Models and Methods Commons^™

Learning The Legislative Process With A Board Game, Michael Posadny

Honors Projects

Standard methods of teaching classroom material can generally work effectively for educating the majority of a class’s students, but some students may still struggle to find the information to be comprehensive, enjoyable to learn, or even necessary. Alternative methods of instruction can be used to educate students in different ways, and this study looks into the educational merit that a board game can provide to learning new material. Previous research has shown the effectiveness of board games on various elements of education, and this project addresses the findings of previous works to predict the effects that a game will have …

Prostitution And Pornography: Reforming A Perspective, Mayce Combs

Helm's School of Government Conference

Happiness is a subjective emotion that can quickly be twisted by the depravity of humanity’s sinful nature. Human trafficking deprives an individual’s natural right to life, liberty, and their pursuit to happiness. Of the two divisions of human trafficking, sex trafficking, especially involving children, is the most despicable and most evolved. The United States and further the state of Virginia is a crucial player in combating human trafficking. While there are currently many successful tactics state governments and nonprofit groups are utilizing in order eliminate human trafficking there are further more intense strategies the Virginia State Government should implement. One …

A New World Order?: Considering Slaughter’S Notion Of The Disaggregated And Networked State, Darlene N. Moorman

The Downtown Review

This paper briefly explains Slaughter's (2004) argument for the emergence of a new world order defined by a disaggregated and networked state where the relevance of soft power has become all the more critical in conversations of politics and corresponding theory. This transformation (arising in the face of the so-called 'globalization paradox') is considered, exploring (a) what this means for the world system and (b) what concerns it may consequently bring.

Party Alignment On Gun Laws: Urban V.S. Rural, Roz Rozner

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Mass shootings in the United States have led to debate about gun rights and increased division over the second amendment. Have parties’ positions on gun laws affected voter alignment? This study seeks to determine the effects of restrictive gun laws over time on party alignment within the United States. The urban rural divide in the United States has played a distinctive role in voter alignment on issues like restrictive gun laws. To evaluate this claim, this study uses the Pew Research Center and other opinion polls from the last twenty years to determine whether restrictive gun laws produce higher levels …

The Campaign Finance And Political Geography Of The 2020 Presidential Election Cycle, Chandler White

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This undergraduate honors thesis focuses on the 2020 Presidential Election between current President Joseph Biden and former President Donald Trump, and how the two candidates raised their money, geographically speaking, during the general election cycle. Presidential campaigns are more expensive than ever, and candidates now face the need to maintain levels of campaign spending that are comparable to their competing candidates. In order to maintain high levels of spending, these campaigns must raise funds effectively, and develop means in which they can outraise and outspend their competitors. In the financial funding race between campaigns, trends arise across election cycles regarding …

Legislative Passage Of Marijuana And Pac Contributions: An Analysis Of Illinois And New York Political Donations, Luke Elliott

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The growing prominence of Political Action Committees (PACs) calls for the analysis of their impact on state legislatures and the passing of bills. This thesis sought to determine the relationship between PACs and the state legislatures of New York and Illinois as it relates to the passage of statutes that legalized recreational marijuana. This was done by collecting contribution disclosures from the individuals who voted on the bills and finding the aggregate amounts given to a candidate by in-state and out-of-state PACs and non-PACs. Then the data was subjected to a Pearson Correlation analysis. If the Pearson Correlation indicated a …

Denying Democracy: Exploring The Electoral Penalty For Election Denial In The 2022 House Midterms, Sarem Ahmed Khan Leghari

CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal

It is critical to assess the capacity and willingness of voters to check politicians’ anti-democratic behaviors. The 2022 midterms were the first nationwide opportunity for voters to hold Republican candidates accountable for endorsing President Trump’s “Big Lie,” which severely threatened democracy. 60% of GOP candidates in the 2022 midterms were election deniers. Previous research has either studied which congressmen objected to the electoral college’s certification or assessed the electoral penalty in statewide races in 2022. This analysis employs OLS regression modeling to explore the electoral penalty for election denial across 404 House midterm elections. First, using an OLS regression model, …

