Political Theory Commons^™

The Cult Of Clean Hands: Why No One’S Innocent In America’S War On Corruption, Elizabeth Doan

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This study examines how fear of corruption functions as both a political weapon and a national ritual of moral reassurance. The focus lies in understanding why Americans across party lines express deep mistrust in political institutions while simultaneously seeking purity through accusation. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of U.S. voters, the research examines how partisan identity, media narratives, and generational memory influence the emotional economy of corruption—what citizens fear, whom they blame, and why those fears persist. Testing the initial expectation that Republicans would express greater concern about corruption revealed that such fear is shared widely across parties, reflecting …

Beyond Empire: Spain's Contemporary Relationship With Latin America, Gage Groeteke

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The relationship between Spain and Latin America demands critical attention, not only due to its colonial past but also in light of shifting global power structures and growing generational demands for accountability from historically oppressive states. This study takes its form in a literature review to synthesize the evolving postcolonial dynamic between Spain and the Latin American region—whose long-run development and capacity for economic independence have been fundamentally shaped by colonization. Drawing on postcolonial theory, historical context, international relations, foreign policy, and primary sources, this paper argues that Spain’s modern entanglement with Latin America reflects a neocolonial pattern. Spain’s economic …

Psci 102: Political Controversies: Democracy, Politics, And Freedom., Antonia Cucchiara

Open Educational Resources

This course aims to provide students with an introduction to the analysis of political controversies stemming from issues related to freedom and democracy in America today. Students will first engage with questions central to the understanding of the concepts above, such as: What is freedom? What is the relationship between freedom and democracy? How have thinkers, from the ancient to modern era, defined freedom? How can we compare and contrast the varied definitions of freedom put forward by thinkers across time? Students will then apply the theories of freedom and democracies to analyze a series of case studies from the …

Policy Design And The Lived Experience Of The Poor: A Test Of Policy Feedback Effects And Efficacy, Ava Gural

Honors Theses

As American political actors have framed poverty as a choice made by the unambitious, it has become clear that our society has a pervasive misunderstanding of poverty. Policy Feedback Theorists assert that the design of our welfare policies contributes to this fallacy, raising the question of whether there is a relationship between policy design and the way citizens act and feel. This thesis uses quantitative data from the American Citizen Participation Study and qualitative data from two original interviews to test the existence of “policy feedback effects” on program participants’ feelings of efficacy. Quantitative evidence suggests limited evidence of policy …

Facing Famine: Justice And The Case Of Unilateral Intervention, Tanner R. Brooks

Honors Theses

Through the course of this year, 900 thousand people will have to struggle through conditions of famine, and a total of 345.2 million will experience food insecurity of some kind. These concerning figures represent an over twofold increase since 2020.1 This presents a serious problem, as access to food is so plainly vital to every aspect of an individual’s existence. It should therefore be uncontroversial to assert the grave nature of the occurrence of famine and other food emergencies faced by so many today. Food emergencies are not merely a result of insufficient food, but rather the institutional policies enacted …

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 …

The Populist Paradox: A Critical Framework Proposal, Megan Morrell, Seth Masket

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Donald Trump’s presidency has undeniably reignited academic interest in understanding the populist phenomenon and its political implications. Trumpian politics are frequently considered to be a stark departure from status quo politics, in favor of a radical right populism. Yet, the Trump presidency and populist theory itself poses a key contradiction, namely a populist paradox. I will propose a critical framework to understand populism as a mechanism of political power by the liberal state. In What is Populism?, Jan-Werner Müller identifies a contradictory nature to populism, as it often perpetuates the same political problems that the populist politics sought to replace. …

Revolution, Regime Change, And Rosewater: The United States’ Role In The Arab Spring, Grace Lewis

Capstone Showcase

This thesis seeks to determine which international relations theory best explains the United States involvement in the Arab Spring, and to ascertain if the goals set by those theories were met. Through the literature, I determine that two theories offer reasonable yet competing explanations of US involvement, and that these theories are first, defensive realism, and second, democratic peace theory. I employ the analytic method of pattern matching to compare each theory against the empirical record. In my analysis, I match empirical data from five affected countries to determine the strategic importance to the United States of the outcome of …

The Role Of Ideology Through The Lens Of Primary Elections, Mark P. Walsh

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

This paper serves as an in-depth look at the role ideology plays in modern America, and uses the primary electoral system as a mechanism through which one can examine ideological shifts in politicians and the electorate. The evidence gathered indicates that primary elections are breeding grounds for increased ideological extremism as a result of the more radical nature of politically engaged voters, the only group who on average take part in these elections. As a result, only the most ideologically dogmatic candidates move on to the general election and thus potentially into office. The effects this has upon policy and …

