Political Science Commons^™

Untouchability Today: The Rise Of Dalit Activism, Christine Hart

Human Rights & Human Welfare

On July 19, 2010, the Hindustan Times reported that a Dalit (“untouchable”) woman was gang-raped and murdered in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The crime was an act of revenge perpetrated by members of the Sharma family, incensed over the recent elopement of their daughter with a man from the lower-caste Singh family. Seeking retributive justice for the disgrace of the marriage, men from the Sharma family targeted a Dalit woman who, with her husband, worked in the Singh family fields. Her death was the result of her sub-caste status; while the crime cost the Singh family a valuable …

American Muslim Minorities: The New Human Rights Struggle, Ashley Moore

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The ramifications of the attacks of September 11, 2001 are felt throughout the United States. However, no minority community is as deeply affected as the American-Muslim minority. Since the attacks on the World Trade Center, Muslims residing in the United States have experienced violations of economic and political liberties, as well as ongoing social discrimination. Media stereotypes and government legislation continually exacerbate these human rights abuses and entrench institutional, social, and economic discrimination deeper in American society. At the heart of this discrimination are clear misunderstandings about Islam and those who practice the faith. In an effort to combat these …

Combating Discrimination Against The Roma In Europe: Why Current Strategies Aren’T Working And What Can Be Done, Erica Rosenfield

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In the summer of 2010, the forced expulsion of many Roma from Western to Eastern Europe captured headlines and world attention, yet this practice simply represented the latest manifestation of anti-Roma sentiment in Europe. Indeed, the Roma—numbering over ten million across Europe, making them the continent’s largest minority—face discrimination in housing, education, healthcare, employment, and law enforcement; widespread prejudice against this group shows no evidence of receding. There is, however, certainly no shortage of national and supranational policies aiming to promote inclusion and equality for the Roma.

January Roundtable: The Haiti Earthquake, One Year Later, Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Haiti's Blame Game” by Poooja Bhatia. Foreign Policy. November 23 2010.

The Scourge Of Occupation, Christina Cerna

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“Haiti’s Blame Game” suggests that Haitians are wondering why they should bother voting when it is unclear that their government is running the country. The anger of the Haitians, according to the author, is focused on MINUSTAH, the UN mission that was created in 2004 to stabilize Haiti and to coordinate the work of the different UN agencies active in the country.¹ Some Haitians perceive MINUSTAH to be an occupying force, but is it really, and who is running the country?

Bring Back Aristide, Louis Edgar Esparza

Human Rights & Human Welfare

My friend Annie recently had her trip to Haiti postponed because of the political instability surrounding the November elections. Annie totes modest sums of cash, medicine, and clothing collected from sympathetic friends and has a resolute willingness to help. Together with the partner organizations she is working with, she is hiring Haitians to build an orphanage. Another colleague of mine, Tonya, traveled to the country very soon after the earthquake. She described her experience in The Nation, lamenting that the major US airlines, which had agreed to waive baggage fees for relief aid to Haiti, did not do so for …

The Future Of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting, Matthew Maguire

Faculty Publications, School of Management

With more than 60,000 multinational corporations in the world today — along with more than 800,000 subsidiaries and millions of suppliers — the web of private enterprise is wider and more connected than at any other time in history (Ruggie 2004, 510). At the same time, concerns are mounting about the sustainability of the world economy, as well as our ability to address global challenges such as climate change, pollution, poverty, disease, and inequality. While in the past people have often looked to government to protect society from such threats, today it is clear that government cannot do the job …

The State And The Legalization Of Dual Citizenship/Dual Nationality: A Case Study Of Mexico And The Philippines, Pamela Kim Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to address the question of how does the inclusion or exclusion of political participation with dual citizenship or dual nationality impact the Philippines' and Mexico's efforts to achieve the economic and political benefits of dual citizenship from their citizens?

The hypothesis of the paper states that that if a sending state offers legal dual citizenship/nationality with political participation, then it will be successful at increasing the economic and political benefits provided by its emigrants; but if a sending state only offers legal dual citizenship/nationality without political participation than it will not be successful at …

The Integration Of African Muslim Minority: A Critique Of French Philosophy And Policy, Amber Nichole Dillender

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The numerous images of violence perpetrated by radicalized followers of Islam, has highlighted the complexities surrounding assimilation and integration of Muslims in Western society. Since the guest worker recruitment from French African colonies initiated after World War II, France has been witness to the unanticipated development of permanent communities of African laborers, many of whom are Muslim. Despite consistent promotion of French monoculture and specifically the use of the assimilation model for integration, segregation of African Muslims has occurred. Through the construction of a single country case study, I explore integration issues surrounding the French Muslim minority communities. I seek …

Elections And Tensions And Constitutions! Oh, My! A Process-Oriented Analysis Of Bolivian Democratization From 1993 To 2009, Laurel Kristin Dwyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many Latin American countries which underwent democratic regime transformations within the last thirst years have seemingly stalled. Unable to meet the demands of their citizens, which grow increasingly restless and confrontational, they have become subjected to a series of economic and political crises. Contemporary democratic theorists are at a loss to explain why this region has failed to deepen over time. The purpose of this paper is threefold: it questions the analytic utility of contemporary liberal and representative models, it argues for the inclusion of an alternative process-oriented model provided by Charles Tilly (2007), and tests this model through a …

