Political Science Commons^™

Michael Heffernan: The Meaning Of Europe Study Guide, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

201101 Obiter Dicta: New Year 2011, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Helen Silving: Jurisprudence In The Old Testament Study Guide, 2011, Steven A. Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Immigration And The Extreme Right: An Analysis Of Recent Voting Trends In Western Europe, Andrew Walchuk

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Western European politics have been marked over the last couple of decades by a fierce debate about the place of Europe’s increasingly large immigrant population in society. Across the continent, far-right parties campaigning on nationalistic platforms opposing immigration have seen great electoral success. The debate is undoubtedly becoming more heated as more immigrants pour into the area, and these anti-immigrant parties seem to have established themselves in the political arena. Immigration does not appear to be slowing down at any point in the near future, so what is going to happen to these far-right parties as we move into the …

The Cold War's Last Battlefield: Reagan, The Soviets And Central America, Edward A. Lynch

Books by Hollins Faculty and Staff

"Central America was the final place where U.S. and Soviet proxy forces faced off against one another in armed conflict. In The Cold War's Last Battlefield, Edward A. Lynch blends his own first-hand experiences as a member of the Reagan Central America policy team with interviews of policy makers and exhaustive study of primary source materials, including once-secret government documents, in order to recount these largely forgotten events and how they fit within Reagan's broader foreign policy goals. Lynch's compelling narrative reveals a president who was willing to risk both influence and image to aggressively confront Soviet expansion in …

Composite Indexes And Systems Of Indicators Of Regional Integration., Gaspare Genna, Philippe Delombaerde, Ettore Dorrucci, Francesco Paolo Mongelli

Departmental Papers (PS)

No abstract provided.

A Philosophical Framework For Conditional Cash Transfers, Jaron Abelsohn

CMC Senior Theses

Despite some recent economic progress, there is still widespread poverty and severe inequality in developing countries. According to the World Bank there are over 925 million hungry or undernourished people worldwide. More than 80 percent of people in the world live in countries whose income inequality is rising. Over 2.1 billion people globally live on less than two dollars a day, with over 880 million people facing absolute poverty and living on less than one dollar a day. Three out of four people living on less than $1 a day live in rural areas. These impacts have been magnified by …

Machiavelli At Wits End: Virtue, Fortune And The Purpose Of Comedy, Katherine Paton

Undergraduate Review

The scholarly ambiguity over the proper understanding of Machiavelli’s political thought characterizes the scholarship in his literary works as well. The tragic interpretation of Machiavelli’s literary works posits that Machiavelli’s understanding of virtue fails to provide humanity the means by which fortune can be overcome. In contrast, the comic interpretation argues that man is virtuous and prudent enough to conquer fortune. To accomplish this, one must only follow Machiavelli’s political teaching. I address this tension through analysis of conspiracy in Machiavelli’s Clizia. Sofronia’s successful conspiracy attests to the utility of Machiavelli’s account of virtue in overcoming fortune and speaks to …

Art Of Representation: Portraits Of The Founding Fathers, Ellen Kathryn Corrigan

Faculty & Staff Research & Creative Activity

Text panel from “The Art of Representation: Portraits of the Founding Fathers,” a local exhibit in support of the Booth Library installation of the ALA-PPO/NEH traveling exhibition Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World, on display January 12-February 25, 2011.

The Bible And The Ballot: The Christian Right In American Politics, Terence L. Burns

Theses and Graduate Projects

The year was 2004. It was late October in Minnesota and winter was corning. So was an election. The Presidential election of 2004 pitted the sitting President George W. Bush against Senator John Kerry. As a self-described "political junkie", I had been watching the debates and developments during the long campaign with great interest. Of particular interest to me was watching the political involvement of Evangelical Christians and their leaders develop and grow. On this particular Sunday in 2004, I was at my post as musician at an evangelical "mega" church in the western suburbs of Minneapolis. The church was …

The Democratic Common Law, Matthew J. Steilen

Journal Articles

This article explores the democratic features of common-law judicial law-making. It begins by examining the so-called “classical” account of the common law, associated with English jurists Edward Coke and Matthew Hale. These jurists describe the common law as a kind of “reasonable custom” that emerges out of a public process in which lawyers exchange reasons with the court about how to resolve a dispute. The article then turns to modern common-law adjudication, and, drawing on the work of Fred Schauer, Edward Levi, Martin Golding, and others, shows how public deliberation prominently features in the modern adjudicative process as well. The …