Black Finesse Amidst The Political Science Paradigm: A Race-Grounded Phenomenology, Janiece Zalina Mackey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this research, I develop a methodology that I call Race-Grounded Phenomenology (RGP). The scope of this study investigates how Black undergraduate students navigate the discipline of political science. An eclectic array of critical theories of race unveil the ways in which Black undergraduate students exhibit flair and tenacity, or what I call Black Finesse. The eclectic array of critical theories of race utilized in this study include critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, and identity enactments. However, this study focuses on the Black student experience amidst the socialization of political science or what I call the political science paradigm. …

Contract Law And The Liberalism Of Fear, Nathan B. Oman

Faculty Publications

Liberalism’s concern with human freedom seems related to contractual freedom and thus contract law. There are, however, many strands of liberal thought and which of them best justifies contract is a difficult question. In The Choice Theory of Contracts, Hanoch Dagan and Michael Heller offer a vision of contract based on autonomy. Drawing on the work of Joseph Raz, they argue that extending autonomy should be the law’s primary concern, which requires that we extend the range of contractual choices available. While there is much to admire in their work, I argue that autonomy as conceived by Dagan and Heller …

Split Tickets? On The Strategic Allocation Of Presidential Versus Vice Presidential Visits In 2016, Christopher J. Devine, Kyle C. Kopko

Political Science Faculty Publications

This article analyzes the strategic allocation of presidential campaign visits in 2016. In particular, we test whether each campaign disproportionately targeted its presidential versus vice presidential candidates’ visits toward voters with whom they shared a salient demographic or political characteristic. Our purpose in doing so is to discern whether—and, if so, among which groups—the campaigns perceived the candidates as having a strategic advantage in appealing to affiliated voters. To this end, we analyze an original database of 2016 campaign visits that includes local population characteristics for each host site. Our results indicate that each ticket’s visits were highly coordinated across …

“The Time Is Always Now:” James Baldwin In Trump’S America, Chase Stowell

Senior Theses

Gone is the optimism regarding race relations that dominated the early years of Obama’s presidency. Trump’s meteoric rise has given Americans pause, and in this time of potential reflection, it is important to re-examine James Baldwin. This essay analyzes Baldwin’s understanding of race from the inception of racism in America until its theoretical end, combining Baldwin’s novels and essays to propose practices that will help America move beyond the racial problem that has haunted its history. James Baldwin’s demand of individual reflection upon one’s system of reality necessitates the end of political demonology, as well as a reframing of rhetoric …

Maga, Memes, And Magnificent Hair: How Have Alt-Right, White Supremacy, And White Nationalism Become Rooted In American History?, Gabriel A. Tucker

Op-Ed Pieces

The purpose of this inquiry is to ascertain the level of prevalence of white nationalist rhetoric and sociocultural artifacts in contemporary political discourse as well as the level of normalcy is has achieved. Additionally, I will generate a timeline that will chronicle the growth and progression of this movement to our current political era, highlighting major schisms, shifts, and events with alterations in fashion and physical presentation. I believe that my research will show not only a long-standing tradition of white nationalism within the United States but also that such rhetoric has slowly been creeping into mainstream political rhetoric and …

A Content Analysis Of Jihadist Magazines: Theoretical Perspectives, Catalina M. Udani

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During its violent spread across the Middle East, the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) amassed both a local and international following in large part due to its usage of emergent media distribution. Beginning in 2014, ISIS’s Ministry of Media published an English-language magazine, Dabiq, disseminating its issues through online platforms. Dabiq and its successor Rumiyah both serve as propagandistic recruitment material for ISIS’s international community as well as broadcasting the message of the jihadist movement to ISIS’s enemies. This study analyzed ISIS’s publications using a qualitative content analysis in order to identify jihadist recruitment strategies through the perspectives …

Byzantine Spirit Of The Undead And Its Legacy In The Sick Man Of Europe, Joan Davison

Faculty Publications

What is the character and extent of the Byzantine political-legal legacy? The contemporary discourse on political institutions uses new language to describe old mechanisms for accommodation and decentralization phenomena: millet systems, internal diasporas, population displacement of enclaves, consociation, asymmetric federalism, and even democracy as a part of modern institutionalized network systems. Employing Michel Foucault’s archaeological and genealogical method, we tap into the undead body of Byzantine political legacy in order to show and extract the legacy of a specific ‘spirit.’ In other words, we identify the existence of a very specific sites which emerges from within a non-Being (in Plato’s …

Kennan And The Neglected Variable In Post-Socialist Societies: The Loss Of Honest Dialogue And The Need For Empathy, Joan Davison

Faculty Publications

This paper analyzes the symbolism of George Kennan’s famous “X” article relative to the challenges of contemporary post transitions. It unpacks recent political discourse, discussing the critical application of practices such as thinking with your heart, parrhesis of the significance of uncertainty and reflection for question is: What would Kennan write in an X Article to states in transition paper employs both the definition suggested by Michel Foucault who understood it as “fearless speech” and Eric Voegelin who closely follows Plato’s meaning linking it with “heart” (dis)order of representatives of a society.

