Political Science Commons^™

Women In State Legislatures And State-Level Abortion Restrictions, Sydney N. Siegel

Student Publications

This research paper explores the relationship between women in state legislatures and state level abortion restrictions. This relationship is explored, and then tested against the amount of democratic legislators, the conservatism, of the public, and the religiosity of the public using a linear regression. While the findings are complex, they show that women do have an impact on state level abortion restrictions in some instances.

Measures Of Ethnicity: Competing Concepts In Search Of Clarity, Daniel R. Jones

Student Publications

Why have many researchers historically relied on combined measures and explanations for the scholarship on ethnic polarization and ethnic fractionalization? In this article, I argue for the adoption of a new research mechanism that differentiates between both variables in order to test them independently vis à vis their relationships to civil war severity. The presence of a more ethnically polarized state seems to make it more difficult for the opposition groups to coordinate and to mount an effective attack/opposition against the government, thus limiting overall casualties. This also increases the difficultly for the government forces to identify the group(s) that …

The Efficacy Of Foreign Aid In Counterterrorism Efforts, Carter A. Hanson

Student Publications

A literature review investigating the effectiveness of foreign aid in countering terrorism, and donor countries' motivations to allocate foreign aid with the stated goal of combating terrorist insurgencies in recipient nations. In the post-9/11 period, the United States has increasingly invested in counterterrorism efforts, making the assessment and examination of the effectiveness of these efforts all the more important for American policymakers and citizens alike.

This Was The One For Me: Afd Women’S Origin Stories, Christina Xydias

Faculty Journal Articles

Next to the Alternative for Germany (AfD)’s nationalism and anti- immigrant attitudes, natalism and support for traditional gender roles are key components of the party’s far right categorization. Women are not absent from parties like the AfD, though they support them at lower rates than men and at lower rates than they support other parties. In light of women’s lower presence in far-right parties, how do women officeholders in the AfD explain their party affiliation, and how do their explanations differ from men’s? An answer is discernible at the nexus between AfD officeholders’ publicly available political backgrounds and the accounts …

All Rise: Factors Affecting Decision Making Of United States Supreme Court Justices, Benjamin L. Barker

Tenor of Our Times

Despite the widespread perception that judges are not political beings and should rule in an impartial manner, it seems that discourse surrounding the Supreme Court is more partisan than ever, and that the Justices themselves are ruling in a partisan manner. What factors make Supreme Court Justices rule in a partisan manner? In order to find out, I examine the ideological direction of each Justice’s vote in each Supreme Court case from 1946 to 2019 in light of factors concerning the individual Justice such as their political party affiliation and the party of the President who appointed them. I find …

European Citizens' Attitudes Towards The European Union And Integration, And The Question Of Sovereignty, Dylan Hruska

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Since the referendum in 2016 that stated the United Kingdom was to leave the EU, many were wondering what caused them to leave. Many point to the theory that integration into the European Union was the cause, however we will look into other factors such as attitudes by analyzing the works of theorists, researchers, professors, and others to answer the question if the EUs encroachment on sovereignty, rise of nationalism, and the attitudes towards the EU are the possible factors to leaving the EU. I analyze political identities, occupation, and overall feelings on the EU and EU policies to see …

To What Extent Did Title Ix Create Equality Within Athletics: Analyzing Female Athletic Participation In High School Institutions, Kellyn M. Webster

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Since Title IX was signed into law in 1972, the legislation has long been associated with athletics. After the passage of Title IX, high school level and any other federally funded institution, now had to promote gender equality, including athletics. However, even though equality was and still is required, those demands are still not being met. Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Civil Rights Data Collection in the 2013-2014 school year, I examine equality within high school athletics. I analyze the characteristics in high schools throughout the United States to determine what types of schools …

Change In Partisan Ideology Among University Students, Samantha Frenz

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Throughout modern history, people have sought to understand the causes behind political identities and how they’re formed. These factors began to be known as the agents of political socialization. As these factors shift, so do political beliefs. But how do these factors directly apply to university students? To answer this question, I studied how these factors applied to university students as well as new factors specific to their time in university, such as the control of the institution (whether it’s private or public), as well as the effect of campus culture and climates on their ideology, and what role extracurriculars …

Presidential Power Reconsidered: A Contemporary Look At Neustadtian Bargaining, Jeremy Engel

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

What is the nature of presidential power? What are its limits, and what recognizable forms does it take? These were the questions the late Richard Neustadt attempted to answer in his seminal work Presidential Power and the Modern American Presidents. Neustadt’s prescience and the eloquence he brought to discussions of the presidency inform much of the contemporary literature on the subject. That said, his book was published at a decidedly different moment in American politics, necessitating a reevaluation of many of his core arguments. This paper explores the modern presidential-congressional dynamic, focusing on the development of the legislative presidency and …

Friendship Projects Within Embargo: Peacemaking And Power Between Us And Cuban Quakers 1987-2019, Jade Souza

University Honors Theses

This paper analyzes Quaker friendship projects between US and Cuban Quakers within the embargo period, with friendship construction being looked at as creative act within a contact zone. How are these intercultural friendships formed and sustained within communities from two countries in conflict? How do they relate to larger social dynamics such as intractable conflict and tourism? How do the friendships change the dynamics within these communities? Two examples of friendship projects are looked at in terms of the strategies they employ to navigate the dynamics of conflict and social inequality between the two states.

