American Politics Commons^™

Program: Showcase ‘85. National Women's Political Caucus. Schedule Of Events.

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

A program of events for Showcase '85, a gathering of women political leaders. June 27-30, 1985.

Program: Showcase ‘85 Business Sessions Preliminary Agenda.

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

National Women's Political Caucus. June 28-June 30, 1985.

Invitation: Candid Conversation With Candidate For Nwpc Chair Linda Hallenborg June 28-30

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Two events, "Candid Conversations" in the Jefferson Room and "Breakfast of Champions" in the Vienna Room with Linda Hallenborg, candidate for National Women's Political Caucus chair at the Hilton Hotel for the Georgia Women’s Political Caucus (Showcase ‘85).

Poison Pills: How Subtle Differences In Processes, Public Opinion, And Leadership Doomed The American Health Care Act And Passed The Affordable Care Act, Zachary Eichten

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

In 2009, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became law. This was possible because the Democratic Party had a majority in both branches of Congress and control in the executive branch. In 2017, the American Health Care Act failed to become law, despite the fact that the Republicans controlled Congress and the presidency. What factors explain the different outcomes? Why was one able to pass, but not the other? This study presents a framework for explaining these different outcomes by exploring the impact of the legislative process, the role of public opinion, and the impact of polarization as factors …

Race For County Clerk Including Gay Man Denied Marriage License By Kim Davis Gets Lots Of Attention, Weku

Media Collection

No abstract provided.

Networks Of Isolation: The Case Of Donald J. Trump, Facebook, And The Limits Of Social Movement Theory, Carol L. Stimmel

Sustainability and Social Justice

The 2016 election that catapulted Donald J. Trump to the U.S. presidency has raised questions for how Facebook may have enabled the emergence and coalescence of a social movement among traditionally improbable voters. The research in this paper engages with contemporary social movement theory, assessing its adequacy for explaining the role of Facebook as a primary method for facilitating a social movement among the civically-alienated, who are the most unlikely of all Americans to join an organized collective for change. From a methodological perspective, the exploration takes up the case as a strategy of inquiry to explore social movement theory …

U.S. Presidential Leadership And Crisis Rhetoric, Robert Mccabe

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

My capstone project seeks to determine what are U.S. presidents attempting to accomplish in (or with) their speeches? This matters because presidential responses to crises can reflect how a president’s leadership abilities are perceived by the people he serves. This perception plays a large role in determining how much political strength the president has to accomplish his agenda. I address this research question by analyzing four different speeches: President Kennedy’s Address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy’s Address on the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Bush’s National Cathedral Speech after the September 11th …

“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 …

An Unlikely Populist: Donald Trump And The Rhetoric Of Elite And Minority Resentment, Jared Quigley

University Scholar Projects

Populist rhetoric is a political language employed by individual leaders which divides the populace into two categories: a pure, moral people and a corrupt elite. In this paper, I examine Donald Trump as a populist, focusing on Moffit’s political style approach (Moffit 2016) and Mudde’s definition of populism as an ideology (Mudde 2004). Listening to speeches from the campaign, I study how the components of these definitions of populism apply to Trump. I also examine the groups that Trump defined as “the people,” “the elite,” and the “undeserving minority groups.” I argue that while Trump does exhibit certain behaviors expected …

Combatting Political Polarization Through The Use Of Civic Games, Meredith Coccoluto

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

During the terms of the last two presidents, the term ‘government shutdown’ has become a familiar one, as the parties work right up to the deadline trying to find a compromise on bills like budget and healthcare. This is reflective of America’s voter base, where people are entrenching themselves more and more firmly with a party, rather than remaining moderate voters. As America’s current college base is more polarized than ever before, this situation will only worsen over time as these students become the country’s primary voter base.

If a democratic voter base usually looks like a bell curve, political …

An Analysis Of State Heterogeneity And Voting Patterns In The United States Senate, Tessa Ray Carver

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The United States Senate is one of the major legislating forces in the United States and can make policy impacts that can have significant impacts for the entire nation. The two major political parties in the U.S. have significant influence on the members of this body, yet they are elected to represent each of the different states. Previous research has shown that states and districts can vary significantly in their political leanings and preferences, even from the party that is considered the majority in that area. The purpose of this study is to investigate several forces that may influence members' …

The Effects Of Food Security On Socioeconomic Mobility In The United States: A Case Study In Allendale County, South Carolina, Taylor St Clarke

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the relationship between food security – defined as accessibility to an affordable, nutritious, and sustainable source of food – and socioeconomic mobility in the continental United States. This thesis is primarily focused on the effects of food insecurity on both individuals and communities, examining the chronic long-term effects of such insecurity on areas known as “food deserts,” which are often given status as areas of persistent poverty. This research further examines the effects of a sustained poor diet, brought about by food insecurity, on the individual and overarching community in a food desert and how such a …

The Defenestration Of Democracy, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Peter McLaren wrote this afterword to Dissident Knowledge in Higher Education, edited by Marc Spooner and James McNinch, which "delve[s] into the effects of colonialism, neoliberalism, and audit culture on higher education".

