Political Science Commons^™

Ethnic Tensions In The Western Balkans And The Experience Of Ethnic Minorities, Nadina Resulani

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Western Balkan has experienced a past of ethnic turmoil. From the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo to ethnic tensions in Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. Understanding that ethnicity itself continues to be a salient factor in Western Balkan, the question remains how Western Balkan states were able to remove themselves from the front light of ethnic tensions considering today these countries are known as being tourist destinations, cultural and academic meccas, and democratic candidates in line to join the European Union. In reviewing and comparing the geopolitical and social environment of three Western Balkan states: Montenegro, …

Does Political Advertising Persuade? A Quantitative Assessment Of The Effects Of Campaign Contact In The Context Of Race, Ethnicity, And Immigrant Origin In New York City Council Primary Elections From 2001 Through 2017, Laura M. Tamman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Through a quantitative analysis of the relationship between New York city council campaigns’ spending and election results between 2001 and 2017, controlling for key factors such as incumbency, I find substantial and statistically significant positive effects for radio advertising on election outcomes. I find small but significant effects for mail, and smaller sized effects for canvassing. My findings underscore the need for further study of the role of ethnic and community media outlets, such as radio, in shaping voter behavior. Moreover, I argue that the fixation of the current persuasion literature on television ads in presidential general elections misses critical …

Understanding The Afghan Diaspora: Exploring The Factors Driving Migration And The Impact Of Migration Policies On Recent Afghan Evacuees Resettling In The United States, Aya H. Mohamed

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Afghanistan has been at war with the West since the late 1900’s, remaining in a state of constant turmoil. During the Cold War (1979), Afghanistan had fought a war with the Soviet Union, known as the Soviet- Afghan War. During this time, Afghanistan was invaded by both the Soviet and US, creating a ground for terrorism and the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In order to then eradicate the terrorist regime, the Taliban, the United States went to war with Afghanistan in 2001. The Taliban were suppressed by U.S. forces until August 2021, during which President Biden executed a …

Misogyny In Contemporary Populist Authoritarianism, Maxine Mannheim

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The regression of rights for women and the LGBTQ community, as well as the freedoms of religious and ethnic minorities are coinciding with the global rise in populist authoritarianism. However, the link between misogyny, gendered narratives, and populist authoritarianism remains understudied and requires further elaboration. There can be no full investigation of modern populism, nor the political leaders who utilize it, without an understanding of the gender dynamics that permeate populist and authoritarian politics. I argue that misogyny is interwoven in populist authoritarianism, and that it is a defining characteristic observable in the ways in which leaders manipulate the emotions …

The Perils Of Non-State Actors In Pakistan: Assessing The Risks Of Nuclear Safety And Security, Iftikhar Ali, Muhammad Sadiq

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Pakistan is facing security problems on multiple fronts, including economic default, social fragmentation, poor civil–military relations, political polarization, and environmental degradation. However, the biggest security threat comes from non-state actors (NSAs) and terrorism. Using empirical evidence, this research paper evaluates the risk of nuclear terrorism by NSAs in Pakistan. It adopts an interpretive approach to examine international concerns regarding nuclear security in Pakistan. The study focuses on the potential for technology and weapon-usable materials to fall into the hands of violent NSAs. It concludes that, despite ongoing security challenges, Pakistan has taken steps to strengthen its legislative and institutional measures …

Corporate Lobbying And Esg Reports: Patterns Among Us Companies, 1999–2017, Huchen Liu, Sijing Wei, Jiarui Zhang

Political Science Faculty Publications

To lobby legislators, it is important for interest groups to signal their ability to help legislators win elections and provide them with policy-relevant information. We explore for-profit companies’ use of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reports as a signaling device to promote their reputation to legislators and convey their ability to provide electoral and policymaking support, which is valuable for lobbying. To this end, we create a panel dataset by combining ESG reports issued by US companies and the same companies’ lobbying and campaign contribution records from 1999 to 2017. We expect companies to issue more ESG reports, as well …

From The Closet To The Campaign Trail: Navigating Disclosure Of Sexual Orientation In Campaign Media Content By Openly Lesbian Political Candidates In The Oregon 2022 Election Cycle, Bridget D. Volk

