Political Science Commons^™

The Rise Of Boko Haram: An Analysis Of Failed Governance, Andrew Pichette '18

Outstanding Gateway Papers

The Boko Haram threat in Nigeria has been the subject of constant review as of the last few years. Underlying causes as well as the organizational ideology have consistently been the subject of investigation. While popularly considered to be an Islamic extremist group, academic thought has proposed that Islam is used as a means of legitimization rather than motivation, and that socio-economic and political realities are far more relevant to explaining the activities of Boko Haram. The purpose of this essay is to examine the origins of Boko Haram, how the government has reacted, and propose solutions to the deeply …

Canadian Christian Nationalism?: The Religiosity And Politics Of The Christian Heritage Party Of Canada, Leah A D Mckeen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this dissertation I examines the worldview and concerns held by members of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada (CHP) as a means of understanding Canada’s Christian Right. I present a perspective of Canada’s Christian Right that challenges assumptions made about this religio-political ideology by showing how the political choices made by members of the CHP make sense within the members’ context. The CHP is a federal political party, first registered in 1986, that markets itself as “Canada’s only pro-life party.” Although the party was initially developed by a group of conservative Protestants and Roman Catholics, the majority of its …

The Political Power Of The Black Church, Chanse Jamal Travis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black churches are more than spiritual gathering places, they are power centers within the black community. Dr. King and Malcolm X used churches as mobilization centers in their attempts to equip African Americans with political information and the frame of mind needed for political change. When combining the various roles of the black church, over time, the church has gained leverage within the community and this leverage has translated into the church having political power. How exactly does this political power translate? From the pulpit, to be exact, through the power of persuasion. The public face of any church, especially …

How The Eu Membership Has Affected Turkey’S Political Environment, Emre Kantarci

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis aims to analyze and argue how the membership process for the European Union has affected Turkish politics and to what outcome it led Turkey. Starting with the EU candidacy, Turkey has gone through radical political changes, most of which have proved negative given the history of the country. Such changes included the weakening of the Turkish Army, strengthening of Kurdish separatism, the rise of Islamic-oriented parties, and Turkey’s political shift away from western-orientation. First, the EU and its history will be analyzed analyzed as a way to illustrate the requirements for Turkey as a candidate nation. Afterwards, I …

Divided Schools And Divided Societies: Ethnic Saliency, Socialization, And Attitudes Among High School Seniors In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Matthew Thomas Becker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the role of schools, families, and other-group contact on ethnic saliency and student attitudes towards outside groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) via statistical analysis. It was found that families, via familial example, have a statistically significant (p < 0.001) effect on increasing tolerance towards outside groups, and schools tend to play a secondary role due to a high degree of ethnic homogeneity within secondary schools. Frequency of religious service attendance also plays a statistically significant role in increasing ethnic saliency. Another significant finding is that a majority of high school seniors are not opposed to socializing outside of their own respective ethno-national groups. This dissertation finds that a coupling and de-coupling of ethno-national identity and religion are currently taking place in BiH; among Bosniaks and Croats they are coupled, whereas among Serbs and self-identifying Bosnians they are de-coupled. Data was gathered via field surveys taken by high school seniors from 78 high schools in 53 cities and towns located across the country.

The Political Economy Of Property Rights In China: Local Officials, Incentive Structure, And Private Enterprises, Ingrid Yingxia Li

Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation tries to solve two puzzling questions in China’s economic miracle: why some private firms enjoy better property rights protection than others under similar political and economic institutional conditions. Secondly, under the incentive structure designed by the central government, why some local officials in some localities actively protected private property rights than others hence foster local economic development. Existing literature either emphasizes social networks or focuses on fiscal decentralization and personnel control system. But neither these accounts is able to systematically explain the considerable variation of private property rights protection across regions and over time.

