Political Science Commons^™

Grassroots Vs. Big Oil: Measure P And The Fight To Ban Fracking In Santa Barbara County, California, Corrie Grosse

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

In 2014, volunteers in Santa Barbara County, California, collected over 20,000 signatures in three weeks to qualify an anti-fracking initiative for the November election. The initiative, Measure P, met over six million dollars in opposition from oil corporations. Despite mobilizing 1,000 volunteers, the proponents of the measure failed to garner enough votes for success. Drawing on 43 in-depth interviews and participant observation with environmental groups before, during, and after the campaign, this article examines the strengths and weaknesses of grassroots organizing behind Measure P. Organizers, especially during the signature drive, successfully garnered broad-based support in the southern part of the …

The Impacts Of Commercialization On Depth, Breadth, Scope, And Quality Of Outreach In Mozambique: A Case-Study, Courtney Johnson

Student Research – Stevenson Center

In today’s microfinance, scholars and policy-makers across the world have emphasized the importance of financial sustainability, or the ability of a microfinance institution (MFI) to finance its operations. In order to reach financial sustainability, MFIs embrace commercialization, a process where an MFI undergoes restructuring in order to open up avenues to capital. Yet, scholars are concerned that this emphasizes on financial sustainability will cause the social good objective to suffer, a phenomenon known as “trade-off.” Indeed, studies have found that commercialization impacts MFI outreach in various ways. To my knowledge, no research has attempted to understand the impacts of commercialization …

The Ecclesiology Of Pope Francis And The Future Of The Church In Africa, Bradford E. Hinze

Journal of Global Catholicism

A consideration of the future of African Catholicism in light of the ecclesiology of Pope Francis. The article explores how themes in Francis's ecclesiology work together to challenge centralization, clericalism, and triumphalism in the church by promoting practices of synodality and how these elements support the church’s mission to work against forms of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and the most fundamental matrix of colonial power by advancing radical democracy in society

Stasi Brainwashing In The Gdr 1957 - 1990, Jacob H. Solbrig, Jacob Hagen Solbrig

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the methods used by the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), more commonly known as the Stasi, or East German secret police, for extraction of information from citizens of the German Democratic Republic for the purpose of espionage and covert operations inside East Germany, as it pertains to the deliberate brainwashing of East German citizens. As one of the most efficient intelligence agencies to ever exist, the Stasi’s main purpose was to monitor the population, gather intelligence, and collect or turn informants. They used brainwashing techniques to control the people of the GDR, keeping the populace paralyzed with fear …

Assessing And Enhancing Nuclear Safety And Security Culture For Small Facilities That Handle Radioactive Material, Solymosi Máté

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The use of radioactive sources is expanding all over the world and abreast the necessity of the enhancement of its safe and secure application is increasing too. In the nuclear industry, the safety and security are top priorities since decades. They share the same goal, to protect humans from the negative affect of the ionizing radiation. The human component of them is a significant factor and technical solutions can protect us so far and thus the culture for safety and security become a major focus. On the other hand, there are still some contradiction between recommendations and international guidance of …

“It’S A Kind Of Killing:” Afghan Refugees In Shadow Of The Eu Fear They’Re Forgotten, Kyle Mackie

Capstones

For Karimi Wahab, an Afghan refugee currently accommodated at a center for asylum seekers in Sjenica, Serbia, watching refugees from other war-torn countries get moved along into the European Union has become routine. Afghans make up nearly two thirds of Serbia’s stranded migrants and refugees. In Sjenica, it’s been more than a year since any Afghan got onto the list maintained by Hungarian immigration authorities that allows 10 migrants to enter the country from Serbia each business day. Compared to Syrians and Iraqis, Afghans have also been granted asylum less frequently across the EU, on average, every year since 2014. …

Without A Caveat: How An Ethiopian Immigrant Deconstructs Race In America, Priscilla Alabi

Capstones

The story is about how an Ethiopian immigrant, Mariya Abdulkaf is dealing with the effects of the racism she experienced while growing up in Texas. However, she is one of many women of color who continue to educate and awaken the communities to which they belong. In a social climate where, according to a study done by the Pew Research Center, 60 percent of Americans believe race relations have worsened a year into the Trump Administration; and groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and others assert that women of color are “bearing the brunt of a mass of …

Edward A. Ross: Social Development And Social Control, Ernest M. Oleksy

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

With a foundation in philosophy and history, core concepts of sociology and criminology that were initially posited over a century ago are still useful in understanding the workings of today's society. The contributions of Edward A. Ross have helped latter day researchers centralize their studies of polycentric topics by using social control as an omnipresent social fact. By comparing Ross's descriptions of 19th century society and the researcher's descriptions of 21^st century society, a continuous understanding of a heavily pluralistic discipline comes to life.

