Political Science Commons^™

Revolutionary Critical Pedagogy, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"Since the mid-1990s, the focus of my work has shifted discernibly, if not dramatically, from a preoccupation with poststructuralist analyses of popular culture, in which I attempted to deploy contrapuntally critical pedagogy, neo- Marxist critique and cultural analysis, to a revolutionary Marxist humanist perspective. My focus shifted away from the politics of representation and its affiliative liaison with identity production and turned towards the role of finance capital and the social relations of production. Against a utopian theory of entrepreneurial individuality and agency backed by a voluntarism unburdened by history, I came to see the necessity of transforming the very …

Legislatures, Judges, And Parole Boards: The Allocations Of Discretion Under Determinate Sentencing, Dhammika Dharmapala, Nuno Garoupa, Joanna Shepherd

Faculty Articles

The most significant development in criminal sentencing in recent decades has been the shift from indeterminate to determinate sentencing. Yet no study has systematically explored the factors leading to this shift. In this Article, we provide the first analysis to explain why state legislatures enact reforms that significantly reduce both judges’ and parole boards’ discretion over criminal sentencing. First, we develop a political economy model that explains why legislatures acting in their own self-interest may be motivated to enact these laws. Our model predicts that legislatures are more likely to enact determinate sentencing reforms when there is tension among the …

Tribal Gaming And The Political Contributions Strategies Of Native American Tribes In Minnesota, Thomas Sorenson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act has made a big impact on tribal-state relations since it was enacted in 1988 by the federal government. Tribes have started to make campaign contributions to state and federal politicians to help try to mold lawmakers to vote for Tribal interests. My research looks at Minnesota tribes and their campaign contributions to House members during the 2005 election, and whether these lawmakers voted for tribal issues during their term. For control variables I also gathered a variety of information related to legislative districts. What my analysis has shown is that the tribes in Minnesota donate …

Three Worlds Of Western Punishment: A Regime Theory Of Cross-National Incarceration Rate Variation, 1960-2002, Matthew Demichele

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation offers an explanation of cross national incarceration rate variation for 17 industrialized countries for the second half of the 20^th century. Both historical case studies and time-series cross-section analyses are used to provide an institutional explanation of incarceration rate differences. Borrowing from Weber’s Sociology of Law and comparative legal scholarship, it is suggested that three types of legal thinking exist among western democracies—Common, Romano-Germanic, and Nordic law. A regime approach commonly applied in political economic explanations of welfare state development is used to quantify the legal and criminal justice institutional differences between 1960 and 2002 to assert …

An Argument For Guest Worker Programs, Javier S. Hidalgo

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Several noted economists and prominent international organizations have recently advocated for the implementation of guest worker programs in developed states.1 Their primary argument is that guest worker programs would serve as a powerful mechanism for reducing global poverty and inequality. For example, economist Dani Rodrik estimates that guest worker programs in wealthy states would generate $200 billion or more annually for poor countries. According to Rodrik, liberalizing the temporary movement of workers would “produce the largest possible gains for the world economy, and for poor countries in particular” in comparison with other policies, such as trade liberalization.

Obedience, Schooling, And Political Participation, Davin Chor, Filipe R. Campante

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper proposes a framework for understanding the joint evolution of cultural norms and human capital investment, and how these affect patterns of political participation. We first present some empirical evidence that cultural attitudes towards obedience systematically influence an individual's propensity to engage in different political activities: obedience discourages more confrontational modes of political activity (such as public demonstrations), while raising participation in non-confrontational civic acts (such as voting). These cultural attitudes further appear to be determined in part by cultural transmission across generations. Motivated by this evidence, we develop a dynamic model in which human capital and obedience are …

Project Animate: Promoting Student Civic Participation Through Latino Voter Mobilization, Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado

Faculty Books and Monographs

This project sought to expand voter outreach and mobilization of new registered and Latino voters through a series of activities to be undertaken in winter of 2007 leading up to the 2008 General Election in the greater Omaha metropolitan area. Following the successful development of a voter mobilization project undertaken in the 2006 election cycle, this project conducted a series of door-to-door canvassing activities utilizing University of Nebraska at Omaha students to distribute nonpartisan voter information, and engage in “get out the vote” activities with new Latino registered voters in Ward 4 of Douglas County, Nebraska and among Southeast Omaha’s …

Community Outreach And Empowerment Through Service Learning And Volunteerism, Christopher Malone

