Political Science Commons^™

Interstate Conflict Initiation And The Age Of International Leaders, Katelyn L. Laplaunt

Student Publications

The 2024 presidential election in the United States amplified concerns regarding the age of international leaders and their ability to lead. Current research indicates that differences in individual characteristics such as ideology, biological sex, and aggression, can cause leaders to interact with foreign countries in varying ways. Especially important is the manner in which a leader’s age might impact their tendency to initiate interstate conflict, as the effects of these conflicts can have major impacts on the international system. In alignment with my hypothesis, most research indicates that older leaders will initiate fewer interstate conflicts than younger leaders. This is …

The Digital Battlefield: Extremists On Social Media, Daniel P. Shanks

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The rise of social media has transformed the battleground for extremist groups like ISIS and the Taliban, enabling them to reach global audiences with unprecedented ease. This dissertation investigates the social media strategies employed by the Taliban and ISIS. These social media strategies are used to further their strategic objectives in propaganda, recruitment, and operational coordination. Through a comprehensive analysis, the study explores how these extremist groups adapt their digital tactics in response to evolving military and political landscapes. Utilizing case studies from key military engagements and applying theoretical frameworks of rational actor theory, social identity theory, and finite and …

Legitimacy At Sea: Expanding Considerations Of Sea Control, Ian Birdwell

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Sea control has been marketed and accepted as a norm within the global commons, with a variety of states arguing for their visions of control to be viewed as legitimate. As a piece of the global commons, sea lanes are a critical enabler for the global economy and possess significant military and political significance, yet the literature revolving around ideas of sea control treats it as a military achievement at the end of a campaign and remains focused on naval power as the key mechanism for state involvement. What best explains the mechanism states use to achieve sea control, especially …

Psci 102: Political Controversies: Democracy, Politics, And Freedom., Antonia Cucchiara

Open Educational Resources

This course aims to provide students with an introduction to the analysis of political controversies stemming from issues related to freedom and democracy in America today. Students will first engage with questions central to the understanding of the concepts above, such as: What is freedom? What is the relationship between freedom and democracy? How have thinkers, from the ancient to modern era, defined freedom? How can we compare and contrast the varied definitions of freedom put forward by thinkers across time? Students will then apply the theories of freedom and democracies to analyze a series of case studies from the …

A Rose Or A Unicorn? Asean’S Mission Under The Spotlight, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong explores the question posed by political scientist Donald Emmerson in 1995 - is Southeast Asia more like a vibrant rose or an elusive unicorn? Against the backdrop of the 44th ASEAN Summit, with the theme "Connectivity and Resilience", Prof Kong highlights ASEAN's efforts in fostering regional connectivity and resilience through economic growth, cultural exchanges, and digital advancements. Despite substantial economic integration and digital connectivity, she points out that ASEAN faces challenges in creating a cohesive regional identity. The piece argues for deeper cultural engagement and a focus on shared values to build …

New Opportunities Transfer: Transfer Student Finds Invaluable Resources, Shared Community At St Mary's University, Michelle Mondo

Black History at St. Mary's University - 2025 Collection

Transferring to a new University can pose many questions, such as how someone will fit into their new community, or if it will help them in their overall goals, for A’marie Pollard, St. Mary’s University was able to answer those questions and then some. After transferring to St. Mary’s University as a junior, Pollard was able to take part in the Eugene Scassa Mock Organization of American States Summit, an opportunity not available at her previous university. In addition to that, Pollard commends the St. Mary’s Staff for their support during a time of hardship. St. Mary’s focus on community …

Keep Your Friends Close And Your Enemies Closer A Theory Of Welfare Provision In Authoritarian Regimes, Sanghoon Park

Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation examines the determinants and dynamics of welfare provision in authoritarian regimes and the influence of welfare provision on autocrat’s survival. It argues that the social and class-based explanations for welfare in democracies can also apply to autocracies, though the specific challenges faced by autocrats can lead to different outcomes.

Popular Justice Or Populist Justice? Penal Populism And Its Impact On Democracy, Kuan-Wu Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Populism, a pervasive phenomenon in contemporary politics, manifests as an anti-establishment, anti-pluralistic, morally charged framing that advocates for direct rule between leader and populace. Among its variants, penal populism emerges as a particularly concerning manifestation. It is characterized by a leader's deployment of panicking, punitive, and politically targeted rhetoric to enhance social control and accrue political capital rather than address crime prevention. This research argues that penal populism poses the most significant threat to democratic rule, as evidenced by theoretical, framing, and mobilization analyses. A novel categorization of populist variants is proposed based on dimensions of social categorization and exclusivity. …

Rethinking Democratic Backsliding: Events, Regimes, And Instituitonal Structures, Kelsey Martin-Morales

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation rethinks the concept of democratic backsliding, proposing a unified framework termed "regime contraction," which emphasizes the incremental erosion of democratic institutions. The research explores how domestic institutions, particularly NGOs, face legal and extralegal attacks as states transition toward autocracy. Chapter 3 justifies the use of the Freedom House dataset and introduces innovative methods such as leveraging large language models (LLMs) like GPT for understanding institutional dynamics. It highlights the use of LLMs to analyze changes in legislatures and governance, offering a novel approach to event-based analysis. Chapter 4 focuses on the validation of the Event-Regime Institutional Structures (ERIS) …