Refugee Policy & Social Integration In Jordan: Structural Barriers To Enclave Formation Among Forced Migrants To Jordan, David Nardelli

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The displacement of over five million Syrian refugees in the past six years has brought much needed attention to issues of forced migration. Today, the majority of the world’s refugees and internally displaced reside in urban areas of middle to low-income states, particularly in Asia and Africa. There is, however, a significant gap in research on self-settled refugees in the Middle East and their integration into host countries. In addition, much of the literature that does exist focuses on policies regarding labor policies yet ignores housing and settlement pattern issues and its impact on integration and community growth. This research …

When Does Sexuality-Based Discrimination Motivate Political Participation?, Douglas D. Page

Political Science Faculty Publications

The established consensus in political behavior research is that discrimination by political institutions motivates marginalized groups to vote and protest their conditions. However, existing studies miss a comparison between states with high and low levels of political discrimination, and they miss a comparison between states before and after the development of opportunities for groups to mobilize. In particular, a growing body of research shows that sexual-minority groups face discrimination to varying degrees across Europe. Sexual minorities in states with high levels of discrimination lack the support of other minority-group members, which encourages political participation. The analysis is based on surveys …

Antinomies Of Globalization, Yahya Mete Madra

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The defining antinomy of the post-2008 crash phase is argued to be the one between neoliberalism and populism. This essay aims to complicate the terms of this antinomy and offers a reading that problematizes the association of neoliberalism with internationalism and globalization on the one hand and populism with nationalism and anti-imperialism on the other. Not only internationalism in its historical origins is an anti-imperialist concept but also today we can easily discern how reactionary forms of populist nationalisms are made possible by globalization of finance—a hallmark of neoliberalism. The essay concludes with a discussion of the possibility of …

Collective Narcissism, Anti-Globalism, Brexit, Trump, And The Chinese Juggernaut, Russell Belk

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Brexit and the election of Trump both relied on a particular type of nationalistic appeal to collective narcissism — an exaggerated emotional belief that the nation’s greatness is being undermined by other nations and other people. This tendency is catered to by appeals to make the nation great again by shutting borders and embracing isolationism while scapegoating refugees and immigrants. The rise of jingoistic leaders like Trump, Putin, and Erdogan can be explained by such appeals. But China, which has long suffered feelings of national humiliation is reacting in quite different ways that embrace globalism, even while rejecting multiculturalism. This …

Globalization: Mere Hiccup, Major Convulsion Or Mega Transformation?, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Deniz Atik

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Political Elites Or Average Citizens? Perspectives On The Political Legitimacy And Future Of The European Union, Jessica R. Frydenberg

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

The confidence that Informed Citizenry and their Economic Elites have in the European Union were assessed. Survey data, from the 2009 Eurobarometer 72.4 with a sample size of 8,499 citizens, from 27 European nations, were supplemented with interviews with two professionals knowledgeable about EU politics and content analyses of current events, such as the EU debt crisis, the rise in terrorist attacks, the British Referendum, and the immigration crisis. Although both citizens and elites were confident about the EU’s future, voices of informed citizenry shaped the confidence in the EU more than economic elites. These findings substantiated the Systemic Coupling …

Lessons For Legalizing Love: A Case Study Of The Naz Foundation's Campaign To Decriminalize Homosexuality In India, Preston G. Johnson

Capstone Collection

In 1860, British colonizers codified Section 377 into the Indian Penal Code. 377 is an anti-sodomy law based on Victorian/Judeo-Christian values which criminalizes homosexuality through judicial interpretation and the manipulation of ambiguous language. On August 15^th, 2017, India celebrated 70 years of independence from British control, yet 377 still exerts oppressive control over the safety and freedom of Indian LGBTQI communities. Defining queerness as perversion has caused LGBTQI individuals to become victims of false accusations, blackmail, harassment, housing and workplace discrimination, familial rejection, forced “conversion therapy”, assault, rape, torture, and even murder because of this power imbalance and …

Grann's "Killers Of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders And The Birth Of The Fbi" (Book Review), Roderick Leupp

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

The Pulpit And The People: Mobilizing Evangelical Identity, Tim Moser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using ten sermons from five prominent and politically active evangelical megachurch pastors taken from the 2016 presidential campaign season, this case study utilizes frame analysis to understand the political relevance of modern evangelical sermonizing. An inductive frame analysis allows the concept of a collective action frame to be observed as a process and for patterns to emerge from the source text. Within these sermons, ministers offer self-identifying evangelicals a vocabulary with which to understand and describe their own identity. In this context, the Bible is a powerful cultural symbol that represents an allegiance to traditions that are framed as the …

Lee-Barnewall's "Neither Complementarian Nor Egalitarian: A Kingdom Corrective To The Evangelical Gender Debate" (Book Review), Heather Hicks

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction, Michael D.; Pante

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

No abstract provided.