Power, Liberalism, And Political Science: Some Christian Reflections, Daniel E. Young

Northwestern Review

How should a Christian political scientist think about power, liberalism, and political science? In answering this question, this article first defines power. Considered primarily in relation to the state, power is exercised in conflicts of interests: by officials, parties, or groups or elites getting others to do something the others would not otherwise do, or keeping one or more alternative from even being discussed, and perhaps obscuring what the real interests of others are. Then the argument turns to establishing that how one thinks about power is closely related to one’s larger political theory, e.g., what counts as the “real …

Congressional Hearings: Immigration Frames In Expert Testimonies, Joshua Woods, C. Damien Arthur Phd

Political Science Faculty Research

This book offers a broad interdisciplinary approach to the changes in the U.S. immigration debate before and after 9/11. A nation’s reaction to foreigners has as much to do with sociology as it does with political science, economics and psychology. Without drawing on this knowledge, our understanding of the immigration debate remains mundane, partial, and imperfect. Therefore, our story accounts for multiple factors, including culture and politics, power, organizations, social psychological processes, and political change. Examining this relationship in the contemporary context requires a lengthy voyage across academic disciplines, a synthesis of seemingly contradictory assumptions, and a grasp of research …

Feminist Erasures: The Development Of A Black Feminist Methodological Theory, Alex J. Moffett-Bateau

Publications and Research

Within the social sciences, and particularly in political science, feminist methods and theory are seen as valuable only within its own disciplinary boundaries, and limited to its own departments or program, often named women’s studies, gender studies, and/or feminist studies. While the move within the academy to formalize the study of women, gender, and feminism is an important one, these disciplinary boundaries unfortunately have the result of rendering the study and practice of feminist intellectual work invisible to the rest of the academy. Too often, feminist theory and methodological practice is only carried out by one or two female academics …

The Mirage Of Non-State Governance, Ralf Michaels

Faculty Scholarship

In this Essay, I offer three theses, all of which are critical. First, non‑state governance is conceptually unattractive; it is a concept that makes little sense. Second, non‑state governance is empirically unattractive; meaningful non‑state governance rarely exists. Third, meaningful non‑state governance is normatively unattractive; we would rarely want it, and people postulating it usually expect the state to play an important role. However, I also have something constructive: a proposed trajectory. Talk about the state and the non‑state can only be an intermediary stage in a trajectory of a theory of governance that might lead to a new paradigm of …

The Rule Of Law Unplugged, Daniel B. Rodriguez, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Barry R. Weingast

Faculty Scholarship

The "Rule of Law" is a venerable concept, but, on closer inspection, it is a complex admixture of positive assumptions, inchoate political and legal theory, and occasionally wishful thinking. Although enormous investments have been made in rule of law reformism throughout the world, advocates of transplanting American-style legal and political institutions to developed and developing countries are often unclear about what they are transplanting and why they are doing so. The concept of rule of law has become unplugged from theories of law. Scholars clearly have more work to do in understanding the rule of law and designing institutions to …

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

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An Exploratory Study On The Relationships Among Electorate's Voting Behavior, Party Identification, Personal Values, And Demographic Characteristics, Kuan-Shun Chiu

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was proposed to examine if there existed significant differences in voters' party identification and voting behavior due to gender, race, age, income, education and personal values.

The sample was chosen from eligible voters in Florida. Of the 1500 questionnaires managed, 161 were identified as useable. The sample was representative of the results of 2000 presidential election in Florida with respect to voters' gender, race, income, and voting choice by party identification. Statistical techniques used were ANOVAs, Chi-square statistics, factor analysis, and logistic regression.

This study demonstrates how personal values may be associated with demographic characteristics to create a …

As A Matter Of Factions: The Budgetary Implications Of Shifting Factional Control In Japan’S Ldp, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Michael F. Thies

Faculty Scholarship

For 38 years, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) maintained single-party control over the Japanese government. This lack of partisan turnover in government has frustrated attempts to explain Japanese government policy changes using political variables. In this paper, we look for intraparty changes that may have led to changes in Japanese budgetary policy. Using a simple model of agenda-setting, we hypothesize that changes in which intraparty factions “control” the LDP affect the party’s decisions over spending priorities systematically. This runs contrary to the received wisdom in the voluminous literature on LDP factions, which asserts that factions, whatever their raison d’être, do …

Positive Canons: The Role Of Legislative Bargains In Statutory Interpretation, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Roger G. Noll, Barry R. Weingast

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.