Political Science Commons^™

Masthead

International Journal of Nuclear Security

No abstract provided.

From The Editor

International Journal of Nuclear Security

No abstract provided.

Ukraine At The Fulcrum: A Nuclear House Of Cards, Natalie Manaeva Rice, Dean P. Rice, Howard L. Hall

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The foundation of preserving and enhancing global nuclear security rests on three fundamental pillars: nuclear disarmament; preventing further proliferation of nuclear weapons; and international cooperation aimed at safeguarding nuclear materials. Today, experts argue that the recent decision of Russian president Vladimir Putin to cut cooperative efforts to secure nuclear materials are placing in peril the future of international efforts to promote global nuclear security. We argue that in addition to the clear erosion of the third pillar of nuclear security, there are more threatening ramifications resulting from the recent actions of Russia in Ukraine.

The aggressive actions of Russia in …

Subcontinental Nuclear Instability: The Spiralling Nightmare, Vijay Shankar

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The scheme that carved world order during the Cold War was a pitched battle for 'containment' against burgeoning communism. In turn, rationality gave way to the threat of catastrophic nuclear force as the basis of stability. If at all there is a historical lesson to be learned from that experience then it is that stability begins with serious and sustained dialogue between leadership; the alternative being what Kennedy termed "the peace of the grave." An appraisal of the contemporary global state of nuclear affairs will suggest that the three pillars of nuclear stability, namely, non-proliferation, control of fissile material production, …

The Nuclear Security Science And Policy Institute At Texas A&M University, Claudio A. Gariazzo, Kelley H. Ragusa, David R. Boyle, William S. Charlton, Sunil S. Chirayath, Craig M. Marianno, Paul Nelson Jr.

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) is a multidisciplinary organization at Texas A&M University and was the first U.S. academic institution focused on technical graduate education, research, and service related to the safeguarding of nuclear materials and the reduction of nuclear threats. NSSPI employs science, engineering, and policy expertise to: (1) conduct research and development to help detect, prevent, and reverse nuclear and radiological proliferation and guard against nuclear terrorism; (2) educate the next generation of nuclear security and nuclear nonproliferation leaders; (3) analyze the interrelationships between policy and technology in the field of nuclear security; and (4) …

Review Of Developing Quantitative Literacy Skills In History And The Social Sciences: A Web-Based Common Core Approach By Kathleen W. Craver, Victor J. Ricchezza, H L. Vacher

Numeracy

Kathleen W. Craver. Developing Quantitative Literacy Skills in History and Social Sciences: A Web-Based Common Core Standards Approach (Lantham MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2014). 191 pp.
ISBN 978-1-4758-1050-9 (cloth); ISBN …-1051-6 (pbk); ISBN…-1052-3 (electronic).

This book could be a breakthrough for teachers in the trenches who are interested in or need to know about quantitative literacy (QL). It is a resource providing 85 topical pieces, averaging 1.5 pages, in which a featured Web site is presented, described, and accompanied by 2-4 critical-thinking questions purposefully drawing on data from the Web site. The featured Web sites range from …

Democratic Governance, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

Governance under a democratic dispensation has been under attack in Pakistan. The yearning for a messiah or strong authoritarian leader who can fix the ‘mess’ created by the democratically elected leaders remains quite strong. The frequent transitions from the elected governments to the military government and vice-versa have created political instability and uncertainty and we have not learnt the lessons. Political uncertainty leads to a wait-and-see attitude on the part of investors. Lack of investment – both domestic and foreign – retards the pace of economic growth. Low growth rates result in high open unemployment and rise in poverty. Furthermore, …

Hopeful Losers? A Moral Case For Mixed Electoral Systems, Loren King

Political Science Faculty Publications

Liberal democracies encourage citizen participation and protect our freedoms, yet these regimes elect politicians and decide important issues with electoral and legislative systems that are less inclusive than other arrangements. Some citizens inevitably have more influence than others. Is this a problem? Yes, because similarly just but more inclusive systems are possible. Political theorists and philosophers should be arguing for particular institutional forms, with particular geographies, consistent with justice.