No Human Right To Sodomy: Christian Conservative Opposition To Sogi Human Rights, Cynthia Burack

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The American Christian conservative movement is the most consistent and persistent adversary of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) civil rights in the US. In recent years, the Christian right has responded to changes in attitudes to same-sex sexuality in the US by relocating some of their attention and operations to issues and arenas of contest outside the US that hold more promise for implacable antagonism to rights and recognition for LGBTQ people. In some parts of the world, these US-based anti-LGBTQ actors have become recognized as “experts” on gender and sexual minorities and the dire consequences the existence of …

Silenced Agency Gains A Voice?, Katarina Lucas

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Nearly twenty-three years since the Dayton Peace Accords ended the military violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia), the right to reparation for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence remains unrealized, as existing mechanisms for acquiring compensation and psycho-social services are gender-blind, decentralized, discriminatory, and nonexistent in parts of the country.

In 2012, the Bosnian government sought to begin remedying this broken system through the draft Programme for Victims of Wartime Rape, Sexual Abuse and Torture, and their Families (Programme). Today, the Programme remains stagnant as a draft policy, yet efforts by local and global actors to seek forms of reparation for …

Elections In The Shadow Of Ebola: Sierra Leone’S African Socialist Movement And The Struggle For Democracy, Joshua Mcdermott

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The West African eEbola outbreak of 2014-15 claimed the lives of nearly 12,000 people, most of them from the Mano River region, comprising Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea-Conakry, three of the world’s poorest nations. In the wake of the outbreak, Sierra Leone’s ruling party, the All People’s Congress (APC), postponed the country’s 2017 elections for one year, under the pretext that the crisis had undermined the agenda of the president, Ernest Bai Koroma.

Authoritarianism is not new to Sierra Leone: The APC ruled the small coastal nation under a one-party state from the 1960s until a brutal civil war that …

Faith-Based Resistance, Human Rights, And Emancipatory Practices, Curtis Kline

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Progressive political theologies can expand and deepen both the strength and the conceptualization of human rights advocacy. However, not all political theologies are an effort to defend human dignity; neither are all understandings and practices of human rights. The validation of progressive political theologies as well as the validation of human rights conceptualizations comes from their capacity to concretely change the lived reality of poor and oppressed peoples of the world.

As with political theologies, there is a constant struggle over the control of how to conceptualize what constitutes a human rights issue. While many communities of faith find liberating …

Front Matter, Comparative Civilizations Review

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

The Intrigue Of Paradigmatic Similarity: Leibniz And China, Yu Liu

Comparative Civilizations Review

The cosmology of China is indeed strikingly similar to the metaphysics of Leibniz, but precisely where the two resemble each other, the former is unmistakably different from Christianity. Scholars of Leibniz have so far generally taken it for granted that he was ideologically aligned with Christianity, but his paradigmatic similarity to China should alert us of a surprisingly different story. Leibniz was indisputably “the greatest of the seventeenth century sinophiles” and key Chinese cosmological ideas were introduced to Europe long before he formulated his worldview. Together, these two facts can help us decide whether he “owes to Chinese organic naturalism …

Narrativized Ethics And Hiroshima: Harry S. Truman, Homer, And Aeschylus, Michael Palencia-Roth

Comparative Civilizations Review

Discussions of the atomic bomb and Hiroshima have to be deeply troubling for anyone. The natural inclination is to turn one’s eyes away or to remain silent. Avoidance and silence, however, were not valid options immediately after the Second World War and are not valid options today. The decision – or decisions, for there were many – to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and later Nagasaki raises issues of profound importance for the human community. It compels us to ask who we are as individuals and as members of a society engaged in actions with such devastating consequences. We …

William Egginton, The Man Who Invented Fiction: How Cervantes Ushered In The Modern World. Bloomsbury, 2016., Ernest B. Hook

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Scott L. Montgomery And Daniel Chirot, The Shape Of The New: Four Big Ideas And How They Made The Modern World. Princeton University Press, 2015., Laina Farhat-Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

Daniel Chirot is the Herbert J. Ellison Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies in the University of Washington’s Henry Jackson School of International Studies. Chirot’s most recent book, co-authored with Scott Montgomery, is The Shape of the New: Four Big Ideas and How They Made the Modern World (Princeton University Press, 2015.) Chirot’s other books have been about genocide, ethnic conflicts, tyranny, social change, and Eastern Europe.

48th Annual Conference Of The International Society For The Comparative Study Of Civilizations, Comparative Civilizations Review

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note: A Banner Year For Iscsc And The Comparative Civilizations Review, Peter Hecht

Comparative Civilizations Review

The past year has witnessed an enhanced level of dedication, by many volunteers, to the sustainability of our parent organization, the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilization, as well as to the continuing quality of the Comparative Civilizations Review. Costs are down, membership is up, our journal is more popular than it has been in years, the new website continues to amaze, and our 2017 conference was a success.