I develop a game-theoretical …

The Liberal Commercial Peace, Regional Considerations: International Relations Of Southeast Asia, Latin America, And The European Union Countries, Chienwu Hsueh

Theses and Dissertations

Most of the large-N empirical studies on the liberal commercial peace theory demonstrate that, in general, trade has a robust pacifying effect in reducing the probability of dyadical militarized interstate disputes. However, why trade’s pacifying effect varies across time and space remains a puzzle that previous research has not yet solved. The liberal commercial peace literature suggests the following questions are in need of answers: Why does trade promote peace mainly in inter-region dyads but not in intra-region dyads? What are the preconditions that make trade’s pacifying effect work or not work? In this research, I argue that there are …

The Domestic Adoption Of International Human Rights Law: The Roles Of Regional And National High Courts In Latin America, Rebecca Ann Reid

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the question: under what conditions do regional and national high courts matter in the promotion and domestic incorporation of international human rights law? In order to address this question, I argue that domestic high courts can proactively adopt international human rights laws through their interpretation of the law and resulting case decisions. Regional courts promote international law, particularly through their requirement of domestic legal reforms in their judgments. I examine the extent of state compliance with these requirements, where compliance consists of these changes in the domestic legal system thereby institutionalizing international laws and transforming them into …

Invisible Suffering: Practitioner Reflections On Peacebuilding Programs With Youth Exposed To Traumatic Stressors In Intergroup Conflict, Liza Hester

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For decades, the international community has recognized that youth are some of the most vulnerable to mental and emotional distress within the intractable and cyclical nature of identity-based violent conflict. Exposure to traumatic stressors within these intergroup conflicts poses unique risks not only to the neurological and social development of youth, but also to the capacities of youth to fully participate in peacebuilding interventions. The peacebuilding field has yet to strongly consider how traumatic stress affects dynamics within programs for youth and how these programs may need to modify expectations of youth’s cognitive, social, and emotional functioning to account for …

Efficacy And Voting In The Obama Era, Christian Eli Genesky

Wayne State University Theses

In the past 50 years political science and sociological scholarship has demonstrated a consistent white-minority gap in political attitudes and behaviors. However, recent developments in the national political scene have introduced a new element that likely impacts these well-established trends, and must be taken into account: Barak Obama, an individual identifying with a minority group, ran for the office of the president of the United States. To explore the impact of Obama’s presence on the political behavior of minorities, I performed a secondary data analysis of variables from both the pre-election and post-election modules of the ANES 2008 Time-Series study, …

Women’S Involvement In The Sandinistas And The Farc, Derek Comba

Undergraduate Research Journal

Historically, women have been constantly excluded from combat in war except in times of dire need. Even today women are not allowed in the overwhelming majority of armies from around the world, and the ones that do allow women do not allow them on the front lines. Women have always been seen as not capable of war or as not needing to fight since the men can fight for them. Yet, time and time again it appears that guerrilla, insurgent, and terrorist groups have let women into their ranks. While large numbers of women fought in both the Sandinista National …

The Netherlands' Consideration Of Ethics And Justice Issues In Formulating Climate Change Policies, Vivian Ike

International Relations - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Functional Theory Of Congressional Standing, Jonathan R. Nash

Faculty Articles

The Supreme Court has offered scarce and inconsistent guidance on congressional standing—that is, when houses of Congress or members of Congress have Article III standing. The Court’s most recent foray into congressional standing has prompted lower courts to infuse analysis with separation-of-powers concerns in order to erect a high standard for congressional standing. It has also invited the Department of Justice to argue that Congress lacks standing to enforce subpoenas against executive branch actors.

Injury to congressional litigants should be defined by reference to Congress’s constitutional functions. Those functions include gathering relevant information, casting votes, and (even when no vote …

Preventing Balkanization Or Facilitating Racial Domination: A Critique Of The New Equal Protection, Darren L. Hutchinson

Faculty Articles

The Supreme Court requires that equal protection plaintiffs prove defendants acted with discriminatory intent. The intent rule has insulated from judicial invalidation numerous policies that harmfully impact racial and ethnic minorities. Court doctrine also mandates that state actors generally remain colorblind. The colorblindness doctrine has led to the judicial invalidation of policies designed to ameliorate the conditions of racial inequality. Taken together, these two equality doctrines facilitate racial domination. The Court justifies this outcome on the ground that the Constitution does not protect "group rights. "

Constitutional law theorists have criticized these aspects of equal protection doctrine. Recently, however, some …

Litigating State Interests: Attorneys General As Amici, Margaret H. Lemos, Kevin M. Quinn

Faculty Articles

An important strain of federalism scholarship locates the primary value of federalism in how it carves up the political landscape, allowing groups that are out of power at the national level to flourish—and, significantly, to govern—in the states. On that account, partisanship, rather than a commitment to state authority as such, motivates state actors to act as checks on federal power. Our study examines partisan motivation in one area where state actors can, and do, advocate on behalf of state power: the Supreme Court. We compiled data on state amicus filings in Supreme Court cases from the 1979–2013 Terms and …

