Political Science Commons^™

Constructing (Hu)Man Nature: A Feminist Critique Of Western Ir Theory, Liberal Economics And U.S. Foreign Policy, Nadia Stovicek

Honors Theses

Feminism in general exposes the fundamental folly of Western political theorists’ view of human nature, which is based on Western, decently well-off, white men’s experiences and privilege. This view of human nature, which is not human nature at all, but rather a socially constructed definition of what men’s human nature is, is replicated in neoclassical economics and perpetuated in mainstream Western International Relations theory. Understanding the social construction of norms exposes how what is conceived in conventional theory as human nature and state behavior is unnecessarily limiting. The U.S. is the greatest benefactor from the worldview of Western political theorists, …

Cicig In Guatemala: The Institutionalization Of An Anti-Corruption Body, Greg M. Morano

Honors Theses

When is the institutionalization of anti-corruption bodies possible in Latin America? Central America’s Cold War era internal conflicts destabilized the Northern Triangle’s governments and greatly weakened judicial institutions. The legacy of these conflicts led to the creation of parallel corrupt networks that infiltrated state institutions and perpetuated impunity and violence. However, in Guatemala, the institutionalization of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala, CICIG) has improved the country’s ability to prosecute high-level corruption against the threat of powerful and corrupt state actors. A comparative analysis of the tenures of CICIG’s three commissioners reveals …

In The Shadow Of The 2016 Election: Immigration Debates In Oregon And Beyond, Kim Williams, Andrea Williams, Phil Carrasco

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this record of the lunchtime panel discussion moderated by Daniel J. Tichenor of the University of Oregon Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, panelists discussed the issue of immigration following the 2016 presidential election. Touching on the importance of discussions about immigration leading up to the election, demographics in the electorate, and how immigration advocates are mobilizing following the election, the panelists also engaged the audience with a question and answer session.

Functional And Dysfunctional Themes In Successful Peace Agreements Arising From Intractable Conflicts, Sharon Ryan Ryan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An important challenge facing humanity today is to determine how to resolve intractable conflicts. Intractable conflicts are intensely violent conflicts that are difficult to resolve and last at least one generation. The purpose of this study was to explore the themes leaders used in resolving intractable conflicts by writing peace agreements, which achieved at least a ninety percent implementation rating by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. The research questions focused on the distribution of societal themes defined by Bar-Tal as present within societies experiencing an intractable conflict. This study used a multicase …

A Tale Of Two Neighbors: A Comparative Analysis Of The Processes Of State Creation And Regime Formation In Colombia And Venezuela, Alexander Mintz

Government and International Relations Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

From The Courthouse To The Backyard: The Gendered Impact Of Transitional Justice Mechanisms In Post-Genocide Rwanda, Nam Luu

Government and International Relations Honors Papers

In one hundred days between April 6 and July 15, 1994, the Rwandan genocide took away the lives of approximately 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. The United Nations estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 individuals were raped or sexually assaulted during the genocide, and rape was used as a tool of war with a clear genocidal intent to destroy the enemy. Both men and women subjected to rape, gang rape, sexual torture, sexual slavery, sexual mutilation, and various other types of abuse and humiliation. As the genocide ended with the victory of the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), Rwanda …

The Political Personality Of Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, Aubrey Immelman, Joseph V. Trenzeluk

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data regarding President Putin were extracted from open-source intelligence and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM-IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Putin’s primary personality patterns were found …

The Bald Eagle Nests: The United States Role In State-Building: Germany, Kosovo, And Iraq, Visar Xhambazi

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) This paper aims to explain and analyze the role and the commitment of the United States in state-building, looking at three case studies coming from different regions and periods of time – from Germany to Iraq and Kosovo. The objective is to answer some critical questions such as how successful was the transition of state-building when it comes to security, economy, and institutions; what was the U.S. commitment; what happened for the better and for the worse; why in some countries was the state-building successful and in some countries not; and last but not least, how important is …

