Political Science Commons^™

Fulfilling Higher Education’S Responsibility To Students And Democracy In A Challenging Political Environment, Abraham Goldberg, Dena Pastor, Kayla Dixon

International Journal on Responsibility

The American Association of Colleges and Universities and more than 70 higher education organizations have expressed their shared commitment to making civic inquiry and democratic engagement central to undergraduate education. A framework emphasizing the development of skills to address public issues through courses and practical experiences accompanied their prominent call. Yet, campuses currently are facing increases in educational gag orders and institutional policies aimed at limiting discussion of DEI topics and political protests. Although attacks on free speech would seem to conflict with efforts to prepare students for democracy, there has been little scholarly attention on what students know about …

Perspectives On Food Sovereignty In Chicago, Camden Bruce Blowers

Capstone Projects – Politics and Government

The research question for this project focuses on food sovereignty. “How do individuals working with food in Chicago identify their role in promoting food sovereignty?” is a research question that expands with some nuance into the question of “who” individuals are in terms of political orientation. When asked to identify political ideology and economic ideology, the values can be greater quantified. Using mixed-methods, this paper critically assesses perspectives of individuals working with food in Chicago. The online survey enumerates the individual perspectives, food culture, and sociopolitical interactions of food sellers, producers, and advocates. Ten interviews further establish 1) the sociopolitical …

Book Review: Strategy And Grand Strategy, John Erickson

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Joshua Rovner

Reviewed by: John Erickson, senior engineer, Axiom Technologies

Joshua Rovner’s Strategy and Grand Strategy is a compelling and essential exploration of how nations succeed—or fail—when aligning military strategy with broader security goals. Through vivid historical case studies and sharp analysis, Rovner reveals how misunderstanding or ignoring the relationship between strategy (a theory of victory) and grand strategy (a theory of security) can lead to disastrous outcomes. This book is a must-read for anyone involved in national security, defense planning, or the study of statecraft in an era of technological and geopolitical complexity.

©2026 John Erickson

Does Deference To Religious Authority Predict Support For Political Violence?, John W. Compton, Ann Gordon

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Does deference to religious authority undermine support for democratic norms, including those forbidding the use of violence for political ends? Scholars have struggled to answer this question, in part, we believe, because they have typically employed proxies for religious deference (e.g. Biblical literalism, worship attendance, and self-reported religiosity) instead of measuring it directly. We develop a new measure of deference to religious authority in politics (DRAP), using the 2024 Chapman Survey of American Fears. We find that (1) DRAP is strongly correlated with support for political violence; (2) other common measures of religiosity (e.g. Biblical literalism and self-reported religiosity) are …

Social Media And Public Opinion In Times Of Conflict: How Arab Social Media Impacted International Perspectives On The Gaza War, Mariam Rizk

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examines how Arab social media content creators impacted the international public perception of the 2023 Gaza war through English-language content. The research is conducted through semi-structured interviews with 19 participants: 4 Arab social media content creators and 15 English-speaking university students (13 American citizens and 2 international students studying in American universities). Through these semi-structured qualitative interviews, the research investigates the agenda-setting capabilities of social media during conflicts and identifies effective cross-cultural communication strategies. The study employed purposive sampling with snowball technique, targeting content creators with established social media presence (37,000-426,000 Instagram followers) and university students who …

An Unlikely Ironic Intervention: Reimagining The Fourteenth Amendment Of The United States Of America, Jennifer Paola Hernandez

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

The project of interest is an intervention in the United States of America to reform racial and minority vote dilution, along with systemic entrenchment of power within gerrymandering, to undo the legacies of colonialism and racism within the states. Holding the government accountable to Constitutional and human rights is a patriotic act, even if many Americans don’t see it that way. Though often linked to the Global South, peacebuilding can also include institutional reform in non-war contexts. Peacebuilding processes are intended to improve society’s institutional structures for the betterment and sustainability of its constituents. I argue that the United States …

Peaceful Change Management: Cultivating Empathy And Curiosity To Foster Resilience And Trust In Healthcare, Erica W. Martin, Anne Kampa

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

The ongoing evolution of healthcare, driven by technological advancements, necessitates equipping leaders with human-centered approaches to change management. This proposal examines the current responses to change within healthcare environments, addressing the underlying mechanisms that contribute to success or breakdown and emphasizes the imperative need for adaptive strategies from change leaders.

