Political Science Commons^™

Advancing The Empirical Research On Lobbying, John M. De Figueiredo, Brian Kelleher Richter

Faculty Scholarship

This essay identifies the empirical facts about lobbying which are generally agreed upon in the literature. It then discusses challenges to empirical research in lobbying and provides examples of empirical methods that can be employed to overcome these challenges—with an emphasis on statistical measurement, identification, and casual inference. The essay then discusses the advantages, disadvantages, and effective use of the main types of data available for research in lobbying. It closes by discussing a number of open questions for researchers in the field and avenues for future work to advance the empirical research in lobbying.

The Jpe Commission Toward A More Transparent And Informative Evaluation, Rebecca D. Gill, Kenneth Retzl

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Black Political Representation On The Racial Attitudes, Policy Preferences, And Vote Choice Of Whites In Minority Majority Congressional Districts, Emmitt Y. Riley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scholars examining black political representation have focused on the degree to which African American politicians can impact the everyday living conditions of African Americans. Despite years of African American political representation within the United States House of Representatives, political scientists have devoted very little scholarship to examining how whites react to African American leadership. Given that African Americans remain under represented in government and current legal challenges threaten the future of minority majority districts, it is important to gain better insight into how black representation might impact the white community. Prior studies that do examine how whites react to African …

Democratic Paradox: The Role Of Regime Type In Civil War Intervention Initiation And Success, Justin Marshall Burnett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract: Justin M. Burnett: democratic paradox: the role of regime type in civil war intervention initiation and success. (Under the direction of Dr. Timothy Nordstrom) regime type is an important yet largely ignored factor in the likelihood of civil war intervention initiation and success. Most research related to intervention processes has analyzed these processes without questioning whether or not domestic political institutions and constraints affect the decision to intervene as well as the probability of success. Democracies have unique institutions and recognized norms that do not exist in non-democratic states. I argue that these differences matter and that domestic political …

Exhume Cedaw From Its Grave: An Analysis Of The Actors Who Helped To Bury The Convention On The Elimination Of Discrimination Against Women In The United States, Kasie Durkit

Honors Projects

In November of 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed what was one of the most comprehensive women’s rights treaties of its kind: the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Authored by United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women, “CEDAW” was designed to galvanize states to take all appropriate measures to modify existing laws, regulations, customs and practices that constitute discrimination against women. As of April of 2014, 187 world countries have signed and ratified CEDAW, thereby adopting many of its principles. Yet, the United States is one of only seven countries (including Iran and Sudan no less) not …

The Medicine Of War: Imf Structural Adjustment, Ethnic Politics, And Armed Civil Conflict, Yanyu Ke

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

The dissertation research answers the question of what explains the variation across countries where the IMF SAP implementation is associated with the onset of armed civil conflict in some countries but not in others. Do SAPs increase the likelihood of the outbreak of armed civil conflict in recipient countries? By what causal mechanism could SAPs increase the probability of the onset of armed civil conflict? This study contributes to extant literature by taking actors’ preferences and ethnicity in recipient countries into account. I argue that the effect of SAP implementation on armed civil conflict is conditional on the ethnic characteristics …

Labor Versus Learning: Explaining The State-Wise Variation Of Child Labor In India, Priyam Saharia

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

What explains the variation of child labor rates across Indian states? This dissertation explores why certain states in India, which are not necessarily the wealthiest, have been able to reduce child labor significantly in the past few decades, while child labor continues to increase at alarming rates in other states. Previous economic and cultural explanations, which focus on household-level poverty or the hierarchical social stratification of Indian society fail to adequately explain variation in child labor rates across Indian states. This research project explores how systematic regional differences in bureaucratic performance and patterns of civic engagement have influenced child labor …

Transnational Marriage: Modern Imaginings, Relational Realignments, And Persistent Inequalities, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

In the context of shifting cultural anchors as well as unstable global economic conditions, new practices of intimacy and sexuality may become tactics in an individual’s negotiation of conflicting desires and potentials. This article offers reflection on the interface between global forces, powerful transcultural narratives, and state policies, on the one hand, and local, even individual, constructions and tactics in regard to sexuality, marriage, migration, and work, on the other. The article focuses on the life trajectory of Gudiya, an ambitious young Hindu woman who started out life with little social capital and few economic resources in a dusty corner …

Women And Economic Empowerment In The Eastern Mediterranean, Hanady Nabut

HIM 1990-2015

The idea of women's economic empowerment in the developing world has been growing in momentum throughout the past decades. Today, it is a force that is dramatically redefining the concept of economic development and transforming the economic and political landscape of the Middle East. Women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are finding innovative ways to participate in the labor market. As a result, they are becoming agents of change in their political, economic, and social environments. However, despite the tremendous amount of growth that has realized throughout the years, women in MENA face significant hurdles to …

Supranational Organizations And Legitimacy: How The 2008 Global Economic Crisis Has Affected Public Opinion On Membership In The Eu, Briana Vargas-Gonzalez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines public opinion towards membership in the EU, before and after the 2008 global economic crisis, in the newest member states to join the institution in 2004 (the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) and 2007 (Bulgaria and Romania). Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989, socialist economies and communism maintained a citizenry that never experienced unemployment and that did not have a political voice. Because free-market economic policies and democratic values are new to these countries, public opinion regarding membership in a supranational organization that promotes and fosters …

