Political Science Commons^™

Manager-In-Chief: Applying Public Management Theory To Examine White House Chief Of Staff Performance, David Cohen, Justin Vaughn, José Villalobos

Selected Works Temporary Series

In an effort to examine the causal determinants of performance dynamics for the administrative presidency, we apply empirical public management theory to White House administration to explain managerial performance. Utilizing original survey data that measures the perceptions of former officials from the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton administrations, we conduct quantitative analyses to determine the extent to which a chief of staff’s background, relationship with the president, and internal as well as external management approaches shape overall perceptions of White House administrative efforts. We find that managerial dimensions matter considerably when explaining the dynamics of White House organizational performance.

Manager-In-Chief: Applying Public Management Theory To Examine White House Chief Of Staff Performance, David Cohen, Justin Vaughn, José Villalobos

Departmental Papers (PS)

In an effort to examine the causal determinants of performance dynamics for the administrative presidency, we apply empirical public management theory to White House administration to explain managerial performance. Utilizing original survey data that measures the perceptions of former officials from the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton administrations, we conduct quantitative analyses to determine the extent to which a chief of staff’s background, relationship with the president, and internal as well as external management approaches shape overall perceptions of White House administrative efforts. We find that managerial dimensions matter considerably when explaining the dynamics of White House organizational performance.

The Risks Of Outsourcing Security: Foreign Security Forces In United States National Security Policy, Eric Rittinger

Political Science - Dissertations

This study combines insights from international relations, diplomatic history, and civil-military relations to improve our understanding of the tenuous arrangement between the United States and its foreign military proxies. For over a century, the U.S. has armed and trained these proxies to assume responsibilities that its own military might otherwise have to bear. But throughout that time, critics have doubted whether the U.S. could or should delegate sensitive security responsibilities to "dubious" foreign soldiers. Such doubt highlights an international analog to the principal-agent problem normally associated with domestic civil-military relations. I examine why this international principal-agent problem arose, how it …

How And Why Do Dictatorships Survive? Lessons For The Middle East, Erica Frantz

Bridgewater Review

Political events in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have dominated news headlines for the past two years. Since the revolution in Tunisia in December 2010, one dictatorship after the next has appeared on the verge of collapse, as citizens gather en masse to voice their demands for democratic governance. In countries such as Libya and Egypt, though relatively successful democratic elections were held following the collapse of long-standing dictatorships, it is uncertain whether the new political system being installed will be democratic or autocratic. When looking to the future of the region beyond the Arab Spring, one thing …

The 2008 Us Presidential Election And New Digital Technologies: Political Campaigns As Social Movements And The Significance Of Collective Identity, Stephanie Takaragawa, Victoria Carty

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

The growing role of the Internet social networking sites (SNS) has served as a flash point for debate about the democratization of information, particularly in light of their perceived roles in the 2008 presidential election. This horizontal sharing of information undoubtedly facilitated the revival of the youth vote and volunteerism in many ways mimicking traditional grassroots approaches. While the role of the Internet SNS in mobilization efforts and information-sharing cannot be overstated, its effectiveness in creating a new “public sphere,” or transforming traditional electoral campaign strategies and communicative practices must be closely examined before generalizations about the democratization of media …

How Might Ecologists Make The World Safe For Biodiversity Without Getting Fired?, David Johns

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This essay raises the following questions: What if conservation success depends less on speaking truth to power than on organizing a political force that can bring more pressure to bear on decision makers than their opponents? But what if natural scientists, by virtue of their knowledge, passion, commitment, are pretty much the only group that can be trusted with the fate of biodiversity and leading humankind out of their destructive ways? What if begging policy makers to do the right thing means barren oceans, the end of many species, and the end of wild places (not to mention a more …

The Impact Of Islam On Women In The Middle East A Discussion Of The Political Role Of Islam In Turkey, Saudi Arabia, And Lebanon, Elise Barimo

