American Politics Commons^™

A Multiple-Choice Study: The Impact Of Transparent Question Design On Student Performance, John Lejeune

Perspectives In Learning

This university classroom study seeks to better understand how, and to what extent, designing more transparent (or TiLTed) multiple-choice questions would impact student performance. Ninety-two students in an introductory American Government class were randomly assigned “TiLTed” and “unTiLTed” versions of thirty-five test questions. Questions were “TiLTed” and “unTiLTed” in one of three ways—involving either (a) adding or eliminating unnecessarily difficult vocabulary from the stem; (b) adding or eliminating “all-of-the-above” and “none-of-the-above” answer options; or (c) adding or omitting additional cues or context. Statistical analysis showed that TiLTing questions generally increased student scores, with twelve questions showing positive statistical significance at …

International Intrigue In The American Colonies, Arianna Vicinanza

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

Spies have always been a subject of intrigue, nowadays we are surrounded by films, tv series, and books based on undercover business. Usually espionage is associated with WW2 or the Cold War, two periods of times in which espionage and secret agencies were essential in order to gather critical information about the enemy. Despite common belief that secret services developed one century ago, espionage and Spy Rings are as old as time. Espionage is the oldest profession in the world, kings used spies to monitor the enemy or to discover plots going around the royal court. In the American Revolution, …

Role Of The State Intelligence Agency In Managing The Covid-19 Pandemic In Indonesia, Yofitri Heny Wahyuli

Jurnal Politik

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted governments in various countries to involve a wide range of actors, including intelligence. Since the beginning of 2020, the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) in Indonesia has been actively involved in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The deployment of intelligence bodies in handling a pandemic is a common practice that many democratic countries do. However, intelligence must operate within the confines of its mandate, function, and democratic principles. This paper will examine the issues regarding the roles of BIN in dealing with the pandemic in Indonesia. Data sources for this study were obtained by applying a …

Reputation: An Analysis Of How Reputation Influenced United States Presidents In Foreign Policy, Casey Reca

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

How did the United States president's perception of the US's reputation influence that administration's foreign policy? Using empirical evidence to demonstrate how the president's perception of the country's reputation influences that leader's foreign policy, this paper will examine the presidencies of President Jimmy Carter, President Ronald Reagan, President George W. Bush, and President Barack Obama. This paper will also investigate how these presidents attempted to build upon the American reputation. The research suggests that the perception of the US's reputation has influenced these presidents to become more insistent in their attempts to out-maneuver their predecessors. Presidents have done so through …

Complex Global Value Chains And Economic Interdependence: A New Look At The Opportunity Costs Argument, Melle Scholten

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

The classical economic interdependence argument states that trade and investment between countries make conflict less likely, because they increase the opportunity costs of war. War means that trade and investment will dry up, to the detriment of society as a whole. The increased opportunity costs of war (vis-`a-vis peace) means war will be less likely to occur between interdependent states. Certain strands of realism have challenged this assertion. They argue that expectations that trade will decline in future can be a strong incentive for initiating conflict. Giving increasing political and economic tensions between the world’s superpowers – the USA and …

Extremism In America: Explaining Variations In Ideologically Motivated Fatal Violence, Celinet Duran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation uses data from the United States Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) to assess the nature of extremist violence between left-wing, far-right and al-Qaeda and associated movements (AQAM) inspired ideological fatal violence. It extends the empirical literature on extremist violence in three significant ways by: (1) expanding an existing database to provide a comparative component that is both timely and policy-relevant and conveys a more complete picture of the nature of domestic extremism in the U.S.; (2) systematically comparing extremist violence across the left-wing, far-right and AQAM ideologies to better assess the nuances of extremist violence; and (3) applying empirical …

Arlen Specter: How A Jewish Boy From Kansas Became A Mediator For Middle East Peace, Georgia G. Skuza

Arlen Specter Center Research Fellowship

Amongst all the things Senator Arlen Specter had accomplished in his thirty years as a United States Senator, one of the most fascinating is that of the late Senators work on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The long-held debate of the borders surrounding Israel & Palestine has made politicians and people chose sides. As a Jewish individual, Senator Specter had to set aside his religious and personal beliefs to affectively pass legislation in the state of Pennsylvania and United States Congress. One of Senator Specter’s largest areas of study was Middle East Diplomacy. His Pro-Israel stance led him to have an aura …

How The Tea Party Captured The Gop Insurgent Factions In American Politics, Zachary Morris

The Journal of Economics and Politics

Blum’s work provides a strong starting point to understand how factions can have a lasting impact on parties. Still, this work offers a theoretical framework to understand how insurgent factions such as the Tea Party can have a lasting effect on the Republican Party. This book review analyzes Blum’s work and provides analysis and gentle criticisms of this work. The Tea Party successfully renegotiated the ideological positions of the Republican Party by using confrontational tactics and challenging established GOP candidates. Through these insurgent tactics, the Tea Party reshaped the Republican Party to embrace reactionary conservatism. This transformation of the Republican …

Extending Research Of Neighborhood Governance Systems: An Empirical Study Of Community Councils In Cincinnati, Ohio, Julie Cencula Olberding, Darrin Wilson, Stefanie Swiger

The Journal of Economics and Politics

Neighborhood governance systems have been developed as a way to enhance citizen engagement in local government, particularly in major cities. Scholarly research on these systems is quite limited, and most articles focus on neighborhood councils in Los Angeles, California. Our study extends this research to another system in a different city – specifically, community councils in Cincinnati, Ohio. Based on Li, Wen, and Cooper (2019), we surveyed their governing board members and analyzed relationships between three aspects of board performance (internal capacity, attention-action congruence, external networking) and three dimensions of community council effectiveness (promoting civic engagement, resolving neighborhood issues, advising …

