Political Science Commons^™

Us Strategic Culture, Homeland Ballistic Missile Defense, And Mutual Vulnerability, Jacob T. Blank

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Strategic scholars have long understood the indispensable linkage between culture and security policymaking. By shaping the perceptions through which decision-makers formulate security policy, strategic culture analysis adds vital context to the perilously difficult science of understanding and predicting state security outputs. One area where this analytical framework fails to generate the expected result is American missile defense policy. Salient themes of US strategic culture, including an optimistic and problem-solving mindset, positive role of machines, and ahistorical exceptionalism, are reflected in the American way of war – a technologically driven, leadership casualty averse, moralistic, apolitical, and firepower focused enterprise. These factors …

A Socio-Historical Analysis Of The Dynamics Of Genocide In Bosnia 1992-1995: Forces Contributing To The Continuation Of Genocide, Lejla Alvarez

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Despite preventive and diagnostic instruments and mechanisms put in place by the international community, genocide - systematic destruction of social groups - persists as a major regional and global problem. Genocidal processes are multifaceted and involve multiple factors at all levels of analysis interacting to produce genocide. This study examines the most significant socio-historical factors in producing the genocidal war in Bosnia that started in the spring of 1992, carried out generally uninterrupted until late 1995, with some forms of violence continuing years after the official end of the war. The main goals of the research were to contextualize the …

Did The Political Climate Exacerbate The Pandemic In The U.S.?, Brittany T. Morin, Joanna Gyory, Anthony F. Morin

Master's Theses and Capstones

The global pandemic that began in the United States in early 2020 continues to be a topic of controversy. The added aspect of affect polarization in the country’s political realm may have exacerbated the effects of COVID-19. In their published article in Nature Human Behaviour, Gollwitzer et. al. found that it was possible to link voting partisanship, physical distancing, and COVID-19 outcomes showing that a county’s partisanship might be used to predict the degree to which that county would socially distance and then, therefore, the rate of cases and fatalities in that error on a lagged timescale. This researcher attempted …

Editorial: Blending Of Delusions In Russia Rationalizing Its War To Annex Ukraine, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

While it is obvious that Russia’s motives for the unprovoked brutal war against Ukraine are complex, what is not quickly apparent is the incendiary intermingling of a collective delusion of persecution and the delusion of grandeur of an individual.

A Literature Review Of Intrapersonal Interventions To Reduce Partisan Affective Polarization, Katrina Powers

A with Honors Projects

This literature review examines research conducted on intrapersonal interventions for the reduction of partisan affective polarization.

Forgiving Without Forgetting? Privacy In An Age Of Digital Permanence, Rock Park

Political Science Honors Projects

The 21st Century has been marked by increasing digital globalization, and an extensive, complete record of most individual’s public and private lives. This posed enough of a risk to privacy that in 2014, the European Union began to outline and articulate the digital privacy rights of European citizens in a set of policies known as “right to be forgotten” laws. As of 2018, these right to be forgotten protections had been codified into the General Data Privacy Regulation for the EU (GDPR). This paper explores the construction of privacy and subsequent adoption of the right to be forgotten specifically in …

Understanding Public Support For Foreign Aid: A Cross-National Analysis, Erika Manning

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This thesis examines how public support for bilateral foreign aid in democratic donor countries, namely the United States and South Korea, is influenced by various methods of policy framing. Despite the benefits of bilateral aid to both donor and recipient countries, public support for distributing it has been on the decline due to fears that aid is ineffective. However, this trend may also be the product of the publics’ perceptions of where aid is going and for what purpose. To determine the effects of type of aid and perceptions of recipient countries on support for foreign aid, I conducted a …

Will The Real News Reporters Please Stand Up?: A Study Of Bias In The Media, Hannah Claussen

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The goal of my project is to define what news media bias is and examine its history and the effects it currently has on our country and democracy. I will examine its electoral effects as well as how media bias has contributed to lower trust in the news media as a whole.

My project will consist of a general news story on the subject of media bias; a smaller news story focusing on the history of media bias and public perception of the press; an abbreviated research paper on newspaper endorsements and their efficacy in a modern news landscape; and …

A Descriptive Study: Perceptions Of Family Court Judges And Attorneys Regarding Parents Involved With Child Welfare Services As A Result Of Substance Misuse And/Or Mental Health Issues, Nathan Terrell

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

For three consecutive years, Kentucky has dealt with the worst rates of child maltreatment in the United States. Kentucky has implemented numerous measures to address this crisis. While many research efforts have focused on perceptions of children involved with child welfare services, there are few efforts researching the perception of judges and lawyers about parents involved with family court services.