HIM 1990-2015

The social instability of the Middle East is often assumed to be consequential predominantly from the influences of extreme traditional Islamic practices; with substantial prominence placed upon the treatment of and violence against Middle Eastern women. This discussion seeks to directly prove the prevalence of Islamic influence on Middle Eastern politics and the resulting social instability. This assessment is designed around an interdisciplinary examination of coalescent factors. By assessing the political history, social and cultural lifestyle, and political and legal situation of the region, the assessment examines the contributors to the social instability of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Turkey. The …

Immigration Policies In Times Of Crisis A Comparative Study Of The United States And Australia, Nicholas Corvino

HIM 1990-2015

Although they are two very similar net immigration countries, Australia and the US took very different approaches to immigration policy adoption and implementation and to immigration control, in the last two decades of the 20th century. The literature explains these different approaches by invoking the influence of interest groups, human rights initiatives and the reaction of state institutions to public pressure. This paper proposes an alternative explanation for the difference in immigration policy and control: crisis. Crisis, or a sense thereof, is what leads the population to mobilize and to put pressure on the government for more efficient policies and …

Why Some Muslim Countries Are Democracies And Some Are Not, Shaheen Mozaffar

Bridgewater Review

The transitions to democracy in Tunisia and Egypt shortly after the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring, and subsequently in Libya, provide an opportunity to test the empirical validity of the conventional wisdom that democracy cannot be established and sustained in Muslim countries. This article undertakes this task through a systematic comparative analysis of 56 countries classified as Muslim countries by virtue of their membership in the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). It first maps variations in the incidence of democracy among the 56 Muslim countries based on the widely used Freedom House Rating (FHR, www.freedomhouse.org) of countries into “Free,” …

Will The Arab Spring Succeed In Bringing Bread, Freedom, And Dignity?, Sandra Popiden

Bridgewater Review

Economic discontent fueled the political dissatisfaction that erupted in the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen in 2011. Demonstrators blamed repressive authoritarian governments for slow economic growth, increasing poverty and social inequality, high youth unemployment and rampant corruption. Alongside demands for increased political freedom, greater participation in politics, and an end to repression were calls for economic freedom and improved well-being. The uprisings, which spawned democracy in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, continue to reverberate across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by opening up previously closed public spaces to wider popular participation in national debates over …

Social Media And Political Changes In Al-Alam Al-Arabi, Jabbar Al-Obaidi

Bridgewater Review

The Arab countries are typically described as lacking democratic traditions, freedom of the press, human rights and civil liberties. The utilization of social media for political purposes became crucial to the widespread expression of pent-up social discontent that precipitated the Arab Spring. Uploaded videos, photos, and Twitter feeds served to outrage people in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria. This volatile combination of a young population, authoritarian rule, corruption and poverty is prompting youth to spearhead political demonstrations and the demand for regime change.

Profession Of Faith: Congressional Websites And Religious Expression In The 112th Congress, Molly Jaye Mcguffee

Master's Theses

The idea of culture wars in politics suggests that American voters have polarized according to their positions on moral issues, and a religious gap in the electorate also contends that voters are polarized on these issues according to their religious beliefs and practices. Research shows that members of Congress send cues about their faith to their constituents, who in turn use the information to assess their representatives and determine their members' position on these moral issues. To determine how these cues are delivered and who delivers the information, I combed 100 Senators' and 435 Representatives' from the 1121 h Congress …

Processing Facial Emotions: An Eeg Study Of The Differences Between Conservatives And Liberals And Across Political Participation, Karl Evan Giuseffi

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

Behavioral differences have been reported between conservatives and liberals when categorizing facial expressions, yet no study explores potential differences in the manner in which the two groups process facial expressions, let alone how partisanship contributes or how political engagement may vary with brain processing of facial expressions. In this context, processing refers to brain patterns following exposure to a facial expression and participants’ subsequent attention to the presented facial expressions. This thesis addresses the question of whether political temperament is associated with differences in neural processing. Research subjects participated in an emotion discrimination task while event-related potentials (ERP) were captured …

