Political Science Commons^™

Aiming To Misfire: Intentional Bias And Its Relationship With Polling Error, Tyler Redmon

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

With growing public dissatisfaction with election polling, finding the source of polling error is key to resolving common frustrations. Many things have been blamed for recent polling misses but the method by which polls are conducted deserved a closer look. This paper seeks to find that source of error through polling conducted in the 2020 Presidential election. This paper shows that polling error at the national level can be attributed to intentional bias but there remain questions when it comes to state polling.

The New Open Forum: Social Media Use In Georgia Gubernatorial Elections, John Mack

Honors College Theses

In 2018, Georgia saw one of the most contested elections in recent memory with Brian Kemp narrowly defeating Stacey Abrams. As a part of that election, social media would play a critical role in how campaigns are run. This thesis takes a look at previous literature on voter turnout and social media. This thesis asks: How did the campaigns use social media to spread their message, and in what stage of the election was social media most effective? To answer that question this thesis features a content analysis of Facebook posts and Tweets from the 2018 elections compared to posts …

The Amungme And The Environment: Environmental Justice History And Consumerism, Kole A. Dawson

Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Regional Conference

The Amungme are one of hundreds of Papuan people groups who lived in the Indonesian province in New Guinea for thousands of years. This group subsisted in their environment by hunting, cultivation of small crops, and practicing pig husbandry. In the late 1960s, seeking foreign capital to boost the nation’s economy, the president of Indonesia signed a contract with Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold. Freeport began mining in the early 1970s, eventually opening one of the world’s largest gold mines. Excavating sacred Amungme sites, Freeport’s massive pollution to the land and water destroyed the indigenous people’s environment both spiritually and …

Born And Bred In Blood: The Fall Of The Aztec Empire, Melina Arciniega

Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Regional Conference

The fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521 was a surprising feat given the well-known, vast power, and fighting capabilities of the Aztec people. Many questions since then have arisen as to how such a mighty empire had so rapidly fallen. These theories hold implications that the Aztecs were victims to the incoming disease, famine, and domination inflicted by the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes. Alongside these proposals I suggest that by examining archaeological and historical evidence, the Aztec traditional practices were also responsible for its society’s collapse. By identifying the significance of the human sacrifices, the cultural, political, and economical …

'They’Re Building A Wall': The Separation Barrier In Palestine/Israel, Tyler Durbin

Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Regional Conference

Despite international legal consensus declaring the separation wall in Palestine/Israel as illegal, Israel has continued this geopolitical project unchallenged. Examining the judicial decisions of the International Court of Justice and Israel’s High Court of Justice on the wall reveals that Israel’s project, which began in 2002, was motivated by a political desire to protect illegal settlements in the Occupied Territories, confiscate Palestinian land, and constrict their movement and space. Analyzing the entirety of the wall through the lens of containment illuminates how the wall’s fracturing of Palestinian land created the material conditions, or the ‘facts on the ground’, for Israel’s …

Why Deteriorating Relations, Xenophobia, And Safety Concerns Will Deter Chinese International Student Mobility To The United States, Ryan M. Allen, Ying Ye

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Collaborations between American and Chinese universities have been critical to global knowledge production. Chinese students accounted for over a third of all international students in the United States prior to COVID-19, but the pandemic paused most global mobility in 2020. We argue that this international mobility to the United States will not fully recover if larger stressors are left unaddressed. First, relations between the United States and China have deteriorated in recent years, especially under the Trump administration, with growing suspicion against Chinese researchers and scholars. Second, viral acts of violence and anti-Asian incidents have painted the United States as …

Guns And Their Place In The Us, Jacob Garibaldi

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Creating this paper was a wicked problem due to how deep of an issue the gun debate is in the United States. In the discussion of guns, there is a side that wants to abolish them, a side that believes in the right of the second amendment, and a middle ground where we can have guns in society with added in legal measures. Surely enough, those that are in opposition to firearms are persuaded due to the acts of violence and crime committed with them. Then there are those that use them in a way of self-defense. Through this paper, …

Do Autocratic Regimes Excel In Natural Disaster Relief? A Case Study Of Political Institutions And Covid-19 Exposure, Jane Kay

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has challenged what we know about the politics of public health. In this research study, I investigate the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural disaster and hypothesize if authoritarian governments are more adequate at disaster control and relief. I hypothesize that the more autocratic a government structure, the better they would be at handling COVID-19 exposure and outbreaks due to their centralized decision making, unified media, and their ability to make unpopular decisions without repercussions. In order to test this theory, I gather data from the Johns Hopkins database for three key dates in the pandemic …

