Political Science Commons^™

A Conversation Between Tone-Deaf Rivals: A Phenomenological Study Of Lebanon’S National Dialogue, Amal A. Chmouny

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

National dialogue in Lebanon is an engaging practice vital in times of instability. This research addresses the complexities and challenges inherent in Lebanon's consociational political landscape through a qualitative analysis of the dialogue processes. Despite Lebanon's reliance on dialogues to navigate high tensions and conflict, this study finds that such dialogues still need to address the core issues, including enhancing security, unity, reform, transparency, and elections. The influence of Lebanon's confessional elites, deeply rooted in its sectarian divisions, further complicates the political efforts toward achieving comprehensive and equitable solutions. This study argues that national dialogues in Lebanon are a political …

Collaborative Professional Development Featuring Innovative Curriculum Materials, Cory Callahan

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Here I synthesize two research investigations (Callahan, 2018, 2019) that comprise a continuing line of inquiry into the potential of innovative curriculum materials and sustained collaboration as a professional development program to help in-service teachers understand and implement a complex model of social studies instruction. This article features an original innovative curriculum material and specifically explores the question: To what degree can a collaborative professional development program featuring innovative curriculum materials help social studies teachers understand and implement a powerful social studies approach? Findings suggest the professional development program and its innovative curriculum materials helped teachers promote substantive pedagogical thinking …

Un/Learning To Disagree. A Response To "Pragmatist Thinking For A Populist Moment: Contingency And Racial Re-Valuing In Education Governance", Edda Sant, Marta Da Costa

Democracy & Education

How should education governance respond to increasing polarized perspectives? Drawing on contemporary African American pragmatism, Knight-Abowitz and Sellers’s article "Pragmatist Thinking for a Populist Moment: Contingency and Racial Re-valuing in Education Governance" interrogated the critical case of Black Lives Matters and anti-critical race theory protests in the USA education governance and concluded that inquiry and deliberation are needed to embrace more pluralistic forms of democracy. In our response, in which we engage with decolonial, agonistic, and speculative theories, we share Knight-Abowitz and Sellers’s analytical framings. Yet we wonder to what extent inquiry and deliberation can push off racial habits and …

Polarization In Multidisciplinary Perspective, Eugen Dimant, Erik O. Kimbrough

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

This article provides an introduction to and overview of the articles in the PNAS Nexus Special Feature on Polarization and Trust.

Measuring Norm Pluralism And Perceived Polarization In Us Politics, Folca Panizza, Eugen Dimant, Erik O. Kimbrough, Alexander Vostroknutov

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Recent research has shown how norms shape political and economic decision-making. Much of this work assumes that a single norm influences the behavior of all people, but in fact, many situations are characterized by the existence of competing normative viewpoints. We apply a method for measuring belief in the simultaneous existence of multiple norms. Such multiplicity arises naturally when norms are associated with distinctive groups, and thus political polarization can be characterized, in part, as a product of diverging norms between groups. We thus assess the validity of our measurement technique by testing whether it can recover polarization on seven …

Germany’S Climate Foreign Policy Strategy And Making The High Politics Of Climate Ambition, Thomas M. Goldstein

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Germany’s Climate Foreign Policy Strategy, released in December 2023, is the first of its kind anywhere. The document elevates a set of climate objectives to the highest level of Germany’s foreign policy. This paper examines Germany as a case study of how a consistently ambitious climate actor may shift its policy preferences over time. Party policy shifts are traced within government documents, campaign manifestos, and coalition contracts to consider the viability of three potential explanations: the demands of a “green” political constituency, a structural reaction to reduce energy dependencies, and feedback effects from international institutions. Upon investigation, the Strategy displays …

Variation In Paternity Leave Policy In Slovenia And Hungary, Kendra Nguyen

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This paper investigates the variation in paternity leave policy in Slovenia and Hungary in order to gain insight into the drivers and obstacles to policies that support gender equality and women’s rights. Contributing to gender equality and women’s rights, paternity leave policies have been found to support both child care and maternal employment. In European countries such as Spain and Germany, such policies have decreased the gender wage gap within households and shifted opinions on gender roles regarding who is responsible for care work. Given the positive impact of paternity leave, it is of interest why Slovenia has a more …

Memories Of Black Gold: Populist Narratives Of Memory Politics Justifying The Polish Coal Industry, Yvonne Pan

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This paper examines narratives incorporating memory politics used by right-wing populists (RWPs) to justify their support for Poland’s coal industry despite contradictory factors. Using theories of populist memory politics, this research examines coal’s role in Polish history and RWP political rhetoric involving the coal industry. It concludes that Polish RWPs narrate the coal industry as a force against foreign oppression, drawing upon a paradigm where the Polish nation is the victim of a series of historical oppressors. This victim-perpetrator relationship is projected onto the modern Poland-EU relationship, with the latter cast as the current prospective oppressor. The coal industry is …

The Development Of Central American Communities In Western Europe, Jonathan S. Valenzuela Mejia