When Leaders Repress: A Study Of African States, Ashley Wilkes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When do leaders choose state-sponsored repression as a response to certain threats to the state? Conventional wisdom states that authoritarian regimes will be more likely to use these repressive acts in order to maintain law and order, as well as to suppress the opposition. However, previous literature on the subject fails to recognize the effect of irregular civil wars on this decision, as well as the types of repression that will - or will not - be used against citizens. I analyze cross-sectional time series data in 46 African states between 1990 and 2010 on human rights violations and their …

Uncovering The Sub-Text: Presidents' Emotional Expressions And Major Uses Of Force, Elias Assaf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The global context of decision making continues to adapt in response to international threats. Political psychologists have therefore considered decision making processes regarding major uses of force a key area of interest. Although presidential personality has been widely studied as a mitigating factor in the decision making patterns leading to uses of force, traditional theories have not accounted for the emotions of individuals as they affect political actions and are used to frame public perception of the use of force. This thesis therefore measures expressed emotion and cognitive expressions in the form of expressed aggression, passivity, blame, praise, certainty, realism, …

Explaining State Crisis Behavior Using The Operational Code, William George

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Does the operational code of a state's leadership have an effect on its behavior during foreign policy crises? Specifically, do states with more conflictual operational codes opt for a more conflictual response to crises, or do systemic and structural variables intervene to limit their significance? While the study of individual level psychology in international relations has been gaining momentum, the causal links between beliefs and behavior have yet to be solidified. This study used ordered logistic regression across three models to determine the effect of the operational code on state crisis behavior while controlling for key domestic and crisis dimension …

Tea Time: A Comparative Analysis Of The Tea Party Caucus And House Republican Conference In The One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Stephen Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Following the historic election of Barack Obama, the largest overhaul of the nation's health care system since the Great Society, and with the country still reeling from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, a group of disenchanted conservative Republicans and elected leaders wary of government policy gave rise to a new political movement - the Tea Party. Since taking the American political system by storm in 2010, considerable research has focused on the electoral consequences of the Tea Party. Using an original dataset and the American National Election Study, I study the Tea Party Caucus at the elite …

Le Cyberspace, C'Est Moi?: Authoritarian Leaders, The Internet, And International Politics, David P. Fidler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

A Style Of His Own: A Rhetorical Analysis Of President Barack Obama's Inaugural Addresses, Victoria West

Undergraduate Research Awards

This paper analyzes President Obama’s rhetoric in his two inaugural addresses in order to determine how his presidential rhetoric conforms and violates current rhetorical traditions in inaugural addresses. For this paper a rhetorical analysis of Obama’s addresses was performed using a form of genre criticism. The components for this genre criticism were drawn from Vanessa B. Beasley’s work on presidential rhetoric in her book You, the People: American National Identity in Presidential Rhetoric. Results of this analysis will showed that President Obama’s presidential rhetoric is more secular than previous presidents and focuses more on shared American ideals. The results …

Advice Or Consent: The U. S. Senate's Role In Confirming Supreme Court Nominees And The Robert H. Bork Confirmation Hearing, Marjory O'Leary

Undergraduate Research Awards

Examines the supposed partisanship that characterized the U.S. Senate confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Robert H. Bork. The author's entry essay for the 2014 Undergraduate Research Awards is included.

Atatürk's Balancing Act: The Role Of Secularism In Turkey, Patrick G. Rear

Global Tides

The intersection of religion and politics in the form of a civil religion has been present since time immemorial. This paper looks specifically to the relationship between Turkey’s development of a secular civil religion after gaining independence and the advancing of women’s rights and democratic values. In examining the intersections of state and religion in a secular Islamic society, it draws parallels to the French civil religion as it came to be following the French Revolution. Though Atatürk and other secularists were strong forces in developing the civil religion, the paper also examines liberal democratic and conservative Islamic groups in …

Predicting Events Surrounding The Egyptian Revolution Of 2011 Using Learning Algorithms On Micro Blog Data, Benedikt Boecking, Margeret A. Hall, Jeff Schneider

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

We aim to predict activities of political nature in Egypt which influence or reflect societal-scale behavior and beliefs by using learning algorithms on Twitter data. We focus on capturing domestic events in Egypt from November 2009 to November 2013. To this extent we study underlying communication patterns by evaluating content-based and meta-data information in classification tasks without targeting specific keywords or users. Classification is done using Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Support Distribution Machines (SDM). Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) is used to create content-based input patterns for the classifiers while bags of Twitter meta-information are used with the SDM to …

Natural Phenomena As Potential Influence On Social And Political Behavior: The Earth’S Magnetic Field, Jackie R. East

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Researchers use natural phenomena in a number of disciplines to help explain human behavioral outcomes. Research regarding the potential effects of magnetic fields on animal and human behavior indicates that fields could influence outcomes of interest to social scientists. Tests so far have been limited in scope. This work is a preliminary evaluation of whether the earth’s magnetic field influences human behavior it examines the baseline relationship exhibited between geomagnetic readings and a host of social and political outcomes. The emphasis on breadth of topical coverage in these statistical trials, rather than on depth of development for any one model, …

Environmental Regulation, Michelle C. Pautz

Political Science Faculty Publications

The terms environment and regulation are commonplace in political and policy debates about the natural environment, the role of science, and the behavior of government. Indeed, these terms reference a very contentious area of public policy and are emblematic of the growing tensions between science and politics. This chapter overviews the definition, types, and history of environmental regulation before turning to the intersection of science and politics in environmental policy and considering current and future challenges for this aspect of governmental activity.

