American Politics Commons^™

The Legislative Recycling Bin: A Reevaluation Of The Policy Process, Angelina L. González-Aller

Political Science ETDs

Congressional scholarship has long sought to understand the conditions under which a member of Congress is successful in converting a policy idea into a law. Two areas of this research, the bill sponsorship literature and the legislative effectiveness literature, have developed scholarly understanding on both the motivations and outcomes of bill sponsorship, as well as illuminating the conditions under which a bill is more likely to become law. The empirical approaches of these areas of study however, do not adequately capture the complexities of Congress. Most studies of the legislative process treat bill sponsorship and the policy process as a …

Carroll, Julian Morton, 1931-2023 (Sc 3290), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3290. Letters, February-July 1975, of Kentucky Governor Julian M. Carroll and officials of his election campaign. The letters thank the recipients for support and for a presentation of portraits of Carroll and his wife Charlann. A handwritten 1987 letter thanks the recipient for supporting Carroll’s unsuccessful attempt to win the Democratic nomination for another term as governor.

Brown, John Young, Jr., 1933-2022 (Sc 3289), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3288. Letter, 27 September 1979, from the Finance Chairman of the campaign of Democrat John Y. Brown, Jr. for Governor of Kentucky, asking the recipient for support through the sale of pins to contributors. Also letter, 12 December 1983, of Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. thanking the recipient for his good wishes as Brown prepares to leave office.

Brown, Phyllis Ann (George), 1949-2020 (Sc 3288), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3288. Mass-mailed letter, 15 October 1979, in the handwriting of Phyllis (George) Brown, wife of John Y. Brown, Jr., Democratic candidate for Governor of Kentucky. She summarizes the election issues and praises her husband’s political skills and agenda.

Women’S Political Leadership In Ma: Advances Expected, Gaps Remain, Center For Women In Politics And Public Policy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

The election on November 6, 2018, will likely result in an uptick in the number of women elected to the Massachusetts Legislature and history has been made with the Commonwealth’s first Black Congresswoman, Ayanna Pressley, who will serve in the 116th Congress. Yet gender parity, particularly for women of color, remains elusive at many levels of government in the Bay State. This Fact Sheet provides not only essential numbers on the gains expected on November 6th, but offers key historical context to understand the significance of the upcoming election for the Commonwealth.

Obesity: The Elephant In The Room We Can No Longer Afford To Ignore, Joanie Sompayrac, Katharine Linehart Trundle

Journal of Health Ethics

Everyone pays the price for the obesity-related illnesses of our fellow citizens – through increased premiums on our group health insurance policies, through reduced productivity of our co-workers, through taxpayer support of hospitals that provide indigent care and through soaring Medicare costs, to name a few. The fact that our entire society often ends up paying many of the costs for the obesity-related illnesses of not only ourselves but also our family members, our friends, our co-workers and even strangers raises questions: Why doesn’t insurance pay to help overweight and obese people to make lifestyle changes that could save us …

Black, James Dixon, 1849-1938 (Sc 3286), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3286. Letter, 9 August 1919, of James D. Black, Governor of Kentucky, to Orville J. Stivers, Louisville, Kentucky, thanking him for his letter of congratulations on Black’s victory in the Democratic primary for the gubernatorial election in November. Black took office the previous May when his predecessor, Augustus O. Stanley, was elected to the U.S. Senate.

The 2018 Mid-Term Election: Estimated Voter Participation Rates By Race And Age In Arizona, Florida, Georgia And Texas, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: The razor thin margins separating the Democratic and Republican candidates for senator and governor in Florida; in the Georgia governor’s race; in the senatorial election in Arizona; and the strong showing by Beto O’Rourke in the senatorial race in Texas, mask the extraordinary problems faced by the Democratic Party as it turns to the presidential election scheduled for November 2020.

Methods: This study highlights these problems by examining the turnout rates by race/ethnicity and age in Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Texas using 2017 IPUMS data with The New York Times and CNN Exit polls for each state.

Results: In …

What Happens Now? The U.S.’S Withdrawal From Paris Climate Agreement, Samantha Klann

Honors Projects

This research paper investigates what possible consequences President Trump’s removal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement could have on world leadership position, international (trade) relations, innovation, and overall economic development of the U.S. President Trump retracted the U.S. from the agreement in June 2017, and although the withdrawal takes years to officially be completed, it is possible to explore possible ramifications for the U.S.’s future (Friedman, 2017). This paper focuses on analyzing how this withdrawal could affect the U.S. world leadership position, international (trade) relations, and innovation, and the subsequent impact on the economic development of the …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 94, No. 9 [10], Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Voter Guide – Patti Minter, Benjamin Lawson
• DeLetter, Emily. Construction of First-year Village Slated to Begin – Housing & Residence Life
• Austin, Emma. Will Local Voters Make Warren County Wet? – Alcohol
• Austin, Emma. Fraternity Member Brings Firearm to Float Site – Delta Tau Delta / Chi Omega
• Dobbs, Jack. Kentucky Museum Hosts Celebration of WKU Professors – Jim Wayne Miller, Mary Ellen Miller
• DeLetter, Emily. WKU to Host Annual International Education Week
• DeLetter, Emily. Kentucky Museum to Establish Youth Scholarship
• DeBerry, Kierra. Organizations Provide …

