Models and Methods Commons^™

Assessing Brazil’S Economic Trajectory Post Democracy: A Synthetic Control Approach To The 1985 Transition, Mohammad Saqlain Khurshid

Theses and Dissertations

Brazil’s democratic transition in 1985 marked a pivotal moment in its political and economic history. Following 21 years of military rule, the transition introduced sweeping political reforms amidst significant economic instability. This study examines the causal impact of democratization on Brazil’s economic trajectory using the Synthetic Control Method (SCM). By constructing a synthetic counterfactual, this research estimates the economic effects of democratization. The findings suggest a negative impact of democratization on the per capita GDP of Brazil, amounting to an average annual reduction of approximately $887 per year during 15 years following the democratization. However, this effect is not statistically …

Peacekeeping In Sierra Leone And Mali, Ishaka Kondeh

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions in promoting democracy, protecting human rights, and implementing Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs in post-conflict Sierra Leone and Mali. By analyzing the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), this research explores the impact of these missions on Mali still in conflict and long-term peacebuilding. The study focuses on three critical areas: supporting democratic governance, ensuring human rights protections, and successfully reintegrating former combatants into society. Through a comparative approach, this research analyzes why some peacekeeping missions succeed and then …

The Position Of The United States Of America Vis-A-Vis The Question Of Western Sahara: Assessing The Role Of Think Tanks In The Conflict, Hamid Baadeche

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

ABSTRACT

The Position of the United States of America Vis-à-vis the Question of Western Sahara: Assessing the Role of Think Tanks in the Conflict

Hamid Baadeche

Think tank organizations, particularly in the United States, have become a prominent feature of the political landscape. They act as advocates for specific policies that they consider beneficial for the country or a particular societal group. They function as a primary source of information, which they then aim to transform into well-informed policies and sound decisions. They are referred to as "the revolving doors," "idea brokers," and "idea factory." As such, their foremost objective …

Determinants And Consequences Of Electrification In India: A Cross Sectional Analysis Of Socioeconomic Inequities, Devin Oommen

Honors Capstones

This study examines the effects of village-level electrification on socioeconomic welfare in rural India, with a focus on inequities in access and outcomes. Electri- fication is widely regarded as a catalyst for development, improving productivity, educational attainment, and income. However, the distribution of these bene- fits remains uneven. Using cross-sectional data from the Socioeconomic High Resolution Urban Geographic (SHRUG) dataset, this paper investigates the re- lationship between eelctricity access and estimated monthly consumption per capita, a proxy for welfare.

The analysis employs multiple linear regression to control for factors such as in- come, poverty rates, gender composition, and land ownership. …

Going Nuclear: Conflict Transformation In Asia, Hariharan Murugesan

Student Theses and Dissertations

On July 16th, 1945, codenamed “Trinity,” the world’s first nuclear bomb was detonated, releasing 18.6 kilotons of energy, morphing the sand in the Alamo Desert into green sheet glass.

International relations and its study were fundamentally changed with the creation of nuclear weapons. Mutually Assured Destruction, aptly shortened to MAD became a prevailing theory that tried to explain why countries would acquire nuclear weapons but would never use them; overtime, through various frameworks and treaties, the world tried to control the spread of nuclear weapons, and since 2006, only nine countries have succeeded in creating nuclear weapons, and yet interestingly …

The Holocaust's Legacy: Influencing Jewish Political Identity, Jordan Eskew

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis addresses the intricate relationship between the historical persecution of the Holocaust and its enduring influence on contemporary Jewish political engagement, a subject of significant contemporary relevance in political and international relations. Despite broad recognition of the Holocaust’s impact, the specific ways in which its memory affects Jewish political attitudes and actions around the world in the modern day have not been sufficiently thoroughly examined. Utilizing qualitative methods, including interviews with 20 individuals—public figures, Holocaust survivors, their descendants, and broader members of the Jewish diaspora— this study focuses on understanding the interplay between historical trauma, community cohesion, and the …

Data To Disinformation Navigating Fake News & Statistical Manipulation On Social Media, Mason Mcilwain

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

Over the past decade, concerns about "fake news" and information accuracy have surged. Social media has become a primary source of news and information, especially among younger demographics. While offering numerous advantages, these platforms are often filled with errors and present information through personalized lenses, highlighting the need for conscious consumption and critical thinking when interpreting the meaning of a post. This lesson will utilize lectures, case studies, think pair share, and Socratic discussions.

