Comparative Politics Commons^™

Call For Papers For The Journal Of Social Encounters’ Special Issue On Global And Regional Governance: The Past Present And Future

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

History Does Not Repeat Itself, But It Often Rhymes: Comparing The Messaging Of Adolf Hitler And Donald Trump, Elaina Varney

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

With the growing divide between the left and right, many on the left have raised alarms that Donald Trump is a fascist. My research paper compares Donald Trump’s messaging to Adolf Hitler’s messaging to find any similarities between the two in order to determine if Trumpism is a precursor to fascism. This study begins by looking at previous scholars’ research into whether or not Trumpism is a precursor to fascism and then I proceed to draw on primary sources such as speeches, Mein Kampf, and Trump’s TruthSocial posts, particularly those related to immigration and minorities, attacks on and suppression …

Molding The Mosaic: Progressive Coalition Formation In The 2021 New York City Council Elections, Sam Goodson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The 2021 New York City Council primaries marked a decisive breakthrough for the city’s progressive left. A cohort of democratic-socialist and socialist-adjacent candidates won office across multiple boroughs, dramatically expanding the size and influence of the left flank of the council. This dissertation analyzes those victories and argues that they constituted a hinge moment in the construction of a progressive governing regime in New York City, with implications that extend beyond New York City politics to the study of social- democratic party families more broadly. Drawing on electoral returns, demographic data, campaign materials, and elite interviews, the project demonstrates that …

Finding Luis: A Creative Nonfiction Account Of Law & Society, Jason M. Leggett

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This essay explores the contradictions in legal theory and human experience through creative nonfiction. Its main purpose is to argue that a truly just society requires acknowledging the profound influence of individual narratives on the law. This is supported by blending personal narratives, critical analysis, and philosophical inquiry to reveal the gap between codified law and lived realities for marginalized individuals. This unique Legal Poetics methodology employs a series of six vignettes, such as the author's and Luis's shared experiences with traumatic brain injury and the denial of justice, as data. By integrating autoethnography, law as narrative, and performativity theories, …

Roots And Routes: Tracing Identity Through The Life Of One Person, Daniel Rivard

Opinion Matters: Student Analyses of World News

This op-ed highlights the differences between ethnic, national, and collective identity through the story of a first-generation Lithuanian Immigrant. It discusses how ethnic identity remains salient even when national identity changes or deteriorates, exploring how one person’s decisions can seriously affect their family's future culture and identities.

Owning The Green Grid: The Political Economy Of Renewable Energy Policy Design, Joshua A. Basseches

Faculty Scholarship

How corporate ownership of the electricity grid matters to state-level renewable energy policymaking.

Historically (and for the foreseeable future), most public policy action in the United States to combat the global climate crisis has taken place at the state level. Former President Joe Biden’s administration marked a significant departure from that trend, as his policies pursued a strategy of “electrify everything” (transportation, buildings, and industry). But who owns the electricity system that is the linchpin of such a strategy, and how does this ownership affect the policy preferences of interest groups at the state level? Owning the Green Grid addresses …

Status Anxiety And Public Support For Reactionary Political Movements, Timothy E. Randall

Political Science Theses

In this enquiry, I explore the conditions that make members of the public receptive to the appeals of reactionary political movements. I also explore the means by which reactionary movements leverage those conditions to gain support. I argue that crisis and status threat conditions prime members of the public to be receptive to the appeals of reactionary movements and that the strategic leveraging of these conditions in their narratives gives rise to status anxiety which, in turn, moves members of traditionally dominant groups to support these movements. I develop an explanatory theoretical framework for understanding status anxiety and its role …

Weaponized Borders: A Contrapuntal Analysis Of Uneven Humanitarian Aid And Comparative Landscapes, Alex Orla-Bukowski

