Political Science Commons^™

Trump’S Electoral Speeches And His Appeal To The American White Working Class, Michele Lamont, Bo Yun Park, Elena Ayala-Hurtado

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

This paper contributes to the study of social change by considering boundary work as a dimension of cultural change. Drawing on the computer-assisted qualitative analysis of 73 formal speeches made by Donald Trump during the 2016 electoral campaign, we argue that his political rhetoric, which led to his presidential victory, addressed the white working class’s concern with their declining position in the national pecking order. He addressed this group’s concern by raising their moral status, that is, by (1) emphatically describing them as hard-working Americans who are victims of globalization; (2) voicing their concerns about ‘people above’ (professionals, the rich, …

"A Babe In The Woods?": Billy Graham, Anticommunism, And Vietnam, Daniel Alexander Hays

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on famous evangelist Billy Graham's role in the Vietnam War, both as a public supporter and private advisor. It argues that, contrary to his self-depiction, he was no "babe in the woods," no mere neophyte or bystander. Rather, America's most famous preacher was an active participant in promoting and even planning the war. Graham's evangelical theology, with his premillennialist beliefs, led to his intensely anticommunist worldview, where communism was the Antichrist. His public support buttressed the presidents prior to and during the Vietnam War and, sometimes, Graham even delved into policy recommendations for the war.

Graham's role …

Latin America In Theories Of Territorial Rights / América Latina En Las Teorías De Los Derechos Territoriales, Avery Kolers

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

“Who owns it?” is a surprisingly confusing question when applied to territory. Each word opens up puzzles: who can “own” territory? What is “ownership” in this context? How can it be justified in a way that could convince an outsider? These questions are particularly salient in the Latin American context, where multiple distinct kinds of land disputes converge. This paper canvasses two familiar approaches to these questions: the Kantian autochthony view, and the Lockean efficiency view. Neither view answers the question as to “who owns it” in all its complexity. The paper then defends an alternative approach grounded in recognition …

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, Colleen Arthur

Undergraduate Research Posters

The aim of this paper is to look into the human rights violations committed by the United States against the black men during the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment as well as touch on the broader concept of racial medicine. In addition, my goal is to dismantle the pretense society may hold about the United States and the moral high ground it claims to stand on. In order to accomplish this goal, I will make parallels about atrocities committed by the United States on the African-American population to those committed by the Nazis on the Jewish population in Germany. I will first …

Determinants Of Terrorist Target Selection: A Quantitative Analysis, Taylor Haywood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Existing research on the subject of terrorism is vast, spanning causes of terrorism, the membership of terrorist groups, types of terrorist attacks, and more. One area of terrorism research, though, has received only limited consideration: terrorist target selection. What research does exist explains target selection almost exclusively as a function of ideology (Asal et al. 2009, 270 and 274; Drake 1998b, 54-56 and 58). However, such a limited causal focus obscures other possible, and probable, explanations of terrorist target selection. This paper proposes an alternative explanation of terrorist target selection that includes ideological and terrorist group capability variables, as well …

Distinguishing A Minimalist Role For Grand Theorizing, Stephen G. Brooks

Dartmouth Scholarship

A major theoretical shortcoming in international relations (IR) is the lack of any semblance of a common understanding regarding the role of grand theory. This article argues that explicit theoretical work of this sort is useful, but that a search for a single overarching grand theory to guide inquiry is misguided and that the primary business of IR is to form and evaluate middle-range theories.

