Political Science Commons^™

2014 In Black & White: A Measure Of Social Policy Attitudes, Femi Stoltz

Undergraduate Review

Introduction:
In American society, various social and antipoverty policies remain highly controversial among American voters. As one might expect, the relevance of race in relation to such policies can also be quite controversial. Incorporated within this research is an investigation of political attitudes and policy preferences of American voters. Using affirmative action and state welfare spending as dependent variables, I gauge the effects of respondents’ race and party identification on policy preferences and other behavior patterns. This measure of attitudes will contribute to a further understanding of race, social and antipoverty policies, and the ways in which these variables interact …

Affirmative Action In American Government Introductory Textbooks, Sherri L. Wallace, Marcus D. Allen

Publications and Research

The history of affirmative action policy consists of a broad collection of executive orders, bureaucratic decisions, course cases, and state legislation designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination of applicants to educational programs or professional employment, to remedy the results of such prior discrimination, and to prevent discrimination in the future. Although targeted legislation has expanded protections beyond underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in education and employment to include women, people of a certain age, people with disabilities and veterans, the actual policy intent of affirmative action remains a source of confusion for students, particularly when college textbooks define the topics within …

Reconstructing Education In Post-Conflict Sierra Leone, Grace Pai

Publications and Research

This study finds that by prioritizing universal development programmes instead of employing a conflict-sensitive approach rooted in attending to the specific inequities present in Sierra Leone, the current education system is ignoring the needs and desires of certain subpopulations of youth. Specifically, although the state has been very successful in increasing overall access to basic education for both boys and girls in rural Sierra Leone, the current focus on improving the quality of academic education has sidelined the growth of technical and vocational education that many youth desire. Instead, sectors such as tertiary education are prioritized above all else.

Furthermore, …

The Transformation And Demise Of Terrorist Organizations: Causes And Categories, Devyani M. Mehta

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In the recent years, the world has experienced devastating losses due to terrorist attacks. Research in the fields of causes of terrorism is abundant, but the amount of research on the end of terrorism does not equally measure up. This paper aims to add to the research focused on analyzing the factors which cause terrorist groups to transition away from violence.

This paper introduces an original categorization of the factors which generate this transition. Factors belong to two categories: internal --decisions made by the terrorist organization, and external--actions or features pertaining to organization outside of non-terrorist organizations. These factors will …

Globalization And The 'Fourth Wave': Contemporary International Terrorism In A Comparative-Historical Perspective, Erika M. Martinez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Terrorist activity has come to the forefront of political thought in recent years, especially since the attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington D.C on September 11, 2001. President George W. Bush declared a “war on terror” and governments all around the world have taken steps to enhance national security in efforts to prevent terrorist activity. The steps taken are not unwarranted, and in some cases have been successful. The nature of terrorism modernizes just as the world around it does, and as the global community has benefited from globalization and modernization, so have terrorist organizations. This study analyzes …

Is The Doctor In? The Effects Of Emigration On The Health Care Systems In Poland And Romania, Gabriela B. Wolk

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The “brain drain” phenomenon encompasses the mass movement of highly educated individuals. Highly-skilled and well-educated migrants are moving to more developed and urban settings, often in search of a higher standard of living and better wages. Since joining the European Union and the Schengen Agreement, Poland and Romania have experienced significant emigration which has subsequently affected their health care systems. Motivations for emigrating from these two countries and the effects emigration has had on patients and other doctors will be considered. The paper also seeks to compare policy responses to the mass medical emigration phenomenon in both countries, as well …

A Comparative Study: Women's Rights In Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, And Tajikistan, Megan A. Ginn

Honors Undergraduate Theses

After 1991 five countries emerged out of the fall of the Soviet Union to create a new region: Central Asia. No longer dominated by Soviet rule these countries fought to overcome barriers to independence and struggled to be seen by the international community as developed countries. However, these countries were far from developed and had to pay the high cost of human rights to get what they desired. This study researches and analyzes how Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan have traded the rights of women to achieve a placebo of development. Two of the largest violations of women’s rights that have …

Life, Liberty, And The Lack Of Paid Parental Leave: Media Framing Of Parental Leave In The United States, Marissa A. Baly

Featured Research

In this study, I examine how the media frame parental leave in the United States. To do so, I conducted a content analysis of over 200 news articles from the New York Times, and also created a survey distributed to introductory political science classes. In the content analysis, I find that parental leave is both an episodic and thematic news issue, has less negative coverage than most news issues, and evolved from a merely mentioned issue to an economic issue over time. This research also shows that female and male authors do not frame parental leave differently; in fact, women …

American Presidentialism In The Light Of Barack Obama’S Immigration Reform, Rett R. Ludwikowski, Anna Ludwikowski

