American Politics Commons^™

The Proof Is In The Pudding: The Myth Of Equality, Emma Lentchner

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Equality is treated as a universal and invariable concept, yet in practice authors manipulate it constantly to articulate their own interpretations, inadvertently transforming it into a political conception.

Author information: Emma Lentchner recently graduated from Smith College (‘18), and majored in Political Theory and Philosophy. She is particularly interested in the underlying patterns that subliminally govern our known world and is continuously looking to explore and deconstruct these mental and institutional constructs.

Why The U.S Should Not Deport Immigrants, Pedro Serrano

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Illegal immigrants are people who come the the U.S illegally or come in legal through visa and stay over their stay period. There are many reasons why one would cross the boarder such as wanting a better life for themselves and families but some people, such as the President, do not see that. An estimated 381.5 billion between 623.2 billion dollars would be lost within the country if they were all deported. Illegal immigrants make up 65% of the agricultural production. It will cost millions and millions of dollars to deport every single illegal immigrant and also take about 20 …

The Effect Of Unemployment On Democratic Warfare, Andres Rakower

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study was done to see the effects of a war on the economy and the internal politics of the United States. In selecting the engagement, we would study we agreed the Iraq War would be aided by a large amount of sampling of public opinion that was more nuanced than in previous wars. The Iraq War was a very complicated war, as it was controversial from the beginning and became a political issue while continuing to be a war fought by Americans abroad. Based on the literature, there were many starting effects and assumptions that were accounted for such …

Explaining The Difference In Support For President Trump And Senator Rubio In The 2016 Election In Florida, Florencia Miguez Devesa

Honors Undergraduate Theses

What explains the difference between the county level vote received by President Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio in the 2016 Florida general election? Over the last couple of decades, Florida has earned a reputation for being a highly competitive state that impacts control of the White House and congress. As Florida’s electorate becomes increasingly diverse, will the Democratic Party begin to win more often as their usual base grows, or will the Republican Party figure out a way to remain competitive? The 2016 general election presents an opportunity to analyze the structure of support for two Republican candidates …

The Student Debt Crisis And Political Polarization In The Millennial Generation, Dylan Wallace

Honors Undergraduate Theses

According to the Pew Research Center, the modern wave of political polarization began in 1994, and is the strongest today than it has ever been during the 23-year period. (2007) Polarization in the US party system is evidenced by several factors including: growing consistent partisan views, partisan antipathy, ideological bubbles, growing difference in preferences, a shrinking political center, and the lack of political compromise. (Pew Research Center 2014) The question I attempt to answer in this thesis is on the factors associated with political polarization within the millennial generation. One of the most pressing issues to this generation is what …

When The Clocks Strike Thirteen: Political Repression In Modern America (1990-2015), Faiza Begani

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Abounding acts of repression committed in democracies have continued to be overlooked and under-analyzed by many researchers and scholars due to "democratic exceptionalism". As the United States enters yet another consecutive year of declining political satisfaction and freedom. It has become pertinent that as conflict study researchers, scholars, and readers alike that there is a basic understanding of coercion including acts that have been committed within our own countries. Countless scholars have focused conflict study research on underdeveloped or emerging democracies, yet many have overlooked the seamy side of developed ones. This article aims to explain the relationship between the …

The Political Development Of Central Florida's I-4 Corridor From 1944 To 2016, Ethan M. Conkwright

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to analyze the political development of the six counties comprising the I-4 Corridor from 1944 to 2016. The literature review will develop an understanding of realignment theory and its application to Southern and Florida politics. The data analysis will analyze Presidential, Gubernatorial and Senate Election Results from the six counties, compared with census data for each of the six counties to show voting trends at a county-level basis. U.S. Census Data from 1940 to 2010 will also be used to analyze population and population density of the region at-large, and at a countywide level, …

Florida Nonpartisan Trial Court Elections: An Analysis Of Voter Turnout And Ballot Roll-Off, Shannon L. Fagan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research explains the variance in voter turnout and ballot roll-off in county and circuit nonpartisan judicial elections in Florida from 2014 and 2016. Based on theory, a collection of constituent (demographic and socioeconomic), candidate, competition, and contextual variables is gathered to construct four regression models. Two full regression models were constructed for turnout and roll-off and analyzed using SPSS software, in addition to two best regression models analyzing five statistically significant variables found within each full model. Presidential year elections and higher populations age 65 and up had positive impacts on voter turnout, while primary elections, campaign expenditures, and …

In A Gilded Cage, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

The Oxford history of the United States may be the most prestigious series of American history survey volumes in print. Originally launched under the aegis of C. Vann Woodward and Richard Hofstadter, it embraces at least three Pulitzer Prize-winners—James M. McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (1988), David M. Kennedy’s Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 (1999), and Daniel Walker Howe’s What Hath God Wrought? The Transformation of America, 1815–1848 (2007)—plus two other Pulitzer nominations and a Bancroft Prize in 1997 for James Patterson’s Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945–1974.

