Chapman University
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
US Army War College
Salve Regina University
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Northern Illinois University
Boise State University
Seton Hall University
Party Alignment On Gun Laws: Urban V.S. Rural,
2023
Belmont University
Party Alignment On Gun Laws: Urban V.S. Rural, Roz Rozner
Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)
Mass shootings in the United States have led to debate about gun rights and increased division over the second amendment. Have parties’ positions on gun laws affected voter alignment? This study seeks to determine the effects of restrictive gun laws over time on party alignment within the United States. The urban rural divide in the United States has played a distinctive role in voter alignment on issues like restrictive gun laws. To evaluate this claim, this study uses the Pew Research Center and other opinion polls from the last twenty years to determine whether restrictive gun laws produce higher levels …
Political Theory, Activism, And Visual Media: The Ideology Of Protest Symbols,
2023
Whittier College
Political Theory, Activism, And Visual Media: The Ideology Of Protest Symbols, Jilly E. Crane-Mauzy Mx.
Whittier Scholars Program
Art changes culture while policy codifies it. Radical revolutionary movements are often accompanied by equally radical shifts in art and design. I cataloged, compared, and contrasted the semiotic power of three specific symbols and their most significant historical moments in the United States. Through the examination of; Stonewall, The Equality March March Against Death, The Day The World Said No To War, The 1968 Summer Olympics, and The 2020 Black Lives Matter, the shifting of each ideologies symbol from inflammation in the media to recognition showcases the clarifying function along with creating unity and pride in community that is integral …
The 1985 Move Bombing: A Study In Perspectives,
2023
Western Kentucky University
The 1985 Move Bombing: A Study In Perspectives, Kaci Delisle
Masters Theses & Specialist Projects
On May 13, 1985, Philadelphia police dropped a military grade bomb on 6221 Osage Avenue, a row house in a Black neighborhood in West Philadelphia. This home was occupied by a revolutionary group called MOVE. The bomb started a fire that the police and firefighters decided to “contain” rather than put out, resulting in the deaths of eleven people and the destruction of sixty-one homes. Only two MOVE members survived the fire. Using court records, documents from the investigation conducted by the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission (PSIC), and other interviews regarding MOVE and the bombing, this paper reconstructs different perspectives …
A Wedge Issue For The 21st Century: The Conditional Effect Of Party Identification For Predicting Feelings Towards Immigrants And Refugees In A Higher Ed Setting,
2023
North Dakota State University - Main Campus
A Wedge Issue For The 21st Century: The Conditional Effect Of Party Identification For Predicting Feelings Towards Immigrants And Refugees In A Higher Ed Setting, Nicholas Bauroth, Kjersten Nelson
Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy
The issue of immigration played an important role in recent U.S. elections. How did the salience of immigration and refugees in the 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections play out amongst young voters? Did increased opportunities to interact with immigrants and refugees affect respondents’ feelings towards these groups, as social contact theory might predict? The analyses here focus on a sample of college students, given that the higher education experience presents conditions for social contact theory to play out. We find that party identification is a key piece of the puzzle – measures of social contact theory operate differently for Democratic …
A Fake Future: The Threat Of Foreign Disinformation On The U.S. And Its Allies,
2023
Pepperdine University
A Fake Future: The Threat Of Foreign Disinformation On The U.S. And Its Allies, Brandon M. Rubsamen
Global Tides
This paper attempts to explain the threat that foreign disinformation poses for the United States Intelligence Community and its allies. The paper examines Russian disinformation from both a historical and contemporary context and how its effect on Western democracies may only be exacerbated in light of Chinese involvement and evolving technologies. Fortunately, the paper also studies practices and strategies that the United States Intelligence Community and its allied foreign counterparts may use to respond. It is hoped that this study will help shed further light on Russian and Chinese disinformation campaigns and explain how the Intelligence Community can efficiently react.