Funny In A Man's World: Women Comedians' Use Of Political Satire At The White House Correspondents' Dinner, Jessica M. Peterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Satire and politics are typically considered masculine fields within the societal constructs of the United States. Wanda Sykes and Cecily Strong both navigate these male-dominated worlds with their addresses at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. This analysis views these addresses through three rhetorical lenses: feminist standpoint theory, rhetorical citizenship, and rhetorical and political agency. This study explores the way women’s issues in society exposed to various audiences through Sykes’ and Strong’s satirical addresses. Communication scholars have not previously considered both of these addresses; this analysis furthers our understanding of feminist viewpoints being shared to audiences and encouraging audiences to take …

The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Rhetorical Analysis Of President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, And President Donald J. Trump’S Political Discourse About Syrian Refugees, Erin Lionberger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I introduce the reader to sixteen texts of political discourse about Syrian refugees from three rhetors; President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and President Donald J. Trump. As the Syrian refugee crisis continues to grow, political leaders and citizens around the world debate the appropriate way to provide aid to those fleeing Syria. I rhetorically analyze multiple texts from each of these politicians’ and their use of framing, ideographs and metaphors within their political discourse. In my research, I suggest that the framing language used by each rhetor about Syrian refugees has varying impacts on the audience. The …

Stand Your Ground Laws, Gregory Neddenriep, Eron Mccormick

Political Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Paintbrushes And Crowbars: Richard Rorty And The New Public-Private Divide, John P. Anderson

Journal Articles

In an often-quoted passage, Richard Rorty wrote that “J.S. Mill’s suggestion that governments devote themselves to optimizing the balance between leaving people’s lives alone and preventing suffering seems to me pretty much the last word.” In this Article, I show why, for Rorty, maintaining a strong public-private divide that cordons off final vocabularies—the religious, racial, ethnic, sexual, gender, philosophical, and other terms so important for citizens’ private pursuits of self-creation and self-perfection—from public political discourse is a crucial means to accomplishing both of these goals in post-secular liberal democracies. Public political justifications should instead be articulated in the foundation neutral …

Drowning In Rising Seas: Navigating Multiple Knowledge Systems And Responding To Climate Change In The Maldives, Rachel Hannah Spiegel

Pitzer Senior Theses

The threat of global climate change increasingly influences the actions of human society. As world leaders have negotiated adaptation strategies over the past couple of decades, a certain discourse has emerged that privileges Western conceptions of environmental degradation. I argue that this framing of climate change inhibits the successful implementation of adaptation strategies. This thesis focuses on a case study of the Maldives, an island nation deemed one of the most vulnerable locations to the impacts of rising sea levels. I apply a postcolonial theoretical framework to examine how differing knowledge systems can both complement and contradict one another. By …

Veteran Care In New Hampshire: Analysis Of Interest Group Theory, Samantha D. Leiper

Honors Theses and Capstones

Veteran care in New Hampshire, while comparatively adequate, is a policy field that deserves additional attention. This thesis discusses some of the struggles of this population, and how efforts by a variety of actors, such as government agents, charities, and benevolent individuals, aim to help. The successes of these actors are evidenced through an analysis of interest group theory, which depicts the importance of collaboration in policy-making. Additionally, the political climate of New Hampshire is explored as a platform of change, based upon characteristics of strong Senatorial involvement, robust healthcare and non-profit infrastructure, and first-in-the-nation primary status.