A human-centered approach incorporating emotional intelligence, the ADKAR change management model, and peace-focused leadership, can mitigate potential conflicts and foster a trust-based work environment. This research explores the theoretical framework of positive peace, underscoring the pivotal role of leadership in enhancing relational dynamics and addressing communication barriers. By focusing on …

Peace Innovation And Healing: A Design Justice Framework To Support Change Processes, Strengthen Relationships, Foster Trust, And Build Community, Michelle Helman

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

Many organizations aiming to achieve peace and health equity outcomes often focus their design processes and innovation efforts externally without addressing how their organizational culture can unintentionally reproduce the very harms they are trying to address. The purpose of this qualitative design research study is to explore the role of a design justice framework in piloting a Peace Innovation Project aimed at facilitating an organizational culture change process. Specifically, the study focuses on better understanding how integrating a design justice approach could support research collaborators to center equity and justice as core components in building a culture of peace and …

Discourse Markers In Conflict Management: A Literature Review, Erica W. Martin, Krystle L. Hunter

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

Discourse Markers in Conflict Management: A Literature Review

Discourse markers, often seen as fillers in conversation, are important for managing interpersonal conflicts. This literature review aims to show how these markers influence conflict dynamics, with implications for promoting peace and strengthening community relationships. By combining research from linguistics, communication studies, and conflict resolution, the review looks at how discourse markers function during three phases of conflict: initiation, escalation, and de-escalation. The authors aim to improve both theoretical understanding and practical approaches to engaging constructively in conflicts, enhancing cohesion within global and local communities through better communication.

Using a qualitative synthesis …

Embodying Design Justice: A Peace Education Framework To Strengthen Relationships, Foster Trust And Build Community, Michelle Helman

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

BACKGROUND

Groups working toward creating peace and equity often focus on external innovation without addressing internal culture shifts necessary to navigate change and achieve their goals. Michelle’s doctoral research and practice address this challenge through a design research study and peace innovation project focused on organizational culture transformation through a design justice framework. Findings suggest that interweaving the framework with storytelling, arts, and embodiment practices are key to support people in navigating change processes to strengthen relationships, foster trust, and build community.

ABOUT

The workshop offers an applied learning experience for participants to explore the concepts of design and innovation …

Restoring The Organization For The Security And Cooperation In Europe’S Role In Human Rights And Security After Russian Invasion, Roman Nekoliak

Human Rights Brief

This Article diagnoses a systemic erosion of rights-based multilateralism driven by geopolitical realignment, reduced leadership by traditional human rights defenders, the rise of authoritarian coalitions, and the growth of transactional and securitized diplomacy. This Article argues that revitalizing the Organization for the Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) around a rights-centered, cross-dimensional concept of security is essential to restoring both regional stability and the credibility of international human rights commitments. It places the war in Ukraine within broader patterns of democratic backsliding, institutional paralysis, and the rise of authoritarian governance, demonstrating how domestic repression and interstate aggression mutually reinforce one …

Review Of Resisting Erasure: Libraries In Palestine And Palestine In Libraries, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Ho Chi Minh’S Thoughts On Gender Equality In The Political Sphere In Vietnam And Strategic Implications For Indonesia, Tri Minh Nguyen

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This paper provides an exhaustive examination of the theoretical foundations of Ho Chi Minh’s thought regarding gender equality and its institutionalization within the political fabric of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Focusing on the contemporary period (2021–2026), the analysis evaluates the efficacy of the Vietnamese model of State Feminism in achieving descriptive and substantive representation for women in legislative and executive bodies. Furthermore, the paper conducts a comparative analysis with the Republic of Indonesia, particularly following its 2024 general elections, to identify structural, cultural, and legal divergences. By synthesizing data from government reports, international indices, and academic literature, this study …

Contractual Democracy From Statehouse To School Board: Shifts In Legislation And School Board Authority In Kentucky, Hannah M. Edelen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

School boards have long been regarded as a cornerstone of American democracy, providing local governance over public education. While considerable scholarship highlights the increasing involvement of state and federal governments in education, relatively few studies examine with specificity how legislatures shape the local authority of these governance structures. This study investigates how the Kentucky State Legislature has influenced the authority of local school boards over three legislative sessions (2020–2022) and how board members perceive their evolving role. Using a multi-method approach and conceptualized in principal-agent theory, this research contributes to understanding how legislatures shape the governing responsibilities of school boards …

The Politics Of Fatness And The Demand For Our Collective Joy, Sky Caldwell

Scripps Senior Theses

The Politics of Fatness and the Demand for Our Collective Joy aims to assess the political-economic reasonings behind the return of overt anti-fatness and its coincidence with the re-normalization of the far right. My research looks at the sudden mass marketing of GLP-1 drugs and the use of the body as a spatial fix during recession-era economic conditions. First, this interdisciplinary project asks why the body positivity movement has not been successful in the greater fight against anti-fatness. Then, through archival research, discourse analysis, ethnographic interviews, and photography, my project explores various case studies of successful spaces and collectives working …

Breaking The Cycle: Substance Use Disorders, Recidivism, And The Role Of Reentry Programs, Sophia R. Veloz

