Political Science Commons^™

Perceptions Of Discrimination: An Analysis Of Four National Surveys Of Latinos; Findings From The Pew Hispanic Center/Kaiser Family Foundation National Survey Of Latinos, Jenny Gallegos

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Objective: Throughout the history of the United States different legal measures have resulted in efforts to deal with immigration issues, and some have resulted in adverse consequences for Latinos in particular. Massive immigration from 1850-1920 arose the historic distrust and suspicion of Anglos toward Mexicans and tended to evoke various kinds of repressive acts, excluding Mexican Americans from political participation (Garcia and de la Garza 1977). After the 9/11 attacks Latinos reported a heightened level of perceived discrimination as well as fear of deportation, even among U.S. Citizens. Methods: Using multiple-regression analysis this study analyzes four datasets of National Survey …

Interview With Danny Davis, Terence Sims

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 67 minutes

Oral history interview of Danny Davis by Terence Sims

Dr. Davis begins by outlining his introduction into activism and politics, when he served as executive director for the Greater Lawndale Conservation Commission in 1968. He explains how his definition of apartheid, which he is still fighting against, encompasses the massive underrepresentation of Black Americans in U.S. government positions. He details his childhood in rural Arkansas, growing up with ten siblings on a farm. He recalls early figures in the Civil Rights Movement in Arkansas, like the Little Rock Nine and Martin Luther King, Jr. He explains how …

Interview With Zeva Schub, Lynette Marie Reid

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 67 minutes

Oral history interview of Zeva Schub by Lynette Marie Reid

Zeva Schub’s activism began early during her time in high school. She was involved in civil rights activism and carried it over when she went to college at the University of Illinois. She describes the influence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had on her and her sister, who was involved in the Anti-apartheid movement in Chicago, which is what prompted her to join the cause. She describes becoming a member of CIDSA (Coalition for Illinois Divestment in South Africa) and joining other organizations that were opposed …

Interview With Josephine Wyatt, Suzanne Miller

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 73 minutes

Oral history interview of Josephine Wyatt by Suzanne Miller

In her interview, Ms. Wyatt recalls her childhood on her family’s farm in Georgia, her family’s church, and their community. She explains how she and her husband relocated to Chicago for work, where she started taking classes at the local colleges. She tells of how she began working for Chicago Child Care after her divorce, first as a secretary and then as an office manager. She recalls how she deeply identified with the struggles in Apartheid South Africa, after growing up in Jim Crow Georgia and witnessing the …

Interview With George Schmidt, Melena Grace Nicholson

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 154 minutes

Oral history interview of George Schmidt by Melena Grace Nicholson

Chicago Public School teacher and union activist, George Schmidt discusses his work as editor of Substance a newspaper covering public education that he helped found in 1975. His activism was sparked during his college years and he recounts his work during his teaching career. He was involved in the G.I. movement and military counseling, working with ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union), and people in Angola and Mozambique, before becoming a teacher. His interest in military counseling and the G.I. movement stems from his own parents’ experience during …

Interview With Helen Shiller, Jacob Martin Lingan

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 50 minutes

Oral history interview of Helen Shiller by Jacob Martin Lingan

Ms. Shiller first outlines the path that led her to forming the Anti-Apartheid Ordinance, beginning with her work with the Minister of Information for ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) and a trip to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa, which led to her interest in the latter. She recalls how, when she returned to Chicago, she was motivated to strengthen legislation against the Apartheid government. She describes the process they went through to force Chicago banks to divest from South Africa, which happened to coincide with Nelson Mandela’s …

Interview With Curtis Black, Jeremy Alexander Cairns

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 77 minutes

Oral history interview of Curtis Black by Jeremy Alexander Cairns

In his interview, Curtis Black details his childhood and early college years at the University of Chicago. He explains how he became involved in the anti-apartheid movement in 1979 while covering divestment for the Chicago Maroon and, soon after, joining the Action Committee on South Africa, a student organization that campaigned to get the University of Chicago to divest from stock of corporations doing business in South Africa. He notes an especially significant piece he wrote in 1985, interviewing Prexy Nesbitt, that gave a comprehensive view of …

Interview With Constance Prince, Brett Edward King

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 97 minutes

Oral history interview of Constance Prince by Brett Edward King

In her interview, Ms. Prince details her difficult childhood in Florida, her first marriage, the birth of her daughter, and her divorce. She recalls how she completed her degree at Florida State University and moved with her daughter to Chicago to attend Northwestern University. She describes how she first learned of South African apartheid at Northwestern through Prexy Nesbitt. This, she explains, led to her involvement in the anti-apartheid movement: at the urging of Nesbitt and George Schmidt, she wrote a three-piece series outlining the history of …

