Political Science Commons^™

Nixon's Southern Strategy: An Examination Of The Role Of Race In The 1968 And 1972 Presidential Campaigns, Ella Feathers

Young Historians Conference

This paper explores the pivotal role of race in the South's political switch. In 1968, Nixon won the Presidential Election with very slim margins. Four years later, with when running for his second term, he won all the vast majority of the vote, including those from Southern states. By catering to Southern voters on issues such as welfare, desegregation, and crime, Nixon was able to gain Southern support, and secure a new base for the Republican party.

Social, Scientific, Litigious: The Birth Of A Queer Americanism, Claire M. Fennell

Young Historians Conference

The queer rights movement is often assumed to have advanced because of the collateral benefit of other social rights movements occurring around the same time, in the 1950s and 60s. However, the inception of an organized queer rights movement did not happen in line with any progressive time in United States public thought. In reality, the movement began at a time when America was at its least forward-thinking, during the Cold War. It was not the times becoming more progressive, but rather the shift in the model of oppression the queer community faced which allowed for the advent of an …

The Power Of A Prince: Machiavelli, Devotion, And The Secularization Of Western Politics, Jason D. Grossmann-Ferris

Young Historians Conference

3rd place winner of the Karen E. Hoppes Young Historians Award for Outstanding Research and Writing.

Although The Prince was clearly not well-recieved in its day by many, its influence is clear in modern realpolitik and the creation of the secular state. This paper examines the role of Machiavelli’s seminal work in Western politics within the timeline of the Catholic Church’s decline. In The Prince, Machiavelli clearly guides the reader towards the pragmatic political use of religion instead of legitimate belief, insinuating that faith is more useful as a tool for social control rather than personal conviction. This paper posits …

The Use Of The Birth Control Movement As A Eugenics Weapon, 1920'S-1960'S, Peyton P. Holstein

Young Historians Conference

While Margaret Sanger made great strides in the crusade for legalization and open access to birth control for women, groups paired her work with ideologies such as Social Darwinism to arm the eugenics movement throughout the Twentieth-century. The eugenics movement was a culmination of racism and newly found scientific theories which led a crusade to purify the American population through reproductive cherry-picking on the basis of race. One of the primary ways that this group attempted to weed out “undesirable” races within the American population was through birth control as well as sterilization. These two movements - birth control and …

Cairo Under Isma'il Pasha: A Divided City, Chloe N. Moehling

Young Historians Conference

The creation of the Suez Canal, in November of 1869, created an opportunity for Isma’il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, to reintroduce the world to a new, Europeanized Cairo. His vision required spending millions of British pounds to welcome international travelers who came to celebrate the opening of the canal. Isma’il Pasha’s “Europeanization” of the western side of Cairo from 1866 to 1879 ushered his country into decades of economic and political turmoil. While Isma’il’s extravagant spending created European inspired hotels, parks, cafe’s, and the Khedivial Opera House, these expenditures left Egypt indebted to European countries, particularly Great Britain, and international …

The Importance Of Richard Lionheart In The Third Crusade, Stefan Caplazi Mr.

Young Historians Conference

The impact that King Richard III of England had on the third crusade is apparent through his limited strategic victories on the battlefield. Richard III did well with his limited resources, but ultimately failed to retake Jerusalem. Due to unforeseeable events, Richard III lost his military support before embarking on much of the campaign to regain the Holy Land. These events proved detrimental to his task. While he was an excellent strategist and fearsome leader, Richard III simply lacked the resources and troops to succeed. This paper argues that with more military support, Richard “The Lionheart” would have retaken the …

The Spies That Founded America: How The War For Independence Revolutionized American Espionage, Masaki Lew

Young Historians Conference

Prior to the American Revolutionary War (1775-1883), tensions rose as American colonial smugglers circumvented British taxes. By the onset of the conflict, Continental General George Washington faced a daunting British military invasion. Washington's strategy to outmaneuver and tire enemy forces necessitated a way to anticipate incoming attacks. Thus, he looked to espionage, but found few colonists with professional experience. So who would have the deceptive skills to fulfill the task? An exploration of Washington’s dilemma provides compelling evidence explaining how the colonial smugglers who started the war became the Patriot spies who ended it.

