Political Science Commons^™

The 2016 "White Paper On German Security Policy And The Future Of The Bundeswehr": An Analysis Of Its Positioning, Reception, And Conditions Of Implementation, Hunter Lee Ashburn

CMC Senior Theses

This study examines the new German 2016 White Paper on German Security Policy and the Future of the Bundeswehr. Updated for the first time in over a decade, the document reflects Germany’s reorientation of its security policy in order to become a global player. This study analyzes the White Paper to determine its contextual meaning, domestic as well as international support, and obstacles in the way of its implementation. Although the German Government is concerned about waning US influence and increased Russian activity, the German people are reluctant to let go of their nation’s foreign political restraint in light of …

Mission Barrio Adentro: Venezuela's Virus, Cara Cancelmo

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis uses the historical and structural characteristics of the Venezuelan-Cuban healthcare program, Mission Barrio Adentro, to identify areas of resource mismanagement and how such abuses of government capital has negatively affected the Venezuelan medical system as well as the Cuban healthcare professionals involved. Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro’s healthcare diplomacy under Mission Barrio Adentro, which trades Cuban doctors for oil, has failed to provide adequate medical services to the Venezuelan citizens. Despite the drop in oil prices, the Venezuelan government has continued to funnel money into Mission Barrio Adentro using PDVSA revenues. Such reliance on oil wealth and the …

Qué Tan Lejos Hemos Ido Y Qué Tan Lejos Nos Queda: Los Niños Trabajadores Y La Erradicación Del Trabajo Infantil En Ecuador, Alicia Serna Frausto

CMC Senior Theses

Al investigar este problema en el caso específico de Ecuador podemos ver algunos patrones que otros investigadores y políticos podrían aplicar en otros contextos de abusos laborales y trabajo infantil. En un mundo más consciente de los derechos humanos, es necesario impedir el trabajo infantil donde se pueda o por lo menos asegurar que los niños que trabajan lo hagan en la forma más sana y segura. En esta investigación se analizan las leyes y regulaciones de las últimas dos décadas, la implementación, y los efectos en las vidas de los niños trabajadores. La implementación de las leyes y regulaciones …

An Evolution Of The Kurdish Issue In Turkey: Beyond A State-Centric Perspective, Jack Adolfson

CMC Senior Theses

The left-wing Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) began its violent insurgency campaign against the Turkish state in 1984, claiming that an independent Kurdistan should exist. However, the origins of this conflict can be traced back even further – to the inception of the Turkish Republic in 1923. This thesis begins by investigating the history of how the conflict between the Kurdish and Turkish political frameworks escalated, exploring the concept of “Turkishness” as an element of a homogeneous nation-state. The paper then assesses the effects of a range of exclusionary measures adopted by the Turkish state (beyond punitive military responses in southeastern …

The Socioeconomic Impact Of Indian Gaming On Kumeyaay Nations: A Case Study Of Barona, Viejas, And Sycuan, 1982 - 2016, Ethan L. Banegas

Theses

This study will use the reservations of Barona, Viejas, and Sycuan to measure the socioeconomic impacts of gaming within the Kumeyaay nation. It will also draw on information available from other gaming tribes. To organize my research, I will use the following categories: health, education, economics and infrastructure. Within these four topics I will cover: investment capital, poverty, higher education, internet access, alcohol addiction, suicide rates, obesity, diabetes, and other socioeconomic indicators. Once this is accomplished I will assess the social and economic impact of gaming on Barona, Viejas, and Sycuan and include the possible implications to heal historical trauma …

Language, Rhetoric, And Politics In A Global Context: A Decolonial Critical Discourse Perspective On Nigeria’S 2015 Presidential Campaign, Yunana Ahmed

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In this dissertation, I conceptualize a rhetorical and linguistic analysis of politics from a decolonial framework (Mignolo, 2011; Smith, 2012). My analysis draws on classical rhetoric (Aristotle, 2007), cultural rhetoric (Mao, 2014; Powell, et al., 2014; Yankah, 1995), and linguistics (Chilton, 2004) to reveal the different ways ideological and hegemonic struggles are discursively constructed in Nigerian political campaign discourse. The data for this study come from two speeches delivered by former President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan during the 2015 electoral campaign. This includes his declaration-of-intent speech and his speech marking the commencement of his formal campaign activities. My …

