Political Science Commons^™

Clerics And Commanders An Examination Of The Evolution Of The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Role In The Political Economy Of Iran, Gregory D. Mcdowall

HIM 1990-2015

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Pasdaran, is a unique military institution created to secure the ideals of Iran's revolution as well its territory. Since the end of the Iran-Iraq War, however, the IRGC's role in Iran's political economy has increased significantly beyond that mandate. Unfortunately, the leadership in the United States has demonstrated neither the aptitude nor the desire to understand Iran. Given the IRGC's command of Iran's nuclear development program and encroachment into its foreign policy, it is more important than ever to understand Iran's leadership structure. This study attempts to explain an important …

Neocolonialism Construction And Solutions, Stephanie Parenti

HIM 1990-2015

Many nation-states have their potential for growth hindered by the involvement of developed nations. These low-income nation-states are primarily located on the continent of Africa. There are three parts to this phenomenon of neocolonialism which is the process of continuing involvement of developed nations in developing nations that creates a negative growth in those nations. The research I've conducted is in three parts. The first consists of analyzing the social construction of neocolonialism, how the phenomenon occurs, and where it stems from. The second part is to show how this involvement is damaging to the developing nations. I will use …

War In Pakistan The Effects Of The Pakistani-American War On Terror In Pakistan, Akhtar Qureshi

HIM 1990-2015

This research paper investigates the current turmoil in Pakistan and how much of it has been caused by the joint American-Pakistani War on Terror. The United States' portion of the War on Terror is in Afghanistan against the Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces that began after the September 11th attacks in 2001, as well as in Pakistan with unmanned drone attacks. Pakistan's portion of this war includes the support to the U.S. in Afghanistan and military campaigns within it's own borders against Taliban forces. Taliban forces have fought back against Pakistan with terrorist attacks and bombings that continue to ravage the …

A Comparative Study Of Refugees And Idps, Laura Sanchez

HIM 1990-2015

There is a grave concern for the life, liberty and security of individuals who have been forced to leave their homes and have become dispersed within their native countries and throughout the Asian continent. These internally displaced persons and refugees are the subject of this study. Some of the themes that will be discussed include: civil war, human rights violations and the economy, since these are the problems affecting the populations of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Myanmar. These case studies are of particular interest because Afghanistan is where most refugees come from, Myanmar has the longest-running military regime and Pakistan hosts …

Sex Trafficking Florida's Response To The International Organized Crime, Candice Torres

HIM 1990-2015

Florida has the second-highest incidence of human trafficking in the country. Sex trafficking of women into and out of the state of Florida is defined by various terms from international, national and local terms. The United Nations defines sex trafficking in Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime as: "Trafficking in persons: shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, …

The Struggle For Regional Hegemony How The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Continues To Influence Iraq, Juliana Velasco

HIM 1990-2015

Due to the recent war in Iraq, the Middle East has once against jumped to the forefront of everyone's mind. The world has been focused on Iraq and Iran for a decade now because Iran has established a strong foothold in Iraqi life since the toppling of Saddam Hussein. However, in order to understand this issue and attempt to solve it, an extensive study must be made of all the reasons that Iran is succeeding where the United States has not. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the historical influence that Iran, particularly the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps …

The New Frontier: An Analysis Of Effective New Media Political Communications And Campaigning, Kaitlin Ann Mueller

Master's Theses

Objectives: In the age of new media communication, politics has taken a swift turn as the Internet lends itself to quicker and less expensive contact. Politicians in all realms have adopted its communicative aspects in many forms as a means of promoting themselves and staying in contact with their constituents. What causes politicians to be more "connected" than others? And secondly, does that "connectivity" lead to successful elections? In this analysis, we will discuss what contributes to a United States Senator's connectivity, and if his or her heightened connectivity led to a higher probability of winning elections. Units of analysis: …

Fighting For Fairness: The History Of Kentucky’S Local Movements To Enact Fairness Ordinances In 1999, Micah Bennett

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This CE/T project explores the histories of the local movements for fairness ordinances which transpired in Kentucky in the year 1999. Fairness ordinances expand local civil rights protections on the basis of ‘sexual orientation’ and sometimes ‘gender identity’ to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) peoples and usually protect in the areas of employment, housing, and public accommodations. Four communities in the state considered such laws in 1999: Greater Louisville, Lexington-Fayette, the City of Henderson, and the City of Bowling Green. This thesis takes a holistic approach towards the history of these movements, exploring the procession of chronological events, …

Sovereignty Or Subjugation?: Explaining Muslim States' Aversion To Full Ratification Of Cedaw, Tania Dissanayake

Political Science

No abstract provided.

A Click Away From Democracy: The Internet’S Effect On Civil Society Development & Democratization, James Warycha

Political Science

No abstract provided.

Micropolitical Opportunity Structure In Burma, Nicole Loring

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This paper looks to answer the question: Why do citizens in Burma continue challenging the military regime through peaceful social movements despite of the threat of violent oppression? I set out to examine Burma as an anomaly in political opportunity structure theory. Political opportunity structure influences the type of political action most likely to take place within a regime by affecting which political claims are possible. At first, Burma appears to be a low-democracy, low-capacity regime, which should host civil wars. However, in Burma’s cities, peaceful social movements continue to take place. My capstone seeks to explain this problem.