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The proliferation of global border regimes has caused an increased level of state violence against humans and the environment. In this thesis I explore how contemporary border regimes propagate myths on human mobility, obstruct humanitarian policy, and weaponize environmental landscapes to sustain state violence while obscuring political responsibility. Building on this, I argue that borders are the source of violence and create systems of vulnerability as a core-function of state making. My research primarily utilizes semi-structured interviews with humanitarian actors and secondary data analysis to trace the testimonies of those subject to state-based harm and explore the gaps in aid …

Vacuum Wars: The Belt & Road Initiative’S Rise In The Arab League, Corabeth R. Pierce

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The world has shifted and changed in the last decade, resulting in a new world order. The Middle East and North Africa region houses the Arab League, which has drawn the attention of several states throughout the world. China has shown particular interest in the region since its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was first created in 2013. The BRI demonstrates how China has become more involved in the region and that these Arab states are more interested in what China has to offer compared to other countries. With the United States developing more nationalist policies, the European Union facing …

The Judicial Containment Of Adivasi Rights Across India's Mineral Belt, Sajni S. Sheth-Voss

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines how Adivasi resistance to mining-induced dispossession across India’s mineral belt is increasingly channeled into the judiciary, arguing that this shift functions as a mechanism of containment rather than a pathway to justice. Despite a robust legal framework designed to protect Adivasi land and consent rights, systematic non-enforcement and political closure have hollowed out policy and electoral channels, pushing communities into litigation as a last resort. Drawing on scholarship in political economy, legal studies, and political ecology, alongside primary sources including court documents and activist statements, this study follows how disputes move across institutions and are ultimately reshaped …

Sinking City To Breakthrough City: A Political Analysis And Evaluation Of Indonesia's Capital City Relocation From Jakarta To Nusantara, Yuji Jones

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes Indonesia’s national decision to move its capital city from Jakarta to Nusantara. Indonesia is facing a dire catastrophe in its most populous city. The land surrounding Jakarta is sinking, and without significant mitigation efforts, the streets will be submerged by 2045. This is a slow-motion disaster coming for Indonesia and Jakarta. This left the country with a crucial decision: to save the capital city. In response to this environmental crisis, Indonesia’s government has committed to making a nationwide and ambitious decision to move the capital to Nusantara, a smaller city bustling with tropical forests 1,000 kilometers away, …

L'Affaire Baby Loup : Nouvelle Laïcité Ou Laïcité Coloniale ?, Grace Gorden

Scripps Senior Theses

La saga juridique de la crèche Baby Loup, où une directrice-adjointe était licenciée pour avoir porté le voile au travail, est souvent proclamée comme l'instauration de la « nouvelle laïcité » en France.  L'arrêt Baby Loup fait partie d'une série de changements sur la laïcité depuis les années 1980 en France, où le principe de laïcité devient de plus en plus associé au domaine privé. Le jugement final de la saga Baby Loup établit que la discrimination religieuse doit être jugée selon des normes de proportionnalité et de justification. Ce renoncement au principe de laïcité dans les tribunaux et ensuite …

Fear, Memory, And Deterrence: Reassessing Nuclear Peace In The 21st Century, Nathan H. Schroeder

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research investigates the paradox of nuclear peace theory: the idea that nuclear weapons, despite their destructive capacity, have contributed to a more stable global order. By tracing the historical development of nuclear arsenals and the strategic logic of deterrence, the project examines whether the post-1945 decline in large-scale wars between superpowers and wartime deaths can be attributed to the threat of mutual annihilation. It also explores the psychological and cultural consequences of this deterrence-based peace, including the normalization of fear and its potential link to desensitization toward violence in younger generations. From Cold War-era school drills to modern apocalyptic …

The Discord Revolutions: A Study Of Media Influence And Regime Changes, Justin C. Eason

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will be a paper analyzing the influence of Media on regime changes, specifically as it pertains to the two recent revolutions in Nepal and Madagascar. I will show how past regime changes and historical events have been shaped by media influence, and how the revolutions in Nepal and Madagascar are different, and could set a different pattern when compared to previous rebellions.

