American Politics Commons^™

Leveraging Our Trust: Taking Action In Support Of Our Democracy, Lori Bowen Ayre

Collaborative Librarianship

Librarians need to build on their trusted status to be more actively engaged in activities that support our democratic system whose success relies on having an informed citizenry. These activities including teaching media literacy skills to patrons in the library as well as in the schools in partnership with teachers. In addition, libraries should be facilitating community conversations and promoting a wide variety of community collaborations that get people engaged and out of their isolated bubbles.

Is The First Amendment At Risk?, Devin Darrow

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Since the establishment of the Bill of Rights on December 15th 1791, Freedom of Speech has been one of the more controversial topics found within the first ten amendments. The Supreme Court has changed their interpretation of the 1st Amendment, Freedom of Speech clause, due to the cultural shifts of each generation. Recent cases have made technology a major factor for laws needing to be changed in order to protect people’s rights.

In conclusion, the definition of freedom of speech will continuously change due to the progress in technology. The last 10 years have demonstrated the need for changes. There …

The Long Shadow Of Bush V. Gore: Judicial Partisanship In Election Cases, Michael S. Kang, Joanna M. Shepherd

Faculty Articles

Bush v. Gore decided a presidential election and is the most dramatic election case in our lifetime, but cases like it are decided every year at the state level. Ordinary state courts regularly decide questions of election rules and administration that effectively determine electoral outcomes hanging immediately in the balance. Election cases like Bush v. Gore embody a fundamental worry with judicial intervention into the political process: outcome-driven, partisan judicial decisionmaking. The Article investigates whether judges decide cases, particularly politically sensitive ones, based on their partisan loyalties more than the legal merits of the cases. It presents a novel method …

Death Of A Politician, Brian W. Sanders

Global Tides

This paper strives to explain the remarkable efficacy of brash rhetoric, specifically analyzed through the lens of Donald Trump’s sustained popularity in the 2016 Presidential Election. Examining Trump’s rhetorically generated relationships with the media, immigrants, politicians, and women, this paper explores the increasing importance of sophistic rhetoric and rhetorical ethos. Appeals to audience identification through in-groups and out-groups are explored, followed by an examination of the appeal of violent metaphors and sanctity considerations to Trump’s voter base. Trump’s successful self perpetuating cycle of shocking statements, followed by increased news coverage and political popularity is explained. Finally, this paper analyzes the …

The Rise Of The Unilateral Executive, Anna Kitsmarishvili

Global Tides

This paper addresses the impact of executive order issuance on the separation of powers among the executive and legislative branches—particularly in the realm of foreign affairs. It concludes that judicial vagueness and avoidance regarding presidential directives has resulted in increased Executive authority. The aggrandizement of presidential powers in foreign affairs is revealed through examples from both the Bush and the Obama Administrations. By reviewing landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases, such as United States v. Curtiss-Wright Corp. (1936) and Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952), the paper examines the traditional framework of the Court regarding presidential direct action and …

Towards A Requirement Framework For Online Participation Platforms, Astrid Hellsmanns, Claudia Niemeyer, Margeret A. Hall, Tom Zentek, Christof Weinhardt

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Online participation platforms (OPPs) are frequently used by public institutions to involve citizens in political opinion forming and decision making. A literature re-view reveals different approaches to evaluate these OPPs. These approaches focus only on partial requirements of participation processes. In this research in progress, we develop and pretest an interdisciplinary literature-based requirement frame-work. It includes the categories usability, security, information, transparency, inte-gration, and mobilisation. Our aim is to close the research gap of a context-specific analysis and evaluation of OPPs.

The Vp Advantage: How Running Mates Influence Home State Voting In Presidential Elections, Christopher J. Devine, Kyle C. Kopko

Political Science Faculty Publications

A widespread perception exists among political commentators, campaign operatives and presidential candidates that vice presidential running mates can deliver their home state's electoral votes in a presidential election. In recent elections, presidential campaigns have even changed their strategy in response to the perceived VP home state advantage. But is the advantage real? And could it decide a presidential election? In the most comprehensive analysis to date, Devine and Kopko demonstrate that the VP home state advantage is actually highly conditional and rarely decisive in the Electoral College. However, it could change the outcome of a presidential election under narrow but …

Review Of 'Republican Theology: The Civil Religion Of American Evangelicals', John Compton

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

"Although I find Lynerd’s characterization of the Christian Right unpersuasive (for reasons explained below), Republican Theology nonetheless performs a valuable service in highlighting the reciprocal influence of religious and political ideas, particularly in the early years of the republic... Lynerd makes a strong case that American evangelicals, while aware of the potential for tension, viewed each commitment as indispensable to the formation of a Godly republic."

Is Bipartisanship Dead? Policy Agreement And Agenda-Setting In The House Of Representatives, Jesse Richman

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

The title of Laurel Harbridge’s book Is Bipartisanship Dead? poses an important question, even if the answer is ultimately ambiguous. Although Harbridge persuasively concludes that “bipartisanship is not dead” (170), this book provides plenty of reason to worry about its health.

