Political Science Commons^™

Misinformation, Disinformation, And The Erosion Of Institutional Trust: The Role Of Social Media In Democracy, Andres Murillo

International Studies (MA) Theses

In recent years, social media-driven misinformation and disinformation have helped erode public trust in democratic institutions. This thesis examines how constant exposure to false online content correlates with declining confidence in democracy and evaluates the roles of platforms, influencers, and mechanisms. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, this thesis pairs a quantitative survey with a qualitative analysis of three disinformation case studies: the 2020 U.S. election and the “Stop the Steal” movement, the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar crisis, and Russian denial of wartime atrocities in their invasion against Ukraine. Drawing on classical and modern propaganda theories (Lasswell, Herman & Chomsky, RAND’s …

Black Women Policymakers And Black Feminist Approaches In United States Gender-Based Violence Policies: Analyzing Policy Making, Institutional, And Social Media Discourse Through The Narrative Policy Framework, Gugu Selela

All Dissertations

This research study examines how gender-based violence (GBV) policy in the United States marginalizes Black women through race-neutral language and punitive frameworks. Despite facing disproportionate violence, Black women are often excluded from policy narratives, debates, and institutional priorities. Grounded in Black Feminist Thought and the Narrative Policy Framework, this study investigates how exclusion operates across legislative, digital, and institutional domains, and how Black women in public service resist and reshape GBV policy through care-centered, survivor-informed practices. Focusing on the U.S. South, the study uses a qualitative, multi-method design. It analyzes ninety-three Senate committee transcripts from South Carolina, North Carolina, and …

Three Essays In The Economics Of Disagreements: Incentives, Measurement And Persistence, Mustafa W. Alam

All Dissertations

This dissertation presents three chapters that contribute to the study of economic forces shaping disagreements in society.

In Chapter 1, I demonstrate that political polarization can intensify due to innovations in the information market even if a population's ideological distribution is fixed. Viewership-maximizing news firms cater to a diverse audience who assess source accuracy using noisy private signals that vary in precision and ideological bias. If better-informed consumers disproportionately migrate to newer platforms for news (e.g., the Internet), traditional media firms increase news slant to appeal more to less-informed partisans on both sides of the ideological spectrum. This leads to …

Han Feizi On Reputation-Driven Disobedience: A Comparative Study, Antong Liu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Must absolutist states resort to intimidation and coercion to tackle subjects' disobedience driven by their pursuit of reputation? Since canonical early modern Western thinkers broached but did not solve this question, I turn to the most renowned ancient Chinese Legalist Han Feizi's understudied account of reputation for answers. Whether as a means or an end, individuals' pursuit of reputation always challenges the authority of the absolute monarchy that endeavors to centralize state power. Forcefully confronting this pursuit is the barely but only acceptable way for the state to tackle this challenge, as non-confrontational strategies favored by many Western thinkers inevitably …

Peace Engagement And Non-Negotiable Commitment Through An In-Depth Lens [Pencil Theory]: A Film Perspective On Un’S Conflict Resolution, Edward Moses Sam Selvaraj

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The research addresses the effectiveness of the United Nations concerning conflict resolution and peacekeeping, seen from the perspective of film culture. Applying the "PENCIL Theory" (Peace Engagement through an in-depth lens), the UN study along with its structural dynamics would be considered herein: a pencil comprising the Security Council as its lead, world as the eraser, and filmmakers as the ferrule that is representative of that significant link between public awareness and policy impact, and the UN General Assembly and Secretariat as its body in support of the decision-making processes. It brings to the fore the critical impacts on the …

The Effect Of Voter Education On Behaviors In Ranked Choice Voting, Ethan G. Olsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The appeal of ranked choice voting has led to its recent meteoric rise throughout America, leading to adoption in a number of cities and a handful of states, but some critics and political scientists worry about its higher difficulty potentially leading to more errors and undesirable behavior. Utilizing an experiment, I find that a short voter education video is all that is required to reduce rates of errors and ideologically inconsistent behavior, while finding null results for undervoting, possibly due to its low occurrence in the sample.

