Political Science Commons^™

The Global Rise Of "Aesthetic Culture", Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

Aesthetic culture feels harmless—until you realize how much it edits out. What gets labeled as “Scandinavian,” “Japanese,” or “French” style is usually the most digestible version of something much more complicated. It’s culture without friction.

Should We Let Robots Take Our Jobs?: A.I And Our Future, Alycia Carrasco

The Penguin Review

I don’t take many liberties in the text below, but one thing I will assume is that whoever may be reading this piece does not own and will not inherit any large company, particularly any large tech company.

For the average person, generative AI and its rapid development can be confusing. Information is kept elusive by even the most transparent of AI companies.1 It can feel hopeless to even care about AI considering its trajectory is largely decided by the top executives at the most powerful tech companies (and the U.S. military).2 However, the metaphorical ship has already sailed, and …

Dreaming In Spires: My Oxford Term, Sulgi I. Kim

The Penguin Review

After ten hours on a plane and a one-hour drive from Heathrow Airport, nothing felt more exciting than seeing the Oxford sign for the first time. I remember my hands were shaking as I stepped into an entirely new experience. Leaving warm California for a place widely known for continuous rain and cold was something I never imagined I would be ready for. Yet Oxford gave the warmest welcome. Despite arriving in October, my first day in the city was sunny and surprisingly warm. As we approached Oxford, I could not help but stare out the window. I began to …

Dead Poets/Society: How A Great American Classic Reflects The Fatal Shortcomings Of American Schools, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

Rarely do the worlds of film and academia coalesce in ways that change public discourse of both entirely. Almost always, endeavors to join these two very dissident disciplines fall flat in one realm or the other. But, every so often, a special feature becomes cinematic royalty for the world of academia, and none stands out as a larger paragon than Dead Poets Society.

Are Super Pacs Dangerous To American Democracy?, Mason Lee Compton

The Penguin Review

In the 2024 election cycle, just ten individuals contributed over $1 billion to Super PACs: more money than millions of ordinary Americans donated collectively.1 Reports described this select group as “an unelected shadow cabinet,” capable of reshaping entire campaigns from behind the scenes through rapid ad buys, targeted messaging, and electoral pressure. None of this would have been possible before 2010, when the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision– combined with the D.C. Circuit’s ruling in SpeechNow.org v. FEC– dramatically dismantled long-standing campaign finance restrictions.2 3 These decisions opened the door for unlimited independent expenditures, giving rise …

On Being A "Flâneur" (& Why It Still Matters), Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

The French word "flâneur" gets translated as a wanderer, but that never really captures it. It’s not just walking—it’s observing. Lingering. Letting a city reveal itself to you without needing to control it.

The Fall Of Saigon And Its Legacy In The United States, Logan J. Kemp

The Penguin Review

The topic of South Vietnam has always been one close to home. My mother and grandma were evacuated from Saigon before the country fell to North Vietnam in 1975. They hopped on a US military helicopter, taking multiple stops on ships and islands before eventually landing in Orange County, California. Because of the evacuation, my family members were forced to start a new life; however, it was better than being sent to a re-education camp. My Grandma had done some business with an American, and she could have lost her life if she had been sent to the camps. Tens …

What Bombs Cannot Occupy: Memory, Heritage, And War In Ukraine, Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

Air-raid sirens have become part of the daily soundscape in Ukrainian cities. They interrupt meals, classes, conversations, and sleep. When they blare, people gather what they can and move quickly sometimes to shelters, sometimes to basements, sometimes nowhere at all. Families lock their doors without knowing whether they will ever turn the key again. Children carry backpacks filled with whatever seemed important in the moment: a photograph, a stuffed animal, a book pulled hastily from a shelf. Around them, buildings that once anchored everyday life—churches, museums, historic neighborhoods— have been damaged or destroyed.

Q&A: On Being A College Student In Ukraine, 2025, Katherine A. Watt, Heidi K. Smith

The Penguin Review

Nataliia is a nineteen year old university student in Kiev, Ukraine. Her country has been at war since 2014 when Russia first invaded Crimea, a region in the Southwest of Ukraine. Four years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Nataliia agreed to sit with the Penguin Review for a Zoom interview to discuss the current state of affairs, the experience of being a student during a time of war, and her hope for the country's future.

Annual Archaeology Update: The Valley Of Kings, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

There can be no contest for the Review’s annual archaeological highlight for 2025. Exactly one hundred years after Egyptologists discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun (King Tut) in the Valley of Kings, archaeologists discovered a series of steps buried by rockfall.

New Ways To Address The Plastic Problem, Andrew J. Hanna

The Penguin Review

Since 1950, the world has produced some 9.2 billion metric tonnes of plastic.1 Other sources place the total closer to ten billion metric tonnes Furthermore, nearly 500 million tonnes of new plastic are manufactured each year– a figure that's projected to increase to 1.2 billion tonnes by 2060.2 The environmental effects of all this plastic production and pollution are disturbing. Because most plastics are synthetic–meaning they contain "no molecules found in nature"– they can't decompose. Instead, they just break down into smaller and smaller pieces, becoming microplastics (less than five millimeters (5 million nanometers) across) and then nanoplastics (less than …

History Of Tarot, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

Believe it or not, this modern mystical favorite has a very different origin story! Tarot was originally a trump card game, Tarocchini, developed in 15th-century Italy.

