American Politics Commons^™

A Narrative Review Of The Covid-19 Infodemic And Censorship In Healthcare, Mitchell Liester, Sohaib Ashraf, Patricia Callisperis, Hector Carvallo, Shankara Chetty, Robert Enzenauer, Carlos Franco-Paredes, Raul Pineda, Panagis Polykretis, Rachel Wilkenson, Peter Mccullough

Secrecy and Society

Ideological and financial motivations have undermined science for decades. In this narrative review, we explore how organizations and governments used misinformation, disinformation, censorship, and secrecy to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Various rationales for employing censorship and secrecy during the COVID-19 pandemic are examined including how organizations and governments create confusion about the risks associated with their products and blame avoidance to shift responsibility and to avoid accountability for their actions. Methods of censorship employed during the COVID-19 pandemic are reviewed, examples are provided, and the consequences of these actions are reviewed. Information included in this review was obtained from scientific …

Covid Cover-Up: Secrecy, Censorship And Suppression During The Pandemic, Brian Martin

Secrecy and Society

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, most health authorities, governments, and mass media organizations presented a single official view concerning lockdowns, masking, distancing, and vaccines. The methods used against contrary views can be classified into four types: flooding, ignoring, censoring, and attacking. The method of information flooding involves presenting dominant views in a unified front, overwhelming contrary views by volume and consistency. The method of ignoring includes the absence of research on alternative approaches, failure to report on research contrary to orthodoxy, and not mentioning challenging views. Censoring involves active measures to prevent the circulation of contrary information and …

Introduction, Special Issue On Pandemic Secrecy: The Covid Origin Story And Pandemic Risk Society, Susan Maret

Secrecy and Society

No abstract provided.

Statutes And Special Interests, Kirsten Matoy Carlson

Northwestern University Law Review

Who really decides what statutes say? Most Americans think that special interests play an outsized role in our lawmaking processes. Yet empirical studies have produced little evidence that special interests get everything, or even most of, what they ask for from Congress. This Article takes an innovative new approach to tackling the difficult question of how advocates influence legislation. It presents the first comprehensive empirical study of how advocates influence the law through amendments in the legislative process. The Article analyzes an original dataset of 2,137 witnesses and their testimony at referral hearings on 108 Indian-related bills in the 97th …

On Human Rights, Trump Is No Cyrus The Great, Jason M. Schlude

Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

When Civil Society Defends Authoritarianism: Thai Bhakdi, We Support Prayuth, And Thailand’S Democratic Decline, Igastya Hagarayu Sapta, Luthfi Makhasin

Jurnal Politik

Civil society is often regarded as an essential foundation for democratic consolidation, but in Thailand, civil society also plays a crucial role in maintaining authoritarian rule. This article analyzes how pro-authoritarian civil society movements—Thai Bhakdi and “We Support Prayuth”—emerged and operated in the context of the historical relationship between the military and the monarchy and political polarisation since the 2006 coup. Using the authoritarian civil society (ACS) framework and a comparative historical analysis approach, this study traces how the long-standing divide between reformist and conservative forces created fertile ground for these movements. Thai Bhakdi, rooted in monarchist nationalism, …

Civility War, Jonathan Speirs

Graphic Communication

Civility War is a poster series that examines contemporary civil conflicts in contemporary world history and the precedent it sets for American political polarization. The early 2010s marked the beginning of America’s current ascent to historical highs for incidences of politically-fueled violence in the forms of hate crimes and domestic terrorism. With the documentation of the effects of similar circumstances available today in the digital age, spreading awareness for the human cost of using violence for political aims is highly topical. This project also attempts to address the aversion university students have to publicly discussing political opinions, as less than …

The Complex Relationship Between Veterans And The Va: Veterans' Perspectives Of The Department Of Veterans Affairs., Cowann Owens

Doctor of Social Work Capstone Projects

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the largest integrated provider of healthcare services in the United States, with 1,298 healthcare facilities available to serve the physical and psychological needs of former military service members. Roughly 15.8 million Veterans live in the United States, yet 43% or 6.7 million are not currently enrolled in services through the VA (United States Census Bureau, 2024). A descriptive qualitative study design was implemented to gain insights into Veterans' perspectives of the VA in hopes of better understanding the factors that contribute to their decision to access care at the VA versus the community …

White Supremacist Beliefs Predict Discrimination But Not Implicit Bias Towards Perceived Arab Middle Eastern Muslim Men, Giuditta Scalco, Samuel A. Venezia, Pete Simi, Jasmin Cloutier, Jennifer T. Kubota

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

In recent decades, prejudices against Arab/Middle Eastern Muslim individuals have risen alongside surging white supremacist hate speech and violence. Perpetrators often subscribe to white supremacist ideology, which overtly supports hate against Arab/Middle Eastern Muslim individuals and attracts followers worldwide. However, research exploring biases against Arab/Middle Eastern Muslim individuals remains limited, leaving gaps in understanding these prejudices and the potential role of white supremacist beliefs. In a pre-registered study involving White non-Hispanic Americans varying in white supremacist beliefs, we examined if these beliefs influenced spontaneous evaluations and hiring bias towards perceived Arab/Middle Eastern Muslim and non-Muslim White men. Results showed negative …

