American Politics Commons^™

Presidential Use Of Diversionary Drone Force And Public Support, Scott S. Boddery, Graid G. Klein

Political Science Faculty Publications

During times of domestic turmoil, the use of force abroad becomes an appealing strategy to US presidents in hopes of diverting attention away from internal conditions and toward a foreign policy success. Weaponized drone technology presents a low cost and potentially high-reward option to embattled presidents. While generally covert operations, drone strikes are frequently reported in the media, making them a viable diversionary tool. To gauge whether drone strikes are in fact capable of diverting the public’s attention, we surveyed 1198 Americans and find that a successful drone strike increases presidential approval despite a weak and sagging economy, and the …

Contextualizing Bipoc High School Students’ Racialized Experiences Under Trump, Christina Ung

Master's Theses

This thesis contextualizes public high school experiences of self-identified students of color during Trump’s presidency. The study features three recent high school graduates from the same campus, and their perspectives on a series of topics related to their racial identity. It was important that this research served as a space for marginalized voices to share their lived experiences, as they are frequently left out of American curriculum. More specifically in this case, the high school is located in a small, rural town where the population is majority white and politically conservative. Through the lens of critical race theory (CRT), data …

Budgetary Obstacles To Police Reform: The Case Of San Francisco, Hayden Anderson

Master's Projects and Capstones

In response to the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement issued a statement calling on cities to Defund the Police. The event sparked a nationwide reckoning that has reshaped the narratives and strategies for remedying the racial bias and police brutality apparent in the criminal justice system. The shift in police reform efforts embraces notions guiding police budgeting decisions. Today's advocates are transforming their approach to police reform to include budgeting decisions by promoting a municipal practice known as police budget reform. This Capstone explores the feasibility of successful police budget reform under current …

Christian Identity Meets Identity Politics: A Lutheran Approach To Political Engagement, Michael Hanson

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Identity politics has become a frequently referenced and much maligned term used to describe a trend in political engagement in the early 21^st century. Identity politics is employed across the political spectrum and has critics on both the left and right in the United States. Christian Identity Meets Identity Politics examines the contours of identity politics to understand and consider the concerns which lead neighbors to engage in identity politics, accounts for the needs of those neighbors who are denied God’s gift of justice through the state, considers criticisms leveled against identity politics within the greater view of Western …

Affordable Housing In San Francisco: A Historical Analysis Of Its Finances And Policies, Ricky H. Tran

Master's Projects and Capstones

The affordable housing crisis is not new to San Francisco. As it has been made clear several times, The Bay Area continues to face a crisis of a massive wealth disparity as housing prices continue to rise as incomes for the top earners have risen dramatically since 1999. In San Francisco, rents and housing prices are one of the highest in the nation, and people are facing rent burdens, in which a large portion of their income goes to rent, as for those with low and extremely low income are facing severe rent burdens, which take up more than 50% …

The Non-Christian Nature Of Marxism, Andrew Looker, Jr.

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Marxism is one of the most impactful philosophies in the history of mankind. It refers to the political and economic theories formulated by Karl Marx, a German philosopher who lived from 1818 to 1883. Marx’s most well-known works include the Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1859). Marxism initially consisted of the three related ideas of a philosophical anthropology, a theory of history, and a radical economic and political program.[1] More specifically, Marx claimed that capitalism is just one stage in the historical progression from inferior economic systems to superior ones. Marx held that every society throughout history has …

Illegal Abortion: Truth Vs. Fiction, Andrew Looker, Jr.

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Abortion has remained one of the most contentious issues in American political discourse ever since the Supreme Court legalized the procedure in the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade. Numerous emotional, statistical, and even Biblical arguments have been formulated in debates over this topic. However, arguably the two most common assertions are that thousands of women perished due to unsafe abortions prior to Roe v. Wade, and that laws restricting or outlawing abortion are ineffective in reducing abortion rates. As an example, former President of Planned Parenthood Leana Wen made the following claim in May 2019: “Before Roe v. …

The Effect Of State Level Covid-19 Stay-At-Home Orders On Death Rates, Stephen A. Langeland, Jose Marte, Kyle Connif

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

This paper attempts to examine a correlation between lockdown length and COVID-19 case rate, death rate and fatality rate. In March of 2020, the publishing of alarmist epidemiological models prompted government officials to enact sweeping emergency measures (Miltimore 2020). Notably, the Imperial College London model published by epidemiologist Neil Ferguson predicted a “best-case scenario” of 1.1 million COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. by August 2020. This model heightened concern that the hospital system would be overwhelmed, a reason cited by President Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force members, Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci, as justification for the “15 Days to Flatten the …

