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Full-Text Articles in International Relations

A Sign Of The Times- How Ethnonationalist Executives Affect Democracy, Adam M. Sikes Nov 2021

A Sign Of The Times- How Ethnonationalist Executives Affect Democracy, Adam M. Sikes

Honors College Theses

In the immediate post-Cold War era, proponents of democracy envisioned a world with few barriers to the spread of democracy and its institutions globally. However, a clear trend has been definitively established in the recent academic discourse pointing to a marked decline in the quality of democracies in several democratizing states. While the root causes for this decline continue to be a contentious subject, much of the existing literature depends on institutional theory to explain the cause of democratic backsliding. Concurrently, we have seen a dramatic stream of news about the state of democracy in two of the world’s most …


Gender Equality And Democratization: How Greater Gender Equality Helps Explain Tunisian Success In The Arab Spring, Hannah Miller May 2021

Gender Equality And Democratization: How Greater Gender Equality Helps Explain Tunisian Success In The Arab Spring, Hannah Miller

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.


The Crisis Of Democracy: The Case Study Of Democratic Backsliding And The Rise Of Populism In Poland, Nargiza Yusupova Jan 2021

The Crisis Of Democracy: The Case Study Of Democratic Backsliding And The Rise Of Populism In Poland, Nargiza Yusupova

Theses and Dissertations

Poland made impressive gains during its democratization phrase between 1989 and 2015. Its economy became significantly more open; formal institutions underwent dramatic changes in checks and balances. Yet the task of sustaining the impressive performance of democratic institutions has become increasingly difficult after the victory of the Law and Justice Party (PiS) party during the 2015 elections. A right-wing populist PiS party’s rise to power had clear political mainsprings. A number of changes and amendments to the Constitutional Tribunal Act have been introduced that threaten the Tribunal independence and put constraints on the independence of the media, civil service, police, …


Evolutionary Possibilities Of Democratization And Atavistic Nationalism: A Comparative Study Of Unrecognized States, Hilmi Ulas Jan 2021

Evolutionary Possibilities Of Democratization And Atavistic Nationalism: A Comparative Study Of Unrecognized States, Hilmi Ulas

Peace Studies Faculty Articles and Research

The question of how rising atavistic nationalism will affect democracies worldwide is an essential one of our time. In this paper, I focus instead on conducting a comparative historical analysis of atavistic nationalism in two unrecognized states: North Cyprus and Taiwan. I argue that the democratic crisis of our times is, in its essence, economic and has been precipitated by the failure of democracies to build domestic capacities to support democratic values. Furthermore, I posit that engaging populaces at the local political level will prove essential to preserving democracies around the world. I conclude by underlining that atavistic nationalism is …


Bengal Rising: Why Bangladesh & Pakistan’S Growth Trajectories Are Diverging, Sartaj Javed Jan 2021

Bengal Rising: Why Bangladesh & Pakistan’S Growth Trajectories Are Diverging, Sartaj Javed

All Reports

50 years after Henry Kissinger derided the nascent state of Bangladesh as an economic basket case, the country has emerged as the newest claimant to the mantle of being an Asian tiger economy. Borne out of a genocidal civil war with Pakistan, Bangladesh’s rise and Pakistan’s decline over a tumultuous half-century period necessitates a review of foreign policy orthodoxy as South Asia’s populace starts to assert its economic and political might.


Violence After Victory: Explaining Variation In State Repression Following Contentious Politics, Christopher Wiley Shay Jan 2021

Violence After Victory: Explaining Variation In State Repression Following Contentious Politics, Christopher Wiley Shay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

If conflict onset leads to increases in human rights abuse, how can these abuses be curbed once conflicts have ended? To answer this question, researchers have traditionally focused on a country’s regime type and leaders’ incentive structures. This is insufficient, I argue, because many regimes with obvious incentives to curb repression (especially democracies) fail to do so. In addition to regime-type, therefore, the answer depends on whether a given regime can count on the cooperation of its military and law enforcement institutions, which I refer to collectively as the security apparatus. This is because security agents’ prior experiences usually create …


Designing For Democracy: How Democratizing States Design International Organizations, Marissa Wyant Jan 2021

Designing For Democracy: How Democratizing States Design International Organizations, Marissa Wyant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Building on work by Paul Poast and Johannes Urpelainen that suggests that democratizing states are more likely to form new international governmental organizations rather than join existing ones, I ask the question: how do these states design the organizations they form, and how do those design choices compare to the choices made by consolidated democracies and by nondemocracies? I focus on three design choices made by states regarding membership constraints, voting procedures, and dispute resolution processes. By comparing and analyzing founding charters, I find that democratizing states were more likely to constrain access to membership into these organizations to regional …


Military Influence On Middle Eastern Democratization Following The Arab Spring, Andrew Fleming Jan 2021

Military Influence On Middle Eastern Democratization Following The Arab Spring, Andrew Fleming

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Despite experiencing countless wars, sectarian extremism, imperialism, and authoritarian rule, very few events have impacted the Middle East more significantly than the Arab Spring. Starting in 2010, the Arab Spring marked a turning point in which the people of numerous Arabic states collectively gathered to protest and combat the oppressive regimes that had controlled the region for decades. The Spring was indicative of the strong, recurring ambitions for revolution and regime change across the Middle East, presenting the Arab nations with an opportunity to reform their states from within. For some Middle Eastern states, the Arab Spring served as a …