. Public voter data is also analyzed to identify shifts in voting patterns and candidate support over time. The research aims to understand the magnitude to which the Parkland shooting has shaped voters' views and decisions, and whether …


The Jacksons' Debate, Marcus Vinicius Neves Apr 2025

The Jacksons' Debate, Marcus Vinicius Neves

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

The Jacksons’ Debate” explores ethical dilemmas through an alien civilization considering human consumption. This philosophical sci-fi story examines sentience, moral responsibility, and societal progress from a unique perspective. Blending dark humor with social commentary, it challenges readers to reflect on human behavior and ethical decision-making in the face of necessity and scientific advancement.


Resilience Against Neglect Apr 2025

Resilience Against Neglect

The Civil Rights Movement (HIS/BLS 347) Zine Project

No abstract provided.


Violence And Artistic Resistance, Tucker Brown Apr 2025

Violence And Artistic Resistance, Tucker Brown

The Civil Rights Movement (HIS/BLS 347) Zine Project

No abstract provided.


Cointelpro's Assassination Of Fred Hampton Apr 2025

Cointelpro's Assassination Of Fred Hampton

The Civil Rights Movement (HIS/BLS 347) Zine Project

No abstract provided.


Flourish, Chanel Perez Apr 2025

Flourish, Chanel Perez

The Civil Rights Movement (HIS/BLS 347) Zine Project

No abstract provided.


Uncovering The Covered, Matthew Ouellette Apr 2025

Uncovering The Covered, Matthew Ouellette

The Civil Rights Movement (HIS/BLS 347) Zine Project

No abstract provided.


Preserving First Amendment Values: Social Media And The Harmful Content Test, Liam Watts Apr 2025

Preserving First Amendment Values: Social Media And The Harmful Content Test, Liam Watts

Undergraduate Honors Theses

We live in a world in which the internet is unavoidable. It is used for our everyday tasks (such as sending business emails) and is even used to communicate with other individuals around the world (through messaging services, for example). Another unavoidable aspect of the internet is social media; it is used for communication, news gathering, and engaging in discussion, inter alia. Sometimes, the way individuals use social media is quite aversive. Thus, social media companies have rightfully tried to govern their platforms in a way that attempts to reduce the harm that comes from aversive content. However, social media …


Long Live The Good King: Arthur’S Niebuhrian Kingship And Pursuit Of Justice In The Once And Future King, Camille Bewley Apr 2025

Long Live The Good King: Arthur’S Niebuhrian Kingship And Pursuit Of Justice In The Once And Future King, Camille Bewley

Harding Undergraduate Research Conference

The classic The Once and Future King, written by T.H. White, is a selection of four fantasy novels with one, linear plot: the story of Arthur, the mythological King of England. Reinhold Niebuhr’s book Moral Man and Immoral Society details the Christian realism of a world in need of justice without the ability to achieve perfect application. Through good education, Arthur is well endowed with Niebuhr’s requirements for a functional society: knowledge, honor, wisdom, and compassion. Such king-like qualities make him one of the most influential mythological characters in history, and a grand exemplar for maintaining ethical goals and personal …


Does Name, Image, And Likeness Increase Gender Inequality In College Athletics?, Aimee Christenson Apr 2025

Does Name, Image, And Likeness Increase Gender Inequality In College Athletics?, Aimee Christenson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

In June of 2021, the National Collegiate Athletic Association adopted its first interim policy regarding Name, Image, and Likeness. From here, college athletes have been able to benefit from opportunities regarding their brand as an athlete. While this development has been historic in its expansion of rights to athletes, it highlights the inequities between male and female athletes. Title IX requires equal opportunity for male and female students. This research raises questions about whether NIL is increasing the disparity between male and female athletes. To answer this question, I looked at NIL data collected by Kyle Ems on the NIL …


Discrimination That Requires A Remedy: The Case Of Mothers Of Children With Disabilities, Ewa Rejman Apr 2025

Discrimination That Requires A Remedy: The Case Of Mothers Of Children With Disabilities, Ewa Rejman

Mercer Law Review

International human rights law devotes particular attention to the protection of vulnerable groups owing to their special needs and distinctive challenges which should be adequately considered. Building upon this premise and stressing the importance of gender approach, the Article describes particular vulnerabilities that mothers of children with disabilities face and explains how addressing them remains contingent upon safeguarding, in particular, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the right to social security, the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to family life. Through the analysis of the responsibility for the omission in international law, …


Race Centers As Critical Curriculum Spaces In U.S. Law Schools, Katheryn Russell-Brown, Vanessa Miller Apr 2025

Race Centers As Critical Curriculum Spaces In U.S. Law Schools, Katheryn Russell-Brown, Vanessa Miller

Mercer Law Review

This piece aims to amplify the role of law school race centers. In fact, these centers are central curriculum spaces for student teaching and learning about race. The discussion highlights the role of race centers in law schools, explores the scholarly potential of race centers, and proposes strategies for sustaining race centers. The piece examines the role of race centers in helping law schools meet American Bar Association Standard 303(c), which requires that law students are exposed to race‑related curriculum, such as bias, cross‑cultural competencies, or racism. Tracing the historical roots of modern‑day race centers to Black Culture Centers of …