Analyzing Union Voting By Workforce Sector In The 2016 Presidential Election, Galen Hlavsa

Political Science Theses and Capstones

In the 2016 presidential election, there was evident change in the voting behavior of both blue and white collar workers in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania that assisted in Donald Trump’s win. While there was some realignment in party backing in a handful of unions, there were a number of union members that went against their union recommendation and voted for Trump. I research how union members in private and public sectors voted in the 2012 and 2016 election to compare the rate of union members defecting to Trump across the various sectors of the workforce. In order to …

Nationalize Or Localize: Senatorial Incumbent And Challenger Differences In Issue Prioritization, Joshua Rosenberg

Senior Theses

How do politicians choose which issues to emphasize in an election? Studying campaign behavior is crucial to understanding how political ads target voters and prioritize issues. Senate candidates normally attempt to either nationalize the election or emphasize state issues in their campaigns. How do Senate incumbent and challenger candidates differ in terms of issue prioritization? I hypothesize the challengers attempt to nationalize the election, while the incumbents generally focus their efforts on state issues. Political conventional wisdom indicates challengers typically try to nationalize the election by attempting to criticize the incumbent for either supporting or voting against the current presidential …

The Words Of War: A Content Analysis Of Republican Presidential Speeches From Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon, George W. Bush, And Donald J. Trump, Patrick Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this analysis of public speeches from four American presidents from the Republican party, the ways in which those presidents discuss and position American defense activities and stances are examined, to track the progression from the 1960s to the present. Presidents from one party were chosen, who presided over a period of active armed conflict or cold war. The addresses analyzed comprised public addresses to Congress or the American people. The analysis groups recurring frames--conceptually developed based on framing and agenda setting theories--into thematic categories for each president. Some frames were more salient for certain presidents than for others. Other …

Federal Circuit Courts’ Impact On Immigration Reform: An Analysis Of Judicial Ideology And Immigration Policy, Evanna Ojeda

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Regulation of immigration policy is an expressed power granted to the federal government in the Constitution; however, state and local governments often pass immigration policy legislation to address gaps in federal legislation. This research project seeks to understand the role of federal circuit courts ruling powers in determining the legal standing and substitute holding of merits for immigration policy regulation. By analyzing the political ideology of presiding judges and understanding the relationship between political ideology and judicial decision support for federal or state regulated policy, this project seeks to recognize the role of federal circuit courts in enhancing and shaping …

Understanding The Alt-Right Brand Through A Comparative Look At Internal Vs. External Rhetoric, Samuel Norton

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This project examines the communications of the alt-Right, a relatively new white supremacist social movement in the US. The popularity of the alt-Right can be attributed to not only changing social conditions leading to rising instability but also rhetorically astute uses of new media. The alt-Right has been able to define its brand as an anti-political correctness coalition, and to communicate that brand identity to the public. When the brand identity eventually fell apart, so too did the movement.ut.

Applause, Laughter, Chants, And Cheers: An Analysis Of The Rhetorical Skill Of The “Great Communicator”, Reagan Gresham Dye

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study takes a content analytic approach to analyze the use of rhetorical devices in televised Republican National Convention (RNC) addresses by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. By measuring rhetorical strategies and their relationship with the type, strength, synchrony, and duration of audience responses during the 1976, 1980, 1984, and 1992 RNCs, this study finds that Reagan had the ability to control speech factors to his advantage to promote positive audience response. This study finds that Reagan was adept at utilizing humor, external attacks, and advocating for his policy agenda in a way that elicited positive audience responses such as …

Tweets From The Bully Pulpit: President Trump’S Twitter Habits And His Popularity, Josh Pavek

Political Science Theses and Capstones

One way that a President can use their position to indirectly effect legislation is through the messaging they present to the public. This idea has been termed the Bully Pulpit by political scholars and we have seen multiple different strategies for using this power. President Trump has shown a disdain for traditional media environments, opting instead to use Twitter as his primary means of communicating with the public in combination with some traditional methods as well. Is Twitter an effective use of the presidential office and the Bully Pulpit? I examine the effectiveness of Trump's communication methods by comparing his …