Political Science Commons^™

Faulty Phrases: "Only Human", Jaret Kanarek

The Intellectual Standard

After a forceful lesson demonstrating his incompetence as a green lantern, Hal Jordan, the hero of 2011's blockbuster Green Lantern, claims, ''I'm done. He's right. I'm only human" (IMDB, 2011). This anti-man attitude pervades the movie, and seems warranted given the portrayal of a reality in which there are non -human species capable of accomplishing feats incomprehen­sible to mankind. Unfortunately, this anti-man attitude is not limited to the realm of fantasy and science fiction where the facts of reality, i.e. laws of logic and physics, have no bearing. For millennia, this attitude has been just as prevalent in the earthly …

Revolution And Democratization: Can Egypt Transition To A Modern Day Democracy?, Kristin M. Horitski

Honors Theses

On January 25, 2011, demonstrations began in Egypt against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. These demonstrations were the culmination of decades of abuses by the government such as police brutality, corruption, and the provisions of the emergency law that restricted the freedoms of the people and limited the opposition to the regime. The protests grew into a revolution that toppled the Mubarak government and put the military temporarily in charge of the country. The popular uprising and resignation of President Mubarak left the country in a state of euphoria and hope, yet there are uncertainties about the future. This …

The Mormon Plot That Wasn't, Nathan B. Oman

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Sino-Speak: Chinese Exceptionalism And The Politics Of History, William A. Callahan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines how recent books by academics and public intellectuals reshaping the discourse of the rise of China. While earlier trends argued th China was being socialized into the norms of international society, many text now proclaim that due to its unique civilization, China will follow its own path to modernity. Such books thus look to the past - Chinas imperial history- for clues to not only Chinas future, but also the worlds future. This discourse which could be called " Sino-speak," presents an essentialized Chinese civilizati that is culturally determined to rule Asia, if not the world. The …

Responsibility, Michael Christison

The Intellectual Standard

In our society there is a systematic failure to recognize certain cru­cial principles about the human condition, especially by those in positions of power. Parents and policy-makers alike focus too greatly on removing personal responsibility and too little on allowing it. The result is a gradual removal of the individual's authority as the arbiter of his or her own life. Part of the reason for this problem is that "responsibility" as a concept has become somewhat ambiguous, and thus, it has become misunderstood. Reaching a solution requires the clarification of what responsibility is and an understanding of why it is …

Catholic, Jewish Communities Stand Together, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Public statement regarding the attacks on churches in Nigeria, Shi'ite mosques and shrines in Iraq, the anti-Jewish attacks and defacing of synagogues in Highland Park, Maywood, Paramus and Hackensack, NJ and the homicidal attack on Rabbi Nasson Schuman and his family of Rutherford, NJ.

Donaldson, William M. (Sc 346), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 346. Circular letter written by in behalf of Henry E. Youtsey who was imprisoned for his actions in the murder of Governor William Justus Goebel. Signatures on a petition were to be obtained with petition being returned to Mr. Donaldson, Newport, Kentucky.

Patterson, F. Youree, 1869-1936 (Sc 246), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 246. Campaign letter, 25 July 1913, written by F. Youree Patterson, Bowling Green, Kentucky, concerning his candidacy for the Warren County Clerk’s office in the primary election on the dry ticket.

Myanmar's Road To Democracy, Bridget Welsh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Barkley, Alben William, 1877-1956 (Sc 239), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 239. Letter written by Alben Barkley, U.S. Senator from Kentucky, to J. Marion Robertson, Bowling Green, Kentucky, expressing his gratitude for Robertson’s work in Warren County during the recent primary election.

Davis, Jefferson Finis, 1808-1889 (Sc 280), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid, scan and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 280. Photostat of a letter written at Washington, D.C. on 20 January 1861 by Jefferson Davis to President Franklin Pierce advising of his resignation from the U.S. Senate and his intention to return to Mississippi. Davis also comments on the unsettled conditions following Mississippi's secession from the Union. Original in Library of Congress.