Cornerstone 2 Reports : Community Outreach and Empowerment Through Service Learning and Volunteerism

Pace University and Vote 18 are teaming up in 2009-2010 to launch an exciting program for NYC high school kids to provide them with an in-depth experience in political literacy and civic engagement. The NYC Political Literacy Project brings Vote 18 together with Pace University students to provide high schoolers with a dynamic way to get involved with local, state, and national politics. The object is to teach civic engagement and literacy through direct interaction with real campaigns, issues, events, and people in each of the high school students’ local communities. Students will engage the events of their communities through …

Organizational Life And Political Incorporation Of Two Asian Immigrant Groups: A Case Study, Sofya Aptekar

Publications and Research

Civil society is the foundation of a healthy democracy but its immigrant element has received little attention. This paper is a case study of immigrant organizations of highly skilled Asian Indians and Chinese immigrants in a suburban town of Edison, New Jersey. I find that civic participation of Asian Indian immigrants spills over into political incorporation while Chinese immigrant organizations remain margin- alized. I argue that local processes of racialization are central in explaining differences in political incorporation of immigrants. In the local context, the Chinese are seen as successful but conformist model minorities and Asian Indians as invaders and …

Repression And Punishment In North Korea: Survey Evidence Of Prison Camp Experiences, Stephan Haggard, Marcus Noland

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The penal system has played a central role in the North Korean government’s response to the country’s profound economic and social changes. Two refugee surveys—one conducted in China, one in South Korea—document its changing role. The regime disproportionately targets politically suspect groups, particularly those involved in market-oriented economic activities. Levels of violence and deprivation do not appear to differ substantially between the infamous political prison camps, penitentiaries for felons, and labor camps used to incarcerate individuals for misdemeanors, including economic crimes. Substantial numbers of those incarcerated report experiencing deprivation with respect to food as well as public executions and other …

Interview With Willie Williamson, Lisa Duke

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 79 minutes

Oral history interview of Willie Williamson by Lisa Duke

Mr. Williamson begins by describing his childhood in Grenada, Mississippi, one of nine children, playing baseball and attending Sunday school, and growing up in the Jim Crow South. He recalls how he first learned of Apartheid through a food drive for South African refugees where they learned of the efforts to expel South Africa from the United Nations, which persuaded him and his wife to become involved. He explains how this led him and others to establish the National Anti-Imperialist Movement for Southern Africa Liberation (NAIMSAL). He describes …

Interview With Rosetta Daylie, Sarah Bonkowski

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 71 minutes

Oral history interview of Rosetta Daylie by Sarah Bonkowski

Rosetta Daylie begins by recounting her childhood on the South Side of Chicago, raised by a politically active family. She recalls her initial work in food service at the Illinois Visually Handicapped Institution. She explains how she was working for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a trade union of public employees, when she learned about the anti-Apartheid movement and the Illinois Labor Network Against Apartheid (ILLNAA. She describes her work with ILLNAA and the Coalition of Black Trade Labor Unionists, the Shell boycott …

Violence In The House, Katherine Hite

Human Rights & Human Welfare

There was something particularly haunting in reading this Kristof and WuDunn piece during the week’s major US headlines: a girl in California had been imprisoned for eighteen years in the home of a man who kidnapped and raped her, fathered her children, and employed her in his small enterprise—a business card design and printing agency. Business clients interviewed for the story appeared completely taken aback. Clients had always found the now twenty-nine-year-old Jaycee Dugard “professional, polite, and responsive” as well as “creative and talented in her work.” Others expressed similar shock, recounting that Ms. Dugard “was always smiling.” Ms. Dugard’s …

Interview With Tim Wright, Jonathen Vogel

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 69 minutes

Oral history interview of Tim Wright by Jonathen Vogel

Tim Wright was involved in activism and the Anti-apartheid movement since college. He tells of when, while attending UCLA, he was involved in the divestment movement to prevent universities from cooperating with the African regime. He describes his time working as a research assistant with Angela Davis and their time in Angola, South Africa to learn more about the conflict first-hand, where he met Prexy Nesbitt, who became a close colleague. Wright describes his time working with Harold Washington and his administration, taking part initially as a volunteer …