From Memory To Present To An Uncertain Future: An Analysis Of History And Policy On Chinese Food Security, Justin Mascarin

Honors Projects

This paper seeks to analyze China’s historical relationship to famine to better understand contemporary Chinese policy on food security. The historical analysis focuses both at the political level and the level of the peasantry, with a particular focus on the Great Chinese Famine. This Chinese specific analysis in conjunction with an understanding of food security history helps to better understand two white papers on food security from the Chinese Government in 1996 and 2019. This paper finds these white papers to be response to deep rooted doubts in the ability for the Chinese Government to logistically support such a massive …

Aid Memoir, Larry Hollingworth

International Affairs

Larry Hollingworth, current visiting Professor of Humanitarian Studies at Fordham University in New York City, served as head of the UNHCR’s efforts in Bosnia throughout the lengthy conflict that plagued the former Yugoslavia in the early to mid ’90s. Aid Memoir follows Larry and his UN colleagues throughout multiple efforts to provide much-needed relief for besieged, isolated, and desperate communities riddled by senseless killing and aggression. The characters encountered throughout are at times thrilling, at times frightening. Larry spares no details, however troubling, and therefore shines a telling light on the reality of the situation that most will remember to …

Examining The Rise In Asian-American Hate Crimes, Onu Institute For Civics And Public Policy, Kennedy Aikey, Kennedy Cook, Hailey Trimpey

Critical Questions

In the past year, hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans in the United States have increased by nearly 150 percent. Many have linked this rise to charged rhetoric revolving around the CoronaVirus pandemic and its origins in Wuhan China. The use of terms like “Chinese virus” and “kung flu” have been used as derogatory ways to blame Asians for the virus. Asian- Americans in various communities are now becoming targets for hate crimes. Recently, many are trying to speak out against this and bring an end to the hate. Racism has surrounded these communities for years now, and it has gotten progressively …

Swipe No More?, Paul A. Djupe

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Non-Consensus 1992 Consensus, Austin Horng En Wang, Yao Yuan Yeh, Charles K.S. Wu, Fang Yu Chen

Political Science Faculty Research

The 1992 Consensus is perhaps the most crucial political term for cross-strait relations. Surveys show that the public consistently supports it in Taiwan. Despite the alleged broad support, there has not been an academic study examining if Taiwanese people understand the content of the 1992 Consensus. Such an inquiry is important as the administration in Taiwan has yet accepted the Consensus in its interactions with Beijing. A nearly representative online survey was conducted in July 2018, and 1001 Taiwanese respondents were recruited to choose among different “definitions” of the 1992 Consensus. Results show that only one-third of the respondents chose …

Fixing A Hole: Contemporary Security Issues In Africa, Zachary Hadley

The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development

In the twenty-first century, complex and dynamic challenges within Africa are often borderless. With the ability to scale exponentially, localized conflicts can quickly destabilize regions. Since the early 2000s, scholarly efforts to explicate transnational challenges has led to a growing body of literature dedicated to the African continent. While promising, the corpora of secondary literatures often lack conceptual rigor and depth — requiring students, researchers and scholars to thread coherent narratives across diverse sets of government records, media reports, and firsthand accounts.

Contemporary Security Issues in Africa by William A. Taylor attempts to fill this void by serving as a …

A Crisis Of Globalization: A Review Essay, Matthew Rochat

The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development

Ian Bremmer's book Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism focuses on the discontents of globalization and draws a link between economic insecurity and tides of political polarization that have swept across states, splintering segments of the population and leaving deep social fractures in their wake. In this review essay, I expand on Bremmer’s argument by incorporating two other recent works of global political economy that shed light on the current state of globalization, The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy by Dani Rodrik and Global Capitalism and the Crisis of Humanity by William Robinson. Based …

The Journal Of International Relations, Peace And Development Studies 6th Edition Introduction, Patrick Clairzier

The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development

The Journal of International Relations, Peace and Development Studies 6th Edition Introduction

Gambian And Senegalese Refugee Policies As A Potential Means Towards Regional Stability, Amy Armata

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

No abstract provided.

The Martin Institute: Prints, Spring 2021, Stonehill College: The Martin Institute For Law And Society

The Martin Institute: Prints

No abstract provided.

