Political Science Commons^™

Military Citizenship In The Post-9/11 Homefront, Estefania Ponti

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In discussion with the literature on the treatment of veterans in the United States and the nature of American citizenship ideology, the following dissertation asks how post-9/11 veterans are defining, (re)creating, and contesting citizenship in the contemporary U.S. By studying a localized community of post-9/11 veterans, my dissertation highlights the dilemmas of U.S. citizenship at a time when the U.S. is engaged in a global War on Terror using less than 1% of the U.S. population as paid volunteers. Soldiers and veterans occupy states and spaces of exception, marking military citizens as distinct from civilians. Military citizenship benefits the nation …

2018 Tangipahoa Parish Casino Project Survey, Edward Chervenak

Survey Research Center Publications

A survey of 530 randomly selected Tangipahoa Parish registered voters was conducted Monday February 19, 2018 by the University of New Orleans Survey Research Center. Survey respondents were asked if they approved or disapproved of the casino resort project and if they thought Tangipahoa Parish was heading in the right direction or the wrong direction in an interactive voice response telephone survey (IVR).

Movements And Political Parties In The 21st Century: Exploring The Role Of Icts, Human Development, And Political-Activism Culture In East Asia And Latin America, Wilneida Negron

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The dynamics between social movements and political parties are shifting in the 21st century. Due to the emergence of information communication technologies (ICTs), political parties are facing increased pressure to use ICTs to co-exist, complement, and nurture social movements and empowered civic communities (Nahon, 2015). However, this shift is not ahistorical and technologically deterministic. Rather, the shifting relationship between social movements and political parties is one that can be shaped by a variety of demographic and socio-economic factors as well as preexisting cultures of resistance, activism, and electoral campaigning. This research examines potential patterns and casual mechanisms which can help …

Gendered Violence: An Analysis Of State Legal Accountability For Sexual And Gender-Based Violence Amongst Refugee Women, Maria Sigalas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sexual and gender-based violence is a rampant issue affecting women internationally. Its incidence is exacerbated by conflict and the disruption of social patterns caused by displacement. Refugee women are often at greater risk of violence, due to their transient status in their countries of refuge. There exist many challenges in the protection of refugee women. The erosion of the refugee regime through the securitization of displacement has led to the depiction of displaced populations as threats rather than populations in need of humanitarian assistance. Additionally, there remain systemic social and cultural barriers at both international and local levels based on …

A Discourse Of True And False: An Analysis Of The Publications Of The Afl-Cio Between 1955-1965 As Archived In The Tamiment Library, John J. Gorham Jr.

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In 1955 the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations healed their twenty-year schism. Provisions of the NIRA and the Wagner Act had given promising opportunities for union organization in the early 1930’s. Unions in coal and steel saw possibilities in organizing vertically entire industries, rather than according to traditional crafts. In 1935 some unions left the AFL to form more aggressive organizations under the banner of the newly formed CIO. The public perception of aggressive strikes led to anti-labor laws, most noticeably the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. The increasingly hostile political climate, as states enacted the “right …

Rescinding Rancière: An Investigation Into The Conservative Tendencies Of A Leading Proponent Of Radical Democracy, And A Reconstruction Of The Participatory Democracy Of Ancient Athens, Tyler J. Olsen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis advances a critique of the political theory of Jacques Rancière, focusing on the problems that arise as a result of its rigid form combined with its narrow content. I argue that Rancière gets caught in a practice of immanent critique that merely presupposes bourgeois abstract right; and that his ontological and pragmatic commitments prohibit him from projecting a norm that would transcend the liberal order. I trace these ontological and pragmatic commitments in detail by examining the intellectual milieu from which Rancière’s project emerged, the post-foundational political philosophy of the 1980s, with particular attention given to Claude Lefort. …

Predicting The Next Us President By Simulating The Electoral College, Boyan Kostadinov

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

We develop a simulation model for predicting the outcome of the US Presidential election based on simulating the distribution of the Electoral College. The simulation model has two parts: (a) estimating the probabilities for a given candidate to win each state and DC, based on state polls, and (b) estimating the probability that a given candidate will win at least 270 electoral votes, and thus win the White House. All simulations are coded using the high-level, open-source programming language R. One of the goals of this paper is to promote computational thinking in any STEM field by illustrating how probabilistic …

Philanthropy And Immigration Enforcement: The Role Of Grantmaking On Nonprofit Influence During Secure Communities, Apolonia Calderon

Latino Public Policy

Uniquely positioned in our American democracy, foundations hold private resources they leveraged to promote their private values within our public arena. The independence of foundations, primarily private and family foundations, allows them to exert influence over public policy down to the local delivery of public good and services. An understudied policy area pertains to understanding how philanthropic funding impacts immigration policy and local enforcement. This report focuses on studying how philanthropic funding for immigration services is associated with reducing the identification of deportable immigrants, during Secure Communities. As foundations leverage their private resources to help fund nonprofits that promote their …