The Threat To Democracy In Brazil's Public Sphere, Daniel Nettuno

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis looks at the nature of violence with its endemic, and increasingly epidemic presence in Brazil. I analyze the structure of the justice system, police force, and the many governmental security programs in order to better explain why Brazil is so violent and its government has been unable to control this violence. Living under violent conditions, Brazil has become a society where the efficient functioning of the public sphere has been undermined. This public space, shared by citizens, is what many academics believe to be a critical component of a robust and functioning democracy. In Brazil, it is shown, …

Securing Critical Internet Resources: Influencing Internet Governance Through Social Networks And Delegation, Brenden Kuerbis

School of Information Studies - Dissertations

Examining the cases of Domain Name System Security (DNSSEC) and the Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI), this dissertation uses principal-agent delegation theory and social network analysis to explain how United States government (USG) agencies influence efforts to secure critical Internet resources.

Consistent with a logic of delegation and the prominent role of individuals in Internet governance, USG agencies participated directly and indirectly in the social networks formed around Internet governance institutions. Its participation occurred by delegating responsibility to organizational agents that participated in the DNSSEC and RPKI standardization and policy processes. By doing so, agencies leveraged these individuals' expertise, and …

The Beauty And The Beast: Civil Society And Nationalisms In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Joan Davison

Faculty Publications

Both ethnic nationalism and liberal civic nationalism exist with historical precedents in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Many elected elites privilege extremist ethnic nationalism. The power-sharing structure of the Dayton Peace Accords institutionalizes their influence and permits the current political stalemate. Further, a legacy of authoritarianism vitiates a political culture supportive of elite accountability and mass responsibility. Yet a nascent civil society witnesses to the past and potential future of liberal cosmopolitanism. This research includes interviews with leaders and members of civil society organizations to assess the impediments to and strength of civil society as a vehicle to promote civic nationalism. While interviewees acknowledge …

Guidelines For Policy Modellers - 30 Years On: New Tricks Or Old Dogs?, Geoffrey J. Syme, David Bennett, Duncan K. Macpherson, Jonathan F. Thomas

Research outputs 2011

Systems thinking and the use of modelling to assist in natural resources decision making started in the early 1960’s (Forrester, 1961). In the early 1970’s a multidisciplinary program was established in CSIRO’s Division of Land Resources Management to, among other issues, research and develop models to assist in the resolution of persistent and multi-faceted environmental issues. The authors of this paper were members of that group. We recently decided to look at what has been learned about these reasonably intractable problems over the more than 30 years period since. If it is true that the half life of modelling papers …

Military Entrepreneurs: Patterns In Latin America, Kristina Mani

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Despite the recent shift to democratic regimes and market-based economies, in many Latin American countries the military retains important economic roles as owner, manager, and stakeholder in economic enterprises. Such military entrepreneurship poses a challenge to the development of democratic civil-military relations and, by extension, to the development of liberal democracy in the region. While scholars have noted this situation with concern, they have given little attention to distinguishing the different types of military entrepreneurship, which reflect distinct historical patterns and implications. This article identifies two major types of military entrepreneurs in Latin America: industrializers, determined to build national defense …

Cacophony Or Empowerment? : Analyzing The Impact Of New Information Communication Technologies And New Social Media In Southeast Asia., Jason P. Abbott

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The capabilities, tools and websites we associate with new information communication technologies and social media are now ubiquitous. Moreover tools that were designed to facilitate innocuous conversation and social interaction have had unforeseen political impacts. Nowhere was this more visible than during the 2011 uprisings across the Arab World. From Tunis to Cairo, and Tripoli to Damascus protest movements against authoritarian rule openly utilized social networking and file sharing tools to publicize and organize demonstrations and to catalogue human rights abuses. The Arab Spring, or Jasmine Revolution, was an event that was both witnessed and played out in real time …

The Flaws Of Foreign Affairs Legalism, Daniel Abebe, Eric A. Posner

Faculty Scholarship

Foreign affairs legalism, the dominant approach in academic scholarship on foreign relations law, holds that courts should abandon their traditional deference to the executive in foreign relations, and that courts and Congress should take a more activist ole in foreign relations than they have in the past. Foreign affairs legalists believe that greater judicial involvement in foreign relations would curb executive abuses and promote adherence to international law. This Article argues that foreign affairs legalism rests on implausible assumptions about the incentives and capacities of courts. In U.S. history, the executive has given more support to international law than the …

Review Of Neeti Nair's Changing Homelands: Hindu Politics And The Partition Of India, Geoffrey Kain

Publications

“As Neeti Nair concludes chapter 5 of her extremely impressive study of the Partition of India, Changing Homelands, she argues against the pat inclusion of Partition on a ‘trans-national’ list of ‘genocidal conflicts’ …”

