American Politics Commons^™

The Influence Of Childhood Experiential History On U.S. Vice President Jd Vance’S Personality, Amelia Brower, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of a developmental causal analysis of the adult personality of U.S. vice president JD Vance, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data relating to Vance’s personality were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5-TR.

The findings of the personality assessment were previously reported in a separate paper. Vance’s primary personality patterns were found to be Dominant/controlling and Ambitious/confident, supplemented by …

U.S. Public Opinion During The Rwandan Genocide And The Power Of Executive Detachment, Carly Schmitt, Matthew L. Bergbower

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

We examine U.S. public opinion during the Rwandan genocide in the spring and early summer of 1994. Drawing on more than a dozen public opinion polls fielded during this period, we analyze Americans’ levels of knowledge about the violence in Rwanda, their views on United Nations involvement, support for U.S. military intervention, and evaluations of President Bill Clinton’s handling of the crisis. Longstanding theory recognizes public opinion as an important variable in explaining foreign policy choices during international crises. In the case of U.S. policy toward the Rwandan genocide, our analysis reveals widespread public unfamiliarity with a distant African conflict …

A Leadership Trait Analysis Of U.S. Vice President Jd Vance, Aubrey Immelman, Sophie J. Heck

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect leadership trait analysis of U.S. vice president JD Vance, conducted for the purpose of anticipating Vance’s likely leadership style in a high-level executive role in politics, from the conceptual perspective of Margaret Hermann’s leadership trait analysis (LTA) model, employing an empirically based “psychodiagnostic meta-analytic” methodology.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data relating to Vance were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Hermann Leadership Trait Inventory (HLTI) — constructed expressly for the present study — which taps seven leadership trait dimensions: belief in one’s ability to control …

Balancing Civil Liberties And Civil Rights, Adam Opp

Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy: Briefs and Commentaries

The Framers stressed the importance of civil liberties when drafting the United States Constitution to guarantee the freedoms of individuals. However, for decades, there has been an increased focus on civil rights to protect individuals from discrimination and ensure their equality under the law. The question becomes how civil liberties and civil rights intersect, and whether this intersection is always positive, or if advocating for civil rights can come at the expense of civil liberties. This paper will discuss civil liberties and civil rights, examine how policy processes impact civil rights, and address concerns about the grave consequences for the …

Religion As Political Influence: Representation, Rhetoric, And Advocacy In American Politics, Andrew G. Tate

All Dissertations

Religion has long been recognized as a central force in American political life, shaping patterns of representation, public opinion, and policy advocacy. At the same time, the contemporary religious landscape is characterized by declining denominational attachment, increasing religious diversity, and growth in non-denominational and unaffiliated populations. These changes raise questions about whether religion continues to influence politics through traditional mechanisms such as clear denominational alignment or whether its political effects now operate through more indirect or restructured pathways. This manuscript addresses this question through a multi-level analysis of religion’s political role, integrating three studies that examine descriptive representation, organizational political …

Evaluating The Psychometric Validity Of Science Curiosity, Brooke Simila

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

As political polarization and mass distrust in scientific consensus increases, psychologists have sought to understand individual differences that contribute to polarized political and scientific reasoning. One emerging concept in this area is science curiosity (SC), the disposition to seek and engage with scientific information for personal gratification (Kahan et al., 2017). A handful of studies have identified SC as an offsetting variable in politically motivated reasoning (Motta et al., 2021). However, the psychometric structure of SC remains underexplored; it is unclear whether SC represents a distinctive, unidimensional disposition or merely a manifestation of general curiosity traits. The purpose of this …

Examining The Domestic Politics Of Nuclear Policymaking In America: Us Participation In Nuclear Agreements From 1948 To 2024, Stephanie A. Stapleton

Dissertations

his dissertation examines how partisan polarization and party affiliation shape US participation in nuclear agreements. Consensus views within the nuclear policy community hold that Republican governments are necessary to make new agreements, but Republicans generally oppose new nuclear restrictions. Prompted by a trio of agreement terminations between 2018 and 2020, this research tests whether polarization has become a structural factor restricting US engagement in nuclear agreements. Using an original dataset of 86 nuclear agreements spanning arms control and extended deterrence between 1948–2024, this dissertation uses a quantitatively focused embedded mixed-methods design complemented by senior nuclear policy practitioner interviews. This research …

Organizing To Engage: A Framework For Conflict Strategy, Paul Mason Carpenter

Dissertations

Conflict strategy can be exceedingly complex. While many of the basics are simple, even the simple can be highly complicated to execute. The Schlieffen Plan in World War I appeared straight forward, but execution was a great deal more complex. It failed and the result was years of trench warfare.  In addition, leaders entering conflict may not fully appreciate the full context, its effect, and the need for a long term result--a better state of peace.