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Central Americans in the past 50 years have been migrating in larger and larger numbers. This is mostly caused by civil wars, economic turmoil, and political instability. The number of migrants has only increased over time and the United States has been the main destination for Central Americans and houses the largest diaspora from the region. However, in recent years, Central Americans have begun to migrate in larger numbers to Europe due to increased difficulties in migrating to the United States, and because of visa-free access to most European countries and a more streamlined asylum process. Most of these migrants …

Table Of Contents

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

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List Of Abbreviations

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

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Foreword

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

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Cloaking The Front National: Marine Le Pen, Femininity, And The Evolution Of A ‘New’ European Far-Right, Taryn M. Blecher

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

From the Front National to the Rassemblement National, Marine Le Pen has done what was once inconceivable in bringing France’s far-right into mainstream politics. The daughter of Le Diable (the devil), Marine Le Pen has ushered in a ‘new’ European rightwing populism—far from the Männerparteien of the past—with her femonationalism and media politics. This paper aims to increase our understanding of Marine Le Pen’s iteration of French nationalism and illusions of femininity. Through a series of illustrative case studies and supporting research, I reveal how Le Pen manipulates her sexuality and womanhood in an attempt to soften the crude image …

The Price Of Prevention: Spain And Italy's Approach To National Prep, Jon Burkart

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

While recent advancements in antiretroviral therapy (ART) continue to improve the outlook for people living with HIV (PLHIV), new infections remain a concern for health authorities around the world. A clinically proven intervention holds the potential to dramatically reduce new infections: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a once-daily pill for high-risk populations, including men who have sex with men (MSM), that substantially reduces HIV infection risk. However—much like rates of new infection—public provision of PrEP varies considerably among OECD countries. This case study thus seeks to answer the question: What might explain the disparate timeline of adopting public reimbursement for PrEP …

The Race To Invest: What Is The Driving Cause Of The European Union's Increased Involvement In Latin America?, Bryson C. Frank, Soo Bin Im, Alyssa Powell

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This article analyzes the rhetoric of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and high-level EU leaders who speak about the EU’s role in Latin America and the role of China in the region. To what extent are MEPs and other EU officials concerned about Chinese expansion and is China the reason why the EU seeks increased collaboration with Latin American partners? Our paper documents who in the EU is advocating for increased ties with Latin American countries, why they are doing so, and whether the influence of China is inducing rhetorical changes in EU foreign policy. Findings suggest that while …

Assessing Paths To Greenlandic Independence: Reconciling Inuit Cultural Autonomy With Danish Rule, Leo Freedman

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This analytical paper seeks to understand what political, economic, and sociocultural barriers inhibit Greenlandic independence from Denmark. The concept of independence must be conceptualized from an Inuit perspective in order to analyze what sacrifices Greenland’s largest ethnic group is willing to make to achieve an independent state. The resource extraction industry offers one path towards independence by reducing dependency on Danish and EU funding. However, this paper argues that Inuit cultural values, especially an inherent connection with the physical and spiritual health of the natural environment, is of higher value than the economic benefits of investing in the resource extraction …

How Christian Dominionism Threatens U.S. Democracy, Julie Ingersoll

Department of Religion Events

Part I of "God and Country: The Rise of American Theocracy". Video is unavailable for this installment.

As the rising tide of Christian nationalism continues to spread across the country and imperils American democracy, understanding the origins and impact of the movement has become increasingly urgent. This installment of the Department of Religion's webinar series examines the rise of Christian theocracy within the far-right ranks of American Evangelicalism. Dr. Julie Ingersoll, a leading national expert on extremist forms of American Christianity, discusses how Dominionism grew to such a dominant and influential movement within U.S. politics today and why it poses …

Federal Election Commission And Indiana Secretary Of State Campaign Finance Information Resoures, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This presentation covers campaign finance information resources produced by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Indiana Secretary of State. It describes how these agencies began, details how they oversee and regulate U.S. federal and Indiana state elections, and documents contributions made by individuals, organizations, political parties, and political action committees to individual candidates and organizations. Reporting documentation on these election races is also included.

Deciphering The Local Origins Of Neoliberalism In Central And Eastern Europe: The Example Of Lithuania, Jokubas Salyga

Political Science Faculty Publications

This article studies the local lineage of neoliberalism in Lithuania, examining its intellectual pedigree, early proponents and the structural shifts that facilitated its rise. The latter are attributed to the openings created by perestroika and the development of the communication network linking economists within the Reform Movement of Lithuania, émigré intellectuals and Hillsdale College in Michigan. Information exchanges produced within this network generated embryonic neoliberal ideas before 1991. The network also contributed to the establishment of an influential think tank, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI), whose policy influence is illustrated by surveying monetary and pension privatisation reforms.

Failing To End Genocide: Structural Factors, Triggers, And Ineffective Responses, Tutku Ayhan

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Why do ongoing genocides persist despite global condemnation? This paper examines the challenge of ending ongoing genocides and argues that the persistence of genocides can be largely attributed to the interaction of structural factors and triggers with inadequate responses at the national, regional, and international levels. The analysis focuses on the genocidal experiences of the Yezidi and Rohingya communities, which were triggered by the 2014 attacks in Sinjar, Iraq, and the 2017 actions in Rakhine State, Myanmar. By viewing genocide as a process rather than an isolated act of violence and recognizing cultural genocide as genocide, this study aims to …