Impacts Of The Coronavirus Pandemic On Biodiversity Conservation, Richard T. Corlett, Richard B. Primack, Vincent Devictor, Bea Mass, Varun Goswami, Amanda Bates, Lian Pin Koh, Tracey Reagan, Rafael Loyola, Robin J. Pakeman, Graeme S. Cumming, Anna Pidgeon, David Johns, Robin Roth

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all parts of human society. Like everyone else, conservation biologists are concerned first with how the pandemic will affect their families, friends, and people around the world. But we also have a duty to think about how it will impact the world's biodiversity and our ability to protect it, as well as how it might affect the training and careers of conservation researchers and practitioners. As editors of Biological Conservation, we have heard first-hand from colleagues, authors, and reviewers around the world about the problems they are facing, and their concerns for their students, their …

Does It Matter What Observers Say? The Impact Of International Election Monitoring On Legitimacy, Lindsay J. Benstead, Kristen Kao, Ellen Lust

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Scholars and democracy promoters often suggest that electoral observers’ (EOs’) assessments impact public opinion in a straightforward manner, yet, research on communication cautions against these sanguine assumptions. We test the impact of EO statements on public opinion in two very different contexts using survey experiments conducted among 3,361 Jordanians and Tunisians. Our results demonstrate the need for democracy promoters to consider negative consequences when implementing democracy promotion programmes, and for scholars to undertake further research regarding the impacts of election monitoring on domestic attitudes.

Friendship Projects Within Embargo: Peacemaking And Power Between Us And Cuban Quakers 1987-2019, Jade Souza

University Honors Theses

This paper analyzes Quaker friendship projects between US and Cuban Quakers within the embargo period, with friendship construction being looked at as creative act within a contact zone. How are these intercultural friendships formed and sustained within communities from two countries in conflict? How do they relate to larger social dynamics such as intractable conflict and tourism? How do the friendships change the dynamics within these communities? Two examples of friendship projects are looked at in terms of the strategies they employ to navigate the dynamics of conflict and social inequality between the two states.

Pro-Life Ends At Birth: Race As A Primary Driver Of State Abortion And Concurrent Natalist Policy, Tasha Danner

University Honors Theses

The year 2019 saw the most restrictive state abortion policies introduced and passed since Roe v Wade. The same states passing this legislation are often states also cutting funding for policies that improve the health and socio-economic mobility of mothers and children, which disproportionately affects African-American residents of those states. Outside of reproductive justice advocacy, there is not much research on the role that race plays in the introduction and passing of state abortion policy. I examine and analyze the role of racial prejudice in passing restrictive abortion policy in southern states. Using historical context in southern states, a survey …

Unipolarity And Foreign Policy: An Examination Of The Unipolar U.S And Its Subsequent Foreign Policy Constraints, Madeleine Smith

University Honors Theses

The current unipolar system is undeniable, but also undeniably going to shift in the future. Yet as unipolarity has persisted, the U.S has made many foreign policy and grand strategy decisions based on the structural constraints and flexibilities of being the unipole. This trend may not be an advisable one should a shift in power occur. My question is, should the system return to bi or multipolarity, how will U.S foreign policy be able to accommodate these changes peacefully after it has so long been centered around maintaining the unipolar system and its current status? Additionally how will the U.S …

Conceptualizing And Measuring Patriarchy: The Importance Of Feminist Theory, Lindsay J. Benstead

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Why do we know so little about gender and politics in the Middle East? Most obviously, few women were elected to office in the Arab world until recently, limiting the study of women in formal politics. In Morocco, the first female was elected to the lower house in 1993, while in Saudi Arabia, women first ran for office—in municipal elections—in 2015. Systematic data on politics has also been historically scant, making the study of women’s informal participation, such as voting and civil society activities, also difficult. The Middle East tends to contribute less to comparative politics than have other regions, …

Imperialism: A Case Study Of America's Neorealist Domination Of Power, Hannah Daniels

University Honors Theses

The international policy of the United States has been historically characterized by the promotion of democracy and freedom. However, historical analyses of U.S. policies and intervention in countries such as Iran, Chile, Guatemala, Syria, Brazil, and Nicaragua demonstrate that American aid more often than not ends in a military dictatorship replacing a democracy. This paper investigates the discrepancies between these values that the United States claims to uphold and the actual operation efforts carried out, proposing that U.S. international politics are defined by a neorealist framework rather than the liberal structure that is commonly thought of as the basis for …

Competing Narratives: The Struggle For The Soul Of Egypt, Ahmed El Mansouri

Dissertations and Theses

In January 2011, Egypt witnessed an uprising against ex-military president Hosni Mubarak, which resulted in his removal after ruling Egypt for thirty years. Yet, while the revolution targeted Mubarak, it also targeted to end the era of military rule, which started in 1952 with President Gamal Abdel Nasser, then was passed down to Anwar Sadat in 1970 and later to Hosni Mubarak in 1981. Thereafter, dissatisfied with existing national policies, political leaders and revolutionaries battled to redefine Egyptian national identity by contesting the writing of a new Egyptian constitution. The debates over the constitution exhibited an ample of destructive communication …

Interview With Mel Gurtov, Mel Gurtov, Jacob Hutchins

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Professor Mel Gurtov was interviewed on May 21, 2020, by Jacob Hutchins in Portland, Oregon.