Centralization And Decentralization In Natural Disaster Response: A Comparative Case Study Of 3.11 Earthquake And Hurricane Katrina, Muxuan Wang

Scripps Senior Theses

March 11, 2011 Earthquake in Japan and 2005 Hurricane Katrina both caused significant destruction and were both viewed as examples of government failures in natural disaster management. One year after the disasters, both countries enacted several policy reforms in response to their failures. However, while in the U.S, the central government's emergency power was strengthened, the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan)'s government carried out reforms to strengthen the local governments. On the other hand, the other prominent political party in Japan, the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party), argued for more centralized power. How did these parties take different lessons from the …

Laughing In The Face Of Oppression: The Nature Of Political Satire Under Different Types Of Political Regimes, Victoria Villavicencio Pérez

Honors Program Theses

This research examines how different types of political regimes shape the nature of the political satire produced under them. Unlike traditional journalism, the sly character of political humor may enable it to operate with more freedom than other forms of media while still providing social critique. This research examines three different case studies: the United States (democracy), Venezuela (semi-authoritarian), and Cuba (authoritarian) and evaluates their satire on how openly critical it is and what type of censorship it suffers. Through extensive content analysis of satirical work produced within the country, as well as a historical research into the censorship of …

Why Did China Do This? An Analysis On China's New Gasoline "Price Floor" Policy, Youhan Ding

Scripps Senior Theses

Why did China choose certain policy over others that would achieve similar impact? Because China has a significant presence in the modern international community, it is difficult yet critical to understand the policy implications of the Chinese government under its unique political and socioeconomic context. This thesis shows the impact of a specific “price floor” policy China chose to employ in its oil and gasoline market, and identifies the factors concerning the Chinese regime that it took into consideration in the decision making process, through analysing data and official statements released by the government. After different parties affected by this …

The Trump Transition, Erica Wellman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

When studying presidencies and the success or failure of a presidential administration in the United States, it is essential to study the presidential transition. By studying this process, a better understanding of why certain events occurred or how exactly different accomplishments were achieved can be explained. Generally, outgoing administrations, regardless of party, are interested in aiding in the peaceful and professional transition of power onto their successor. This transfer of power is a vulnerable time for the United States government so it is of great interest of any political party to make sure that the incoming administration is ready for …

The Anti-Imperialism Of Ottobah Cugoano: Slavery, Abolition, And Colonialism In Thoughts And Sentiments On The Evil Of Slavery, Tacuma Peters

Publications and Research

This article argues that the work of Ottobah Cugoano provides readers with a robust anti-imperial analysis of European modernity. For Cugoano, slavery and colonialism are coeval and mutually constitutive processes. I argue that Cugoano’s Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery which has been accepted as a tract of radical abolitionism should also be interpreted as an anti-imperial text. I contend that we must attend to the global scope of Cugoano’s anti-imperialism which includes critiques of European colonialism in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as provides recommendations for radical changes in the relationship between Europe and …

Islamic Headcovering And Political Engagement: The Power Of Social Networks, Aubrey Westfall, Özge Çelik Russell, Bozena Welborne, Sarah Tobin

Government: Faculty Publications

This article explores the relationship between headcovering and women’s political participation through an original online survey of 1,917 Muslim-American women. As a visible marker of religious group identity, wearing the headscarf can orient the integration of Muslim women into the American political system via its impact on the openness of their associational life. Our survey respondents who cover are more likely to form insular, strong ties with predominantly Muslim friend networks, which decreased their likelihood of voting and affiliating with a political party. Interestingly, frequency of mosque attendance across both covered and uncovered respondents is associated with a higher probability …

The Katyn Massacre: Cover-Up, Suppression, And The Politics Of War, From An American Perspective, Joe Grundhoefer