Strategy and tactics may be challenging to transform as an engagement evolves. In addition, strategists must often commit to courses of action within very …

Fear In The Forecast: Do You Believe The Government Controls The Weather?, Gabriella Bartsch

Honors Papers and Posters

Weather manipulation by the government is among the most widely believed conspiracy theories in America, with over 49 percent of Americans subscribing to this belief. As belief in weather-related conspiracies continues to gain traction, understanding the political and social factors that drive these beliefs becomes increasingly essential. In this study, data from the Chapman Survey of American Fears, a representative national sample of U.S. adults, as well as a qualitative content analysis of X/Twitter posts from 2020 to 2026, are used. This research examines how political partisanship and conspiratorial predisposition are reflected in media consumption and levels of institutional trust, …

Women And Right-Wing Movements: Why Women Join, Ryland L. Adzich

The Dialogue

No abstract provided.

A National Security Strategy For The Middle East, Vanessa Rice, Rudy Torres, Addy Horgan, Joy Omosa, Mark Westfall

School of Public Policy Capstones

This National Security Strategy addresses the persistent national security challenges the United States faces in the Middle East, a region vital for global energy supply, economic connectivity, and a source of anti-American extremism. Recognizing the failures of past "haphazard experimentation," the strategy proposes a thoughtful, pragmatic plan prioritizing five distinct and congruent interest areas: Maintaining Regional Access, Supporting Regional Stability, Ensuring Energy Security, Defending American Citizens and Personnel, and Preserving and Protecting Western Ideals. The strategy outlines actions such as: countering Chinese and Russian influence through intelligence sharing and defense incentives; containing Iran via a new, permanent nuclear deal and …

3rd Place Contest Entry: "More Money, More Votes? Not Always", Levi Ramirez Garcia

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Levi Ramirez Garcia's submission for the 2026 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won third place. It contains their essay on using library resources, and a summary of their research project on the relationship between money and elections, and their bibliography.

Levi is a fourth-year student at Chapman University, majoring in Political Science and Strategic Corporate Communication. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Ann Gordon.

Fulfilling Higher Education’S Responsibility To Students And Democracy In A Challenging Political Environment, Abraham Goldberg, Dena Pastor, Kayla Dixon

International Journal on Responsibility

The American Association of Colleges and Universities and more than 70 higher education organizations have expressed their shared commitment to making civic inquiry and democratic engagement central to undergraduate education. A framework emphasizing the development of skills to address public issues through courses and practical experiences accompanied their prominent call. Yet, campuses currently are facing increases in educational gag orders and institutional policies aimed at limiting discussion of DEI topics and political protests. Although attacks on free speech would seem to conflict with efforts to prepare students for democracy, there has been little scholarly attention on what students know about …

Does Deference To Religious Authority Predict Support For Political Violence?, John W. Compton, Ann Gordon

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Does deference to religious authority undermine support for democratic norms, including those forbidding the use of violence for political ends? Scholars have struggled to answer this question, in part, we believe, because they have typically employed proxies for religious deference (e.g. Biblical literalism, worship attendance, and self-reported religiosity) instead of measuring it directly. We develop a new measure of deference to religious authority in politics (DRAP), using the 2024 Chapman Survey of American Fears. We find that (1) DRAP is strongly correlated with support for political violence; (2) other common measures of religiosity (e.g. Biblical literalism and self-reported religiosity) are …

Contractual Democracy From Statehouse To School Board: Shifts In Legislation And School Board Authority In Kentucky, Hannah M. Edelen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

School boards have long been regarded as a cornerstone of American democracy, providing local governance over public education. While considerable scholarship highlights the increasing involvement of state and federal governments in education, relatively few studies examine with specificity how legislatures shape the local authority of these governance structures. This study investigates how the Kentucky State Legislature has influenced the authority of local school boards over three legislative sessions (2020–2022) and how board members perceive their evolving role. Using a multi-method approach and conceptualized in principal-agent theory, this research contributes to understanding how legislatures shape the governing responsibilities of school boards …

