Political Theory Commons^™

Cracks In The Great Wall: Zero-Covid Protests And The Reassertion Of Political Security In China, Khannia Zhafira Ronaulli Pandjaitan, Arfin Sudirman

Jurnal Wacana Politik

The protests of the zero-COVID policy in 2022, which led to the issuance of Ten New Measures in China, are an interesting political phenomenon to study. This phenomenon raises questions about the dynamics of China’s political security during the zero-COVID policy period and how the government responded to the social pressures that arose. Applying political security theory that emphasizes national objectives, threat perceptions, and political freedom of action, this article analyzes China’s political dynamics during that period. This article concludes that political security for a country is often realized through various actions justified to protect national interests and maintain social …

Integrated Voter Education Model To Students As Pre-Voters, Hariyanti Hariyanti, Cecep Darmawan, Rahmat Rahmat, Leni Anggraeni, Radini Radini, Hamdi Abdullah Hasibuan

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This research aims to describe the importance of preparing pre-voters to become intelligent and participatory beginner voters, through an integrated voter education model. This solution was born from the fact that in general voter education only aggressively targets first-time voters during the election stage. This research was carried out by the Pekanbaru City KPU and the Kampar Regency KPU as well as several secondary schools in Pekanbaru City and Kampar Regency. The research used a qualitative design with descriptive methods, with research informants including KPU commissioners, Election Smart House Managers, and Pancasila and Citizenship Education (PPKn) teachers at schools. Research …

Disinformation, Polarisation And Digital Campaigns: A Comparative Study Of Political Communication In The Online Sphere, Agus Sugiharto, Wijayanto Wijayanto, Kushandajani Kushandajani, Nurul Hasfi

Jurnal Wacana Politik

Digital political campaigns have become a key phenomenon in contemporary politics. They significantly transform the patterns of communication between political parties, candidates, and voters. This study aims to analyze the development, dynamics, and implications of digital political campaigns on voter behavior as well as political communication strategies in the era of information technology. Using a qualitative approach through literature review of scholarly articles, the results show that digital political campaigns offer high efficiency in reaching a broad audience and enable the personalization of messages based on big data and predictive analytics. However, this practice also brings new challenges, such as …

Nuclear Weapons And Conflict Escalation: Impacts On Fatalities And The India-China Case, Tyden J. Kortman

Honors Theses

The study of nuclear weapons and their impact on conflict have existed as long as nuclear weapons themselves. Nonetheless, many questions remain on whether nuclear weapons serve primarily as a deterrent to conflict or as an avenue towards the deadliest form of warfare in human history. We use both statistical analysis against a large conflict dataset and a case study of India-China conflicts from 1955-1979 to contribute to the ongoing literature on this question. We hypothesize that nuclear weapons lower the rate of conflict and dispute escalation. After statistical testing and case study analysis, we found that there was no …

How Ai Governance Differs Between Regime Type, Jackson T. Guillou

Honors Theses

This thesis will examine how artificial intelligence (AI) regulation and development differ across political regime types, arguing that governance outcomes are fundamentally shaped by institutional political structures. This thesis will draw on comparative frameworks analyzing democratic and authoritarian systems. This thesis will also include case studies of the European Union, the United States of America, China, and Russia. The study finds that democratic regimes tend to emphasize transparency, accountability, and rights-based regulation of AI. This often results in slow regulation of AI, but it is more ethically legitimate and constrained. In contrast, authoritarian regimes prioritize centralized control, strategic coordination, and …

"Silent Or Seen: How Trust Influences Protest Engagement", Adam M. Erdkamp

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The research question I have chosen for my project is, “In what ways do levels of trust impact whether someone chooses to participate in an in-person protest?” A current problem within this field from previous findings is that research claims there is no consensus on whether trust encourages participation or if distrust drives it. Therefore, while some believe that a minimum level of trust is necessary to participate in politics, others argue that distrust drives citizens to partake in non-institutionalized, radicalized, or in-person protests. My answer to this question is that I believe if people were to have high levels …