This lesson can be a stand-alone lesson to increase student awareness of news consumption on social media.

It could also be part of a broader curriculum …

Bridges And Brigades: Balancing Hard And Soft Power In Global Affinity Towards China, Zachary R. Levinson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As the People’s Republic of China continues its attempt to match the United States as a global hegemon, it has put forth significant efforts to build influence and gain the support of smaller countries around the globe utilizing both hard and soft power. However, the question remains whether these efforts have resulted in greater favorability toward China. This study seeks to answer this question. I use a Bayesian Item Response Theory (IRT) model to generate latent measures of Chinese hard and soft power around the globe using data on Chinese economic aid, alliances, diplomatic exchanges, and security assistance. This is …

Emerging From Behind The Curtain: A Comparative Analysis Of Polish And Czech Reforms Based On Quality Of Life Improvements, Summer Ellis

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the economic reforms undertaken by Poland and the Czech Republic during the 1990s transition period. It seeks to ultimately differentiate reform quality between the Czech Republic and Poland in terms of well-being. The basis of reform success is determined using a quality of life scale that spans economic, health, and environmental indicators. Reform quality is then assessed based on improvements in well-being, instead of high-level economic metrics that often evaluate in a manner that fails to capture individual citizen sentiment. From this point, it is possible to determine which transitioning country underwent the most optimal reform process …

Saudi Arabia's Nuclear Decision-Making In The Era Of Mohammad Bin Salman, Andrew Brown

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Strategic culture plays a crucial role in shaping countries’ decision-making in regard to security and foreign policy. In the context of nuclear proliferation, strategic culture can significantly impact a country’s willingness to pursue nuclear weapons and how it calculates the risks and benefits of such a decision. This thesis examines Saudi Arabia’s decision-making under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who has brought about significant changes in the country's strategic culture through aggressive top-down reform. While much of Saudi Arabia's traditional strategic culture has remained intact under MBS and his father, King Salman, some elements have shifted …

Commonalities And Differences In Governments’ Covid-19 Public Health Responses Around The World, Olga Shvetsova, Andrei Zhirnov

Political Science Faculty Scholarship

As the world enters the era of increased frequency of global health crises and natural disasters, with climate change looming as an ever-present threat, how we govern ourselves matters for the ways in which we will live through these difficult times. The authors in this volume provide observations backed by mixed methods of analysis on the many ways in which government organization and political realities affect crisis response and crisis management. In this chapter, we further strengthen the validity of their findings with large N global sample analyses where the timing and stringency of the adoption of public health policies …

State Government: A Comparison Of Bicameral, Biennial, Citizen Legislatures, Zachary J. Johnigan

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Governing agencies can be classified as either federal, state, or local. The Nevada Legislature is a state level governing body that provides governance for the state of Nevada. A large part of the process of governing the state takes place during a regular legislative session, where new laws are heard then passed or denied and old laws are revised or abolished. One regular legislative session consists of 120 calendar days. In the event that not all business was able to be conducted within a regular session, the governor of the state can call for a special session to be opened. …

Institutional Legacies And The Decision To Commit Genocide, Stacey M. Mitchell

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Despite their striking similarities, which include population demographics, size, and a legacy of inter-group conflict, the collapse of democratization in Rwanda and Burundi in the early 1990s led to genocide in Rwanda and a different type of violence in Burundi. This study suggests that to better comprehend why risk factors lead to genocide in some cases and not others, focus must be placed on how these factors are perceived by those in power of the state experiencing them. This study introduces a model that uses Comparative Historical Analysis (CHA), process tracing, and the inclusion of a decision model built on …

Prostitution And Pornography: Reforming A Perspective, Mayce Combs

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Happiness is a subjective emotion that can quickly be twisted by the depravity of humanity’s sinful nature. Human trafficking deprives an individual’s natural right to life, liberty, and their pursuit to happiness. Of the two divisions of human trafficking, sex trafficking, especially involving children, is the most despicable and most evolved. The United States and further the state of Virginia is a crucial player in combating human trafficking. While there are currently many successful tactics state governments and nonprofit groups are utilizing in order eliminate human trafficking there are further more intense strategies the Virginia State Government should implement. One …

