Political Science Commons^™

283— Universal Basic Income: The Answer To Poverty?, Carver Kozlowski

GREAT Day Posters

In the wake of a global pandemic, increased workplace automation and competitiveness, and unprecedented levels of income inequality, welfare reform is among the most salient political issues of the day. As of November 2020, 11.7 percent of Americans are living under the poverty line and an astounding 63 percent report living paycheck-to paycheck-since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. One possible solution is the implementation of a nation-wide universal basic income (UBI) system. UBI is a relatively new term in American political vocabulary, garnering increased attention during the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. This paper argues that UBI should be taken …

096— Concealed Carry Laws Throughout The United States, Carver Kozlowski

GREAT Day Posters

Explaining the variance in states’ concealed carry laws (referring to the practice of carrying a handgun in public in a concealed fashion) is a topic that remains underexplored in academic literature. This study looks at nine variables—political, gun and crime-related, economic, and education-related—and uses a multinomial logistic regression analysis to detect differences between states with more or less restrictive concealed carry laws. Out of these variables, only two statistically significant relationships were found: states with the least restrictive concealed carry laws had fewer Republicans in the upper house of their state legislatures (this result was unexpected) and had higher gun …

220— Affirmative Action As Part Of Educational Reform In The U.S, Yadariselt Romano

GREAT Day Posters

Affirmative action is one of the most controversial topics in American politics as many groups fight for more expansive affirmative action while other groups are calling for their complete removal. Affirmative action in higher education is a series of policies that were enacted by the US government to ensure that historically underrepresented people were able to obtain academic opportunities from which they have been historically excluded from. However, almost sixty-one years later after the implementation of the first policies approved by JFK, has anything changed? This research will aim to evaluate whether various affirmative action policies across several states have …

209— The Academic Achievement Abyss, Madeline M. Rivera

GREAT Day Posters

The policy problem that centers this research is the academic achievement gap in United States schools. The achievement gap refers to any significant and/or persistent disparity in academic performance or educational attainment between different groups of students, such as white students and students of color, for example, or students from higher-income and lower-income. The statistics provided within this poster showcase how the novel Corona Virus Pandemic has widened already existing gaps in academic achievement between white students and students of color. This research allows us to propose a public policy change to combat the abyss forming between the measurable academic …

266— Decisively Polarized: An Examination Of Polarization In Contemporary American Politics, Sophia Modugno

GREAT Day Posters

Today’s political climate in the United States is decisively polarized. This polarization is dividing the United States in numerous ways, including - though not limited to - along partisan lines, socioeconomically, and racially. These aforementioned divides are resulting in issues from legislative stalemates to mass social unrest. One must beg the questions of how the United States became so decisively polarized, and if it is possible to reduce this polarization and unite the nation. This poster explores the historical context surrounding the current levels of polarization, the impacts of it on society as well as in government, and possible policy …

087— Run Like A Girl: Why Women Don't Run For Election, Angela Van Pelt

GREAT Day Posters

Women are running for office more frequently than they have in the past. However, women are still running less than men and do not yet hold equal representation in Congress.

030— Introducing A Proportional Representation System Of Voting In The U.S., Madison Burns

GREAT Day Posters

The current voting system in the United States exhibits numerous flaws that weaken American democracy. Presently, the U.S. operates a winner-take-all voting system through single-member districts. Consequently, those who did not cast their vote for the winner are effectively not represented in American government. This problem is felt mostly by minorities and introduces a lack of trust into the voting system, increases political hostility, and expands the influence of gerrymandering. Through a poster presentation, I propose that these issues could be vastly improved by instituting a proportional representation ranked-choice voting system in the United States. This method of voting allows …

031— Identity Politics In America: The Role Of Catholicism And Its Implications, Jessica Buffamonti

GREAT Day Posters

My research paper and its corresponding informative poster with the paper’s highlights details the role of religion in American identity politics, specifically that of the Christian Catholic Church. Identity politics leads to individuals (the electorate and the elected officials alike) making political decisions, forming policy stances, and choosing partisanship to help those most similar to them as well as what reflects them most. It even provokes those with said social identity characteristics to protest their beliefs as a reaction to certain policies and potential policy changes out of their favor. I will examine how Catholic religious beliefs play a role …

421— Examining Statewide Participation In Early Voting Regulations, Juliana Kuryla

GREAT Day Posters

This research seeks to explain the variance across the federal system in regards to a states choice to adopt early voting regulations. An analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on early voting was also done to display its impact on the 2020 election cycle.

Why The Philanthropic Donations Of Wealthy Individuals Are Not As Great As We May Think, Alyissa Horn

Honors Projects

Largely overlooked when it comes to nonprofit organizations and their influence in society are the practices and influences of wealthy donors. Throughout history, wealthy individuals have been able to find immense amounts of influence through the donation of their wealth to the nonprofit sector. As individuals, we struggle to be critical of a sector that creates such an immense amount of good. However, this article pushes readers to ask: “What are the true motivations of wealthy donors?” Through a critical analysis of the philanthropic practices of Andrew Carnegie, who is often credited with the start of modern-day big philanthropic giving, …

Intellectual Access And Spirituality: The Twin Urgencies Of Responsible American Education, Matthew Schmitz