Waiting For The Confidence Fairy: An Analysis Of European Sovereign Bond Spreads Before And After The Financial Crisis, David Uresti

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The 2008 Financial Crisis that began in the United States caused widespread panic throughout the financial sector which resulted in the collapse of some companies and large losses for others. The availability of credit declined even as investor confidence continued to deteriorate. The European periphery concluded that the Financial Crisis would be relegated to the American economy. However, in 2009 Greece suffered a credit downgrade that signaled that the financial shock entered European shores. Shortly thereafter Spain suffered a credit downgrade followed by Italy in 2010. Suddenly the threat of default by a number of European countries became very real. …

Untold Narratives: Refugee Experiences From Laos To Richmond, California, Laiseng Saechao

Scripps Senior Theses

Untold Narratives: A Refugee Experience from Laos to Richmond, California is focused on the Mien refugee experience from Laos to Richmond, California. This thesis highlights the ways Cold War politics, the Secret War, and heavy industrialization have impacted Mien communities who have been displaced from their homelands into refugee camps, and again through sponsorship into the United States. This thesis looks at political theories that discuss inequalities that exist, particularly through environmental degradation and negative health impacts that Mien refugees are experiencing in their resettlement into Richmond, California. Due to the limited scholarly articles and documented narratives that are available …

Coming Out Of The Margins: Lgbti Activists In Costa Rica And Nicaragua, Samantha Abelove

Scripps Senior Theses

For decades LGBTQ rights have been approached purely by a legal strategy, in particular advocating for the legalization of same-sex marriage. However, discrimination and violence against the LGBTQ community continues to be a major issue in Latin America because of cultural values such as Catholicism and machismo that uphold a standard of and, in turn, have control over people’s sexuality. Using a human rights approach towards the politics of sexuality, LGBTI activists in Costa Rican and Nicaragua have been successful in transforming public opinion about sexuality and more importantly, sexual diversity. As a result of their egalitarian framework and efforts …

Structural Realism And The New Cold War, Ka Ho Wong

Bachelor of Social Sciences – Senior Theses

The Cold War mentality such as misperception which is deep-rooted in the American and Russian government has triggered the revival of U.S.-Russian conflicts. The new Cold War would be a continuation from the past that operates with an action-and-reactions model. However, with the change of geopolitical situation, the new Cold War would be conducted in different means.

The structural constraints suggested by the structural realist would be an explanation for the emergence of new Cold War. The structural realism makes contributions of the idea of misperception，over-exaggeration, and balance of power that is a product of an anarchic international system. The …

New Models Of The Unilateral Presidency, Yu Ouyang

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Though scholars have assessed the unilateral presidency with renewed interests, the literature remains weak in three important areas. What relation, if any, exists between the public and presidential unilateral actions? What impact does the judiciary have on unilateral presidential power? To what extent do presidents use the many tools in the unilateral policy toolchest? The three essays in this dissertation address each of these questions in term. Results have implications for both the unilateral presidency and broader works in executive decision-making and democratic governance.

When Security Dominates The Agenda: The Influence Of Interstate Rivalry On Women's Status, Theresa Schroeder

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

The overarching theme of my dissertation is the effect of interstate rivalries on women’s status. Specifically, I investigate the influence of rivalries on the election of women, the adoption of a gender quota, and the overall level of gender equality. National security is a prime concern in states involved in an interstate rivalry, which can influence women’s lives in a number of key ways. Through the actions of individual voters and rational parties, I find that being in an interstate rivalry leads to lower levels of female representation. In addition, I theorize that rivalries lessen societal pressure to increase female …

Structure Matters: How Organizational Characteristics Affect Military Efforts, Michael A. Morgan

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Military organizations develop a unique set of practices and procedures in response to their particular political, economic, and social circumstances. The characteristics of these organizations shape standardized behaviors, methods of training personnel, and the degree of stratification within their bureaucratic hierarchies. This study examines how organizational characteristics influence battlefield effectiveness, patterns of alliance formation, and the security of United Nations peacekeepers.