Trump As A Chicken, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

Politics

Political protest poster. Anti-Trump poster caricature of Trump as a chicken.

Exposed, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

Politics

Political protest poster. Anti-Trump, anti-Ted Cruz, anti-Republican poster. Test reads: "You're not homophobic. You're just a republican. Exposed. The political use of homophobia has become a ubiquitous part of the contemporary political landscape and political gain."

Know Your Rights, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

Politics

The National Lawyers Guild RI and Providence iww General Defense Committee poster advertising a "Know Your Rights Training" free, public informational event "..to learn the basics of asserting your rights when dealing with the police".

The Emerge Difference: Effects Of Encouragement By Political Organizations On Women's Political Ambition, Ashleigh Hayes

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Substantive representation of women in elected positions is an area where The United States is lacking. Within the United States Congress, women are disproportionately less likely to be elected to office and it is much of the same at the state level. Nationally, women hold only 104 (19.4%) of the 535 seats in the United States Congress as of 2015 (8). At the state level, women fare somewhat better. Women comprise 24.2 percent of state legislatures nationwide (9). In the state of Kentucky, women hold 25 seats in the state legislature or 18.1 percent. This is far from equal or …

Treading The Path Of Least Resistance: Fda's Regulation Of The Subtherapeutic Use Of Antibiotics In Animal Agriculture, 1970-2015, Colleen Flynn

Harvey M. Applebaum ’59 Award

No abstract provided.

Christians Under Covers: Evangelicals And Sexual Pleasure On The Internet, Kelsy Burke

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

American evangelicals have a rich history when it comes to promoting sexual pleasure within marriage, having drawn upon multiple mediumslike books, workshops, and radio shows-since the 1970s.4 Today, evangelicals encourage sexual expression through all of these channels, as well as through a wide range of digital media, including online sex toy stores, online message boards, blogs, podcasts, and virtual Bible studies that discuss a plethora of topics related to marital sex. The content of these digital resources reflects the ideas presented in print literature written by well-established and respected evangelical authorities, but unlike a book that is already written, the …

One Nation, Under God?, Gerard V. Bradley

Journal Articles

It's Dangerous to Believe: Religious Freedom and Its Enemies, by Mary Eberstadt.
Harper, 192 pages, $25.99

This upending is the subject of Mary Eberstadt's It's Dangerous to Believe. Her previous books Adam and Eve after the Pill (2012) and How the West Really Lost God (2013) - on the sexual revolution and secularism, respectively - showed Eberstadt to be one of America's most discerning cultural critics. It's Dangerous to Believe solidifies that ranking by showing that "the future of religious freedom...appears more clouded than at any time since the American founding." The book is chiefly a chronicle of …

The Latino Voter Registration Dilemma, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

This special report in partnership with CNN en Espanol examined changes in the Latino electorate, registered voters, and voters in the U.S. and key swing states between 1992 and 2016. Methods: Data were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, Voting and Registration, as a part of the Current Population Survey data from the November Voter Supplements. The 2016 estimates were derived by using the yearly percentage rate of increase between 2004 and 2012. Results: The absolute number of Latinos eligible to vote, registered, and who voted grew dramatically. Yet the rates of Latino voter registration were almost exactly the same …

The Partisan Strategy Of Voter Identification Requirements: Barrier To The Ballot Or Mobilizer Of Minorities?, Ryan Voris

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

The 2000 US Presidential Election brought the confusing array of electoral rules to the minds of many in the mass media and politics. One reform advocated to improve the integrity of elections was to require voters to present identification at the polls prior to receiving a ballot. This particular reform generated much controversy, as critics worried that millions of citizens would be denied a ballot because they lacked government-issued photo ID, a form of ID advocated by many Republican officials. The controversy extended to the courts, with photo ID requirements upheld by a 6-3 US Supreme Court decision in 2008 …

Anatomy Of Advocacy: A Case Study Of The White House Petition, Elizabeth Burns, Sue Kimmel, Gail Dickinson

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Little research has been conducted examining advocacy efforts in the school library field despite the fact that program advocate is a prominent role for school librarians. One element of advocacy is the engagement in political initiatives that may affect school library programs. This case study investigates the effectiveness of one advocacy effort in response to a call for support of a national petition in support of school libraries. Data were collected, and factors underlying this advocacy campaign were analyzed. This report is a case study analysis of a time-constrained advocacy initiative, including the number of participants, demographic factors in relationship …

No Child Left Behind Leaves Behind English Language Learners, Daniela A. Canas Baena

Scripps Senior Theses

Goals 2000 and No Child Left behind have developed a new timeline for language acquisition, have promoted the practice of teaching to the test rather than the understanding of content, and High School Exit Exams have led to the widening of the achievement gap between ELL students and their Non-ELL counterparts. In additions, the policies’ narrow definition of success leads to federal sanctions that penalize schools with ELL student populations further contributing to the widening of the gap.

