Political Science Commons^™

Covering The 1972 Chisholm Campaign: Shaping Perceptions And Postponing Progress, Andrea Diekman

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

In order to get their voices heard, groups with different interests and needs, often racially, socially, and economically marginalized groups, must take an active role in developing policies. Political representation is essential in articulating the need for change and then creating that change. Both women and African Americans have different significant problems gaining political office that their White male counterpoints do not. African American women are especially disadvantaged because of their challenges with the interlocking oppressions of both racism and sexism. A specific woman and candidacy that this study examines more closely was for the presidency. In 1972, Shirley Chisholm …

Cross-Cutting Concerns: The Varying Effects Of Partisan Cues In The Context Of Social Networks, Benjamin King Smith

Dissertations and Theses

The theory of motivated reasoning predicts that partisan cues in the media will affect political attitudes, by encouraging individuals to align their views with those of their party's elites. The effect has primarily been tested by looking at issues which have pre-established partisan positions (e.g. immigration reform, gay rights, etc.). This study looks at the effects of partisan cues in the media on attitudes toward a non-partisan issue, the NSA's collection of American's meta-data. Additionally, the study extends research on partisan cues by exploring the moderating role of an individual's political communication network and, specifically, exposure to cross-cutting political communication. …

Social Welfare Policy Reform Since The 1990s: Comparison Of The United Kingdom And The Czech Republic, Rebekah Buege

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Many European countries, including the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, have developed reputations for innovative social policies. Since the creation of the European Union (EU), many national policies have remained in place while others have continued to evolve at a much faster pace, including means-tested forms of assistance such as a minimum income guarantee. The economic crisis in 2009 caused this particular benefit to attract more attention across Europe. These two countries, the UK in the capitalist West, and the Czech Republic, a formerly communist, young democracy in East-Central Europe, have been considered leaders in welfare, anti-poverty reform. More …

The State Partnership Program: States As Global Actors: The Implications Of Nonaggressive National Forces, Ellen Ahlness

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States sought to increase its influence in Western Europe and Central Asia. The primary military mechanism used to increase presence and ideological influence was the State Partnership Program. This program, modeled heavily after the Norwegian Reciprocal Troop Exchange, used reserve forces instead of active duty forces to lessen the aggression levels perceived by Russian command. This use of reserve forces gave individual American states a greater degree of involvement in international military operations. Since the creation of the State Partnership Program, 65 state/country partnerships have been established. The goals have also …

An Ordinary Congressman And An Extraordinary Scandal: Alex Mcmillan And Iran-Contra, Rob Matsick

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The Iran-Contra Affair was an infamous soap opera that pushed the Reagan Administration to the brink of annihilation. The repercussions to the main players of this and other tantalizing political affairs have been regurgitated ad nauseum. However, the effects on the more general political scene are often ignored. This paper is a case study that examines the diversionary political route that Alex McMillan, a Congressman unknown outside of North Carolina, takes to handle the negative effects of a Republican crisis to a Congressman that shares the party, but not the blame, for a national scandal. This case study aims …

The Under-Representation Of Minorities In Political Careers, Chelsea Barr, Ina Pae

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Numerous studies have found that people of color, women, and those with physical challenges are significantly under-represented in political careers due to societal barriers. For example, women’s participation in politics shows some improvement while women occupy only 12% of the political careers. To explore whether students and professors interested in political careers have experienced under-representation of minorities, a mixed-method approach with both surveys and interviews of Minnesota State University, Mankato, students and professors from the departments of Government and Gender and Women’s Studies were utilized. These students were selected because both fields study political institutions, and are likely to seek …

Willingness-To-Pay For Renewable Wind Energy: Differences In Preferences Between Demographic Groups, Carlton D. Reed, William H. Scott

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

Many surveys have shown that public acceptance of wind energy is high in general; however there always seems to be concerns at the local level during the siting and permitting process. This shows that people understand that clean wind energy is an essential need, however people do not normally want to have turbines in their own community. This choice experiment determines which benefits people prefer and which trade-offs people are willing to make in order to host a wind farm in their community. The effectiveness of several attributes, and their respective ability to rid apathy and concerns about local wind …

Towards Common European Energy Policy, Mariam Dekanozishvili

Theses and Dissertations

A common European energy policy is emerging. That poses a puzzling instance of European integration and policy‐making. Despite the origins of the European integration project rooted in the coal and nuclear sectors, integration in the energy domain largely failed until the 1990s. The last two decades, however, witnessed an increasing number of energy policy initiatives at the European Union (EU) level and culminated in the inclusion of the energy article in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty.