The Politics Of Fatness And The Demand For Our Collective Joy, Sky Caldwell

Scripps Senior Theses

The Politics of Fatness and the Demand for Our Collective Joy aims to assess the political-economic reasonings behind the return of overt anti-fatness and its coincidence with the re-normalization of the far right. My research looks at the sudden mass marketing of GLP-1 drugs and the use of the body as a spatial fix during recession-era economic conditions. First, this interdisciplinary project asks why the body positivity movement has not been successful in the greater fight against anti-fatness. Then, through archival research, discourse analysis, ethnographic interviews, and photography, my project explores various case studies of successful spaces and collectives working …

The Tech-Nuclear Renaissance: A New Critical Juncture For American Nuclear Energy Policy, Henry P. Otte

CMC Senior Theses

Nuclear energy has re-emerged as a central priority in American energy policy. This thesis examines the Trump administration’s efforts to support nuclear energy development and plant restarts, and asks whether today’s nuclear renaissance represents a critical juncture for nuclear energy policy. By analyzing American, French, and Swedish nuclear energy history, this thesis applies a three-variable analytical framework, state autonomy and administrative structure, political permeability, and crisis influence, to identify the institutional conditions necessary for durable policy change and evaluate the structural characteristics of this new environment. The central finding is that today’s push is distinct from prior attempts at expansion, …

How Armenia And Azerbaijan Are Lobbying For Influence In D.C., Gibran C. Boyce, Dawn Kikel

Capstones

In the wake of President Trump taking office, foreign government agencies and U.S.-based non-profits serving Armenian and Azerbaijani interests have been hiring lobbyists in Washington, D.C. as part of their concerted efforts to curry favor, gain influence, and seek policy changes that would benefit the rival post-Soviet nations.

Loneliness And Support For Political Violence Within The United States, Kellen Downey

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Although loneliness is a growing public health issue in the United States, its political effects remain understudied. This paper seeks to understand the relationship between loneliness and the support of political violence by utilizing the Chapman Survey of American Fears (CSAF Wave 11). This survey, which is a component of the 2025 Chapman Survey of American Fears, includes the three-item UCLA Loneliness Scale, as well as two separate items specifically measuring political violence. Using a national survey (N=1,015), I address the following questions: (1) Are lonely individuals more likely to support violence on political grounds? (2) Does strongly identifying with …

The Personality Profile Of U.S. Vice President Jd Vance, Aubrey Immelman, Logan Butler

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect personality assessment of U.S. vice president JD Vance, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data relating to Vance were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5-TR.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Vance’s primary personality patterns were found …

Between Hard And Soft Power: A Historical Analysis Of U.S. Defense Diplomacy, Shuhei Takahashi

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

In recent years, countries around the world—those of Europe but also Japan, China, and Russia—have accelerated their efforts to use military assets as instruments of diplomacy. This trend has contributed to the rising prevalence of the term “defense diplomacy” in national security discourse. The United States is no exception. Its abundant military assets and its global network of bases clearly demonstrate that it is the world’s leading practitioner of defense diplomacy. Yet the United States lacks a clear strategic document outlining the concept. Moreover, because existing definitions remain theoretically ambiguous and methods for assessing the effectiveness of defense diplomacy initiatives …

A Certainty-Weighted, Belief-Based Model Of Political Attitudes: A Bayesian Analysis Of American Public Attitudes Toward The Affordable Care Act, Gabriel Miao Li, Josh Pasek, Jon A. Krosnick

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

This study proposes a novel, certainty-weighted account of the process by which political beliefs shape political attitudes. Building upon expectancy-value frameworks, this paper introduces belief certainty as a moderator of belief impact. A Bayesian partial-pooling approach is used to test a model positing how beliefs about what the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act does and does not do relate to overall attitudes toward the law. This analytic method manages the complexity of multiple potentially correlated beliefs and evaluations by imposing a structural constraint to avoid multicollinearity and enable accurate estimation of parameters. Data from a nationally representative sample survey …

A Curse Or A Blessing? The Associations Of Political Knowledge With Partisan Hostility And Condonation Of Political Violence, Gabriel Miao Li

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

This study examines the complex associations of political knowledge with affective polarization and attitudes toward political violence in contemporary U.S. politics. Utilizing data from the 2024 American National Election Studies pre-election survey, the analysis highlights political knowledge's dual roles—as both a potential catalyst for partisan animosity and a critical resource promoting democratic stability. Consistent with recent research, more politically knowledgeable individuals tend to express intensified negative feelings toward opposing political parties, and this tendency is particularly pronounced among individuals who attach less importance to their partisan identity. In the meantime, increased political knowledge is also significantly associated with reduced condonation …

