Political Science Commons^™

Political Uncertainty And Firm-Level Stock Market Reactions In The United States, Nozomi Tanaka

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Political uncertainty has become an increasingly important feature of the global economy, with major geopolitical events often triggering rapid reactions in financial markets. This study examines how geopolitical shocks affect firm-level stock market performance in the United States. Using an event study framework, the analysis evaluates cumulative returns and stock return volatility for fourteen publicly traded firms across nine major geopolitical events between 2016 and 2022, including the Brexit referendum, the U.S.–China trade war, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia–Ukraine war.

The results indicate that most firms experienced negative abnormal returns around geopolitical events, suggesting that political uncertainty is generally …

Palestinian Motherhood In Lebanon: An Analysis Of The Legal And Humanitarian Systems, Enje Matar

Theses and Dissertations

The lives of Palestinians in Lebanon are shaped by a diversity of factors that are exogenous and endogenous. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the impact of existing institutional, legal, and societal structures on Palestinian refugee mothers. It answers the following main question: how do the legal and humanitarian systems in Lebanon impact Palestinian mothers? It specifically scrutinizes 1) How do these systems shape family dynamics, maternal relations with children, and mothers’ daily lives? 2) How are these systems gendered in ways that represent broader questions of power and control? 3) How do mothers respond to these systems …

Beyond The Legal Black Hole: Hyper-Legality, Deferral, And Detention In Northeast Syria, Grace T. Harmon

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the detention of suspected ISIS affiliates and their family members held in facilities administered by the Kurdish-led authorities in North-East Syria. Thousands of foreign nationals remain detained without trial, without repatriation, and in conditions widely criticized as inhumane. Existing scholarship and political discourse often describe these facilities as legal voids, limbo, or black holes where law has broken down or ceased to apply. This thesis challenges that characterization. Rather than existing outside the law, the facilities are governed through overlapping frameworks of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, counterterrorism security resolutions, and domestic laws. I argue …

Egypt’S Accession To Brics: Hedging And Strategic Positioning In A Multipolar Order, Daria Konstantinova

Theses and Dissertations

Amid Egypt’s longstanding, multifaceted cooperation with the U.S. and Western institutions, spanning political support, economic partnerships, and IMF/World Bank programs, 2024 BRICS expansion included Egypt as one of the new group’s members. This move might be explained by leadership strategic vision, domestic constraints, and geopolitical global and regional dynamics. This research explains the drivers behind Egypt’s accession to BRICS and the way this decision reflects Egypt’s strategic positioning in a changing global order, using agency-centered approach and the theoretical framework of strategic hedging.

While existing literature on BRICS expansion partially explains the reasons behind the new members’ accession and its …

The Functioning Of The Refugee Regime In The Global South, Rihem Sejil

Theses and Dissertations

Why do states continue to sign compacts and reaffirm responsibility-sharing, even as protection burdens fall increasingly on the Global South? This thesis argues that this concentration is a direct result of, rather than an exception to, international cooperation. It introduces the concept of "selective cooperation" to explain how states maintain formal commitments to protection while repurposing cooperation: shifting it from a remedial tool designed to assist burdened hosts to one focused on containment and preventing arrivals. Three mechanisms facilitate this shift: donor retrenchment, resettlement contraction, and externalization, with each mechanism closing gaps left by the others. Analyzing cases spanning resettlement, …

How Traditional And Social Media Shapes Public Perception Of United States Surpeme Court Decisions On Civil Liberties, Leila P. Martin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This study examines how traditional and social medai shape public perception of U.S. Supreme Court decisions on Civil liberties, focusing on four landmark cases: Dobbs v. Jackson, District of Columbia v. Heller, Materpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and Obergfell v. Hodges. Using Entmans framing theory, the research analyzes how tone, language, emphasis, and ideological slant differ across media platofrms and how these frames infleunce public attitudes, insitutional trust, and civic understanding. A mixed-methods design combines archival media analysis, national polling data from Pew Rsearch Center and gallup, and an independent survery to asses how media narratives, rather than …

Pathways Of Influence: Indigenous Peoples’ Agency And Leadership In Arctic Governance, Justin Barnes

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

For the peoples and communities who have lived in the Arctic since time immemorial, Arctic governance is not only about international cooperation, environmental management, or geopolitical competition. It is also about sustaining and advocating for Indigenous livelihoods, relationships with land and water, rights and responsibilities, and opportunities for future generations – all themes directly affected by political decisions made across local, regional, national, and international levels. This dissertation begins from a central question about how Indigenous Peoples exercise their agency and influence in Arctic governance despite operating within an international system largely organized around states. It examines this phenomenon by …

Does The Court Follow The Election Returns?, Thomas Keck

Political Science - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

International Aid And Post-Conflict Recovery In The Western Balkans, R. Mary Wall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

After violent conflicts end, communities often receive international support to help rebuild their governments and economies. This study asks whether aid targeted toward physical reconstruction and institutional reform produces measurable outcomes in those areas. 