Reforming Illinois K-12 Public Education Through A Four-Pronged Approach, Seth Brooks

Senior Honors Theses

Public education in the United States has produced lackluster results in the past decades. Various forms of school choice have emerged in recent years to combat the poor results seen in the public education system, but these private schools are financially unattainable for many Americans. Bureaucratic overload, city corruption, inequities in funding, and frequent teachers’ strikes have certainly contributed to the destitute state of Illinois’ public education. In this thesis, the attainability of fiscal relief for Illinois families who choose alternative education and the necessity of the state in permitting such alternatives is discussed.

Current school choice policies in the …

Research On Risk Identification Framework Of Future Technology—Based On Perspective Of Techno-Economic Security, Jie Chen, Zhongqi Wu, Tao Dai

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Under the background of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the future technology represented by disruptive technology and emerging technology has become the focus of attention and game among countries. The future technology is not only related to taking the lead in future development, enhancing national strength and competitiveness, but also related to whether the economy and national security can be maintained. Based on the perspective of techno-economic security, this study analyzes the connotation and characteristics of future technology, puts forward the ‘three stages and three levels’ economic security influential mechanism of future technology, and …

Breakthrough Mechanism Of “Stuck Neck” Technology: “Situation-Strategy” Asymmetric Matching Perspective, Rongjian Yu, Yaping Wang, Yizhi Zhao, Wei Bai

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Under the dual background of the impact of the epidemic and anti-globalization, the technical problem of “stuck neck” is a major practical problem that China urgently needs to solve. Existing researches lack a structured theoretical framework to solve the technical problem of “stuck neck”, and overlooked the analysis of the situation-dependent mechanism of “stuck neck” technologies. This study evaluates the technical situation from the two dimensions of the technical capability base and the dynamic of the technical paradigm, constructs a “stuck neck” technology cracking strategy matrix from the technical category and technology track, integrates the two categories of the technical …

Risks And Insights From Technological Friction Of The United States And China For Companies In China, Hongwei Wang, Duosi Chen, Huihui Zhang, Yuxuan Bai

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In recent years, the United States has seriously hindered the development of science and technology in China by implementing a series of measures such as export controls, economic sanctions, and cooperation restrictions, and United States-China technological frictions have brought a series of major problems related to technological and economic security to Chinese industries and enterprises. Based on the existing research, the study analyzes the current situation of China’s science and technology security, the impact of technological friction on enterprises of China and the United States as well as enterprises of other countries, and puts forward policy recommendations in terms of …

Disciplinary System, Academic System And Discourse System Of Technological Sciences, Zhongkai Yang, Deming Lin, Yongxia Liang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In 1957, Tsien Hsue-shen published an article entitled “On the Technological Sciences” in Chinese Science Bulletin, which laid the foundation for the research of technological sciences in China. However, in the following 60 years, the thought of technological sciences failed to receive stable attention and support. It was not until 2021 when General Secretary Xi Jinping made another important statement at the 20th Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the 15th Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the 10th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology that technological sciences had entered into …

Understand Interactive Relationship Between S&T Security And Economic Security, Establish S&T Security Monitoring And Early Warning System, Qiuyi Guo, Guangrong You

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The overall concept of national security is an open strategic thought system, which is constantly developing with the practice of national security. Science and technology (S&T) security and economic security are both important areas of national security. They are important components of national security to support and safeguard overall national security. This study analyzes the interactive relationship between S&T security and economic security, and puts forward some suggestions to accelerate the development of S&T security monitoring and early warning system in view of the risks and challenges to ensure S&T security in the process of realizing high-quality development.