Antitrust In The Age Of Trump, Stephen Langeland

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Calls for regulation of major tech giants are currently ringing out from both the left and right sides of the political spectrum, largely for different reasons (Soave 2020). The current DOJ antitrust suit against Google was undermined by murmurs of political motivation as former-Attorney General William Barr personally played a key role in pushing the investigation forward into a lawsuit. (Birnbaum 2020). Prior examples of this can be seen in the reportedly political motivation of the DOJ’s unsuccessful attempt to block the 2017 merger of President Trump’s nemesis CNN’s parent company Time Warner and AT&T following President Trump’s campaign trail …

A League Of Their Own: A Textual Analysis Of The Spiral Of Silence, Media Representation, And The Intersection Of Gender And Race In Politics, Asya Symone Robinson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Within the past fifty years, women and women of color have become active in the USA political sphere. However, there is still a visible gender and racial gap in politics that can be associated with uneven societal progression. This gap is documented through the media representation of women in politics. Analysis of the media coverage of Geraldine Ferraro, Sarah Palin, and Kamala Harris revealed four themes: Experience, Strength, Likeability, and Appearance. These themes are used to misrepresent women in politics and influence voter evaluations. This study analyzed how the layer of the evaluations is dependent upon not only gender but …

Professor Greg Shaw On Gerrymandering And The Effect On Local Races, Eric Stock

Interviews for WGLT

IWU Professor of Political Science Greg Shaw says he hopes McLean County's redistricting commission will draw maps that will keep neighborhoods, communities and voting precincts together. He tells WGLT's Eric Stock that gerrymandered districts have protected incumbents, even in county government.

Was Trump’S Deployment Of Federal Officers To Portland, Oregon And Other Cities During The Summer Of 2020 Legal And Constitutional?, Celina Tebor

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cities across the United States erupted in protest during the summer of 2020 after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. In response to these protests, President Donald Trump deployed federal troops to multiple cities, including Portland, Oregon. The legal basis for sending the troops was to protect federal property, and relied upon the powers of the Department of Homeland Security and an executive order from the summer. However, President Trump’s rhetoric suggests that the purpose of sending the troops was to quell the protests. Politicians, protestors, and lawsuits have alleged that Trump’s actions are unconstitutional, …

Security Concerns Vs. Monied Interests?: The Role Of Agenda Setting In Homeland Security, Andrew Christopher Ziegler

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This paper applies public policy concepts such as agenda setting, resource allocation, lobbying, and campaign rhetoric to the field of homeland security. The analysis examines the allocation of resources among the U.S. federal government’s five broad homeland security priorities during the fiscal years of 2012-2017. An overemphasis on border security has led to a disproportionate allocation of resources among these various priorities. The uneven distribution is the summation of electoral ambitions, campaign contributions, and corporate lobbying. This analysis highlights the negative consequences that are a direct result of an unbalanced allotment, cumulating in a slow and uncoordinated federal response to …

Institute For Public Policy National Poll - May 2021, Institute For Public Policy

Public Policy Poll Results

The Sacred Heart University Institute for Public Policy leveraged a dual-methodology quantitative research approach to address the following areas of investigation:

• Thoughts on the quality of life in Connecticut
• Governor Ned Lamont’s job approval ratings
• Sentiment regarding the legalization of Marijuana
• Thoughts on COVID-19 and distribution of the vaccine
• Thoughts on public health insurance in Connecticut
• Thoughts on current Connecticut state-funded pensions
• Demographic profiles of respondents

Black Lives Matter, Randal Mckoy

Capstone Collection

The notion of systematic racism continues to exist even today among African-Americans. The systematic racism that they face prevails in every area of their life, whether it is social or economical. This paper examines the experiences of systematic racism that African Americans go through in their daily lives and to what extent they believe that reparations can be used to address those inequalities and be a means to overcome racism in the United States. The literature reviewed focused on various aspects on the history of racism and inequality in the United States, systematic barriers in education, as well as the …

An Inferentially Robust Look At Two Competing Explanations For The Surge In Unauthorized Migration From Central America, Nick Santos