Les démocraties libérales encouragent la participation citoyenne et protègent nos libertés. Pourtant, ces régimes élisent des politiciens et décident de problèmes importants via les systèmes électoral et législatif, qui sont moins …

Westerman, Robert V., B. 1948 - Collector (Sc 2905), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2905. Letters to Leonard Burchfield, Louisville, Kentucky, from Representative William O. Cowger (3^rd District, Kentucky) and from Representative-elect Gene Snyder thanking him for his assistance in their elections. Includes two postcards from Cowger, sent from Venezuela and Cambodia.

Why Terrorist Networks Maintain Viability Within Today’S Modern Society., Cade Resnick Ph.D., Amy Guimond Ph.D, Heather Wellman Ph.D., Shawna Resnick M.S.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

Common concepts of terrorism refer to acts which are intended to create a system of fear. The ideological argument for terrorism relates to a politically and emotionally charged scenario in which terrorism is necessary. The development of a terrorist organization requires an environment that is ripe with social degradation and has idealistic minded people who are able to believe in a cause. The organization utilizes a social system to maintain its own stability and to retain the people who are involved within its self-contained community. Suffering oppression from its own government or an-other nation is a crucial component in fostering …

Interdisciplinary Modeling For Water-Related Issues Graduate Course, Laurel Saito, Alexander Fernald, Timothy Link

All ECSTATIC Materials

The science and management of aquatic ecosystems is inherently interdisciplinary, with issues associated with hydrology, atmospheric science, water quality, geochemistry, sociology, economics, environmental science, and ecology. Addressing water resources issues in any one discipline invariably involves effects that concern other disciplines, and attempts to address one issue often have consequences that exacerbate existing issues or concerns, or create new ones (Jørgensen et al. 1992; Lackey et al. 1975; Straskraba 1994) due to the strongly interactive nature of key processes (Christensen et al. 1996). Thus, research and management of aquatic ecosystems must be interdisciplinary to be most effective, but such truly …

Political Contributions By Asian Americans: An Analysis Of The 2014 Massachusetts Gubernatorial Campaign, Michael Liu, Paul Watanabe

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

The Institute for Asian American Studies’ report on political contributions by Asian Americans in the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign represented the first time that these contributions were systematically reported and analyzed.1 In that election, Asian Americans constituted 1.0% of all individual contributions. In terms of dollar value, those contributions accounted for 1.1% of the total dollar amount contributed. This report follows that initial study by examining Asian American political contributions to candidates for governor in 2014.

The 2014 governor’s race was energized by the fact that two-term incumbent Deval Patrick chose not to seek re-election. Patrick’s decision touched off a …

Governing New Jersey: Reflections On The Publication Of A Revised And Expanded Edition Of 'The Governors Of New Jersey', Michael J. Birkner

History Faculty Publications

New Jersey’s chief executive enjoys more authority than any but a handful of governors in the United States. Historically speaking, however, New Jersey’s governors exercised less influence than met the eye. In the colonial period few proprietary or royal governors were able to make policy in the face of combative assemblies. The Revolutionary generation’s hostility to executive power contributed to a weak governor system that carried over into the 19th and 20th centuries, until the Constitution was thoroughly revised in 1947. Before that date a handful of governors, by dint of their ideas and personalities, affected the polity in meaningful …

The Impact Of A Ballot Education Program On Arkansas Voters, Kristin Netterstrom Higgins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The University of Arkansas Division Of Agriculture’s Public Policy Center has educated Arkansas voters about statewide ballot issues for 10 years. The ballot issue education program, was evaluated during the 2014 election cycle to determine the program’s impact on voters. This descriptive study sought to describe program participants, to determine knowledge transfer of county agents, to describe knowledge acquisition of program participants, and to measure whether people who attended Cooperative Extension Service presentations made informed choices on Election Day. Researchers found that program participants were mostly older, educated, White women. There were increases in knowledge among participants who read fact …