Interview With Mary Scott Boria, Pamela Birchard

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 92 minutes

Oral history interview of Mary Schott Boria by Pamela Birchard

Mary Scott Boria begin by detailing her childhood as the daughter of a divorced, interracial couple in the 1950s. She explains how at the age of 14, she packed a suitcase and joined her mother in Chicago where she participated in the Civil Rights Movement, joining the NAACP and, later, the Black Panther Party while in college. She recalls joining the Chicago Committee in Solidarity with Southern Africa (CCISSA) in the 1980s, working toward the divestment of the Apartheid government, participating in demonstrations, helping put together newsletters, …

Interview With Lisa Ann Brock, Amanda Anderson

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 96 minutes

Oral history interview of Lisa Ann Brock by Amanda Anderson

Dr. Brock was born and raised in Glendale, Ohio. She holds a BA in history from Howard University and a doctorate in history from Northwestern University. She has spent most of her life involved in social justice activism and higher education. She was the founding Academic Director of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College for ten years. She currently works as a JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) consultant.

Interview With Njoki Kamau, Christian Tulp

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 96 minutes

Oral history interview of Njoki Kamau by Christian Tulp

In this interview, Njoki Kamau Kamau recalls her childhood in Kenya under British colonialism and during the Mau Mau rebellion. She explains the Kukuyu traditions of her childhood and the effects the rebellion had on her family. She recalls her first experiences with racism in the United States and her struggles at Northwestern University. She explains how her childhood under colonialism dramatically influenced her later activism. She then explains how her participation in the divestment movement began with conversations with Dennis Brutus, a Northwestern professor from South Africa, …

Interview With Cheryl Johnson-Odim, Carrie Armbruster

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 57 minutes

Oral history interview of Cheryl Johnson-Odim by Carrie Armbruster

Johnson-Odim describes her introduction to South African Apartheid in junior high school through her music teacher, S. Carol Buchanan, who was good friends with the musical director for Harry Belafonte. After auditioning and being chosen to sing on his album, “The Streets I’ve Walked,” Belafonte took Johnson and the other singers to watch South African Boot Dancers, who later went to teach the students about the apartheid regime in South Africa. She describes how her involvement in the civil rights of African Americans and the rights of women …

Interview With Funeka Sihlali, Renell Schubert

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 92 minutes

Oral history interview of Funeka Sihlali by Renell Schubert

Ms. Sihlali begins by describing her childhood in King William’s Town when the Apartheid regime was instituted, living in government housing with her family in a single-room house with no bathroom, sharing a toilet with four other households. She explains having to learn the customs which were different from that in her home, for example, to look at African elders was a sign of disrespect, but outside of the home, she had to learn to make eye contact with white people to keep them from seeing her as …

Interview With Cheryl Graves, Guadalupe Santoyo

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 88 minutes

Oral history interview of Cheryl Graves by Guadalupe Santoyo

Ms. Graves first describes her childhood on the South Side of Chicago, raised with an awareness of social justice and activism, amongst a close extended family. She recalls her educational experiences, attending an integrated high school, her initial struggles in college, and her eventual career path. She explains how she became involved in the anti-Apartheid movement after law school while providing legal assistance to union workers, eventually joining CIDSA (Coalition for Illinois Divestment from South Africa). She elaborates on the actions they took to demand divestment from South …

Interview With Otis Cunningham, Danny Fenster

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 98 minutes

Oral history interview of Otis Cunningham by Danny Fenster

Mr. Cunningham begins by explaining what it was like growing up amidst the Civil Rights Movement in Chicago, witnessing the reactions to the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. He explains how he first became involved in activism for African liberation movements when he joined the African-American Solidarity Committee where he served on the editorial board of their journal and he elaborates on the work they did. He recalls the social gatherings that sprung up through the movement. He explains the complicated history and relationships …

Review Essay: Johann P. Arnason, Civlization In Dispute. Historical Questions And Theoretical Traditions, Toby E. Huff

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Fear Or Rage?: Assessing Public Opinion And Policy Responses To Terrorist Attacks, Gabriel Rubin

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Mass fear has been posited as the main emotional outcome of terror attacks. Indeed, the term “terrorism” itself emphasizes that such attacks are meant to stoke fear. Yet, a critical piece of the post-terror attack dynamic has been largely ignored: the public rage that comes in response to terror attacks. Witness the call for politicians to step down after the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai or the placard reading “Nuke ‘Em Till They Glow” at the 2001 World Series. It is the contention of this paper that, after a major terror attack has occurred, the public is more angry than …

