Political Science Commons^™

Putting Our Best Boots Forward: Us Military Deployments And Host-Country Crime, Michael A. Allen, Michael E. Flynn

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The deployment of military forces abroad has been a major component of the US’s grand strategy since the beginning of the Cold War. However, some scholars have argued that the presence of US military personnel abroad creates a series of negative externalities afflicting local communities. We put some of these claims to the test by looking at the effect of US military deployments on crime rates in the host-state. Using cross-national crime statistics from the United Nations and data on US troop deployments, we examine whether US military deployments are associated with higher levels of criminal activity across a large …

Idaho State Budgeting: Finding The “New Normal”, Dick Kinney

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

In 2009 and 2010, when Idaho policymakers experienced major economic problems and scarcer revenues, they approved major spending reductions. More recently, as the state’s economy and revenues have been improving, policymakers have sought to establish the “new normal” for Idaho state budgeting. To discern what this new normal may entail, this paper examines the governor’s budget recommendations and the legislature’s appropriation actions for Fiscal Year 2013. It briefly describes Idaho’s people, politics, and budgeting process. After discussing developments in Idaho’s economy and General Fund revenues, it reports on the governor’s budget recommendations and the legislature’s actions. It then considers impacts …

Government And Politics Newsletter, Issue 9, Sacred Heart University

Government and Politics Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Soft Power Strategies In Us Foreign Policy: Assessing The Impact Of Citizen Diplomacy On Foreign States' Behavior, Stephen Macharia Magu

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation empirically demonstrates that the isolated effects of citizen diplomacy correlate positively with foreign policy behavior as a non-military, foreign policy strategic option. The dissertation also finds that soft power, of which citizen diplomacy is a key component, is a viable foreign policy strategy. The findings are important to the academy and to the foreign policy-making process for states in search of effective, non-military strategies that leverage foreign state needs and attributes to achieve their foreign policy goals. Using a mixed methods approach, the dissertation investigates the correlation between Peace Corps Volunteers (citizen diplomat) placement and congruent voting with …

China’S Harmonious World And Post-Western World Orders: Official And Citizen Intellectual Perspectives, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To explain China’s recent turn from a modest foreign policy to a more assertive global stance, the chapter argues that we need to pay closer attention to how citizen intellectuals are challenging the foreign policy establishment’s monopoly on discussion of China’s place in the world. These new voices emerged as an unintended consequence of President Hu Jintao’s “harmonious world” policy, which created space for citizen intellectuals to talk about new post-western world orders. These official and unofficial sources chart a set of futures ranging from China fitting into the current international system, to China gradually changing international norms, to Beijing …

The Complexity Of Armed Conflict In Mindanao: Beyond Economic Deprivation, Discrimination, And Inequality, Nasser Pendatun Lidasan

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Studies on internal conflict focus on bringing a violent conflict to non-violent. Economic development and good governance are most attractive since essential services are provided to people, regardless of ethnic affiliation. Autonomy for minority groups to maintain the integrity of a state is another option. Applied in Mindanao conflict, negotiated settlement, separation, and military victory did not create a lasting peace. This study applies the levels of analysis framework to investigate the conflict and considers the sub-state level as vital. It suggests the role of local actors as crucial in intrastate conflict. It examines the dynamics of conflict at the …

The Transformation Of The Pkk (Kurdistan Workers' Party): Exploring Domestic, Regional, And Global Dynamics, Akin Guneri

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The main purpose of this study is to explore the underlying factors behind the political and ideological transformation of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) since its foundation. Through the detailed analysis of the role of Turkey's internal versus external factors on the evolution of the PKK over time, this work finds that changing political developments in the Middle East were more influential than Turkey's shifting domestic political environment. Hypothesis testing revealed that the 1991 Gulf War, 2003 Iraq War, changing political dynamics of the Middle East following Syria's Arab Spring, and policy changes worldwide implemented after the 9/11 terrorist attacks …

The 2002 National Security Strategy: The Foundation Of A Doctrine Of Preemption, Prevention, Or Anticipatory Action, Troy Lorenzo Ewing

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, initiated a strategic shift in American national security policy. For the United States, terrorism was no longer a distant phenomenon visited upon faraway regions; it had come to America with stark brutality.1 Consequently, the administration of President George W. Bush sought to advance a security strategy to counter the proliferating threat of terrorism.