A Narrative Study Of Chaldean Refugees And The Myth Of Return: From Chaldean Babylon To The New World, Joseph James Byle

Wayne State University Dissertations

With the removal of Saddam following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, life for all Iraqis changed for the worse, especially for minorities such as Christians, including Chaldeans. Considering the powerful push factors that have compelled Chaldean Refugees in the Detroit area to leave Iraq, the idea of returning to the homeland would seem like a remote possibility, however, these Chaldeans present an intriguing case, due to the fact that they are among the indigenous people in Iraq. Do their deep rooted ties to the homeland contribute to a desire to return? This research examines this possibility through an in-depth …

Judicial Activism In State Supreme Courts: Institutional Design And Judicial Behavior, Stefanie A. Lindquist

Scholarship@WashULaw

How governments and the electorate choose to structure judicial institutions has implications for the rule of law. In the state context, for example, judicial elections were instituted precisely because reformers expected elected judges to counter legislative action more vigorously through the power of judicial review. But when judges invalidate statutes more frequently, they reduce law’s predictability and stability. The same can be said for decisions overruling precedent: frequent overrulings undermine the norm of stare decisis and destabilize the legal status quo. These behaviors may also be viewed by some observers as more “activist” than those that defer to legislative judgments …

Introduction: Understanding Central-Local Relations In China, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

How do we understand the evolution of central-local relations in China during the reform period? This book addresses this question by focusing on eight separate issues in which the central-local relationship has been especially salient – government finance, investment control, regional development, administrative zoning, implementation, culture, social welfare and international relations. Each chapter introduces a sector and the way the center and various local governments have shared or divided power over the different periods of China’s reform era. The balance of power is gauged dynamically over time to measure the extent to which one level of government dominates, influences or …

China's Administrative Hierarchy: The Balance Of Power And Winners And Losers Within China's Levels Of Government, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The China that Chairman Mao Zedong ruled was primarily agrarian. Mao’s party, consistent with the ideas of Lenin on which it was partially based, pursued planned industrialization by promoting state-owned manufacturing. This endeavor involved all sectors of society in the push to catch up with the West – even to the point of imploring rural residents to smelt steel in backyard furnaces. These efforts showed some success – by 1978 manufacturing’s share of GDP had risen from the 28 percent it held in 1949. Yet even after three decades, manufacturing still represented less than half of GDP, while the country’s …

Letter From The Editor

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

To Vote Or Not To Vote: The Effect Of Using All-Mail Election On Probability Of Voting, Rehtaeh Beers

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Arend Lijphart (1997) said, "Voting is less unequal than other forms of participations but it is far from unbiased." While democracy is considered to be a form of government for the people and by the people, holding true to this reputation requires that some measure of the citizenry's opinion guide elections and decisions in government. The most common way to measure the opinions within the citizenry is through the voting process. Thus, it is understandable that in democracies voter abstention is generally considered to result in a less representative government. To address the issue of voter abstention, governments have implemented …

United States Public Opinion And The War In Iraq: Understanding Analysis Polling Trends Through Discourse, Sam Williams

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

War is often thought to be a cause-and-effect dichotomy. Rather than taking a holistic view of war through examination of short-term fluctuations against macrolevel trends, historians often instead define armed conflict by a singular, decisive event and the differing responses and ramifications which stem from it. It is tempting, then, to do the same with public opinion about war: If the nature and ultimate result of a conflict stems from a collection of individual pivotal events, it is natural to think there would also be critical shifts in public opinion corresponding to these decisive events. U.S. military campaigns that are …

Electoral Competitiveness And Legislative Productivity, Soren J. Schmidt, Matthew B. Young

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

On 10 October 2016, the two major-party candidates for U.S. Representative of Utah's 4th Congressional district held a publicly televised debate. Incumbent Mia Love represented the Republican Party, and challenger Doug Owens was the Democratic nominee. During that debate, Representative Love made seven references to legislation she had supported during her last term. When asked what she would do to make higher education affordable, for example, her response focused on her legislative accomplishments, repeating twice that "I have introduced three bills to do that" (C-SPAN 2016). Her choice of emphasis reflected her efficient legislative record: In the previous term (her …

The Effect Of Making Election Day A Holiday: An Original Survey And A Case Study Of French Presidential Elections Applied To The U.S. Voting System, Caitlyn Bradfield, Paul Johnson

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Voter turnout in the U.S. has lagged behind other developed democracies for decades. Exactly what causes this discrepancy has been an issue of debate. Ironically, "voters [in the United States] are more politically aware and involved than citizens in any other democracy, yet the levels of voter turnout are consistently far below the democratic average" (Powell 1986, 17).

