American Politics Commons^™

American Agribusiness & Biotechnology: A New Era Of Farming, Nicole M. Ryan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In the past fifty years there has been an incredible amount of change made to the agrarian system of the United States. New discoveries in the realm of biotechnology led to the adoption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture, and transformed the industry. Due to regulatory policies set during the nineteen-eighties this technology was able to benefit from widespread commercialization.

Today, we see the effects of this approach and are entering into a highly volatile political climate in regard to GMOs. This paper aims to provide an analysis of the regulatory system in place and the discrepancies that exist …

The Dis-United States Of Liminality: The Trump Campaign Spectacle, Joan Davison

Faculty Publications

Americans are experiencing difficult challenges during the US transition away from decades of relative primacy and prosperity. The fact is that globalization, technology, and waning unipolarity differentially impact people, with certain groups disproportionately disadvantaged. These individuals encounter diminishing likelihood of upward mobility and flagging social status. The situation and its consequences can be understood as a liminal condition in which individuals and groups transition to another identity. During this precarious time, people often embrace manipulative politicians, or tricksters, who theatricalize the circumstances, distort the real source of difficulties, and offer fixes that demonize others. Donald Trump now performs as the …

Creating Knowledge, Volume 9, 2016

Creating Knowledge

Dear Students, Colleagues, Alumni and Friends,

Throughout my career as faculty and administrator in higher education I have been honored with the opportunity to introduce and celebrate the publication of scholarly work by colleagues and graduate students in many disciplines and institutions around the world. After more than three decades of doing so, this is the first time that I have the pleasure of introducing a formal publication of work created by a talented group of undergraduate scholars. This honor is further magnified by the fact that beyond its formal format, this is a reviewed publication of extraordinary rigor and …

Ben H. Bagdikian Papers And Manuscripts, Ben H. Bagdikian

Finding Aids

Ben Bagdikian (1920-2016) graduated from Clark University in 1941 before becoming a journalist. He reported on prisons, poverty and civil rights and won the Pulitzer Prize. While Bagdikian was an editor at The Washington Post, Daniel Ellsberg gave him a top-secret history of the Vietnam War, The Pentagon Papers. Bagdikian gave a copy to a senator who read them into the Congressional Record. These papers include speeches and articles and research materials and manuscripts for his books, Media Monopoly, Double Vision, In the Midst of Plenty, Caged, and The Memoir of Lydia Bagdikian.

Freedomland, Lindsey Mantoan

Faculty Publications

Lindsey Mantoan reviews a performance of Freedomland (by Michael Gene Sullivan) for Theatre Journal.

A Feuding House: An Examination Of The Causes And Effects Of The Decline Of Bipartisanship In The United States Congress, Aaron Jackson Horner

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Excerpt from Introduction

In October of 2016, a Gallup poll reported that Congress had an approval rating of 18%.[1] Compared to the President’s approval rating, Congress is seen as ineffective and too bipartisan for many Americans. While there has always been a natural tension between the opposing parties, it has magnified within recent years. Within Congress itself, many members are seeing their political opposition even more unfavorably today than their counterparts did two decades ago. Carol Doherty of the Pew Research Center claims that it is the “intensity of negativity that’s increased.”[2] The 2008 election marked a new …

2014 In Black & White: A Measure Of Social Policy Attitudes, Femi Stoltz

Undergraduate Review

Introduction:
In American society, various social and antipoverty policies remain highly controversial among American voters. As one might expect, the relevance of race in relation to such policies can also be quite controversial. Incorporated within this research is an investigation of political attitudes and policy preferences of American voters. Using affirmative action and state welfare spending as dependent variables, I gauge the effects of respondents’ race and party identification on policy preferences and other behavior patterns. This measure of attitudes will contribute to a further understanding of race, social and antipoverty policies, and the ways in which these variables interact …

Affirmative Action In American Government Introductory Textbooks, Sherri L. Wallace, Marcus D. Allen

Publications and Research

The history of affirmative action policy consists of a broad collection of executive orders, bureaucratic decisions, course cases, and state legislation designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination of applicants to educational programs or professional employment, to remedy the results of such prior discrimination, and to prevent discrimination in the future. Although targeted legislation has expanded protections beyond underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in education and employment to include women, people of a certain age, people with disabilities and veterans, the actual policy intent of affirmative action remains a source of confusion for students, particularly when college textbooks define the topics within …

The Rise Of Private Actors Along The United States-Mexico Border, James M. Cooper

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is about the proliferation of private actors playing a role at the “broken border.” The Introduction of this Article sets out the conceptual framework for the Article and provides the roadmap for each part. Part I examines which private actors and corporations have increased their role at the US-Mexico border. These actors include multinational corporations including Mexican-sited factories (maquiladoras) and US government contractors engaging in national security work, as well as criminal organizations like human smugglers (polleros and coyotes) and drug cartels (narcotraficantes) from the Mexico side, and the border vigilantes, such as the Minutemen and American Border …