University Honors Theses

This qualitative study examines the strategies employed by openly lesbian political candidates in navigating the disclosure of their sexual orientation within campaign media content during the Oregon 2022 election cycle. The project uses Tina Kotek, a candidate for Oregon governor, and Jamie McLeod-Skinner, a candidate for Oregon House District 5, as case studies. The thesis comprises of four main sections, each focusing on a specific aspect of campaign media content: analysis of the biography sections on each candidate's campaign website, examination of two selected social media posts from each candidate, analysis of two television advertisements for each candidate, and a …

The Collapse Of The Afghan State And Its Relation To Us Policy, Omar Saradi

University Honors Theses

The main inspiration for this has been down to my curiosity of my heritage. The events described, particularly in the 1970's, were things that were contemporary to my family, and the escape from Afghanistan as refugee was an experience that was firsthand for my dad--who escaped in 1979 to Pakistan to claim refugee status in the US. One of the things that struck me the most in his story of escaping on foot with a group of villagers, was that the centers for refugees in Pakistan were not the cleanest and housed a crowded room of people who were stuck …

War, Decisions, И Деньги: Analyzing Private Military Companies In American And Russian Contexts, Tara Harper

University Honors Theses

Private Military Companies (PMCs) have become increasingly prevalent throughout the global security landscape. Their rise has led war - and the tools state's use to wage it - to become increasingly privatized with each state's varied approach to the evolving security landscape. Understanding and comparing the role of PMCs in such states as the U.S. and Russia allows for greater clarity regarding the industry as a whole, due to the structural differences in each state's approach to utilizing these companies. Regarding the Russian context, such companies as the Wagner Group have increasingly gained global attention due to how they are …

Realizing Innovation And Sustainability: A Case Study Of Macau Sar’S Smart City Development Capabilities, Yujia He, Felix Ter Chian Tan, Carmen Leong, Jingbo Huang, Don Rodney Junio

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

The emergence of digital technologies has transformed organizational innovation with important implications for a city, its economy and policymaking. Despite this, research on how capabilities underpin innovation through smart city initiatives is still lacking. To address this gap, we conduct an empirical investigation of smart city initiatives in Macau, a former Portuguese colony and now special administrative region (SAR) of China. The case study adopts a qualitative approach, using data collected through fieldwork observations and in-depth interviews with stakeholders, and analysis of secondary documents. The study develops a stage-based assessment of innovation capabilities related to the use of technologies in …

Psci 246. Social Movements And Political Power, Antonia Cucchiara

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Conservative And Cultural Clashes With Comprehensive Sexuality Education, Bryan Z. Anderson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis analyzes the multifaceted debate over the use of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in United States public schools, while also emphasizing the ways in which withholding CSE is a strategy to uphold the white supremacist patriarchy. The work begins by historically framing the evolution of sexuality education through the United States’ history. This leads to the current discourse around CSE and the ways in which it is the optimal support for American youth today. After setting this foundation, the thesis looks at conservative figures and groups who are seeking to prevent public school adoption of CSE standards, as well …

Numbered, Weighed, Divided: Revolution And/As Apocalypse In The Modern Liberal Tradition, Asher J. Wycoff

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A long-standing political-theological critique contends that liberalism lacks the capacity to address theological challenges, and qualitative political challenges more generally. This charge is prevalent in our current age of crises, when the capacity to address such challenges is essential to any political tradition’s self-legitimation. I argue that the liberal tradition, broadly conceived, has long contended with theological challenges, particularly during modern revolutionary periods. Theological discourses, especially eschatological ones, circulate widely in these moments. Modern political actors impute cosmic significance to the events of their present, with a central analogy crystallizing between revolution and apocalypse. Reading major theorists of three modern …

Algorithmic Sovereignty: Machine Learning, Ground Truth, And The State Of Exception, Matthew Martin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the influence of algorithmic security technology on political theories of sovereignty and the state of exception. In computer science, an exception is a special circumstance that prevents a program from terminating normally. In political theory, the state of exception, as theorized by Carl Schmitt and Giorgio Agamben, cannot be encoded within the normal liberal legal order. With states’ increasing turn toward algorithmic answers to questions of ‘security,’ which, per Agamben, is the long-term form of the political state of exception, the relationship between the concept of the exception in these two disciplines comes to the fore. In …