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This Honors Research Paper examines the relationship between substance use treatment and recidivism among justice-involved individuals, gathering from my academic background as a dual major in psychology and national security and my internship at Oriana House in Akron, Ohio. Oriana House is a private nonprofit organization that provides inpatient and outpatient services for adults with substance use disorders, including detoxification, motivational interviewing (MI), Substance Use Disorder (SUD) counseling, telehealth, and 12-step facilitation. Their mission emphasizes reducing recidivism by addressing substance use and supporting long-term recovery. The main research question in this study is whether taking part in structured, community-based treatment …

Confucian Thought As A Strategic Veil: How Western Strategy Should Correctly Compete With China, Owen Miller

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The rise of the People's Republic of China as a peer competitor to the United States constitutes the defining geopolitical challenge of the twenty-first century, but even so, Western strategic analysis has consistently failed to engage China on its own terms. The recurrent pattern of Western misinterpretation results from projecting Western assumptions onto a state whose institutional and cultural drivers operate under fundamentally different premises, where key elements of Chinese strategic culture and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) instrumentalization of Confucianism as a moral veil are instruments of domestic legitimacy and external strategic narrative. The United States must recognize that …

The Autonomy Of Bulgarian Theological Scholarship: Institutional Control And Discursive Transformation Under The Communist Regime (1944–1960s), Diana Petrova Tyurkedzhieva

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the autonomy of theological scholarship in Bulgaria under the communist regime as part of the broader problem of academic freedom under authoritarian rule, focusing on 1944 to the 1960s. While existing research has primarily addressed the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the State through institutional restriction and political repression, this study analyses how theological scholarship was transformed institutionally and discursively. It combines historical and institutional analysis with an examination of speeches, public statements, and academic publications in ecclesiastical and theological periodicals. The article argues that the separation of the Faculty of Theology from Sofia University in …

Institutional Constraints On Investigative Oversight: Accountability And Governance Of The Investigation Supervision Bureau (Biro Pengawas Penyidikan) Of The Indonesian National Police, Mastalina Sinaga, Dhiajeng Prativi

Jurnal Kriminologi Indonesia

Investigative professionalism constitutes a fundamental pillar of the criminal justice system; however, its realization is frequently constrained by institutional design and procedural limitations within oversight mechanisms. This article examines the role of the Investigation Supervision Bureau (Biro Pengawas Penyidikan (Birowassidik)) of the Criminal Investigation Agency (Badan Reserse Kriminal (Bareskrim)) of the Indonesian National Police (Polri) in handling public complaints related to investigative performance. Rather than presuming the existence of a unified ‘Code of Silence’, this study adopts a qualitative critical analysis to assess the structural and procedural constraints inherent in Birowassidik’s mandate as a complaint-based supervisory institution. The analysis demonstrates …

Police Integrity And The Code Of Silence (Cos): Evidence From A Large-Scale Scenario-Based Survey In Indonesia, Dr. Indarto, S.H., S.Sos., S.I.K., M.Si -

Jurnal Kriminologi Indonesia

Issues of police integrity are not only driven by individual misconduct but are also sustained by organizational norms that inhibit the reporting of wrongdoing, known as the Code of Silence (CoS). This article reports the results of a large-scale, scenario-based police integrity survey conducted among personnel of the Indonesian National Police (Polri). After excluding responses that did not meet the honesty criterion, analyses were conducted on 57,574 respondents. Respondents evaluated six misconduct scenarios and assessed perceived seriousness, perceived deterrence (likelihood of detection and sanction), knowledge of rules, and willingness to report. Reliability tests indicated very strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s α …

Illusions Of Fairness And Sacrifice, Brady Schwertfeger

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The American West is a shifting landscape. An incongruous expanse of isolation and urbanity, wilderness and extraction, wealth and welfare, clear water and fire. Fifteen years ago, I moved to my mother’s ancestral homeland of Montana, and have been here ever since. Before that, I was born and raised in Texas, both the West and the South (and often something else entirely), depending on who you ask. My experiences in this region have shaped me indelibly, and have inspired this collection of essays built around culture, politics, and justice in the West. “Pinedale, Wyoming” considers the musician as itinerant wanderer …

The Tech-Nuclear Renaissance: A New Critical Juncture For American Nuclear Energy Policy, Henry P. Otte

CMC Senior Theses

Nuclear energy has re-emerged as a central priority in American energy policy. This thesis examines the Trump administration’s efforts to support nuclear energy development and plant restarts, and asks whether today’s nuclear renaissance represents a critical juncture for nuclear energy policy. By analyzing American, French, and Swedish nuclear energy history, this thesis applies a three-variable analytical framework, state autonomy and administrative structure, political permeability, and crisis influence, to identify the institutional conditions necessary for durable policy change and evaluate the structural characteristics of this new environment. The central finding is that today’s push is distinct from prior attempts at expansion, …