Chapter 2 evaluates how differences in personnel sophistication and bureaucratic stratification influence battlefield efficacy. A military may devote substantial resources to develop war plans and procure advanced technology, but these assets are of limited consequence in the absence of …

The Effect Of The Oil Trade Network On Political Stability, Jungmoo Woo

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

My dissertation focuses on the impact of oil trade ties and network on political instability: democratization, civil war onset, and coups. Oil is an important resource to most states, while a few states, especially autocratic states, can produce and export it. This implies that the break of oil trade ties may strategically or economically damage oil-importing states more than oil-exporting states. In the three essays of my dissertation, I argue that oil trade ties allow oil-exporting states to resist to external pressures and encourage oil-importing states to support important oil exporters in order to avoid losing access to a much-needed …

The U.S. And Mexican Cooperation: The Merida Initiative And Beyond, Yasemin Tekin

Pepperdine Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Unanswered Questions: Modernizing The Us Nuclear Arsenal And Forces?, Todd C. Royal

Pepperdine Policy Review

The United State strategic nuclear triad, consisting of land-based heavy bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) has been the ultimate provider of security for the US and its allies since the end of World War II. But with decades of neglect it is time for the US government to decide what it wants too do with the triad where recent problems have put the nuclear arsenal in a national light. These new revelations and challenges the US faces for its nuclear forces will be analyzed.

Decentralization In Violent Conflict Zones: Views From The Periphery, Emmi Bevensee

Capstone Collection

This thesis looks at the question of, “How can nations on the periphery of global capitalism sustainably negotiate with nations in the center of global capitalist power in the process of governance decentralization in violent conflict zones?” Decentralization here describes the process of power transfer of fiscal, political, and administrative duties from higher and more centralized entities to lower and more localized divisions. The process of decentralization is employed to cultivate participatory democratization, minority advocacy, peacebuilding, and development. Because of the nature of these needs decentralization is often accompanied by international intervention that uses the justification of “failed statehood.” This …

Soft Power Played On The Hardwood: United States Diplomacy Through Basketball, Joseph Bertka Eyen

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis demonstrates the importance of basketball as a form of soft power and a diplomatic asset to better achieve American foreign policy, which is defined and referred to as basketball diplomacy. Basketball diplomacy is also a lens to observe the evolution of American power from 1893 through present day. Basketball connects and permeates foreign cultures and effectively disseminates American influence unlike any other form of soft power, which is most powerfully illustrated by the United States’ basketball relationship with China. American basketball diplomacy will become stronger and connect with more countries with greater influence, and exist without relevant competition, …

Iran-Saudi Dynamic Relations And The Role Of Oman As A Negotiator, Natalie I. Ikerd

HIM 1990-2015

This thesis analyzes Iran-Saudi relations in the context of growing regional hostility. This research encompasses the domestic and foreign policies enacted by both states since 1979, accompanying a discussion of the historical background of their ties. Moreover, the future prospects of their relations regarding the utilization of Oman as a neutral negotiator for regional conflicts are examined. The significant contributing factors of each state to such dynamic ties include: the leadership, national security, religion-politics connection, and their reaction to global instability indicators. Recently, Iran-Saudi hostility has been worsening due to their policies in the region in reaction to regional events. …

Democracy On Trial: Examining Argentina's Response To The 1994 Terrorist Attack On The Amia Jewish Community Center In Buenos Aires, Amy Crawford

HIM 1990-2015

On July 18, 1994, the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, was bombed in what has been called the worst terrorist attack on Argentina in history. The bombing killed an estimated 86 people and wounded over 200. The Argentine government began a judicial investigation and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. Twenty years later, the case remains unresolved. The investigation has been marked by inefficiency and allegations of corruption. The recent, suspicious death of the lead prosecutor of the case has further called into question the legitimacy of Argentina’s government and justice system. …

Perspectives On The Eurozone Crisis: Assessing The Effects On The Political Systems Of Germany, France, And The United Kingdom, Caitlyn J. Myerson

HIM 1990-2015

In 2010, the reverberations of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis had created a whole new crisis in Europe. Five Eurozone countries, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Cyprus all had requested financial aid packages, unable to repay their national debt. The crisis is ongoing in Europe ever since, becoming the greatest challenge presented to the Eurozone since the monetary union was formed. The intent of this thesis is to explore the effects of the Eurozone crisis on the political systems of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. This thesis will study the effects utilizing the most prominent perspectives in political economy: …