Political Science Commons^™

International Relations Reflected Through The Camera Lens The West's Representation Of The Third World., Jihan Joseph

Dissertations and Theses

In the pursuit of studying international relations often the subject of culture is left out of the conversation. This thesis focuses on the unlikely subject of film to discuss the importance of culture in international relations. It analyzes at Western film's portrayal of the developing world and explores the connection of film and international relations.

The Role Of Philanthropy In Furthering And Preserving Harmony In International Relations; Reducing Cross-Border, Conflict Spillover By Bolstering Economic Conditions Through Innovative Philanthropic Practices, Mia Lui

Dissertations and Theses

"This study examines the relationship between the lack of economic development and unemployment against the eruption of civil unrest and political instability. I illustrate how political instability in one country is a cause for concern for neighboring countries within the region, thereby creating an incentive for the larger, international community to promote, support, and bolster economic activities and growth in said country. Within the field of international relations (IR), the efforts of governments, international organizations, and grassroots, non-governmental organizations in addressing development are the primary focus. However, the role of philanthropic organizations in promoting development and economic development abroad is …

Education And Democracy; Can Education Foster Greater Democracy For Africa?, Danielle Katz

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between education and democracy. It argues that in order for education to have a meaningful impact on prospects for a sustainable democracy, educational systems must support democratic principles and ideals. The main focus of this study is Africa. In order to assess this hypothesis, the study uses a case study approach examining the education models of three Africa countries: Botswana, Ghana, and Uganda- to determine whether education has played a role in fostering democratic values in society. These three countries were chosen because each offers a variation on Africa's political …

International Law V. Traditional Norms Community And State Response To Domestic Violence In Bangladesh And Pakistan, Twafiqa Mohinuddin

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis investigates the implementation of international human rights norms and treaty laws regarding domestic violence in Bangladesh and Pakistan and how compliance is hindered by traditional norms, which exist within communities and at the state level. While the focus of this thesis is on Pakistan and Bangladesh, the findings and lessons can be applied to countries who are suffering from patriarchal norms which facilitate domestic violence. Domestic violence is a worldwide epidemic that discriminates against woman regardless of her color, education, or social class. Domestic violence is a form of gender-based violence which exploits and hinders women from enjoying …

A Decade Of Failure; Missed Opportunities And The Escalating Crisis Over Iran's Nuclear Program, Louis Charbonneau

Dissertations and Theses

For the past decade the United States and its European allies powers have been unable to persuade the Islamic Republic of Iran to halt what appears to be a program to develop either a nuclear-weapons capability or an actual atomic arsenal. There is good reason to want to prevent Iran from acquiring atomic weapons, although it is too late to stop Tehran from acquiring the capability to produce a nuclear weapon should it choose to manufacture one. Tehran‘s desire to develop either a nuclear weapons capability or an actual arsenal is based on a realist assessment of its security environment …

Terrorism In Nigeria: Culmination Of Economic Disenfranchisement, Social Marginalization And Political Instability, Olalekan Afolabi

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Sustaining The Lifespan Of Insurgent Groups; Three Critical Indicators To Consider, Sabrina K. Swamy

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Democratic Consolidation In Sub-Saharan Africa; A Study Of Benin, Lesotho And Malawi, Robert Stevens

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Crisis In The Eastern Nile Basin: An Examination Of The Challenges To Egyptian Hydro-Political Hegemomy And Potential Domestic Solutions, Alexandra Bergonia

CMC Senior Theses

The countries of the Nile Basin are on a collision course that could result in disastrous military action to determine control of the region’s main water source. In the wake of the Arab Spring, the Egyptian government has lost much of the regional clout that allowed it to maintain it’s ‘lion’s share’ of the Nile as outlined by the 1959 agreement. Population and economic growth in upstream countries, specifically Ethiopia, have resulted in intensified calls for a more equitable water-sharing agreement. Just weeks after Mubarak stepped down, Ethiopia unveiled plans to build the Grand Renaissance Dam. The GRD will significantly …

