Comparative Politics Commons^™

U.S.-China Economic And Security Review Commission: Emerging Factor In Western Pacific Strategic Policy Analysis, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Those studying and analyzing Western Pacific strategic trends and develop- ments have access to multiple unclassified analyses of security trends in this region covering these waters and adjacent countries. These information resources are produced by military and government agencies from multiple countries, multinational public policy research institutions, popular and scholarly journals, and Internet resources featuring text, data, webcasts, and imagery. One of these resources is the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission established in the 2001 National Defense Authorization Act. This article argues that this organization’s analyses should be considered essential reading by civilian and military policymakers and individuals and …

An Analysis Of China’S Regional Emissions Trading System: Challenges And Lessons, Ronghui (Kevin) Zhou

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

China, the largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world, has faced environmental pressures both internationally and domestically over the last ten years. In early 2011, the Chinese government approved a carbon emissions trading program in seven cities and provinces, and started planning a national emissions trading framework. This thesis reviews these pilot programs and examines the issues that underlie them. Drawing lessons from the U.S. Acid Rain Program, the European Union’s ETS, and California’s CAT, the three largest emissions trading frameworks in the world, I find that: (1) lack of trades in China’s pilot programs is a consequence of permit …

The Effects Of Military Budget On American Perception, Charlie Hollis Whittington

Bridges: A Journal of Student Research

How do Americans' perception of a state formulate based on the state's military expenditure? Conventional research theories indicate that Americans might feel a shared political culture with other democratic nations. Such feelings of solidarity may engender Americans' trust and favorability of some states' military development, but provoke negative feelings toward others. Using data mostly from Gallup and the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, this study examines Americans' attitudes toward major states' in the world (vis-à-vis military expenditure).

A Contemporary Analysis And Comparison Of Kurdish National Movements: Syria, Iraq, And Turkey, Grayson Lanza

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As commonly understood, and particularly espoused by Kurdish nationalists, the Kurds are by far the largest ethnic group in the world without their own nation-state. An estimated 2 to 2.5 million ethnically Kurdish people inhabit portions of Syria. There are approximately 6.5 million ethnically Kurdish people in Iraq, 7.6 million in Iran, and 16 million in Turkey. Overall, there are about 30 million Kurds in the world. In the broader context of the Kurdish nationalist struggle, this paper suggests that there is a growing bipolar hegemony for power over the control of Kurdish land and politics. Research was predicated around …

Conflict Recurrence In Rwanda And Burundi, Kellan H. Ritter

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis argues that the different reactions of the population and rival elites to executive attempts to extend term limits in Rwanda and Burundi reflect the different ways civil wars ended in these two countries. In Rwanda, a military victory resulted in institutions that placed less constraint on the ruling party, while in Burundi, a negotiated settlement placed comparatively greater constraints on the ruling party. As a result, the major party in Rwanda was more powerful than the major power in Burundi, and thus more capable to co-opt or coerce the opposition. This paper uses a most-similar case design to …

The Value Of Black Lives: The Effect Of The Digital Age On African American Identity And Political Participation, Lauren Grimes

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

Education Inequity: A Comparative Analysis Of Johannesburg And Chicago City Schools, Melissa Marie Johnson

Honors Program Theses

Variances in the quality of education between schools in the same metropolitan areas have been noted around the world, and researchers have speculated on several causes. In order to study the specific impacts of funding gaps, lower numbers and qualifications of teachers, and lack of resources for students learning English, the cities of Johannesburg and Chicago were compared and contrasted. Both cities contained areas with very high quality schools and isolated neighborhoods where schools generally had fewer resources and lower test scores. This research shows that the problems in both cities mirror one another to an extent. Schools systems in …

Cicig In Guatemala: The Institutionalization Of An Anti-Corruption Body, Greg M. Morano

Honors Theses

When is the institutionalization of anti-corruption bodies possible in Latin America? Central America’s Cold War era internal conflicts destabilized the Northern Triangle’s governments and greatly weakened judicial institutions. The legacy of these conflicts led to the creation of parallel corrupt networks that infiltrated state institutions and perpetuated impunity and violence. However, in Guatemala, the institutionalization of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala, CICIG) has improved the country’s ability to prosecute high-level corruption against the threat of powerful and corrupt state actors. A comparative analysis of the tenures of CICIG’s three commissioners reveals …

A Tale Of Two Neighbors: A Comparative Analysis Of The Processes Of State Creation And Regime Formation In Colombia And Venezuela, Alexander Mintz

Government and International Relations Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Baseball And The U.S.-Cuban Diplomatic Relationship: Why Did Baseball Serve As An Ineffective Diplomatic Tool For The United States And Cuba?, Abbygale Sarah Martinen

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Charting Syriza's Swift Rise And Fall, Despina Lalaki

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Empowerment Of Women In The Middle East, Ailbhe M. Rice

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis assesses the current rights of women in Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Within each case study, four main factors are measured based on their individual influence in each state. The first factor, historical context, examines various historical influences and their effect on the empowerment of women in their country. The second factor, the socio-cultural context, describes social and ethnical effects on society such as the influence of tribal lineage. The third factor researched is the political structure of the state and the impact that each different political system has upon gender equality in that region. …

Political Islam And Democracy, Mikellon S. Browne-Michael

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Middle East is a predominately Islamic region. Islam is not only a religion, it is the Muslim way of life and law. The western world follows a more modern system of government, in the form of democracy. Democracy is not modern, as in new, since it was started by the ancient Greeks, but it is modern, because it is the main system being adopted in contemporary times.