Influencing Factors And Mechanism Of China’S Technology Supply Security, Jiasu Lei, Jie Jiao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

At present, the economy in China is changing from high speed growth in the past few years to high quality development, which raises higher requirements for the security of technical supply. This study defines the concept and connotation of technology supply security, and analyzes the influencing factors of technology supply security as well as the formation mechanism of technology supply “insecurity”. In order to improve the security of technology supply, we must adhere to the basic idea of high level science and technology self-reliance, improve the system of relay research institutions and its cohesive mechanism, and clarify the ideas and …

Techno-Economic Security: Key Issues, Evolution Mechanism And Evaluation Framework, Yanlin Cheng, Tao Dai, Yuye Ding, Danyang Zhao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In the context of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the related issues of techno-economic security have become the focus of major countries and regions. From the perspective of discipline construction, basic theory has been studied on key questions such as why, what, and how to evaluate. This study analyzes the importance and urgency, puts forward key issues of techno-economic security that should be paid attention to at different levels, such as technology, enterprise, industry, and country or region. A mechanism framework of the occurrence and evolution of techno-economic security is constructed, which is composed …

The Right To Bear: Measuring Gun Control Policies Against Violent Crime, Balazs Varga

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Especially in United States politics, gun control legislation is a controversial topic, with much debate dedicated to which gun control policies are implementable as a countermeasure to violent crime rates, if any. In American public discourse on the topic, U.S. gun control doctrine, which is characterized by an individualistic gun culture engrained in the Second Amendment of the Constitution, is one which is described as lax in comparison to gun control measures implemented by other nations. These gun control policies include a wide array of measures, such as automatic firearms regulation, a state-mandated national firearms registry, and background checks, among …

Magic As Political Might: Harry Potter, Authoritarianism, And Youth Political Behavior, Alexis Cobbs

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how authoritarian structures found in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series affect the political thoughts and behaviors of its readers, particularly those who read them at young ages. By examining how Rowling depicts authoritarianism and its opposition in the books, I hypothesized that increased exposure would correlate to an increased impact on readers’ political opinions. To test this hypothesis, I created an original survey designed to measure levels of exposure and participation in the Harry Potter fandom as well as respondents’ political opinions. I asked respondents to provide different examples of authoritarianism and its opposition in the books …

Facing Famine: Justice And The Case Of Unilateral Intervention, Tanner R. Brooks

Honors Theses

Through the course of this year, 900 thousand people will have to struggle through conditions of famine, and a total of 345.2 million will experience food insecurity of some kind. These concerning figures represent an over twofold increase since 2020.1 This presents a serious problem, as access to food is so plainly vital to every aspect of an individual’s existence. It should therefore be uncontroversial to assert the grave nature of the occurrence of famine and other food emergencies faced by so many today. Food emergencies are not merely a result of insufficient food, but rather the institutional policies enacted …

Journey Of Realization And Adaptation Through Auto/Ethnography: A Shift To Transformative Educational Research, Tara Paudel, Bal Chandra Luitel, Niroj Dahal

The Qualitative Report

This reflective paper explores Tara's doctoral research journey of realization and adaptation in auto/ethnography as a transformative research methodology. While reflecting on Tara’s journey, the auto/ethnographic paper emphasizes cultural perspectives, interpreting one's own experiences, thoughts, actions, and behaviors relating to society and culture. Likewise, auto/ethnography investigates and associates an individual's confrontation within specific educational, societal, and cultural contexts. With this ethos, the paper demonstrates how Tara, a mathematics teacher and doctoral student, encountered and observed auto/ethnography and discovered it as a path to transformation as a paradigm shift in transformative educational research by connecting lives and research (Dahal et al., …

Hierarchy Structure And Three Recommendations On Chinese Approach To Modernization, Chuanqi He

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

This study discusses the hierarchy structure of Chinese approach to modernization (CAM) from the perspective of modernization science and strategy research, and advances three recommendations on the modernization research and modernization capacity of China. The hierarchy structure includes three levels of concept, strategy, and operation; and each level involves some contents and key issues. Here the level of concept includes two key issues, they are the connotation and Chinese characteristics of CAM; the level of strategy contains three key issues, which are the basic guideline, essential request, and strategic arrangement of CAM; and the level of operation involves three key …