Raqs Sharqi In Cultural Diplomacy; An Important But Neglected Diplomatic Tool In U.S.-Egypt Diplomatic Relations €Œsoft Power Is A Dance That Requires Partners., Torkom Movsesiyan

Dissertations and Theses

"Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, America’s image abroad plunged, especially in the Arab world, where anti-Americanism has been on the rise. America’s hard power alone can no longer efficiently boost America’s reputation and the U.S. government has abandoned its soft power resources. Although important, the linchpin of public diplomacy, known as cultural diplomacy, I argue has become a neglected diplomatic tool in U.S.-Middle East relations. Accordingly, this thesis will explore the role of dance in cultural diplomacy as a catalyst of releasing tension and bringing peace among nation-states, especially in U.S.-Egypt relations. After the calamities of the …

L’Âge Des Incertitudes. Essais Sur Le Fédéralisme Et La Diversité Nationale, D’Alain-G. Gagnon, Québec, Les Presses De L’Université Laval, 2011, 210 P. (Review), Alexandre Couture Gagnon

Political Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

“Reinventing” Higher Education: Symbolism, Sloganeering, And Subjectivity In The Lone Star State, Staci M. Zavattaro, Terence Garrett

Political Science Faculty Publications

Higher education is part and parcel of a market spectacle (Debord 1967/1994; Garrett and Sementelli 2012) that follows some prescriptions of reinventing government (Osborne and Gaebler 1993), essentially charging these institutions with inefficient operations and minimal customer service standards. Following the “reinventing government” qua business model, any semblance of public service (Denhardt and Denhardt 2007) – now including public colleges and universities – that ignores “customers” is under attack. While governance values shifted with these business-based movements (Box, et al 2001), higher education values, too, have moved universities from producing academic capital to economic capital (Naidoo and Jamieson 2005).

Pharmaceuticals, Political Money, And Public Policy: A Theoretical And Empirical Agenda, Paul D. Jorgensen

Political Science Faculty Publications

Congress has consistently failed to solve some serious problems with the cost, effectiveness, and safety of pharmaceuticals. In part, this failure results from the pharmaceutical industry convincing legislators to define policy problems in ways that protect industry profits. By targeting campaign contributions to influential legislators and by providing them with selective information, the industry manages to displace the public’s voice in developing pharmaceutical policy.

How Many Barack Obamas Does It Take: An Analysis Of The Effect Of Charter Schools On Real Estate And Crime, Aananditaa Kakkar

CMC Senior Theses

This study looks at the relationship between charter school presence and neighborhood quality in Los Angeles. Using data from the Los Angeles Department of Education, Zillow Real Estate, and the Los Angeles Sheriff, this paper attempts to find whether changes in charter presence influence the price of surrounding real estate or the occurrence of serious and petty crimes. The results find that charter schools tend to be associated with a decrease in home sale prices. The results on crime imply that crime increases upon the opening of charter schools, however they are statistically insignificant.

Presidential Politics: The Social Media Revolution, Alexandra P. Toohey

CMC Senior Theses

Throughout the course of history, presidential campaigning has evolved commensurate with the advancements in technology. FDR mastered the radio, JFK the television and President Barack Obama, the Internet. In both the 2008 and 2012 Presidential campaigns, President Barack Obama used social media via the Internet to understand the voter better than any candidate before his time. Through revolutionary data collection techniques, both offline and online, the Obama campaign obtained vital electorate information. This data was used by the campaign to: target online social media users who were most likely to become politically engaged; and attempt to influence their voting habits, …

Electric Municipalization In The City Of Boulder: Successful Greening Or Path To Bankruptcy?, Kathryn C. Browning