The Violence Of Nostalgia: Conspiracy Theorism, White Nationalism, And Restoring American Exceptionalism,
2023
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The Violence Of Nostalgia: Conspiracy Theorism, White Nationalism, And Restoring American Exceptionalism, Candice K. Travis
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation serves three interconnected ends: (1) highlight the connections between nationalism, nostalgia, mythology, and conspiracy, (2) research and articulate the deeper story behind the resurgence of conspiracy fueled white nationalism, and (3) analyze increasing popular support for racialized hatred across the United States as coalesced through the nostalgic desire to restore “our lost great America.” I adapt John Dewey’s pragmatism to interpret how publics take political action in response to evolving technologies and cultural shifts, and accordingly develop a typology of groups on the right wing of American politics. The Proud Boys are chauvinist white nationalists, Patriot Prayer are …
Re: Beyond Fake News,
2023
Miami University, USA
Re: Beyond Fake News, Nate Floyd, Jaclyn Spraetz
Journal of Media Literacy Education
A student success librarian with a Ph.D. in mass communication and an information literacy librarian with an M.A. in secondary English education describe their efforts to innovate in the field of news literacy by incorporating the media effects research tradition. By highlighting the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive elements of information processing, the authors hope to show students how professional norms, institutional and market pressures shape the news while their own predispositions influence how they interpret the news they consume. The authors emphasize agenda-setting and framing, two fundamental media effects paradigms, and report on their effort to develop news literacy classes …
The Right To Bear: Measuring Gun Control Policies Against Violent Crime,
2023
Belmont University
The Right To Bear: Measuring Gun Control Policies Against Violent Crime, Balazs Varga
Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)
Especially in United States politics, gun control legislation is a controversial topic, with much debate dedicated to which gun control policies are implementable as a countermeasure to violent crime rates, if any. In American public discourse on the topic, U.S. gun control doctrine, which is characterized by an individualistic gun culture engrained in the Second Amendment of the Constitution, is one which is described as lax in comparison to gun control measures implemented by other nations. These gun control policies include a wide array of measures, such as automatic firearms regulation, a state-mandated national firearms registry, and background checks, among …
The Intersection Of Judicial Interpretive Methods And Politics In Supreme Court Justices’ Due Process Opinions,
2023
Arcadia University
The Intersection Of Judicial Interpretive Methods And Politics In Supreme Court Justices’ Due Process Opinions, Julie Castle
The Compass
The Supreme Court, a nine seat bench of unelected and lifetime tenured Justices, determines the constitutionality of dozens of cases each year. In this thesis, I research to what extent the political affiliation of the Justices affects the judicial decision making process and, ultimately, case outcomes. Using pattern matching, I evaluate due process opinions from Justice Breyer, Justice O’Connor, and Justice Scalia, all of whom have established constitutional analysis methods, in order to determine if they reasonably adhere to their established method. Due to the highly political nature of due process cases, variance between the expected (adherence to the Justices’ …
Backfire: How The Rise Of Neoliberalism Facilitated The Rise Of The Far-Right,
2023
Arcadia University
Backfire: How The Rise Of Neoliberalism Facilitated The Rise Of The Far-Right, Jacob Fuller
The Compass
Since the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, it is indisputable that there has been a notable rise in the visibility and activity of the far-right in the United States. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there was a 30% increase in the number of operating hate groups across the United States, a number that has coincided with the rise of the Trump campaign and his subsequent election as President of the United States.1 Therefore, much attention has been drawn to the rise of these movements and thus scholars have sought to seek out and identify the …
No Refuge From The Fields Vol. 2: Revitalization Of Farmworker Housing Research,
2023
Illinois State University
No Refuge From The Fields Vol. 2: Revitalization Of Farmworker Housing Research, Manda Laporte
Capstone Projects – Politics and Government
Farmworkers in the U.S. are often subjected to substandard living situations. However, since they are primarily seasonal, migrant, or temporary work visa holders, limited attention is focused on their quality of life. Although farmworkers are some of the hardest working people, they are typically exposed to extreme weather and working conditions, have the highest percentage of people among the working poor, face restrictive access to education and health care, etc. While service providers, such as housing developers and healthcare specialists, are concerned about these individuals’ well-being, there is still minimal research available about current farmworker trends. This report seeks to …
Bans Off All Bodies,
2023
California Polytechnic State University
Blending Reproductive Justice Into General Education Courses,
2023
The University of Texas at El Paso
Blending Reproductive Justice Into General Education Courses, Ophra Leyser-Whalen, Adelle D. Monteblanco
Feminist Pedagogy
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, there is still work to be done by reproductive justice advocates. As educators, we can integrate reproductive justice topics into our existing courses or we can create new courses. In this paper we briefly define reproductive justice and provide some learning resources for educators. The bulk of our paper describes our special topics Introduction to Sociology: Sociology of Reproduction course as an example and potential model for educators as we urge them to think about how they might integrate reproductive justice into their existing courses and texts, such that students …