Scholarly Articles

The main purpose of this article is to bring the reader into an atmosphere of intensity created by the political disputes about the need of immigration reform in the United States. It is unquestionable that problems of the immigrants, who for decades were crossing illegally American borders, contribute to internal political turbulence in this country. This article proceeds on the assumption, that the immigration related problems created a social melting pot which became one of the most serious challenges for the American policymakers. The confrontation of the President with Congress was inevitable. On the one hand, Obama’s administration started to …

Rethinking Linkage To The West: What Authoritarian Stability In Singapore Tells Us, Su-Mei Ooi

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Recent regime change literatures compellingly assert that linkage to the West has been a significant factor in democratisation where the organisational capacity of authoritarian incumbents has overwhelmingly weakened pro-democracy forces. Detailed case studies confirming these findings have not included Singapore although high levels of linkage to the West suggest that democratisation should have taken place there. This qualitative case study fills the empirical and theoretical gap by explaining why linkage has so far failed to raise the cost of authoritarianism for Singapore's government. By eschewing the current structural approach, which conceptualises linkage as mere channels of external pressure or influence, …

Lasting Legacies: Contemporary Struggles And Historical Dispossession In South Africa, Robin L. Turner

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Contemporary postapartheid South African land struggles are haunted by the long shadow of historical dispossession. While apartheid-era forced removals are justifiably infamous, these traumatic events were moments in the more extended, less frequently referenced, and more expansive process that fundamentally shaped the South African terrain well before 1948. The South African Republic's mid-nineteenth-century assertion of ownership of all land north of the Vaal River and south of the Limpopo marked the start of a long process of racialized dispossession that rendered black people's residence in putatively white areas highly contingent and insecure throughout the former Transvaal. This article analyzes the …

Empirical Advances In The Study Of Revenue Diversification In The U.S. States, Cole E. Rakow

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

This dissertation seeks to make significant progress in the quantitative study of public revenue diversification. In the past, this phenomenon has been studied in various and disparate contexts, using a variety of empirical methods. In particular, two different hypotheses, from different subfields of public finance, have been advanced. One of these perspectives, coming from political economy, holds that revenue diversification is a tool for opportunistic policymakers to artificially expand public revenues (and thus expenditures) for electoral gain. The other, from a public financial management tradition, holds that revenue diversification is a constructive management tool which facilitates greater revenue stability for …

A New Reality: Funding Formula Changes And Property Tax Caps And Their Effects On The Role Of The School Superintendent In The State Of Indiana, Patrick L. Gentry

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover how school superintendents were using general fund referenda to meet their school district’s operational budgets. However, after interviews began it became clear that the superintendents wanted to tell a different story and that was how the current school funding mechanism and property tax caps has changed the job of the school superintendent. The research consisted of one-on-one guided interviews of a mixed qualitative methods framework combining theories of hermeneutics and phenomenology. The interviews combined open-ended, guided questions and conversations and were with superintendents who were leaders of school districts that have …

Ced After #Ows: From Community Economic Development To Anti-Authoritarian Community Counter-Institutions, Michael Haber

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Exporting After Trade Missions: A Qualitative Analysis Of Small And Medium Enterprises, Tongila M. Manly

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some U.S. small and medium enterprises (SMEs) participate in trade missions but return with no results. Accordingly, some researchers question the effectiveness of these export promotion programs. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the experiences of SME representatives who had attended a trade mission to South Africa. The research question explored the strategies that SME leaders required to successfully export their goods and services after a trade mission using the conceptual framework of resource-based theory. Snowball sampling was used to recruit and gather interview data from 22 SMEs. Thematic analysis of interview data and document sources, …

The United Nations: The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Zahra R. Syed

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The main objective of this research paper is to analyze the international effects the Syrian Conflict has had to the global community. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has declared this conflict to be the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Millions of Syrians have fled their home country to avoid unjust persecution and are looking to not only neighboring countries, but the European Union for assistance in resettlement.

Since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, more than 220,000 people have been massacred, leaving fifty percent of the population in unrest due to home displacement. According …

Case-Specific Counterterrorism Policies For Islamic Fundamentalist Groups, Jessica L. Shoemaker

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Since 9/11, counterterrorism policies have been one of the crucial policy issues facing the United States. After the attacks on the United States, counterterrorism in this country transformed. Fifteen years later, counterterrorism is typically organized as a one-size fits all approach. This approach generalizes all terrorist threats, trying to target terrorism as a whole. This thesis explains how this is an improper approach to counterterrorism. Instead, policies should be case-specific and created in regards to the specific characteristics embodied by each terrorist organization. These characteristics include history and ideology, organizational and leadership structure, finances, and tactics and targets. These characteristics …

Frameworks For Environmental Policymaking In Brazil And Chile: A Comparative Policymaking Analysis Of The Belo Monte And Hidroaysén Dams, Robert J. Vogan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A global proliferation of large dam construction since the 1950s has been accompanied by scientific research challenging the benefit of these projects while drawing attention to their numerous negative environmental and social impacts. The institutions that assess the costs and benefits associated with large dam proposals, creating policies either approving, altering, or disapproving them, collectively form what is known as a policymaking framework. Examining these frameworks allows observers to trace policies through outlined decision-making processes and can help to reveal inherent biases within those systems that may impact policy outcomes. Often, divergent policy outcomes, like the those observed in the …

The Second Amendment In The 21st Century: An In-Depth Examination Of Firearm Freedoms And Their Relationship With Public Safety And Interests, Mathew E. Klein

Honors Undergraduate Theses

One of the most hotly contested topics in the world today revolves around an object. An object that has caused debate among all members of society both in the United States, and all across the globe. But how could an object, something that on its own does nothing, spur such heated argument? This object is the evolution of invention and the product of fighting amongst each other. This object changes the way people think and how they act. This object can be used for both good and bad. This object is a gun.