Muslims follow the ideals found in the Holy Quran, the book dictated by the prophet Muhammad. The Middle East has had a strong Islamic influence since the mid-seventh century. Islam originated in …

Ethnic Xenophobia As Symbolic Politics: A Cross-National Study Of Anti-Migrant Activism From Brussels To Beirut, Annamarie M. Rannou

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Xenophobia is examined almost exclusively as a prejudice of advanced western nations. I argue that the field of study of xenophobia must be re-conceptualized in order for comparative, cross-regional inquiry to take place. With a new concept of ethnic xenophobia, this dissertation examines the determinants and causal mechanisms of ethnic xenophobic activity across developed and developing countries. I integrate studies of xenophobia and theories of ethnic threat to explain that political elites rely on structural dimensions of threat to convert native anxieties into ethnic xenophobia through the use of anti-migrant myths and symbols. I extend Stuart Kaufman’s theory of …

Language, Rhetoric, And Politics In A Global Context: A Decolonial Critical Discourse Perspective On Nigeria’S 2015 Presidential Campaign, Yunana Ahmed

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In this dissertation, I conceptualize a rhetorical and linguistic analysis of politics from a decolonial framework (Mignolo, 2011; Smith, 2012). My analysis draws on classical rhetoric (Aristotle, 2007), cultural rhetoric (Mao, 2014; Powell, et al., 2014; Yankah, 1995), and linguistics (Chilton, 2004) to reveal the different ways ideological and hegemonic struggles are discursively constructed in Nigerian political campaign discourse. The data for this study come from two speeches delivered by former President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan during the 2015 electoral campaign. This includes his declaration-of-intent speech and his speech marking the commencement of his formal campaign activities. My …

Where Do Women Stand? Attitudes Towards Female Political Participation In India And The Us, Grace Anne Carlson

Audre Lorde Prize

This paper aimed to study attitudes towards gender inequalities in politics, both in the United States and India. Using original survey research and World Values Survey data, American and Indian attitudes towards women in politics were analyzed and compared. Ultimately, the project found that respondents in both countries still hold distinctly unequal views on women in the political sphere.

Emancipatory Rural Politics: Confronting Authoritarian Populism, Ian Scooner, Marc Edelman, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Ruth Hall, Wendy Wolford, Ben White

Publications and Research

A new political moment is underway. Although there are significant differences in how this is constituted in different places, one manifestation of the new moment is the rise of distinct forms of authoritarian populism. In this opening paper of the JPS Forum series on ‘Authoritarian Populism and the Rural World’, we explore the relationship between these new forms of politics and rural areas around the world. We ask how rural transformations have contributed to deepening regressive national politics, and how rural areas shape and are shaped by these politics. We propose a global agenda for research, debate and action, which …

Voting As A (Mandatory) Duty: Citizen Attitudes, Political Engagement, And Party Outreach Under Compulsory Voting, Gabriela Sainati Rangel

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Political participation is paramount to the well being of a democracy. Concerns over low turnout rates across the world have prompted a growing body of research on the potential for political institutions to foster electoral participation. Amongst those institutions, compulsory voting is found to have the largest and most robust impact on maximizing participation rates. Under this system, eligible citizens are required by law to go to the polls on election day, and are subject to penalties if they fail to do so. Beyond its positive impact on turnout, we know far less about what other aspects of the democratic …

Centralization And Decentralization In Natural Disaster Response: A Comparative Case Study Of 3.11 Earthquake And Hurricane Katrina, Muxuan Wang

Scripps Senior Theses

March 11, 2011 Earthquake in Japan and 2005 Hurricane Katrina both caused significant destruction and were both viewed as examples of government failures in natural disaster management. One year after the disasters, both countries enacted several policy reforms in response to their failures. However, while in the U.S, the central government's emergency power was strengthened, the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan)'s government carried out reforms to strengthen the local governments. On the other hand, the other prominent political party in Japan, the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), argued for more centralized power. How did these parties take different lessons from the …

The Rise Of The Far Right: Explaining Popularity And Potential Influence, Vanessa Rosato

