American Politics Commons^™

Commentary: Challenging Three Electoral College Indictments, Allen C. Guelzo, James H. Hulme

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

On the day the Electoral College met and elected Donald J. Trump the 45th president of the United States, the New York Times editorial board published a scathing attack on the Electoral College as an "antiquated mechanism" which "overwhelming majorities" of Americans would prefer to eliminate in favor of a direct national popular vote. [excerpt]

How Citizens United Vs Fec Impacted The Quality Of Democracy, John J. Dowling, Iii

Undergraduate Honors College Theses 2016-

In 2010 the United States Supreme Court delivered an opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission which reversed decades of federal campaign finance law. The Court held that corporations, unions, and other entities could not be subject to federal campaign finance laws that restricted these organizations from engaging in independent expenditures using general treasury funds – i.e., advocating for the election or defeat of a specific candidate for federal office. Two months later, in SpeechNow v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia extended the ruling to apply to non-profit organizations. The result …

Review Of Practicing Democracy: Popular Politics In The United States From The Constitution To The Civil War Ed Bydaniel Peart And Adam I. P. Smith, James H. Read

Political Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Institute For Public Policy National Poll - October 2017, Institute For Public Policy

Public Policy Poll Results

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

• Thoughts on the quality of life in Connecticut
• Awareness of Connecticut's current budget crisis
• Visions of how the state might solve this budget crisis
• Ideas for how Connecticut can become more business friendly
• Concerns over Connecticut's energy prices
• Confidence in federal, state and town governments' ability to address various issues throughout Connecticut
• Awareness of NFL player protests and thoughts on athlete protests during football games
• Demographic profiles of respondents

Does The Constitution Allow President To Ban Muslims?, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "The president-elect has stated that he intends to protect national security by banning Muslim immigration into the United States. He also has signaled an openness to some form of Muslim registration program. Does the Constitution impose barriers to the adoption of such policies?"

Democracy, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Democracy/Government

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Partisan Attachment And Conspiracist Predispositions, Robert Stephen Earnest

Bridges: A Journal of Student Research

Conspiracy theories have increasing relevance in American politics. In the age of the internet, where rumors and their associated conspiracy theories are transmitted and received at much higher frequencies than was previously capable, people can be led to believe in ideas that erode their trust in government and its decision makers. This undermines America's capacity for self-governance. In this proposal, I articulate a model that fully explains conspiracist thinking in the context of American politics. I suggest that two domains—partisan attachment and underlying conspiracist predispositions—determine whether an individual will accept or reject a conspiracy theory. To measure the effects of …

Deborah Olsen Public Service Scholarship Essay, Maura Hand

Examples of Student Work

In this essay, Maura Hand reflects on the ten weeks she spent interning with the State Department's Office of Foreign Missions (OFM) in San Francisco, California.

Ua25/2 Memoranda, Wku Human Resources

WKU Administration Documents

Memoranda issued by WKU Human Resources to faculty & staff via email.

• Personnel Actions Approval Procedures
• Governor's Proposal for Public Pension Reform
• Keeping the Promise Highlights
• Keeping the Promise KERS-NH/CERS-NH
• Keeping the Promise KTRS
• Keeping the Promise KERS HAZ. / CERS HAZ. / SPRS
• Keeping the Promise - Legislative Retirement
• Keeping the Promise - Judicial Retirement
• Keeping the Promise - Additional Reforms

Shame: Trump, We Will Never Be Quiet, United Against Trump, Risd Archives

Politics

Political protest poster. Anti-Trump poster caricature of Trump as excrement.

What Happened To Sanders? Millennials Analyses Of The 2016 Election Post-Primaries, Jacquelyn R. Fernandez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Millennial generation is now the largest living generation. This generation has absorbed many labels, including the one of not being civically engaged. Many news sources focused on their lack of engagement throughout the 2016 election, stating that they were the key to a win in the election. Since Bernie Sanders was the first candidate to capture the attention of such a large amount of the Millennial generation, this research is designed to understand why and provide an in-depth analysis of the thoughts about Sanders from the largest living generation. The data was collected by conducting 15 in-depth interviews with …

Civic Dignity And Meaningful Political Participation, Melissa Mahoney Smith

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation looks at how enhanced political participation opportunities can increase individual liberty and improve public-sector reform efforts. It blends political theory with contemporary concerns for individual well-being and government accountability. To do this, several research methodologies are used, including normative, qualitative process-tracing, and quantitative analysis.