Magic As Political Might: Harry Potter, Authoritarianism, And Youth Political Behavior, Alexis Cobbs

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how authoritarian structures found in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series affect the political thoughts and behaviors of its readers, particularly those who read them at young ages. By examining how Rowling depicts authoritarianism and its opposition in the books, I hypothesized that increased exposure would correlate to an increased impact on readers’ political opinions. To test this hypothesis, I created an original survey designed to measure levels of exposure and participation in the Harry Potter fandom as well as respondents’ political opinions. I asked respondents to provide different examples of authoritarianism and its opposition in the books …

David Versus Goliath: The Power Of Weakness In Asymmetric Warfare—Lessons From History, Nicholas K. Petaludis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Under what conditions do violent nonstate actors (VNA) succeed against states? Why does David sometimes beat Goliath? Since at least the time of Thucydides and the Peloponnesian Wars, the realist narrative in international relations measures power primarily in relative, coercive, and deterrent terms. Strong states should accordingly face fewer constraints and enjoy more options while pursuing their national interests. Unconventional warfare, and its subsets of terrorism and insurgency, should—given these circumstances, end in VNA failure. Sometimes, however, VNAs find success. By comparing the literature on historical and current case studies, I propose that a set of preconditions and two mechanisms …

The Role Of The United States In Advancing Democracy In Developing Countries: The Case Of Bangladesh, 2008-2020, Abdul Halim

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States has been working in close collaboration with the government of Bangladesh (GoB) to promote democratic norms and practices in the country. Over the past five decades, various US agencies have provided about $8 billion in foreign aid to Bangladesh (U.S. Department of State, 2022) with a significant percentage of these funds devoted to promoting democratic governance in the recipient nation. This study seeks to investigate the impact of US aid on democratization in Bangladesh from 2008 to 2020. Utilizing bi-variate statistical models, this essay analyzes four distinct measures of US-funded projects that directly promote democracy and their …

Recommendations For Sustainable Tourism In Patagonia: An Exploratory Analysis Of Sustainable Tourism In Costa Rica, The Nordic Region, And Thailand’S Communities, Julia K. Lowery

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis explores different levels of governance and its role towards actualizing sustainable tourism in Patagonia. With the growing threat of climate change, international destinations such as Patagonia are looking to continue building their tourism industries in a sustainable way. Through analyzing case studies of national governance in Costa Rica, multi-national governance in the Nordic region, and community-based tourism in Thailand, we can better understand how each form of governance has the potential to create a sustainable tourism industry. With this understanding of successful governance in my case studies, as well as understanding the historical and political forces that have …

Pursuit Of The Vote: Factors Utilized In Resisting Discrimination In Democratic Elections, Matthew Nicholson

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

Suffrage movements make use of various social and political factors to pressure their governments to expand the scope of voting rights. Using McAdam’s political process model, I will analyze how disenfranchised groups’ use of nonviolent demonstration, appeals to international pressure, and appeals to religion, affects their success. This will also highlight patterns that emerge when groups are willing to instigate violence in pursuit of their goals. Most studies examine these variables in the context of the pursuit of independence or revolution, whereas this study focuses on groups wishing to remain within a system given their desired reforms. I will analyze …

The Relationship Between State Capacity And Internal Armed Conflict, Rodrigo L. Cotto-Abreu

Student Publications

This paper seeks to evaluate the impact that state capacity has had on the annual incidences of internal armed conflicts in the post-WWII period. This paper proposes that the state’s coercive, administrative, and extractive capabilities are the most effective tools at its disposal when attempting to decrease the likelihood of the onset of internal civil conflict. This paper hypothesizes that the higher the level of state capacity in a given nation-state is, the lower the number or occurrences of internal armed conflict will be. The key finding this paper presents is a statistically significant result linking state capacity to the …

Public Perceptions Of Corruption In East Asia: A Comparative Study Of Japan, Singapore, And South Korea, Isaiah Nielsen

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

This research analyzes perceptions of corruption through comparative case studies of South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. It looks to political party affiliation and socioeconomic status for effects on an individual’s perception of corruption. It hypothesizes that individuals more affiliated with the ruling party will perceive the government as less corrupt and individuals that are less affiliated will perceive it as more. Socioeconomic status is split into income, social status, and education variables. Individuals with a lower income and status will perceive the government as more corrupt, while overall higher status and income individuals will perceive it as less. On the …