The Cross-National Determinants Of Legislative Party Switching, Cassie Millet Knott

LSU Master's Theses

Why do legislators switch parties? What accounts for variation in party switching across different countries? How do electoral rules impact legislative party switching behavior and how is this behavior impacted by changes to these rules? The first chapter of this study builds on the existing body of research on the determinants of legislative party switching. More specifically, I build on the extant theories which have identified vote-, office-, and policy-seeking as motivations of legislator behavior. I examine the strategic decision making of legislators in various institutional contexts and argue that such contexts create or modify incentives and constraints that condition …

Does Isis Satisfy The Criteria Of An Apocalyptic Islamic Cult? An Evidence-Based Historical Qualitative Meta-Analysis, Diane Maye Zorri, Bruce Barron

Publications

The U.S. has been battling ISIS and its forerunners for over two decades; however, ISIS continues to endure and expand. While described as a death cult by some political leaders and other key stakeholders, this assertion received little consideration in the scholarly literature. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether ISIS satisfied the criteria of an apocalyptic Islamic cult through the application of a historical qualitative research design and meta-analysis. Based on the results, the null hypothesis that ISIS does not satisfy the criteria of an apocalyptic Islamic cult was rejected, and the hypothesis that ISIS satisfies the …

The Tea Party Versus Planning: A Study Of Tea Party Activism And Its Impact On Local Government Planning, Spencer A. Norman

Theses and Dissertations

The Tea Party movement’s effect on local and regional planning in Virginia has received little study. This work identifies how conservative political activism has impacted planning in the Commonwealth and how planners have responded. The study relies on a qualitative approach involving 22 semi-structured interviews with activists, planners, and citizens, as well as textual analyses of planning documents, local and regional news reports, and Tea Party social media. The resultant findings show that Tea Party activism is rooted in deep seated ideals about private property rights and individualism. It also reveals that planning processes that increased the amount of public …

Health Aid In Africa: Placement, Service Utilization, And Benefit, Carrie Dolan

Theses and Dissertations

While the health sector has attracted significant foreign aid, evidence on the effectiveness of this support is mixed. This dissertation examines the allocation of health aid within the context of placement, service utilization, and benefit. The first paper examined the sub-national allocation of Chinese development aid projects across Africa. I determined how political preferencing of Chinese aid specifically, allocating aid to the birth region of the current political leader differs across sectors such as health, education, and transportation. I find some evidence that aid, more broadly defined, is subject to political preferencing in recipient countries, which could potentially limit its …

Visual International Politics At London School Of Economics, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

International Relations is in the midst of a ‘visual turn’, because images play an increasingly important role in shaping international political events and our understanding of them. 'Visual International Politics’, a final- year undergraduate course at the London School of Economics, is unique because students don’t just study and critique visual media – they make their own films. The course thus has con ceptual and practical objectives and so employs pedagogies of meta- cognition and experiential learning in order to achieve those. At a conceptual level, students learn how to use a range of theoret ical and methodological approaches to …

Welcome The Stranger? Recent History Of American Christianity And Refugee Policy, Brenda Edith Cuellar

Masters Theses

Immigration is a controversial and complex issue. The United States has a history of welcoming millions of immigrants and refugees. Recent political rhetoric surrounding immigration has been negative and associated with danger and terrorism. Religious leaders along with their congregations have a history of advocating on behalf of the marginalized as well as combating against a broken immigration system that leaves eleven million people undocumented. This research paper uses a case study to explore the Sanctuary movement, a religious and political campaign that provided shelter for thousands of Central American refugees fleeing war. Interviews with seven religious leaders in Arizona …

The Power Of The Periphery: Aid, Mutuality And Cold War U.S-Ghana Relations, 1957-1966, Moses Allor Awinsong

