Political Science Commons^™

A Break From The Past Or A Link In The Chain?: The Republican Party From Ronald Reagan To Donald Trump, Mitchell Evans

Political Science and International Relations Theses

The election of Donald Trump appeared to be a rejection of Republican orthodoxy. That someone who targeted the previous idols of Republican beliefs about free trade, protectionism, immigration, and welfare could have so completely won over the Republican voter base was notable. However, that Republican base had changed substantially since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Where white college graduates have traditionally voted more Republican, and those without a college degree were more Democratic in this era, this dynamic had switched by 2016. In this thesis, I ask two questions: First, how has the Republican Party changed its ideological …

In God We Trust But Not The Us Executive Branch, Sierra Christa

Posters - 2024

One of the most polarizing topics in the United States is politics, especially regarding the Executive Branch of the United States of America. Trust in the President is at an all time low, and we wonder what has provoked this change. The role of media in spreading information is essential to understanding levels of trust. While we know the press can alter politics through information, the validity of this information is uncertain. In today's society, confidence in the press is questioned as even the media is polarized. This caused me to hypothesize, there is a relationship between confidence in the …

Beyond The Barrel: Understanding The Complexities Of Gun Violence In The United States, Jonathan Flores

Posters - 2024

The phenomenon of gun violence is a highly politicized and contentious issue in the United States. With instances of gun violence, such as school shootings, on the rise in recent years, and the media coverage on them, I wanted to investigate the contemptible issue of gun violence between the states of the country. Namely, I aimed to investigate the influence of politics on gun violence, to see if the political nature of states has an effect on gun violence. Research Hypothesis: There is a relationship between the political affiliation of states such that the more Democratic a state is, the …

The Politics Of Equality And Inequality, Manny Garcia

Political Science Theses, Dissertations and Student Creative Activity

Inequality and equality are two concepts found at the center of political science research. Around the world, governments have approached these concepts with caution as they have influenced nations' political, social, and economic structures throughout history. This essay will explore the politics of equality and inequality by drawing on the subfields of American government, political theory, and international relations. Through this interdisciplinary lens, this essay will delve into these concepts' historical, theoretical, and practical dimensions, their correlation with the referenced subfields, and their interplay within modern society. This essay will also analyze contemporary manifestations of these dynamics, shedding light on …

The Future Is Here, Kazi Uzayr Razin

Audre Lorde Prize

This essay explores the devastating impacts that global warming currently has on women living in the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest globally, located in South Asia. Womanist ideas are employed to identify the underlying injustices within environmental policies like the Paris Agreement, which undermine the effects of climate change in the global south. Initiatives led by women in vulnerable regions are then shared to offer ideas for improvement.

Exploring Demagoguery And Political Rhetoric’S Impact Through Social Media, Avery Palsma

Honors Thesis

Demagoguery refers to political rhetoric and activity that seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people. Demagogues are political leaders, such as Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler, who gain power by using a destructive approach to popular discourse. They influence culture by perpetuating and influencing ideologies, allowing them to take advantage of and fuel a dominating culture. Demagogues are present in today’s culture as the political divide becomes greater. This study aims to explain why demagogues are so influential and how social media might be contributing to their growth. In order to do this, three communication …

Analysis Of State Climate Action Plans: What Influences States To Adopt, Ethan Yaroch

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Federal-level policies aimed to address and mitigate the effects that will arise from climate change have become an extremely polarizing issue in the United States. Given this policy stalemate, individual states have stepped up to address the national-level shortcomings by publishing state-level Climate Action Plans (CAPs). CAPs mainly consist of emissions mitigation goals and other non-binding policy initiatives that provide a basis for future compulsory legislation. This paper examines whether party identification in the state legislature, public opinion, susceptibility to the risks associated with climate change, and proximity to neighboring states with published CAPs influence states to adopt CAPs. Employing …

Establishing Consent: The Role Of Women Representatives In Passing Informed Consent Laws, Sophia Stockham

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

What predicts the adoption of informed consent laws for pelvic exams within the United States? As of January 2023, 22 states have adopted informed consent laws for pelvic examinations on women, with eleven being under Democratic control, six being Republican control, and five with divided control between the legislature and gubernatorial level at the time of adoption. Little attention, however, has been given to women’s health mandates outside the issue of abortion and to variation among state partisan adoption regarding informed consent for pelvic exams. This paper examines the impact of partisanship, the percentage of women in the legislature, and …

Las Aztecas: Gender, Nationalism, And Sport In Mexico And The World In The Early 1970s, Madelina Marie Homberger Cordia

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

In 1970, a Mexican women’s national fútbol (soccer) team participated in the first-ever women’s World Cup, held in Italy. Organized by private business interests, Mexico competed as the sole representative from outside of Europe. The Mexican media and State officials, such as Mexico City regent Alfonso Corona del Rosal, used this opportunity to frame the team’s travel abroad as defending not only the honor of the Mexican nation, but the entire Western Hemisphere against more developed and wealthier European teams. The following year, in 1971, Mexico hosted the second women’s World Cup and, in the same way that the State …

How Has Us Foreign Policy Militarization Affected Political Stability In Africa?, Christopher Korkor

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

US foreign policy toward Africa was minimal during the Cold War. US engagement in the continent was centered on spheres of influence politics, and compared to other regions in the global system, the continent was viewed as a backwater and neglected for several decades despite historical relations between the country and the continent. Scholars of political science, international studies, international relations, and history also relegated the study of US foreign policy toward Africa to a low-level status, instead prioritizing scholarship that focused on traditional security, particularly states in Western and Eastern Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). US …