Understanding Africa’S China Policy: A Test Of Dependency Theory And A Study Of African Motivations In Increasing Engagement With China, Nkemjika E. Kalu

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

African states are increasingly engaging with China--politically, socially and economically--especially through the machinations of the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). This dissertation asserts that Africans are willing partners of the Chinese, motivated by their state-centric belief that engagement with China is in their national interest. This assertion contradicts the assumption of most literature to date that appears to borrow from the logic of dependency theory and presents African nations as pawns, subject to the demands of a dominant and exploitative China, who is benefiting at Africa’s expense. Economic trends from the decade before the launch of the FOCAC and the …

Identity And Intersectionality For Big City Mayors: A Phenomenological Analysis Of Black Women, Constance J. Brooks

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The role of a mayor is integral within local governance. Their leadership and influence directly effectuates outcomes for the cities over which they preside. For big city mayors, their impact extends beyond local government and into the national policy arena. The way an individual demonstrates the role of mayor can be influenced by his/her perception of their own identity. However, within the realm of academic research dedicated to mayoral leadership and African Americans in politics, Black female mayors have largely been ignored. In particular, there are no known attempts at investigating the intersection of race and gender in understanding Black …

Varieties Of Politics, Varieties Of Capitalism: The Effects Of Political Institutions On Capitalist Diversity, Matthew P. Arsenault

Dissertations

A strong correlation exists between varieties of political regimes and varieties of capitalism (VOC). Majoritarian political regimes are correlated with liberal market economies (LMEs) and consensus political regimes are correlated with coordinated market economies (CMEs). Still, correlation is not causation. The purpose of this project is to open the “black box” and identify mechanisms linking political institutions and variation in capitalist systems. Empirical findings illustrate that partisanship and policy legacies, the number of political parties, electoral rules, and constitutional constraints are significant indicators of LMEs and CMEs. I find that majoritarian institutions are conducive to an environment of adversarial politics …

The Social And Political Philosophy Of Bertolt Brecht, Anthony Squiers

Dissertations

Bertolt Brecht is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in Twentieth Century literature. An acclaimed poet, he is best known as a playwright and director. His 'epic theatre' revolutionized the theatre by creating radical breaks from traditional literary and theatrical form. These radical breaks were done in an effort to facilitate radical social change. Specifically, Brecht designed his epic theatre as a revolutionary aesthetic which would help bring about the advent of a Marxist revolution. There is a broad corpus of academic work which analyzes the formalistic elements of his work. However, this body of work …

The Contours Of Judicial Tenure In State Courts Of Last Resort: Accountability Vs. Independence, Todd A. Curry

Dissertations

The study of state courts of last resort is a field which has, up until recently, been significantly underrepresented in political science (Baum 1987, Dubois 1980). The bulk of work in judicial politics over the last fifty years has focused on the federal system. Furthermore, the study of state courts allows for a true comparative analysis. The methods of selection used for the staffing of state courts of last resort are highly varied. There are five distinctly different methods which are used for judicial selection in the states, and many states have institutional nuances that provide further variation for study. …

The Rancor Of Republicans, The Diatribe Of Democrats A Social Network Analysis Of Partisan Interconnectivity On Facebook, Sean Langille

Masters Theses

The Internet has played a more active role in shaping modern American political communication. With the increased popularity of social networking through websites like Facebook, more are taking to the Internet to engage in civic dialogue. This study will explore how the exchange of socially networked images, texts, and audio between Democrats and Republicans affect beliefs, behaviors and perceptions. Utilizing qualitative methodologies, the researcher interviewed ten (10) registered democrats and ten (10) registered republicans. The participants were basked ten questions and ten follow up questions. The study applied a social network analysis to evaluate how socially networked dialogue between Republicans …