Justice, Culture And The Political Determinants Of Indigenous Australian Health, Dominic O'Sullivan

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Indigenous Australian health is distinguished by a median age of death in the order of 20 years less than that of the non-indigenous population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). This makes Australia unique among comparable post-colonial societies in failing to make substantive reductions to the indigenous/non-indigenous health differential. Relatively poor indigenous housing, educational attainment, labour market participation and access to traditional resources for economic purposes contribute to the differen- tial. These contributing variables have an inherently political character which is integral to examining the just distribution of public authority, the purpose of political activity, equal political participation and cultural responsiveness …

The Taiwan Elections In Historical Perspective, Sebastian Veg

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

During a recent trip to Taipei to observe the January presidential and legislative elections, like many people with little first-hand knowledge of Taiwan, I was struck by the unique traits of Taiwan’s democracy. The elections also seemed relevant to many debates in China, not only because they were closely followed and tweeted by critical voices on the mainland, but also because of their significance against the broader historical and geographical context of the history of modern China, a connection which holds true even if one subscribes to the view that Taiwan had no previous connection with this history before 1945 …

Book Review: Developmental Fairy Tales, Nicole Kwoh

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

At the 1996 APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, Jiang Zemin concluded his speech on economic development with a quote from Lu Xun: “For actually the earth had no road to begin with, but when many men pass one way, a road is made” (1921). This quote highlights the important role played by the first generation of modern Chinese literature in shaping the current rhetoric of building a road to progress. In Developmental Fairy Tales: Evolutionary Thinking and Modern Chinese Culture, Andrew F. Jones explains the construction of this ubiquitous concept of cultural and historical progress. With a focus on Lu …

Salvaging Memories From The Ruins Of The Three Gorges, Daisy Yan Du

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world. The construction of the dam began in 1994 and was completed in 2009. Proponents bill it as a symbol of China’s rise on the global stage, while critics worldwide see it as a huge humanitarian crisis that has the potential to worsen in years to come. The biggest controversy of this project concerns the forced migration of around two million people, who, due to the rising water, have been displaced from their hometowns along the upper reaches of the Yangzi River in Chongqing and Sichuan and Hubei …

Digital Chinese Whispers: Death Threats And Rumors Inside China’S Online Marketplace Of Ideas, James Leibold

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The Chinese internet is a wonderfully raucous and interesting place. It has greatly expanded the scope of public discourse and activity, despite the party-state’s extensive censorship regime. Not surprisingly, the world’s largest cyber-community exhibits tremendous depth and diversity: progressive cyber-activists and professional agitators; navel-gazing starlets and steam-venting gamers; mundane infotainment and the banal waxing of quotidian life; and, sadly, dark corners of fear, hatred and paranoia. It’s all there; it simply depends on where one looks. Like other technologies before it, the internet is normatively neutral, and thus can be put to good, bad and anodyne uses: individuals—not tools—shape the …

Behind Bo Xilai’S Halo, Xujun Eberlein

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In the wake of Bo Xilai’s sudden downfall, shortly after what could be called an online carnival among China watchers—probably more in celebration of a rare, real-life political drama than anything else—international media is changing its tune and beginning to paint a more sympathetic image of Bo than previously reported, by focusing on Chinese people’s love of him. Reuters, for example, has a report titled “In China’s Chongqing, dismay over downfall of Bo Xilai” that quotes a working “stick man” (棒棒军, a porter-for-hire) who praises Bo as “a good man” that “made life a lot better here.” The Telegraph‘s Malcolm …

Book Review: Chiang Kai-Shek’S Interpersonal Relationships: Perspectives Across The Strait, Sherman Lai

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This book brings together papers and panel discussions of a conference on Chiang Kai-shek held in Taipei in January 2011 with the joint participation of historians from both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan. It reflects new scholarship on Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese-speaking world and showcases the approaches that historians in the PRC adopt in handling challenges that their Western colleagues do not encounter. While Chinese historians have enormous audiences, they do not share the academic freedom enjoyed by their colleagues in the West and Taiwan. Because their careers and livelihood are dependent on the Chinese Communist …

Inaugurations Past And Present ... From George Washington To Barack Obama, Oklahoma State University - Main Campus

Elections/Voting

Photographs of a display of government documents from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater.

No. 10: Gender And Food Insecurity In Southern African Cities, Belinda Dodson, Asiyati Chiweza, Liam Riley

African Food Security Urban Network

This gender analysis of the findings of AFSUN’s baseline survey of poor urban households in eleven cities in Southern Africa in 2008 and 2009 has implications for urban, national and regional policy interventions aimed at reducing urban food insecurity. By comparing female-centred and other households, light is shed both on the determinants of urban food insecurity – which relate fundamentally to income, employment and education – and on the manifest gender inequalities in access to the largely income-based entitlements to food in the city. These insights can be used to design and implement practical and strategic interventions that could simultaneously …

State-Induced Famine And Penal Starvation In North Korea, Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann

Political Science Faculty Publications

This article discusses North Korea as a case of state-induced famine, or faminogenesis. A famine from 1994 to 2000 killed 3–5% of North Korea’s population, and mass hunger reappeared in 2010–2012, despite reforms meant to address the shortage of food. In addition, a prison population of about 200,000 people is systematically deprived of food; this might be considered penal starvation. There seems little recourse under international law to punish the perpetrators of state-induced famine and penal starvation. State-induced famine does, however, fit some of the criteria of genocide in the United Nations Convention against Genocide, and could also be considered …