Winning And Losing At The Federal District Courts, Madison Shanks

Theses and Dissertations

The federal criminal courts are unique compared to the rest of the justice system. Cases in these courts pit a government backed prosecutor with an informational and first-moving advantage, against an often-disadvantaged defendant in an adversarial system that ultimately determines who wins and who loses. This asymmetry in criminal cases at the federal district courts presents a situation in which we can understand how courtroom actors matter for the justice process, and specifically if and how attorneys’ strategies differ and ultimately influence outcomes for their clients. This dissertation project builds on an existing data collection project that captures motion filings …

Theistic Illiberal Constitutionalism: A Review Of Adrian Vermeule’S Common Good Constitutionalism, Kyron J. Huigens

Articles

Adrian Vermeule’s Common Good Constitutionalism drew a remarkable amount of attention from constitutional law scholars when it was published in 2020. About eighteen months later, Vermeule published a piece complaining that the critics had missed the point, that they had ignored the natural law jurisprudence that grounds the work. He was correct. This Review addresses Vermeule’s natural law jurisprudence, emphasizing the fact that it is a religious natural law jurisprudence. His arguments are in the tradition of ScholasticismAristotelian logic incorporated into Christian theology by St. Thomas Aquinas. Scholasticism is a remarkably weak foundation for constitutional jurisprudence. It is a vast …

Religious Ideology Affecting The Political Behavior Of The Taliban Movement In The Administration Of The Afghan State, 1994-2021, Shaikha Harban

Jordan Journal of Applied Science-Humanities Series

The study provides an overview of the emergence of the Taliban movement and its ideology, the background of the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan, and the factors influencing the Taliban's management of the Afghan state. The internal environment, including the challenges facing Afghan society, along with external challenges posed by the international community, affected the political behavior of the movement. This movement possesses a strong organizational capacity, which has enabled it to persist in its operations and combat in Afghanistan. This influence is reflected in how the movement managed both its internal and external affairs, allowing it to build …

The Militarization Of The Seas Hot Spots In The Third Millennium System And The Struggle For Hegemony Between The Great Powers (America, Russia, And China): Justifications And Consequences, Basma Tom

Jordan Journal of Applied Science-Humanities Series

The study aims to identify the most prominent militarized seas and how they have become hot spots in the conflict among major powers (America, Russia and China), the justifications for the competition over them, and to clarify the repercussions of the militarization of the seas and the complexity of the conflict among these major powers on the contemporary international system. Both the descriptive analytical method and the systems analysis method were used to study the subject. The study concluded that the pursuit of militarizing the seas by the great powers has turned them into hot spots, potentially bringing international relations …

Editor's Introduction, Michael D. Pante

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Performance And Effectiveness Of Political Strategic Leadership In Indonesia, Arman Arman, Rini Indryati Patasaka

Jurnal Wacana Politik

The purpose of this study is to analyze the performance and effectiveness of political policy strategies in Indonesia using a quantitative research method with a snowball sampling technique with a sample size of 1,200 respondents from 38 provinces. margin of error of approximately 5 percent at a 95 percent confidence level with descriptive statistical data techniques where the data used to describe or summarize the main characteristics of the analysis of performance and effectiveness of political strategy leadership in Indonesia, the data tool uses SPSS statistics version 26, with a time of 2 years, with the results of the analysis …

50 Universities Working On Research In Public Health Technologies, Angie Holzer, Erica Bassett

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Joni September 2024 Full Issue, Angie Holzer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Covid-19 And Health Equity: Lessons Learned From The Pandemic, Sumaya Ali, Lakell Archer, Erica L. Jensen

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Health inequities refer to avoidable, unjust differences in health outcomes caused by systemic disadvantages rooted in social, economic, and environmental contexts (Braveman, 2014). Health disparities refer to differences in health outcomes between groups, often measured by prevalence, morbidity, or mortality (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020). Health inequalities are measurable differences in health status that may arise from biological, social, or environmental factors (World Health Organization [WHO], 2019). Health inequities, however, are specifically preventable and unjust differences.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted these inequities, intensifying pre-existing structural disparities within healthcare and societal systems. The pandemic underscored the urgency of …

Mass Shootings In The United States, Sydney Livingston

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

High rates of mass shootings are becoming a uniquely American problem; the US makes up 73% of the world’s mass shootings, yet makes up only 4.25% of the world’s population. School shootings, in particular, have increased dramatically in the US since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, an event many perpetrators have since drawn upon as inspiration. There is a strong divide of opinions in the nation regarding how firearm deaths should be reduced, which has complicated and slowed progress in identifying effective solutions. Each mass shooting causes additional shootings to occur, and each one takes a toll on …

The Effect Of Gerrymandering On State Social Policy, Gary D. Brinker

Sociology Faculty Publications

Partisan bias occurs when one party gets something the other party does not. If a given district map results in one party gleaning a higher proportion of the legislative seats than the proportion of votes cast for that party, since this effect is only possible for one party, then partisan bias has occurred. It can be strategically produced via gerrymandering and is thought by many to circumvent the basic principles of democracy. This study uses recent state election results to compute a measure of partisan bias, as well as secondary data measuring the levels of five state social policies, to …