Political Science Commons^™

Res Publica Xix

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Complete copy of the 2014 volume of Res Publica.

Explaining Legislative Productivity: Evaluating The Effects Of Polarization And Divided Government In A Cross-Sectional Study Of State Legislatures, Mike Kistner '15

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Despite a wealth of literature on the causes of gridlock in Congress, there is a lack of comparative work at the state level exploring whether lawmaking in state legislatures functions similarly. Operating under a theoretical framework assuming polarization and divided government are the primary obstacles to legislative success, and controlling for majority seat share, I test the determinants of legislative productivity with an original dataset consisting of 31 states. I operationalize legislative productivity using a content analysis of editorials from each state during the 2009-2010 legislative sessions to identify pressing political issues, and then determine how many of these issues …

Dollars And Sense: Does Economic Self-Interest Or Emotional Attachment Better Explain Vote Choice?, Daniel M. Truesdale '15

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper seeks to understand voter choice using a dichotomous model differentiating between economic self-interest and emotional attachment. Using survey data from the American National Election Studies (ANES) database, this paper first utilizes a unique scaling technique and then a pseudo R-Square method to determine which independent variable, economic self-interest or emotional attachment (affect), contains more explanatory power in predicting voter choice. The findings support the hypothesis that economic self-interest contains the most explanatory power in predicting voter choice, though the degree of difference varies across elections.

Judicial Practice Makes Perfect: Explaining Asylum Recognition In The European Union, Casey Plach, '15

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Vast disparities in asylum recognition rates have persisted in the European Union despite legislative efforts to standardize the asylum determination process. National judiciaries play an important role in this process and scholars mostly agree that differences in judicial practice pose a challenge to the harmonization of recognition rates. However, no study has specifically analyzed the relationship between these two variables. The aim of this research is to determine whether differences in judicial practice account for the variation in asylum recognition rates in the EU. To observe these differences, precedent relating to three areas of the refugee determination process is identified …

Do The Means Change The End? The Effect Of All Mail Ballot Systems And Same-Day Voter Registration On Turnout, Annie Kehler '15

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

This research examines the effects of certain institutional mechanisms on voter turnout, in order to provide a possible policy prescription for the ever-decreasing voter turnout in the United States. The voter turnout of general elections from 1994-2012 was measured state by state, comparing those that have instituted same-day registration and/or all mail ballot systems to those that have not, using an ordinary least squares regression model. There was an additional control variable of the number of top-of-ticket races on the ballot in each year, in addition to the institutional variables. The results suggest that the use of same-day registration and …

Can’T Buy Our Love: Prime Minister Harold Wilson And His Attempts To Woo The Beatles, Austin Aldag '15

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

The monumental influence of the Beatles, their music, and “Beatlemania” deeply penetrated into many facets of British lifestyle during a substantial portion of the 1960s, and the dynamic political landscape of this waning world power was no exception. The resurgence of the Labour Party in Parliament, following fourteen long years of being situated in the opposition, simultaneously materialized during the reign of the Beatles. Subsequent to the 1964 General Election, the Labour Party narrowly achieved a legislative majority in Parliament despite achieving a total net gain of fifty-six seats.¹ Leading this movement and a man who advocated for a …

Authors’ Biographies

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editors, Mike Kistner '15, Sarah Bergman '15

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Department Chair, Greg M. Shaw

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Title Page

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Explaining Legislative Productivity: Evaluating The Effects Of Polarization And Divided Government In A Cross-Sectional Study Of State Legislatures, Mike Kistner

Honors Projects

Despite a wealth of literature on the causes of gridlock in Congress, there is a lack of comparative work at the state level exploring whether lawmaking in state legislatures functions similarly. Operating under a theoretical framework assuming polarization and divided government are the primary obstacles to legislative success, and controlling for majority seat share, I test the determinants of legislative productivity with an original dataset consisting of 31 states. I operationalize legislative productivity using a content analysis of editorials from each state during the 2009-2010 legislative sessions to identify pressing political issues, and then determine how many of these issues …

Megan Burke, Charlie Schlenker

Interviews for WGLT

Illinois Wesleyan University Sociologist Meghan Burke studies the way people talk and think about race. She has always been interested in how that shapes their desire to get involved in their communities. Her first book looked at that question among people in liberal diverse communities in the Chicago area. She has now focused on TEA party people in Illinois and neighboring states.

The book is "Race, Gender, and Class in the TEA Party." She tells GLT's Charlie Schlenker that the movement reflects much of America on these issues.

Race, Gender, And Class In The Tea Party: What The Movement Reflects About Mainstream Ideologies, Megan Burke

IWU Authors Bookshelf

It has been all too tempting to characterize the Tea Party as an irrational, racist, astro-turf movement composed of members who are working to subvert their own economic interests. Race, Gender, and Class in the Tea Party reveals a much messier and much more fascinating analysis of this movement. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with organizers and fieldwork at conservative campaign trainings and conventions, its rich ethnographic data explores how the active folks in this movement, specifically organizers in one Midwestern state, understand their world, and how they act on that basis to change it. As this book will reveal, most …

The Rise Of Boko Haram: An Analysis Of Failed Governance, Andrew Pichette '18

Outstanding Gateway Papers

The Boko Haram threat in Nigeria has been the subject of constant review as of the last few years. Underlying causes as well as the organizational ideology have consistently been the subject of investigation. While popularly considered to be an Islamic extremist group, academic thought has proposed that Islam is used as a means of legitimization rather than motivation, and that socio-economic and political realities are far more relevant to explaining the activities of Boko Haram. The purpose of this essay is to examine the origins of Boko Haram, how the government has reacted, and propose solutions to the deeply …

Kistner '15 Studying Polarization In State Government, Kim Hill

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Greg Shaw, Charlie Schlenker

Interviews for WGLT

Illinois Wesleyan University Professor Greg Shaw talked to Charlie Schlenker about the federal appeals court ruling against several key parts of the new healthcare reform law. Shaw says the ruling is likely “only a bump in the road”, and the doubts the ruling will stand.