Funded To Win? Super Pacs And Electoral Advantage In The Southeast, Kyle Winstead

Poster Presentations

In 2010, two key pieces of legislation were passed: Citizens United v. FEC and Speechnow.org v. FEC. The results of these cases led to the creation of a new type of organization known as the super PAC. After their inception, the amount of super PACs exploded going from 83 in 2010 to 2,393 in 2016. Since then, the number of super PACs has remained relatively constant with a total of 2,458 super PACs in 2024. While Super PACs constitute a new method of civic participation in politics, there are concerns regarding their potential influence. The results of this research support …

Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Under Siege Worldwide: Moving Beyond Limiting Notions Of Gender And Sexuality In Education Organizations And Leadership, Margaret Grogan

Education Faculty Books and Book Chapters

As 2025 gets underway in the United States, educators across this country, like in many others, are bracing for unprecedented opposition to their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and policies. Newly elected President Trump is rapidly dismantling many federal agencies, cutting off aid to foreign entities, and causing major apprehension across the globe. His stated agenda to eradicate progressivism echoes many other international ultraconservative and far-right movements, who applaud his authoritarian regime. To mount the best possible resistance to these disturbing developments, and, indeed, to expand and strengthen DEI work, this chapter argues for collective action across all the …

The Invisible Hand Of Networked Repression, Thuy Anh Tran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

U.S. history is awash with contentious episodes involving a legion of governmental and non-governmental actors operating through an array of means and arenas to destroy the political opposition. Yet, there has been little systematic examination in the repression literature of how and why repressive efforts proliferate so far beyond the police, military, and intelligence agencies tasked and equipped to preserve the existing order. This dissertation presents a novel framework for studying the relational basis of repression—particularly as it is organized, mobilized, and extended through a networked social structure. Social network analysis and interpretive case studies are conducted on two historical …

Comparative Trends In Campaign Finance For United States Senate Elections After Citizens United, Jackson P. Terrell

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

While experts and laymen alike have agreed that United States politics have become more polarized over the last few decades, there are few answers about what has driven that polarization, as well as how that polarization has affected the campaign system. In addition, changes to campaign finance as a result of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, 558 US 310 (2010) altered the ways that money could be raised and spent to support or oppose candidates. The effects of these changes in presidential election campaigns have been well documented. This research will investigate changing trends in campaign finance in United …

Deep-Fake Revenge Porn: The Intersection Of Artificial Intelligence And Revenge Porn For A Modern Attack On Women, Eva C. Hunt

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This study aims to provide a legal analysis grounded in gender legal theory to critique current legislation enacted in the United States. It focuses on the societal and gendered impacts of revenge porn, particularly examining how victimization differs across genders. The legal analysis explores state-by-state legislation addressing revenge porn, assessing the severity of criminal penalties and the timeline of enactment. For current contextual reasons, the study evaluates how emerging Deepfake artificial intelligence technologies intersect with and complicate existing revenge porn laws. Finally, it analyzes the extent to which each state has incorporated Deepfake AI considerations into its legal framework.

Comparative Trends In Campaign Fundraising For United States Democratic Senatorial Candidates After Citizens United, Averi E. Foster

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Political polarization has grown more prevalent in the United States political atmosphere in recent years (Pew Research Center 2017). While political polarization is a prevalent topic of discussion, there is a limited understanding of exactly how polarization affects various aspects of political elections, such as the financing of campaigns. This research aims to explore the relationships between the ideological scores of U.S. Senate candidates and the varying types of campaign funding that they received, such as individual contributions, independent expenditures, PAC contributions, and party contributions. A data analysis was conducted utilizing Stanford University’s Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and …

Political Nonverbal Dynamics: An Analysis Of Smiles In Contentious Political Events, Megan Zingerman

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study analyzes smiles during the 2024 U.S. Presidential Debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, revealing how nonverbal cues act as emotional signals and social tools. Findings indicate Harris displayed a significantly higher percentage of smiles than Trump. Limitations include potential human error in coding and influences of facial cosmetic procedures. The analysis underscores the importance of nonverbal communication in political settings and suggests future research on specific types of smiles, such as fear smiles, which are less understood in the context of political interactions.