Pork, Parties, And Power: Money Politics In Japanese Political Parties, Maya Maranto

HMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the proposition that the LDP utilizes money politics more than opposition parties in Japan, which could explain why the LDP has remained largely dominant since 1955. Focusing on the House of Representatives elections in 2017, 2021, and 2024, I analyze eight case studies, examine the University of Tokyo-Asahi Shimbun Elite Candidate Survey covering over 90 percent of candidates, and quantitatively analyze party manifestos. I operationalize money politics as reliance on support organizations, support for infrastructure and agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, and support for regional funding. I find that, all measures taken together, the LDP remains the most …

Gender As The Moral Framework Of War: Religious Discourse In Wartime Russia, Olga Vlasova Dr., Ulviyya Khalilova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article explores how wartime religious discourse constructs the moral framework of war through gender rhetoric. Based on the critical discourse analysis of wartime public statements by Russian Orthodox and Muslim religious leaders (2022-2026), the study shows how gender can be used as a framework through which violence becomes meaningful and tolerable. It highlights that the discourse of masculinity provides precisely those moral categories (duty, sacrifice, and protection) which depict participation in war as a moral obligation. At the same time, femininity is primarily associated with the reproduction of social order through care, support, and motherhood, while remaining outside the …

Examining The Results Of Revolutions In The Third World: A Case Study Of The Iranian, Libyan, And Nicaraguan Revolutions, Noah A. Mohammedelamien

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examines the post-revolutionary trajectories of Libya, Iran, and Nicaragua to explain why some Third World revolutionary projects preserve and use elements of their founding ideology while others fragment, personalize, or diffuse over time. Rather than focusing on the causes of revolution alone, it analyzes the durability of religious-socialist ideological continuity after revolutionary upheaval. Using a (MDSD) comparative historical and institutional approach grounded in primary and secondary sources, the study evaluates five key dimensions across the cases: religious-socialist ideological fusion, religious elite loyalty, popular religious mobilization, institutional embedding of ideology, and external pressure. The findings suggest ideological continuity is …

Immigration As A Catalyst To The Far-Right: The Case Of Vox And Spain, Evelyn R. White

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Over the last decade or two, the world has witnessed a global rise in the popularity and success of far-right wing parties. This new era of the radical right raises questions of what is causing and fueling these political movements. Political Scientists have identified several contributing factors from the global economic crisis of 2008, the migrant crisis of 2015 and the global pandemic in 2020. This research paper aims to demonstrate how immigration acts as a catalyst to the far-right by intersecting with political science ideologies and other variables. The focus of this paper is how the Vox Party found …

A Look Deeper Into Ohio’S Opioid Crisis And The Lasting Political Effects Of The Issue, Robert C. Dunn

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research studies how the opioid crisis deepened partisan divisions in Ohio from the late 1990s to the present. By investigating political responses from both policy-makers and voter behavior following the introduction of OxyContin. This study will focus on the relationship between addiction and overdose rates, which influences those ideological divides. Using qualitative research, such as political rhetoric and legislative responses, and quantitative research, such as election results, to find a correlation between the opioid crisis and partisan polarization. This project aims to highlight how politically motivated decision-making can prevent proper bipartisan responses.

Health Care Governance And Structural Exclusion In Florida: A Human Rights Analysis Of Access For Latinx Communities, Natalie Medrano

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Access to health care in the United States is a complex system shaped by statutory programs and the discretionary powers of state governance. This thesis examines how Florida’s healthcare system structures access through administrative design, with particular attention to its impact on Latinx communities. Although formally race-neutral, Florida’s reliance on Medicaid non-expansion, managed care delivery, and complex eligibility processes produces systemic barriers that limit access for low-income populations. Drawing on the international right-to-health framework articulated in General Comment No. 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, alongside Latinx Critical Race Theory (LatCrit), this study analyzes how …