Backlash To The European Court Of Human Rights: The Case Of Russia, Cole Kovarik, Courtney Hillebrecht

UCARE: Research Products

Since the end of World War II, the international community has forged human rights accountability systems that have since become increasingly important. The good work done by these international tribunals has come under threat more and more by a process of backlash called tribunal capture, or “the politics of states and individual political leaders seeking to undermine the tribunals by working within the judicialized and legalized landscape of international human rights law” (Hillebrecht). The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is no exception; since its foundation, it has been largely utilized. However, lack of compliance with its rulings remains to …

Pol 103 Politics $ Government In United States, David O. Monda

Open Educational Resources

This course will examine the fundamental institutions, players and processes of American government. The class will study the relationship between the executive, judiciary and legislature and the constitutional process around which American government operates. The class will also analyze the governmental policy process, public opinion, political socialization, interest groups, media and the role of elections in the political process.

*In this class, students will also engage in active learning. This is a process of learning via engaging with the content. It means students are interacting with the material in any way that can promote active thought, via learning activities. In …

International Conflict, Political Leaders, And Accountability, William Thomas Christiansen

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role that an individual leader’s background (e.g. what they did before gaining power) plays in public evaluations of their performance managing international conflicts. I propose a novel theory arguing domestic audience members (e.g. the citizens of a leader’s state paying attention to international conflicts) heuristically analyze the competence of a leader by examining their professional and educational background. Once audience members determine whether a leader is competent, they use these judgments to inform whether a given leader deserves blame or credit for the outcome of a given conflict. I find support for this theory by fielding …

Birtherism, Benghazi And Qanon: Why Conspiracy Theories Pose A Threat To American Democracy, Emily Schabes 20

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Lgbtq+ Representation On The Political And Theatrical Stages, Brett V. Ries

Honors Thesis

This thesis examines the relationship between LGBTQ+ representation on the political and theatrical stages. During some decades, LGBTQ+ theatre was dictated by the politics of the time period. During other times, theatre educated and filled the silence when the government and society turned the other way. By examining LGBTQ+ plays, musicals, and political events over the past century, there are clear themes that emerge. In both the theatrical and political arenas, LGBTQ+ representation has been limited by a concept called “repressive tolerance.” Every step of progress has been met with another restriction, ranging from stereotypical caricatures to legal discrimination. In …

Sing Hallelujah To The Lord: Secular Christianities On Hong Kong's Civic Square, Justin Kh Tse

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

I was in Chicago on June 12, 2019 when my friend, a Christian theologian from Hong Kong, sent me a Facebook Live video of Civic Square, the site outside the government offices that got its name from a 2012 protest against a bill to revise Hong Kong’s education curriculum to feature nationalistic Chinese themes. Civic Square was also where the 2014 Umbrella Movement began. The crowd that gathered there in June of last year was singing the evangelical chorus "Sing Hallelujah to the Lord." The word on the street, my friend said, was that Christians were trying to calm the …

The Political Development Of Capital Punishment In The Modern Moroccan State, Mia Barr

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The modern Moroccan state seen today is very young. Having only been independent from France since 1956, the country has spent the last sixty-four years crafting its post-colonial statehood. What has emerged is a hybrid political system with powers split, however unequally, between the King and his inner circle, known as the makhzen, and the Parliament. Not only is the monarchy constitutional—meaning that its legitimacy is literally written into the primary governing document of Morocco, which had its last referendum in 2011—but it is also self-sustaining and self-legitimizing, for the monarchy uses its constitutional powers to grant itself further powers …

Privacy Or The Polls: Public Voter Registration Laws As A Modern Form Of Vote Denial, Audrey Paige Sauer

William & Mary Law Review

On May 11, 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order establishing the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity (PACEI), with the mission to “study the registration and voting processes used in Federal elections.” Pursuant to this mission, Vice Chair of the Commission, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, sent out letters to state election officials soliciting all “publicly available voter roll data,” including all registrants’ full first and last names, middle names or initials, addresses, dates of birth, political party, last four digits of Social Security numbers if available, voter history from 2006 onward, information regarding any felony …

A Letter From The Editor, Tanner Cox

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Religion And Suicide: The Consequences Of A Secular Society, Pearce Solomon, Sean Peterson

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.