Political Science Commons^™

Editor's Introduction, Jr. Aguilar

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction, Filomeno V. Aguilar

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

No abstract provided.

Shopping For Identity: An Economic Explanation For The Post-2003 Violence In Iraq, Alan M. Noory

Dissertations

The American occupation of Iraq revealed intense intra-society violence in Iraq that was not possible to take note of during decades of the state’s systematic practice of violence against society and the organized counter-violence in response to it. The occupation, along with the collapse of a regime without any viable governing alternative, and the historic ethno-sectarian tensions are attractive explanatory factors for the ongoing intra-society violence in Iraq. Yet, they fail to explain another civil war that took place in Iraqi Kurdistan a decade earlier. This forgotten war took place in an almost all Kurd/ all Sunni society, after three …

Farmer Suicides In Maharashtra, India: Facts, Factors, And Possible Fixes, Jennifer Guha

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper looks at the phenomenon of farmer suicides in India, specifically in the state of Maharashtra. There is not one single cause for the suicides; therefore this paper looks at the several compounding factors (political, economic, and social) that influence the decision of the farmers to commit suicide. Lastly, this paper analyzes policies and preventative measures in order to make a final recommendation.

The Post-Communist Way: Negotiating A New National Identity In Hungary, Sarah Fabian

Honors Scholar Theses

The riots of 2006 were the most violent clash between civilians and the state that Hungary witnessed since the 1956 Revolution. Why is Hungary still struggling with political legitimacy and economic structural problems twenty years after the 1989 democratic transition to democracy and free-market economy?

Building on the model of partial reform equilibrium proposed by Joel Hellman, I argue that Hungary’s “negotiated revolution,” ironically failed to negotiate a new national identity and complete the transition, as vested interest groups were successful in blocking needed political, economic and social reforms. The former Communist elite who were still in key government posts …

Genocide In The Classroom: How Transitional Societies Are Affected By The Quality Of Genocide Education, Leah Oppenheimer

Honors Scholar Theses

Recognized as a legal term since 1944, genocides have been an unfortunate occurrence since the beginning of world history. However, many countries have failed to properly educate students about genocides that have taken place in their own countries by either not providing accurate or consistent information about what took place or denying the genocide outright. Additionally, in many countries, relations between formerly warring ethnic groups have not improved, despite the often large amount of time that has passed since the end of the genocide. This study examines how history education, both accurate and inaccurate, has affected the current social situation …

Pope John Paul Ii’S Role In The Collapse Of Poland’S Communist Regime: Examining A Religious Leader’S Impact On International Relations, Arragon Perrone

Honors Scholar Theses

The international relations field knows Pope John Paul II for his temporal leadership in the Roman Catholic Church, but less is known about his pivotal role in the rise of Poland’s independent trade movement, Solidarity, and the collapse of that nation’s Communist government. This study analyzes current scholarship in order to establish the importance that an individual actor can have within political science, and in doing so, outlines the criteria for effective leadership. Major texts include Max Weber’s seminal Economy and Society, James MacGregor Burns’ Leadership, which explores the concept of “transforming leadership,” Fred Greenstein’s “The Impact of Personality on …

Environmental Justice & Sociology, Brenna E. Regan

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis compared the patterns influencing the creation of Native American reservations and the prison industrial complex in the United States. I argue that the country is controlled by people who create a physical and socio-political environment that caters to their certain positionality, adversely effecting and pushing marginalized groups into confined, controlled spaces in their own home. Ultimately, environmental justice, or equal control of people over their environment, is a vital factor in ending structural and physical violence against marginalized groups in the United States.

Civil War And Globalization: The Effect Of Colonialism On Political Globalization, Luke O. Feltz

Celebration

The purpose of this paper to determine why civil war onset reduces political globalization in former British colonies. Through linear regression and logistic regression analyses, I test the affect of civil war onset and the presence of civil war on political globalization, controlling for former British colonies, French colonies, and other factors. More important, however, is the history behind British colonialism. Through setting up a unique institutional system and maintaining ties to its former colonies, the British have created an atmosphere conducive to international political engagement after the onset of civil war. This study shows that while civil war onset …

Book Review: Dream Of Ding Village By Yan Lianke, Mike Frick

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese government levied a “three nos” ban—no sales, no distribution, and no promotion—against Dream of Ding Village after its publication in 2005. Though the storytelling relies heavily on dream sequences, Yan takes little poetic license when exposing the depth of the state’s culpability in spreading HIV among poor, medically-naïve farmers. He is just as uncompromising when detailing how officials denied responsibility for the ensuing AIDS epidemic, even as they profited from its human tragedy. No one in Ding Village receives medical care, mental health counseling, food assistance, or a chance to hold the blood heads legally accountable. Cast …

The United States Military Realignment On Okinawa, Kevin M. Evringham

Master's Theses

The United States maintains military bases in foreign countries in efforts to protect American overseas interests, whether they are economic, diplomatic or for geostrategic purposes. In Japan, where the United States has maintained military installations since the end of World War II, debate over the realignment of forces on Okinawa has caused minor, yet growing, rifts in the stable United States-Japanese alliance. Current plans to shift American military forces from Okinawa to locations throughout the Pacific do not take into account the historical or geostrategic factors for their stationing in Japan. This thesis identifies the geostrategic challenges to the current …

Exclusion Vs. Inclusion: American And Turkish Foreign Policy In The Middle East., Marshall Collins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Why do countries engage in democracy promotion around the world? Why is the principle component of U.S. foreign policy abroad assistance with democratization? One answer is the Democratic Peace Theory (DPT) (also known as “Liberal Peace”). Accordingly, DPT states, as its basic tenant, democracies behave differently with one another than they do non-democracies, especially in relation to military altercations.

