Political Science Commons^™

259— Housing As A Human Right: Addressing Family Homelessness In New York City, Alberta Eshenour

GREAT Day Posters

New York City has the largest homeless population in the United States. In fiscal year 2019, 132,660 New Yorkers entered the New York City municipality including 44,300 children. Families with children accounted for 70% of this population. These data represent an 80% increase in family homelessness since 2002 and make clear the fact the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness goal to end family homelessness by 2020 has not been guided by proper social policy in the City of New York. The Bloomberg and De Blasio Administrations represent two extremely different ideologies, however, neither administration, to this point, has been …

228— Biden's Bounce: The African American Vote And Biden's South Carolina Comeback, Rachel Morris

GREAT Day Posters

On February 29, 2020, registered Democrats across South Carolina came out to vote for their preferred primary candidate. At the time of this primary, former Vice President Joe Biden needed a win to show that he was still a contender in the race. As the poles closed that night, it was clear that South Carolina was going to give Biden the win and this momentum eventually propelled his campaign to a bigger win on Super Tuesday. South Carolina is an important primary state with 63 delegates available, and it can make or break a candidate’s chance of securing the nomination. …

287— The Question For The Modernization Theory, Fumi Ogura

GREAT Day Posters

In general, democratic countries have higher economic growth than non-democratic countries. The primary reason for this theory is that democracy and capitalism are mostly the two sides of the same coin. Thus, democratic countries can promote economic growth easier than authoritarian regimes. Most developed countries adopt to democracy while there are a lot of developing countries which do not have democratic political institution and adopt authoritarian regimes. For example, most countries in Middle East do not adopt democracy and overall GDP is not as high as developed countries like the US and European countries. However, some Middle Eastern countries that …

330— Public Opinion And Policy Regarding Welfare In The United States, Thomas Wirth

GREAT Day Posters

Government spending on social programs is perhaps the most widely debated platform topic in American politics. The American two party system has produced two distinctive camps, defined most obviously by liberal Democrats and Democratic Socialists on one side, and conservative Republicans on the other. The former argues that government should play a stronger role in securing wealth for the lower class than it currently does via social safety nets provided by taxes on richer individuals. The latter claims that the current American welfare state is either doing enough or too much in its legal role to redistribute funds to lower …

Volume 12, Haleigh James, Hannah Meyls, Hope Irvin, Megan E. Hlavaty, Samara L. Gall, Austin J. Funk, Karyn Keane, Sarah Ghali, Antonio Harvey, Andrew Jones, Rachel Hazelwood, Madison Schmitz, Marija Venta, Haley Tebo, Jeremiah Gilmer, Bridget Dunn, Benjamin Sullivan, Mckenzie Johnson

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction, Dr. Roger A. Byrne, Dean

From the Editor, Dr. Larissa "Kat" Tracy

From the Designers, Rachel English, Rachel Hanson

Immortality in the Mortal World: Otherworldly Intervention in "Lanval" and "The Wife of Bath's Tale" by Haleigh James

Analysis of Phenolic Compounds in Moroccan Olive Oils by HPLC by Hannah Meyls

Art by Hope Irvin

The Effects of Cell Phone Use on Gameplay Enjoyment and Frustration by Megan E. Hlavaty, Samara L. Gall, and Austin J. Funk

Care, No Matter What: Planned Parenthood's Use of Organizational Rhetoric to Expand its Reputation by Karyn Keane

Analysis of Petroleum Products for …

Variation In Women's Political Representation Across Countries, Julianna Heck

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

This cross-national study examines the ongoing gender imbalance in positions of power in local and national governments. While some countries have gone to great lengths to combat disproportion and inequality, others have taken steps backwards and have made it almost impossible to achieve equal opportunities for women. Despite the fact that women make up almost half of the world’s population, men still far outnumber women in government in the majority of countries worldwide. This quantitative study analyzes variation in women’s political representation in four categories: domestic roles, wage parity, political systems, and gender quotas. The results suggest that although the …

Media Trust In America: Examining The Perspective Of Va College-Age Individuals, Ryan Whitmer

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

National statistics have been gathered for decades on public trust in mass media. Yet today, at a critical point in American history, this trust is on a severe decline. Are these findings reflective of the rising generation— that is, college-age youth? Data collected from college students in Southern Virginia reveal that there are significantly different opinions, particularly in the areas of overall trust and on the belief that trust can be restored. Additionally, college-age students show partisan divides opposite to the national average, as well as no variances between gender or race. These findings make it abundantly clear that actions …

Faculty Spotlight—Dr. Seth Masket, Owen Mckessy, William Moody

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Interview with Dr. Seth Masket

Lessons Learned: Tony Fratto, Mercedes Cardona, Rosalind Z. Wiggins

Journal of Financial Crises

Fratto, who was Deputy Assistant and Deputy Press Secretary to the President during the financial crisis of 2007-2009, gives us his take on the government’s communications efforts and how best to prepare for future crises

The Consistency Of Voting Habits Among College Students, Mychala Walker

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

For generations, it was suggested that college students do not vote, despite research suggesting that voting is habit forming and youth voting can determine the trend for future civic engagement. The purpose of this project is to determine if voter disenfranchisement is the cause of such a lack of civil engagement among college students. I believed that college students did not vote because of the unclear laws and regulations regarding voting as a student. To collect data, I surveyed 71 Virginia State University students of various classifications and majors. Questions regarding demographics, voter registration status, and past voting history were …

How Will Covid 19 Impact The 2020 Election, A. Lee Hannah, Craig Woolley, Laura M. Luehrmann

Political Science Faculty Publications

This is the second installment in the Shelter in Place (SiP) Lecture series. This installment deals with the impact and implications of the Shelter in Place order on the 2020 presidential election. It covers topics ranging from changes in implications on campaigning, the incumbent advantage, fundamental changes, policy effects, and more.

