American Politics Commons^™

Official Debate '08 Booklet, Belmont University

Debate '08

Official Debate '08 Booklet, signed by Barack Obama and John McCain, containing history of The Commission on Presidential Debates and Belmont University.

Debate '08 Program, Belmont University

Debate '08

Program for the Town Hall Presidential Debate taking place at Belmont University's Curb Event Center on October 7, 2008.

Contains: letter from Belmont President Bob Fischer, Honorary Host Committee, Belmont University Debate '08 Programs, Debate City-Wide Schedule of Events, Debate '08 Sponsors, Debate '08 Partners, University Partners, University Partners Debate '08 Events, Belmont University Administration, Faculty and Staff, The Commission on Presidential Debates, and a brief note about Belmont University.

Debate '08 Programming Schedule, Belmont University

Debate '08

Schedule for the extensive amount of programming Belmont University put together as part of their "Art Of Being Free" campus theme. The initiative dovetailed with the Town Hall Presidential Debate hosted by Belmont University on October 7, 2008.

Debate '08 Report Brochure, Belmont University

Debate '08

Report on the Town Hall Presidential Debate held on October 7, 2008 at Belmont University, done in the style of a photo-abundant brochure.

When Church Teachings And Policy Commitments Collide: Perspectives On Catholics In The U.S. House Of Representatives, William E. Hudson, Elizabeth A. Oldmixon

Political Science Faculty Publications

This article investigates the influence of religious values on domestic social policy-making, with a particular focus on Catholics. We analyze roll call votes in the 109^th Congress and find that Catholic identification is associated with support for Catholic Social Teaching, but both younger Catholics and Republican Catholics are found less supportive. In followup interviews with a small sample of Catholic Republicans, we find that they justify voting contrary to Church teaching by seeing its application to domestic social issues as less authoritative than Church moral teachings on issues like abortion.

Engineered Nanoscale Materials And Derivative Products: Regulatory Challenges, Linda-Jo Schierow

Congressional Research Service Reports

Scientists and engineers can now examine, design, and manipulate materials at the molecular level, termed “nanoscale,” between 1 and 100 billionths of a meter. The U.S. government has invested heavily to ensure that American industry remains a global leader in the field, because the products of nanotechnology are seen to have great economic potential and offer possible solutions to national problems ranging from energy efficiency to detection of agents of biological warfare. Optimism about nanotechnology is tempered, however, by concerns about the unknown potential of nanoscale materials to harm the environment and human health. Some have called for federal regulation …

The U.S. Policy Of Democracy Promotion In Latin America, Steven Gilbert

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The U.S. policy of democracy promotion in Latin America has consisted of promoting governments that are favorable to U.S. political and economic interests rather than democracy itself. While the U.S. claims to have a tradition of “promoting democracy” in Latin America, justification for U.S. intervention has been questionable and inconsistent. U.S. support for Latin American regimes has coincided with favorable economic policies rather than with the strength of democracy within a country. Historically, the protection of resources for extraction has been one of the main goals of U.S. policy in Latin America. U.S. A historical overview of U.S. relations in …

Women Politicians: Why The United States Has So Few, Rebecca Kurtz

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The United States has very few women political representatives, especially at the federal level. Many reasons exist for why women’s representation is not equal, including the power of incumbency and the persistence of gender roles which keep women from entering politics because of a general lack of education and a responsibility to care for one’s family. With the emergence of strong women like Hillary Clinton, the factors historically known to keep women from participating may not be applicable to today. These factors will be evaluated in expectation of finding what makes women politicians successful and what measures can be taken …

Comparison Of The 2008 Farm Bill Conference Agreement With The House And Senate Farm Bills, Renée Johnson, Geoffrey S. Becker, Tom Capehart, Ralph M. Chite, Tadlock Cowan, Ross W. Gorte, Charles E. Hanrahan, Remy Jurenas, Jim Monke, Jean M. Rawson, Randy Schnepf, Joe Richardson, Donald J. Marples, Mark Jickling