Dissertations

The last 8 years have seen a dramatic increase in the flow of Central American apprehensions by the U.S. Border Patrol. Explanations for this surge in apprehensions have been split between two leading hypotheses. Most academic scholars, immigrant advocates, progressive media outlets, and human rights organizations identify poverty and violence (the Poverty and Violence Hypothesis) in Central America as the primary triggers responsible. In contrast, while most government officials, conservative think tanks, and the agencies that work in the immigration and border enforcement realm admit poverty and violence may underlie some decisions to migrate, they instead blame lax U.S. immigration …

Cross-Pressured: Agriculture, Immigration, And Congressional Gop Position-Taking, Jared William Clay

Political Science ETDs

Why are Republican (GOP) members of the Congress bucking their party’s positions on immigration? I argue this is due to agriculture’s large-scale production needs for an immigrant, Latino workforce. Consequently, this immigration influx can excite racial threats which can provoke opposition to immigration and minority interests. This raises an interesting question: Do the agricultural transition and an immigrant workforce cross-pressure district opinion and MCs’ position-taking on immigration and Latino interests more broadly? I assert agriculture’s economic pressure mitigates racial threats, which produces greater support of immigration and Latino issues. Using data from the Congressional Cooperative Election Survey, Congress.gov, Census of …

Refuge Must Be Given: Eleanor Roosevelt, The Jewish Plight, And The Founding Of Israel, John F. Sears

Purdue University Press Books

Refuge Must Be Given details the evolution of Eleanor Roosevelt from someone who harbored negative impressions of Jews to become a leading Gentile champion of Israel in the United States. The book explores, for the first time, Roosevelt’s partnership with the Quaker leader Clarence Pickett in seeking to admit more refugees into the United States, and her relationship with Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles, who was sympathetic to the victims of Nazi persecution yet defended a visa process that failed both Jewish and non-Jewish refugees.

After the war, as a member of the American delegation to the United Nations, Eleanor …

When Half The Neighborhood Is Missing: How To Overcome Systemic Poverty And Gentrification Following The Models Of Dudley Street And Mission Waco, Kevin A. Brown, Kevin A. Brown, Kevin A. Brown

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Abstract

By following the examples of Mission Waco and The Dudley Street Initiative, it is possible to renew a sense of beloved community by changing the narrative of poverty and gentrification by rebuilding the village through empowering the poor and marginalized.

Mission Waco and The Dudley Street Initiative are comprehensive sustainable communities because they combine numerous social and economic interventions under developed strategic plans. The principal question that this dissertation seeks to answer is whether these models can be implemented in local communities to help overcome gentrification and poverty. Implementation can be successful if we can identify the problem, rethink …

Primaried From The Left: The Role Of A Progressive Campaign Network In Congressional Primary Challenges, Grace C. Burke

College Honors Program

The modern Democratic Party operates as a broad network of actors that share campaign resources such as donors, endorsements, and personnel to collectively promote candidates that advance its policy goals. In primary campaigns, this network traditionally favors incumbent candidates and maintains high barriers for challengers without independent wealth or high-level connections. Progressive challengers within the Democratic Party—who favor a platform centered on climate justice, economic and racial equity, and systemic political reform—have run as alternatives to traditional “establishment” candidates, many of whom are incumbents. Motivated by a populist political message, these progressives have defied party norms and built momentum by …

How America’S Partisan Divide Over Pandemic Responses Played Out In The States, Julie Vandusky-Allen, Olga Shvetsova

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a partisan divide has existed over the appropriate government response to the public health crisis. Democrats have been more likely to favor stricter policies such as prolonged economic shutdowns, limits on gathering in groups and mask mandates. Republicans overall have favored less stringent policies.

Somewhere That’S Green: Recreational Space Use And Civic Engagement In Massachusetts’ Urban Areas, Matthew Donohue

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Public green spaces, their use, and their accessibility are all crucial indicators of the state of life in urban areas. These spaces can signify the socioeconomic wellbeing of neighborhoods and cities, and often reflect trends accordingly; in one such case, Rehling et al. found in a study in German urban areas that those living at lower socioeconomic levels are often farther from green spaces than those at higher ones.^[1] Perhaps unsurprisingly, access to these spaces is also often an indicator of personal physical health. Rundle et al. found that adults in New York City who lived closer to large …

