Political Theory Commons^™

Is No News Good News?: Exploring The Impact Of Social Media Use On Misinformation Beliefs, Corbin Poyer

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Does diminishing access to print news have an impact on people’s propensity to believe misinformation? What if this misinformation emanates from an online source as opposed to a print source? The focus of recent research on misinformation has been narrow: (1) recognizing its existence and acknowledging its potential impact, and (2) generating and categorizing potential analytical types of misinformation. However, the ramifications of vanishing print media have so far been overlooked. This paper asserts a connection between news sources and misinformation beliefs, further positing that the decline in the quality and availability of quality print journalism predicates an individual’s belief …

China: A Settler Colonial Empire?, Kaleb Horne

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

China’s rapid expansion is a growing concern to many in the West, yet the history and pattern of its meteoric rise is deeply misunderstood. Surprisingly, its rise may be similar to that of many Western states. This paper will examine a constellation of China’s territorial and cultural expansions. Furthermore, it will examine ongoing and future expansions of the Chinese empire. It will examine Chinese actions in Tibet, the Yunnan Province, the Guizhou Province, Taiwan, the Belt and Road Initiative, and examine China’s ongoing treatment of Uyghur Muslims. These subjects will also be qualitatively compared to settler colonial theories, as described …

Citizenship And Virtue’ Are Requirements For Maintaining Liberty, Timothy P. O'Brien

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

In the twenty-first century, the United States of America has been caught in a time of increased polarization, the Republic has been fraying as the sense of community has cracked, where fanatics on the extremes of the political spectrum have contributed to the disruption of normal political order driven by normative agendas. The underlying political theories on which the nations was founded emerged from the ancient Greek philosophers and passed through the early Christian philosophers to the Framers of the Constitution of the United States of America. This article explores the foundations of citizenship and virtue as it applies to …

City On A Hill: A Reflection On Christian Ethic And Human Morality, Mayce Combs

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

In John Winthrop’s sermon A Model of Christian Charity (1630), he spoke to his congregation of the mission God had called them to. With the creation of a new blended nation, the only way to be exceptional was to reflect the gospel in policy, action, and foremost thought. Philosophers from ancient times to today acknowledge that an individual is made up of the soul and their body. From the soul, comes thought, reason, empathy, and a connection to a divine being who deciphers what is morally unjust. The body is a sinful, self-seeking vessel that does not have the ability …

Pol 551: Empirical Political Analysis, Julie Wronski

GMAS Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Controlling The Narrative: The Effects Of Media Coverage On Fear Of Crime And Socio-Political Ideology, Andrew Koppelman

Theses

Several decades of study have established an understanding that media have a unique power to influence the perspectives and worldviews of audiences. This phenomenon has been explored through the lenses of Social Learning and Cultivation theory, wherein media appeal to base human tendencies of self-preservation and teaches audiences how to maximize rewards for their actions by acting as a sort of instructor or friendly warning from members of the community. While prior studies have suggested the presence of this effect, little research has been devoted to understanding the ways that this may influence behaviors in viewers. My research seeks to …

The Lawgiver And "The Progress Of Evil", Andre Chang

Senior Theses

The study advances a reinterpretation of Madison’s concept of “constitutional liquidation,” presenting it not merely as a theory of legal interpretation but as a broader political strategy for preserving republican government amid recurring crises. Through an analysis of Madison’s responses to the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, and the nullification controversy, the thesis demonstrates how Madison sought to balance constitutional stability with principled conflict, allowing fundamental questions of authority, justice, and union to be resolved through disciplined public deliberation rather than force or procedural formalism.

Finally, the thesis contends that Madison’s commitment to national supremacy and …

What's Next: How And Why States Strengthen Treaties Through Deepening Commitments, Joseph Maestas

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

States take many post-ratification actions with most designed to weaken the application of the treaty against the state. However, nearly all treaties offer ways for states to strengthen it: deepening commitments. Deepening commitments are optional post-ratification actions that allow a state to strengthen and shape implementation of the treaty. This dissertation examines deepening commitments through analysis the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute), and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).

In Chapter 2, through a typology and process tracing cases, I argue that states influence international law …

Killjoy? Augustine On Pageantry, Peter Kaufman

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Augustine’s position on civic spectacles should be evaluated in connection with his fears about a resurgence of paganism in late Roman North Africa. Notwithstanding contemporary claims that those fears were cover for early fifth-century prelatical efforts to manage commercial and political culture, evidence suggests that paganism in North Africa survived and was seductive.

Analysis And Application Of The Offense-Defense Theory: Russia, Ukraine, And History., Kirby Ballard

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Political scientists and government advisors have long sought to understand what influences conflicts and how to predict them. Despite constant war, a commonly used empirical theory that can answer this question has not emerged. The majority of theories created are either conflict-specific or not empirically testable. Considering these factors, I sought out a theory that would help me better understand Russia's choice to invade Ukraine in the spring of 2022. I selected the offense-defense theory due to its many attempts to explain territorial conquest, the likeliness of conflict, and overall losses. The main focus of the theory is to explain …

Iran's Look East Policy Against Western Countries Through Snyder's Foreign Policy Analysis, Juana Clarentine Emmanuela Greevince De Lucas, Muhammad Rayhan Anandito, Tasya Salsabila Hendrayudha, Septyanto Galan Prakoso