The War On War: Desensitization's Effects On Society's Moral Fabric, Chelsea E. Johnson, Andrew J. Cudden

The Penguin Review

In an era of constant connectivity, violence is no longer distant or intermittent. Wars, political repression, mass shootings, and humanitarian crises now unfold in real time, shared instantly through twenty-four-hour news cycles and social media. Never before has global suffering been so visible. Yet this unprecedented access has failed to produce sustained moral urgency or collective responsibility. Instead, violence becomes increasingly utilised as fleeting content–viewed, shared, and then displaced by the next trending event. This paradox raises a pressing ethical question: how can a world more informed of suffering become so morally disengaged from it?

Fighting For The Story: How Identity Shapes The Israel–Hamas War, Ana Lilia Zavala

The Penguin Review

The war between the state of Israel and the militant group Hamas is often portrayed in strictly strategic or material terms, from rockets and tunnels to ground offensives and massive casualties. Yet what truly lies at the core of the conflict in the Gaza Strip is not merely a struggle over territory or security, but a struggle of identities, narratives, and legacies of harm. From my constructivist standpoint, I believe that actors act not just because of “national interests,” but because of how they understand their own identity, how they interpret the other, and how normative structures shape their choices. …

Present Day North Korea, Milo Fisher-Golton

The Penguin Review

The government of North Korea poses an extreme threat to the world while suppressing its citizens’ freedom, so why doesn't this topic get the attention it warrants in the United States? North Korea has been the cause of two major inhumane issues for some time now: as a nuclear threat to all other countries, and as a human rights suppressor to its own population under its communist dictator, Kim Jong Un. North Korea is at odds with its geographical neighbors, the United States, and other global powers. Their access to nuclear weapons– along with their alliances with Russia and China– …

Has Politics Always Been Like This?, Tyler Bernius

The Penguin Review

There are some things that I, even as someone relatively new to politics, know are not normal–the blatant disregard of the Constitution, the seemingly rapid collapse of checks and balances, and the twisting and extending of presidential powers, to name a few. What is not clear to me, however, is whether people's reactions, attitudes, and interactions towards politics have always been this way. Growing up, I imagined politicians were respectable people who worked in the best interests of our country and who, even when disagreements did arise, settled problems with structured deliberation. I assumed voters looked at politics with logic …

Faculty Mentor's Note | Editor's Note, Aaron Richardson, Sophia Shapiro

The Penguin Review

No abstract provided.

Shu World Review- April 20th 2026, Diplolab, Seton Hall University

SHU World Review

No abstract provided.

When The States Lost Their Senate: The Seventeenth Amendment, Katelyn King

Honors College Theses

To what extent has the Seventeenth Amendment impacted American federalism? The Seventeenth Amendment changed the way United States Senators are chosen from state legislature appointment to popular direct election. However, the framers of the U.S. Constitution established the original method for selecting U.S. Senators to safeguard an important principle in America’s government: federalism. If the Seventeenth Amendment decreased direct state influence in the federal government, it could have weakened federalism in America; consequently, the amendment may have altered how the American system of government is supposed to function. The U.S. Senate’s selection process was not only a safeguard for federalism …

Russian And Chinese Propaganda In The Modern Era: Two Case Studies Of Corrupt Nations, Matthew P. Clark

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This work is the culmination of my research for an Honors Thesis in Political Science. In the context of my unique definition of propaganda, I compare propaganda in both Russia and China. During the course of this work, I focus on cultural erasure and transformation, economic propaganda, the prevalence of Russian and Chinese state-controlled media to espouse propaganda, and specific quotations by both presidents Putin and Xi. My central contribution to the field of political science is a unique definition of propaganda and an analysis of two different works. The analysis entails a discussion of to what degree each leader …

Competition And Community In Marx’S Alienation Theory: Addressing 21st Century Social Isolation Through A Laclauian Lens, Brett J. Zimmerman

Theses

Capitalism reorients human priorities by necessitating socio-economic competition and tying the preeminent priority of survival to the rate at which one accumulates material resources. The orientation of wage as the only means to survival has replaced the need for the working class to form tribes, build inter-group solidarity, and engage in their communities, resulting in a less fulfilling society. Marx is traditionally conceptualized as a political or economic thinker, and while much of his political and economic thought will be useful supplementary material, in Section I, I will be viewing Marx through a more interpersonal lens. The section will take …

Eudaimonia In Democracy: Finding The Soul In No-Excuse High School English Classrooms, Anna Snader

25th Annual A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2026)

This paper explores Alexis de Tocqueville’s observations of American equality in No-excuse high school English classrooms and analyzes how these equality-driven tendencies transform a once liberal study into a servile one. I argue that these practical pedagogies, especially in stringent school models, reverse equality into a cycle of inequity. Through the removal of liberal-based learning, No-excuse schools fail to emphasize purpose and flourishing as an end for their diverse students, and as a result, oppose the primary goal of racial and economic equity. In my research, I propose that No-excuse high schools ought to return English to its liberality through …

Seeing Women Govern Encourages Support For Women In Politics – With No Apparent Backlash Among Men, Vladimir Chlouba

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

Quotas designed to bring gender parity to parliaments have an overall positive impact on support for female political leadership – especially after women members of parliament take office. Furthermore, there is no evidence of a backlash among men.