CMC Senior Theses

Climate change will result in variable – but undeniably severe – changes to our natural world. These changes will lead to extreme human and ecosystem consequences if climate change is not mitigated effectively, efficiently, and rapidly. Increasing the use of renewable energies around the world is seen as one of the most effective and promising mitigation strategies. Several communities around the United States have recently denounced publicly their electrical utilities for their failure to offer the choice to increase the percentage of energy that comes from renewable sources. A growing number are taking action to work with – or sometimes …

The Relationship Between Comprehensive Budgeting And Party Polarization In The U.S. Congress, Anna Eames

CMC Senior Theses

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 made the production of an annual comprehensive budgetary framework the central focus of the federal budget process. Before 1974, the budget process had allowed legislation from each of the revenue committees and each of the appropriations subcommittees to come to the floor separately. Congress judged the merits of individual programs without considering the overall budget. The 1974 budget act changed the organizational ethos of the budget process from incremental change to comprehensive review and from fragmented, ad hoc decision making to coordinated decision making. It helped sort members into ideologically homogenous …

Grand Strategy In U.S. Foreign Policy: The Carter, Bush, And Obama Doctrines, Sara M. Birkenthal

CMC Senior Theses

This paper seeks to determine under what conditions a U.S. president can implement a grand strategy given the nature of domestic and international opportunities and constraints. It will examine three comparative case studies: Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, with the goal of determining what conditions are necessary at the individual, domestic, and systemic levels of analysis for grand strategy implementation. At the individual level, it will apply operational code analysis, as well as an examination of personal characteristics for each case study. At the domestic level, it will apply a five-prong test for examining factors that are …

Fossil Fuel Subsidies: Impacts And Reform Strategies, Jennifer E. Good

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis uses cross-country panel regressions to identify the effects of fossil-fuel subsidies for both oil importers and oil exporters on GDP growth, industry growth, crowding out of government expenditures in education, health, and infrastructure, government debt, carbon dioxide emissions, inequality and poverty. Fossil-fuel subsidies are found to be associated with lower levels of growth and industry growth, less government expenditure on health and education, poorer infrastructure quality, more government debt, and higher rates of carbon dioxide emissions. No relationship is found between fossil fuel subsidies and poverty and inequality. These results confirm the arguments of those that argue that …

India: Subsidy State Or Developmental State?, Annie Jalota

CMC Senior Theses

India does not fit easily into existing models of thought on the nature of a state and defies ease of understanding. Though India is most often considered to be a subsidy state, I show in this thesis the notion of the subsidy state does not capture the true nature of the Indian state. Chapter two of the paper looks at various models of understanding the nature of the Indian state and draw out three essential features: competing interest groups, how economic liberalization facilitates corruption and works against India’s aim of equalizing the capabilities and freedoms of all its citizens, and …

China's Soft Power Offensive In The United States: Cultural Diplomacy, Media Campaigning, And Congressional Lobbying, Kalika A. Tullock

CMC Senior Theses

As China’s economic and military power develops and expands, it has been focusing recent efforts on upgrading its soft power in order to quell concerns and apprehensions about its rise. As the two most powerful nations in the world, China and the United States have both attached great importance to Sino-U.S. relations, recognizing that the structure of the future global community will be largely dependent upon these two countries effectively collaborating in shaping the global structure and improving global issues. Facing an American public that views China as a threat and competitor, as well as Western media that consistently paints …

Latinos And The California Gop: A Troubled Courtship, Hannah Burak

CMC Senior Theses

The Republican Party of California faces a serious demographic challenge as a burgeoning Latino population threatens to turn this majority-minority state a darker shade of blue. The purpose of my research and of this thesis is to explore the relationship between Latino voters in California and the Republican Party and to draw conclusions about the most viable and proven means of attracting Latino votes to Republican candidates. The Latino vote is by no means a lost cause for Republicans. My research supports several claims, which are laid out here and discussed throughout the paper. The first is that the Republican …

Re-Evaluating The American Dream For Low-Wage Chinese Workers In Los Angeles, Priscilla Hsu