The dissertation aims to explain under what conditions, and how, European integration succeeds in the domain of energy policy, based on a novel fuzzy‐set qualitative …

How Much Do Groups Still Matter To Politics? An Examination Of Group Influences On Public Opinion, Lauren E. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Public opinion plays an important role in democracy. A system of government designed specifically to be by the people, for the people and of the people must by necessity listen to the opinions of the people. Accordingly, an important research agenda is determining conditions under which public opinion is listened to and translated into government responsiveness. Most of the public opinion literature answering this question focuses specifically on individual opinion. I argue that this is problematic because politics is ultimately carried out in terms of the collective. Further, I argue that collective opinion is often voiced through groups in society …

Do Americans’ Perceptions Of The Prevalence Of Prejudice Impact Their Racial Policy Preferences? Investigating Meta-Stereotypes As A Potential Causal Mechanism, Alexandra Reckendorf

Theses and Dissertations

Racial discrimination, though more subtle than in the past, is still an enduring presence in 21st century America. Whether looking at education, health care, the workforce, housing/lending practices, or the criminal justice system, studies routinely confirm that racial prejudice and discrimination persist despite claims of a “post-racial” America. Yet, despite the perseverance of racial prejudice and discrimination, policies correcting racial injustice remain contentious, either failing to receive the requisite support to pass reforms or receiving backlash from the public. This project explores meta-stereotypes in the Black and white communities, and highlights meta-stereotypes’ potential impact when determining why some individuals support …

Vision 2020: An Analysis Of Policy Implementation And Agrarian Change In Rural Rwanda, Sterling Recker

Dissertations

In 2000, President Paul Kagame introduced a plan to alleviate poverty as well as to maintain political control over the policy process through a decentralized bureaucracy. Since adoption of Vision 2020 in 2000, Rwanda has been reforming its rural sector to commercialize agriculture, reduce pressures on land, and move the country into middle income status by the year 2020. In order to achieve the goals outlined in Vision 2020, the Government of Rwanda (GoR) adopted a policy of administrative decentralization in 2001 to facilitate the transition from subsistence to commercial agriculture. I am addressing two related questions: 1) How has …

Primary Schooling As Protective And Endangering: The Case Of Education In War-Affected Gulu District, Sarah Gates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The changing nature of armed conflict in the 21^st century, marked by indiscriminate targeting of civilians, poses severe challenges for the continuation of teaching and learning in war-affected countries. Conflict may affect schooling directly through attacks on students, teachers, and schools, as well as indirectly by affecting individuals' livelihoods, the state's capacity to deliver services, and refugee flows. Further, schools may reflect conflict and violence through oppressive or divisive linguistic policies or curricula, the use of corporal punishment, and sexual violence against students. However, the existing empirical research on the nexus between education and conflict, by focusing on indicators …

Women’S Representation In The Highest Court: A Comparative Analysis Of The Appointment Of Female Justices, Melody Ellis Valdini, Christopher Shortell

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The presence of women justices in the highest court varies significantly from country to country. Using an original data set of women’s representation in the highest constitutional courts in 50 democracies, we assess the causes of this variation. We find, contrary to the prevailing view, that the strength of the institution is not significantly related to the number of women on the court. Instead, we find that the existence of a “sheltered” versus “exposed” selection mechanism is the critical determinant of women’s presence. That is, when the selectors are sheltered from electoral accountability, they are less likely to select women …

The Threat Of Terrorism And The Changing Public Discourse On Immigration After September 11, Joshua Woods, C. Damien Arthur

Political Science Faculty Research

This article uses articles from the opinion-leading press to investigate how the news media's repertoire of negative portrayals changed after the September 11 terrorist attacks. It is based on a systematic random sample of 360 articles from two, opinion-leading newspapers---one known for its liberal slant (New York Times) and one known for its conservative slant (Wall Street Journal). The sample is drawn from a large population of articles published over a six-year period (1998-2004). The findings show that the percentage of negative frames involving not only terrorism but also other non-terrorist threats increased significantly after September 11. The elevated frequency …

An Interpretive Plan Guide For Wilderness Park In Lincoln, Nebraska, Rachel J. Ward

Community and Regional Planning Program: Professional Projects

Wilderness Park, located in Lancaster County, Nebraska, is a public park of unique ecological and historical value to the city of Lincoln and to the surrounding region. The natural and historical features of the park present an opportunity to communicate environmental and historical topics that are relevant on local, national, and global levels, as well as inspire a lively sense of pride in the community. The problem is that many topics relevant to Wilderness Park are not currently being interpreted at the park, and that there are relatively few interpretive resources available to park visitors.