Why are some countries more successful than others in promoting democratic ideals around the world? In order to partly explain this question, I examine American and Turkish foreign policy initiatives in the Middle East from a comparative perspective. The United States …

Political Globalization And Civil War In Former British Colonies, Luke O. Feltz

Student Publications

The purpose of this paper to determine why civil war onset reduces political globalization in former British colonies. I set out by testing the relationship between being a former British colony and civil war presence, demonstrating a positive, though not statistically significant, relationship. I also examine the history of British colonialism. Through setting up specific system of indirect rule, British colonizers created conditions that contributed to intra-state conflict. Furthermore, through constructing a unique institutional system and maintaining ties to its former colonies, the British have created an atmosphere conducive to international political engagement after the onset of civil war. Yet, …

Adaptability In Socio-Political Contexts: Moving Beyond Ability And Intelligence, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The ability to adapt in an ever-changing environment is critical for success, if not, survival. Most people would acknowledge that change management can sometimes be a discomforting and bumpy process. This applies not just with individuals and organisations, but also with governments. While the former two may adapt privately, governments, represented by politicians and public officers, often have the unenviable task of demonstrating adaptability under the watchful eyes of their public. Slip-ups, trips and falls thus come at greater costs, which go well beyond mere embarrassment.

Barriers To Latina Access Of Higher Education, Marissa Montalban

Senior Honors Projects

Patterns of attendance in higher education in America as a whole have increased. Increasingly, people are finding that they need a college or technical degree to achieve financial stability and success. This holds true for subsets of the population who were traditionally excluded from higher education, such as females and minorities. However, though the population as a whole is increasing their patterns of attendance in higher education, there is one group notably left behind. Patterns of higher education for female Hispanics or Latinas are the exception to the rule that attendance is improving for the entire population. Latinas are affected …

The Judicial System In Venezuela & The Lack Of Checks And Balances, Jessica Gicherman

HIM 1990-2015

Although the wave of democratization already took place in Latin America, Venezuela has experienced a reversal in the past decade. In earlier years, the higher courts (although independent) had no impact on society; the justice members only assumed a symbolic role with no real importance, but with time, this characteristic started to interchange and the Judicial branch began to get involved in issues regarding its civil society. Consequently, the elected President Hugo Chavez decided to neutralize the power of all branches of government, including the judiciary, by enacting a set of rules not commonly seen in a democratic country, which …

The Cupboard Is Full: Public Finances For Public Services In The Global South, Sarah T. Romano, Ronnie Lipschutz

All Faculty Work

No abstract provided.

Immigration Crackdown In The American Workplace: Explaining Variation In E-Verify Policy Adoption Across The U.S. States, Benjamin Newman, Christopher Johnston, April Johnson (Strickland)

Faculty Articles

Immigration remains a powerful and recurrent feature of American politics. Of the issues related to immigration, controversy over government policy for controlling illegal immigration occupies a central position in the debate. One increasingly important and prevalent type of control policy that has received little scholarly attention is worksite employment eligibility enforcement, otherwise known as E-Verify Laws. In the present article, we analyze variation in E-Verify policy adoption across the U.S. states, approaching the topic from multiple theoretical perspectives and testing several hypotheses pertaining to policy enactment. Our analysis points to the critical role of proportionate change in a state’s immigrant …

Deciphering A Duality: Understanding Conflicting Standards In Sex & Violence Censorship In U.S. Obscenity Law, Rushabh P. Bhakta

Political Science Honors Projects

This research examines the division in US obscenity law that enables strict sex censorship while overlooking violence. By investigating the social and legal development of obscenity in US culture, I argue that the contemporary duality in obscenity censorship standards arose from a family of forces consisting of faith, economy, and identity in early American history. While sexuality ingrained itself in American culture as a commodity in need of regulation, violence was decentralized from the state and proliferated. This phenomenon led to a prioritization of suppressing sexual speech over violent speech. This paper traces the emergence this duality and its source.

Hierarchical Structural Organizations Of State Political Parties, Isaac Mckay Higham

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

From August through November of 2011 I worked as an intern for the Utah Democratic state party at their state party headquarters. I started my internship around the same time as the newly elected chair of the state party, Jim Dabakis, assumed his new role as head of the party. Dabakis did not have the traditional resume of a party chair but rather had his background as an international art dealer and businessman. He had always been politically minded and involved in political causes, but he did not have the extensive partisan politics background that previous chairs had. In anticipation …