Political Science Commons^™

Economic Consequences Of The Palestinian Multi-Currency System: A Cost Benefit Analysis, Brandon Willmore

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

News coverage that chronicles the most violent events in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is nearly constant. References to the Palestinian desire for autonomy from the Israeli government may, therefore, conjure images of separation walls, rocket fire, forced resettlement, housing demolition, and suicide bombings. The movement for Palestinian sovereignty, however, is not just a violent campaign, and it does not solely protest territorial encroachment.

How To Hold On To Hierarchy: Russia And The Near Abroad, Andrew Jensen

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

The smoldering wreckage of a commercial airliner in an Eastern Ukraine farm field signified so much more than just hundreds of innocent deaths; the downing was a bloody symbol of just how far Ukraine had fallen. Peace agreements between the rebels and government forged in Minsk in September 2014 and February 2015 failed to stamp out the persistent violence. Not simply a civil war, the rebels had been trained, armed, and assisted by the Russian military. While Russia flatly denied its contribution of men and munitions, few in the West believed the claims. Despite several rounds of sanctions by the …

Fawad And Zakeela, Fawad, Zakeela, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Fawad and his wife, Zakeela, have three children. Zakeela was a beautician, and Fawad was a singer in the Baghlan district in Afghanistan. The music he produced was not in accordance with the strict restrictions of the Taliban. They threatened his life and assaulted him many times, so he decided to leave with his family to Kabul. Fawad’s day job was as an FM radio producer; at night, he moonlighted as a singer and musician. He produced music for ceremonies and weddings, often performing for the women’s part, which the Taliban did not accept. Eventually, his life was again threatened, …

Faroosh And Elina, Faroosh, Elina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Faroosh was a cameraman for a private television program in Afghanistan working on a documentary about the Taliban. When he and his crew were discovered, the Taliban attacked them and he and his wife fled to Turkey, walking 12 hours to get there. Upon arrival the police arrested and harassed them. Turkey was not a safe place. After several suicide bombings in the area, they decided to move on to Greece, where they are in a refugee camp without any progress in their situation. They have no money to move forward and no ability to work and the economic situation …

Letter From The Editor

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Does Large Family Size Predict Political Centrism?, Benjamin Schmidt

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Suggesting that voting might be correlated with the number of children voters have has been rare but not unheard of in the last decade. In a 2004 article for American Conservative, Steve Sailer noted a correlation between states with higher birth rates among white voters and the support for incumbent Republican President George W. Bush. Sailer recognized that Bush won the nineteen states with the highest white fertility while Senator John Kerry won the sixteen with the lowest (2004). He also suggested that the lifestyle preferences of white, conservative parents might be to blame for the apparent Republican tilt among …

Unpopular But Effective? The Drone Strike Dilemma, Jake Berlin

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

In the mountainous region of northwestern Pakistan known as Waziristan, local tribesmen have grown accustomed to living in a state of constant vigilance. Death from above can come at virtually any time in the form of laser-guided missile strikes launched by U.S. predator and reaper drones. The drones are controlled remotely by pilots thousands of miles away at bases in the U.S. and can hover for hours before delivering their deadly payload. Advanced cameras allow drone operators to see their targets from distances that are impossible for the targets to see them, and the missiles launched by drones exhibit astounding …

Do You Hear The People Sing?: Populist Discourse In The French Revolution, Rebecca Dudley

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

The rallying cry of the French Revolutionaries was "Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite!" (liberty, equality, fraternity), and the French Revolution, a pivotal moment in French, European, and world history, has been consistently considered one of the first and most significant nationalist movements. Research and literature thus far on discourse in this revolution have focused on nationalism Qenkins 1990; Hayward 1991; O'Brien 1988), along with the discourses of violence and terror that led to the graphic revolution (Ozouf 1984; Leoussi 2001). The presence of nationalist discourse and nationalist sentiment in the French Revolution is undeniable, but there are other elements potentially missing from …

Front Matter

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

"All Things Denote There Is A God": Platonic Metaphysics, Thomistic Analogy, And The Creation Of A Christian Philosophy, Neil Longo