South Africa’S First Five Years On The United Nations Human Rights Council, Eduard Christiaan Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In June 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted its first resolution on sexual orientation and human rights. Resolution 17/19 expressed grave concern at violence and discrimination committed against people because of their sexual orientation and tasked the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on such abuses. In a body marred by regional bloc voting, Resolution 17/19 passed with support from states in all five of the official regions of the UN. South Africa was widely praised for leading such a progressive resolution through the Council, especially in the face of considerable pressure from African and …

Aesthetic Constructions Of Korea Nationalism: Spectacle, Politics And History, Yooil Bae

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Social And Adversarial Varieties Of Democracy: Which Produces Fewer Criminals?, Devin K. Joshi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article explores the relationship between two prominent varieties of democracy and the size of a country’s prison population. Theoretically, it proposes that social democracies increase social and economic equality which reduces both the “demand for crime” and the number of criminals. Adversarial democracies, on the other hand, generate higher levels of inequality and insecurity that lead to higher levels of crime. Utilizing a structured, focused comparison of Nordic social democracies and Anglo-American adversarial democracies complemented by cross-sectional multiple regression analysis of twenty industrialized democracies, I find empirical support for both of these conjectures. A major implication of this study …

Coder Reliability And Misclassification In The Human Coding Of Party Manifestos, Slava Mikhaylov, Michael Laver, Kenneth Benoit

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP) provides the only time series of estimated party policy positions in political science and has been extensively used in a wide variety of applications. Recent work (e.g., Benoit, Laver, and Mikhaylov 2009; Klingemann et al. 2006) focuses on nonsystematic sources of error in these estimates that arise from the text generation process. Our concern here, by contrast, is with error that arises during the text coding process since nearly all manifestos are coded only once by a single coder. First, we discuss reliability and misclassification in the context of hand-coded content analysis methods. Second, we …

The Dual-Faceted Federalism Framework And The Derivative Constitutional Status Of Local Governments, Michael W. Cannon

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fear Vs. Facts: Examining The Economic Impact Of Undocumented Immigrants In The U.S., David Becerra, David K. Androff, Cecilia Ayón, Jason T. Castillo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Undocumented immigration has become a contentious issue in the U.S. over the past decade. Opponents of undocumented immigration have argued that undocumented immigrants are a social and financial burden to the U.S. which has led to the passage of drastic and costly policies. This paper examined existing state and national data and found that undocumented immigrants do contribute to the economies of federal, state, and local governments through taxes and can stimulate job growth, but the cost of providing law enforcement, health care, and education impacts federal, state, and local governments differently. At the federal level, undocumented immigrants tend to …

Can A Financial Crisis Occur Under The Rules Of Islamic Finance?, Michelle Walton

Political Science

No abstract provided.

Policy-Making Under Evo Morales: Explaining Ethnopopulist Redistributive Measures In Bolivia, Luis Ferreira

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The Evo Morales administration has radically transformed the Bolivian state since his election in 2005. As a result of Morales' indigenous identity and overt ethnic tensions in this state, there is a perception that this factor plays a decisive role in Bolivia's policymaking. However, as the 'renegotiation' of the hydrocarbon industry in 2006 demonstrates, ethnopopulism and political survival provide the most comprehensive approach to predicting the policies of the current Bolivian government.

The resistance to liberalization efforts, the success of redistributive measures and the role identity has had in Bolivia explains why this approach to policy-making has allowed Morales to …

Judicial Innovation And Sexual Harassment Doctrine In The U.S. Court Of Appeals., Laura P. Moyer, Holley Takersley

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The determination that sexual harassment constituted “discrimination based on sex” under Title VII was first made by the lower federal courts, not Congress. Drawing from the literature on policy diffusion, this article examines the adoption of hostile work environment standards across the U.S. Courts of Appeals in the absence of controlling Supreme Court precedent. The results bolster recent findings about the influence of female judges on their male colleagues and suggest that in addition to siding with female plaintiffs, female judges also helped to shape legal rules that promoted gender equality in the workplace.

Foreword, Amy C. Gaudion

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Show Me The Money: The Super Packed Balance Between Donor Privacy And Electioneering, David Perretta

Washington Semester Program

No abstract provided.