Political Science Commons^™

Fake News, Political Narrative, & Social Media: A Structuration Approach, Adam M. Housh

Capstone Collection

This research aims to unveil a connection between fake news distribution, readership demand, and social media networks, in this case, Facebook. In this research, fake news is defined as “content that is deliberately false and published on websites that mimic traditional news websites (Johnson and Kelling 2017, p3)”. It is argued that fake news content is not produced at random, but is tailored to particular political demographics and narratives. Exposure to such media not only validates ideological positions, it polarizes political beliefs. Furthermore, Facebook not only acts as an effective distribution medium, but allows individual users to skip structural filters …

Us Advocacy For Azerbaijani Press Freedom And Democracy, Danny Burns

Capstone Collection

This study sought to determine best practices for policy advocates who promote press freedom, freedom of expression, and democracy in Azerbaijan to influence policymakers in the United States of America. Results from other studies, the literature on the topics of Azerbaijan and policy advocacy, and expert interviews were used for this study. Its goal is to increase the amount of influence the average policy advocate has in the US by analyzing current advocates' experiences and synthesizing concrete suggestions for actions to effectively enact desired policy changes. The interviews and literature clearly support the premise that the regime in Azerbaijan is …

Evaluating Theories On Income Polarization In The U.S., Jocelyn Anderson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

This paper examines the relationship between technological change and income polarization within the United States. I examine and discuss the reshaping of the U.S. labor market via skill- biased technological change, possible effects of globalization, as well as institutional policies. My research also explored how aspects of corporate structure norms, and tax avoidance could be causes for increased income polarization related to top tier incomes. Using current literature and data to consider the top causes of an increasingly widening wage gap, one can see that advancements in technology and the changes it has had on the labor market, as well …

Is Citizenship Still Relevant? State Sovereignty, Migration, And Sanctuary Cities In A Globalizing World, Melissa J. Lauro

Student Publications

This paper argues that sanctuary cities and sanctuary policies in the United States are a manifestation of the conflicts resulting from processes of globalization, which have changed traditional notions of citizenship, state sovereignty, and state security, as well as fostered a cultural backlash and identity politics within the U.S.

Letter: To President John Delaney From Archbishop Desmond Tutu, April 2018, Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Collection Textual

A letter from Archbishop Tutu to University of North Florida President John Delaney regarding the papers he gifted to UNF in President Delaney's honor.

When The Wind Blows: An Evaluation Of Key Factors That Enabled The Proliferation Of Wind Energy Generation In The United States Through 2016, Mary Sodini Bell

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Increasing CO₂ emissions have led to extreme weather phenomena labeled as climate change. Energy consumption and the burning of fossil fuels are primary contributors to climate change, which necessitates finding ways to decrease fossil fuel consumption critical to preserving the planet while helping nations reduce dependence on costly fossil fuels. Renewable energy is one part of the solution to reducing CO₂ emissions. Wind energy is the fastest growing form of renewable energy across the world and within the U.S., but the key factors that enabled the U.S. wind industry to grow from zero installed capacity at the beginning …

The Personality Profile Of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Kim Jong-un, supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, conducted 2013–2018 from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Kim was collected from open-source media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM–III–R, DSM–IV, and DSM–5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles …

Women In Parliament: A Study Of Issue-Specific Female Coalition Building In Morocco, Lura Morton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Currently, 81 out of 395 members of the House of Representatives, Morocco’s lower chamber of Parliament, are women. In other words, roughly 20.5% of the representatives are women. For comparison's sake, the world average is 23.8%.1 Morocco is near the world average in terms of representation, but what does female representation accomplish? Are the women in parliament effective at representing Moroccan women, their rights, and their concerns? This paper explores the concept of female parliamentarians as substantive representatives of female citizens. Specifically, this paper examines if female members of parliament (MPs) form coalitions around issues that are specific to women, …

Roundtable: Supporting Professional Masters' Programs In Social Science And Policy Fields, Elisabeth Shields

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Professional masters programs in the social sciences and policy fields prepare participants for middle and senior positions in the private sector, government, non-profits, and international organizations. In addition to ensuring further disciplinary knowledge, programs often include components on managerial, organizational, communication, policy analysis, and similar skills. Institutions are adding programs in interdisciplinary and emerging areas to their existing professional programs in business, counseling psychology, social work, and public administration.