Ideology And The Incumbency Advantage,
2023
Belmont University
Ideology And The Incumbency Advantage, Gabe Degraeve
Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)
Incumbents win reelection at a staggering rate (upwards of 75%) the causes of this are well understood and examined. The numerous material benefits (access to a larger staff, fundraising ability, name recognition, etc.) paired with the psychological benefits (scare-off effect, lack of high-quality candidate, etc.) make it very hard for a potential challenger to win in an election against an incumbent. There however has been a decrease in the incumbency advantage over the past several election cycles. Since both the material and psychological benefits are still present, another factor is likely contributing to this decrease. Ideology has become …
How Can Social Media Improve Youth Voter Engagement?,
2023
Bridgewater College
How Can Social Media Improve Youth Voter Engagement?, Anton M. Kopti
Honors Projects
This study examines the impact of social media on political engagement and its potential to strengthen democratic participation, focusing on the nonpartisan Valley Votes Project. By implementing literature-based social media tactics, the project aims to measure the success of each tactic based on digital interaction and viewership. The findings suggest that social media can be an effective tool to promote youth civic engagement in the political process. The study concludes that further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of these methods in different contexts and settings. Ultimately, promoting youth civic engagement is essential for a healthy democracy, and social …
Do Our Eyes Deceive Us?: Polarization And The American Electorate,
2023
Belmont University
Do Our Eyes Deceive Us?: Polarization And The American Electorate, Lukus Perry
Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)
The political divide in the American electorate seems to have increased in recent times. In order to address and hopefully mend the division we need to look deeper into the causes of political polarization. Religiosity, media usage, class, and location all play roles in this equation and the goal is to see which factor is more divisive. Are religiously active people more polarized than others? The idea of perception vs reality also arises in this discussion, but based on moral alignments with candidates and issues, I presume that the most polarizing factor is religiosity. Using survey data from the American …
High Automation, Fascism, And Our Social Revolution,
2023
University of Maine - Main
High Automation, Fascism, And Our Social Revolution, Sean C. Staton
Honors College
The United States in the present day has experienced a rise of both incredibly productive automated technologies, approaching self-perpetuation, and fascism, entering and affecting significant social institutions. This paper aims to explain these phenomenon with the Marxist mechanics of the historical dialectic, conceptions of abstraction and material, and the behavior of capital – among other modes of production – and predict the broader development that is oncoming. It has been found that the rise of advanced and self-perpetuating automating technologies is indicative of an oncoming mode of production, ‘high automation’, and that fascism itself is a character, or subdialectical stage, …
Federal Law Enforcement Reform: Depoliticization Into A Constitutional Framework To Restore Public Confidence,
2023
Liberty University
Federal Law Enforcement Reform: Depoliticization Into A Constitutional Framework To Restore Public Confidence, Christopher J. Boosey
Senior Honors Theses
This thesis proposes that there is a lack of public confidence in federal law enforcement agencies and that this is because these agencies have become political weapons, investigating individuals rather than crimes, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Following multiple scandals, from the historical targeting of the Civil Rights movement to present attempts to designate parents critical of school administrators as domestic terrorists, wholesale reform of these agencies is urgent. Therefore, this thesis will address the issue of politicization, political corruption, and the lack of adherence to constitutional principles through the problem, significance, and solution method. This thesis will first …
Power Dressing And Its Importance In Modern Democracy,
2023
Kent State University - Kent Campus
Power Dressing And Its Importance In Modern Democracy, Mansiben R. Patel, Dr. Catherine Amoroso Leslie
Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences
This research aimed to study the significance of Power Dressing in a modern democracy, by exploring the dynamics of clothing concerning the power it portrays for women holding influential positions in public office in a variety of countries throughout the world. This research accomplished its motive by collecting, reviewing, and analyzing scholarly articles, academic journals, newspapers, and current events which formed the foundation for data collection using a survey developed by the researchers. The analysis provided a platform for procuring knowledge of the association between Fashion and Politics, the concept of Women’s Power Dressing, and its significance in a modern …
U.S. Government Information Resources For Accountability On U.S. Assistance To Ukraine,
2023
Purdue University
U.S. Government Information Resources For Accountability On U.S. Assistance To Ukraine, Bert Chapman
Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations
Provides detailed coverage of U.S. Government information resources documenting accountability for U.S. civilian and military assistance to Ukraine. Includes U.S. laws, agencies involved in U.S. arms export policy, Defense Department resources and data, Defense Dept. Inspector General reports, Government Accountability Office reports, congressional committee hearings, a letter from a congressional committee to the Secretaries of Defense and State and U.S. Agency for International Development administrator, congressional debate, and congressional recorded votes.
