Political Science Commons^™

Face, Speech, And Other Concerns Of Global Business Communication, Lynne Elaine Tarter

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore global leadership communication competencies, as the communicative knowledge, skills and abilities of current business leaders do not meet the current sophisticated and fast-paced business demands of the interconnected global marketplace. Specifically, this study examines what attributes comprise communication competency for corporate leaders with global responsibilities, how those competencies are developed, and finally the impact the competencies have on organizations. A qualitative field study was conducted with two global leaders from two different regions of the world as they interacted with others from different cultures. A separate quantitative survey was administered to 95 …

Etymology, Contemporary Usage And Intercultural Implications Of The Word: Gringo, Jaren Scott

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines intercultural perceptions between Americans and Mexicans, and the etymology/implications of the term gringo. Whereas most investigations have focused on the Hispanic experience within the United States, this research asks participants to create a cultural casting of the typical gringo. Historical events combined with current academic literature in intercultural communication theory examine these stereotypes and their implications in a rapidly merging, or mutually integrating society, consisting of the United States and Mexico. The thesis surveys modern Mexican attitudes in regards to their North American neighbors with emphasis on Stella TingToomey’s identify negotiation and face theories. More importantly, the …

The Politics Of Justice: Navigating The Waters Between Legal Efficacy And Racial Profiling In The State Of Maine, Joseph G.E. Gousse

All Theses And Dissertations

This thesis examines the issue and causal factors of racial disparity in Maine’s contemporary penal system. More pointedly, this thesis examines the ways in which contemporary Maine society functions to procure the causal factors responsible for conditioning racial minorities as “criminalized” populations, thus stimulating overrepresentation in the criminal justice system. This thesis focuses on Native American populations in the state of Maine and the historical, socio-economic, political, and legal ways in which the state has interacted with and subsequently disenfranchised them. Through a comparative examination of the work of legal scholar Michelle Alexander, the well-established argument of the American racial …

Advocacy Coalitions In Iowa And Illinois: Examining Same-Sex Policy Subsystems, Heather (Aiden) Ethington

Masters Theses

Literature on LGBT politics and rights has been limited. at best. Little information exists as to how coalitions form and build on successes and failures. Seeking to expand the body of research. this study examined the interest group coalitions active on either side of the highly divisive issue of same-sex marriage. Through a comparative case study, the research showed that at the subnational level many issues affect coalition success, including political culture, divisiveness, and in what arena policy change is occurring. Unsurprisingly, the study shows that perturbations in the subsystem led to the greatest response from coalitions, which led to …

Understanding French Foreign Policy After The Second World War, Christophe D. Amegan

Masters Theses

This thesis is about providing a general understanding of French foreign policy since the end of the Second World War as suggested by the existing literature on soft power, military interventions, and the promotion of democracy. Even though France came out of the war very weakened, the country over the years has found ways to remain influential on the international scene. France's preference for diplomacy, its reliance on an international institution such as Francophonie, its readiness to intervene militarily when needed, and its support to the promotion of democracy internationally, have all work to preserve France's standing as a middle …

Polarization In Congressional Committees, Andrew Age

Masters Theses

This thesis analyzes whether polarization is occurring in congressional committees, both the House of Representatives and the Senate standing committees, from 1970-2010. Sean Theirault's (2006) research of polarization on the floor of Congress is the foundation for identifying similar results in the standing committees. In addition, committees will be separated into three different types: regional, national, and power. These types are based on previous categorizing strategies by Glenn Parker and Suzanne Parker (1979), Keith Krebhiel (1990), Garry Young and Valerie Heitshusen (2003), and Gary Cox and Matthew McCubbins (2007). The separation of committees is to find if some committees polarize …

Gender Bias In Employment Contexts: A Closer Examination Of The Role Incongruity Principle, Crystal L. Hoyt

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

This research extends the role incongruity analysis of employment-related gender bias by investigating the role of dispositional and situational antecedents, specifically political ideology and the salience of cues to the traditional female gender role. The prediction that conservatives would show an anti-female candidate bias and liberals would show a pro-female bias when the traditional female gender role is salient was tested across three experimental studies. In Study 1, 126 participants evaluated a male or a female job applicant with thoughts of the traditional female gender role activated or not. Results showed that when the gender role is salient, political ideology …

Winning The Un-Winnable In Afghanistan? Counterinsurgency And Ethnic Strife, Joseph P. Bell

Masters Theses

After pursuing military actions in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States adopted a counterinsurgency policy to properly address these conflicts. After implementing this new strategy, it appears that the United States has been able to succeed against the insurgency, while losing more and more ground in Afghanistan. Upon examination, it was determined that the ethnic fractionalization in Afghanistan presented a unique challenge to the counterinsurgency effort that had not been present in Iraq.

The effects of this ethnic fractionalization were then analyzed on local counterinsurgency tactics and the overall nation building strategy in Afghanistan. Local counterinsurgency tactics had largely …

Not-So Splendid Isolation: An Ipe Study Of Iranian Sanction Busting, Ryan Christopher Rilea

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes the US sanction regime imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran. This single case study assesses its weaknesses and shortcomings in order to present a preliminary conclusion of the character of Iranian policies to bust the US sanctions regime. In charting the evolution of the US sanction regime through three distinct "waves" of sanctions the study highlighted the general shortcomings of the regime. First, the US sanction regime has failed to impose significant costs on Iran. Second, the slow pace of unveiling each new wave of sanctions failed to bring the necessary immediate pressure on Iran. Third, …

The Effects Of Patriotic Education On Chinese Youths' Perceptions Of Japan, Zeying, Zena Wu

Lingnan Theses

This study tries to address a research question on what effects Chinese patriotic education has on Chinese youths’ perceptions of Japan. The question is raised from a recent discussion on the issue of whether the “patriotic education campaign” since 1989 has led to anti-Japanese sentiments in China.