Librarians face distinctive challenges in supporting such programs. Faculty teaching in these programs may be adjuncts unfamiliar with their institution’s library offerings and services. Some students have just completed undergraduate programs, …

Ireland Austerity Addiction: Challenges & Opportunities, Brendan O'Rourke, John Hogsn

Conference papers

The current hold of austerity on Irish public policy provokes a comparison with addiction. Postliberalism, the form of austerity Ireland is hooked on, brought the country to its knees. It tied the millstone of bank bailouts around Ireland’s neck, slashed its education and health spending and meant its budgets were closely supervised by the Troika of the Europe Union (EU), the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank from 2010-2013. Unemployment spiked and there was an exodus, particularly of young people, from the country. This was a period of national humiliation as economic sovereignty evaporated in a deal described …

Federal Employees Work For Both Democrats And Republicans – Even Kellyanne Conway, Matthew May

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Federal ethics lawyers determined earlier this month that White House adviser Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits a variety of political activities by federal employees. During two television appearances last year, Conway, a Republican, had encouraged Alabama voters to vote against the Democratic senate candidate in a special election.

The New Media, Globalization, And The Public Interest: A Conversation With Newton N. Minow (2003), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article provides a summary of a weekend-long convocation held in April 2002 that was sponsored by the Coudert Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida. The motto of the nonprofit group, which was founded by Dale Coudert in 2001, is, “Subjects That Matter, with People Who Make a Difference.” Each mid-winter through early-spring season, the nonpartisan and nonideological Coudert Institute organizes conversations and seminars on an eclectic array of topics featuring prominent academics, artists, musicians, and practitioners. The institute’s goal is to spark open and inclusive dialogue directed to critical reflection and enlightenment. This selection contains the fruits of a …

The Geopolitics Of Canadian Defense White Papers: Lofty Rhetoric And Limited Results, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

As the United States northern neighbor, Canada serves as a NATO ally and a strategic partner with Washington through the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Canadian forces have fought honorably and bravely in concert with American forces in many wars. Canada's government, however, has been less consistent in promoting a credible vision of Canadian national security policy and geopolitical interests in its defense white papers. These documents have often contained idealistic rhetoric about adhering to a rules-based international order and defending freedom. In reality, Canadian governments of varying political parties have consistently failed to provide the sustained funding and …

Political News And Public Policy: Making America Informed Again, Brookings Mountain West

Brookings Mountain West Special Events

Brookings Mountain West and the Journalism Department from the UNLV Greenspun College of Urban Affairs were pleased to co-sponsor this timely discussion. The public joined us for a panel discussion with outstanding political journalists and public policy experts to explore the challenges and opportunities in writing about politics and public policy in the current political climate. The speakers offered their advice and recommendations on editing and writing on politics and public policy. In addition, the speakers discussed the specific skills necessary to research and write on politics and public policy, how they recruit contributors to their publications, and the future …

Entrepreneurship Education Empowers Youth To Change Their Lives, Marianna Brashear, Jason Riddle

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) aims at equipping Title 1 schools with free, hands-on, engaging materials that any teacher can facilitate either individually or in a classroom setting with no background in entrepreneurship necessary. These versatile lessons, courses, and workshops teach the entrepreneurial mindset optimizing opportunities for grades 8-12 students no matter which life/career path they choose.