Departmental Honors Projects

Abstract

In the spring of 1940, roughly twenty two thousand Polish officers, the cream of Poland’s intelligentsia, were executed in Katyn forest. While the Soviet Union blamed Nazi Germany for the massacre, in the past seventy years all gathered evidence including documents from the Soviet archives, point out to the Soviet Union as responsible for the killings. However, the British and American governments, who had knowledge of the Katyn Massacre, were engaged in a suppression of the truth, during the war and into the early years of the Cold War, even while they confronted the Soviet Union over Poland’s independence. …

Assessment Of And Outlook On China's Corruption And Anticorruption Campaigns: Stagnation In The Authoritarian Trap, Shaomin Li

Management Faculty Publications

Since the beginning of China's economic reform in the late 1970s, corruption has been progressing alongside of economic growth. In 2012, when Xi Jinping took power, he waged the largest and longest anticorruption campaign known in the history of the Chinese Communist Party. This study provides an assessment on his campaign and projects an outlook on the future of corruption and anticorruption in China. The author argues that China will enter into an "authoritarian trap," in which the authoritarian power enables the state to effectively carry out the economic reform and achieve economic growth, while suppressing the demand for the …

American Crusade: The Political Thought Of Dwight Eisenhower, John Kitch

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Dwight Eisenhower has long been thought of as a president who did not think about politics in a coherent way. This project finds, however, that Eisenhower was a coherent and systematic thinker about politics. The first chapter explores the sources of Eisenhower’s political thought. In this chapter I establish that he had both the resources and inclination to reflect seriously on politics from early adulthood forward. Next, in Chapter 2, I outline his view of freedom in conjunction with how he thought about the state and society. Here, I find that he held that the state must be powerful enough …

Social Movement Unionism: Through Teachers Unions' Mobilization In Opposition To Corporate Education Reform, Peter Mcneel Lafreniere

Honors Papers

This thesis examines teachers’ unions transformations from a service model to a social movement unionism model in response to corporate education reform and the efficacy of their resulting strategies and campaigns in combating corporate education reform, securing gains for membership, and building a broader class-focused politics. The thesis hopes to answer these questions: How does a reform caucus unseat incumbents, and once in that position of leadership, how does a union effectively rollout a reform project that changes members’ understanding of the union and their relationship within it? How does a teachers’ social movement union build coalitions and gain public …

Songs Of Change: How Music Helped Spark The Arab Spring Revolutions In Egypt And Tunisia, Brendan Thabo Eprile

Honors Papers

This thesis explores the ways in which music played a role in the Arab Spring in Egypt and Tunisia.

Negotiating Domestic And International Pressures: France And Germany On Refugees, Aditi Banerjee

Honors Papers

Accompanying the increase in refugee numbers is the rise in anti-refugee sentiments. This phenomenon is most prominent in Europe, a region that has come under a lot of attention due to its proximity to refugee-producing nations, and the popularity of European countries amongst asylum seekers. Based on Amnesty International's Refugee Welcome Index, the German population is the most welcoming towards refugees amongst the European countries surveyed, and France is the least welcoming nation with the exception of Turkey and Russia. An analysis of refugee and asylum application trends from 1990-2015 revealed that not only was there a difference in sentiments …

Thomas Paine's (Un)Common Sense And The Politics Of Radical Disagreement, Jordan P. Ecker

Honors Papers

In this paper, I offer a re-reading of Thomas Paine's influential pamphlet Common Sense (1776) and argue his idiosyncratic notion of common sense is amenable to a radical democratic theory of political practice.

The Abortion Burden: Examining Abortion Access, Undue Burden And Supreme Court Rulings In The United States, Tyler E. Sloan

Honors Papers

This thesis’s driving argument is that the Court’s shift from focusing on analyzing abortion cases with strict scrutiny to using the undue burden standard allows states to create legally permissible loopholes that restrict the fundamental right to abortion access. These provisions disproportionately affect low-income women, the majority of whom are women of color in the United States. Conservative state legislatures take drastic measures to prevent abortions from occurring since Roe still holds, but instead of stopping abortions altogether these policies simply make it difficult for the most vulnerable communities to terminate unwanted pregnancies. Recall the three most commonly cited reasons …