The Politics Of Expertise And The Articulation Of Authority In Democracy: Cognitive Style And Intelligibility In The Education Of Problem-Solving And Professional Decision-Making In The Domain Of Law, Michael W. Raphael

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Computational complexity refers to the representational aspect of problem-solving. This representational aspect is commonly understood to describe the regularities that organize the definition of the problem-situation, the qualities that designate its difficulty, either in terms of the process of arriving at a definition of the problem or in the process of arriving at a solution. It is for this reason, that it is commonly said that “representational design precedes computational efficacy.” The point of this maxim is to serve as a reminder that an efficient use of resources begins with the design of near decomposability, the specification of the properties …

The Relationship Between Democratic Measures, Lgbtiaq* Rights Acceptance, And U.S. Foreign Aid Allocation In The Global South, Jacqueline Biergans

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

U.S. democratization efforts abroad are sometimes framed as motive for U.S. aid allocations to Global South countries. In that regard, Jasbir Puar (2007 and 2013), Cynthia Weber (2016), and Laura J. Shepherd (2006) critique U.S. foreign policy for using LGBTIAQ* rights as an empty rhetoric rather than as benchmark by which to identify and reward countries’ level of democratization in the Global South. However, Claire Apodaga and Michael Stohl (1999) explain that the United States is prioritizing economic and security interests instead, whereas countries receive military support despite their human rights abuses at home. In this thesis, the relationship between …

Direct Election, Bureaucratic Appointment, And Local Government Responsiveness In Taiwan, Sara A. Newland

Government: Faculty Publications

Does local democracy induce better service to citizens? While elected officials can be punished at the ballot box if they fail to address citizens’ needs, appointed bureaucrats may have policy knowledge that enables them to better serve citizens. Employing a multimethod design, this paper uses variation in local political institutions in Taiwan to assess the relative merits of direct election and bureaucratic appointment for local government responsiveness. While democratic institutions are often thought to induce responsiveness, I find that in Taiwan, with its historically strong bureaucracy and relatively new democratic institutions, the picture is somewhat more complicated. Elected and appointed …

Legitimacy In Conflict Contexts: Shifting Rebel Engagement In Sierra Leone And The Presence Of Private Contractors, Anne Lauder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The growth of non-state actors has significantly changed the nature of conflict. Rebel groups increasingly challenge state rule while private military and security companies (PMSCs) increasingly enter conflict spaces on behalf of a variety of actors, including states seeking to suppress insurgencies. This case study of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during Sierra Leone’s civil war between 1991-2002 contributes to emerging work on rebel behavior by examining how rebel’s legitimacy-seeking behavior might evolve when PMSCs enter a conflict context. I explore the ways that PMSCs can shift perceived incentive structures surrounding insurgents’ interpretations of and engagements with legitimacy during conflict, …

Latino Political Leadership In Massachusetts (2023), Rachel Paz, Fabián Torres-Ardila, Christa Kelleher

Gastón Institute Publications

Latinos and Latinas comprise an increasing share of eligible voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, yet their political leadership at all levels of government is less than proportionate to Latino populations across the state. 82 Latinos and Latinas hold seats in local elected governing bodies and offices and in the Massachusetts Legislature. However, significant leadership gaps persist at the state level and in the state’s congressional delegation. In addition, leadership gaps at the local level remain a reality in most Latino communities across the state.

Currently, more Latinas than Latinos serve in local offices (city council and school committee), while …

The Personality Profile Of Republican Presidential Contender Chris Christie, Aubrey Immelman, Joseph V. Trenzeluk

Psychology Faculty Publications

This is a report of the results of an indirect assessment, in 2015, of the personality of former New Jersey governor (2010–2018) Chris Christie, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon. Christie ran unsuccessfully for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and in June 2023 declared his candidacy in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data pertaining to Christie were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The …