As ranked choice voting’s adoption is considered in each election cycle for jurisdictions …

Political Violence, Electoral Behavior, And Their Interaction With Identity, Zeeshan Saeed

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The research takes Pakistan as a case-study to explores how political violence shapes electoral behavior by focusing on two forms of violence: terrorist interventions by non-state actors and political repression by state institutions. Analyzing multiple elections and regional contexts, the study investigates how fear inflicting non-state violence can discourage voter participation, while state sponsored violence can drive communities by triggering anger, particularly those with strong ethnic identities leading to a higher voter turnout. Overall, this work highlights how different types of violence have varying effects on voter participation, and how these effects are conditioned.

Perceptions Of National Identity And Government Trust: The Effects Of Migrant Education Policies In Thailand, Kathryn Creglow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This study looks at how government policies that shape national identity influence people's trust in the federal government. Using Thailand as an example, it focuses on immigration policies and their effect on public trust, especially in a country with a strong sense of national identity. This research study specifically examines Thailand’s 2005 “Education for All” policy, which allowed immigrant children to attend public schools. This policy was seen by some as a challenge to national identity. The study investigates whether such policies impact how much people trust the government.

To measure this, the study compares changes in trust over for …

Framing Conflict: How Social Media Influences Voter Opinions, May Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Social media has changed the way we learn about global events. With just a few clicks, people can see powerful images of war and humanitarian crises from around the world. But how do these images, and the way they are presented, affect how people think about political candidates? This study looks at how different kinds of social media content influence voter opinions. Using a survey experiment designed to mimic real Instagram posts, participants were shown content related to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Some posts included only text. Others added data through charts and statistics. A third group saw emotional images of …

Creating A New Climate Transition Politics? Reflections On A Real Deal For Australia, Amanda Tattersall, Katie Moore, Juliet Bennett, Christine Evans, Louise C. Johnson, Naomi Joy Godden, Dibya Shree Chhetry, Elise Ganley, Sally Fisher, Jaclyn Mccosker, Jade Wright, Liz Bonner, Helen Long, Noreen Nicholson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Economic responses to climate change, such as just transitions and the Green New Deal (GND), have helped shift climate policy debate to focus on the economic dimensions of climate change. Yet these approaches have also been limited; they have not always delivered, they have left some groups behind and at times have polarised affected constituencies. This article argues that a key reason for this is that these agendas have primarily involved imposing solutions on communities without activating people's participation in the perpetual cocreation of new social, political and economic solutions. Here, community and academic researchers reflect on the first five …

Japan’S Military Transformation In Abe Era: A Revolution Or Something Else?, Ganesh Aji Wicaksono, Tangguh Chairil

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

After the World War II, Japan has been adopting a pacifist Constitution and established the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) for narrow self-defense operations. The JSDF are restricted from having offensive military weapons. However, Japan’s pacifism and restrained security policy have been evolving recently, especially during the term of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2012-2020). The latest example is Japan’s plan to enable forward defense and counterstrike. This paper explores the transformation of Japan’s military through the revolution of military affairs (RMA) concept. The findings suggest evolutionary transformation of Japan’s military rather than revolutionary. The factors explored include international and domestic factors. …

Unveiling The Shadows: Exploring The Roles Of The Dark Web And Encrypted Messaging Apps In Facilitating Online Terrorist Networks, Eziho Promise Ogele

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

The paper examines the pivotal roles of the Dark Web and encrypted messaging apps in enabling online terrorist networks. These platforms have become essential tools for extremist groups, empowering them to communicate, coordinate, and share intelligence securely. The Dark Web, a hidden portion of the internet, provides a secure conduit for terrorist organizations to emerge, operate, and coordinate activities anonymously. This digital haven enables terrorists to share resources, plan operations, and execute attacks as part of their secret operations strategy. Encrypted messaging apps, such as Telegram and WhatsApp, offer an additional layer of security, allowing terrorists to send messages anonymously …

India As A Net Security Provider In South Asia: Challenges, Opportunities, And Geopolitical Dynamics, Ngo Tuan Thang, Tran My Hai Loc

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

India’s emergence as a net security provider in South Asia is a significant development, driven by its strategic interests and the region's shifting geopolitical landscape. This paper explores the challenges, opportunities, and broader geopolitical dynamics that shape India’s security policies and initiatives in South Asia. Through qualitative research and the lens of structural realism, the study assesses India's efforts to maintain regional stability, counter terrorism, and address security threats in its immediate neighborhood, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives. The analysis delves into the complexities posed by India’s traditional rivalries with Pakistan and China, highlighting how these …