The Mobilizing Effect Of Descriptive Representation? The Impact Of Representatives’ Race And Gender On Participation, Akayla Henson, Brittany Wood

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Studies on the effect of increased descriptive representation on political participation have yielded mixed results. This research explores the relationship between descriptive representation and political participation. Specifically, we are interested in understanding how the race and gender of political representatives affect electorate participation. We conduct a unique survey experiment where participants receive communication from a political representative. The treatment conditions varied based on representative race (black, white) and gender (man, woman). We hypothesized that participants who receive correspondence from a representative of the same gender and race as themselves (i.e., in-group) will be more likely to participate than a participant …

Institute For Public Policy & Civic Engagement Nationwide Survey, Institute For Public Policy & Civic Engagement

Public Policy Poll Results

The Sacred Heart University Institute for Public Policy & Civic Engagement leveraged a quantitative research approach to address the following areas of investigation:

• Awareness of Healthcare Sustainability, Corporate Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability, Sustainable Education, and Social Justice
• Personal alignment with Sacred Heart University’s definition for each sustainability concept
• Perceived importance and benefit of each sustainability concept
• Perceived impact on society and the community
• Demographic profile of respondents

Title Ix's Trans Panic, Deborah L. Brake

Articles

Sport is an agent of social change, but that change does not always track in a progressive direction. Sport can be a site for contesting and reversing the gains of progressive social movements as much as furthering the values of equality and justice for historically marginalized groups. This dynamic of contestation and reversal is now playing out in a new wave of anti-transgender backlash that has gained adherents among some proponents of equal athletic opportunities for girls and women. In this latest twist in the debate over who deserves the opportunity to compete, the sex-separate athletic programming permitted by Title …

Populist Nationalism In The Age Of Trump, Vernon D. Johnson, Chelsee Autry

Political Science Faculty Publications

This paper builds upon the arguments advanced by Johnson and Frombgen in “Race and the Emergence of Populist Nationalism in the United States” (2009). Johnson and Frombgen made three central arguments: that the US is two nations, not one; that racial attitudes are central to each national identity, and that social movements of a populist character have critically shaped each national identity. They then offered a typology of left and right national identities, each of which had been shaped by populist social movements. This paper seeks to revisit the two nations thesis in the era of Donald Trump on the …

A Guide For Our Times: Herbert Hoover's Critique Of Supreme Court Expansion, Matthew Chopp

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Former President Herbert Hoover’s critiques of FDR’s plan to expand the Supreme Court are useful for defending against contemporary calls to enlarge the composition of the Court, such as the Judiciary Act of 2021.

Critique Of Hayek's Liberalism And The Rule Of Law, Kacper Mykietyn

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

In this paper, I raise a few doubts about the adequacy of Hayek's liberal theory and the rule of law in the twenty-first century. I argue that the theory 1) fails to be morally neutral by not giving proper attention to the harm experienced by the minorities, 2) does not acknowledge a satisfactory account for the exploitation of the working class, and 3) operates with a parochial definition of freedom.

Liberating The Truth In Augustine’S Confessions And Douglass’ Narrative, Vincent Hanrahan

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

In this paper, I explore how Frederick Douglass’ and St. Augustine's understanding of the corruption of God's word produced their respective achievement of freedom. In examining Augustine’s Confessions and Douglass’ Narrative, we come to understand the moral imperative of public service both thinkers promoted; the idea that individuals have a distinct social obligation to share their knowledge in a promotion of the greater good.

Book Review: Political Argument In A Polarized Age: Reason And Democratic Life By Scott Aiken And Robert Talisse, Brandon W. Kliewer

Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies

Book Review NA

Unwilling Gamblers And Loaded Dice: Considering Recession And Crisis As A Natural Effect Of Financial Capitalism, Darlene N. Moorman

The Downtown Review

Under financial capitalism, ordinary people are increasingly becoming 'unwilling gamblers' of a risky and unstable system. This paper explores the social and institutional change behind the neoliberal movement and considers how the politics and policies of neoliberalism have contributed to a certain environment of financial instability. Looking at the changing nature of the economy, the rapid expansion of the financial sector, and the persisting issue of moral hazard underlying risky and speculative behaviors among other items, reveals a financial system in which recessions and crises can be considered a natural, although not inevitable, effect.

Political Rhetoric And The Media: The Year In C-Span Research, Volume 8, Robert X. Browning

The Year in C-SPAN Archives Research

This volume of The Year in C-SPAN Archives Research features analyses of the C-SPAN Video Library, a digital collection of 275,000 hours of indexed videos, texts, and spoken words. Included in this volume are papers on Rev. Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign, rhetorical analysis of agriculture policy, and an examination of Senator Edward Kennedy’s positions on health care. The text also contains analysis of the “spectacle of committee hearings” and a look at the visuals used in the second Trump impeachment trial.

Ideological Extremism, Conspiratorial Thought, And Support For Authoritarianism In The United States, Sophie N. Martino

Honors Theses

Since the nation’s founding, Americans have tended to take democracy for granted. People see democracy as a given, believing that adherence to democratic values will persist. However, in the past few election cycles, there has been a trend in support for authoritarianism in the United States – not just with political leaders and figures, but also with individuals susceptible to authoritarian values and signals. This thesis seeks to address this apparent threat of authoritarianism in the United States, delving into possible factors that play a role in the growing support for authoritarian attitudes among Americans. I believe that two phenomena …