American Politics Commons^™

Age, Political Affiliation, And Political Polarization In The United States, Anton Glocar

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This study analyzes the relationship between voter age and party affiliation with political polarization in the form of feelings towards both one’s own party and the opposing party. Using data from the 2020 American National Election Survey, the favorability ratings of voters from both parties towards both their own party and the opposing party were analyzed and grouped based on voter age. The results of this analysis indicate that positive feelings towards one’s own party and negative feelings towards the opposing party, and therefore polarization, tend to increase as age increases.

The Political Imagination: Introduction To American Government, Peter Kolozi, James E. Freeman

Open Educational Resources

The Political Imagination: Introduction to American Government provides realistic, critical analysis as well as a hopeful, engagement-oriented narrative that encourages students to understand the important role they can play in the political system and in crafting a society in which they want to live. The Political Imagination draws on social and political theory and history offering an analytical as well as normative framework to think about the substance of politics, the procedures and institutions of government, and a dynamic, socially contingent definition of political power.

Online Or In-Person? Examining College Decisions To Reopen During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Fall 2020, Jacob Felson, Amy Adamczyk

Publications and Research

When coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) became a major impediment to face-to-face college instruction in spring 2020, most teaching went online. Over the summer, colleges had to make difficult decisions about whether to return to in-person instruction. Although opening campuses could pose a major health risk, keeping instruction online could dissuade students from enrolling. Taking an ecological approach, the authors use mixed modeling techniques and data from 87 percent of two- and four-year public and four-year private U.S. colleges to assess the factors that shaped decisions about fall 2020 instructional modality. Most notably, the authors find that reopening decisions about whether …

Power Transitions In A Troubled Democracy, Peter L. Strauss, Gillian E. Metzger

Faculty Scholarship

Written as our contribution to a festschrift for the noted Italian administrative law scholar Marco D’Alberti, this essay addresses transition between Presidents Trump and Biden, in the context of political power transitions in the United States more generally. Although the Trump-Biden transition was marked by extraordinary behaviors and events, we thought even the transition’s mundane elements might prove interesting to those for whom transitions occur in a parliamentary context. There, succession can happen quickly once an election’s results are known, and happens with the new political government immediately formed and in office. The layer of a new administration’s political leadership …

[Introduction To] Race, Removal, And The Right To Remain : Migration And The Making Of The United States / Samantha Seeley., Samantha Seeley

Bookshelf

This work explores the conflicts over migration at the center of the social, political, intellectual, and physical landscape of the early United States. Examining the voluntary and forced migrations of Indigenous, African American, and Anglo Americans in the decades immediately following the Revolution, Samantha Seeley argues that the United States took shape as a white republic through contentious negotiations over who could move and where, who could remain and how. Removal was not sweeping, top-down federal legislation. Instead, it was a battle fought on multiple fronts. It encompassed tribal leaders' attempts to expel white settlers from Native lands and African …

From Civil Liberties To Social Contract Theory: Hobbes' And Locke's Influence On The Early American Republic, Evan A. Krasner

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay………………………………..4

II. Primary Documents and Headnotes………...18

III. Textbook Critique……………………………...31

IV. New Textbook Entry…………………………...33

V. Bibliography………………………………….....35

Cannot Afford To Publicly Surrender: The Public's Influence On Ronald Reagan's Strategic Relationship With South Africa, Jessica P. Forsee

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Reagan’s administration used the policy of constructive engagement to bring gradual reform to the apartheid system and build peace in the southern African region. The coordination of anti-apartheid activist organizations and members advocating for harsher economic pressure on South Africa successfully raised US public awareness and shifted public opinion against constructive engagement’s gradualist policies. As a result, leading Reagan staffers like Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker recalibrated constructive engagement’s focus to quicken regional peacebuilding maintain stability and control of US foreign policy in the public eye. This thesis analyzes the early influences on constructive engagement and …

Recent Trends In Heat-Related Mortality In The United States: An Update Through 2018, Scott C. Sheridan, P. Grady Dixon, Adam J. Kalkstein, Michael J. Allen

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Much research has shown a general decrease in the negative health response to extreme heat events in recent decades. With a society that is growing older, and a climate that is warming, whether this trend can continue is an open question. Using eight additional years of mortality data, we extend our previous research to explore trends in heat-related mortality across the United States. For the period 1975–2018, we examined the mortality associated with extreme-heat-event days across the 107 largest metropolitan areas. Mortality response was assessed over a cumulative 10-day lag period following events that were defined using thresholds of the …