In …

Corruption And Confidence In Public Institutions: Evidence From A Global Survey, Bianca Clausen, Aart Kraay, Zsolt Nyiri

Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Well-functioning institutions matter for economic development. In order to operate effectively, public institutions must also inspire confidence in those they serve. We use data from the Gallup World Poll, a unique and very large global household survey, to document a quantitatively large and statistically significant negative correlation between corruption and confidence in public institutions. This suggests an important indirect channel through which corruption can inhibit development: by eroding confidence in public institutions. This correlation is robust to the inclusion of a large set of controls for country and respondent-level characteristics. Moreover we show how it can plausibly be interpreted as …

Hellfire And Grey Drones: An Empirical Examination Of The Effectiveness Of Targeted Killings, Matthew A. Morehouse

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examines the effectiveness of the United States’ targeted killing program. Specifically, do targeted killings work as an effective program for combating global terrorism? This thesis is divided into parts. The first section provides a brief introduction to targeted killings. The second part consists of an examination of targeted killings as an essentially contested concept, arguing that targeted killings can be defined in a manner consistent with the scientific enterprise. The third section contains a thorough review of the literature on targeted killings, demonstrating that there is a dearth of works investigating the actual effectiveness of targeted killings. The …

Anonymity And Democratic Citizenship, James A. Gardner

Journal Articles

Many aspects of modern democratic life are or can be performed anonymously – voting, financial contributions, petition signing, political speech and debate, communication with and lobbying of officials, and so forth. But is it desirable for citizens to perform such tasks anonymously? Anonymity frees people from social pressures associated with observation and identifiability, but does this freedom produce behavior that is democratically beneficial? What, in short, is the effect of anonymity on the behavior of democratic citizens, and how should we evaluate it?

In this paper, I attempt a first pass answer to these questions by turning to both democratic …

You'll Never Walk Alone: The Scales Of Identity Of Celtic Football Club Supporters, Neil Conner

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

How and why a person chooses to support a specific sports team/club is more complex than one might imagine. Historically, this selection was primarily established based on a number of socially constructed identities associated with geographic location and the ideas of place and space. This formed a dynamic relationship between the team and the supporter that was relentlessly renegotiated. In today's globalized world, these multifaceted decisions take on additional intricacies as place and space become amplified by growing global cultural exchanges. This ethnographic study will examine how these recent transformations have affected how supporters of the Glasgow Celtic Football Club …

The Presidency Of George W. Bush: A First Historical Assessment, Ed. Julian E. Zelizer, Michael A. Genovese

Political Science and International Relations Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Fad Effects: Patterns In International Policy, Rebecca Funke

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

This paper explores the way in which international policies move from country to country. I propose that the spread of policy adoption, internationally, mirrors how a fad in the fashion industry is diffused. The primary point of this paper is to evaluate four case studies (policies) and study how they transitioned from one country to another. Also addressed will be the question of how these policies start, whether there are particular countries prone to starting the diffusion process or if there is some other explanation for their origins. This study specifically looks at the dissemination of women’s suffrage, the adoption …

The Correlation Between Local Government Tax Revenues And The Existence Of Federally Designated Wilderness Lands, Sarah Reale

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

Each of the 3,141 counties in the United States is unique, with a variety of physical characteristics. Approximately 287 of these counties have designated Wilderness Land within their boundaries. Many have argued about the benefits and also the burdens of having this designated land within a county. Research has been completed looking at the effects the Wilderness Land has to the local economies, the quality of life of the county citizens, and the county tourism industry. However, there is no research completed on the effects Wilderness Lands has to the local government tax revenue. Examining the revenue in the county …

Impact Of Sanctions And Isolation Measurement With North Korea, Burma/Myanmar, Iran And Zimbabwe As Case Studies, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The present study explores how the introduction of targeted sanctions has transformed the practice of international organisations, looking at the examples of North Korea, Burma/Myanmar, Iran and Zimbabwe.

Although the ultimate effectiveness of the individual sanctions measures can hardly be ascertained, not least due to their co-existence with unilateral sanctions proactively enforced by the US, the analysis demonstrates that the character of sanctions measures, and the changing nature of the international system, has put the use of sanctions and isolation measures in different terms than was the case just a couple of decades ago.

While it is beyond the scope …

The Senate: Out Of Order?, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl

Faculty Publications

Due to the routine use of the filibuster and related devices, today’s Senate operates as a supermajoritarian body. This Symposium Article considers whether this supermajoritarian aspect of the Senate renders it dysfunctional and, if so, what can be done about it. I contend that the Senate is indeed broken. Its current supermajoritarian features have pernicious effects. Further, and contrary to the claims of many of the Senate’s defenders, this aspect of the Senate is not part of the original design. I go on to explain why the Senate’s procedures, despite their deficiencies, have nonetheless proven resistant to reform. The impediment …