American Politics Commons^™

The Disinformation Vaccine: A Case For Integrating Comprehensive Disinformation Education Into First Year Writing Classes, Benjamin F. Jackson

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Students’ exposure to disinformation and misinformation is far greater than it has ever been. As the ability of generative AI to produce image, video, and audio deepfakes grows more sophisticated, disinformation will become even easier to spread and harder to detect. The rapid spread of social, political, scientific, and medical disinformation has been deadly and its potential is disastrous. Security experts now warn that dis/misinformation is the greatest threat to national security. Americans at large and students in particular have a demonstrated lack of information literacy when it comes to detecting false information, and bad actors nationally and globally are …

Deuce Redemption: Grindhouse Cinema, Moral Panic, And Urban Renewal, Robert Brenner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

If you consult standard histories of the “redevelopment” of 42^nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenue, AKA “the Deuce,” you will read that it was filled with nothing but criminals and pornographers, that decent people avoided it at all costs, and the only way the block could be “saved” was by seizing it via eminent domain, evicting all the current tenants, and replacing them with Disney and its fellow entertainment corporations.

The purpose of this thesis is to offer a more nuanced alternative to these standard histories. I will argue that the Deuce was a lower-class, multiracial, queer entertainment …

The Role Of U.S. Leadership In Resolving Indo-Pak Ensuring Rivalry, Abdul Sadiq Khan

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

The partition of British India in 1947 and the subsequent events caused a great deal of mutual mistrust that has persisted in the bilateral ties between Pakistan and India for seven decades. Post-Partition India inherited the state infrastructure of the British. Pakistan, on the other hand, has to build its state apparatus from the ground up. Indian leadership was certain that the nascent state of Pakistan would not survive and eventually reunify with India. The two countries are marked by the history of wars like in 1948, 1965, and 1999 over Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan and India appear to be …

Living Networks: Reimagining Social Capital Beyond Institutions, Meghna Pamula

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the decline of social capital in the United States and explores how community connection can be rebuilt outside of traditional government institutions. Motivated by the question of whether social capital can be rebuilt within bureaucratic structures, the research evaluates the role of alternative, agile models such as local volunteer organizations, mutual aid networks, third spaces, and NGOs. Using a comparative case study approach and qualitative analysis, I examine initiatives across different cultures that foster social trust and connection beyond the limitations of formal systems. The findings illustrate that adaptive models of social capital that are not based …

Church Attendance, Gender Roles, And Human Sexuality, Derek D. Goodrich

2025 Fall Honors Capstones Projects - Archive

This research examines how the frequency of religious attendance impacts views on gender roles and sexuality in Christian subgroups in the United States. Prior research on the varying worldviews of American Christians has revealed a diverse group of opinions that cannot be explained solely by denominational affiliation. Based on social identity theory, this study explores whether the frequency of attendance at religious services influences congregants’ beliefs on six issues: legalization of gay marriage, the acceptance of homosexuality in society, the acceptance of transgender people, whether a parent should stay home with the children, which parent should stay home, and women …

Political Cults On College Campuses: How Universities Designed To Challenge Totalitarian Thinking May Now Enable It, Ellie Lerner

CMC Senior Theses

Cults are typically associated with fringe religious or spiritual movements rather than political causes. Yet as American politics increasingly supplants religion as a central source of identity and belonging, our political culture has taken on more cult-like characteristics. This thesis develops a framework for identifying political cults by synthesizing scholarly work on ideological totalism, psychological manipulation, and group dynamics. It then applies this framework to assess the rise of anti-Israel protests on U.S. college campuses in the wake of the October 7th terrorist attack. While this thesis finds that this movement should not be classified as a political cult outright, …

The Predictors Of Self-Censorship On College Campuses, Henry I. Long

CMC Senior Theses

Across U.S. colleges, speech climates are poor. Self-censorship and discomfort expressing views are common. At the same time, we find wide variation in speech climates across different institutions. This study is the first to identify factors that predict variation in speech climates. Drawing on data from multiple sources, including a survey of 58,807 undergraduates across 257 colleges and universities from the Foundation from Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), this study constructs a first-of-its-kind dataset to test three core theories of self-censorship found in the literature—student-centric theories, faculty-centric theories, and administrator-centric theories. We find moderate evidence to support each theory. Overall, …

Healing Communities With Police Divestment: Seeking Abolition Through Transformative Reform And Community-Government Collaboration, Jessica E. Gillson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Concerns about the efficacy and sustainability of the U.S. carceral system have persisted throughout the country’s history, recently fueling renewed activism and bipartisan calls for reform. However, proposed solutions remain divisive. This thesis first defines the current status of our prison systems, then explores collaborative alternatives to incarceration and policing that support communities and break cycles of incarceration.