The ensuing 2002 National Security Strategy articulated the willingness of the United States to oppose terrorists, and rogue nation-states by merging the strategies of "preemptive" and "preventive" warfare into an unprecedented strategy of "anticipatory action," known as the Doctrine of …

Promoting Gender And Building Peace: Evolving Norms And International Practices, Renata Avelar Giannini

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The United Nations (UN) has incorporated a strong gender perspective into its peacekeeping operations (PKO) based on a renewed focus on women's rights and participation in peace processes. These efforts are part of a complex organizational learning process in which women's central role in peace processes and the increasing efforts to respond to conflict-related sexual violence have become a central component of the organization' s strategy to build a lasting peace. The underlying logic is that it is only after an equitable society is founded and when the other half of the population's voice has been included in the political …

Investigating Where Japanese Political Loyalties Lay Through The Candidate Selection Processes, Yoshiki Matsunaga, Dr. Jessica Preece

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The goal is to find out the candidate selection/nomination process for Japanese political parties, and then we will test whether differences in these processes impact Japanese Legislators’ voting behavior.

Leveraging Technology And The Wisdom Of Crowds, Robert Morello, Dr. Daniel Nielson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A structural problem plagues the delivery of foreign aid: the beneficiaries have little ability or means to inform the donors of the projects’ initial needs, progress, or effects. As development projects are typically executed, donors carry out assessments that often involve surveys or other before-and-after appraisals. But the approach is nearly always observational, and thus the results are likely biased toward positive findings. Thus, the feedback mechanisms that could regulate public spending in domestic contexts are broken or missing when it comes to foreign aid. Some scholars have identified the absence of feedback as the key reason why aid sometimes …

Cooper, John Robert, 1864-1937 (Sc 2747), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2747. Letter, 5 September 1900, of J.R. Cooper, Todds Point, Kentucky, to Miss Pricie Rodgers, Shelbyville, Kentucky, asking her to use her “influence with the young men” to promote a slate of local election candidates and praising their personal qualities. A second letter of 17 September asks to call on her.

Why Putin Relishes The Snowden Affair, Nicholas Hayes

University Chair in Critical Thinking Publications

No abstract provided.

Tea Party Endorsements: An Analysis Of The 2010 Congressional Elections, John Holbein, Dr. Jeremy Pope

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My ORCA project focused on the strategies and impacts of the Tea Party Movement in the 2010 Congressional Elections. Using data gathered from an analysis of 55 national and local newspapers, this project examined endorsements made by the Tea Party Movement in House of Representatives races during the 2010 election cycle. I performed the data collection, analysis, and write up for this project. I also compiled a research poster that I presented at the prestigious Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago, Illinois. My research was also featured at the Mary Lou Fulton Conference for Undergraduate Research at Brigham Young University.

Do Donor States Care About Ngo Quality?, Nicholas Jones, Dr. Darren Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Our research examines whether donor countries care about the quality of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) when giving foreign aid to poor countries. When donor states give foreign aid to recipient states, such the US giving foreign aid to Uganda, the donor states must choose what is called a channel of delivery. This is the channel through which the donor’s aid will reach the intended beneficiaries. Donors can opt to channel their aid directly through the recipient government, or they can sidestep the recipient government, and instead utilize a non-state channel such as an NGO or multilateral organization. Presumably, donors will normally …

Beyond Populism: An Empirical Categorization Of Elite Political Discourse, Stephen Cranney, Dr. Kirk Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The project Dr. Hawkins, Mayavel Amado, and I completed with the assistance of the ORCA funds provided was an extension of a previous project that we presented at the American Political Science Association’s annual meeting in 2010. Specifically, that paper presented theoretical possibilities for expanding the study of rhetorical categorizations beyond populism—-the only field in which there had been previous research. Specifically, this project was an attempt to empirically verify what we argued in that paper. We used the same methodology he used earlier (Hawkins 2009) to classify and delineate populism as a political discourse and applied it to other …

Political Risk And The Currency Markets: A Look At How The Structure Of Government Impacts Exchange Rates In Emerging And Developing Economies, Aaron Gifford, Dr. Joel Selway

Journal of Undergraduate Research

For the last three years, the world has seen dramatic changes in the global economy. What began as a local failure of a couple banks and the deterioration of innovative financial products in the U.S. soon spread to other nations around the world. While most countries have had to suffer these wide-spread effects, some have been able to adapt to economic problems more easily and quickly than others, successfully leading their country out of financial distress. The major contributors to this success have largely been government-related. Swift financial intervention and robust economic legislation have helped these nations recover faster than …

Representation In Utah’S Candidate Nomination System, Matthew Frei, Dr. J. Quin Monson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

When Senator Robert Bennett was defeated in the 2010 Republican state nominating convention, many political observers suggested that Utah’s nomination system gives too much power to convention delegates who nominate candidates who do not well represent most Utahns. My ORCA research addresses these concerns by accessing the representativeness of Utah’s candidate nomination system.