The Politics Of Belonging: How Migration Affects Social Democratic Welfare States, Katherine Grace Siegenthaler

Pomona Senior Theses

The refugee crisis of 2015 sparked a new era of migration politics in Europe, with waves of immigrants altering the expectations for integration and assimilation policies in many states. Social democratic welfare states, that is, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, while far north of many of the arrival destinations of these migrants, were not immune to these changes. However, as social-democratic welfare states, much of their legitimacy rests on their ability to provide for their citizens, which is in turn supported by a pervasive sense of solidarity amongst their communities, so that extensive tax systems can continue to …

Water Elites’ Perceptions Of Water Security In The Middle East And North Africa Region, Ghaleb Akari

Dissertations

The Middle East and North African region continues to face significant water security challenges. The purpose of this dissertation is to gain a deeper understanding of water elites’ perceptions of water security in the MENA region. It is not meant to generalize the findings. Instead, the intention for the research is to identify, explain, and analyze by national elites' contrasting perceptions in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Tunisia.

The study examines water elites’ perceptions in four areas: current knowledge level of water security, water resource management, water service delivery, and water-related risk mitigation. These elites’ perceptions of water security will help …

Predicting And Measuring Support For Populism, Jay Rumas

Senior Honors Projects

Through reading the most recent research and case examples, I have discovered that the conventional wisdom on how political actors appeal to voters is rather obsolete. I have done my best to establish a profile of the “populist voter” and predict which parties they may be inclined to support. Cas Mudde, an expert on populist movements, labels populism as the use of a narrative that constructs the struggle of “the people (the majority) vs “the elite'' for political purposes. It has neither a positive or negative connotation. Populist movements often appeal to those among groups that feel as though they …

Victimes Ou Criminelles: A Historical And Comparative Analysis Of Sex Work Policy In France, Carver Wolfe

International Relations Honors Papers

This research examines the evolution of sex work policy in France from a regulatory regime during the nineteenth century to an abolitionist stance after World War II to the 2016 adoption of the Nordic model penalizing the purchase of sex. I investigate the ongoing debate between preservationists and abolitionists and examine the arguments raised by each side, making the case that abolitionism has adverse consequences for sex workers. I look at the nineteenth century’s regulatory regime of controlling prostitution through a chapter written in French. I then shift into an analysis of the state’s transition to abolitionism over the course …

Gambian And Senegalese Refugee Policies As A Potential Means Towards Regional Stability, Amy Armata

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

No abstract provided.

Chaos From Order: A Network Analysis Of In-Fighting Before And After El Chapo's Arrest, Darren Colby

Independent Student Projects and Publications

The effect of leadership decapitation—the capture or killing of the leader of an armed group—on future violence has been studied with competing conclusions. In Mexico, leadership decapitation has been found to increase violence and in-fighting among drug cartels. However, the causal pathways between leadership decapitation and in-fighting are unclear. In this article, it is hypothesized that leadership decapitation will weaken alliances between armed actors, lead to greater preferential attachment in networks of cartels and militias, and result in greater transitive closure as cartels seek to expand their power. These hypotheses are tested with a stochastic actor oriented model on a …

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 …

Democracy In The Mena, Alexandria Petrof

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

There is not sufficient evidence that the Middle East will be able to democratize effectively. First and foremost, most attempts of implementing democracy have failed. The landscape and lack of industrialization also plays a role in the inability to apply democratic systems into this area. Lastly, the educational system, or lack thereof, struggles to educate their children and citizens as a whole and education is one of the biggest factors in the success of democracy.

The Role Of Opposition In A Democracy: A Bibliometric Analysis, Abhinav Shrivastava Mr., Richa Dwivedi Ms.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Globally, democracy is under threat with the prevalence of authoritarian regime all over the world and the role of opposition in a democracy is an under studied subject and has not received adequate importance by researchers all over the world. The present study focuses on the bibliometrics analysis of the role of opposition in democratic system in order to understand the research status of the subject globally using SCOPUS and Web of Science databases.

The analysis shows that research has been undertaken by various organisations and researchers however, the present time demands more attention on the role of opposition so …