The "Double Standard" Of Nonproliferation: Regime Type And The U.S. Response To Nuclear Weapons Program, Alina Shymanska

International Journal of Nuclear Security

There is no doubt that the NPT regime is far from being equal for all states involved. As the predominant hegemonic power since WWII, the United States plays a major role in deciding the fates of non-great power proliferators. This article tries to find the logical explanation of the phenomenon whereby some nuclear proliferators are absolved regardless of their active accumulation of nuclear arsenals while others are labeled as “rogue states” and ordered to disarm. The article suggests that a particular proliferator’s political regime could affect the way in which its state is approached by the U.S., known for its …

Why The United Nations Underperforms At Preventing Mass Atrocities, Edward C. Luck

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Transitory Ownership: A Spatial Analysis Of The Financialization Of The Housing Market In Cincinnati, Oh, Chad Kinsella, Colleen Mctague, Rafael Ranieri

The Journal of Economics and Politics

The mortgage bubble that burst in 2007 created an economic environment where many housing properties were transferred from individual households to investors hoping for quick profits with minimal investment. These properties were traded among investors, businesses, and lenders; they acquired a market identity as financial assets; and many of these properties were acquired by “out-of-area” interests. This study examines properties purchased by out-of-area interests that were sold in 2009 within the City of Cincinnati in an attempt to identify the spatial implications of the financialization of this housing stock. The analysis finds that many of these properties were sold multiple …

Review, The New Era Of Secret Law, Patrice Mcdermott

Secrecy and Society

In a recent Brennan Center report, The New Era of Secret Law, Elizabeth (Liza) Goitein articulates, examines, and evaluates the claims for and objections to secret law. Under this banner, the report includes any law that is withheld from the public, regardless of whether it may be shared among agencies or with certain members or committees of Congress.” Goitein’s underlying goal is to propose procedural and substantive reforms. Secret Law is a deeply-researched and highly valuable policy brief with an aim of making specific policy recommendations. And readable to boot.

Murky Projects And Uneven Information Policies: A Case Study Of The Psychological Strategy Board And Cia, Susan Maret

Secrecy and Society

This case study discusses the Truman and Eisenhower administration's (1951-1953) short-lived Psychological Strategy Board (PSB). Through the lens of declassified documents, the article recounts the history and activities of the Board, including its relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and clandestine projects that involve human experimentation. Primary documents of the period suggest that institutional secrecy, coupled with inconsistent information policies, largely shielded CIA's BLUEBIRD, ARTICHOKE, and MKULTRA from the Board. This subject has not been previously reported in the research literature, and supplements existing historical understanding of the PSB's mission under the broad umbrella of psychological warfare.

The Energy Covenant: Energy Dominance And The Rhetoric Of The Aggrieved, Jen Schneider, Jennifer Peeples

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Trump Administration has adopted “energy dominance” as its guiding ideology for energy policy, marking a notable shift from decades of “energy security” rhetoric. This paper analyzes how Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke, one of the administration’s key spokespeople for energy dominance, uses “energy covenant renewal” to frame the importance of energy dominance for the conservative base. Covenant renewal is a modified form of the jeremiad; Zinke uses it to unite conservative identities around energy politics and policies. Energy dominance thus invites those who feel aggrieved under Obama administration regulatory policy and the multicultural identity politics of the left to …

Lighting The Beacon: Presidential Discourse, American Exceptionalism, And Public Diplomacy In Global Contexts, Jason A. Gilmore, Charles Rowling

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

The idea of American exceptionalism has shaped American politics and captivated audiences for centuries. This study examines the global contexts in which U.S. presidents have invoked the idea of American exceptionalism when addressing foreign audiences since the end of World War II. Our results reveal: (a) differences in how U.S. presidents invoke American exceptionalism when speaking to a global audience (e.g., the United Nations) versus more localized, foreign audiences within individual states; (b) significant variation regarding which countries are more likely to be targets of American exceptionalism in U.S. presidential discourse; and (c) the profound impact that the end of …

An Evaluation Of The 2016 Election Polls In The United States, Courtney Kennedy, Mark Blumenthal, Scott Clement, Joshua D. Clinton, Claire Durand, Charles Franklin, Kyley Mcgeeney, Lee Miringoff, Kristen M. Olson, Douglas Rivers, Lydia Saad, G. Evans Witt, Christopher Wlezien