Recruitment To Leadership Positions In The German Bundestag, 1994-2006, Melanie Kintz

Dissertations

This dissertation looks at the recruitment patterns to leadership positions in the German Bundestag from 1994 to 2006 with the objective of enhancing understanding of legislative careers and representation theory. Most research on political careers thus far has focused on who is elected to parliament, rather than on which legislators attain leadership positions. However, leadership positions within the parliament often come with special privileges and can serve as stepping stones to higher positions on the executive level. Based on a data set I compiled of all members who served in the Bundestag from 1994 to 2006, this dissertation looks at …

Citizen-Informed Performance Measurement And Reporting In Local Government: Key Factors For Effective Democratic Governance, Eileen L. Pierce

Dissertations

Citizen engagement and performance measurement are concepts inherently in conflict with each other. Local government values citizen input and good governance. Simultaneously, the pressure of local government to be efficient and effective utilizing managerial techniques common in the private sector is intense. Due to challenges associated with the integration of performance measurement and active citizen involvement, initiatives in this area are sparse.

This study, using a mixed methods analysis, explored the research questions through examination of thirty-six units of local government that participated in the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation‘s Government Trailblazer Program. This program provided a unique opportunity for exploratory …

Becoming Formal Or Informal Entrepreneurs: How Institutions Matter, Joël Luc Raveloharimisy

Dissertations

This research explains the factors behind the variation of enterprise creation across countries by looking at the roles of formal and informal institutions and their interactions in the distribution of start-up enterprises in the formal and informal sectors. It tests two competing hypotheses about the individual versus mixed effects of formal institutions (measured by entry regulations) and informal institutions (measured by social capital) on entrepreneurship. The research uses quantitative analysis of data from 48 countries and a qualitative case study of Madagascar.

The findings from the quantitative and qualitative analyses are consistent regarding the independent effects of each set of …

Climate Change Displacement And Global Governance: A Case Study Of Three Intergovernmental Organizations And The Conflict Between The Member States And Bureaucracy, Andrea C. S. Berringer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Climate change is a topic most often broached by environmental scientists and activists and its effects are discussed in terms of animal populations and atmospheric events. However, its direct effect on human life is yet to garner such attention. A changing climate will affect how people are able to use their environment, if at all. Sea level rise and desertification will force a shift in human habitation. How the world seeks to deal with this shift is yet to be seen. The global governance of climate change-induced displacement is currently at the stage of ad hoc development. Legal and conceptual …

Gay-Marriage In 2004 U.S. Presidential Election, James Dunphy

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis looks at the factors that affected individual turnout and vote choice in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Regarding the outcome of the election, a point of dispute among scholars pertains to whether evangelical Christians played a meaningful role in helping re-elect then-President Bush to a second term in 2004. The gay-marriage issue played a prominent role in the presidential campaign, due in part to a ruling the Massachusetts Supreme Court rendered in November 2003 that legalized the marrying of same-sex couples within the state’s borders. The Court’s decision had a reverberating effect, particularly among evangelicals, and subsequently, it …

Community Preferences And Trial Court Decision-Making: The Influence Of Political, Social, And Economic Conditions On Litigation Outcomes, Tao Lotus Dumas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

During the ratification debates the Federalists and Anti-federalists contested the merits of the civil jury. The Anti-federalists, preferring strong local government, argued that civil juries empowered communities to settle disputes themselves based on local standards. On the other hand, Federalists maintained that civil juries were outmoded and produced inconsistent applications of the law from one locale to another, jeopardizing the rule of law. Although the ratification debates ultimately ended with the inclusion of the Seventh Amendment guaranteeing the right to a jury trial in all disputes involving claims greater than $20, the disagreement between the Federalists and the Anti-federalists closely …

Cultivating Justice For The Working Poor: Clinical Representation Of Unemployment Claimants, Colleen F. Shanahan

Faculty Scholarship

The combination of current economic conditions and recent changes in the United States' welfare system makes representation of unemployment insurance claimants by clinic students a timely learning opportunity. While unemployment insurance claimants often share similarities with student attorneys, they are unable to access justice as easily as student attorneys, and as a result, face the risk of severe poverty. Clinical representation of unemployment claimants is a rich opportunity for students to experience making a difference for a client, and to understand the issues of poverty and justice that these clients experience along the way. These cases reveal that larger lessons …

Assessing The Stability Of Elite Political Culture: An Empirical Analysis Of The Attitudes Of Elected Officials In Canada, Lydia Summerlee

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Do attitudes of Members of the 32nd and 40th parliament differ on issues of political ethics? Or have attitudes remained unchanged? Based on interviews of 44 members of the 40th parliament and 107 members of the 32nd parliament, this thesis explores attitude shifts across time. The study reveals that in the areas of conflict of interest and patronage attitudes have hardened. Members of Parliament (MPs) from the 40th parliament are more sensitive to these dimensions of political corruption as opposed to MPs from the 32nd parliament. For ethically charged scenarios dealing with gifts & gains and lying, MPs from the …