Examining five Western Balkans countries between 2000 and 2021, the study finds that infrastructure aid is associated with improved access to clean water and reductions in displaced populations, while aid directed toward strengthening government institutions shows no measurable association with improvements in government effectiveness within the same period. These findings suggest that in the years immediately following conflict, physical reconstruction produces more observable improvements than institutional …

Beyond Ethnic Diversity: Political Institutions And National Identification In Tanzania And Nigeria, Kemari J. Hatchett

Caroliniana Undergraduate Research Journal

As it is currently understood, postcolonial African states have faced significant challenges in the development of shared national identities within heterogeneous societies. In the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania and Nigeria provide a comparative base for analysis. While both states emerged from British colonial rule, they later diverged in national identification patterns. Where Tanzania has historically demonstrated a higher rate of national identification among its citizens, Nigeria has held salient regional and ethnic affiliations. The present article attempts to analyze this variation with a focus on the relationships between institutional design, demographic composition, and political mobilization within both countries. Through …

Front Matter, Justin Vaughn, Mikel Norris, Hillary Style

Journal of Political Science

No abstract provided.

Assignment 4: The Calculus Of Voting—Is Voting Rational?, Phillip Ardoin

Phillip Ardoin, Fight Club Politics

No abstract provided.

Assignment 3: Scroll, Share, Repeat: Breaking The Political Hobbyism Cycle, Phillip Ardoin

Phillip Ardoin, Fight Club Politics

Eitan Hersh argues in his work Politics is for Power that more Americans engage in “political hobbyism”—treating politics as a spectator sport rather than as a means to acquire power and create change. Hersh argues that much of what Americans call “political engagement” is actually political hobbyism—consuming news, debating online, or following politics as entertainment rather than working to acquire power or influence policy. This assignment asks you to critically engage with Hersh’s ideas and reflect on your own political practices.

Assignment 1: Voices Of Citizenship - A Political Storycorps Project, Phillip Ardoin

Phillip Ardoin, Fight Club Politics

StoryCorps is a national project dedicated to the idea that everyone has a story worth sharing. Its mission is “to help us believe in each other by illuminating the humanity and possibility in us all—one story at a time.” This assignment uses the StoryCorps model to explore one of the most fundamental concepts in American Government: political socialization.

Assignment 2: Breaking The Bubble— Examining Your Political Information Diet, Phillip Ardoin

Phillip Ardoin, Fight Club Politics

How we consume political information shapes our understanding of the world. This assignment examines how “filter bubbles” and “media bubbles” create echo chambers that reinforce our existing beliefs while limiting exposure to diverse perspectives. You’ll analyze your own information ecosystem and compare it with someone from a different political perspective.

Assignment 6: The Soundtrack Of Power: Music As A Tool For Political Mobilization, Rebellion, And Reflection, Phillip Ardoin

Phillip Ardoin, Fight Club Politics

Music has been intertwined with political life since the earliest human civilizations. From ancient war drums to revolutionary anthems, from campaign rally soundtracks to protest chants echoing through city streets, music has served as one of humanity’s most powerful tools for political expression, mobilization, and resistance. It can unite thousands of strangers in a shared emotional experience, crystallize complex political grievances into a memorable chorus, and preserve the memory of movements long after their participants have passed

Assignment 5: Understanding Our Moral Foundations: My Political Dna, Phillip Ardoin

Phillip Ardoin, Fight Club Politics

This multi-part assignment is designed to help you understand the psychological underpinnings of political ideologies and develop the skills to communicate more effectively across the political spectrum. You will explore your own moral framework, analyze how it shapes your beliefs, and learn to frame arguments that resonate with those who hold different values.

Shu World Review- November 9th 2026, Diplolab, Seton Hall University

SHU World Review

No abstract provided.

Us Security Re-Framing On China Peaceful Narrative In The Indo-Pacific Region, Evita Christiana, Idil Syawfi, Kishino Bawono

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

Amerika Serikat pada awalnya menunjukkan sikap kooperatif dengan mendukung liberalisasi ekonomi Tiongkok melalui perjanjian bilateral dan melibatkannya dalam forum multilateral, yang sejalan dengan narasi damai dalam kebijakan luar negeri Tiongkok. Hal ini membuat hubungan Amerika Serikat dan Tiongkok saling menguntungkan. Namun, sikap ini berubah ketika terjadinya krisis ekonomi global 2008 dan ketika Amerika Serikat mengeluarkan strategi Pivot to Asia yang diinisiasi pada tahun 2011, dimana Amerika Serikat menunjukkan sifat yang lebih kompetitif terhadap Tiongkok. Berdasarkan perubahan tersebut, penelitian ini fokus untuk menjawab pertanyaan, “Bagaimana Amerika Serikat membingkai ulang Narasi Damai Kebijakan Luar Negeri Tiongkok di kawasan Indo-Pasifik sebagai ancaman?” Dengan …

Rewriting The Nation: Collective Memory And The 1776 Commission, Dashiell K. Brown

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

This paper examines the ongoing struggle over the historical memory in the United States through an analysis of the 1776 Commission and its 2021 report. It argues that the report represents a deliberate effort to construct and control collective memory in order to promote a particular vision of national identity. By placing the 1776 Commission within a broader historiographical and political context, the paper shows how efforts to shape public understanding of history are closely tied to struggles over power, education, and national identity.