Interview With Clarice Durham, Lauren Ashley Alexander

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 95 minutes

Oral history interview of Clarice Durham by Lauren Ashley Alexander

Clarice Durham recalls her childhood and recounts her work with the Illinois NAACP, The National Anti-Imperialist Movement in Solidarity with African Liberation (NAIMSAL), and as co-chair of the National Alliance Against Racial and Political Oppression. She campaigned for justice in the Scottsboro Boys case in 1931, attended the founding convention of the Progressive Party in 1948, and participated in the March on Washington in 1963. As Durham recaps her trip to South Africa, she recalls the change it had on her and her views of the movement. …

Doubling Nato: Functional And Geographical Enlargement Of The Alliance, Ergodan Kurt

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation studies NATO expansion as institutional adaptation. More specifically, it examines the interaction between NATO's functional and geographical enlargement. This study asserts that there is a close relationship between NATO's new functions and its enlargement. Over time, NATO evolved from a collective defense alliance to a comprehensive security organization. As NATO undertook new functions, its capabilities no longer matched the requirements of the new functions. The geographical enlargement, in fact, constitutes a vehicle for the fulfillment of the capability shortfall.

Furthermore, this dissertation asserts that the new security environment will force NATO to focus on the regions at a …

Groupthink Theory And The Great Crash Of 1929, Paige E. Nichols

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Vicarious Revolutionaries: Martial Discourse And The Origins Of Mass Party Competition In The United States, 1789-1848, Cedric De Leon

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Do The Insured Make Greater Use Of Medical Services?, Gregg Girvan, Sven Wilson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Conventional wisdom states if policy-makers set the goal of increasing the number of patients with health insurance, visits to the emergency room (ER) will decrease while visits to a usual source of care (USC), such as a general practitioner, will increase. In examining year 2007 of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, this study seeks to test this hypothesis by answering two questions: 1. Whether having insurance affects ER and USC utilization, and 2. Whether greater USC utilization affects ER utilization. The analysis accounts for endogeneity issues with insurance and USC utilization. In order to account for the discrete, non negative …

Does Democracy In The Home Create Democracy In The Nation?, Aimee Farnsworth, Valerie Hudson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

While the rise of liberal democracy has usually been linked to the growth of capitalism and the rise of the bourgeoisie, a fairly new theory claims that democracy in the state began with democracy in the home (Hajnal1982; Hartman 2004). That is, as the relationship between husband and wife became more equal, a mini-democracy was created in the home which promoted liberal democracy on a larger scale, first in the community, and then the nation. Those promoting democracy might therefore find it beneficial to first, or at least concurrently, promote equality between husband and wife. Increased equality between spouses will …

The Variation In Third Party Politics Across The American States, Trevor Grunwald

Political Science Theses and Capstones

It seems that third party candidates and third parties themselves are usually just a flash in the pan, who once in a while seem to get their fifteen minutes of fame. Ross Perot a native Texan created lots of havoc on the 92 and 96 presidential elections. Also in the great state of Minnesota in 1998 Jesse Ventura became Governor while being a third party candidate. One can’t help but wonder who the next big third party candidate will be, and from which state they will come. Will this person come from a conservative state a liberal state, or will …

The Potential Return Of Nationalism In Iraq, Jeffrey Knapp

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Over the past decade, Iraq has experienced a tremendous amount of change from once being a dictatorial regime to becoming a new and developing democracy. Iraq is dominantly composed of three main and distinct groups known as the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. This paper attempts examine whether or not, Iraqi individuals see themselves first and foremost as Iraqis or as being Muslims first. There has been little research conducted that specifically examines the relationship between nationalism and ethnic identity in Iraq. However, some research suggests that most Iraqis see themselves as being Iraqi first instead of being Muslim first. This …

The Politic 2010 Spring, The Politic, Inc.

The Politic

No abstract provided.

Child Marriage: Can Access To Media Discourage The Practice In South Asia?, Angela O'Neill, Sven Wilson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

In this paper, we explore a possible role for the media to facilitate social change through international and domestic politics even when political will may be lacking. Using data from national health surveys in two South Asian countries, we find that frequent reading of the newspaper is associated with higher ages at marriage among women in all of the countries surveyed. Further research is necessary to determine the types of programs and degree of openness for the other forms of media in each of the countries.

Demand For Terrorism: What Factors Make A Country More Vulnerable To Attack?, Timothy P. Jensen, Sven Wilson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Factors used to explain terrorism range from economic inequality (Bailey, 2002) to religious fundamentalism and prejudice (Anderson & Taylor 2001). Taylor (1998) found that “Neither social background, educational opportunity or attainment seem to be particularly associated with terrorism.” In an econometric analysis of terrorism, Krueger and Maleckova (2003) found no causal relationship between poverty in individuals and their likelihood of becoming terrorists. They examined the supply of terrorism by looking at biographical information of individual terrorists, particularly in Palestine. They found that most terrorists had more education than other members of their home country and were in occupations of high …

From Pawn To President, Joshua C. Powell, Sven Wilson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

This study attempts to clarify the causes of coups d’Etat, which still occur at alarming rates within less-developed nations. Previous research has focused on three potential motivations: greed, grievance, and feasibility. Greed: High levels of natural resources such as oil can easily be diverted into personal accounts, making a successful coup more profitable. Grievance: Repression or poor governance may lead to rebellion. Feasibility: A game-theoretic explanation in which coups are attempted simply because their success seems likely.