Predicting The Next Us President By Simulating The Electoral College, Boyan Kostadinov

Publications and Research

We develop a simulation model for predicting the outcome of the US Presidential election based on simulating the distribution of the Electoral College. The simulation model has two parts: (a) estimating the probabilities for a given candidate to win each state and DC, based on state polls, and (b) estimating the probability that a given candidate will win at least 270 electoral votes, and thus win the White House. All simulations are coded using the high-level, open-source programming language R. One of the goals of this paper is to promote computational thinking in any STEM field by illustrating how probabilistic …

The Classroom – Schoolhouse Of Democracy?, Paul A. Djupe

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Political Participation And E-Petitioning: An Analysis Of The Policy-Making Impact Of The Scottish Parliament's E-Petition System, Ross Cotton

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Worldwide, representative democracies have experienced declining levels of voter turnout, lower membership levels in political parties, and apathy towards their respective political systems. E-democracy, specifically e-petitioning, has been touted as a possible solution to this problem by scholars of electoral systems. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament reconvened for the first time in nearly three hundred years, and set out to innovate Scottish politics by launching the world's first online e-petition system. The Scottish Parliament's e-petition system serves as a litmus test to see whether it offers an effective medium for increasing public political participation, and whether it can be replicated …

A Comparative Study Of The Great Powers' Space Policies, Ari Litwin

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Current manned space efforts are heavily invested in areas where cooperation is a key concern. The International Space Station program consists of seven international partners, and there is a renewed push to send unmanned probes to the moon in preparation for future sustained manned missions. Cooperation in space endeavors, much like in any area of international policy, has its own benefits and challenges that are unique to each participant and this comparative analysis will present the view of these benefits and challenges from the perspective of each of the great space powers. This research evaluates each of the great space …

It’S Like Déjà Vu All Over Again: Seismic Changes In The American Experiment, David King

Bridge/Work

“I’ve never seen anything like this.” “Is this the end of the country?”

In 2016, it seemed that both of those statements, or something similar, was on the tongues of nearly every American. No matter who you supported, there seemed to be something entirely new about the election cycle that the nation found itself in. There is no doubt that for this generation, the 2016 election is a watershed moment for the United States. For the U.S., however, watershed moments in democracy are not the exception but the rule. To fully understand how our democracy transitions, one must return to …

Undervoting And Overvoting In The 2002 And 2006 Florida Gubernatorial Elections, Javed Khan

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

In a participatory democracy where every vote counts, voters expect that every vote will be counted. The voting machine is the instrument with which the voting public records its intent and appoints its representatives. In order for the democratic process to function, voting machines must properly function.

Do electronic voting systems that rely on touchscreens work better at reducing undervote and overvote counts than optical scan systems? To answer this question, an analysis of undervote and overvote counts in the 2002 and 2006 Florida Gubernatorial elections was conducted. The undervote and overvote counts across county, voting system, system manufacturer, and …

Racism And Impeachment Power, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] “Does racism constitute a legitimate basis for removing a president? More generally, what is the scope of Congress's removal power?

”In all but the most extraordinary circumstances, the remedy for incompetent political leadership -indeed, even abhorrent political leadership lies in the next election. But the Constitution does provide Congress with tools to remove certain federal officeholders between elections.”

Ukraine At The Crossroad In Post-Communist Europe: Policymaking And The Role Of Foreign Actors, Ryan Barrett

Dissertations

As the mounting protests from Maidan Square in Kyiv led to the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovich, Ukrainians found themselves at an unavoidable fork in the road in their history. For years the country had become a new frontier of Western influence, forcing a decision between tightening economic and cultural ties with Western countries or with Russia. The basic question many Ukrainians now faced included choosing between their Soviet past or a potential liberal democratic future. Furthermore, the Russian takeover of Crimea became the first major invasion of a European country since 1968. This military maneuver stunned the international community …

Instructional Methods That Improve Outcomes For Unlv Students In The Virtual Classroom, Tiffiany Howard

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

The demand for online education programs has resulted in the expansion of course and degree offerings, and a steady increase in online student enrollment nationwide (U.S. News, 2016). While the goal of online education is to improve access to higher education, historically underrepresented groups experience lower course completion rates and poorer grade performance in online classes, when compared to underrepresented students enrolled in hybrid and in person courses.

“See This Possible Future And Be In It” Bjork’S Utopia, Mark Stephen Jendrysik

Political Science & Public Administration Faculty Publications

Review of Bjork's Utopia.

2018 Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation, Otterbein University

MLK Convocations

Otterbein University honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. each year at an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation which features a keynote speaker. This year's speaker was Samuel Gresham, Jr. and also included several speeches & performances by Otterbein Students.

My Grandfather Was An Illegal Immigrant: Guest Opinion, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

In this opinion piece originally published in the Oregonian, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner reflects on his grandfather's immigration status in light of the Trump administration's decision to end temporary protection for 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants who came to the United States without documentation.