Scripps Senior Theses

The 2016 election cycle has shown a dramatic radicalization of the right, featuring elements such as out-group demonization, law and order rhetoric, and populist strategies that have not been so prevalent in the US since the rise of Nixon’s Silent Majority in the 1970s. The UK has experienced a similar ideological shift, though its emergence has perhaps not been so notoriously outspoken. All the same, the fervent anti-statist and anti-elitist narrative employed by the Leave Campaign is starkly similar to language historically associated with the populist rhetoric of the Far Right. Drawing on analyses of economic, socio-cultural, and geopolitical trends …

Sustainable Mining For Long Term Poverty Alleviation In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Ellen Perfect

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the poverty alleviation and peace-spoiling power of the mineral extraction sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to arrive at a set of strategic goals for the country moving forward. Although subterranean minerals are often a source or perpetuator of violence, the potential to lift the country’s rural communities out of extreme poverty makes the mining industry an essential part of the nation’s development strategies. Lessons from Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Uganda and Sierra Leone to arrive at best practices for increasing the multiplier effect of large-scale mining, formalization, beneficiation, capital …

Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, And Champeta: The Colombian Conflict As Case Study In Sovereignty, Anna Shepard

CMC Senior Theses

I will argue that a discussion of sovereignty as it relates to internal conflict deepens our understanding of the Colombian conflict, and in turn, the Colombian conflict deepens the ongoing discussion on sovereignty. Internal armed conflict is a tool to free and dominate populations, to save and kill individuals, and to destroy and build institutions. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke set an initial framework for understanding sovereignty. Armed actors use violence to create a sphere of influence that overlaps with the state’s legal jurisdiction: armed actors use violence as a strategy of hegemonic state building. Overlapping territorial claims challenge the …

The New Normal? Climate Variability And Ecoviolence In Sub-Saharan Africa, Alfonso Sanchez

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Climate change presents a wide range of concerns that can jeopardize international security. Among those concerns are neo-Malthusian worries of diminishing natural resources. Predictive models suggest that rainfall and temperature anomalies have the potential to reduce water basins, crop production, increase land degradation among other perils that threaten human security. This concern is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa given the region’s strong dependence on rain-fed agriculture. Despite strong claims from various world leaders and scientists of a direct climate-conflict nexus, little empirical evidence has been devoted to find a systematic causal pathway of this kind. What is more, the literature …

The Electoral Success Of Communist-Successor Parties In The Czech Republic And Romania, Harley L. Roe

Master's Theses

Communist-successor parties are impacted by six social and political factors: party reimaging, coalition building, corruption and scandal, party leadership, EU accession, and social indicators. This project explores how the descendants of the totalitarian communist parties in the Czech Republic and Romania are influenced by each factor by analyzing election result data against these indicators. Party reimaging and coalition building are the most influential in determining voter turnout, while the other four work in conjunction to influence election results. This project contributes to the literature on electoral volatility, post-communist countries, voter behavior, and seeks to offer a model that can predict …

Introduction To New Work On Immigration And Identity In Contemporary France, Québec, And Ireland, Dervila Cooke

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided for the introduction.

Thematic Bibliography To New Work On Immigration And Identity In Contemporary France, Québec, And Ireland, Dervila Cooke

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

Geopolitical Implications Of The Sino-Japanese East China Sea Dispute For The U.S., Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This presentation updates the article "Geopolitical Implications of the Sino-East China Sea Dispute for the U.S." published in Geopolitics, History, and International Relations which is already available in epubs.

Good Governance: A New Perspective For Institutional Reform- A Comparative View Of The Education, Health And Water Sectors In Egypt, Yasmin Khodary

Political Science

Reform of state institutions is a gateway to a country's progress and development. This research seeks to answer the following questions: 'to what extent do institutions, such as water, basic education and primary healthcare institutions, conform to good governance standards in Egypt?' and secondly, 'how can good governance offer a new perspective for institutional reform in Egypt?'. The research presents a comparative assessment for governance within the Egyptian water, basic education and primary healthcare institutions. The assessment is based on nationally-owned governance indicators, which informed the measurement and assessment of governance within the water, basic education and primary healthcare institutions …

Why Has “Development” Become A Political Issue In Indian Politics?, Aseema Sinha

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Most observers of India have an implicit model of how Indians vote. They assume that voters in India act on their primary identities, such as caste or community, and that parties seek votes based on group identities—called vote banks—that can be collated into majorities and coalitions. K.C. Suri articulates the logic of this dominant model:

People of this country vote more on the basis of emotional issues or primordial loyalties, such as caste, religion, language or region and less on the basis of policies. The victory or defeat of a party depends on how a party or leaders marshal support …

Civil War Termination, Caroline A. Hartzell

Political Science Faculty Publications

Civil wars typically have been terminated by a variety of means, including military victories, negotiated settlements and ceasefires, and “draws.” Three very different historical trends in the means by which civil wars have ended can be identified for the post–World War II period. A number of explanations have been developed to account for those trends, some of which focus on international factors and others on national or actor-level variables. Efforts to explain why civil wars end as they do are considered important because one of the most contested issues among political scientists who study civil wars is how “best” to …