Is #Metoo Dead? Thoughts On The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Jody Raphael

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Feminists For Sex-Based Rights: Trump Or Harris In The 2024 Election?, Kara Dansky

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Some US feminists who support sex-based rights for women and girls voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election; others voted for Kamala Harris. For an American feminist to vote for a female Democrat for president is not surprising. Still, because the Democrats embraced “gender identity” at the expense of women and girls as a sex class, some feminists chose to vote for Donald Trump. This article explores some reasons for voting one way or the other (or not at all).

Stochastic Gradient Descent-Based Inference For Dynamic Network Models With Attractors, Hancong Pan, Xiaojing Zhu, Cantay Caliskan, Dino P. Christenson, Konstantinos Spiliopoulos, Dylan Walker, Eric D. Kolaczyk

Business Faculty Articles and Research

In Coevolving Latent Space Networks with Attractors (CLSNA) models, nodes in a latent space represent social actors, and edges indicate their dynamic interactions. Attractors are added at the latent level to capture the notion of attractive and repulsive forces between nodes, borrowing from dynamical systems theory. However, CLSNA reliance on MCMC estimation makes scaling difficult, and the requirement for nodes to be present throughout the study period limit practical applications. We address these issues by (i) introducing a Stochastic gradient descent (SGD) parameter estimation method, (ii) developing a novel approach for uncertainty quantification using SGD, and (iii) extending the model …

Casar Public Lecture: From Coolidge To Trump: A Century Of Racial Politics In America, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Dr. Gallagher's talk examined how various immigration policies in the United States have been shaped by the general public's attitudes regarding the race and ethnicity of those immigrating to the U.S. His talk explores the past and present social pressures that have led to both expansive and restrictive immigration policies.

Speaker: CASAR Guest speaker: Dr.Charles Gallagher ,Professor of Sociology from La Salle University, Philadelphia, USA.

Lecture 1: Date: Wednesday, Feb. 26th, 2025 Time: 7-9 pm Venue: Room 602 - Hill House building - AUC Downtown Tahrir Campus

Lecture 2: Date: Thursday, Feb. 27th, 2025 Time: 1-2 pm Venue: GAPP Executive …

Researching The U.S. Senate Presidential Nominee Confirmation Process, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

The beginning of 2025 has seen renewed public attention and emphasis on the constitutionally mandated U.S. Senate confirmation process. This stems from the beginning of the second Trump Administration as its nominees navigate this process. The presentation provides historical background on this process, demonstrates what nominees, Senate oversight committees, and the full Senate in administering this process and enables readers to find out how to access information resources documenting this process. The confirmation process continues throughout presidential administrations and may involve little public attention and controversy or acute public attention and controversy. The contrasting 2025 confirmation experiences of Secretary of …

The Presidency, Press, And Public Opinion: Has The Relationship Between The Press And The Office Of The Presidency Shifted Since Trump’S Administration?, Jonas Kammeyer-Mueller

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

In political science, studies focusing on the relationship between the press and the president have a long and rich history. However, few presidents have fought the press as strongly as Donald Trump. Given that many of these attacks utilized the influence afforded to Trump by occupying the Office of the Presidency, and that the press has long been noted to have influence over the public, it is worth examining if the relationship between the Office of the President and the press has shifted as a result of these attacks. Because the ability of the Presidency to govern as they wish …

Outlaw President?, Jim Read

Political Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Performing Protest, Performing Memory: Speech Act Theory And January 6, Mary Lynne Gasaway Hill

Faculty Scholarship

In daily life, memory performs a staggering array of tasks. It offers reassurance, validation, legitimation, and approval. It transgresses boundaries and polices them. It confirms understandings and undermines them. It warms our hearts and chills our blood. In the realm of protest, as this article will show, memory works through intentional language use. In the context of activism, acts of memory are often performative: they aim not just to restate the status quo, but to change something about it. This chapter operationalises J.L. Austin’s Speech Act Theory (1994, SAT) as a lens through which to examine how the contentious discourse …

Discretion, Deference, And Dysfunction: U.S. Refugee Resettlement From Egypt, Cassandra Mcclellan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates refugee resettlement from Egypt to the U.S., as facilitated by UNHCR Egypt and the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). Accordingly, the research questions ask what factors determine the volume and profile of refugees UNHCR Egypt submits to USRAP for resettlement, as well as the related determining factors for refugees rejected from and accepted to USRAP. A fourth research question examines the impacts of U.S. refugee policy on the resettlement system in Egypt, including on UNHCR Egypt and refugees. To answer these questions, the thesis first delves into the history of U.S. immigration and refugee policies, with a …