Baseball And The U.S.-Cuban Diplomatic Relationship: Why Did Baseball Serve As An Ineffective Diplomatic Tool For The United States And Cuba?, Abbygale Sarah Martinen

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Charting Syriza's Swift Rise And Fall, Despina Lalaki

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Anti-Hispanic Sentiment And U.S.-Mexican Relations, Jessica Dellaquila

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Even though U.S.-Mexican relations during the mid-nineteenth century make up a tiny sliver of American history, they point to deeply racist attitudes towards Mexicans (and Hispanic people in general) that are still salient in the United States today. These attitudes came as a result of racist assumptions and rhetoric in our early government institutions, remained because of the construction of racist language in laws and treaties, and worsened as lawmakers and law-enforcement carried out written policy in real-life, letting their own racist attitudes creep into the real-life application of the laws. Today, we are in danger of perpetuating this process. …

In God We Trust: Reconciling Religiosity In A Secular Nation, Tess Saperstein

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Since its founding, the United States has been composed of a diversity of religions, making religious tolerance and the separation of church and state necessary for the maintenance of a peaceful coexistence. It is inscribed in the First Amendment of the Constitution that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Nonetheless, despite a clear institutional differentiation between religious and nonreligious spheres of society, the United States has remained, on the whole, a devout nation. In 2016, 89 percent of Americans reported that they believe in God and 72 percent said they …

Neoliberal Evolution Of The Space Exploration Industry In Relation To The Tech Industry, William Allen Preecs

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Ingenuity is a part of the American character. As Americans, we must reflect on the mistakes of our past in the evolution of Tech to best approach the coming evolution of the space exploration industry.

Author information: William Allen Preecs studies Philosophy, Politics, and Law at Northern Arizona University. Special thanks to Dr. Halit Tagma and Dr. Christopher Griffin of NAU; their support has been pivotal.

All But Overturned: America's Nullification Of Brown V. Board Of Education, Albert Leon Samuels

Department of Political Science and Geography Faculty Publications

This article argues that the promise of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) has been largely undermined by a persistent pattern of legal, political, and social resistance that has effectively “nullified” its goals. Despite the formal abolition of legally sanctioned school segregation, contemporary patterns of racial and economic isolation in American public schools increasingly resemble the inequalities that Brown sought to eradicate. Drawing on historical and contemporary evidence, the study links the resegregation of public education to a series of Supreme Court decisions particularly from the 1970s through the 1990s that limited the scope of desegregation remedies, weakened enforcement mechanisms, …

On The Limits Of Litigation: A Case Study Of Ayers V Barbour, Albert Leon Samuels

Department of Political Science and Geography Faculty Publications

This chapter explores the limits of litigation as a tool for achieving social change by examining the long-running higher education desegregation case Ayers v. Barbour in Mississippi. Situating the case within the broader legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, the chapter interrogates the enduring assumption that courts serve as effective engines of racial reform. While early civil rights victories demonstrated the symbolic and strategic value of litigation, the experience of Ayers reveals the structural, political, and conceptual constraints that often undermine its effectiveness in addressing deeply rooted institutional inequalities.

Through an analysis of the case’s nearly three-decade legal …

Linguistic Imperialism And Volunteer English Teaching: A Neo-Colonial Practice?, Sarah K. Hamburg

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Colonial era tactics of oppression may seem obsolete; however, the United States continues to exploit the same peripheral nations that it, and other world superpowers, have dominated for centuries. In Latin America, the influence of the American hegemony penetrates every aspect of life. Unable to escape the grip of the capitalist system, Latin America has become culturally subservient to the United States, whose supremacy has, over time, led to the extinction and endangerment of hundreds of indigenous languages and cultures. Through years of exposure to American mass culture (i.e. television, music, media, and consumer products), and an unyielding economically dependent …

Successful Interventions: Identifying And Influencing Key Variables, Braeden J. Campbell

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This research paper was inspired by a desire to see the United States (U.S.) have continued success in the 21st century. The problem that spurred this research was the realization that the U.S. has an opportunistic, short-term, military centric, foreign policy strategy. I believe that in the 21st century, a steady state, balanced, long-term strategy will ensure continued success. This research paper posits that an already strong networked opposition, a repertoire of resistance, and physical infrastructure are both jointly necessary and sufficient for a successful intervention. To test for this pattern, I first explore a common variable attributed to determining …

Laws, Norms, And The Institutional Analysis And Development Framework, Daniel H. Cole