Westerman, Robert Vaughn, B. 1948 - Collector (Sc 3284), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3284. Three political items collected by Robert V. Westerman: a certificate, 6 November 1868, of three Gallatin County, Kentucky officials reporting the vote count for electors for President, Vice President, and Member of Congress for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District; a letter, 2 February 1949, of Garrett L. Withers to Pearl Sugg, Providence, Kentucky, with expressions of friendship after his appointment to the U.S. Senate to replace Vice President Alben Barkley; and a form letter of Harry Lee Waterfield, Clinton, Kentucky, seeking support in his 1967 campaign for …

Mackinder And The Arctic's Emerging Geopolitics: Recommendations For The U.S. And Its Nato Allies, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This presentation shows how Halford Mackinder (1861-1947) described Canada and the Arctic region in his geopolitical writings. It goes on to stress how the Arctic is becoming increasingly important in international geopolitical policymaking due to its significant oil and natural gas resources, how warming temperatures are increasing international access to its waters, and the how countries as diverse as Canada, China, Russia, and the U.S. see the Arctic region in their strategic policymaking. It concludes by stressing that the Arctic can no longer be viewed as a region immune from international conflict and presents recommendations for the U.S. and its …

Will 100,000 Montanans’ Health Care Go Up In Smoke?, Evan Barrett

Highlands College

Editorial column by Evan Barrett published in the following newspapers:

The Montana Post, October 19, 2018

The Montana Standard, October 10, 2018

The Missoulian, August 30, 2018

The Daily Interlake, October 14, 2018

The Missoula Current, October 22, 2018

Havre Daily News, October 10, 2018

Ballew, William A., 1842-1915 (Sc 3277), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3277. Letter, 12 November 1864, from William A. Ballew to Thomas Hopkins, Clinton County, Kentucky. Writing from Spring Hill, Tennessee, where he is serving with the 12th Kentucky Infantry, Ballew notes his regiment’s support of presidential candidate George B. McClellan (“little mack”). Although they were not yet enfranchised, he cites a mock election held by African Americans in Nashville as evidence for President Abraham Lincoln’s likely reelection. He notes the good health of his fellow soldiers, including Hopkins’ two sons, Lewis and Shelby.

Legislative Committee Systems: A Design Perspective, Chase Stoddard

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

Committees are the defining characteristic of the modern legislature. While the centrality and study of party politics goes back further than committee politics, the focus on committee systems emerged over the course of the twentieth century, and legislatures could not function as we understand them without this mechanism. The United States Congressional committee system is the most studied system, yet virtually every country utilizes a committee system of some sort within its legislature. Despite their ubiquity in and centrality to the operations of legislatures, committees remain insufficiently studied, especially outside of the United States. The existing body of work tends …

Taxonomy Of Minority Governments, Lisa La Fornara

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

A minority government in its most basic form is a government in which the party holding the most parliamentary seats still has fewer than half the seats in parliament and therefore cannot pass legislation or advance policy without support from unaffiliated parties. Because seats in minority parliaments are more evenly distributed amongst multiple parties, opposition parties have greater opportunity to block legislation. A minority government must therefore negotiate with external parties and adjust its policies to garner the majority of votes required to advance its initiatives.

This paper serves as a taxonomy of minority governments in recent history and proceeds …

Smart Voting Resources, Natalie Loewengruber

Knowledge Market

Americans have a civic duty and responsibility to participate in democracy through voting. Voters can feel overwhelmed and unsure where to go to find the information necessary to cast an informed vote. This document is a product of the workshop "Vote Smart! The Basics of becoming Informed" offering tools, resources, and helpful tips to become better educated on candidates, ballot proposals, and the voting process.

Duncan, George Anna, B. 1935 - Letters To (Sc 3265), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3265. Two letters sent to George Anna Duncan, Bowling Green, Kentucky: one from Reuben Crispell, acting secretary to New York governor Thomas Dewey, thanking her for a congratulatory note sent to the governor, and the other from musician and radio personality, Donald Dame, encouraging her to follow her ambition to become a musician.

Stop Disparaging Professors. They Work For A Better America, Aaron Barlow

Publications and Research

Many professors are involved, in one way or another, outside of campus but in much less incendiary activities than politics; they take seriously their roles as public intellectuals. Some actively promote the arts, others are involved with local planning, while even more work with adult education, in programs for school children and curriculum development on the local public-school level. Some even work to break down the barriers between academia and the commercial world, an unenviable but important task.