Educational Studies Honors Papers

America is increasingly, and perhaps overwhelmingly, becoming a society characterized by political divisiveness. At its most extreme form, Hannah Arendt argues such a division can make us vulnerable to a loneliness that destroys our confidence and leaves us dependent on ideologies. A renewed sense of spirituality and intellect are prime candidates for helping us develop a healthy relationship with ourselves that can help counteract this loneliness. Not only that, but fully accessing our intellectual and spiritual sides can give us the confidence to tackle democratic republican citizenship the way Thomas Jefferson envisioned it. Here, Jacques Rancière helps us to construct …

Victimes Ou Criminelles: A Historical And Comparative Analysis Of Sex Work Policy In France, Carver Wolfe

International Relations Honors Papers

This research examines the evolution of sex work policy in France from a regulatory regime during the nineteenth century to an abolitionist stance after World War II to the 2016 adoption of the Nordic model penalizing the purchase of sex. I investigate the ongoing debate between preservationists and abolitionists and examine the arguments raised by each side, making the case that abolitionism has adverse consequences for sex workers. I look at the nineteenth century’s regulatory regime of controlling prostitution through a chapter written in French. I then shift into an analysis of the state’s transition to abolitionism over the course …

"Rev." Donald Trump And The Christian Right — A Secular Transformation Of The Great Awakening Heritage, John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

Over the past five years, the curious relationship between Donald Trump and many conservative evangelicals has been at the intersection of US religion and politics. Explanations for this curious linkage include:

• John Fea’s accent on the historical fear of evangelicals of the other.

• Ben Howe’s claim that evangelicals have chosen power over values.

• Whitehead and Perry’s articulation of a U.S. Christian nationalism.

• Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s feminist critique of U.S. Christian masculinity.

• Timothy Carney’s connection between social collapse and Trumpism.

This paper argues that each of these arguments capture important parts of the Trump-evangelical nexus, …

Victims Of Terrorism At The Intersection Of Race And Gender, Charlotte Lang, Candice Ortbals

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

El-Nawawy and El-Masry (2017) argue that media “devalue black lives” and “race, then, cannot be ignored as a factor” when considering the media and political treatment of terrorism’s victims (2017, 1810). Furthermore, media give less coverage to victims of terrorism in attacks occurring in countries outside the Global North (Nevalsky 2015). In this paper, we theorize race and terrorism along with gender. We discuss the ways that scholarship, media, and political actors give (or do not give) attention to victims of terrorism. We show through a historical analysis of Rapoport’s waves of terrorism and an analysis of recent cases of …

Domestic Politics Of International Organizations, Clara Keuss

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

How does domestic politics affect U.S. participation in international organizations? Most of the scholarly attention on participating, influencing, and funding of IOs has focused on overall decisions at the state level. But the 2016 election and subsequent timeframe have highlighted that U.S. voters and their representatives have preferences about IOs that are obscured by this high-level focus. Anecdotal evidence shows that U.S. legislators push decisions at IOs like the World Bank and UN to satisfy the domestic political preferences of their constituents rather than the US’ national interest. (Yet beyond one-off cases, we know very little about how legislators’ votes …

The Effects Of News Media Bias On Affective Polarization, Timothy Song

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

In an age of divided media, levels of affective polarization, or personal dislike and preference against members of a different political affiliation, appear to have grown. Using a survey experiment, I examine the extent to which biased news media can inflame levels of affective polarization, and to what extent balanced news media can reduce affective polarization in audience members. I also examine the political and academic implications of my findings that affective polarization is present in even the youngest of American voters, and that balanced news coverage is able to somewhat mitigate rates of affective polarization.

Impeachment Definitions: Nixon Vs Trump, Riann Reinhart

ONU Student Research Colloquium

In recent years, presidential impeachment and removal from office has become a more prominent topic, we the people still have a hard time understanding what the founding fathers meant with such open wording as found in Article III of the Constitution: “The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The citizens of the United States still do not understand the meaning of “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” or know what goes into the presidential impeachment process. In fact, …

Is United States’ Economic Power In Decline? Can China Replace The U.S. As The World’S Next Economic Superpower?, Islam Bakirci

Dissertations

The decline of American economic power has been passionately debated for decades. Starting from the Kennedy administration, there were many cases that declinist scholars interpreted as the beginning of American economic power decline. The financial crisis of 2007-09 is the latest case of the same debate. However, unlike the previous cases, declinist scholars who support the idea of U.S. economic power is in decline after the financial crisis, strongly believe that this time the decline is different. This time the decline is real. In addition, the same scholars also argue that China, as an economic challenger which is different from …

Fmus 2020 Trump Executive Order Research, Grace Christodoss, Kaleb Sena

Celebration of Scholarship 2021

President Donald J. Trump's presidency has been one of high critique as well as high praise for his "unprecedented" approach to governing. Both sides looking more towards his character as the reason for this "uniqueness" rather than to finite means of measurement. We took a statistically in-depth look into President Trump's governing style to determine if it could be factually proven that his unique governing style is truly different from that of past Presidents. We did this specifically through the lens of executive orders. We will search public databases and review historical models to see whether or not Trump's use …

Historical Hindsight And The Media In Critical Elections, Jacob Scobee

Undergraduate Theses

This thesis will aim to investigate the topics of critical elections and why we view them as such. It aims to closely examine two key elections, the 1964 election won by a Democrat, and the 1980 election won by a Republican, researching both the historical context of these elections that may have led them to become critical, and whether the way in which the elections were covered may provide any insight. To do this the editorial section of three newspapers, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and LA Times, will be examined to see if rhetoric varied at all between …