Shutting The Door On Voting: The Effects Of "The Great Poll Closure", Joshua Matthew Squires

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The 2016 election was the first presidential election following the landmark Shelby County v. Holder (2013) case that invalidated Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The decision in Shelby meant that certain jurisdictions with histories of racial discrimination no longer needed permission or “preclearance” from the federal government before making changes to election administration procedures. Perhaps not coincidentally, voting jurisdictions across the United States also saw a record number of polling place closures - especially in formerly preclearance areas. Past research has studied the effects of precinct closures on voter turnout in individual counties and at the …

Wild And Wonderful: How Both A Local And National Newspaper Framed West Virginia Leading Up To The 2016 Election, Emily Grace Martin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

During the 2016 Presidential election, journalists from all over the country flocked to West Virginia to try to understand the draw to then-candidate Donald Trump. There is a well-documented history of outsiders flooding the state and its surrounding Appalachian states to attempt to make sense of the current political situation, all while operating off of stereotypes and preconceived notions about the people of the Mountain State. This study aims to determine how stereotyping and the concept of framing or othering — when in-groups create out-groups — were used by a local West Virginia paper, as well as a national newspaper …

Development And Dynamics Of Us Welfare Policy, Liza Gordon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this dissertation I analyze the development of contemporary US welfare policy with special consideration given to the importance of race and gender. In the introductory chapter I outline how the development of the American welfare state has continuously neglected the needs of women and minorities as well as how classist, racist, and sexist appeals have been prevalent throughout US history in relation to welfare policies. The remaining chapters analyze how contemporary welfare policies including the 1996 welfare reforms and state drug-testing for welfare laws carry on these American legacies. In Chapter 1 I examine how the classist, sexist, and …

Polarized Policymaking: The Effect Of Ideological Division On Legislative Outcomes In The United States Congress, Aaron Tyler Mentzer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines the effect of political polarization on legislative productivity and policymaking in the United States Congress. As the ideological distance between Republicans and Democrats increases, both parties face pressure to obstruct the legislative process in order to defeat their opponent’s policy proposals. This leads to legislative gridlock and alters the means by which Congress can perform its legislative duties. This theory is not a new one, but this dissertation expands on existing literature in several ways. In Chapter 2 I ask: does polarization limit the types of policy that Congress is able to pass, and is Congress restricted …

The Effect Of Proximal Carceral Contact On Political Participation, Emily Loomis

Honors Program Theses

In light of the events of the summer of 2020 with the murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breanna Taylor, the United States has seen nationwide protests. The purpose of this research is to further examine the relationship between the criminal justice system and the individuals who come into indirect contact with it. The carceral state, or criminal justice system, has expanded rapidly in the last fifty years. An institution of its size and influence has far-reaching consequences, including on those who do not directly come into contact with it. This can affect how everyday citizens interact with the …

U.S. Presidential Election Portrayed By Foreign Media: Costa Rica And Nicaragua Comparative Study, Emily Neumann

Honors Program Theses

The U.S. presidential election not only grabs a lot of media attention from the United States, but it also catches the attention of media from around the world. How does the foreign media portray the U.S. presidential election? This study seeks to answer a piece of this question through an analysis of media sources in Costa Rica and Nicaragua in the hopes of better informing audiences on the potential frames their media be constructing their information through. The analysis considers the tone, along with the articles’ conversations of policy and personality of the candidates. After selecting 10 articles from each …

The Administration Of American Elections During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sydney Wagner

Honors Program Theses

Elazar identifies three main political subcultures that intermingle to form the national political culture: traditionalistic, moralistic, and individualistic. I am using these three political subcultures to see if they offer an insight into each state’s decision regarding election administration. In times of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, will states react differently as they attempt to administer elections and does political culture inform such varied responses? I conducted case studies of Iowa, Georgia, and Pennsylvania and applied a series of variables including the strength of each state’s voter ID law, the voter turnout, state office control, and relevant events. After …

Exploring Voting Habits And Attitudes Of Lgbtq+ College Students In The United States, Jordan Weber