Focusing on partnerships among local governments, community organizations, justice-involved individuals, and law enforcement, this study examines holistic approaches to crime prevention, reentry, and reintegration. Using an interdisciplinary framework incorporating restorative justice, community resilience, and systems theory, it investigates how community-based strategies can …

Lgbt People's Sense Of Linked Fate: Belonging And Utility, Kay Hales

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This is a three study dissertation. While the LGBT community is often referred to as a monolith, research suggests that it may be separate subgroups under one umbrella. Linked fate is the sense that what happens to one member of a group will affect all other group members with consequences for political behavior. While research on racial identity groups suggests that members often feel a sense of linked fate with other group members, this research has not been generalized or explored in the LGBT community. This study empirically explores whether there is a sense of linked fate in the LGBT …

The Black Panther Party: From Militancy To Social Activism, De'andre Brown Jr.

History and Political Science | Senior Theses

This research project examines the ways in which the Black Panther Party (BPP) was negatively portrayed by the media and targeted by the government from the moment of the organization's inception in 1966. The BPP’s shift in rhetoric style from militancy to social activism is emphasized by examining the organization’s “survival” programs, such as the Free Breakfast Programs, Free Health Clinics, and Education Programs, and their impact on black communities around the country. Past scholarly opinions about the BPP were driven by a fear from white America toward the organization’s aggressive style of protest and social activism. The government looked …

Perceptions And Treatment Decisions For A Drug Offender Based On Social Class, Cocaine Type, Personal Characteristics, And Compassionate Love: A Vignette Study, Yasmin A. Odeh

Theses and Dissertations

Problem: The shift from a focus on rehabilitation to the more punitive, “tough on crime” approach to illegal behavior in the U.S. has been enacted in no small way by policies connected to the use and abuse of drugs. The disparities between crack and powder cocaine—two chemically similar substances—have headlined this shift (Vagins and McCurdy 2006). However, research is scarce on laypeople’s approval of deterrence approaches for drug offenses, including as a function of types (e.g., powder vs. cocaine possession). This study examined people’s perceptions of prosecutorial decisions for drug offenders—whether they are punished, rehabilitated, or both—and whether people perceived …

“Democracy,” Usa, Marc Edelman

Publications and Research

What does it mean to be an effective citizen in a democracy? Answering this question requires unpacking “democracy” and an analysis of institutions that systematically disempower and alienate citizens. This paper briefly examines the contributions of psychoanalysis to understanding democracy and authoritarianism. It scrutinizes U.S. governance institutions and points to democratic deficits and backsliding present even before Trump 1.0 and 2.0. These range from the Electoral College, the Senate, and the Supreme Court to the Federal Communications Commission. All contributed to institutionalizing minority rule and elite capture. Governance institutions failed to deliver what the American people tell opinion pollsters they …

Increasing Women In Political Careers, Kendall Craig

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Women are underrepresented in political careers and through a series of questions, female, college-aged participants were asked to rank their answers to various questions in regard to inequalities women face on a scale of one to ten. The participants ran through two interventions where they learned about political careers as well as the struggles of women in political careers, the importance and impact. After the interventions, the exact same questions with the same scales were offered to participants to observe whether education on the topic could increase desire to seek careers in politics. The findings show that a small majority …

The Impact Of Religiosity On Political Knowledge Among Youth Voters, Norah Sackett

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As political engagement trends among young voters have continued to shift in the United States' political atmosphere, understanding the cognitive factors that influence these decisions is becoming increasingly important. Political efficacy, or the feeling that individual political action can impact the political process, impacting their civic duties, has long been regarded as a key determinant of an individual's political engagement. This study investigates how young voters' understanding of prominent political arguments relates to their sense of political efficacy, with a specific lens on individual religiosity.

Through an examination of this relationship between religiosity and overall comprehension of political arguments, this …

Rethinking Rural Identity: Reimagining Rural Politics, Matthew B. Kirk

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This work chiefly consists of a genealogical critique of rural identity. Tracing the development and deployment of the concepts of rurality and rural consciousness, I argue that our current depictions of rurality as “spatial other,” replete with its harmful stereotypes, stem from a misconception about the nature of power. Political theorists’ and political scientists’ appraisals of rurality suggest that the set of actions that define rural politics are a product of their relative powerlessness. Rural locales’ removal from the center of power in urban spheres means that rural politics is reduced to reactionary, violent, and conservative political thought and engagement. …