Helms School Of Government Newsletter - Spring 2021, Liberty University

The Helms School of Government Newsletter

Helms School of Government Newsletter - Spring 2021

Toward Successful Coin: Shining Path's Decline, Darren Colby

Independent Student Projects and Publications

The rapid decline of the Peruvian left-wing insurgent organization Sendero Luminoso was not only the result of the arrest of its leader. An analysis of the precipitous weakening of the organization using two social movement theories finds other factors were involved in the demise of the organization as well. These factors—participatory politics, support for the military among the rural population, and alienation of the population by Sendero Luminoso—provide insights to effective counterinsurgency tactics.

Educating For Democracy: Policy Recommendations For The Revitalization Of Civic Learning In The United States, Meghan E. O'Brien

Community Engagement Student Work

The recent decades have brought upon a dramatic shift in the United States’ political and social climate. Increases in ideological polarization and extremism have taken hold as individual trust, knowledge, and participation in democratic processes has declined (Gould et al., 2011). These trends have contributed to the rising severity of social issues facing the United States - climate change, income inequality, systemic racism - as well as an inability to collectively address these issues. The need for a solution to these trends has never been greater as the nation struggles to perfect a democratic structure in which citizens are equitably …

Food Deserts In Indianapolis, Anthony Little

Environmental Justice

This project focuses on the issue of food deserts in Indianapolis.

Hostile Architecture, Hannah Sparks

Environmental Justice

This project is centered around the concept of public spaces and architecture that is intentionally designed to prevent unhoused people from having unlimited access to the environment for survival purposes.

Conservation And Its Effect On Indigenous Communities, Emma Vanderheyden

Environmental Justice

This project investigates the effects of conservation on indigenous populations.

Food Apartheid In Indianapolis, Anna Watson

Environmental Justice

This project examines food deserts and food apartheid in Indianapolis.

One Year Later: Public Opinion On The Covid-19 Pandemic, Brianne Gilbert

StudyLA Reports

About This Study

Study LA’s Los Angeles Public Opinion Survey is the largest general social survey of any metropolitan area in urban America. The survey provides a unique perspective into the quality -of -life perceptions, personal financial wellbeing, economic concerns, overall life satisfaction, and various civic issues facing Los Angeles residents.

Since 2014, StudyLA has engaged more than 18,000 residents through the survey, resulting in hundreds of thousands of hours of meaningful conversations about the future of the region.

While some questions are unchanged from year to year for the purposes of longitudinal analysis, new questions were added this …

A Study Of Undergraduate Major On The Youth Electorate Within The Bryant Community, Jenna Birnbohm-Kaminski

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

This thesis will carefully explore the relationship between undergraduate college major, and political participation and affiliation of young voters (ages 18-29). There has been a great deal of research in the field of voter behavior about this generation of young voters, and how they will impact the new electorate and overall political climate. An increasing commonality amongst young people is an undergraduate education of some kind. However, undergraduate students can choose their area of study, thus differentiating the exposure to information and experience of each student at a very impressionable time in their lives. A study of the political behavior …

Ghost Of Populism: Haunting The Demos In Democracy, Chloe A. Bidne

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

Several recent elections demonstrate voters across advanced industrial economies support candidates with a populist agenda. We observe this phenomenon, for example, in the election of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States as well as across the Atlantic through the majority of voters in the UK favoring the UK Independence Party’s call to leave the European Union and return to a nationally focused agenda through Brexit. Europe allows us to be vividly aware of voter support for populist agendas through their multi-party systems, which include political parties who openly and explicitly claim a populist agenda, such as the …

China’S Success Unraveled, Wilson Vo

Early College

No abstract provided.

Should We Govern Geoengineering Like Nuclear Weapons Or The Internet?, Elizabeth L. Chalecki

Political Science Faculty Publications

As climate change accelerates, geoengineering has emerged as a potential last-resort strategy for mitigating global warming. However, the absence of a comprehensive governance framework raises critical political, ethical, and ecological concerns. This article compares geoengineering governance to two existing global regimes: nuclear technology, which is tightly controlled due to catastrophic risks, and the internet, which is loosely regulated to maximize accessibility. Through analysis of utility, barriers to entry, and regulatory structures, the author argues that no single model is sufficient for geoengineering governance. Instead, a hybrid framework is required—one that combines strict oversight for high-risk, globally impactful technologies with flexible, …