That’s what I found in a study published in October 2025 looking at the impact of gender-parity quotas in Namibia, in sub-Saharan Africa.

More Of The Same? Measuring Donald Trump's Populism In The 2024 Presidential Campaign, Ryan Rajasooriar, Kirk Hawkins

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

This research analyzes whether Donald Trump increased his populist rhetoric in the 2024 presidential campaign in comparison to 2016. Using a holistic coding rubric, we had three trained coders analyze 25 campaign speeches and 2 debates, using a 0-2 scale and creating sub-scores for anti-elitism and people-centrism.

The results show no statistically significant increase in overall populism( 2016 Avg = 0.8 vs. 1.0 Avg in 2024. Trump's rhetoric is consistently "half-populist", reflecting a strong leaning towards anti-elitist speech but weaker or erratic amount of people-centrism. Usually a populist will emphasize the people as the "glorified will" of the country. However, …

Public Understanding Of Ai-Enabled Cyber Threats And Its Impact On Cybersecurity Governance In The United States, Charlotte M. Barbrick

LSU Master's Theses

Artificial intelligence is spreading quickly in workplaces and everyday life, and that fast growth is creating cybersecurity and privacy risks that current laws and organizational practices do not fully address. This thesis asks whether AI-specific knowledge shapes public support for cybersecurity governance of AI-enabled systems in the United States. Using nationally representative survey data from the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP) Wave 119, fielded December 12--18, 2022, I estimate weighted regression models to test how objective AI knowledge shapes support for cybersecurity governance. I also test whether concern about data misuse helps explain that relationship and whether AI …

From Disaster To Decision: Spatial And Temporal Patterns In Disaster-Affected Voting, Jake L. Shaw

Dissertations

This dissertation examines how natural disasters shape electoral behavior in gubernatorial and presidential elections in the United States, with particular attention to geographic proximity, disaster severity, and partisan accountability. Using county-level gubernatorial and presidential election returns from 2016 to 2022, it analyzes the electoral effects of hurricanes, wildfires, and tornadoes through three frameworks: direct disaster impact, near-distance exposure, and disaster severity. Employing the difference-in-differences and fixed effects models across more than 31,000 county-year observations, the study finds that natural disasters can significantly reduce incumbent party vote share and voter turnout, particularly in gubernational elections. Results further demonstrate that electoral effects …

Protecting Free Speech And Promoting Civility: The Dueling Responsibilities Of American Colleges And Universities, Tara N. Parsons

International Journal on Responsibility

Freedom House estimates that 75% of the world’s population lives in countries that experienced a democratic decline in 2020. Even in long established democracies, liberal democratic values have been shaken. As democracy requires an enlightened citizenry cultivated by a college education, many American universities and colleges adopt civic instruction and engagement as a core responsibility and mission. However, growing anti-intellectualism has drawn increased scrutiny and suspicion towards the programming, curriculum, and core values of universities. Powerful political figures regularly accuse universities of stifling conservative voices and discouraging free speech. The tension between free speech and civic dialogue requires a reframing …

Pages Of Despair: Economic Policy Uncertainty And Mental Health, Kori Massner

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Policy uncertainty threatens access to affordable medical care, yet few studies have examined how it shapes what people search for online. This study examines whether economic policy uncertainty predicts mental health information-seeking behavior by analyzing daily Wikipedia pageviews from July 2015 to April 2026 using a time series model. Results show that as economic policy uncertainty increases, there is an increase in pageviews on Wikipedia for suicide related information. When there is an increase in those searching for information on pages about depression and pages about anxiety, there is also an increase in pageviews on Wikipedia for suicide related information. …

Immigration And Policy: Who Influences Who?, Madison May Albers

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This project examines how public opinion on immigration changes in response to the framing of major immigration policies in the United States. The study is grounded in Policy feedback theory, which argues that shifts in public opinion reflect the dominant frames of policy. The independent variable is the framing of the legislation, measured by presidential State of the Union addresses, and the dependent variable is the public's sentiments on immigration, measured by the media's portrayal. Utilizing a qualitative comparative historical design, the project analyzes the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, DACA in 2012, the Trump travel …

Shu World Review- April 13th 2026, Diplolab, Seton Hall University

SHU World Review

No abstract provided.