Comparative Politics Commons^™

A Squandered Mandate: How Ppp Failed Larkana, Mashal Usman

MSJ Capstone Projects

In this story, I have attempted to capture the history of the Bhutto family’s association with Larkana; how their influence in the district as well as their hold over it grew over time, how that shaped the districts identity and continues to do so, and lastly, how their party, the PPP, squandered the mandate in Larkana.

Why The Different Levels Of Intervention?: Nigeria’S Boko Haram And Somalia’S Al-Shabaab, Anibal Serrano

OSRI Journal of Student Research and Innovation

No abstract provided.

Do Female Local Councilors Improve Women’S Representation?, Lindsay J. Benstead

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Tunisia’s 2018 municipal elections, in which a legislated quota was implemented and women won 47 percent of seats, raises questions about whether electing female councilors improves women’s representation in clientelistic settings. Using data from the Local Governance Performance Index (LGPI), an original survey of 3,600 Tunisians conducted in 2015 by the Program on Governance and Local Development (GLD), this article investigates the relationship between local councilors’ gender and women’s access to help with personal or community issues. Three findings emerge. First, male citizens are thirteen percentage points more likely than female citizens to know a local councilor and six percentage …

When Do Opponents Of Gay Rights Mobilize? Explaining Political Participation In Times Of Backlash Against Liberalism, Phillip M. Ayoub, Douglas D. Page

Political Science Faculty Publications

Existing research suggests that supporters of gay rights have outmobilized their opponents, leading to policy changes in advanced industrialized democracies. At the same time, we observe the diffusion of state-sponsored homophobia in many parts of the world. The emergence of gay rights as a salient political issue in global politics leads us to ask, “Who is empowered to be politically active in various societies?” What current research misses is a comparison of levels of participation (voting and protesting) between states that make stronger and weaker appeals to homophobia. Voters face contrasting appeals from politicians in favor of and against gay …

The Personalization-Privacy Paradox Explored Through A Privacy Calculus Model And Hofstede’S Model Of Cultural Dimensions, Kellen M. Schwartz

Honors Projects

The Personalization-Privacy Paradox is a relevant issue for companies today, as it deals with the paradox of customers who on the one hand want to keep their personal data private, but on the other hand desire the personalization benefits that can be gained by giving up that privacy. Many studies in the past have observed the Personalization-Privacy Paradox, but not thoroughly through the lens of a privacy calculus model. This paper uses a privacy calculus model to examine the Personalization-Privacy Paradox using Hofstede’s Six Dimensions of Culture and examines the United States, Germany, and China as case studies of three …

Political Parties For Protection And Profit: Explaining Opposition Party Competition Under Electoral Authoritarianism, Michael David Toje

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the presence of open elections and contestable political offices, opposition parties in electoral authoritarian regimes face barriers – formal and informal – that prevent them from attaining de facto power. Yet, these parties still decide to spend the time, money, and effort to run candidates in unfair elections. This dissertation seeks to uncover the reasons that opposition parties decide to compete in such an uncompetitive environment, and what sustains opposition parties though cycles of defeat. It proposes that opposition parties compete not for the purposes of unseating the ruling party, but rather for controlling their own local affairs away …

Book Review: Ethnic Politics And State Power In Africa: The Logic Of The Coup-Civil War Trap, Sandra Tombe

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This submission is a book review of Philip Roessler's Ethnic Politics and State Power in Africa.

The Annexation Of Hawai'i: A Violation Of Foreign Sovereignty By The United States Of America, Larissa R. Schuermyer

Honors Projects

The Kingdom of Hawai’i was annexed by the United States of America in 1898 and was given statehood in 1959. Prior to its annexation, the Kingdom of Hawai’i had a legitimate functioning government with sovereign recognition from many in the international arena, including the United States, as early as 1840. This article analyzes current and past definitions of the state and sovereignty, as well as precedence from international law, to determine if the United States violated the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawai’i before and during the annexation process. A preponderance of evidence, including explanations of the preexisting Hawaiian political …

The Caged Bird Still Sings: The Poetics Of Peace, Sofia Diane Skavdahl

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Although poetry has been used as a method of peacemaking since Homer’s Iliad, little research, theory, or analysis has been done evaluating precisely what role poetry holds in the realms of peacemaking and conflict resolution. Poetry, along with other arts-based practices of peacemaking, is beneficial because of its ability to encourage personal autonomy and emotional communication, while offering an open and creative space to heal from violent conflict. In terms of the arts, poetry is especially unique because it holds the ability to transform relationships between adversaries and the relationship with the self. This paper seeks to analyze both the …

“Equal Dignity”: Comparing The Campaigns To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage And Their Outcomes In Italy And The United States, Kyle James Kilkenny

Senior Theses

The issue of marriage equality has encouraged many queer groups to mobilize over the past half-century. Two states where this trend has clearly been illustrated are Italy and the United States of America. While the United States has a widely studied history of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) rights movements, the presence of such political activity in Italy has been less known on the world stage. With this in mind, this thesis studies how similar efforts to pass same-sex marriage legislation resulted in different outcomes, which are measured by whether same-sex marriage has been codified on the national …

A Critique Of Bruce Gilley's "The Case For Colonialism", Ernest M. Oleksy

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Bruce Gilley's article defending colonialism created quite a stir amongst global development's academia. This article esponds to Gilley's article, primarily as an antithesis. Through a recount of historical examples across the globe, this article points out Gilley's weaker arguments for colonialism.