Convergence Of Indonesia-South Korea Green Economy Strategy: A Case Study Of Hyundai Motor Group's Investment In The Ev Industry, Darynaufal Mulyaman, Dwi Agustina, Rudolf Davier Figo, Gabriel Alexander Mahameru Sipahutar, Abdullah Akbar Rafsanjani

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Hyundai Motor Group's investment in the electric vehicle (EV) industry in Indonesia reflects the convergence of green economy strategies between Indonesia and South Korea. The study aims to analyze the contribution of Hyundai investment in the development of the local EV ecosystem, including technology transfer, supporting infrastructure, and its impact on the bilateral relationship between the two countries. The research method used is a qualitative study with a case study approach. The results show that Hyundai Motor Group's investment supports Indonesia's green economy policy, despite challenges related to dependence on natural resources and infrastructure. This research contributes to academics and …

Indonesia In Brics: A Realist Perspective, Brice Tseen Fu Lee, Kotchaphop Kornphetcharat, Juan Pablo Sims

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Indonesia’s 2025 accession to BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) appears at odds with the country’s long-standing bebas-aktif (“free and active”) tradition of non-alignment. This article explains the move through a layered realist approach and a purely theoretical, deductive method. First, the study integrates structural, offensive, and neoclassical realism to clarify four key mechanisms external balancing, hedging, relative gains, and status-seeking. It then maps propositions about what BRICS can offer Indonesia and tests them against existing realist scholarship on middle powers and emerging-power clubs. Analysis shows that BRICS chiefly serves as an external-balancing instrument, reducing Jakarta’s reliance on …

Emancipation From Liberalism: From Afghanistan To Iran And Transatlantic Worlds. An Interview With Nivi Manchanda. (Interviewed By Bojan Savić), Bojan Savic, Nivi Manchanda

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

Nivi Manchanda discusses with Bojan Savić intersections of (post)colonial othering and liberal internationalism.

Entropy Economics And American Politics In A Multipolar World. An Interview With James K. Galbraith. (Interviewed By Lillian Cicerchia), Lillian Cicerchia, James K. Galbraith

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Are We Witness To The Disintegration Of Capital’S Laws Of Motion? A Review Of Jodi Dean’S Capital’S Grave: Neofeudalism And The New Class Struggle (Verso Books, 2025), Kai Heron

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Review Of Jodi Dean, Capital’S Grave: Neofeudalism And The New Class Struggle (Verso Books, 2025), James R. Martel

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Will There Be A Pill For That? ‘Money Dysmorphia’ And The Medicalization Of Struggles For Subsistence, Bojan Savic

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

This article questions the rationality, operation, and effects of money dysmorphia as an emerging mental health diagnosis. It critiques the medicalization of financial angst amid the capitalist “polycrisis”, showing how the individuation and somatic pathologization of class subordination, socioeconomic precarity, and struggles for subsistence obscure capitalist inequalities, depoliticize them, and shield them from critique. I identify five concurrent strategies through which struggles for subsistence are medicalized: trivialization, reversal of social import, repetition, direct depoliticization, and the substitution of inequality with poverty. Furthermore, I show how the medicalizing discourse reifies money dysmorphia by constructing its social costs. The article concludes by …

Eviscerating The State: The New Oligarchic And Authoritarian Project To Undermine American Constitutional Democracy, Jean L. Cohen

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Russia And The War In Ukraine: Three Critical Myths, Nicholas Kiersey

Political Science Faculty Publications

Though often framed as a conflict between an autocratic regime and a liberal democracy, the Russo-Ukrainian War also represents a direct challenge to the post-1989 global order and its cosmopolitan norms. Paradoxically, many Critical International Relations (IR) theorists—once skeptical of Western militarism—now align with liberal interventionist responses to the war. Drawing on Cunliffe’s concept of the “utopianism of unipolarity,” this article argues that Critical IR has embraced a reductive “good war” narrative that casts Ukraine as a virtuous subaltern state resisting Russian imperialism, while dismissing left critiques as denials of Ukrainian “agency.” In doing so, Critical IR reproduces cultural myths …

The Constellation Of American Voters: Understanding Americans Who Live In And Out Of American Municipalities, Jordan Duffin Wong