Jurnal Politik

Iran has been in disarray following the United States exit from the JCPOA in 2018. It is due to the increasing number of sanctions reimposed by the West, which harms the Iranian economy. With the current economic downturn, Iran, under President Ebrahim Raisi's leadership, has made efforts to become completely independent from the West by establishing the Look East Policy as its foreign policy. This research analyses why Ebrahim Raisi's administration favoured the Look East Policy as Iranian foreign policy. Data collection techniques used in this study are library research, using secondary data from books, journal articles, official websites, and …

Tunisian Democracy At A Crossroads: A Comparative Analysis Of Beji Caid Essebsi And Kais Saied Regimes, Nizar Lukman

Jurnal Politik

As a new democracy, Tunisia is quite vulnerable to democratic erosion. The implementation of democracy in the country was quite effective during the leadership of Beji Caid Essebsi, resulting in a high democracy index driven by various policies that supported the implementation of this system. However, Tunisia’s quality of democracy significantly declined since President Kais Saied took power in 2019. The dissolution of Parliament, the prime minister's dismissal, the introduction of freedom of expression for council members, and unilateral electoral reforms aimed at consolidating his power are some cases of proof. This pattern raises questions about the recurring nature of …

One Hundred Years Of The Communist Party Influencing The Islamic World, Muhammad Ridha

Jurnal Politik

The ideology of Communism has had a significant impact on Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. The emergence of Communist parties has triggered prolonged social and political tensions and changed the power dynamics in Muslim countries.

Casar Student Debate #3: Can Solidarity Produce Mutual Benefits For The African Diaspora& Palestine Social Movements?, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Every semester, CASAR AUC holds miscellaneous student debates discussing the hot controversial topics in the US, Egypt and from around the world in hopes of raising awareness about these topics & broadening the perspectives of our students as they learn to engage in fruitful discussions as they share different opinion on the topic being deliberated. At this CASAR Student Discussion event #3 in celebration of Black History Month, we watched Nelson Madela speak his mind about the topic in 1990, in which he proclaims solidarity with the Palestinian cause on behalf of the African National Congress. Then we opened the …

Fair Elections, Representation, And The Win-Loss Satisfaction With Democracy Gap, Hannah M. Ridge

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

A substantial literature on public democratic satisfaction argues that system satisfaction is based on how the election transpires and the policy outcomes citizens anticipate from the electoral results. In a functioning democracy, citizens elect a government in fair elections and the election outcomes reflect the electorate’s views. Winners of both national and regional elections are regularly found to be more satisfied with their democracy than losers. This study shows that the perceived fairness and representativeness of the electoral results moderate this disparity by narrowing the satisfaction gap between electoral winners and electoral losers; this effect is concentrated in the evaluation …

Social Movements And Resistance: Extinction Rebellion Against Dominant Structures, Samira M. Eltiby

Theses and Dissertations

Public dissent is the outcome of governments inaction regarding issues that populations deem as necessary. Social movements are groups that emerge due to dissatisfaction with the status quo that is presented by the current neoliberal world order. The new social movement that is studied in this thesis seeks emancipation, freedom, environmental justice and action, and the dismantlement of neoliberal capitalism as a system of production. This thesis examines the relevance of Gramscian analysis to the study of new social movements, with a focus on Gramscian hegemony and leaderless movements. The thesis uses Extinction Rebellion (XR), a UK-based movement that adopts …

Cancer In Pajamas: Radio, Podcasts, And The Politics Of Free Time In The Digital Age, Daniel Grjonko

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The podcast, an extremely potent fermentation of the radio which was so central to many of the Frankfurt School thinkers, is an important political subject to consider in light of rekindled social discussions concerning a society straddling the line between fascism and socialism. Especially the political podcast, which has become a pulse of intellectual discussion and historical analysis, promises itself simultaneously as a medium of entertainment, pedagogy, and translation into real-world organizing for a different world, true for both the left and the right. The truth, I propose, is a sinister other experience, one which maintains the status quo …

Normative Orientations To Housing Activism And The Uneven Path To Nonprofitization In New York City, 1964–1989, Andrew Wilkes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What are the distinct contributions of normative orientations (including theological and ideological ones) in the public policy process? While the literature on policy formation in the past three decades has embraced at least some idea that ideology matters, little has focused on whether the content of their specific normative orientations leads groups to contribute to, and engage in, a policy process differently. By examining Paul Sabatier’s advocacy coalition framework in conversation with Rev. Dr. Gayraud Wilmore’s tripartite, theoethical framework of liberation, elevation, and survival, this dissertation contends that the normative commitments of advocacy stakeholders within New York City’s tenant movement …

A Pearl Ravaged: The Paradox Of Haiti And Its Socioeconomic Origins, Isabel Ishibe Exel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Saint-Domingue was once the most profitable colony of the Caribbean, the so-called pearl of the Antilles. Nowadays, Haiti is known for being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, a dramatic shift that raises the question of the factors contributing to Haiti's current state, marked by persistent violence, natural disasters, and political instability. Various discourses have framed Haiti as a country doomed for failure. However, relying on binary concepts such as success and failure is counterproductive to a refined analysis. How, then, should we structure this conversation? My ultimate goal for this work is to provide a nuanced analysis of …

What Does One Billion Dollars Look Like?: Visualizing Extreme Wealth, William Mahoney Luckman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The word “billion” is a mathematical abstraction related to “big,” but it is difficult to understand the vast difference in value between one million and one billion; even harder to understand the vast difference in purchasing power between one billion dollars, and the average U.S. yearly income. Perhaps most difficult to conceive of is what that purchasing power and huge mass of capital translates to in terms of power. This project blends design, text, facts, and figures into an interactive narrative website that helps the user better understand their position in relation to extreme wealth: https://whatdoesonebilliondollarslooklike.website/

The site incorporates …