Congressional Research Service Reports

In late May, both the House and the Senate voted to override a presidential veto of the conference agreement on the 2008 farm bill (H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008), and the conference bill became law on May 22, 2008 (P.L. 110-234). However, an enrolling error resulted in one title of the bill (Title III, Trade) being omitted from the version that was sent to the White House, and the newly enacted law contains 14 of 15 farm bill titles. To resolve this issue, both the House and Senate passed a version of the 2008 farm …

The Effect Of Gender On Health Care Policy In The State Legislature, Ashley Wilson Huth

Honors Program Theses

This paper examines whether descriptive representation, in terms of gender, affects substantive representation among female legislators in a single state legislature. Data are collected from the 82nd General Assembly of the Iowa state legislature's lower-house. The unit of analysis is the individual bill. Controlling for legislator and district characteristics, I test whether legislator gender has an independent effect on the likelihood of the introduction of healthcare legislation. Utilizing the substantive representation index, and logistic regression with robust-cluster-standard-errors, I find that males introduce more healthcare bills when compared to females. The implications of this finding in terms of legislative representation are …

The Iowa Caucuses: Effects Of Presidential Campaigns On State Politicians, Amy Kathleen Meyers

Honors Program Theses

The Iowa caucuses have been a topic of fascination for many political scientists, the media, and political junkies. Their prominent nature attracts media from all over the United States and can significantly impact the day-to-day lives of Iowans. In studying this topic, close attention must be paid to how campaigns necessarily treat elected state officials differently than ordinary Iowans. More specifically, legislators are treated differently in the processes by which campaigns lobby state legislators for support, the benefits officials receive, and the ways in which such lobbying can detract from their roles as state legislators. All of these factors are …

Letter: Hillary Clinton, Dear Friend, Hillary Clinton For President Exploratory Committee

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Campaign letter from Hillary Clinton to a Friend. Paid for by Hillary Clinton for President Exploratory Committee. No date given. Box 14 Folder 11

Presidential Election Of 1980, José Villalobos

Departmental Papers (PS)

No abstract provided.

Blog's Growth In Presidential Candidates Campaign Coverage During The Democratic And Republican Nomination Process, Lisa Musante

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Evaluating Majority Party Leaders In Congress, Daniel Palazzolo

Political Science Faculty Publications

Evaluations of majority party leaders come from three main sources: political scientists, media analysts, and members of Congress. Political scientists are the theoreticians. They have defined concepts and developed theories for evaluating leadership style, strategy, and strength. Journalists are the watchdogs. They regularly evaluate leader performance in response to contemporary events. Members of Congress then serve as the judges and juries. They occasionally advise leaders on tactics and strategies, and they ultimately have the ability to sanction or reward leaders.

Letter: Bill Clinton, Friend, Bill Clinton

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Campaign funding form letter from Bill Clinton. Paid for by Hillary Clinton for President Exploratory Committee. No date given. Box 14 Folder 11

Politics - To Engage Or Not To Engage? Seeking A Biblical Perspective, John Wesley Taylor V

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

Postcards: Hillary For President, Donation Form, Hillary Clinton For President Exploratory Committee

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Blank postcards to encourage someone to join Women for Hillary. Paid for by Hillary Clinton for President Exploratory Committee. No date given. Box 14 Folder 11

Leaflet: Hillary For President Exploratory Committee, 10 For 10, Hillary For President Exploratory Committee

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

A thank you for participating in the 10 for 10 program for Hillary’s campaign. No date given. Box 14 Folder 11

Postcard: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hillary Clinton For President Exploratory Committee

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Campaign material asking for support. Paid for by Hillary Clinton for President Exploratory Committee. No date given. Box 14 Folder 11

Printed Material: Hillary For President, Summary Of Contribution Rules, Hilary Clinton For President Exploratory Committee

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Informational flyer with summary of contribution rules. Hillary for President. No date given. Box 14 Folder 11

The Unbearable Lightness Of Debating: Performance Ambiguity And Social Influence, Matthew B. Kugler, George R. Goethals