The Historical Amnesia Of Contemporary Federalism Debates, Anna O. Law

Publications and Research

The article explores competing interpretations of immigration federalism in the 18th century. I argue that the 1787 Constitution did not clearly place authority to manage migration with the national government. In fact the Constitution does not discuss entry/exit policy, including the power of deportation. The debates over the Alien and Sedition Acts illustrate the diversity of opinions about the proper balance of authority between the subnational and national governments in migration. Debates over the potential expansion of national power were particularly heated in the antebellum period because migration and slave policy were inextricably linked. In the end, whatever guidance the …

Reflective Liberals And Intuitive Conservatives: A Look At The Cognitive Reflection Test And Ideology, Kristen D. Deppe, Frank J. Gonzalez, Jayme Neiman, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Jackson Pahlke, Kevin Smith, John R. Hibbing

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

Prior research finds that liberals and conservatives process information differently. Predispositions toward intuitive versus reflective thinking may help explain this individual level variation. There have been few direct tests of this hypothesis and the results from the handful of studies that do exist are contradictory. Here we report the results of a series of studies using the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) to investigate inclinations to be reflective and political orientation. We find a relationship between thinking style and political orientation and that these effects are particularly concentrated on social attitudes. We also find it harder to manipulate intuitive and reflective …

Religion And National Identity In Borderlands: Greek Catholics And Hungarian Reformed In Transylvania, Beth Admiraal

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Temporary Permanence Of Syrian Refugees In Jordan, Charles Edward Davidson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the wake of the 2011 Syrian Civil War, hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to neighboring Jordan. The government of Jordan received them and along with NGOs from around the world, provided for some of their most basic needs including food, education and healthcare. In the summer of 2014 I travelled to Amman and Mafraq, Jordan in order to learn more about the work being done among the Syrians by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). What I found was a variety of short-term aid projects designed by the NGOs to meet the various needs of the refugees. I learned of no …

Path Dependence In Intrastate Conflicts: Resources, Regimes, And Interventions, Ivan Medynskyi

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the patterns of path dependence in intrastate conflicts. It is motivated by three research questions: What factors determine a particular outcome of a civil war? How strong is their impact? What are the causal mechanisms in play? To examine these questions, this study introduces a theory of path dependence to the study of intrastate conflicts that bridges the gap between analyses of the phases of contention.

First, it examines the broad understanding of path dependence that highlights the impact of initial conditions on civil war outcomes. Then, this dissertation explores the narrower notion which focuses on the …

Poverty Within Nation-States: The Impact Of Corruption, Trade, Income Inequality, Population Growth, Foreign Aid, And Military Expenditure, Mustafa Karapinar

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Theoretical approaches to development have marginalized poverty and the individual from the developmental debates. Instead, these approaches place the state as the conventional unit of development and tended to address poverty at the societal level. In these respects, these approaches have neglected how development affects poverty at the individual level.

This study criticizes one of these approaches, the modernization theory of Development, and analyzes the relationship between poverty and some economic, political, and social factors. These factors include openness to trade, foreign aid, military expenditure, income inequality, corruption, and population. There have been several studies examining the relationship between poverty …

A Dream In Crisis, Ben Berger

Political Science Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Member States Resistance To Eu Foreign Policy Sanctions, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

European Union (EU) sanctions are agreed in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), a framework where the unanimity rule prevails and where individual Member States have a formal veto. Thus, Member State compliance with sanctions can be expected to be optimal: If Member States have serious objections to the imposition of sanctions, they can veto their adoption in the Council.Yet, while implementation is comparatively satisfactory, Member States have availed of opportunities to undermine the application of EU sanctions regimes at various levels. On the basis of the theoretical framework provided by Saurugger and Terpan, the present article explores various …

Eu Sanctions In Context: Three Types, Thomas Biersteker, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

All international sanctions are embedded in larger contexts of overlapping policy instruments and other sanctions regimes. Yet we tend to look at sanctions and evaluate their effectiveness from the vantage point of a single sender of sanctions – whether it is the UN, the EU, or an individual country like the United States – rather than consider the combined and interactive effects of different, co-existing sanctions regimes. EU sanctions tend to be imposed in conjunction with measures by other actors: their interplay deserves closer analysis in terms of sequencing, objectives, complexity and legitimacy. The latter is particularly important, given recent …

