Political Science Commons^™

The Benefits Of Balance: Credibility, The Rule Of Law, And Investment In Latin America, Michael Touchton

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research surrounding political institutions and credible commitment to the rule of law is integral to recent efforts to tie democracy to economic development. I identify the determinants of rule-of-law perceptions in Latin America and argue that constraining elected officials facilitates a commitment to democracy that makes government policies credible. I also argue that aspects of politics leading to deadlock might have a hidden upside in generating policy credibility. I test my arguments against pooled cross-sectional, time series data for twenty Latin American countries between 1996 and 2012. Ultimately, my research demonstrates the benefits of functioning checks and balances among elected …

Govt 301 - Ancient Political And Economic Ideas (2015), Steven Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Political and economic thought of pagan antiquity, contrasting the ideas of Greece and Rome with religious precepts. The political and economic organization of European feudalism will also be examined.

Joseph Nye, Jr.: Understanding Global Conflict And Cooperation, 10th Ed., Steven A. Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Govt 490 - Political Theory Syllabus, Steven Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

A critical examination of a variety of philosophical and social science models that seek to explain and evaluate political systems, behavior, ideologies, and collective decision-making. Special attention will be given to the political heritage of western/American civilization and the internal and external challenges it faces.

Mary Ann Glendon: The Forum And The Tower Study Guide, 2012-2015, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

How Partisan Identification On The Ballot Affects Individuals' Vote Choices, Jennica Petersen, Rebecca Shuel

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

Political parties are both praised and criticized in our society. People acknowledge that parties serve important functions as they organize the electorate, simplify voter choices, and help voters elect leaders that will carry out their desired policies (Dalton, Farrell, and McAllister 2011). However, other people blame political parties for the increasing polarization and gridlock in our government, and some people claim that individuals rely too heavily on partisan cues and not enough on information about political candidates when determining their vote choice. Because political parties perform such important tasks, we expect individuals to vote differently in the absence of party …

Immigrants And Voting: How A Personal Relationship To Immigration Changes The Voting Behaviors Of Americans, Mandi Eatough, Jordan Johnston

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

In the last thirty years the number of immigrant voters, in the U.S. has increased from less than 5 percent of the population to more than 13 percent. With such an unprecedented increase in such a short amount of time, immigration reform has become one of the most significant and controversial issues in elections nationwide. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has faced consistently increasing levels of both legal and illegal immigration, an issue that is personally relevant to all immigrants regardless of legality (Tichenor 1994). This influx of immigrants has made immigration policy more important for politicians. Understanding the attitudes …

Freedomland, Lindsey Mantoan

Faculty Publications

Lindsey Mantoan reviews a performance of Freedomland (by Michael Gene Sullivan) for Theatre Journal.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #6: Politics And 2016 Presidential Election, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

This report examines regional perceptions of political figures and political affiliation from the 2016 Life In Hampton Roads survey (LIHR 2016) conducted by the Old Dominion University Social Science Research Center. Data from prior years is also provided when available to show comparisons in responses over time. Responses were weighted by city population, race, age, gender, and phone usage (cell versus land-line) to be representative of the Hampton Roads region.

A Feuding House: An Examination Of The Causes And Effects Of The Decline Of Bipartisanship In The United States Congress, Aaron Jackson Horner

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Excerpt from Introduction

In October of 2016, a Gallup poll reported that Congress had an approval rating of 18%.[1] Compared to the President’s approval rating, Congress is seen as ineffective and too bipartisan for many Americans. While there has always been a natural tension between the opposing parties, it has magnified within recent years. Within Congress itself, many members are seeing their political opposition even more unfavorably today than their counterparts did two decades ago. Carol Doherty of the Pew Research Center claims that it is the “intensity of negativity that’s increased.”[2] The 2008 election marked a new …

What Is Fake News?, Derek Malone

Collier Library and Information Services

No abstract provided.