In this interview, Gurtov discusses his career trajectory and history, detailing his involvement with release of the Pentagon Papers and his work studying the Vietnam War for the government. He explains how he came to teach political science and international studies at Portland State University, and his part in building and implementing the Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution program. He gives his views on the nature and value of political science regarding international conflict, and answers questions about his shifting political position during the war …

Interview With Tom Hastings, Tom Hastings, Patricia A. Schechter

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Professor Tom Hastings was interviewed by Professor Patricia Schechter on May 8, 2020, in Portland, Oregon.

In this discussion, Dr. Hastings recounts his professional development as a scholar and practitioner of nonviolence. The first half of the story involves his youth, early activism, and college training in Wisconsin. The second half involves his move to Portland, Oregon in 2000 and his growing involvement with Conflict Resolution at PSU.

Towards An Ecocentric Movement?, David Johns

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

An ecocentric movement is one which mobilizes and organizes people to transform, or abolish and replace, existing anthropocentric societies, which seek to dominate the other-than-human world. The instrumentalities of anthropocentric domination will not simply wither away. They must be forcefully dismantled. That dismantling will be neither quick nor easy, and will be met with enormous resistance from those that benefit from domination, and from those that fear change. Only by keeping one’s eyes on the prize – the recovery of biodiversity and the Earth – and not being diverted by other goals, can the prize be attained.

Comparative Examination Of Two Police Departments In Portland, Oregon’S Greater Metropolitan Area, Analyzing Assault Related Offense Reports Against: Departmental Community-Policing Practices And Clearance-Rates, Elizabeth R. Ackerman

University Honors Theses

Community policing is touted as the solution to fostering restoration between communities and policing agencies across the United States. However, this remains a widely unregulated policy area where minimal assessments of available data exist on the effectiveness of community policing reform. Given the nature of police brutality and the struggles of policing agencies across the United States there is increasing need to measure outcomes. This research finds that community policing does serve as a proactive tool for crime rate reduction and prevention.

The Cosmological Empire Of Pliny The Elder: An Examination Of Political Themes In The Second Book Of The Historia Naturalis, Kevin Alan Mccormick

Dissertations and Theses

Pliny the Elder's Historia Naturalis, written in the 70s CE and perhaps left unfinished at its author's death in 79, is among the largest documents to have survived down to us from antiquity. It comprises some thirty-seven books on a breadth of topics about the natural world, and man's interaction with the world and marshalling of its resources. The work has often been referred to as the world's first encyclopedia. Recent scholarship has rescued Pliny's reputation from its degradation among the scholars of the early twentieth century, and modern scholars have approached the document via several analytical avenues, including …

How Does Wasta Bolster Regimes? The Case Of Tunisia, Issrar Chamekh

Dissertations and Theses

This paper aims to highlight the impact of democratization on wasta by examining the everyday performance of wasta, or the use of connections and informal networks to acquire services. Despite its widespread use, I find that it is understudied as an explanatory variable in the literature on democratization and authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa, with Tunisia as a case study. In this paper, I argue that wasta can potentially have a consolidating effect on regimes. I examine the ways that wasta is encoded in everyday language. Using literature from Pragmatics, specifically Goffman's dramaturgical model, I find that …

The Future Of War: Cyber-Attacks And Aggression In International Law, Jamie Hogan

University Honors Theses

Cyber-attacks are becoming more advanced, and more dangerous, but can these simple lines of code be considered acts of war? My research looks at cyber-attacks through international law framework regarding jus ad bellum, the resort to war. After looking at cyber-attacks through this lens, it is possible to declare certain types of cyber-attacks as acts of aggression, and ultimately allow states to invoke their right of self-defense in response to these attacks. My research will then address the need for international law regulating these new weapons of war.