Mapping Coastal Community-Based Tourism Empowerment: Public Policy And Sustainable Development On Bangka Island, Putra Pratama Saputra, Hadiyanto Abdul Rachim, Arie Surya Gutama, Moch. Zaenal Hakim

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This study analyzes the conceptualization and practice of community-based tourism empowerment on Bangka Island, serving as a strategic approach to promote sustainable and inclusive coastal tourism. Employing a qualitative descriptive approach, data were gathered through interviews with nine key informants, observations, and policy document analysis. Findings reveal that these empowerment initiatives significantly strengthen individual and institutional capacities, enhance community participation in tourism planning, and drive economic diversification from extractive industries to sustainable tourism. Furthermore, this approach facilitates economic transformation through the development of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and coastal ecotourism, concurrently reinforcing environmental conservation and cultural preservation. However, …

Coolies Of Shimla: Modern Slavery As Relic Of The British Raj, Priya Kapoor

Politics and Global Affairs Faculty Publications and Presentations

Coolie labor needs to be understood as a contemporary transnational practice rooted in local practices of feudal kings and the British Empire. When the British Raj established Shimla as its summer capital in 1864, they did not eliminate archaic labor practices; instead, they cleverly modified them to serve the Empire’s infrastructural needs. Under the guise of reform, the British introduced nominal pay to bypass anti-slavery laws, effectively rebranding the forced laborer as the "coolie"—a racialized linguistic construct that signified a state of permanent subalternity. This labor force was the veritable backbone of the Raj, manually carving the treacherous Hindustan-Tibet Road …

Book Review: Victim-Centred Peacemaking: Colombia’S Santos–Farc-Ep Peace Process, Patricia M. Rodriguez

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Reexamining The Abraham Accords: The Dynamics Of The Abraham Alliance Amid Geopolitical Uncertainly, Wahyu Dwi Pambagyo, Ali Maksum

Journal Of Middle East and Islamic Studies

Several studies have discussed the bilateral economic impact of the Abraham Accords, but few of them have thoroughly examined how this agreement has evolved into a collective security framework amid global geopolitical changes. This study attempts to fill the existing research gap by analyzing the transformation of the Abraham Accords into the Abraham Alliance using the Balance of Power theory framework developed by Stephan M. Walt. Using a qualitative approach and case study mode, this study examines secondary data from 2020 to 2025, using academic journals, government policy documents, and reliable news media as sources. This study concludes that the …

What Is The Most Important Issue In Indonesia’S Political Belief System? Network Analysis Of Attitude And Voting Behavior In 2014 And 2019, Khaerullah Fadhli Arasy Hasan, Whinda Yustisia, Mirra Noor Milla, Mark Brandt

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

Previous research has shown that attitudes toward political issues have a significant influence on voting behavior (Bukari et al., 2022). However, not all issues exert equal influence, and some may have a more direct impact on voting behavior than others. This study applies network analysis within the framework of the PBS model (Brandt & Sleegers, 2021) to explore the issues that most strongly shaped voters’ choices in Indonesia’s 2014 and 2019 elections. To answer the research question, we used data from a national survey (n = 962) conducted in 2018. The analysis was conducted by evaluating the shortest path values …

Pronatalism In The United States: How Political Ideals Surrounding Family And Reproductive Health Care Contribute To Neglect In The Foster Care System, Carson Sebree

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Within the past decade, conservative reproductive politics in the United States have experienced an ideological shift from pro-life toward pronatalism. This has been intensified through the rollback of reproductive rights and the rise of Christian nationalism. However, there has been no commensurate additional funding for the foster care system. This project asks the interrelated questions of: “how is pronatalism linked to neglect within the foster care system?; and, how do theories of democratic care highlight the necessity to rethink support for the foster care system and create policies that will address its shortcomings, given the rise of pronatalist aw and …

How Armenia And Azerbaijan Are Lobbying For Influence In D.C., Gibran C. Boyce, Dawn Kikel

Capstones

In the wake of President Trump taking office, foreign government agencies and U.S.-based non-profits serving Armenian and Azerbaijani interests have been hiring lobbyists in Washington, D.C. as part of their concerted efforts to curry favor, gain influence, and seek policy changes that would benefit the rival post-Soviet nations.

Chinese Intellectual Property Theft On United States Innovation In The Aerospace, Energy, And Pharmaceutical Economic Sectors Through Human Intelligence And Cyber Intelligence Collection, Preston Martz

Honors Theses

In cases of Chinese intellectual property theft on aerospace, energy, and pharmaceutical sectors in the United States, does Chinese intelligence collection favor HUMINT or CYBINT for collection? Sub questions also arise, including: to what extent does the amount of information collected vary by collection through HUMINT vs. CYBINT? Furthermore, does the sector where IP theft is used change the method of collection used? Finally, to what extend do case factors and outcomes affect the collection method used?