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

This chapter considers three sets of studies on how social influence affects perceptions of candidates' performances in presidential debates. The first set shows that perceptions are influenced markedly by the reactions of peers watching the debate at the same time or by televised audiences shown on broadcast debates. The second set shows that expectations created by news accounts prior to debates also have significant impact and that different kinds of news accounts affect different viewers in distinct ways. Individuals with a high need for cognition respond well to more complicated messages that advance some reason as to why an apparently …

Hispanic Citizenship, Registration, And Voting Patterns: A Comparative Analysis Of The 2000 And 2004 Presidential Elections, Debora Upegui

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines citizenship, registration, and voting patterns among Latinos in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: There is no doubt that the Hispanic population in the United States has consistently grown in the last two decades and continues to be the largest growing minority group within the United States. According to the 2004 census, …

Gerrymanders And Theories Of Law Making: A Study Of Legislative Redistricting In Illinois, Michael C. Herron, Alan E. Wiseman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Redistricting politics in Illinois provide a novel opportunity for testing competing theories of law making. With this in mind, we demonstrate that the post-2000 Census redistricters in Illinois, dominated by Democrats, strategically reshuffled district demographic profiles in an attempt to convert relatively liberal Republican districts to conservative Democratic districts in the state Senate while decreasing and increasing the ideological diversity of the Democrats and Republicans, respectively, in the House. Such reshufflings suggest that legislative politics in Illinois are conducted in a manner consistent with vote-buying theories of coalition formation.

Girls On The Stand: How Courts Fail Pregnant Minors, O. Carter Snead

Journal Articles

Girls on the Stand: How Courts Fail Pregnant Minors by Helena Silverstein. New York, New York University Press, 2007. 256 pp. $32.00.

Abortion may be the most controversial issue in American politics. It is a domain in which disagreement is not merely overheated, but seemingly intractable. Girls on the Stand: How Courts Fail Pregnant Minors ambitiously takes aim at one of the few abortion policies about which there is widespread agreement: parental involvement laws. It appeals to social science evidence to argue that popular support for these laws is misguided because, in practice, they impose too high a burden on …

Democracy In Practice: Lessons From New England, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Kevin Dye

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

Political decision-making by elites require some form of civilian participation to regain legitimacy. Increasingly groups of Citizens do not trust in political elites and are increasingly frustrated by their behavior. When faced with the problem of diversity, even established democracies face problems of managing diversity. In the global context differences of opinion, culture, religion etc has defined many of the New Wars (Kaldor 1999). In the United States many non-state and semi-governmental organizations have developed programs to increase public knowledge of the legislature and its decision-making processes. The ultimate purpose of this is to exercise some control over state power. …

Administrative Law Agonistes, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Roger Noll, Barry R. Weingast, Daniel B. Rodriguez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Public Leadership In The Political Arena, Lori Cox Han

Political Science Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"In this chapter, I address the concept of leadership and the Important role that it now in the process at all levels and in various branches of I offer a definition of leadership and the various political that encompass this of governing. The vast scholarly literature that has developed in recent decades on the topic of presidential communications offers an excellent assessment of the contemporary importance of public leadership. I a brief overview of public strategies and how they have evolved over time (particularly in concurrence with technological advances in mass as well as relevant examples' that help us to …

Matthew S. Weinert On Back To Peace: Reconciliation And Retribution In The Postwar Period Edited By Aránzazu Usandizaga And Andrew Monnickendam. Notre Dame, In: University Of Notre Dame Press, 2007. 320pp., Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Back to Peace: Reconciliation and Retribution in the Postwar Period edited by Aránzazu Usandizaga and Andrew Monnickendam. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007. 320pp.

Forced Labor In The United States: A Contemporary Problem In Need Of A Contemporary Solution, Chrissey Buckley

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Legal slavery ended in the United States in 1865, yet the practice of forcing individuals to work against their will, oftentimes in inhumane conditions, continues today. Currently there are around 50,000 people working in forced labor situations in the United States (Bales 47). Although this number is smaller than it was during the 18th century, finding and freeing these individuals is difficult because they are hidden away and exploited. The United States is now at a critical juncture in its struggle to end forced labor. In 2000, the U.S. Government enacted legislation that holds perpetrators of forced labor accountable, and …