This study used a mixed-methods approach to explore the perceptions of Kentucky Family Court Judges and family law attorneys about parental involvement with child welfare services as a result of substance misuse and/or mental health issues. The qualitative component of …

Economic & Social Development And The Benefits Of The Process Of Integration In The European Union: The Case Of Cyprus, Petros Rafael

Dissertations and Theses

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. An internal single market has been established through a standardized system of laws that apply in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where the states have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market; enact legislation in justice and home affairs; and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. It is widely believed amongst European states, that membership …

Identifying Patterns In The Structural Drivers Of Intrastate Conflict, Jonathan D. Moyer, Austin S. Matthews, Mickey Rafa, Yutang Xiong

Global and Public Affairs: Faculty Scholarship

Quantitative methods have been used to: (1) better predict civil conflict onset; and (2) understand causal mechanisms to inform policy intervention and theory. However, an exploration of individual conflict onset cases illustrates great variation in the characteristics describing the outbreak of civil war, suggesting that there is not one single set of factors that lead to intrastate war. In this article, we use descriptive statistics to explore persistent clusters in the drivers of civil war onset, finding evidence that some arrangements of structural drivers cluster robustly across multiple model specifications (such as young, poorly developed states with anocratic regimes). Additionally, …

How The United States And Russia Have Interacted With Syria Since Its Use Of Chemical Weapons, Brynn M. Mitoraj

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Syria has been locked in a civil war for over a decade, with thousands of people dead, many of them civilians. The Syrian Civil War has caused a humanitarian crisis, drawing the attention of international humanitarian aid actors and now the United States. After a chemical weapons attack against the Syrian civilians by the Assad Regime, former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump led punitive strikes against the Syrian government. After years of the United States weaving in and out of the Syrian crisis, the time has come for international actors to carefully analyze the intentions of the United States.

Urgenda Foundation V. State Of The Netherlands (2015) And Associated Policy Impacts, Emile C. Ottinger

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Climate change is a global issue that calls for global responses. It is also crucial to address regionally, according to each state’s best ability, and respond to regionally-felt impacts. Often, this regional change must begin with individual and community action. The Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands case is a crucial example of how individual interests and community actions can create regional change and result in global change through concentrated effort. The Urgenda Foundation was created to promote national shifts toward sustainable societies. It facilitates the integration of individuals’ sustainable interests into community action. As the first legal success …

Election Laws And Voter Turnout In The United States, Sofia Papoutsis

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Over the last decade, electoral reform has become a topic of intense controversy in the United States. While Republicans highlight the need for strict voting laws to prevent voter fraud and maintain election integrity, Democrats argue that these laws create barriers to voting and decrease voter turnout. How have U.S. voting laws evolved over the last decade? How do these changes affect voter turnout? Which voting laws have the greatest impact on voter turnout? Researchers Larocca and Klemanski (2011) provide answers to some of these questions through an empirical analysis on the effects of state-level election laws and reforms on …

Racial Party Polarization Under Donald Trump, Kate Berman

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

Growing party polarization directly results from increasing economic inequalities, racial tensions and the idea that the white majority is now a minority. This paper identifies the sources of party polarization. Combining social, economic, and racial factors, it builds on popular scholarly works that show white people feel left behind. Acknowledging that income inequality is the root of polarization, the paper argues that the interaction between race, economics and social status provides a more well-rounded look at party polarization. Party polarization has caused an increase in non-college-educated people participating in voting. This, in turn, led to Donald Trump’s popularity. This study …

Title Page

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Editors' Introduction, Rachel Williams, Amber Anderson

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Authors' Biographies

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Research Report Two: Lliuya V. Rwe Ag, Zach Burhans

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

The case of Lliuya v. RWE AG first starts with Saúl Luciano Lliuya, of Huaraz Peru. Lliuya, a small-scale farmer and mountain guide in the flood path of Lake Palcacocha in the Peruvian Andes, decided to file a lawsuit against German energy giant Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk Aktiengesellschaft (RWE AG; Reeves et al. 2019). Due to rising temperatures from global warming, the glacial melt is increasing the lake’s size and threatening the people of Huaraz city. Lliuya decided to take action, and with the help of environmental advocacy groups such as Stiftung Zunkunftsfähigkeit (Foundation for Sustainability), he was able to get the …