Honors Program Theses

Citizens of the United States are regularly reminded of the importance of voting in elections. However, data shows the youngest voters turnout at the polls in far fewer numbers than older generations. The same cannot be said for marginalized and minority groups, such as members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community. Past studies have shown that these individuals are more likely to vote than their peers who are not members of this community. While there is information about voting habits of both the youngest voters and LGBTQ citizens, there has been little research done about the …

Anti-Communist Politics Of The Second Red Scare And How It Affected Hollywood And The Types Of Movies Being Made, Maddy Everson

Honors Program Theses

During the Second Red Scare from 1947 to 1957, anti-communist sentiment was rampant and affected Hollywood and the types of movies being made. This was due to governmental agencies—as well as non-governmental institutions and people—being suspicious of and investigating anyone who was suspected of having communist ties. This caused a level of fear that affected what was shown in the content of the movies and who could make them. It is important to examine how the movies and film industry was influenced by the Second Red Scare. This is because Hollywood was strongly affected not only at this time but …

After The Protests: A Campus Racial Climate Case Study Of The Perception And Curricular Responses For Institutional Reforms, Following The Black Students’ Demands For Interventions At The University Of Missouri-Columbia, Bruce E. Mitchell Ii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This qualitative method single case study explores the phenomenon of a racially tense campus climate at the University of Missouri Columbia, a Predominantly White Midwestern Institution. At the forefront of the media regarding student and athlete protests, leading to the resignation of senior level administrators, African American students put forth eight demands to their administrators. Included, was the creation and implementation of a required racial awareness and inclusion curriculum. The study explores the perceptions of the institutional response to an exceptional campus racial climate issue and the process of formulating and participating in a diversity training course and a semester …

Red Scare Or Red Herring: How The “China Initiative” Strategy For Non-Traditional Collectors Is Stifling Innovation In The United States, Bianca Tillman

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice launched the “China Initiative” in response to the growing economic and national security threat posed by China. The China Initiative is a sweeping federal plan designed, in part, to protect the United States’ status as a leader in global innovation and scientific discourse. The U.S. is justified in its concern over China’s unfair practices to achieve military, technological, and economic prominence. While U.S. and Chinese intelligence agencies have spied on each other for decades, China has increased both the scope and the sophistication of its efforts to steal secrets from the U.S. in …

Diana: Unapologetic And Unafraid, Kirkpatrick B. Cohall

Capstones

Diana: Unapologetic and Unafraid provides a snapshot into the multifaceted, and dynamic world of Assemblywoman Diana C. Richardson. Richardson, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York has a heart for service to her community and will stop at nothing to make sure her voice is heard. Richardson takes us on a journey through her current political responsibilities and how she’s endured opposition on nearly all fronts of her political sphere, including law enforcement, news media, and other elected officials. From police officers pepper-spraying her earlier this summer at a George Floyd protest, to articles digging up dirt to intentionally slight …

Corporations And The American Polity, Patrick Labossiere

Student Theses and Dissertations

Research on corporate communications’ effects on politics presents an acknowledgement of a relationship between the two topics, leaving a void in the explanation and examination of this topic. The void presents an opening to introduce a conceptual process for how corporations are able to craft communications to influence the American Polity, the democratic social organization within the United States. This research begins with a historical review of how corporations gain prominence in American society, capturing the ability to participate in the democratic social organization of the polity. A qualitative analysis of several conceptual frameworks serves as data, to establish an …

16 Cents Per Hour: Corcraft And New York State’S Prison Labor System, Gus Fisher, Diana Kennedy

Capstones

If you’re a student or faculty member at CUNY, the desk you write at, chair you sit in, and shelves you use are likely being made by New York State prisoners, who are paid a starting salary of 16 cents per hour by the state-owned corporation known as Corcraft.