Reply Stop To Stop, Molly A. M. Garrett

Theses and Dissertations

Over the course of 8 years working in progressive political strategy, 2015–2023, I became increasingly critical of the systems, formulas and tools we were using to communicate with voters. Reply STOP to Stop is documentation of my time at graduate school, of wrestling with ideas of political design, language, communication and distribution. I analyzed my past work — all the texts, emails, social media posts, print ads, web banners, videos and other miscellaneous scripted content — and wondered if we would all be better off without it. Would elections be fairer, would there be less fake news, more community building? …

Meme Wars As Socially Situated Learning: Learning In Online Communities Of Hate, Conspiracy, And Insurgency, Kevin M. Clark

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Learning is important in a pluralistic democracy, to enable citizens to make informed decisions. However, with the rise of the internet and social media, we need more than ever to understand how learning is shaped by social context and intertwined with issues of identity and belonging. One theoretical framework that addresses these social aspects of learning comes from the work of Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger on socially situated learning in communities of practice. This article focuses on what many would consider to be the darker side of learning—the rise of hate, disinformation/conspiracy, and insurgency in online communities. Specifically, it …

The Texas Electorate's Views Of Health Care As A Human Right, Community Health Centers, And Certain Matters Of The Health Care Safety Net, Scott Elphingstone

Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations

In a country in which the government does not recognize a right to health care,social safety nets are the last hope for persons without insurance or other means to pay for needed care. In United States, community health centers, hospital emergency rooms, and private charities comprise that safety net. Community health centers offer a practicable alternative for politicians and citizens who want to help improve the lives of persons who struggle to access health care. This dissertation reviews the political history of community health centers from their founding as part of the War on Poverty in the 1960s through Democratic …

Morality, Outgroups, And Politics, John Jostes

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

Moral differences between Democrats and Republicans contribute to affective polarization, or how negatively each side feels toward one another. Partisans are also generally aware of and sensitive to which social groups comprise the other political party. The present study examines if changes to the United States population, and thus levels of support for the two parties, will influence affective polarization. To do so, participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions in which they read about demographic changes reported in the 2020 U.S. Census, or a control condition. I find that the treatment conditions did not have a …

Clacls Reportage, Vol. 1, Fall 2024, Pierina Pighi Bel, Phoenix Paz, Ana María Granados Romero

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

This publication unites three compelling articles that offer diverse perspectives and a shared dedication to bridging the gap between academic research and public engagement.

Phoenix Paz presents a vivid ethnographic account of recent migrants in New York City, revealing how state inefficiencies marginalize a sector that contributes daily to the city’s economy.

Pierina Pighi Bel explores the growing appeal of the Republican Party among Latino voters in election cycles, delving into the complexities and inherent contradictions within this trend.

Ana María Granados Romero provides profound insights into migration, gender, and domestic work through her exploration of "La Parada"—a corner in …

State Capacity And Covid-19 Responses: Comparing The Us States, Kiran Auerbach, Joshua Y. Lerner, Hannah M. Ridge

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

This article addresses the interstate differences in outcomes from the coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic by focusing on state capacity. State capacity refers to states’ ability to create and implement policy. We posit that states want to limit death and destruction within their borders. COVID-19 created an instance in which states had a shared, preferred outcome but had very different levels of success. Using a novel measure of state capacity that allows for subnational comparisons – and is independent of ideological political will – we show that states with greater capacity experienced fewer excess deaths during 2020 and more successfully distributed …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 100, No. 1, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Magazine edition of the College Heights Herald for the period October 9 - November 11, 2024.

• Wilborn, Price. Letter from the Editor – Elections
• Ivory, Larkin, Cameron Shaw, Libby Simpson & Abigail Vickers. How WKU Students Are Approaching the Ballot Box
• Todd Alcott Shares Vision for Bowling Green

• Freidhof, Natalie. A College Student’s Guide to the Swing States
• Reed-Whalen, Bradlee. What Is Amendment 22? – School Funding
• Di Palermo, Dominic. More to Accomplish – Todd Alcott, Bowling Green Mayor
• Todd Alcott for Mayor In His Own Words
• Patti Minter for Mayor In Her Own Words
• Randolph, Eli. A Day in …

Cake And Conclusions: Rhetorical Roots In “Sheetcaking” And Fallacious Community Responses, Marissa Lammon

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

The convergence of politics and comedy within political entertainment has created a new environment, dissemination of information, and formation of public opinion. In response to white nationalist rallies, comedian Tina Fey utilized her political comedy platform to satirically comment on the inaction of several privileged consumers. Community response to the satirical skit reflected the complexity of satire as rhetorical strategy, notably when present online and within popular culture discourse, and the cognitive demands that result in fallacious tendencies. The following examines the fallacies that arise in response to Fey’s satirical message and the implications for political entertainment media.