North Korean Supernotes: Nuclear Arms Financed By Counterfeit Currency, Michael Yatskievych

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Michael Yatskievych, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract of Master's Thesis, Submitted 21 May 2014:

North Korean Supernotes: Nuclear Arms Financed By Counterfeit Currency

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate whether DPRK is producing high quality counterfeit US currency, supernotes, and has determined to what extent supernotes are financing North Korea's emerging nuclear arms program.

The application of Analysis of Competing Hypotheses, ACH, satisfied this study's purpose by meeting the following objectives: the development of multiple hypotheses in an attempt to explain a supernote-nuclear arms program link, assessing evidence from assorted sources, providing a diagnostic weighing …

A Meso-Level Examination Of Cross-Border Governance In The Paso Del Norte Region: Political And Economic Perspectives, Pamela Lizette Cruz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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Stable And Unstable Dictators: Examining The Effects Of Authoritarian Regime Classifications On Domestic Terrorism, 1972-2008, Yahve Gallegos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis examined four authoritarian regime types and their relationship with domestic terrorism. It is argued that military authoritarian regimes are more likely to experience civil strife than other forms of authoritarian regimes. In addition, this Thesis challenges the notion that multi-party authoritarian regimes and civil strife are positively correlated. This study also demonstrates the relationship between regime type and domestic terrorism when controlling for when the country is experiencing civil war. To conduct this research, I used data from the Global Terrorism Database, Correlates of War, and Hadenius and Teorell's "Authoritarian Regime Types Revisited". The results demonstrate that military …

Three Essays On Social/Political Structures And Icts Use, Seungeui Ryu

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

My research identifies how social structures affect the use of the Internet and/or a mobile chat application and how the Internet impacts the political structure of a nation. In my first essay of the 3-essay Dissertation, I am designing three models based on social structure theory that are used to study the Internet and a popular mobile chat application's use by managers in South Korea, with the help of a survey instrument. In my first essay, the contribution is on i) testing a model of manager's personal behavior on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use at the individual level involving …

Operational Code And Al-Ikhwan: An Assessment Of The Evolution Of The Muslim Brotherhood's Operational Code And Possible Public Diplomacy Options For The United States, Robert Kevin Thomson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The primary aim of this Thesis is to provide the reader with a firm understanding of the evolution of the Muslim Brotherhood's operational code from the early 2000s to 2013. Specifically, this research will address and analyze the evolution of the Brotherhood's political rhetoric from its historical context to the present. The Brotherhood's political rhetoric will be analyzed utilizing Operational Code Analysis. The secondary aim of this research is to provide a potential framework for policymakers and diplomats to utilize public diplomacy and strategic communication strategies to engage and constrain the influence of the Brotherhood in a globalized society. This …

The Spillover Effects Of Conflict On Economic Growth Along The U.S.-Mexico Border, Karen Elizabeth Trevino

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The violence and insecurity that Mexico has suffered since former President Calderon's war on drugs has come at a grave economic cost to the cities most affected. Businesses and citizens in counties that shared a border with the United States, however, have the ability to move their capital and businesses in search of regaining profits that had been lost due to the insecurity in their cities. These specific counties are considered to be interdependent borderlands, which signify that these borders are in a border region where one nation is symbiotically linked with the border region of an adjoining country. This …

The China Dream And The American Dream, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Since Xi Jinping invoked “The China Dream” as a key concept in November 2012, this phrase has come to dominate discussions of China’s future. This paper will examine the China dream phenomenon first by placing it in the context of debates that have been raging in Chinese civil society over the past few years. It will analyze the works of 20 prominent “China dreamers” in terms of debates over the proper relationship between (1) politics and economics, (2) equality and hierarchy, (3) civilization and civility, and (4) nationalism and statism. The other main context for the China dream concept is …

When Three Is Not A Crowd: New Trends In Governance, Ann Florini

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The critical challenges in today’s world call for nothing short of a collective effort across business, government and civil society. The author delves into the complexities beneath tri-sector collaborations and explains why rigorous leadership training for cross-sector work is needed.

Cooperative Security: The American Strategy For A Rising China, Ethan Landau

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes the theoretical underpinnings and strategic goals of US security strategy with respect to China. It argues that the language used in statements and publications of US strategy demonstrate the development of a strategy of cooperative security. This strategy is dependent on the security environment the United States cultivates with allies and partners in the region. The paper uses evidence from the two largest PACOM military operations--RIMPAC and Cobra Gold-to demonstrate this developing strategy.