The purpose of this project …

Friedrich A. Hayek: The Road To Serfdom Condensed Version Study Guide, 2009, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of The First- And Second-Level Of Agenda Building With The Image Of China's President Xi Jinping In Xinhua And Four U.S. News Outlets, Zhuqing Cheng

Theses - ALL

Sources provide information subsidies to journalists at a low cost with the intention of passing on their agendas by providing the information subsidies to the media. This process is called agenda building, serving as the theoretical framework guiding this study.

Many studies have examined agenda building in political campaigns, while others have looked at it in a business context. This study tries to further test agenda building by investigating in the context of mediated public diplomacy to see how foreign leaders use the news to build images in another country. Such image building efforts have the potential to influence the …

Failure Of Democratic Consolidation: The Three Year Interlude Of Military Rule (1958-1962) In Burma, Zaw Thein

Masters Theses

Many scholars believe that the period between 1948 when Burma won Independence and 1962 when the military took over the country from the elected civilian government as the parliamentary democracy era. During this era, there was a three-year interlude where the military leaders ruled the country as the Caretaker Government- a euphemism for the three-year military interlude. My argument is that this interlude happened due to the growing strength of the military as an institution and the decline of political parties in Burma. The strength of the military institution was due to the civil war that broke out just after …

Unrecognized States: A Theory Of Self-Determination And Foreign Influence, Kristina Buzard, Benjamin A.T. Graham, Ben Horne

Economics - All Scholarship

Unrecognized states are characterized by stagnant or crumbling economies and political instability, often serve as havens for illicit trade, and challenge the territorial sovereignty of recognized states. Their persistence is both intellectually puzzling and normatively problematic, but unrecognized statehood can be a remarkably stable outcome, persisting for decades. Our four-player model reveals that unrecognized statehood emerges as an equilibrium outcome when a patron state is willing and able to persistently invest resources to sustain it. We assess options available to actors in the international community who seek to impose their preferred outcomes in these disputes and find that, although sanctions …

Coercive Airpower In The Precision Age: The Effects Of Precision Guided Munitions On Air Campaign Duration, Brett A. King

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Prior scholarship on the duration of coercive air campaigns has often focused on regime type, the adversary’s vulnerability (of both military forces and civilian population), and the involvement of additional forces (ground/naval). Strong findings emerged that emphasized the significance of democratic attackers and the target state’s vulnerability to their political and military strategies. These findings, however, do not address the role of the technological capabilities of the attacking states’ air forces. A more detailed explanation of military capabilities may help to fill in this hole in the research, particularly how military capabilities affect the coercing state’s ability to coerce an …

Structural Causes Of Social Conflict In Africa, Lucien Charland

HIM 1990-2015

Social conflict, as opposed to armed conflict, has received less attention in the field of quantitative research. This paper investigates the structural causes of political violence in 35 African states using data from the Social Conflict in Africa dataset and the Beck and Katz panel corrected standard errors time series regression model. Theoretically, a closed political opportunity structure, combined with a weak state unable to provide public goods, should together produce high levels of social conflict. The independent variables attempt to operationalize these concepts from four different angles. In this analysis Access to Education and Infrastructure (AEI), Ethno Linguistic Fractionalization …

The Presidency Effect, Doreen K. Allerkamp

Dissertations - ALL

From humble beginnings with the merely managerial duties of a formal Chair, the rotating Council Presidency of the European Union (EU) has evolved into a crucial player in the context of EU decision making, although its impact remains largely unaddressed in accounts of EU output. More than from its formal job description, the rotating Presidency's four roles derive from the (informal) decision dynamics of the Council and the expectations it faces from its fellow Council members and the other EU institutions. Together, these factors can motivate the member state holding the Presidency to wield every tool at its disposal and …

Adoption Of External Voting In Latin America And The Caribbean, Hafthor Brynjar Erlingsson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The number of countries worldwide that have allowed citizens abroad the opportunity to vote in elections taking place in their country-of-origin has risen sharply in the last thirty years. Many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have followed this global trend of granting voting rights to their migrant communities. However, the source of this trend in Latin America and the Caribbean has not been well addressed in the political science literature. This study seeks to minimize that gap by analyzing the determinants of external voting rights for 27 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, using data from 1980-2012. …

Integrated Casino Resort Plan In Korea: The Perception Of Korean Government Representatives, Donghwa Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Asian casino market has been rapidly expanding in recent years as evidenced by the success of recently built integrated resorts (IR) in Macau. In light of the successes in Macau, the Korean government has decided to allow an IR to be built near the Incheon International Airport in Korea. The airport, with its great number of transient passengers, provides ample potential customers for the proposed IR. Combining the two factors of Asian casino market growth, and the high number of potential customers, the Incheon IR has a great chance for success.