The Staffing Of Presidential Assistants: Their Effect On Presidential Success In The House Of Representatives, Nicholas R. Jesteadt

Gettysburg Economic Review

This paper examines the Congressional success of United States Presidents based on the reported Congressional Quarterly Presidential Box Scores. Their individual success is examined as an effect of the senior staff member a President chooses and whether they are chosen from the campaign, personal experience, or previous administrations. It is important for a President to consider the origins of these staffers as these Assistants to the President act as the body of the President’s administration. The econometric analysis presented reveals several interesting results. First, the predominance of a President to choose staff members from his campaign shows no significant impact …

Forecasts For A Fairer Future, Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg

Politics

A system delivering weather details via short message service (SMS) to farmers in Kenya makes use of traditional and modern forecasting methods, alerting them to periods of heavy rain or drought. The IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), a climate research institute representing seven east African countries, is working on a system using cell phones to help farmers address the negative impacts of climate change. The new system makes use of the Nganyi's traditional forecasting techniques combined with data from the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD). KMD staff compile the resulting information and enter it into a database. The information …

The California Political Precinct Index: A Detailed Tool To Help Understand California Politics (Update For 2012), David Latterman

McCarthy Center Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Arab Spring Uprisings: Revolutionary Patterns And Theoretical Explanations, Doha Mostafa

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

The paper briefly highlights theoretical explanations of concurrent Arab uprisings through a literature review on the writings of democratization, authoritarianism in the Middle East and third generation insights on the causes of revolutions. Theoretical explanations are supported with empirical evidences from State Fragility, and Transformation Index on the democracy status of eight Arab countries: Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Bahrain, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, and Algeria. The paper seeks to illustrate differences of revolutionary patterns among those countries, how this can be theoretically explained, and how concurrent upheavals would draw a new political map for the region. Through theoretical discussion to Arab uprisings, …

The Media' Role In Constructing The Real Estate Problem In Egypt And Its Impacts On Policymakers' Decision, Case Study (Madinaty And Palm Hills), Nahla Mahmoud

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

The media plays a crucial role in defining and constructing the social problems (Parsons, 1995); if there is an agreement among the policymakers and the stakeholders on a certain problem, policies should be taken to resolve this problem. Although most of the literature acknowledged the role of the media in constructing the problems, there has been no agreement among them on its particular functions or role, its determinants and the ways of influence and impacts on making policies. Some scholars maximized the role of the media, other minimized it to the lower level and the rest put some determinants and …

Citizens For Peace Activities & Accomplishments 2011, Ann Abdoo

Citizens for Peace

No abstract provided.

Direct (Anti-)Democracy, Maxwell L. Stearns

Faculty Scholarship

Legal scholars, economists, and political scientists are divided on whether voter initiatives and legislative referendums tend to produce outcomes that are more (or less) majoritarian, efficient, or solicitous of minority concerns than traditional legislation. Scholars also embrace opposing views on which law-making mechanism better promotes citizen engagement, registers preference intensities, encourages compromise, and prevents outcomes masking cycling voter preferences. Despite these disagreements, commentators generally assume that the voting mechanism itself renders plebiscites more democratic than legislative lawmaking. This assumption is mistaken.

Although it might seem unimaginable that a lawmaking process that directly engages voters possesses fundamentally antidemocratic features, this Article …

Reformed Political Theory In The American Founding (Chapter Two Of Roger Sherman And The Creation Of The American Republic), Mark David Hall

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

This chapter provides an overview of the Calvinist world into which Sherman was born and raised. It offers an introduction to Reformed political theory, and sketches its transmission from Europe to America. It considers and rejects the possibility that the founders were significantly influenced by a secularized Lockean liberalism. It concludes by demonstrating, contrary to assertions by many scholars, that Sherman was a serious Calvinist.

Decolonizing The Mind: A Comparative Approach To Indigenous Movements And Globalization, Robert Andrew Wallace

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Indigenous political movements represent an emerging challenge to globalization as embodied by the spread of capitalist free markets and neoliberal reform. Indigenous groups are creating new spaces in which to express agency and propose alternatives to the dominant growth economic model. Although these processes have led to the creation of new and hybrid norms of development, they have also resulted in conflict between indigenous peoples and the nation-states within which they reside. The role of scholarly analysis in exploring and understanding these processes is crucial. However, conventional Western approaches-namely Marxist and Liberal- may prove insufficient for two reasons, one empirical …