Alone And Radicalized: The Hidden Link Between Isolationism And Political Violence, Zaina Siddiqui

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

As some socially isolated individuals come to view political violence as legitimate, what exactly draws the line towards political extremism? My findings examine the relationship between loneliness, social marginalization, and support for political violence through psychological theories on radicalization. Using Chapman University’s American Fear Survey Wave 11, I examined the correlation between isolationism and a sense of belonging, with the latter leading to support for political violence and extremism. The project contributes to research on political extremism by focusing on loneliness as a loss of belonging and personal significance rather than on ideology or pathology alone. In my research, I …

Education’S Role In Indian Democracy, Kiranjot K. Atwal

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

What impact do higher levels of education have on support for democracy in India? Existing research has largely demonstrated that education can foster democratic values through increased political awareness and civic involvement; however, researchers have only just begun to explore how education contributes to developing democracies, where social and political contexts may influence the formation of attitudes in distinct ways. This gap creates a question as to whether or not the positive impacts of education on democratic support hold true across diverse populations. I argue education promotes democratic governance by serving as a catalyst for increased engagement and interaction between …

An Increased Understanding Of Political Sociology Would Create A More Pluralistic Society, Mariam H. Jabbar

Thinking Matters Symposium

What are we socially lacking in relation to our current social

identity, based on political and historical events, to create a pluralistic society?

What do we need to prioritize socially to bring awareness for a more

contemporary social construct? My points as a political sociology student will be

focused on how society applies political association to power through unity by

division of society.

The Limits Of Democratic Representation: Institutional Constraints And The Failure To Reflect Public Will In The Case Of Congressional Term Limits, Kian Mcwilliams

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study examines why congressional term limit reform has not succeeded despite widespread public support. Although there has been sustained bipartisan approval across decades, term limits have not gained any meaningful institutional traction, raising a central question: Why do reforms with strong public backing fail to advance within Congress itself? Drawing on historical analysis, public opinion data, and original survey research conducted with Members of Congress, this study argues that the failure of congressional term limit reform is not the result of a lack of public engagement, but rather a consequence of institutional constraints that prevent public preferences from translating …

A Plague On Both Your Houses: Archetypes Of Political Choice, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

In times of political polarization, we are well-advised to heed Spinoza’s injunction, “Not to lament, not to curse, but to understand.” Understanding can be facilitated by ideas about the archetypal structures of political choice. This paper offers a systems theoretic analysis of a set of such archetypes focusing solely on their structures and not advocating any specific political positions. The primary question that must be answered is whether available or desirable political choices are dyadic or triadic, and if dyadic, whether the two alternatives of the dyad should be viewed as good versus bad or as complementary.  Various modes of …

Teaching Machines To Deter: Exploring Strategic Deterrence In Ai Models, Will Taylor

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This capstone project investigates whether deterrence can emerge as a meaningful strategy within a zero-sum stochastic game using multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL). After outlining core concepts in game theory and deterrence, the study models a simplified deterrence environment in which two minimax-Q agents repeatedly interact under uncertainty and adversarial incentives. The agents learn from rewards shaped by escalation costs, unilateral vulnerability, and the stabilizing benefits of restraint. Results show that both agents consistently converge toward a conservative, status-quo strategy, overwhelmingly selecting the Maintain action while avoiding both escalation and restraint in most scenarios. This behavior reflects the risk-averse logic of …

Campaign Finance And Democratic Integrity: Studying The Effects Of Campaign Finance On Elections, Abigail C. Johnson

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Using data collected from the Stanford Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and Elections (DIME) this paper examines the connection between campaign finance results in independent expenditures. Focusing on 2022 and 2024 United States Senatorial election cycles, this research investigates whether or not female and male senatorial candidates receive higher or lower rates of supportive and opposing funding and how such funding effects the electoral outcomes of female candidates. Through logit regression analyses and descriptive statistics, like histogram and distribution graphs conducted in RStudio, this research measures how financial backing from outside groups affects probability in Senatorial primary electoral …