Hard International Law-Contributing Organizations As Networks, Charles Boehmer, Renato Corbetta

Departmental Papers (PS)

This paper explores the networks that intergovernmental organizations(IGOs) create in the international system and explore how states relate to eachother in such networks. It focuses in particular on the network of IGOs that actas creators of and agents for hard international law. We introduce new data thatallows us to investigate which institutional traits and functions are most closelyrelated to IGOs’ contribution to the implementation and enforcement of informalinternational law. We map out and explore the network of “highly legalized”IGOs for the years 1980–2005 as well as the affiliation networks emerging fromstates’ membership in such IGOs. Combining international relations theory withnetwork …

The Effect Of Group Empathy On U.S. Intergroup Attitudes And Behavior In The Context Of Immigration Threats, Cigdem Sirin, Nicholas Valentino, José Villalobos

Departmental Papers (PS)

No abstract provided.

On Community, Justice, And Libraries, John Buschman, Dorothy Warner

Library Publications

At the core of terms such as “inclusion,” “civic engagement,” “social participation,” and “social justice”—terms that this special issue is built around—are political concepts that have been plumbed deeply by political theorists. Two concepts that underwrite much of this terminology are community and justice, both robustly debated within political theory. It is the premise of this article that exploring those debates—definitions of justice and community put forward and argued—and proposing specific versions of those core concepts will provide a defensible basis for research deploying these terms and a practical raison d’état for the institutions of library and information science. Defensible …

2016 Constitution Day Essay Contest: Honorable Mention, Shawn Murphy

Constitution Day Essay Contest

No abstract provided.

2014 In Black & White: A Measure Of Social Policy Attitudes, Femi Stoltz

Undergraduate Review

Introduction:
In American society, various social and antipoverty policies remain highly controversial among American voters. As one might expect, the relevance of race in relation to such policies can also be quite controversial. Incorporated within this research is an investigation of political attitudes and policy preferences of American voters. Using affirmative action and state welfare spending as dependent variables, I gauge the effects of respondents’ race and party identification on policy preferences and other behavior patterns. This measure of attitudes will contribute to a further understanding of race, social and antipoverty policies, and the ways in which these variables interact …

Affirmative Action In American Government Introductory Textbooks, Sherri L. Wallace, Marcus D. Allen

Publications and Research

The history of affirmative action policy consists of a broad collection of executive orders, bureaucratic decisions, course cases, and state legislation designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination of applicants to educational programs or professional employment, to remedy the results of such prior discrimination, and to prevent discrimination in the future. Although targeted legislation has expanded protections beyond underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in education and employment to include women, people of a certain age, people with disabilities and veterans, the actual policy intent of affirmative action remains a source of confusion for students, particularly when college textbooks define the topics within …

Reconstructing Education In Post-Conflict Sierra Leone, Grace Pai

Publications and Research

This study finds that by prioritizing universal development programmes instead of employing a conflict-sensitive approach rooted in attending to the specific inequities present in Sierra Leone, the current education system is ignoring the needs and desires of certain subpopulations of youth. Specifically, although the state has been very successful in increasing overall access to basic education for both boys and girls in rural Sierra Leone, the current focus on improving the quality of academic education has sidelined the growth of technical and vocational education that many youth desire. Instead, sectors such as tertiary education are prioritized above all else.

Furthermore, …

The Transformation And Demise Of Terrorist Organizations: Causes And Categories, Devyani M. Mehta

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In the recent years, the world has experienced devastating losses due to terrorist attacks. Research in the fields of causes of terrorism is abundant, but the amount of research on the end of terrorism does not equally measure up. This paper aims to add to the research focused on analyzing the factors which cause terrorist groups to transition away from violence.

This paper introduces an original categorization of the factors which generate this transition. Factors belong to two categories: internal --decisions made by the terrorist organization, and external--actions or features pertaining to organization outside of non-terrorist organizations. These factors will …

Globalization And The 'Fourth Wave': Contemporary International Terrorism In A Comparative-Historical Perspective, Erika M. Martinez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Terrorist activity has come to the forefront of political thought in recent years, especially since the attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington D.C on September 11, 2001. President George W. Bush declared a “war on terror” and governments all around the world have taken steps to enhance national security in efforts to prevent terrorist activity. The steps taken are not unwarranted, and in some cases have been successful. The nature of terrorism modernizes just as the world around it does, and as the global community has benefited from globalization and modernization, so have terrorist organizations. This study analyzes …