The Resource Curse In Africa, Madison Smith

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Countries with an abundance of highly valued natural resources face the possibility of thriving or struggling due to the presence of such resources. This project examines the potential resource curse in sub-Saharan Africa. The research here will draw on previous insights on how resources affect economic and political development in Africa. I will consider how the availability of valuable resources affects political elites’ relationship with their citizens and why the impact of resources matters in a comparative perspective. Using data collection and research on the existence of the resource curse, I expect to find that the curse is real and …

Democratic Development In Africa, Isabella Musherure

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

The last three decades have seen states in Africa, alongside states around the world, experiment with democracy to varying degrees. Scholarship on the successes and struggle among these democratic attempts suggest certain factors influence the transitions to and consolidation of democracy. These factors include structural and contingent factors, national vs. international factors, and economic vs. political factors. Yet there are still unknown influences on democracy. My research seeks to understand the call for democracy and the reasons why some citizens are pro-democracy and others aren’t, what neopatrimonialism is and the implications that it has on society. Lastly, understand how informal …

Global Technologies: A Discussion Regarding The Digital Divide, Stephen Hommowun

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

The digital divide is a concept that explains the gap in technological access between the global north and south. The purpose of this study is to show how technology can be used to enact social change. This study has found that there is a positive correlation between less technological access and less social change. As such, this study will also discuss factors that limit countries’ ability to develop new technology. These factors include a country’s economic strength, their literacy and educational standards, infrastructure in place, and political organization.

Setback Of Foreign Aid In Sub-Saharan Africa, Sungmin Suh

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Every year, tens of billions of dollars are transferred as foreign aid to so-called developing countries, including sub-Saharan African states. My research regards the overall effectiveness in the development of these recipients. Some evidence supports the success of foreign aid in fostering development. My focus is to understand the effectiveness of foreign aid beyond the individual outcomes of various aid programs. Particularly, I will explore how aid affects investment, self-determination, democracy, and transparency in recipient nations. In this study, I examine the realities of the countries at individual country-levels rather than the macro measures focused on by such scholars as …

The Digital Divide In Sub-Saharan Africa, Taylor Spanbauer

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

The existence of a digital divide affects all information technology (IT) users. The digital divide is known as the gap between those who are able to make effective use of technology and the Internet, and those who are not. My project will explore the existence of a digital divide between countries in the global north and countries in the global south. Additionally, I will investigate the possible causes of the digital divide, and the positive or negative effects the divide may have on societies, all with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. Causes of the digital divide can be traced to …

Population, Politics And Power: An Investigation Into The Tribal Systems Governing Nigeria’S Democracy After The 1967 Civil War, Marvellous Ogudoro

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Nigeria is the most populous Black nation in the world but economically underperforming relative to its huge natural resources. The country’s interesting history is a by-product of numerous forces that moved across Africa and Europe starting in the 18th century. The 1967 civil war that divided Nigeria was inspired by the tribal grievances created by British Colonizers. It was fought for economic reasons. The Nigerian state could not allow Biafra to successfully secede as most of the revenue-generating oil wells were located in the South-Eastern part of the country(known as Biafra during the war). The underlying tensions that led to …

Distinctions Between Democratic Developments In Africa: Different Journeys For Similar Outcomes?, Emma Deslauriers-Knop

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Democracy has had a tumultuous experience in sub-Saharan Africa. However, democracy has been gaining traction across the continent especially since the early 1990’s in the so-called “third wave” of democracy. This study explores democratic developments in Africa in order to determine potential factors of influence within the creation and “success” of a democracy, as reported by indices such as Freedom House Index and Transparency Index. In addition to the resulting democracy, this study examines the process of the transition of power from the previous regime of a country to the newfound democracy, and how this is a critical make or …

Does Description Equal Prescription? A Case For Gender Quotas In Latin America, Samuel E. Hobbs

Honors College Theses

Extant research demonstrates that gender quotas do increase women’s descriptive representation in national legislatures, including in Latin America (Smith 2016; Mark et al. 2012). However, there has been an evident lack of research conducted to identify the relationship between gender quotas and outcomes of gendered legislation. I argue that gender quotas implemented on the national legislature in Latin America do increase the outcome of gendered legislation. I test my hypothesis by examining the government of Chile to analyze the effects of the augmentation of women in national legislatures. To do so, I use the government’s national legislative database to search …

Whaling In Japan: Conflicts And Controversies, Ashley Harrell

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

From pre-historic to modern times, whales remain an exploitable resource, though in recent decades the controversy surrounding whaling has yielded economical, political, and social “double-standards” on a domestic and global scale. Through reading anti-whaling and international organization statements, government documents, and statistical data, this paper examines the history of three countries—Japan, Norway, and the U.S.—to compare the “double-standards” presented against Japan. Conflicts arise as a result of Japan’s choice to whale seen through its conflicts with anti-whaling organizations, international organizations, and other countries. Additionally, this paper compares whaling with certain western food practices, including foie gras and veal, to demonstrate …