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Elinor Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework has been described as ‘one of the most developed and sophisticated attempts to use institutional and stakeholder assessment in order to link theory and practice, analysis and policy’. But not all elements in the framework are sufficiently well developed. This paper focuses on one such element: the ‘rules-in-use’ (a.k.a. ‘rules’ or ‘working rules’). Specifically, it begins a long-overdue conversation about relations between formal legal rules and ‘working rules’ by offering a tentative and very simple typology of relations. Type 1: Some formal legal rules equal or approximate the working rules; Type 2: …

Lobbying To Lawsuits : Optimistic Biases And Tactical Transitions In The Movement For Lgbt Equality, Katherine Zuber

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research examines the question of strategic choice in the context of the gay and lesbian rights movement. Although social movements often combine legislative, electoral and legal strategies to effect change, systematic legal efforts on behalf of gay rights did not emerge until well after a concerted lobbying and legislative campaign arose. Why did a politically powerless group seeking rights turn to litigation much later than we might have expected? A targeted case study of gay activism in Boston confirms that political opportunity is an important external factor that shapes strategic choice. However, the impact of these structural factors is …

The New Right In Europe : Supply, Demand, And Electoral Performance : A Qualitative Comparative Analysis Of New Right Parties, 2000-2016, Rachel Rappaport

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The New Right is the fastest growing party family in Europe. Factors contributing to its success have been grouped broadly into two types: demand-side factors and supply-side factors. Demand-side factors comprise socio-economic developments such as unemployment, public mistrust in the political establishment, and levels of immigration. Supply-side factors relate to the mechanics of the party system, the type of the electoral system, and endogenous features of parties such as ideology, leadership and organization. Demand-side factors dominate in the literature on New Right party success. This study concentrates on party ideology in order to explain the electoral credibility of the New …

While The Enemy Is Preoccupied : A Distractionary Theory Of Interstate Crisis Initiation, Steve S. Sin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study examines the implications of distraction theoretically and empirically, with a focus on the effects of external distraction on the likelihood of interstate crisis initiation. To this end, I develop the Distractionary Theory of Interstate Crisis Initiation and conduct empirical tests on the theoretical models to determine the impact of distraction on interstate crisis initiation.

Aiding Repression? : The Effects Of U.S. Military Aid On Conflict Intensity And Civilian Targeting, Amira Jadoon

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This three-essay dissertation contributes to a nuanced theoretical and empirical understanding of the links between international security, foreign aid and political violence. It examines how U.S military aid interacts with domestic conflict processes to affect the nature and magnitude of violence within recipient countries. As such, it assesses the usefulness of foreign aid to promote international security, by investigating its implications on conflict intensity and civilian targeting by state and non-state actors.

Guide To The Presidential Debate Records, University Of San Diego University Relations

University Records

This collection contains planning records, videos, and news clippings associated with both the 1992 and 1996 Presidential Debates. 1992 Debate records cover the selection and subsequent cancellation of USD as a host site. News clippings also cover the controversy between the Bush and Clinton campaigns over why the debate was canceled. 1996 Debate records include correspondence, site selection and visitation information, planning meeting records, and contract information with the Commission on Presidential Debates. Design records featuring the debate logo which was placed on Media Kit items, t-shirts, lapel pins, and stationary are included. Short news cast videos are included along …

Garcetti For President, Fernando J. Guerra, Brianne Gilbert, Berto Solis

StudyLA Data Briefs

GARCETTI FOR PRESIDENT? ANGELENOS SAY: GO FOR IT

LOS ANGELES, September 22, 2017 – A strong majority of residents in Los Angeles say they’d support Mayor Eric Garcetti if he chose to run for president, according to a survey by the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. The question was asked of Angelenos as part of a wide-ranging survey conducted by the center’s researchers in July. Of those who responded, 63 percent said they would be “strongly supportive” or “somewhat supportive” of Garcetti launching a bid for the White House. …