Institute For Public Policy National Poll - November 2018, Institute For Public Policy

Public Policy Poll Results

The Hearst Connecticut Media Group & Sacred Heart University Institute for Public Policy leveraged quantitative research through a telephonic methodology to address the following areas of investigation:

• Voter preferences regarding the 2018 CT Gubernatorial Race
• Voter preferences regarding the 2018 election for the U.S. House of Representatives
• Impressions of Democratic and Republic Candidates for Governor
• Presidential Job Approval
• Gubernatorial Job Approval
• Issues facing the State of Connecticut
• Demographic profiles of respondents

Research Note: Have Puerto Ricans Experienced Increased Voter Registration Rates In Florida Since The November 2016 Presidential Election?, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

This research note analyzes the demographic change of Puerto Ricans and Hispanics in Florida combined with voter registration rates using the Florida Department of State Voter Registration Reports from July 2018. Despite both populations growing in selected counties, which in turn has increased the voter registration rates for Hispanics in the State, there is no conclusive evidence that voter registration rates among Puerto RIcans experienced a significant rise between 2016 and 2018.

Can Beto O'Rourke Defeat Ted Cruz In The November 2018 Texas Senatorial Race? Race, Age, Voter Registration And Participation Rates In The Lone Star State, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report studies the voter registration rates in face of the upcoming Texas Senatorial elections in November 2018.

Methods: Using the latest voter registration data by race and party in Texas and the Population Estimates of the Census Bureau, this report analyzes demographic change in the state and its relationship with the presidential elections of 2016.

Results: The Texas senatorial race between Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke will be decided by voter participation rates of both Republican and Democratic constituencies. Unfortunately, for O’Rourke young people between 18 and 24 years of age, African-Americans, and especially Latinos, have the lowest …

Race And A Southern Governorship. Can Stacy Abrams Make History In Georgia? An Examination Of Georgia Voter Registration Lists, Voting Participation Rates, Race, And Age, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: The nomination by Democratic voters of Stacy Abrams, an African-American woman, to run for governor of Georgia puts the state in the front lines of a possible new approach to elections by progressive Democrats across the nation. She will face the current Secretary of State, Brian Kemp who was nominated by Republican voters after using the same anti-immigrant dog whistle strategy adopted by his mentor in the White House who supported his candidacy.

Methods: All tables on registered voters in Georgia were derived from the Georgia Secretary of State, Voter Registration Statistics, Active Voters by Race and Gender as …

Section 2: Trump And The Court, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917-1963 (Sc 3259), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3259. Letter, 19 January 1961, from U.S. President-elect John F. Kennedy to James Gray of Cardinal Office Supply in Frankfort, Kentucky, thanking him for assistance rendered on behalf of the Democratic ticket during the 1960 election campaign.

Secrecy Vs. Disclosure Of The Intelligence Community Budget: An Enduring Debate, Anne Daugherty Miles

Secrecy and Society

Little known U.S. congressional documents, dating from the 1970s, debate public disclosure of Intelligence Community (IC) budget. The documents offer a rich repository of the arguments on both sides of the debate and shine a light on the thoughtful, measured congressional oversight practiced in formative years of the House and Senate intelligence committees.

Trickle-Down Authoritarianism & “Plaid Shirt Guy”, Evan Barrett

Highlands College

An editorial column by Evan Barrett which appeared in the following newspapers:

The Montana Post September 14, 2018

The Missoula Current September 13, 2018

Montana’S 1972 Con Con Delegates Deserve Our Thanks, Evan Barrett

Highlands College

A column by Evan Barrett which appeared in the following newspapers:

Helena Independent Record September 19, 2018

The Missoulian September 14, 2018

The Montana Standard September 16, 2018

The Great Falls Tribune September 17, 2018

The Missoula Current September 20, 2018

The Montana Post September 30, 2018

The Politics Of Race And The Florida Gubernatorial Election Of November 2018, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report studies the voter registration rates in face of the new Florida Gubernatorial elections in November 2018.

Methods:Using the latest voter registration data by race and party in Florida of July 30, 2018, this report provides an accurate statistical profile of the actual registered electorate. It also utilizes the U.S. Census Bureau’s data on the presidential election of 2016 and the November 2014 mid-term election, to indicate voter participation and voting rates by race and age.

Results: While nearly 64% of eligible non-Hispanic white voters went to the polls and supported the Republican candidate for president in 2016 …

What Senators Should Ask Brett Kavanaugh, Scott S. Boddery

Political Science Faculty Publications

At today’s confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, senators are attempting to decipher how Kavanaugh will rule on certain issue areas should he be confirmed to the high court. Senators will undoubtedly demand answers to their questions that ask whether Judge Kavanaugh will vote to uphold certain past cases, such as Roe v. Wade or Citizens United, and they’ll want a “simple yes or no” answer. While this line of questioning will primarily originate from the left side of the aisle this time around, this tactic is routinely used by both parties when vetting Supreme Court nominees. …