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The 2016 presidential election was a jarring event for polling in the United States. Preelection polls fueled high-profile predictions that Hillary Clinton’s likelihood of winning the presidency was about 90 percent, with estimates ranging from 71 to over 99 percent. When Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidency, there was a widespread perception that the polls failed. But did the polls fail? And if so, why? Those are among the central questions addressed by an American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) ad hoc committee. This paper presents the committee’s analysis of the performance of preelection polls in …

Military Citizenship In The Post-9/11 Homefront, Estefania Ponti

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In discussion with the literature on the treatment of veterans in the United States and the nature of American citizenship ideology, the following dissertation asks how post-9/11 veterans are defining, (re)creating, and contesting citizenship in the contemporary U.S. By studying a localized community of post-9/11 veterans, my dissertation highlights the dilemmas of U.S. citizenship at a time when the U.S. is engaged in a global War on Terror using less than 1% of the U.S. population as paid volunteers. Soldiers and veterans occupy states and spaces of exception, marking military citizens as distinct from civilians. Military citizenship benefits the nation …

The State Of Hate In America: A Study Of Hate Group Permeation In The United States By State, Michelle Rogers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper will analyze some of the statistics regarding hate groups. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has studied hate groups in the United States in depth for decades, developing tools and providing some useful statistics. They have developed a hate map that describes the quantity of hate groups in America individually by state and helps specifically identify trends in year over year comparisons. However, the hate map does not offer per capita breakdowns for a state or reasons for hate group permeation unique to the demographics and culture of each state. Factors and elements in conjunction with the hate …

Institute For Public Policy National Poll - January 2018, Institute For Public Policy

Public Policy Poll Results

The Sacred Heart University Institute for Public Policy leveraged quantitative research through a multi-mode methodology to address the following areas of investigation:

• Thoughts on the quality of life in Connecticut
• Satisfaction with the resolution of the State's budget crisis
• Opinions of how the State might continue to improve this budget crisis
• Thoughts on the State of Connecticut's economy and areas for improvement
• Support of the nonprofit sector and charitable organizations
• Demographic profiles of respondents

Stealth Democracy: Authoritarianism And Democratic Deliberation, Peter Muhlberger

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In Stealth Democracy, Hibbing and Theiss-Morse seek to show that much of the American public desires "stealth democracy"--a democracy run like a business with little deliberation or public input. The authors maintain that stealth democracy beliefs are largely reasonable preferences, and the public does not want and would react negatively to a more deliberative democracy. This paper introduces an opposing "authoritarian stealth democrats thesis" that suggests that stealth democracy beliefs may be driven by authoritarianism and a variety of related orientations including poor political perspective taking and low cognitive engagement. These orientations may be ameliorated through democratic deliberation. Hypotheses are …

The Rise Of Trump And The Death Of Civility, Keith Bybee

Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics, and the Media at Syracuse University

According to supporters and opponents alike, Donald Trump has been an unconventional candidate and president. In this article, I evaluate the relationship between Trump’s unconventional behavior and the requirements of civility. I provide a definition of civility, and I explain why it makes sense to relate Trump’s actions to civil norms. I then discuss how civility is enacted, I examine criticisms of civility’s triviality, and I explore the ways in which civility may repress dissent and maintain hierarchy. Although I consider the degree to which Trump’s actions are strategic, I ultimately argue that Trump’s incivilities should be understood as an …

Defections And Democracy: Explaining Military Loyalty Shifts And Their Impacts On Post-Protest Political Change, Kara Leigh Kingma Neu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Why do militaries shift their loyalty from authoritarian regimes in some instances of anti-regime protests and not others, and why do these shifts sometimes lead to democratic change? These questions are crucial for understanding the role of the military in democratization, given competing expectations in the literatures on civil-military relations, pacted transitions, and civil resistance. They are also important for understanding the outcomes of protests and other nonviolent campaigns for regime change, a topic of increased attention in recent years. To answer them, I propose an argument rooted in the bases of military authority. Militaries are delegated authority by regimes …

Rhetoric, Public Politics, And Security, Cigdem Sirin, José Villalobos

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.