Occupy Judaism: Religion, Digital Media, And The Public Sphere, Ayala Fader, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This article provides an analysis of Occupy Judaism, an explicitly religious expression of Jewish protest, which occurred simultaneously with Occupy Wall Street, the direct-democracy movement of 2011. Occupy Judaism, like Occupy Wall Street, took place both in physical spaces of protest in New York City and digitally, through mobilizing and circulating debate. The article focuses on the words and actions of Daniel Sieradski, the public face and one of the key founders of Occupy Judaism, supplemented by the experiences of others in Occupy Judaism, Occupy Wall Street, and Occupy Faith (a Protestant clergy-led initiative). We investigate what qualified as religion …

Who Votes For Mayor? A Psu Pilot Research Report, Jason R. Jurjevich, Phil Keisling, Kevin Christopher Rancik, Carson Gorecki

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

Phil Keisling is director of the Center for Public Service at Portland State University in Oregon, which recently conducted research on who votes in mayoral elections with Knight Foundation support.

The last 10 to 20 years have been times of revitalization and progress for many of America’s big cities. While there are certainly exceptions, many major city downtowns have been revitalized, often with the money and energy of younger entrepreneurs. Committed and often well-educated “young creatives” have helped turn many urban cores into desirable places to live, work, and raise families.

But as much as younger residents have often played …

Compulsory Voting In Latin America: Good Or Bad For Democracy?, Ian Hansen, Dr. Darren Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Using survey data from across Latin America, I sought to determine whether compulsory voting laws have negative effects on constituents’ views toward democracy. I expected to find that such laws influence voters to have lower appraisals of democracy in their country.

The analysis yielded results that lend significant support to my theory. Controlling for individual demographic variables and the country-level indicators of GDP per capita and GINI Index (which measures economic inequality), it appears that compulsory voting laws do, in fact, have a statistically significant effect on support for and satisfaction with democracy. Further, although the substantive effects are small, …

Voter Turnout: How Femininity And Competence Affect Attitudes Toward Female Political Candidates, Holly Henrich, Dr. Chris Karpowitz

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Currently, the United States ranks as the 86th country in women’s representation in government,with 18.2 percent of seats in the House of Representatives and 20 percent representation in the Senate (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2014). With a nation that is half comprised of women, questions are raised as to why women have historically been underrepresented in government. More coverage on the physical appearances and fashion choices of female political candidates has far exceeded the coverage given to their male counterparts (Rosholm, 2009). How female political candidates are initially perceived based on their physical attributes may be a contributing factor as to why …

Looking For Two-Sided Coattail Effects: Integrated Parties And Multilevel Elections In The U.S., Amuitz Garmendia Madariaga, H. Ege Ozen

Publications and Research

In the context of the American federalism, integrated parties provide the necessary coordination mechanism for state and federal politicians to be electorally successful. This argument rests on the assumption that voters are able to observe the benefits of voting a straight ticket. We test this individual level explanation by using the CCES data. Moreover, at the aggregate level, we measure the so-called ‘two-sided’ coattail effects in concurrent multilevel elections in the U.S. since 1960. By using a simultaneous equation model, we estimate the reciprocal relationship between presidential and gubernatorial vote shares at the state level. While we find no consistent …

Upholding The Inartful Drafting Of Obamacare, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Posting about ­­­­­­­­a recent challenge to the national Affordable Care Act (ACA) from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/upholding-the-inartful-drafting-of-obamacare/

Opportunism In Ugandan Ngos: A Randomized Field Experiment, Eric Reuben Smith

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Corruption undermines the effectiveness of international development. The financial integrity of non-governmental organizations (NGO) can be improved by donor-to-organization contact, but foreign donors rarely travel to countries such as Uganda. This project involved a randomized design to compare the size of project bids by NGO management when approached by potential donors (foreigners) or donor representatives (Ugandan citizens). Local donor representatives were more likely to be denied information during an in-person visit than the foreigners visiting NGOs. Otherwise, foreign potential donors were provided with information that was the same as local representatives, except in 6 instances in which bids were substantially …