Cover Art, Molly Morrissey

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Department Chair, William A. Munro Betty Ritchie-Birrer ’47 And Ivan Birrer Ph.D Professor, Chair, Department Of Political Science

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

A Case For Disastrous Party Politics In Peru, Carlo A. Chavez Linares

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

The commemoration of 200 years of Peruvian independence brings the question if the republic is really free and sovereign. Even though Peru is formally a democracy, it is weak and not yet consolidated. Satisfaction with democracy is low, and many analysts claim that it already died in the 1990s. In a narrow sense, Peruvian democracy is in danger because of the personalistic nature of the political parties. This study defends the argument that parties in Peru are weak. Specifically, it focuses on the shift from traditional to proto-parties. Traditional parties failed in their political role, and, therefore, new anti-elite and …

Backlash Against The #Metoo Movement: How Women’S Voice Causes Men To Feel Victimized, Jaclyn A. Lisnek, Clara L. Wilkins, Megan E. Wilson, Pierce D. Ekstrom

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

Three studies examined whether perceived increase in women’s “voice” (i.e., being heard and taken seriously about sexual assault) contributes to perceptions of bias against men. In Study 1, both men and women who perceived women to have a greater voice related to sexual assault, perceived greater victimization of men. This relationship was stronger for relatively conservative participants. In Study 2, relatively conservative (but not relatively liberal) participants who read about #MeToo perceived greater men’s victimization than those in the control condition. Study 3 examined responses to perceiving that men are victimized by #MeToo. For relatively conservative (but not liberal) men, …

Revolution, Regime Change, And Rosewater: The United States’ Role In The Arab Spring, Grace Lewis

Capstone Showcase

This thesis seeks to determine which international relations theory best explains the United States involvement in the Arab Spring, and to ascertain if the goals set by those theories were met. Through the literature, I determine that two theories offer reasonable yet competing explanations of US involvement, and that these theories are first, defensive realism, and second, democratic peace theory. I employ the analytic method of pattern matching to compare each theory against the empirical record. In my analysis, I match empirical data from five affected countries to determine the strategic importance to the United States of the outcome of …

The Extent To Which Tiktok Has Become A New Platform For Political Expression: An Analysis Of Us Public Opinion, Social Media, Celebrity Endorsements And Youth Voting Behavior, Jill Shaughnessy

Capstone Showcase

Tiktok has a function in society to act as a platform of political identity and expression. This thesis aims to find out if its growth is correlated to youth voting behavior and politics, specifically how does the consumption of mass media and the exposure of social networks like Tiktok influence youth voting behavior and public opinion in modern elections and act as platforms for political expression? Employing the analytic method of process tracing, my research illustrates how young people found a political identity with groupthink structures, were mobilized to vote with initiatives and celebrities and used social media to speak …

Racial Domination Through The Grey Areas: The Categorization Of Mixed-Race In The United States And Brazil, Arman Luczkow

Honors Papers

A historical comparison of mixed-race categories in the United States and Brazil, analyzing the influence of governments and political groups.

From Moral Panic To Permanent War: Rhetoric And The Road To Invading Iraq, Kai Philippe

Honors Papers

This thesis seeks to understand the conditions in the United States post-9/11 that enabled the Bush administration to pursue a wide-ranging and all-encompassing “War on Terror,” with substantial support from the general public. I am principally focused on two significant facets of the War on Terror: the invasion of Iraq and the establishment of a permanent security state (and the interrelated creation of a new state of exception). I ask why the George W. Bush administration was so successful in generating support for both the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and for policies that violated fundamental civil liberties; I argue …

No Laughing Matter: Political Humor And Media In Egypt’S January 25th Revolution, Julia Brock

Scripps Senior Theses

The January 25th Revolution in Egypt began in 2011 when protestors took to the streets in Cairo and other Egyptian cities demanding that President Hosni Mubarak resign. They were armed with a savvy tool: humor. This study is a historical and theoretical approach to understanding political humor’s position as a space for politically subversive conversation in Egypt in the decade leading up to the January 25th Revolution, as well as during the revolution itself. Humor, media, and social movement theories are mobilized within this thesis to explain humor’s unique position within Egyptian society and its function within subversive, informal political …

Introduction To Comparative Government And Politics 1st Edition, Dino Bozonelos Phd, Julia Wendt Phd, Charlotte Lee Phd, Jessica Scarffe, Masahiro Omae Phd, Josh Franco Phd, Byran Martin Phd, Stefan Veldhuis

Textbooks

PS 302 - Comparative Government and Politics

Licensed under a CC BY NC 2.0 license.