Don’T Sweat The Technique: Rhetoric, Coded Social Critique, And Conspiracy Theories In Hip-Hop, Josh Chase

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Conspiracy theories are once again a topic of heated debate in both popular and scholarly media. Critics on one side of this debate often take for granted an “underlying assumption that conspiracy theories should be subdued if not eliminated” (Uscinski 444). Other scholars have expressed concern over the ways the “conspiracy theorist” pejorative stifles dissent and regulates political rationality (Rankin; deHaven-Smith). Bratich argues that social anxieties about issues like emerging technology and race “get managed” through the public debate about conspiracy theories as an “object of concern” (160–61). This paper asks, what are the consequences when “conspiracy panic” spreads beyond …

The Many Ways Of Wakanda: Viewpoint Diversity In Black Panther And Its Implications For Civics Education, Justin Frank Martin

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Like many of its superhero film predecessors, Black Panther (2018) achieved widespread popularity both domestically and internationally. Although the film examines the focal character T’Challa’s (Black Panther) attempt to balance his dual responsibilities as king and protector of Wakanda, the viewpoint diversity displayed by its citizens suggests that the film’s central character is Wakandan society. Drawing on events and themes from the film, the essay argues that social domain theory (SDT)—a theory that attempts to explain the development of sociomoral concepts across the lifespan—provides a useful lens to examine Wakandans’ viewpoint diversity as portrayed in the film, specifically with regards …

Pop Culture And Politics: Engaging Students In American Government Through Art, Music, And Film, Laura Merrifield Wilson

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Strategically and thoughtfully employing popular culture in teaching political science can enable students to better understand, analyze, and relate to the material. In a discipline that can be viewed by students as too boring, too distant, and too polarizing, the use of relevant music, TV/film clips, toys, memes, and other popular culture artifacts can engage otherwise unengaged students in a meaningful way. This paper argues that using popular culture in teaching political science can demonstrate relevance, serve as a generational translator, expose the bias of experience, and enable an expression of self. In demonstrating relevance, popular culture makes material fresh …

A Heartbeat Away: Popular Culture’S Role In Teaching Presidential Succession, Jay L. Wendland

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

The role of popular culture in civic education is important. Many television viewers learn about the American political process through various dramatized depictions. The 25th Amendment has often received much attention from Hollywood, as it provides writers, directors, and producers a tool with which to further dramatize presidential succession. Through the television shows West Wing, Designated Survivor, Commander in Chief, Madam Secretary, and Political Animals, viewers are exposed to storylines revolving around the 25th Amendment. By viewing these dramatized versions of presidential succession, viewers are better able to understand the process and political science instructors …

Euphemism In Ai Discourse As Colonial Harm & Effect: Learnings From Subaltern Puerto Rico, Jacqueline Oquendo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Through three integrated studies, this dissertation explores complex human-AI interactions by comparing the perceptions of two groups of U.S. citizens: subaltern Puerto Ricans and stateside Americans’ interactions with ChatGPT. This corpus-assisted Critical Discourse Analysis or CLCDA, triangulated with 1:1 semi-structured interviews, validates scholars’ concerns about the biases inherent in generative AI. Contributing to those concerns, this dissertation reveals that ChatGPT deploys discourse strategies that, when executed, facilitate digital colonialism. Euphemistic language is prominent among its discourse strategies, replacing controversial words, phrases, and topics with more palatable ones. When prompted on events of historical significance, I find that ChatGPT’s discourse obscures …

Federal Election Commission And Indiana Secretary Of State Campaign Finance Information Resoures, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This presentation covers campaign finance information resources produced by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Indiana Secretary of State. It describes how these agencies began, details how they oversee and regulate U.S. federal and Indiana state elections, and documents contributions made by individuals, organizations, political parties, and political action committees to individual candidates and organizations. Reporting documentation on these election races is also included.

Ua12/2/2 Talisman: Legacy, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Fall 2024 Talisman:

• Our Mission
• Harrington, Ragan & Cecilia Alali. Legacy
• Muscutt, Carson. The Spirit of Western – Big Red
• Hardesty, Emma. Beyond the Letters – Fraternities & Sororities
• Lein, Samantha. The Iceberg Beneath You – Poem
• Pollard, Evynn. Echoes of the Past – Jonesville
• Sutton, Avery. Tasting Tradition – Recipes
• Phelps, Brett. The Hill
• Colovos, Christina. Pale Blue Dot – Poem
• Rainwater, Riley & Carson Muscutt. Marking Time – Marching Band
• Vickers, Abigail. Grassroots – Political Campaigns
• Muscutt, Carson. Horoscopes
• Legacy Issue 17 Playlist
• Lasting Impact