Resistant Place Identities In Rural Charleston County, South Carolina: Cultural, Environmental, And Racial Politics In The Sewee To Santee Area, Cassandra Y. Johnson, Angela C. Halfacre, Patrick T. Hurley

Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

The cultural and political implications of landscape change and urban growth in the western U.S. are well-documented. However, comparatively little scholarship has examined the effects of urbanization on sense of place in the southern U.S. We contribute to the literature on competing place meanings with a case study from the rural “Sewee to Santee” region of northern Charleston County, SC. Our research highlights conflicting cultural, environmental, and racial politics and their roles in struggles over place meanings. Using focus groups, interviews with elected officials, and participant observation, we document initial African American resistance and eventual compliance with the prevailing anti-sprawl …

Moving Beyond Conflict In Sri Lanka: The Economic Rights Dimension, Shareen Hertel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Much of the literature on transitional justice underplays the role of economic rights in shoring up peace. The case of Sri Lanka demonstrates the urgency of addressing them. Until a month ago, Sri Lanka was the country with Asia’s longest running civil war. Since independence in 1947, the island nation has been wracked by conflict between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority—a conflict that has eroded political stability and aggravated internal inequalities. The struggle was marked not only by inter-ethnic and religious tensions but also by a fight for control over land and resources.

Diaspora-Driven Development In Stateless Somalia: All Relationships Are Local Relationships, Joseph Alan Scheibel

Archived Theses and Dissertations

In the wake of state collapse, Somali society today has become decidedly globalized, leaning heavily on capital from its widely-dispersed diaspora funneled in through the conduits of an informal economic system for both subsistence and overall economic livelihood. Despite the great distances often separating them, Somalis remain linked by common ethnic and cultural bonds. These links are both social and economic, and are heavily reliant on telecommunications technology, a key concept discussed in this study. The Somali economy, driven largely by the widespread informal Hawalaad financial transfer system, bypasses the commercial and financial channels that have been voided by the …

Aboriginal Affairs: Monologue Or Dialogue?, Vanessa Castejon

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

On January 26 2002, the thirtieth anniversary of the creation of the first Aboriginal tent embassy was celebrated. In 1972 the tent embassy emerged from the Black Power movement as a manifestation of the call for recognition of Aboriginal sovereignty and the right to self-determination. These claims have been raised continually by some prominent Aboriginal activists, but the main answer given by the government has been the creation of Aboriginal policies and sections for Aboriginal people within the Australian political system. The government, by different means, has brought Aboriginal activists within the system and has diverted attention from their aspirations. …

The Treatment Action Campaign's First Decade: Success Achieved?, Jung Cho

Honors Scholar Theses

South Africa is known to have the largest HIV epidemic in the world with 5.7 million people currently living with HIV, according to UNAIDS. In light of the crisis, South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has led the social movement for increased treatment access for people living with HIV through lobbying the government, multinational pharmaceutical companies, and grassroots campaigning. Since it's founding a decade ago, TAC has been highly acclaimed both regionally and internationally for its success. In order to determine the success of this social movement organization, social movement theories, such as mobilization potential, external political opportunity structure, and …

Gay Parenthood And The Revolution Of The Modern Family: An Examination Of The Unique Barriers Confronting Gay Adoptive Parents, Nicholas Arntsen

Honors Scholar Theses

Abstract: In recent decades, the structure of the American family has been revolutionized to incorporate families of diverse and unconventional compositions. Gay and lesbian couples have undoubtedly played a crucial role in this revolution by establishing families through the tool of adoption. Eleven adoptive parents from the state of Connecticut were interviewed to better conceptualize the unique barriers gay couples encounter in the process adoption. Both the scholarly research and the interview data illustrate that although gay couples face enormous legal barriers, the majority of their hardship comes through social interactions. As a result, the cultural myths and legal restrictions …

Prize Winning Essays - 2009, Ann Abdoo

Citizens for Peace

To promote The Season of Nonviolence, Citizens for Peace sponsored an essay contest for Michigan high school and college students. Their essays had to answer the following question: How do nonviolent practices reduce conflict and create pathways to peace? Each winner was given the opportunity to read their essay at The Season for Nonviolence celebration on April 14, 2009. Both high school and college awards were $250, $100, and $50 each for first, second and third place.

The Season for Nonviolence began in 1998 when it was inaugurated at the United Nations. It was co-founded by the M.K. Gandhi Institute …