Silence As A Strategy, Jarvis L. Steele

Honors College Theses

Understanding the struggle that is peaceful protest is a task that has two unexplored components. The first is how leaders of political movements and protest groups are able to influence the masses to not waiver in their non-violent, peaceful approach. The second is how political groups learn from the failures and successes of the previous campaigns. We are given these circumstances where governmental violence and abuse would normally lead to a retaliatory response from groups, but in order to maintain the fidelity of the movement leaders of these political protests have to protect the nonviolent approach. These are instances where …

Battle For The Minds: Use Of Propaganda Films In Stalinist Russia And Nazi Germany, David Rosenblum

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since the end of the Second World War, scholars and experts have examined the use of cinema in spreading totalitarian propaganda. Nazi Germany, in particular, has caught the most attention. However, most of these studies focus exclusively on one nation, and relatively few studies have tried to directly compare the cinematic propaganda of different countries. This study aims to directly compare cinematic propaganda of Stalinist-era Russia and Nazi Germany and find out who utilized the medium of film more effectively. To accomplish this, this study will examine and directly compare several critical components, such as industry structure and artistic merits, …

Post-Civil War Peace Durability: The Role Of Domestic Infrastructure And Military, Alexandra Wilson

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since 1945, approximately half of the world’s states have been engaged in some type of civil conflict. The aim of this research is to understand why some post-civil war states fail to establish peace durability while others thrive. Through quantitative research of civil wars globally and a qualitative analysis of Iraq, this thesis argues for the necessity of post-civil war policy to focus on the renewal of domestic infrastructure in addition to military investment which suppresses grievance-driven violence. A logistical regression model of all civil wars since 1945 shows that variables, such as healthcare, are evidently associated with more durable …

Second Class Citizens - A Comparative Analysis Of Lgbtq Quality Of Life, Paige Stuart Moody

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The following thesis explains the differences between the Quality of Life of LGBTQ individuals within the European Union and the United States of America. Looking at the specific Quality of Life index factors of employment and healthcare, this thesis focuses on four regions: Malta, Germany, California and Texas.

Overall, the European Union was found to have a higher Quality of Life for LGBTQ individuals than the United States of America in the realms of employment and healthcare. This is due to Germany and Malta having inclusive laws and regulations put in place that protect LGBTQ individuals, whereas there is various …

Arab Spring In North Africa: An Analysis Of Foreign Influence And Revolutions In Egypt, Libya, And Tunisia, Trevor Eck

CURCE Annual Undergraduate Conference

This paper examines the role foreign influence had on the outcomes of the 2011 Arab Spring Revolutions in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. Foreign influence primarily came from the US, European states such as the UK and France, and Gulf States such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE. Influence includes but is not limited to financial assistance, diplomatic pressure, and in Libya’s extreme case military intervention. Outcome of the revolution is determined by examining the state of each government before and after the 2011 revolutions. This paper studies why each of these three states had different levels of foreign influence throughout …

Predicting Leader Survival: Evidence From Covert Action Case Study Analysis, Joy S. Patton

Dissertations

This research explores the unique relationship between covert action and leader survivability, in particular, how leadership styles and personality traits influence this relationship. The life of a ruler is ephemeral. For those who are lucky, their exit from office is through retirement or old age. For most, their tenure is short, often ending through violent means. The overthrow of rulers by their rivals is a common theme throughout world history, and the strategy remains a popular choice in contemporary warfare. However, despite the frequency of regime change, very little is discussed in international relations about covert regime change and its …

Syrian Crisis Representation In The Media: The Cnn Effect, Framing, And Tone, Savannah S. Day

Venture: The University of Mississippi Undergraduate Research Journal

Over the past seven years of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian refugees have been painted in a negative light by news media outlets around the world. History of media coverage regarding global humanitarian crises shows that with various tools and processes, media can shape public opinion and policy in whichever direction it desires, and oftentimes policymakers and the public are quick, as well as emotional, to react. In this paper, my objectives are to analyze specific examples of this CNN Effect phenomena within news coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis, as well as generally explain the negatively correlating relationship between …

Cosmopolitan Democracy: Re-Evaluation Of Globalization And World Economic System, Muhammad Dalhatu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines cosmopolitan democracy theory as a method of addressing the problems of globalization. I begin by introducing the concept of “cosmopolitan democracy.” I then proceed to discuss contemporary political climate and its relation to critiques of globalization. Finally, I conclude by examining the elaborations of cosmopolitan democracy by various theorists as a way of addressing these problems. Chapter 1 introduces the work of David Held who introduced the concept in his book, Cosmopolitan Democracy and the Global Order: Reflections on the 20^th Anniversary of Kant’s “Perpetual Peace.” Cosmopolitan democracy refers to global governance through democratic theory. Held …

The Growing Middle Class And The Absence Of Democracy In China, Danni Mei

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Contrary to the prediction of modernization theory, the vibrant Chinese economy and its growing middle class have not brought democratic change to the authoritarian country. This work sheds light on the puzzle of the absence of democracy in China despite a fast-growing middle class. The study argues that the key to explaining the middle class’ inert political behavior is to be found in its fragmentation. It is necessary to disaggregate the political, economic, and social positions of different subgroups of the Chinese middle class—government officials and party cadres, private entrepreneurs of small or medium businesses, professionals, and white-collar employees—and the …