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

In Raphael's School of Athens, Plato famously points upward, while Aristotle brings his hand forward, parallel to the ground. Western thought has positioned itself between these two poles. Its dual purpose was to explain what was and explore what could be. This distinction worked its way into Christianity, which quickly divided itself between the spiritual and the physical, the church militant and the church triumphant, the city of God and the city of man. The audacious goal of St. Thomas Aquinas was to synthesize these urges in such a way as to logically describe the Kingdom of God using the …

Volume 33, Issue 1 Full Issue

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Civilizational Trauma And Value Nihilism In Boccaccio's "Decameron", David J. Rosner

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Andrew Targowski, The Deadly Effect Of Informatics On The Holocaust, Peter Hecht

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Barry Cunliffe, Europe Between The Oceans: 9000 Bc To Ad 1000, Laina Farhat-Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

John Keegan, The First World War, Laina Farhat-Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Compulsory Voting In Latin America: Good Or Bad For Democracy?, Ian Hansen, Dr. Darren Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Using survey data from across Latin America, I sought to determine whether compulsory voting laws have negative effects on constituents’ views toward democracy. I expected to find that such laws influence voters to have lower appraisals of democracy in their country.

The analysis yielded results that lend significant support to my theory. Controlling for individual demographic variables and the country-level indicators of GDP per capita and GINI Index (which measures economic inequality), it appears that compulsory voting laws do, in fact, have a statistically significant effect on support for and satisfaction with democracy. Further, although the substantive effects are small, …

Voter Turnout: How Femininity And Competence Affect Attitudes Toward Female Political Candidates, Holly Henrich, Dr. Chris Karpowitz

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Currently, the United States ranks as the 86th country in women’s representation in government,with 18.2 percent of seats in the House of Representatives and 20 percent representation in the Senate (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2014). With a nation that is half comprised of women, questions are raised as to why women have historically been underrepresented in government. More coverage on the physical appearances and fashion choices of female political candidates has far exceeded the coverage given to their male counterparts (Rosholm, 2009). How female political candidates are initially perceived based on their physical attributes may be a contributing factor as to why …

Opportunism In Ugandan Ngos: A Randomized Field Experiment, Eric Reuben Smith

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Corruption undermines the effectiveness of international development. The financial integrity of non-governmental organizations (NGO) can be improved by donor-to-organization contact, but foreign donors rarely travel to countries such as Uganda. This project involved a randomized design to compare the size of project bids by NGO management when approached by potential donors (foreigners) or donor representatives (Ugandan citizens). Local donor representatives were more likely to be denied information during an in-person visit than the foreigners visiting NGOs. Otherwise, foreign potential donors were provided with information that was the same as local representatives, except in 6 instances in which bids were substantially …

Reducing The Gender Gap Through Religious Socialization, Kalifa Smith, Dr. Jessica Preece

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Women are greatly underrepresented in politics. Researchers have studied many potential explanations for this such as the competitive nature of politics, gender role socialization, institutional structures, etc. Yet there is little research on the role of religious socialization on women’s political ambition. In this study I hypothesize that religious leaders are powerful socializers and can increase their church members’ level of political efficacy, thus leading to increased political participation. Through an experimental survey, I examine whether the topics that the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS/Mormon) chooses to focus on affect their church members’ …

Religion’S Role In Parent To Child Political Socialization, Madison Dayton Daines, Quin Monson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I believe that the religion a person was socialized in has lingering affects on his or her political values. Parents play the most prominent role in the political direction of their children both early in life and up through young adulthood (Niemi and Jennings 1991). This is because parents transmit political values to their children through socialization, the everyday conversations and interactions about the political world as well as broader norms and values that occur within the family, thus influencing their political attitudes and behavior. Religious ties also greatly contribute to individuals’ political attitudes and behaviors (Wald and Calhoun-Brown 2010). …

Political Knowledge And Extra-Governmental Activism In Peru, Lucas Brook, Darren Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Downtown Lima, Peru is as metropolitan a place as one can find. Buses and cars blare their horns as they jostle for position on crowded streets. People brush shoulders as they weave their way though the crowds that fill streets dedicated entirely to pedestrian traffic. Suddenly, the air is filled with shouts and the sting of tear gas. Police emerge from every direction as piles of trash are ignited in the street. Protesters hurl bricks as they flee the clouds of gas and advancing officials. What changed? What drove these seemingly peaceful people to such seemingly extreme actions? And why …