Will The United States Finally Decolonize Puerto Rico?, Pedro Caban

Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies Faculty Scholarship

On April 14, 2021 the House Committee on Natural Resources held hearings on two competing bills to end Puerto Rico’s colonial status. The different bills reflect the changing political dynamics in the archipelago, as well as the Puerto Rican diaspora’s growing political clout. H.R.1522, the Puerto Rican State Admission Act, binds Congress to admit Puerto Rico into the Union if a majority vote in favor of doing so in a special referendum. H.R. 2070, the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act, authorizes the insular legislature to convene a semi-permanent status convention where elected delegates decide on alternative self-determination options that are “outside …

Cornerstone Or Threat? Political Ambition And The Federalist, Emily Taylor

Honors Program Theses and Projects

In “Federalist 47,” James Madison defines tyranny as “the accumulation of all powers legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed or elected.” In order to prevent tyranny, Madison argues in “Federalist 51” that it is first necessary to separate powers among the three branches of government and between the state and national governments. While this separation is a necessary protection against tyranny, it is not sufficient. In addition, second, it is also necessary to conform “the interior structure of the government, as that its constituent parts may, by …

The Politics And Ethics Of Immigration In A Commercial Republic, Kiara Palomares

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The quote on the Statue of Liberty reads: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The retched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” These words are central to the mythology of America as a nation of immigrants and, to the extent that this myth is accurate, one would expect that after experiencing multiple waves of immigration the United States (US) would have developed a set of principles guiding how legislators think about and frame immigration policy. This would not be …

From Sisterhood To The Senate: The Sorority Experience And Preparing Women For Political Leadership, Kelli L. Susemihl

Honors Thesis

Since the founding of the first Greek organizations in colonial America, fraternities and sororities have aimed to provide communities of support and empowerment for their members. Research on outcomes of sorority participation has shown increased social skills, confidence in leadership, and professional networking and connections. Existing literature surrounding women’s underrepresentation in U.S. politics shows that to bridge the political gender gap, more women need to be encouraged to run for office and have prior political socialization and experience. To compare skills acquired from the sorority experience and preparation for political careers, this study conducts a survey of 274 current and …

Qanon: The Effects Of Radical Ideology On Conspiracy Belief, Sam Andrus

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The study of conspiracy theories has existed for many decades, however, a new species of conspiracy, labeled QAnon, has surfaced in recent years - QAnon theories are directly tied to current radical politics and former President Donald Trump. My research will aim to explain how the outlandish and often racist beliefs of QAnon followers have come to be not only believed but have affected so many people that a terrorist attack on the United States Capitol occurred as a result. My research will include analysis of the Chapman Survey of American Fears which includes people on both sides of the …

Presidential Rhetoric And Media's Contribution To The Subjective Nature Of Truth In American Democracy, Bianca Miccolis

English Honors Theses

This thesis examines the role of media on the subjectivity of truth in presidential rhetoric and its ethical implications. In my three case studies, I find that there is some form of deception by each president in their chosen form of media. I analyze Roosevelt’s use of the radio, which he uses to hide his disability and gain more executive power to combat the Great Depression. I examine Reagan’s use of television and how he fabricates an intimate relationship with the American people to enact tax reform. Finally, I investigate Trump’s use of Twitter to deflect negative publicity as he …

Elephants Never Forget: Partisan Schemas And The Continued Influence Of Misinformation, Jeremy V. Hermanson

Honors Program Theses and Projects

In an age where information is plentiful and access to it is practically unlimited, the veracity of information is frequently an afterthought. Previous research has demonstrated that individuals may often be reluctant to alter their beliefs and attitudes even after false information is corrected. This phenomenon is known as the continued-influence effect or the continued influence of misinformation (CIM). Misinformation and “fake news” have grown more common, and their effectiveness may be explained by CIM. Research also shows that schemas can have significant effects on how information is processed, and preexisting beliefs, values and attitudes can affect what information is …

Lolita In The Contemporary American Classroom: Pedagogical And Learning Approaches, Jasmine Revels

Master’s Theses and Projects

The purpose of this study is to discover effective collegiate-level teaching and learning strategies for Vladimir Nabokov’s 1958 novel Lolita in the midst of the current American political and social climate. Some of the factors of the current political and social climate in the United States thought to have an effect on the teaching of Lolita, and were thus considered for further inquiry, were cancel culture, the Me Too Movement, and trigger warnings. Primary research was collected from college students and English college professors. To obtain this research and the opinions of respondents regarding this topic, a combination of both …