Guided by the research question, this study particularly looks at the impacts of patriotic education in schools on Chinese students perceptions of Japan. While aware of the theoretical arguments and the focus on Chinese historical narrative of Japan in previous research, this study instead serves as an empirical examination on the topic and …

Affirmative Action In Higher Education And The Talented Twenty Program In Florida, Miguel Ubiles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Affirmative action in higher education is a necessary component for ethnic minorities to be afforded postsecondary educational access and opportunities to improve their socioeconomic status. The ban of affirmative action in undergraduate admissions, wherever instituted, has decreased the undergraduate enrollment of ethnic minorities. The broad objective of this research is to demonstrate how the elimination of affirmative action has lessened postsecondary educational access for minorities, who presently account for the majority or near-majority population in several states and will soon account for a much larger segment of the national population. This study will use two series of multiple regression models …

Establishing Difference: The Gendering And Racialization Of Power In Genocide, Erin E. Welsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is designed to delve deeper into perceptions of identity, specifically gender and racial identity, the power relationship that emerges as each of these switches is reached in the progression towards genocide, and the effects of these perceptions during and after the genocide takes place. The primary question addressed is whether the power relationship that emerges as a result of these pre-genocidal stages becomes gendered and racialized due to perceptions rooted in a male-dominated hierarchy and a belief in the superiority of one ethnicity over another. The primary goal of this thesis is to analyze the power relationship in …

Human Spaceflight Decision-Making As A Potential Well Problem, Ari Litwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates funding within the US human spaceflight program in the timeperiod from 2004 to 2012. The approach taken employed the “potential well” model from physical science. The potential well model constrains any physical body trapped within it, and similarly a political “funding well” will constrain all programmatic decision-making. Two potential well models are employed, one represents classical physics while the other represents quantum physics. Since each model results in motion with certain properties, it can be seen if funding decisions also exhibit similar properties. In physics, the bifurcation between the classical world of aggregate bodies and the quantum …

A Wolf In Military Clothing: A Case Study Examination Of Lone Wolf Terrorism And The Roles And Responsibilities Of Government Agencies, Peter Bandel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the fall of September, 2011, there has been a major increase in awareness and study of global terrorism. Academia, the media, politicians, and the average citizen all have varying definitions, ideas, and concerns about terrorism. The focus has mainly been on international terrorism. Terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda have permeated the discussion. However, there is a growing concern of the "lone wolf terrorist." A lone wolf terrorist acts without a terrorist organization and is capable of having his/her own radical agenda with the audacity and simplicity to carry it out solely and enact great damage. The focus in the …

Maritime Pirates And Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Complicit Against The United States And Nato?, William Lusk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Maritime piracy, a phenomenon which has plagued free maritime trade for thousands of years, has entered a new age of sophistication and global reverberation. These acts of illegal criminal activity in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries yield a significant profit margin for the perpetrators while creating considerable cost for ransom payments, security measures, capital, and human life. The classification of maritime pirates, as either criminals hoping to gain financial income or terrorists hoping to usher in political change, is warranted and compelling. If maritime pirates conduct their operations to institute political change, it is possible that flags of …

The Politics Of Human Development In India And China: It Pays To Invest In Women And Children, Devin K. Joshi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article explores the attainments of China and India on measures of basic human development as ingredients of a long-term economic development strategy. It proposes that major differences in ideology and state capacity explain in part why India has fallen behind China. The analysis suggests that these relatively hidden political factors play an important role in transforming and advancing human development not only within India and China but also in other developing and emerging economies. The findings also support the notion that public investments in the capabilities of women and children have significant social and economic payoffs in both the …

Why Open Borders, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The present contribution offers a defence of open borders. It presents a critique of the idea that the state has a justified claim to regulate themovement of people because they reflect the collective endeavours of the members of the state to pursue a shared project of self-rule or self-determination. Itargues that this view rests on an indefensible understanding of the nature of thestate, which should be viewed less as a collective endeavour than as a productof conflicts among political elites. There is a strong prima facie case for freemovement that suggests there should be a presumption in favour of open …

Intercultural Competence: A Journey To Understanding And Assessing, Conducted By The Intercultural Development Inventory, Nicole Ryks

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to first identify the most accurate definitions of intercultural competence by the examination of other representative works on the topic, then to elaborate on the different characteristics and articulate the theoretical underpinnings of the intercultural development inventory (IDI) used to assess intercultural competence. Strategies for implementation of information learned from the IDI instrument are presented along with results of the writers own assessment in order to create a more personalized, detailed study. This study was a first step in the process of understanding intercultural competence and the IDI was used as a starting point …

New Media And Ethno-Politics In The Guinean Diaspora, Mohamed S. Camara

Humanities & Communication - Daytona Beach

This paper discusses the resurgence of ethno-politics in Guinea in conjunction with the reintroduction of multiparty politics after three decades of single-party and military rule, and the trend’s multilayered repercussion into the Guinean Diaspora of North America. It further examines the principal ways in which ethno-regionalist organisations populating that Diaspora use and misuse new media outlets (web sites,web radio stations, and blogs) in order to promote the political agenda of their respective ethno-political elites. The article scrutinises the deficit of professionalism that characterises the performance of most of those publishing on such web sites and broadcasting on such stations and …

Egypt Wrestles With Democracy: Expectations Versus Realities, Melody Harvey

Pepperdine Policy Review

No abstract provided.