Just How Independent Is The Fed?, Brenton Swenson, Sven Wilson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The Federal Reserve has a duel mandate to fight inflation while keeping unemployment low. The Fed is designed to be largely independent from political influence. Just how independent the Fed actually is remains an open question. According to Political Business Cycle Theory, presidents who want to maximize their chances for re-election will attempt to fight inflation early in their term, while allowing inflation to rise before the election with the goal of boosting the economy.

The New User: Revisiting The Digital Divide, David S. Lassen, David Magleby

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Though many scholars and commentators are optimistic about the influence of the Internet on American political culture, some decry the presence of a “digital divide” wherein individuals of higher socioeconomic status have greater access to online political tools. I argue that this is an unnecessarily limited view of online political behavior and that analyses of online political engagement should go beyond questions of access to include considerations of individual preference. Using the results from a new survey of 2008 campaign donors, I find that differences between online and offline political participators are largely skill-and interest-based, not demographic. I also present …

The Realty Of Inequality, Aimee Farnsworth, Valerie Hudson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Although women’s property and inheritance rights are recognized in international law, women in many countries still lack the ability to own or inherit property, either by law or by the trumping of law in practice. The increasing number of women as heads of household who are in critical need of land and property for economic security is a particular concern in the developing world, and a major factor for the progress of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (United Nations 2009). Even where laws are present, the rift between property rights and actual ownership is immense. Discrepancies between statutory and …

Not All Aid Flows Are Created Equal: An Analysis Of The Allocation Of Foreign Aid To Combat Infectious Diseases, Shane W. Dayton, Sven Wilson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The developing world is plagued by infectious diseases. Controlling infectious diseases will reduce suffering and promote economic development. Foreign aid donors fund projects for developing countries to help combat infectious diseases. However, foreign aid is not always allocated based on need. Often, it is given for political and strategic reasons1. With respect to aid for the health sector, the research has focused primarily on the global-disease level and not on the country-disease level. The limited research on the latter suggests that donors are responding to need2. The focus of my research is to examine the allocation of foreign aid specifically …

A Flag Is Flipped And A Nation Flaps: The Politics And Patriotism Of The First International World Series, Todd J. Wiebe

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Disclosure By Politicians, Simeon Djankov, Rafael La Porta, Florencio Lopez-De-Silanes, Andrei Shleifer

Dartmouth Scholarship

We collect data on the rules and practices of financial and conflict disclosure by members of Parliament in 175 countries. Although two-thirds of the countries have some disclosure laws, less than one-third make disclosures available to the public, and less than one-sixth of potentially useful information is publicly available in practice, on average. Countries that are richer, more democratic, and have free press have more disclosure. Public disclosure, but not internal disclosure to parliament, is positively related to government quality, including lower corruption. (JEL J13, I21, I12)

European Integration, Identity, And National Self Interest: The Enduring Nature Of National Identity, Tyler R. White

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In the 1950s as European integration begun a group of scholars called the neofunctionalists suggested that as political and economic institutions were created, technical spillovers from integration would result in a new ‘European identity.’ More than 50 years later, Euroenthusiasts have touted the European Union (EU) as being the institution that will bring Europe together and create a unified ‘European identity.’ While many elites and technocrats feel a closer association to ‘Europe’ there is little evidence that identities are changing as a result of European integration. This dissertation analyzes historical, academic, and journalistic accounts to look for evidence that European …

Austerity, Abundance, And The Investor States: The Political Economy Of Sovereign Wealth Funds, Manda Shemirani

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) are not new, but their foreign investment created concerns among many states in 2005 and 2006. Many policy makers argued that the ownership of foreign governments in specific areas may expose their countries to various risks. The concerns in the United States were from a national security perspective, while Europe was more worried about the lack of reciprocity and established standards. The political economy literature lacks a suitable framework for the study of investor states. The mainstream economic view contends that SWFs are a result of balance of payments surpluses and are used for economic smoothing …

Maturing International Cooperation To Address The Cyberspace Attack Attribution Problem, Jeff J. Mcneil

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

One of the most significant challenges to deterring attacks in cyberspace is the difficulty of identifying and attributing attacks to specific state or non-state actors. The lack of technical detection capability moves the problem into the legal realm; however, the lack of domestic and international cyberspace legislation makes the problem one of international cooperation. Past assessments have led to collective paralysis pending improved technical and legal advancements. This paper demonstrates, however, that any plausible path to meaningful defense in cyberspace must include a significant element of international cooperation and regime formation.

The analytical approach diverges from past utilitarian-based assessments to …

Political Science Spring 2010, Dan Sabia

Political Science Newsletter Spring 2010

No abstract provided.