Evaluating Bawaslu’S Sigaplapor For Electoral Justice In Indonesia’S 2024 Election, Nur Hidayat Sardini, Muhtar Muhtar

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This article assesses the effectiveness of the Election Violation Handling and Reporting Information System (SiGapLapor) operated by Indonesia’s Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) as a case of digitalising electoral oversight. Using a qualitative-exploratory case study, the research draws on document analysis (regulations, internal reports, and SiGapLapor web statistics) and semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with election supervisors and ICT managers. Findings indicate that SiGapLapor works reasonably well as an administrative registry and an internal reporting tool, but remains weak as a participatory public complaints mechanism and as an instrument of electoral justice. Key constraints include a non-user-centred interface, predominantly manual …

Initial Type Craft, Micah Angelus

Theses and Dissertations

What kinds of objects can still think when the self-contained aesthetic object can no longer be taken for granted? The historical ruptures that have placed painting under crisis have also brought into view the fallacy of artistic autonomy, raising questions about how value, contemplation, and meaning persist under conditions of deconstruction.

Do Clothes Make The Man? Ftm Crossdressing In The 18th-19th C. Anglo-American World, Aidrian Graber

Theses and Dissertations

This paper seeks to analyze the legacy of "Female Husbands" and other female-to-male crossdressers in the 18/19th c. Anglo-American world and how such people can illuminate the field of transgender history.

Into The Mainstream: How White Nationalism Has Been Disseminated Online And Legitimized In The United States At Large, Shannon O'Connor

Honors Scholar Theses

The United States has experienced a rapid growth in extremism, reinforced by online social networks. Existing scholarship attributes increased extremism to political polarization, the appropriation of liberal norms of free speech, and white male racial anxiety. Present debates concern the popularity of alternative social networking platforms that provide opportunities for radicalization. Current scholars assume that online alternative sites are relatively isolated and engage in the most extreme cases of right-wing violence and hate speech. However, this thesis argues that extremism in the United States has been widespread and increasingly embedded in mainstream political discourse. I argue that leaders within the …

An Alternative To Armageddon: O.P. Weyland And The Development Of Tactical Air Power, Paul Wells

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Theorists and advocates of air power argued that aircraft, not ground forces, would become the dominant platform for victory in war. They promoted the concept of strategic bombing, using aircraft to bypass ground forces and directly attack a nation's industrial capacity to wage war, hoping to ensure quick victory and avoid a repeat of the prolonged slaughter in the trenches of WWI. In 1947, led by advocates of strategic bombing, the United States Air Force (USAF) became an independent and equal branch of the U.S. military. The USAF developed the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to meet the requirements of the …

Economic Security And Strategic Rivalry: Industrial Policy And The U.S.–China Security Dilemma, Nurielle Rahav

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

In an era of geopolitical competition and technological dominance, industrial policy has reemerged as a crucial tool of economic strategy in both the United States and China. Industrial policies, particularly in the advanced manufacturing sector, were formerly understood as tools for strengthening the domestic economy. However, against the backdrop of the U.S.–China trade war, new industrial policies carry significant geopolitical implications. This paper argues that industrial policy intensifies the U.S.–China security dilemma, as both governments increasingly interpret economic self-sufficiency in advanced manufacturing as a matter of national security. Through an analysis of two cases, the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act …

Everybody Wants To Rule The World: How Ballistic Missile Defenses Can Reduce The Risk Of War, Aanya Ghosh

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

Debates over ballistic missile defense often assume that defensive capability inherently destabilizes deterrence by eroding mutual vulnerability. This article challenges that assumption by arguing that the strategic effects of missile defense are neither predetermined nor uniform. Limited and layered defensive systems generate two simultaneous pressures: stabilizing deterrence-by-denial effects against limited coercive threats and destabilizing uncertainty regarding long-term retaliatory viability. Which mechanism prevails depends not on defensive technology alone, but on policy design—specifically system scale, doctrinal framing, and integration within the broader offense-defense relationship. Drawing on classical deterrence theory, offense-defense scholarship, and contemporary analyses by Roberts, Wilkening, and Daalder, Goldgeier, and …