Breaking Boundaries: A Critical Trans Framework Analysis Of Anti-Transgender Sports Policies In Education, Tori Porter, Briana A. Savage, Dresden June Frazier

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This policy analysis examines the impacts of anti-transgender sports legislation on K-20 transgender students through a critical trans framework. We investigate how anti-transgender laws enforce gender norms and intersect with other forms of oppression, such as racism and ableism, affecting multi-marginalized transgender students in sports and limiting access to a well-rounded education. Epistemic injustice is revealed, as these policies disregard transgender students' experiential knowledge and involvement in decision-making processes. Findings indicate that anti-transgender sports policies impact students at individual, institutional, and cultural levels, perpetuating discriminatory practices and reducing access to gender-affirming spaces and supportive adults. We argue for inclusive, evidence-based …

Tolland Triangle Project, Garrett Bumps

CAFE Symposium 2025

The Tolland Triangle Project identifies the unique factors that increase the accident rate on a portion of I-84 in Tolland, Connecticut, and establishes an action plan to mitigate the issue. Despite past setbacks in this area, Tolland residents are ready for solutions, and this advocacy plan enables citizens to have their voices heard, and seek solutions from their government on a city, state, and federal level.

The Politics Of U.S. Religious Freedom And The War On Gaza, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd Phd

Department of Religion Events

It is not possible to understand what is happening in Gaza, or in the US, without understanding the religious politics of American support for Israel. This lecture delves into the swirling mixture of religion, history, and politics that shape relations between these two states. The structure of that relationship also shapes what it means to be religiously free in the US today. Whose religion is free? And whose is defined as heresy, terrorism, or anti-Americanism? At a moment in which US-Israeli relations have come under unprecedented strain and scrutiny, it is helpful to approach this relationship from outside the demands …

Casar Public Lecture: Will Trump End The Ukraine War?, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Trump wants to become the world’s Peace Maker, the Master of the Art of Making Deals. He promised to end this war in 24 hours. Yet the real question is whether Putin wants to end the war, or whether he is ready for a deal ? If so, then what kind of a deal? Could it be that Putin might have a different deal in mind than the deal Trump is willing to offer?? So what happens then??? The lecture deliberated about the possible answers to this very question from several perspectives, analyzing the impact on Egypt, the region & …

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 …

The Electoral College In The American Mind Dataset, September 13-17, 2024, Eric Burin

Datasets

The dataset was generated by a study titled “The Electoral College in the American Mind,” the purpose of which was to better understand people’s thoughts and feelings about the Electoral College. The study’s survey instrument was a questionnaire that posed thirty Electoral College-themed questions: twenty-eight of the questions were written in a multiple-choice format; two were written in an open-ended format. The dataset consists of the aggregate responses to the former, cross-tabulated by the respondents’ demographic characteristics.

The study was administered online by a national firm, SurveyUSA, from September 13, 2024, through September 17, 2024. Using a web-based format, SurveyUSA …

Does Money Buy Happiness? Examining Spending And Approval Of Senators, Steven D. Kaga, April Johnson

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

This project seeks to examine the relationship between approval ratings for US senators who ran in the 2020 election and the amount of campaign spending while controlling for Gender, Incumbency status, Party affiliation and the number of primary challengers to seek greater understanding on how campaign spending impacts the overall sentiment that the voters have for their representatives.

Poverty And Voter Turnout: An Elusive Relationship, Mckenna C. Doran

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

As poverty becomes an increasingly pressing issue in America, researchers and scholars alike are left to determine the extent to which poverty has become ingrained in our society. Many different theories exist on how poverty plays (or does not play) a role in politics, particularly voter turnout. Gaps in previous research have left room for my study to connect some dots and draw conclusions based off my own data. After collecting data from 25 Georgia counties and the 2020 presidential election, I had to conclude that in my study, there exists no confirmed relationship between poverty and voter turnout. There …

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 …

Myth, Mayhem, And Pseudo-Democracy: The Role Of Political Myths In Mobilizing Nationalist Populist Movements And Political Extremists, Stephon J. Boatwright

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This body of research analyzes the enduring impact of political myth in nationalist populism and extremist movements. The rise of Western nationalist parties and acts of terror in the early 21st century gave life to this project. The manuscript advances two theories regarding political myths and their relationship to far right radicalism. First, nationalist myths—sprawling political worldviews whose dogmatic tenets are resistant to empirical critique and rational refutation—function as ideological constructs. They fictionalize the causes of events and serve to recruit adherents to authoritarian causes. Myths are continually reworked to address factual inaccuracies, failed predictions, and evolving social developments, while …

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 …

The 1920s Klan, More Than Just The South: A Historiographical And Pedagogical Assessment, Nicolas Soucy

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay..............................3

II. Primary Source Documents.........16

III. Textbook Critique.........................28

IV. Textbook Rewrite.........................31