Masters Theses

This project interrogates how economic self interest motivated periphery states such as Ghana to use foreign policy as a vehicle to attract improved development assistance from superpowers, in this case the United States. While the United States viewed its aid program in Ghana in stringently Cold War terms, Kwame Nkrumah and his advisors were less inclined to get deeply concerned about Cold War ideology. This project shows that Ghanaian agency was manifested in the Cold War through the new state's construction of a foreign policy image that made it a prominent African voice globally. It then examines how that image …

Nsst 475: Security In The 21st Century—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Tyler R. White

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This benchmark course portfolio is the culmination of a year’s long planning and execution process to improve an existing capstone course NSST 475. This course has two goals: to teach students about subject matter and to expose them to structured analytic techniques (SATs) before they graduate. This course is a minor capstone which means that the students come from a diverse set of disciplinary backgrounds. I targeted two course objectives to examine for this project with the intention of employing backward course design to think through what students should be learning and how I can improve that process. This portfolio …

Deconstructing “Deviance” And “Disorder” As Systems Of Domination: Chicago Public Schools As A Case Study Of The Effects Of Zero Tolerance Discipline Policies On Educational Outcomes In Us Schools, Maya Kaul

Pomona Senior Theses

The rise of “zero tolerance” discipline practices in US primary and secondary schools has become increasingly well documented by the media and empirical studies. Despite the extensive scholarship that has emerged from these conversations, many of these analyses are limited in their scope and do not connect the phenomena of zero tolerance in schools to the diverse, shifting forces at play within American politics and policy today. As such, the goal of this work is to synthesize ideas about zero tolerance across disciplines by integrating historical thought, philosophical frameworks of punishment, shifting policy goals within the US education system, the …

Collaborative Governance And Anticorruption In Postwar Monrovia, Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public sector corruption is a major problem in Monrovia. Successive national

governments have instituted anticorruption measures in the 1970s and 2000s, and anticorruption agencies were established to eradicate corruption. However, there appears to be a significant lack of resources and political willpower to prosecute corrupt government officials. A failure to curb political corruption indicates that current policies are not working. Government works when there is a perception that it delivers results and that the needs and safety of the citizenry are protected. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to gain a deeper understanding of public sector corruption at …

Emergency Managers' Perceptions Of All-Hazards Pandemic Planning Effectiveness In North Texas, Timothy Goss

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

All-hazards pandemic planning is the foundation of current emergency management planning doctrine, yet there is limited information and limited studies related to its effectiveness in mitigating pandemics. The North Texas emergency management community handles incidents of West Nile Virus, H1N1 influenza, and a recent Ebola incident. Despite efforts to mitigate these threats, reported cases and deaths are still occurring from both influenza and West Nile virus. The purpose of this case study was to assess the risk perceptions of emergency planners in a small emergency operation center in North Texas using the cultural theory of risk perception as the theoretical …

Exploring Strategies Of American Small Business Owners In United Arab Emirates, Shelley D. Mosley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The International Trade Administration reported that 70% of worldwide revenue for American businesses comes from consumers in emergent markets such as India, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. However, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a country that many American small business owners are not operating in and capitalizing on the financial opportunities that are available. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies American small business owners use in successful international entrepreneurship for increased revenue and operational longevity. The study population consisted of 5 American small business entrepreneurs who had succeeded operating in the UAE for …

Dorothy Day's Distributism And Her Vision For Catholic Politics, William Patric Schulz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is a study of Dorothy Day’s political ideas, her creation of the Catholic Worker movement, and her relationship with Distributism, the official socio-economic teaching of the Catholic Church. In order to fully understand Day’s views, it is necessary to review her intellectual development, and the foundational ideas and documents of Distributism. As is noted in the introduction, precious little scholarship has been done on Distributism, and few outside of Catholic academic circles are even aware of its existence. Beyond that, Day, herself, is not especially well-known, as existing scholarship tends to focus on either her early, Socialist activities …

Navigating The Post-Shelby Landscape: Using Universalism To Augment The Remaining Power Of The Voting Rights Act, Jesús N. Joslin

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.