Case-Specific Counterterrorism Policies For Islamic Fundamentalist Groups, Jessica L. Shoemaker

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Since 9/11, counterterrorism policies have been one of the crucial policy issues facing the United States. After the attacks on the United States, counterterrorism in this country transformed. Fifteen years later, counterterrorism is typically organized as a one-size fits all approach. This approach generalizes all terrorist threats, trying to target terrorism as a whole. This thesis explains how this is an improper approach to counterterrorism. Instead, policies should be case-specific and created in regards to the specific characteristics embodied by each terrorist organization. These characteristics include history and ideology, organizational and leadership structure, finances, and tactics and targets. These characteristics …

The Second Amendment In The 21st Century: An In-Depth Examination Of Firearm Freedoms And Their Relationship With Public Safety And Interests, Mathew E. Klein

Honors Undergraduate Theses

One of the most hotly contested topics in the world today revolves around an object. An object that has caused debate among all members of society both in the United States, and all across the globe. But how could an object, something that on its own does nothing, spur such heated argument? This object is the evolution of invention and the product of fighting amongst each other. This object changes the way people think and how they act. This object can be used for both good and bad. This object is a gun.

This research project will explore the Second …

"The Politics Of Deracialization: South Asian American Candidates, Nicknames, And Campaign Strategies", Shyam Sriram, Stonegarden Grindlife

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

Sriram (2016) - Muslim American Political Behavior. Field Paper .Pdf, Shyam Sriram

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

"A Tulsi By Any Other Name: Evaluating South Asian American Support For A Hindu Member Of Congress", Shyam Sriram

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

When Party Does Not Matter: An Examination Of Conditions That Influence A Senator To Vote Against Party Leadership, Alexander Phillip Collins

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The United States Senate as the upper chamber of the United States Congress possesses great power and responsibility. The way that the 100 men and women who make up the chamber vote has long been of importance to those of us in the field of political science. This paper will look at influences that affect a senator’s decision to vote against leadership. The research will test these influences simultaneously in order to find the degrees of influence each has. The research will focus on the Senate from 1994 – 2008, when the Gingrich senators led to an increasingly polarized body …

Trump As A Beaver, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

Politics

Political protest poster. Anti-Trump poster caricature of Trump as a beaver.

Impacts Of Prisons In Rural Communities: Economic And Social Factors, Ashleigh T. Rasheed

Honors College Theses

Rural communities in the United States have been declining economically for the past four decades. Some local government officials have seen prisons as a golden opportunity to revitalize their economies. Why and how do local officials decide to invest in prisons? What process do local officials go through to decide to invest in prisons? What are the economic impacts associated with a prison siting? What effects do stigmas associated with prisons have on the residents living in the community? I argue that prisons provide a short term economic gain for rural communities by providing jobs for the residents, thus boosting …

Challenging The Violence And Invisibility Against Women Of Color – A Marxist Imperative, Lilia D. Monzó, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"We are heading into an era where unbridled greed, racism, sexism, and other forms of hate are, once again, unabashedly proclaimed to the world without remorse. This turn from the once negative association with racism and attempts to avoid being labeled racist has became increasingly evident in the U.S. since 2014, when, astoundingly, a string of White police killings of unarmed Black men went unpunished or unprosecuted (Monzó & McLaren, 2014). In some of these cases the police officers evidenced a complete lack of compassion for the men in their final seconds of life. National coverage of these events made …

Faith In A Changing Planet: The Role Of Religious Leaders In The Fight For A Livable Climate, Morissa Zuckerman

Pitzer Senior Theses

Progressive religious leaders are playing an increasingly important role in the effort to combat climate change. Through a combination of unstructured in-depth interviews and primary source analysis, this thesis highlights nine U.S. religious leaders from various denominations of Christianity, Judaism and Islam who are actively involved in working on climate issues. Drawing on literature in social movement theory, I explore how clergy are uniquely influential in climate issues because of the organizational advantage and moral authority they hold through their positions as religious leaders, granting them the ability to highlight social justice implications of climate change with distinctive legitimacy. Clergy …

Campaigning On Youtube: Messaging And Online Communication In The 2016 Presidential Nomination Process, Abraham Krieger

Honors Theses

The Internet has become an important media environment in the context of political campaigns. This research examines YouTube, the most popular website for video content, in order to understand how the platform fits into the broader media landscape and analyzes the messaging content of leading candidates seeking the 2016 nomination. It tests several hypotheses about the YouTube content posted by the campaigns of Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton, during the period from the announcement of their candidacies through February 10, 2016. The research finds that campaigns upload varying amounts and types of content and that they …