First, the dissertation draws insights from ancient and modern political philosophy and the political thought and example of Jane Addams in 19th Century Chicago. It begins with Josiah Ober’s work on civic dignity, which he defines as “equal high standing” among citizens, marked by “non-infantilization and non-humiliation.” This definition is a useful starting point …

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, Colleen Arthur

UROP Posters

The aim of this paper is to look into the human rights violations committed by the United States against the black men during the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment as well as touch on the broader concept of racial medicine. In addition, my goal is to dismantle the pretense society may hold about the United States and the moral high ground it claims to stand on. In order to accomplish this goal, I will make parallels about atrocities committed by the United States on the African-American population to those committed by the Nazis on the Jewish population in Germany. I will first …

In Defense Of The Electoral College, Allen C. Guelzo, James H. Hulme

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

There is hardly anything in the Constitution harder to explain, or easier to misunderstand, than the Electoral College. And when a presidential election hands the palm to a candidate who comes in second in the popular vote but first in the Electoral College tally, something deep in our democratic viscera balks and asks why the Electoral College shouldn’t be dumped as a useless relic of 18th century white, gentry privilege. Actually, there have been only five occasions when a closely divided popular vote and the electoral vote have failed to point in the same direction. No matter. After last week’s …

The Sound Of Politics: An Examination Of Political Orientations And Musical Preferences Among College Aged Adults, Omari Stringer

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Music fits in a larger media culture that can influence the thoughts and beliefs of many people. Specifically, there is an interest in the relationship between music and any influences it may have on political views or orientations. Based on the existing literature, it is hypothesized that there will be a significant correlation between political orientations and involvement in music and political orientations with music genre preferences. It is also hypothesized that there will be a relationship between socioeconomic status and music preferences. Furthermore, it is expected that participants will report a high level of music involvement, considering how accessible …

Education Policy In Florida: Explaining County-Level Approval Of The 2002 Constitutional Amendments, Rachel M. Friant

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research analyzes county-level support for the 2002 Constitutional Amendments for Voluntary Universal Prekindergarten Education (VPK) and Florida’s Amendment to Reduce Class Size (CSA). Three regression models are constructed for each dependent variable (support for VPK and support for CSA): a bivariate model with political party, a full model with all theoretically identified variables, and a best model with just the independent variables that have the most explanatory power. A variety of socioeconomic, demographic and political independent variables are tested. Four independent variables had a statistically significant positive relationship with support for both VPK and CSA: Democratic registration, Hispanic population, …

A Divided Media: Filtered Rhetoric And The Rise Of Donald Trump, Sarah Krasner

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the how the media filtered the rhetoric of candidate Donald Trump, specifically concerning how both right wing and left wing media reported his campaign announcement speech in June of 2015.

Public Financing And The Underrepresentation Of Women In United States Elected Political Offices, Libby Moyer

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Approaching the 100-year anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, women comprise approximately 51 percent of the American population but hold only 24.8 percent of state legislative seats and 19.4 percent of United States Congressional seats. The scholarly literature suggests that one contributing factor to this inequality is a real or perceived gender difference in fundraising success. My hypothesis is that state public financing programs will decrease gender inequality in state legislative offices. I examined the role campaign finance plays in gender inequality in elected office by conducting a comparative case study of the state legislatures of Minnesota and Iowa from 1975 …

Toward The Anthropology Of White Nationalist Postracialism: Comments Inspired By Hall, Goldstein, And Ingram’S “The Hands Of Donald Trump”, Jeff Maskovsky

Publications and Research

This article explains Donald Trump’s brutal political effectiveness in terms of his white nationalist appeal. It locates the intellectual, popular, and policy imperatives of Trumpism in a new form of racial politics that I am calling white nationalist postracialism. This is a paradoxical politics of twenty-first-century white racial resentment whose proponents seek to do two contradictory things: to reclaim the nation for white Americans while also denying an ideological investment in white supremacy. The article shows how Trump’s excoriation of political correctness, his nostalgia for the post–WWII industrial economy, his use of hand gestures, and his public speaking about race …

The Value Of Black Lives: The Effect Of The Digital Age On African American Identity And Political Participation, Lauren Grimes

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.