Link to Full Article: https://gus-fisher.medium.com/16-cents-per-hour-corcraft-and-new-york-states-prison-labor-system-2b687792a03d

Out-Of-Control Covid-19 Pandemic Hampers The Nationalism, Aly Hiko, Austin Horng En Wang

Political Science Faculty Research

© The Author(s) 2020. Early studies show that the COVID-19 pandemic causes the rally-around-the-flag effect and increases the level of nationalism among the voters after the outbreak. However, how long does this boost last? Voters may cognitively withdraw their identification to the beloved country if the pandemic is rampant in where they live as well as when the government fails to address it thoroughly. We conducted a pre-registered MTurk experiment (n = 606) on 20 April 2020, in the United States—3 months after the first confirmed case and weeks after the large-scale lockdown. Results show that US subjects who were …

Beyond Gatekeeping: Propaganda, Democracy, And The Organization Of Digital Publics, Jennifer Forestal

Political Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

While there is disagreement as to the severity of the digital disinformation problem, scholars and practitioners have largely coalesced around the idea that a new system of safeguards is needed to prevent its spread. By minimizing the role of citizens in managing their own communities, however, I argue that these gatekeeping approaches are undemocratic. To develop a more democratic alternative, I draw from the work of Harold D. Lasswell and John Dewey to argue that we should study the organization of digital publics. For citizens to engage in democratic inquiry, publics must be organized so that they can (1) easily …

Fear Of Illegal Immigration, Sofia Sanchez

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Illegal immigration has continuously been a hot topic, and the American population has obsessed over what measures should be taken with these people, if any. In a qualitative study, the fear of illegal immigration is going to be analyzed based on various independent variables such as ideology, party identification, and media, based on results from the Fear 2020 survey. The Chapman Survey of American Fear began in 2018, analyzing people’s different fears nationwide, and how those might be related to other characteristics. Previous research analyzes attitudes towards illegal immigration; however the fear component will be a new addition to this …

Politics Stops At Nature's Edge: The Need For Bipartisanship In Environmental Policymaking, Allison Kustic

Political Science & International Studies | Senior Theses

Climate change is an existential threat to humans and everyday life, yet in recent years Congress has been unable to pass comprehensive environmental policy that addresses climate change. Collaboration between both parties in Congress is often necessary for passing legislation. There was a time when bipartisanship was common, and Congress passed significant environmental legislation. In particular, this happened during the 1970s with the Clean Water Act in 1972, the Endangered Species Act in 1973, the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974, and the Toxic Substances Control Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in 1976. However, since 1994, increased polarization …

Politicized Prayer: How Thoughts And Prayers Hinder Gun Legislation, Hope Cody

Honors Theses

Thoughts and prayers are a strategic rhetorical tool, rather than a religious sentiment, when it comes to gun reform in the US. I confirm my three hypotheses: that the rhetorical use of thoughts and prayers do rise sharply after a mass shooting, that the use is centered in the gun rights coalition, and the use of thoughts and prayers is intentional. This establishes a direct link between the sending of thoughts and prayers and the lack of measurable gun reform laws in the United States.

Nelson I La Bombolla Electoral De Nova York, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

Durant molt de temps m’he enganyat a mi mateix, i de rebot he enganyat els altres: em pensava que no coneixia cap republicà. Quan els amics d’Europa em demanaven detalls sobre les idiosincràsies de la vida nord-americana, sabent que jo vivia a Nova York, la conversa començava o acabava dient: «Però, és clar, tu vius a NY. NY no és els EUA». Certament la «bombolla» de NY és un fet fefaent que en el meu cas s’accentua i es blinda gràcies a una membrana protectora de múltiples teguments.

Social Media And Fear: Social Media As A Catalyst For Political Fear In The United States., Shane R. White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract: Using the American National Election Study data from the 2012 and 2016 surveys I explore how social media usage shapes fear. This is likely caused by the nature of social media leading to oversharing of sensationalized articles likely to elicit an emotional and fearful response. My findings suggest first that social media usage has a statistically significant effect on whether they would say they are afraid of a candidate (2012) and how afraid they say they are of the candidates (2016). Second, social media has little effect on economic fear, and may actually make people more hopeful about the …

Land-Use Attitudes And Local Election Choice: Estimating Effects Of Land-Use Attitudes On Municipal Electoral Choice, Scott R. Dresher

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Predicting voter behavior is a difficult task, however there are factors that suggest which candidates will be more successful. This study examined some factors that predict voter behavior in local elections and asks if local land-use authority can be a factor in predicting vote choice. Using survey responses collected from a sample of college students, answers suggest that some factors more strongly influence voter behavior than others. An analysis of survey results suggests that candidate party affiliation alone or candidate land-use attitudes alone are individually significant influences on voter decision making. However, combining effects of candidate party affiliation and candidate …