Montgomery Named Kemp Teaching Award Winner, Kim Hill

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Halloween Candy: A "Rich, Dark" History, Kim Hill

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Political Science Alumni Panel, Tia Patsavas

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Climate Geoengineering And Iwu's Ethics Bowl, Jake K. Bates

The Intellectual Standard

In its sophomore season of competition, Illinois Wesleyan's Eth­ics Bowl team qualified for the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl hosted in San Antonio, Texas on February 28. In spite of technical difficulties and flight delays, the team returned to campus having won the first annual Spirit of the Ethics Bowl award, an honor recognizing sportsmanship which was voted on by opposing teams. Ethics bowl competition centers around a set of cases featuring ethical dilemmas and quandaries published by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. It is structured so that a presenting team has ten minutes to answer a question regarding anyone …

Lessons In Injustice: Privilege Walks, Karen Silverman

The Intellectual Standard

If you are a white male take one step forward. If your parents did not grow up in the United States take a step back. If you were born in the United States take a step forward. These are some of the questions one might hear at a Privilege Walk, which is an activity held at many universi­ties in order to "provide participants with an opportunity to understand the intricacies of privilege" (Young, 2006). Questions such as these are asked to partici­pating students who stand shoulder to shoulder in a straight line. Students take steps forward when their answers to …

In Defense Of Technology, Mike Kelly

The Intellectual Standard

During the Middle Ages, i.e. the "Dark" Ages, man's worldview was largely dominated by mysticism, irrationality, and collectivism. The universe was widely perceived as epistemologically unknowable and meta­physically malevolent, dooming man to suffering and tragedy. Given the widespread political and social instability, as well as the ravages of un­stoppable plagues and warmongering nations, such conclusions were not totally unreasonable. The Enlightenment and its corollary, the Scientific Revolution, delivered western civilization from the Dark Ages into an age of reason, science, and individualism. What was once perceived as un­knowable, uncertain, and malevolent, became knowable, certain, and be­nevolent. The universe became a …

A Step Toward Understanding Trust In The Government, Ted Delicath '13

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Over the last fifty years, trust in government has declined. This paper seeks to further the understanding of trust in government. Using ordinal level survey data from 1998-2012, a crosstabular analysis is used to test governmental trust with broad and specific policy areas. This research challenges part ofPopkin and Dimock’s (2000) research, which asserts that citizens use trust as a heuristic for both broad and specific questions about the government. The empirical findings suggest that citizens distrust the government broadly but trust a wide range of programs implemented by the very government they distrust.

Promoting Democracy In Ethnically Divided Societies: The Benefits Of Combining Partition And Power-Sharing, Abigail Carter '13

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Recent conflict resolutions have attempted to explain the best route ofresolving ethnic conflicts within divided societies. This research attempts to engage in the recent debate surrounding conflict resolution which highlights the effects of partition and power-sharing programs upon democratic consolidation. By using a focused-structured comparison of three cases, partition is found to be insufficient in attaining democracy. A combination of partition and power-sharing leads to more democratic consolidation within divided societies. Further, a society which is affluent and gender equal, neighbors other liberal democracies, and fully develops power-sharing institutions will enjoy significant advantages in securing stable and lasting democratic outcomes.

It's My Party And I'Ll Institutionalize If I Want To: Party System Institutionalization In Young Democracies, Zoe Gross '13

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Scholars today mostly agree that party system institutionalization (PSI) is a key ingredient in the transition to a functioning democracy. The question of whether PSI matters is more or less resolved. What is less clear is a general theory of what can help new democracies reach a high level of PSI. The aim of this research is to discover the pre-conditions and elite choices that enhance the level of PSI in new democracies. This research uses two Most Different System designs to explore the results of ten hypotheses that test the relationship between the level of PSI and an array …

Bubble Pop: An Analysis Of Asian Pop Culture And Soft Power Potential, Nick Desideri '13

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Despite scholarly work on Northeast Asia’s growing economic influence, few authors have adequately addressed the region’s increasing cultural clout as well. This paper aims to address this cultural impact in a specific diplomatic context in regards to the South Korea and Japan, and whether their respective pop cultures can be viewed as a source of soft power. An analysis of various academic works and media stories concludes that 1) neither country has been able to turn their soft power resources into actual political leverage, though 2) Japan’s mishandling of its national branding puts South Korea in a much more advantageous …

Why They Rise Up, Or Not: A Study Of Linguistic Minorities And Ethnic-National Mobilization, Yelei Kong '13

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Most theories ofnationalism focus on majority nationalism and do not provide an adequate explanation of the inaction of most ethnic minorities. This paper adopts the political process model from social movement theory to study the factors that prompt linguistic minorities to mobilization on ethno-national grounds. Using a large-N statistical model with data drawn from the Minority at Risk database, the results indicate that the higher capacity, the more opportunity for action, and the better the issue is framed, the more likely linguistic minorities would mobilize.

Power And Fear: Explaining The Authoritarian Personality, Ryan Winter '13

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

As the ghost of Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself. And also me.” Truer words were never spoken. Actually, these words were never spoken, but were lifted from an article in The Onion, in which the deceased Roosevelt advises Americans to lay aside all other fears and come together in mutual terror of his haunting specter. Sadly, many Americans pay no heed to this sage advice, and continue to be scared stiff by gays, foreigners, taxes, global climate change, and anything else that threatens to interrupt the flow of their life. Bob …

Authors' Biographies

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.