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

More than 130 million Americans live in unincorporated areas, or the spaces outside the boundaries of cities, towns, and villages. Despite this, relatively little attention has been paid to whether, how, and why residents of unincorporated areas differ from their municipality-dwelling counterparts. In this dissertation, I explore the answers to these questions by establishing a new theoretical framework that rigorously defines, bounds, and partitions unincorporated space. Drawing on the near-universe of American voters, I illustrate, with unparalleled precision, where and how Americans have sorted into and out of municipalities, and show that different mechanisms drive these phenomena. Furthermore, I explore …

Analyzing National War Propaganda Through Comparison Of Diverse Case Studies, Ike Sugitani

Dissertations and Theses

In the build-up to war, national governments utilize propaganda to gather public support for the war effort. In some instances, propaganda campaigns are conducted but war does not occur. This begs the question as to why war follows propaganda campaigns in some cases, but not in others. I argue that propaganda efforts that lead to war can be generally characterized through three major strategies based on a patriotic participatory social structure, a claim to moral authority, and the blending of individual concepts of the state, government and nation. In this study, I analyze the major historical case studies of the …

Arts & Literature: In Gaza, Christmas Was A Time To Mourn: Christians Reflected On Bloodshed And Loss, Yousef M. Aljamal

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This feature article presents a poignant reflection on the deeply altered reality for Palestinian Christians in Gaza during Christmas amidst the ongoing Israeli bombardment and genocide. Traditionally a time of joy and community, Christmas was marked this year by grief, displacement, and loss for the dwindling Christian population, now estimated at only 600 people due to years of siege and war. The article recounts the destruction of historic churches, the deaths of 26 Christians including children, and the collective mourning of families like that of Ramez Al-Suri, who lost all three of his children in an airstrike. Through personal testimonies, …

Arts & Literature: The Destruction Of Smyrna In 1922: A Conversation With Petros Pourliakas, Author Of Salty Silk, Petros Pourliakas

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

In 1922, the once-cosmopolitan city of Smyrna—modern-day Izmir—was engulfed in flames, marking the end of a centuries-long Hellenic presence in Asia Minor. The catastrophe, which followed the Greco-Turkish War and occurred amidst the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands and the displacement of hundreds of thousands more. In his 2022 book Salty Silk, Greek author Petros Pourliakas recounts the tragedy, focusing on the humanitarian heroism that emerged in the midst of horror. I spoke with Pourliakas about his research, the moral complexities of recounting a national trauma, and the legacy of a …

Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies, David Pfrimmer

Consensus

Gushee, D. P. (2023). Defending democracy from its Christian enemies. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN: 9781467466219

Brexit And The Devolution Of Uk Settlements: A Qualitative Case Study Of The Socio-Political Factors And Consequences Of Brexit On Scotland, Deborah Erioluwa Adeniji

Masters Theses

This paper takes a real in-depth look at the United Kingdom’s position in the geopolitical landscape before and after one of the most crucial votes in the nation’s history, namely the Brexit vote of 2016. To bring clarity to those who may be new to UK politics, it is important to note that Brexit is an abbreviated term for Britain’s exit, or departure, from the European Union (EU). This paper explores the position of the United Kingdom, or Britain, in the world before and after its departure from the European Union. Throughout the course of this paper, the following questions …

Systemist Graphics: Perspectives On Visualizing International Studies, Sarah Gansen, Yasemin Akbaba

Political Science Faculty Publications

This perspective article comments on the four articles within the Social Sciences Special Issue on ‘Systemism and International Studies’ within the broader scholarly and pedagogical context of the discipline. The special issue contributors successfully demonstrate applications of systemism across distinct fields, bringing expert perspectives to graphic design. We identified numerous contributions in theory building and refinement, active learning pedagogy, collaboration within and across disciplines, and partnership among policymakers and scholars. Limitations and obstacles, such as the lack of visual layering and the learning curve for systemist notation, are also noted. This commentary unfolds in four sections: an introduction providing an …

When Culture Becomes Law: Mayan Heritage And The New Constitutional Recognition Of Collective Rights In Mexico, José Israel Herrera, Victor Manuel Colli Ek

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract. The constitutional reform of September 30, 2024 to article 2 marks a substantive change in the recognition of indigenous peoples as subjects of public law, with their own patrimony, valid normative systems and express right to conserve, protect and develop their cultural, material and immaterial heritage. This article analyzes the legal implications of this reform in the context of the Maya people, especially with regard to collective intellectual property, the right to prior consultation and the constitutional recognition of bioculturality. A critical reading of the new normative framework is proposed, with emphasis on its transformative potential for the territorial …