Crackdown And Consent: China’S War On Terror And The Strategic Creation Of A Public Discourse In The U.S., Kehaulani R. Jai

Scripps Senior Theses

Scholars have extensively detailed China’s conflation of the Uyghur issue in Xinjiang with the international war on terror following September 11, 2001. Less studied is how the U.S. responded to China’s framing of the Uyghur as terrorists, and of the Chinese government’s characterization of Xinjiang as a region fraught with violence and extremism. On the whole, scholars who have addressed this latter issue conclude that China successfully coopted the U.S., and consequently cracked down on Xinjiang without substantial international outrage. On the basis of a review of official U.S. documents before and after 9/11, I argue that the U.S. response …

Case Closed?, Richard W. Garnett

Journal Articles

The Western Case for Monogamy Over Polygamy by John Witte

From the Review

The Western Case for Monogamy Over Polygamy is clear, careful and compelling. John Witte’s review of this ‘Case’ is sweeping, and ranges across cultures, continents and centuries. As the book’s opening sentence illustrates, its project has two parts: First, to answer the question ‘[w]hat is the Western tradition’s case for monogamy over polygamy?’, and second, to consider whether ‘that case [is] still convincing in a post-modern and globalizing world.’

The Long Road Toward A More Perfect Union: Majority Rule And Minority Rights At The Constitutional Convention, John Patrick Coby

Government: Faculty Publications

On the eve of the Constitutional Convention, James Madison developed a new theory of republicanism, one that would allow union on a scale previously thought impossible. The extended republic, buttressed by constitutional safeguards republican in nature, would, he argued, protect the rights of minorities without compromising the majority’s right to rule. But Convention delegates, unimpressed with Madison’s new theory, gravitated toward constitutional safeguards more mixed-regime in nature and so produced a constitution incompletely republican. This article examines the three minority interests that most occupied the delegates’ attention: small states, all states, and southern states; further, it employs three criteria for …

Applying A Positive Theory Of Organizations: A Closer Examination Of State Environmental Protection Agencies, Emily Bedwell

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Why do American states organize as they do for environmental protection? According to Moe (1990), “a positive theory of organizations has two goals: 1) explain where institutions come from and why they take the forms they do, and 2) understand their effects for political and social behavior.” This paper will examine Moe’s question in terms of state environmental agencies: What influences state adoption of a comprehensive environmental structure? To address this question, I develop a theory of state adoption of organizational structure drawing on organizational theories of public organizations. The latest comprehensive examination of state agency structure in the literature …

Beware Twitter: Trump's Mouth Lies, 2econd Amendment, Risd Archives

Politics

Anti-Trump poster.

The Impact Of Uncertainty, Threat, And Political Identity On Support For Political Compromise, Ingrid J. Haas

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

This work examines the impact of uncertainty and threat on support for political compromise. In Study 1, uncertainty, threat, and support for compromise were measured. Uncertainty increased support for compromise only when paired with positive or neutral affect. Studies 2 and 3 used an experimental design to examine the impact of incidental affect on support for political compromise as a function of political identification. Uncertainty was more likely to increase support for compromise in positive or neutral contexts and for political moderates and liberals. The combination of uncertainty and threat led conservatives to express reduced support for compromise.

Down With Trumpets, Risd Archives

Politics

Letterpress anti-Trump poster.

Voting, Politics, And Gender: Has America Paved The Way For A Female President?, Hannah Bower

CMC Senior Theses

The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of candidate gender on voting behavior in presidential elections in the United States. By delving into the vice presidential nominations of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and Sarah Palin in 2008, I provided the baseline for the experiences of Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns in 2016. Ultimately, I present the argument that the United States is ready for a female president, either this year or in the near future.

Forces Of Change: Silicon Valley's Developing Relationship With American Government, Marissa C. Mirbach

CMC Senior Theses

Silicon Valley has increased its political engagement over the past decade, and is becoming an increasingly powerful force in government. It defies traditional affiliation labels, and behaves differently than other industries. It embodies a blend of altruism and self-interest, which guides its interactions with government and its intentions in affecting policy changes. In order to better understand Silicon Valley's political life, this thesis outlines a brief history of its development, and then delves into three policy issues: education reform, immigration reform and encryption and security. This focus allows for an up-close, detailed look at the multi-faceted relationship between Silicon Valley …

From Ruby-Red To Deep Purple: How New Hampshire Became A Top-Ten Swing State, Hannah Oh

CMC Senior Theses

New Hampshire has become a competitive swing state in presidential elections over the past two decades. Though New Hampshire was once a reliable red state and the home for many “Yankee Republicans,” the state has experienced a shift toward the Democratic Party beginning in the early 1990s. Scholars often attribute this shift to the “migration theory,” arguing that the influx of Massachusetts liberals who migrated to New Hampshire in the latter half of the twentieth century has created a larger Democratic voting bloc in the state. However, a county-level analysis of New Hampshire provides a different story. Southern urban counties …