There …

The Potential Electoral Influence Of Internet Memes, Sierra K. Hatfield

Oswald Research and Creativity Competition

The rising popularity of social media has affected the communication methods of political candidates within the United States. Given the online presence of candidates in recent years, this paper argues that it’s time to consider internet memes – one of the many facets most commonly found on social media – as political rhetoric. This paper seeks to discern which components of an internet meme are most effective in persuading a young voter, using a visually rhetorical approach to understand which characteristics make it most effective. The study also seeks to find which demographics are most likely to be influenced, using …

"Racial Exclusion And Death Penalty Juries: Can Death Penalty Juries Ever Be Representative?", Noelle Nasif, Shyam Sriram, Eric Smith

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

Sriram (2018) - Final Dissertation.Pdf, Shyam Sriram

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

Political Norms, Constitutional Conventions, And President Donald Trump, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

This symposium Essay argues that what is most troubling about the conduct of President Trump during and since the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign is not any potential violations of the U.S. Constitution or federal law. There likely have been some such violations, and there may be more. But what is most troubling about President Trump is his disregard of political norms that had previously constrained presidential candidates and Presidents, and his flouting of nonlegal but obligatory “constitutional conventions” that had previously guided and disciplined occupants of the White House. These norms and conventions, although not “in” the Constitution, play a …

Vicarious Retribution In U.S. Public Support For War Against Iraq, Peter Liberman, Linda J. Skitka

Publications and Research

U.S. public anger and desires to avenge the 11 September 2001 terror attacks were redirected toward Iraq partly because of its identity as an Arab and Muslim state. Online panel survey data reveal that citizens who were relatively angry about the terror attacks were more belligerent toward Iraq, and that this effect was strongest among those who perceived Arabs and Muslims in monolithic terms. Angry desires to avenge 9/11 were more persistent for those who saw Arabs and Muslims in that light, and their effects on war support were partially mediated by worsened feelings about Arabs and Muslims in general. …

Today's Environmental Issues: Democrats And Republicans, Rob Tench

Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

Walker (political science, Elmhurst Coll.) and several contributors provide an accurate, even-handed overview of Democratic and Republican parties’ policy positions on the most important environmental issues and challenges facing the United States.

Variations In State Higher Education Grant Programs: Potential Reforms From A Case Study, Rachael Johnson

Honors Program Theses

As higher education costs continue to rise across the nation, students are increasingly needing financial assistance. State grant aid programs play a vital role for millions of students across the nation when paying for their postsecondary education. This case study looks specifically at Iowa’s, Nebraska’s, and Wisconsin’s state funded grant aid models to understand how Iowa could restructure their current grant aid program to better serve both the students and taxpayers of the state. Specifically, for Iowa’s grant aid programs, four changes are recommended.

1. All higher education sectors should be eligible for the state’s primary grant aid program.
2. At minimum, …

Personality In Politics, Rachael Fix

Honors Program Theses

Personality has always played a big part in politics. It is one of the first things voters take into account when they decide which politician to cast their votes for. While personality may certainly play into what kind of person decides to run for a public office, what about the voters? If personality impacts when candidates decide whether or not to run for office, it could also be that personality influences whom voters decide should take office. Perhaps certain personality traits could even be used as a predictor for whether or not someone will vote for a certain politician or …

Sigma: Journal Of Political And International Studies

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Congress And The Benefits Of Social Media: A Low-Cost Investment In Constituency Approval And Electoral Success, Mandi Eatough

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Blurring The Spectrum: Exploring Queer Conservatism, Austin P. Mejdrich

Masters Theses

Running parallel to the groundbreaking and historic advancement of LGBTQ rights over the past decade has been the rise in the prominence and public discourse of queer conservative thinking. From the Log Cabin Republicans to far-right nationalistic politics, queer conservatives underscore both diverging ideologies within the modern American conservative tradition and the increase of far-right politics in Western societies. This study argues that queer conservatism, while traditionally less explored in the broader context of sexuality politics, is consequential to an understanding of the LGBTQ community and queer politics. Thus, an exploration of queer conservatism as a political ideology is explored, …