This research project will explore the Second …

Austerity And Its Effects On Neoliberal Industrial Policy: The Case Of Enterprise Policy In Ireland, Ewan Macdonald, John Hogan, Brendan O'Rourke

Conference papers

This paper seeks to explore the logic of actually existing austerity and its effects on the development of enterprise policy in the Republic of Ireland. It asks the following question: in what manner has enterprise policy been affected by the Irish experience of austerity? Neoliberal austerity is not merely state parsimony; after all the austerity of post-WWII United Kingdom, with its frugal construction of national health and welfare systems, is far from the austerity advocated by Merkel and Cameron today. In light of this, there are a large number of factors which have led to the unique development of actually …

Defining The Republic, William Joseph Nichols

Wayne State University Dissertations

Abstract

DEFINING THE REPUBLIC

by

WILLIAM J. NICHOLS

December 2015

Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Grynaviski

Major: Political Science (Political Theory)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The “Great Divergence” between Alexander Hamilton and James Madison is one of the most well-known events in the early history of the United States. Together, Hamilton and Madison wrote most of The Federalist, and each was pivotal in securing the acceptance of the Constitution in their state ratifying conventions. That within just a few years of the establishment of the new form of government each had worked so hard to achieve, they became bitter political enemies, is …

The Minefield: Designing And Implementing Human Resource Policies In The Age Of Social Media, Christopher R. Mcmillan

The Graduate Review

Human resource managers have had to navigate a minefield of laws and regulations while continuing to manage the traditional business functions of the employer. Now, human resource departments across the nation are tasked with managing the traditional employee-employer relationship in light of an ever-changing technological and legal landscape. Businesses across the nation have had to adjust to a rise in the use of social-media and have suffered the consequences of instantaneous communication between employees and the media. These same businesses must reconcile the need to protect its goodwill and livelihood, while incorporating the safeguards provided by legislation and regulations in …

"The Politics Of Deracialization: South Asian American Candidates, Nicknames, And Campaign Strategies", Shyam Sriram, Stonegarden Grindlife

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

Sriram (2016) - Muslim American Political Behavior. Field Paper .Pdf, Shyam Sriram

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

"A Comparative Analysis Of Collective Action Frames In Nosamo And The Tea Party", Shyam Sriram

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

"A Foucauldian Theory Of American Islamophobia", Shyam Sriram

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

"A Tulsi By Any Other Name: Evaluating South Asian American Support For A Hindu Member Of Congress", Shyam Sriram

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

Warfare On The Conceptual Battlespace: Third Cinemas Transformation Of War On Terror Discourse, Kela E. Caldwell

Scripps Senior Theses

American Popular film on the War on Terror plays a powerful role establishing cultural and political discourses surrounding the War on Terror. Furthermore, the attempts of liberal films as a source of critique of American Hollywood conservative War on Terror films are insufficient. I argue that Third Cinema from the Middle East provides a necessary counter-discourse in providing platforms for alternative discussions regarding definitions of terrorism and the production of the Orientalist other.

A Sliding Scale: Nuclear Proliferation Among States, Jessica Liu

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Why do states engage in nuclear proliferation? Nuclear proliferation is a major security issue affecting the international arena. Existing studies debate both the strength and direction of determinants of nuclear proliferation and the effect of domestic and international circumstances on proliferation. A clear understanding of why states choose to pursue nuclear arms is critical to promoting and maintaining international security. By analyzing what factors may make a state less prone to proliferation, the international community may incentivize disarmament. My research question considers membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a potential correlate of nuclear proliferation. Are countries that …

The Distinctive Role Of Justice Samuel Alito: From A Politics Of Restoration To A Politics Of Dissent, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

Justice Samuel Alito is regarded by both his champions and his critics as the most consistently conservative member of the current Supreme Court. Both groups seem to agree that he has become the most important conservative voice on the Court. Chief Justice John Roberts has a Court to lead; Justice Antonin Scalia and his particular brand of originalism have passed on; Justice Clarence Thomas is a stricter originalist and so writes opinions that other Justices do not join; and Justice Anthony Kennedy can be ideologically unreliable. Justice Alito, by contrast, is unburdened by the perceived responsibilities of being Chief Justice, …