The Korean government entertained bids from two different …

The State And Civil Society In The Arab Middle East, Stacey E. Pollard

Dissertations

While the notion that civil society organizations can democratize authoritarian regimes from below has become an article of faith among many policy makers and democracy promoters, some area experts warn that practitioners and advocates should not overestimate civil society's democratizing role. This dissertation challenges a large body of scholarship on civil society by arguing that while civil society may constitute a democratic force in any given polity it may also be comprised of less democratic, even radically undemocratic forces as well. Therefore, commensurate with the research yielding that finding, this project argues that on an account of the nature of …

Mediated Homestyle: Congressional Strategy And Local Press Relations In The 111th House Of Representatives, Michael K. Romano

Dissertations

For over thirty years, research on Congressional behavior has provided evidence of a link between constituent opinions and the ways in which members publically conduct themselves. Homestyle (Fenno, 1978: pg. 32), the way members “cultivate their constituencies,” has emphasized that personal encounters between members and their constituents is an effective strategy for decreasing the level of uncertainty members have about their approval. Homestyle, however, overlooks the fact that members of Congress cannot directly interact with their constituents on a daily basis. The mass media, specifically local media outlets, help legislators by transmitting relevant information about political events and legislators’ actions …

Uncovering The Origins Of The Gender Gap In Political Ambition, Richard L. Fox, Jennifer L. Lawless

Political Science and International Relations Faculty Works

Based on survey responses from a national random sample of nearly 4,000 high school and college students, we uncover a dramatic gender gap in political ambition. This finding serves as striking evidence that the gap is present well before women and men enter the professions from which most candidates emerge. We then use political socialization—which we gauge through a myriad of socializing agents and early life experiences—as a lens through which to explain the individual-level differences we uncover. Our analysis reveals that parental encouragement, politicized educational and peer experiences, participation in competitive activities, and a sense of self-confidence propel young …

A Melting Pot Of Voices: Public Discourse And The Latino Immigrant Experience In The United States, Elizabeth Katherine Vammen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the discourses surrounding the immigrant experience in the United States to reconcile first-hand accounts of Latino immigrant experiences with the discourse prevailing in broader domains such as immigration law, public forums, non-fiction essays, and the news media. In order to break down barriers that prevent productive discussions, this analysis identifies stifling language guised under what Antonio Gramsci defines common sense rather than good sense. At the same time this study aims to deconstruct stifling language, it uses first-hand accounts from Latino immigrants to provide insight as to where the American public is not listening. By analyzing common …

Appealing To The Masses Understanding Ethnic Politics And Elections In Indonesia (Doctoral Dissertation), Colm A. Fox

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The mobilization of ethnic groups during elections is seen by many as one of the greatest threats to democracy in ethnically diverse societies. Two important questions are: Why does ethnicity become politicized in some elections, but not in others? and Why do particular ethnic categories become politicized, while others do not? Two arguments in the literature offer explanations. The first argument posits that groups are mobilized along ethnic lines when voters have strong emotional allegiances to their ethnic group; in effect, the ethnic politicization of elections is viewed as a reflection of societal ethnic cleavages. A second argument focuses on …

Immigration Restrictions And The Right To Avoid Unwanted Obligations, Javier S. Hidalgo

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

In a recent paper, Michael Blake (2013) presents a novel

argument for the claim that, if states have obligations to protect the human

rights of everyone in their jurisdiction, then some immigration restrictions

are morally justified. Blake argues that citizens acquire new obligations

to protect the human rights of immigrants once these immigrants enter

a state’s territorial jurisdiction. But he contends that people have rights to

avoid unwanted obligations and that citizens can permissibly restrict immigration

in order to prevent immigrants from imposing unwanted obligations

on them. In this paper, I will show that Blake’s argument for immigration

restrictions is …