Leadership Style And Diversionary Theory Of Foreign Policy: The Use Of Diversionary Strategies By Middle Eastern Leaders During And In The Immediate Aftermath Of The Gulf War, Kilic Bugra Kanat

Political Science - Dissertations

In this dissertation, I address some limitations of the literature on the diversionary theory of war through some significant revisions. My revisions are intended to extend the scope and expand the content of the literature in order to transform the theory from a theory of war to a foreign policy theory. In addition, I try to contribute to the theoretical development of the literature by bringing the leader back into the diversionary theory and incorporating it into the current literature on foreign policy leadership studies. The dissertation focuses on Middle Eastern leaders who used diversionary strategies during the First Gulf …

Late Qing Dreams Of Modernity, Peter Zarrow

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

I would like to alert China Beat readers to a new film, Datong: The Great Society [Chinese title: 大同：康有為在瑞典]. This docu-drama tells the story of Kang Youwei (1858-1927) and to a great extent that of his second daughter Kang Tongbi (aka Kang Tung Pih, 1887-1969).

I found the film a powerful and affecting evocation of a philosopher’s life, and found myself challenged to consider what we make of the past and what it makes of us. The film-maker, Evans Chan, calls Datong: The Great Society a “docu-drama,” since it is based on verifiable records, period photos, and vintage footage—as well …

Straight Out Of Wukan: A Quick Q & A With Journalist Rachel Beitare, Jeffrey Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Earlier this year, a Beijing-based Israeli journalist named Rachel Beitare contacted me out of the blue to set up an interview about the impact the Arab Spring events might have in China. I ended up impressed by the caliber of the questions put to me, so I started keeping an eye out for her byline, in case she published things in English (much of her work comes out in Hebrew, which I don’t read). I wasn’t disappointed, as before long Foreign Policy ran a smart commentary, ”Guilty By Association,” in which Ms. Beitare looked at the way the Party had …

Bow Before The Portrait: Sino-North Korean Relations Enter The Kim Jong Un Era, Adam Cathcart

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The pigs were being slaughtered in the streets when the news of Kim Jong Il’s death arrived in Dachuan, a small logging village in the mountains of western Sichuan province. Over the immense and extended cacophony of the blood-letting, the retired head of the local bank explained, with a bit of apologetic joy, that the villagers were getting ready for Spring Festival, then turned back to the news from Pyongyang, shaking his head at the retrograde tendencies of China’s Korean socialist brothers.

Book Review: Behind The Gate: Inventing Students In Beijing, Ling Shiao

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

By drawing our attention to the previously unexamined question of space for student activism, Fabio Lanza has successfully remapped the May Fourth Movement, despite the fact that it is perhaps the most well-travelled terrain in historical research of modern China. This is not a revisionist study that seeks to de-center May Fourth in China’s passage from tradition to modernity by looking for pre-May Fourth modern experimentations and the continuity between the late Qing and May Fourth periods. In fact, Lanza travels back to the historical site of Beijing University (hereafter Beida) and the canonical moment of the May Fourth years …

When Things Go Wrong: Village Elections As A Process Creating Contention, Kerry Brown

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

At the heart of the big story of Chinese rural democracy is the many millions of smaller stories of those who have been touched by this immense process. Before looking at village elections, therefore, here is one single story, of one man, who tried to stand in a village election, and of what happened to him. It is concrete experiences of engaging in the whole process of rural democracy like this that give village democracy its tremendous significance and interest. This section is based on papers obtained in Beijing in August 2009.

New Issue Of Twentieth-Century China Available

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The latest issue of Twentieth-Century China should be arriving in subscribers’ mailboxes right now, bringing readers four research articles described below by Chief Editor James Carter in an excerpt from the journal’s editorial:

Ai Weiwei And The “Age Of Madness”: Day Five And Counting, Lionel M. Jensen

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Just over four days after Ai Weiwei’s sudden apprehension by China’s Public Security Bureau, the government has initiated, as is its tireless and terrifying custom, the public process of building a case against the disappeared by alluding to the subject’s “crimes.”

From Monkey King To Mao: Cultivating Online Games With “Chinese Characteristics”, Marcella Szablewicz

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

With 300 million people playing Internet games in China, the question of how these games affect youth has captured the attention of the public and researchers alike. I first became interested in studying online gaming in 2002 when, as a language student in Harbin, China, I discovered the extent to which playing online games in Internet cafés had become a central part of social life for many urban youth. However, like any new technology, the growing popularity of games has also sparked growing fears about their potential to negatively impact society. In recent years the Chinese media has been full …