Indigenous Party Formation And Success: The Strategic Roles Of Reserved Seats, Parties, And Horizontal Accountability, Michael Fitzgerald

Dissertations and Theses

More than twenty legislatures reserve a portion of seats for ethnic minority groups, often in an attempt to prevent violent conflict and redress historical oppression. The intention of reserved seats coincides with indigenous group objectives--to achieve political representation while maintaining autonomy. Yet the formation and electoral success of indigenous parties does not always follow adoption of a reserved seat system. I explain this inconsistency by taking reserved seats as a necessary but insufficient condition of indigenous party formation, and arguing that two additional conditions must be met to motivate indigenous groups to form a viable party: the failure of the …

The Dangerous New Us Consensus On China And The Future Of Us-China Relations, Mel Gurtov, Mark Selden

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The trade war and technological competition with China are symptomatic of a much larger issue: a dangerous gridlock in US-China relations that may become permanent, with dire consequences not just for the two countries’ economies but also for the global economy and quite possibly East Asia’s and international security. Martin Wolf, Financial Times columnist, is right to conclude: “Across-the-board rivalry with China is becoming an organising principle of US economic, foreign and security policies.”¹ The fact that this conflict has occurred at a time of trade, investment, and security disputes between the US and its major allies, US-Russia tensions, …

Differentiation And Diffusion: Shifting Public Opinion Attitudes Toward Foreign Policy In North Africa, Lindsay J. Benstead

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Drawing on Arab Barometer data, this article provides the backdrop for understanding continuity and change since the Arab Spring in national-level public opinion attitudes toward economic and political foreign policy issues in North Africa, inclusive of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. The article leverages the concepts of differentiation and diffusion to understand how international affairs shape public opinion in North Africa since the Arab Spring. Three findings emerge. First, public opinion about domestic and international issues are linked in the minds of North African citizens and foreign policy issues are more important factors underlying pre- and post-Arab Spring politics …

Do Female Local Councilors Improve Women’S Representation?, Lindsay J. Benstead

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Tunisia’s 2018 municipal elections, in which a legislated quota was implemented and women won 47 percent of seats, raises questions about whether electing female councilors improves women’s representation in clientelistic settings. Using data from the Local Governance Performance Index (LGPI), an original survey of 3,600 Tunisians conducted in 2015 by the Program on Governance and Local Development (GLD), this article investigates the relationship between local councilors’ gender and women’s access to help with personal or community issues. Three findings emerge. First, male citizens are thirteen percentage points more likely than female citizens to know a local councilor and six percentage …

Sahrawi Self-Determination Within Existing Borders: Adapting The Right To Self Determination To Modern International Norms, Alma Ruedas

Student Research Symposium

This paper provides an overview of the attitudes towards the Sahrawi people and the POLISARIO Front in Algeria and Morocco, with a more specific focus on how these latter have impacted their endeavour to establish the former’s own sovereign state. The paper provides background on the political, social, and economic, atmospheres in both countries, to contextualise the modern state of democratic institutions and voter engagement. With this information in mind, several potential pathways forward are presented for Sahrawi self-determination, weighing the pros and cons of seeking political representation within existing states, or through secession.

Arctic Security: The Race For The Arctic Through The Prism Of International Relations Theory, Michael Gregory Morgan Trujillo

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the thesis is to examine future international relations in the Arctic as a theoretical exercise based on realism and liberalism. As the ice cap shrinks, and the region's environment changes, developing costs will decrease allowing for resource-extraction while new transit routes emerge. The opportunities to develop resources and ship via the Arctic are economic and strategically valuable, altering the geopolitics of the region. This thesis seeks to explore how resource development and new transit routes will affect regional politics through the lens of two theories. The two theoretical approaches will examine states and actors' interests and possible …

Grappling With The African E-Waste Pandemic: Contributing Factors And Future Deterrence, Brittany Nicole Wideman

Dissertations and Theses

Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream worldwide. Illegal methods of transport, indifference in legislative response, and public ignorance of what to do in response, all influence e-waste proliferation. This dirty industry of e-waste is hazardous to human health and well-being as well as the environment. Since this dirty industry has ballooned over the last few decades, two major questions arise: What are the primary and secondary factors that influence the proliferation of e-waste dumping in developing countries; and what structures are emerging to combat the e-waste problem in developing countries in Africa? The following pages will investigate the …

Foucault, Simon Springer, And Postneoliberalism, Jaycob Izsó

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Scholarship in Foucauldian governmentality has reemerged as a critical area of contemporary political discourse and has had a pronounced effect on neoliberal and postneoliberal research in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Perhaps the most versatile postneoliberal critic is Simon Springer, who has offered dynamic accounts of neoliberalism and its decline via a Foucauldian method. While Springer’s research is novel, I believe it is not a rigorous Foucauldian account of neoliberalism and its future.