CMC Senior Theses

The research in this thesis will look at the lives of a very specific group of Chinese immigrant workers in the restaurant industry, particularly those in the metropolitan city of Los Angeles. While unskilled Chinese workers are popular in the Chinese restaurant business because of the lack of skills required, they are quite mobile between the manufacturing and construction sectors as well. Working conditions are less than ideal for these immigrants, who find that life in America may not be what they expected prior to arrival. Though there are many organizations that seek to improve the lives of immigrants already …

Social Construction And Political Decision Making In The American Prison System(S), Jeremiah Olson

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

With over two million inmates, the United States’ prison population is the largest in the world. Nearly one in one hundred Americans are behind bars, either in prisons or pre-trial detention facilities. The rapid growth in incarceration is well-documented. However, social science explanations often stop at the prison gates, with little work on treatment inside prisons. This black box approach ignores important bureaucratic decisions, including the provision of rehabilitative services and the application of punishment.

This dissertation offers a systematic analysis of treatment decisions inside the American prisons. I use a mixed methods approach, combining multiple quantitative datasets with environmental …

Kantian Peace Extended: Liberal Influences And Military Spending, Isaac M. Castellano

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

The Kantian Triangle of democratic institutions, IGOs, and economic interdependence has received a great deal of attention by international relations scholars. This project expands on liberal theory by arguing the pacific effects of the Kantian Triangle extend beyond dyadic context, and shapes state decision making on defense spending decisions. This project asserts that as states (1) build democratic institutions, (2) increase the number of memberships in international intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), and (3) exposes domestic markets to the global economy and subsequent interdependence on foreign markets for both imports and exports, they are less likely to allocate resources toward the military. …

Mediator Impartiality And Mediator Interest, Su-Mi Lee

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Scholars have debated whether mediator impartiality or mediator interest plays a more vital role in bringing about a successful outcome. This research develops a comprehensive model that accounts for mediation occurrence and medication outcome in terms of an additive model of both mediator impartiality and mediator interest. The two channels through which mediators influence the changes of mediation and occurrence and outcome are hypothesized to be two dimensions of trust, mediator fairness and mediator capacity. This research argues 1) that mediator impartiality contributes to successful mediation outcomes by improving disputants’ trust in mediators’ fairness and 2) that mediator interest increases …

Changing America: The Impact Of Immigration On Welfare Attitudes And Welfare Reform, Jason E. Kehrberg

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

The purpose of my dissertation is to further our understanding of why some states restricted immigrant access to welfare in the 1990s while other states granted immigrants access to social programs. With the passage of the Personal Responsibility Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), many states diverged from equal access to welfare programs, such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), for immigrants arriving after 1996. Very little scholarly work examines the variance in immigrants’ access to welfare programs. Current research studying welfare attitudes and policy has largely failed to investigate whether and how the influx of immigrants over the last …

Law Enforcement Personnel And Lawmaking, Katrina Roberts

A with Honors Projects

Police officers have the difficult job of reconciling two deeply held but conflicting values: our desire to be safe and secure and our strong belief in the right of individuals to be free from government coercion and excessive control. How law enforcement officers and departments handle this conflict has a direct bearing on how the public sees them. As a culture, we expect our police officers to be able to balance these goals, but when they veer off too far we criticize them. At the extreme, too heavy a focus on order and safety may border on police brutality.

Attending Law School: Lucrative Or Lunatic?, Anna Lennep

Honors Theses

The total number of law school graduates for the class of 2011 was 43,979 and of the 42,411 graduates whose employment status was known by March 15, 2012, less than 55% of graduates had found long-term, full-time jobs in a field that required bar passage. Less than 63% of graduates had found any job in a field that required bar passage. With so many graduates and so few jobs, prospective law students must consider the risk that at- tending law school has become for many of its graduates. This thesis uses recent graduate data to analyze the current woes of …

How Successful Was Kickstarter In Raising Funds For Library For All?, Yeerang Jang

Master in Public Administration Theses

No abstract provided.