How Religious Practices Affect The Rise Of Populism In Latin America, Victoria Garcia, Dr. Kirk Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Populism is “a Manichaean discourse that identifies Good with a unified will of the people and Evil with a conspiring elite” (Hawkins 2009). It is a movement that has been spreading in Latin America, in which a group of people consider themselves as the majority being oppressed by an Evil elite. The surge of charismatic leaders seeking to represent the will of the people characterizes this movement. An example of these types of leaders is Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, where he is supported by a populist majority.

Walking The Walk: Gender Issues And Ugandan Non-Governmental Organizations, Zachary Christensen, Dr. Michael Findley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Ugandan non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have played a prominent role in the transmission gender equality norms in Ugandan. Uganda typically fares poorly in international measures of gender equality which in part seems to stem from the socially conservative political views of the country. Notwithstanding those views, Uganda has recently made significant progress towards implementing more progressive legislation regarding women. The Domestic Violence Act passed by the Parliament of Uganda with backing from the President was one piece of evidence of this shift, establishing firm punishment for domestic violence. The government has also taken increasingly aggressive measures to end female genital mutilation. …

The Gender Gap: Analyzing Utah’S Election Outcomes And Policy Preferences, Josephine Borich, Dr. Jeremy Pope

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My project focused on finding policy differences between male and female candidates in Utah’s 2010 Republican Convention. I hypothesized that there would be policy differences between the genders and that these differences in opinion had the possibility to swing elections.

World War I, 1914-1918 - Patriotic Speech (Sc 2745), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2745. Patriotic speech by an unknown writer titled “Why We Are at War with Germany” in which he explains the reasons for the United States’ entry in the war and why it must be a leader in the settlement after the war is over. He makes allusions to the planned League of Nations.

Egypt-U.S. Relations In A New Era: Challenges And Possibilities, Magda Shahin

Faculty Books

Since the January 2011 revolution, Egyptian-American relations have experienced new tensions and confrontations, which have led to a re-examination of the relationship as well as the desire on the part of the Egyptians for a more equal partnership. It is with this in mind that the Prince Alwaleed Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR) at the American University in Cairo, in cooperation with the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, and a senior group of experts have embarked on a study of the foundations, challenges, and future prospects for Egyptian-American relations. The goal of the working …

Thompson, Thala E. (Layne), 1907-2003 - Collector (Sc 2744), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2744. Record book for the Hadley Homemaker Club, 1965-1966 and 1991-1992; postcard send by Thompson from China, 1987; election return receipt for Warren County, Kentucky, 1956; and a birthday card sent from President and Mrs. Bill Clinton to Thompson.

Wayne Cristaudo: Wisdom And Mastery In Shakespeare’S The Tempest Study Guide, 2013, Steven A. Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Political Theory, Romanian American University, Syllabus, Steven A. Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction, Filomeno V. Aguilar Jr.

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

No abstract provided.

Credibility And Accountability: The Effect Of Publication On Ngo Willingness To Be Evaluated, Megan Spencer, Dr. Michael Findley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In today’s NGO environment, evaluations are frequent, but NGOs rarely have outsider expectations on which to base their assessments. Thus, NGOs have strong incentives to make their evaluations strictly contextual. Consequently, NGO stakeholders—donors, beneficiaries, and local government officials—have little information as to the quality of a given organization (Barr et al 2004). This leads to a large spectrum of evaluation techniques and environments in which information asymmetries on both sides of the market are detrimental to NGO improvement (Edwards and Hulme 1998). We believe that a standardized evaluation mechanism for NGOs can help to alleviate some of these obstacles. However, …

Federalism Dataset, Nicole Taylor, Dr. Joel Selway

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Comparative politics, the study of government structures around the world, is a relatively new field, and the study of federalism is even more recent. Studies are typically conducted by selecting two or three countries and comparing their government structures using qualitative measures or by studying a large sample using statistical analysis. Authors who study federalism have been limited to qualitative analysis by the lack of a dataset of federal systems.

Military Strategy: Theory And Concepts, Randall G. Bowdish

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

Military strategy was long described as atheoretical—an art that could only be fully comprehended by military genius. This contention is no longer held, as military staffs, comprised of experts and specialists, are able to formulate strategy aided by mini-theories of strategy and a process that takes advantage of collective wisdom rather than singular genius. But the mini-theories of strategy remain underdeveloped and an overarching theory of military strategy does not yet exist. In this dissertation I build a grand theory of military strategy, consisting of a simple two-pole, physical and psychologically oriented framework, mini-theories of military strategy, and additionally, concepts …