دور ﻣﻮاﻗﻊ اﻟﺘﻮاﺻﻞ اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﻲ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻨﻤﯿﺔ اﻟﻮﻋﻲ اﻟﺴﯿﺎﺳﻲ ﻟﺪى ﻋﯿﻨﮫ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺸﺒﺎب اﻟﺠﺎﻣﻌﯿﯿﻦ ﻓﻲ دوﻟﺔ اﻹﻣﺎرات اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪة, ﺷﻤﺎ ﻣﺒﺨﻮت اﻟﻤﻨﺼﻮري

Theses

The Role of Social Media in Shaping Political Awareness Among a Sample of Current and Graduate University Students in the United Arab Emiratesd

This study examines the impact of social media platforms on the political awareness among a sample of current and graduate university students in the UAE, including both current students and graduates. It aims to recognize the degree of political awareness of young people and the motivations for them to turn to social media platforms as a way of expressing their political views, as opposed to other methods, and the extent to which political beliefs spread across social …

Securing Securities: Political Risk, Sovereign Debt, And The Anglo-American Financial Power Transition, Michael Lee

Publications and Research

Under what conditions do countries lose their status as the leading global financial center? Some scholars argue that such shifts follow shortly after transitions in the distribution of other key capabilities (e.g. GDP), while others argue that path dependence or other more bespoke capabilities might be able to sustain financial leadership long after decline in other capabilities. This paper aims to understand the causes of the Anglo-American financial transition. I argue that the ability to manage political risk for investors is critical to the position of countries as financial entrepôts. In the case of British financial leadership, I argue that …

The Loretta Sanchez Papers: What I Learned Processing Congressional Archives, Victoria Perez

Library Articles and Research

"As a Special Collections and Archives Assistant at Chapman University’s Frank Mt. Pleasant Special Collections and Archives in the Leatherby Libraries, one of my recent projects has been to process and create an ArchivesSpace finding aid for the Loretta Sanchez papers. I am pleased to report that this project is complete and the papers are now open for research."

A Letter From The Editor, Amelia Watterson

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

In a world that is increasingly plagued by insensitivity, ignorance, and incivility, there is an exigent need for individuals to learn to look past their own cultural and ideological boundaries. Investing time in learning about other people, viewpoints, cultures, and communities is an enabling process that allows us to recognize our blindspots and step outside of our own privileges, prejudices, and preconceptions. Even if we never come into personal contact with the communities or people we learn about, we honor them by learning their stories and ensuring they are not forgotten in the world. People need to be understood, and …

Experimental Evidence On Leadership Experience And Women’S Political Participation In Malaysia, Grace Burns

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Across the globe, there is a lack of gender parity in the political realm (Darcy, Welch, and Clark 1994). Solving this important issue will ensure increased representation for women’s issues (Bratton 2005), greater diversity and effectiveness in leadership styles (Kathlene 1994), and better outcomes for countries as a whole (Cole et al. 2017; Garikipati and Kambhampati 2020). In Malaysia, women rank highly on many indicators such as literacy and labor force participation (“World Bank Open Data” n.d.), but lowly in political polarization, due to cultural and religious factors (Ariffin 1992). Women are not socialized to view themselves as leaders and …

The United Kingdom And Brexit: A Case Study In Affective Polarization, Tannah Carter

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Political polarization has become an increasingly hot topic in recent years as countries around the world have seen a greater divide in their national politics. In general, polarization refers to the process whereby people become increasingly sorted into separate camps that hold distinct and opposing identities and interests (McCoy, Rahman, and Somer 2018). However, this divide is not limited to ideology: countries have also seen an increase in affective polarization. Affective polarization occurs when individuals move beyond simple policy disagreements into seeing themselves as belonging to an “in-group” while those who oppose them belong to the “out-group” (Iyengar, Sood, and …

End Matter

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

From Collaboration To Continuity: Exploring Stakeholder Engagement For Sustainable Global Health Partnerships, Annabelle Falconer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Global health partnerships have been identified as crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and targets related to health and wellbeing. Specifically, the Global Fund, UNAIDS Joint Programme, and the World Food Programme are examples of some of the relevant partners currently engaged in this work, filling roles in global health financing, governance, and delivery. Current literature has identified that the effective engagement of stakeholders in partnerships can be crucial in effective project implementation and that global health partnerships during the era of the Millennium Development Goals did impact health outcomes. This research aims to investigate the current strategies for …

Nutri-Score, Warning Signs, And Facts Up Front – In Theory And In Practice A Comparative Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Front-Of-Package Labeling Systems, Muskaan Makkar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Suboptimal diets contribute significantly to poor health and chronic diseases, with excessive sodium intake and low consumption of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables being major risk factors. To address this global nutrition burden, various countries have implemented front-of-package labeling (FOPL) systems such as the Nutri-Score, Warning Signs, and Facts Up Front.

This paper aims to analyze the effectiveness of these systems – which vary in development, design, content, and implementation – in both theory and practice. The methodology involves a comparative analysis of three FOPL systems, assessing their theoretical effectiveness with international guidelines and practical effectiveness through expert interviews and …

Exploring The Medicalization Of Menstruation: Analyzing Menstrual Hygiene Initiatives By Igos, Non-Profits And National Government In Switzerland, Victoria Wright

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Menstrual health serves as a critical indicator of reproductive health. It is pivotal in achieving various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to women's and girls' comfort, agency, participation, safety, well-being, and dignity (Loughnan et al., 2020). This research investigates the medicalization of menstruation in Switzerland through a mixed-methods approach examining the strategies and roles of key stakeholders such as the WHO, local government initiatives, and NGOs in shaping the landscape of menstrual medicalization.

The findings reveal that while medicalization has brought about progressive changes, including the introduction of menstrual leave policies, it has resulted in a complex regulatory landscape, increased …