Implicit Association Of Gender And Politics, Bryonna Bowen, Jessica Preece

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The gender gap in participation, capability, and interest in politics has been widely researched. However, in this project we examined whether or not people implicitly identify men more strongly than women with politics. Furthermore, I was interested to determine to what extent everyday media exposure, particularly focusing on a specific gender, could influence an individual’s implicit biases. Mock newspaper articles, with either male or female political subjects, were used to further determine the effect of media content on people’s gender biases. While self-reported prejudices may be inconsistent and untrustworthy, I used the implicit association test (IAT) to assess the patterns …

Mary Elise Sarotte, The Collapse: The Accidental Opening Of The Berlin Wall, Basic Books, 2014. Barry Rubin And Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, Nazis, Islamists, And The Making Of The Modern Middle East, Yale University Press, 2014., Laina Farhat–Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

The Constitution: Who Knows, Who Cares?, Luke Bell, Jeremy Pope

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In recent years, significant attention has been directed toward the role and relevance of the Constitution in contemporary politics. Conservative and Tea Party voters, for example, tout their dedication to the “founding principles” in the Constitution. Despite the prevalence of Constitutionally-charged rhetoric among political activists, national surveys have repeatedly found that most Americans are, at best, poorly informed about the nation’s founding document.

Context Matters: Exploring Methods Of Dissonance Reduction In Conflict Resolution, James L. Martherus

Student Works

One of the first steps in intergroup conflict resolution is to humanize the "enemy" or outgroup. Unfortunately, this humanization often fails. My goal in this paper is to answer the following question: Why does positive information about a group sometimes lead to negative responses? Specifically, this paper tests three hypotheses. First, I hypothesize that Individuals with high ingroup-centric beliefs will react differently to the treatments compared to individuals with low ingroup-centric beliefs. Second, I hypothesize that individuals who experience dissonance as a result of the treatments will react negatively to the treatments. Finally, I hypothesize that the framing of these …

Is Healthcare A Right?, Ben Ader, Kelly Patterson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This project was an experiment to help understand the views of Utahns on healthcare and whether or not healthcare can be included in a list of basic rights. We also assessed the many dimensions of healthcare and where Utahns lie on a graph measuring the intrinsic motivations for or against healthcare as a basic right.

Counterterrorism In Authoritarian And Democratic Governments, Tai Gray

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

This research project aims to determine if significant differences exist in the types of counterterrorism used by authoritarian and democratic governments. A case study of the counterterrorism methods used by the United States and Chinese governments shows that authoritarian governments' methods seem to be more extreme due to a greater influence over domestic media and public opinion, but similarities in the realm of human rights also exist that could suggest a more similar response between the two regime types.

A Tall Tale: How Stories Can Change U.S. Public Opinion, Matthew B. Young

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

“In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything.” Just as in Abraham Lincoln’s day, today our nation’s course is influenced by public opinion. Thus, understanding which frame best elicits a change in public opinion will provide agencies with a more effective model to change voters’ opinions.

A frame is the presentation of an idea or fact, meant to encourage a specific interpretation. In this study, the issue of foreign aid will be framed as stories and facts. A story frame will portray information about a community or individual affected by U.S. foreign aid using the “Universal Story Structure.” …

Cybersecurity And The Future International Competitiveness Of The United States, Tai Gray

Student Works

Cybersecurity is inseparably connected to the future international competitiveness of the United States and must play a more significant role in both governmental and private spheres of American society. To increase the strength of U.S. cybersecurity and defend against future attacks, the government should devote more resources to providing cybersecurity tools and information to the public, promoting the implementation of secure forms of communication and purchasing, as well as researching and developing both offensive and defensive cyber tools. By focusing efforts on these three key areas, the U.S. government can better prepare for future cyberattacks and minimize risk to both …

Review Of The Dispensable Nation, Alan Hickey, Shanna Dungan, Corey Cherrington

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Not long ago, Vali Nasr released a revealing account of his time with the U.S. Department of State as an advisor to Richard Holbrooke, the U.S.’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. In his book the Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat, we learn that the Obama administration did not live up to its potential in the realm of foreign policy. In fact, Nasr goes so far as to contend that the current leadership of the United States has hindered the U.S.’s ability to enact effective policy decisions abroad and has weakened our nation’s world leadership role.