Politics and Social Change Commons^™

The Advance Democracy Act And The Future Of United States Democracy Promotion Efforts, Patrick J. Glen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article addresses whether and to what extent the Obama administration should continue the Bush administration policies relating to democracy promotion. The focus of the article is on the ADVANCE Act of 2007, a legislative enactment that institutionalized democracy promotion in the State Department. After explicating the key provisions of this Act, as well as their implementation status, the article addresses key critiques leveled at democracy promotion, as well as areas where the Obama administration can expand on what has been accomplished thus far in this field. In the end, democracy promotion should continue to be an integral component of …

The Function Of Indigenous Law In A Modern Economic And Political State: The Cameroon Scenario, Victoria M. Time

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Using Cameroon as a case study, this research examines if a legal system built primarily upon indigenous laws can serve modern economic, political, and social realities. Indigenous laws have several attractive advantages (such as expediency in dispute resolution, and fostering community cohesiveness), and may fully thrive in a homogenous society. However, after examining the realities in Cameroon, the study concludes that since the society has dozens of tribes with values and traditions which are invariably different, and because the country relies on foreign aid, what is advocated is a system whereby indigenous and formal laws co-exist.

A Comparative Analysis Of The Determinants Of State Reproductive Healthcare Policies, Vivian W. Greentree, John C. Lombard, John C. Morris

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This paper is a state comparative analysis of the determinants of a state's policies towards reproductive healthcare. While much of the literature focuses solely on abortion, our analysis employs a more comprehensive measure of access to reproductive healthcare. Three explanations -- religious, socioeconomic, and political -- are tested to see which has the most significant impact on a state's likeliness to enact restrictive policies towards reproductive healthcare. We find that the political model is the best predictor of the level of state restrictiveness, and that the percent of women in the legislature is the most powerful variable. Combining the most …

Policy Analysis In Practice: Lessons From Researching And Writing A “Statenote” For Education Commission Of The States, Dinah J. Frey

Capstone Collection

This capstone will shed light on the various aspects of policy analysis, policy papers and policy change. The focus of this capstone paper is a five-page policy brief, or StateNote, which analyzes one element of Kentucky’s major educational policy reform of 1990. The paper will follow the guidelines of the Policy Advocacy course-linked capstones that focus on a personal contribution to some aspect of policy change. Renowned policy specialists such as Eugene Bardach and Carl V. Patton’s work provide steps to follow to write a policy paper and the pieces to include within the paper.

The action of policy analysis …

The Insecurity Of “Secure Communities”: A Case Study Of An Advocacy Campaign To Protect Immigrant Rights In Santa Barbara, Ca, Tina Pia Peirano

Capstone Collection

This case study describes and analyzes the work of advocacy work of PUEBLO, a human and immigrant rights organization in Santa Barbara, California. The paper focuses on the ongoing campaigns of PUEBLO and its allies, including national and state-level organizations and coalitions, to influence one of the most recent federal immigration policies, titled Secure Communities. It also addresses PUEBLO’s advocacy to change local law enforcement policies or practices which have targeted Hispanic residents, including undocumented immigrants, for traffic citations and car impoundments. Based on knowledge acquired through my six month, full-time internship with PUEBLO and through various forms of primary …

The Campaign For Bias-Free Policing In Vermont: One State’S Resistance To The Localization Of Federal Immigration Agency, Amanda L. Park

Capstone Collection

There are roughly 1,500 immigrants from Mexico and Central America currently working on farms in Vermont, helping to sustain approximately half of all milk produced in the state. But the lack of adequate visa-to-work options leaves these individuals without proper documentation to be in the US. As such, they are vulnerable to exploitation by their employers, susceptible to harassment from the communities in which they live, and under constant threat of deportation by federal immigration agents. Now, the US Department of Homeland Security—in charge of domestic defense and immigration—is attempting to use local and state law enforcement officers in the …

Social Justice Advocacy And Counselor Education: A Study Of Counselor Educators' And Counseling Interns' Perceptions Of Social Justice Advocacy Training, Darryl C. Steele

Dissertations

Social justice and advocacy have become increasingly important topics in counselor training. The 2001 Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) training standards require counselor education programs to provide studies in social justice and advocacy processes. Moreover, 2009 CACREP standards stipulate that accredited programs must provide advocacy training specific to each specialty area. The American Counseling Association (ACA) adopted advocacy competencies, in part, to guide this training (Goodman, 2009; Lewis, Arnold, House, & Toporek, 2003). Despite training standards and frameworks such as the ACA Advocacy Competencies to help prepare students for advocacy, few studies have explored …

Dmitri Shalin Interview With Sherri Cavan About Erving Goffman Entitled "Remembering Goffman", Dmitri N. Shalin, Sherri Cavan

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

Letter from Dmitri Shalin

An Assessment Of The Social Impact Of Feminist Network Organizing: A Qualitative Study Of The First Nepali Women's Global Network (Nwgn) Conference, Barret Katuna

Master's Theses

In this study, the author examines the efforts of one transnational feminist network, the Nepali Women’s Global Network (NWGN) to organize through a conference addressing gender inequality matters that shape the experiences of Nepali women on a global and national level and the variant experiences of conference participants based on their social locations. Recognizing the complexity of individual social change on a personal level as well as process-based institutional social change challenging social norms, the author posits the following two research questions 1) Can conferences organized by feminist networks initiate social change? and 2) How can feminist networks best promote …

After High Holidays Erving Made Up Excuses Rather Than Admit That He Missed School Because He Was Jewish, Avron Katz

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

This interview with Avron Katz was conducted in 2001 by his daughter Syva-Lee Wildenmann and presented as a student paper for the class on "Social Psychology from a Sociological Perspective" taught by Dr. Daniel Albas, professor of sociology at the University of Manitoba.

History Of The Indian Caste System And Its Impact On India Today, Manali S. Deshpande

Social Sciences

The Indian Caste System is historically one of the main dimensions where people in India are socially differentiated through class, religion, region, tribe, gender, and language. Although this or other forms of differentiation exist in all human societies, it becomes a problem when one or more of these dimensions overlap each other and become the sole basis of systematic ranking and unequal access to valued resources like wealth, income, power and prestige. The Indian Caste System is considered a closed system of stratification, which means that a person’s social status is obligated to which caste they were born into. There …

From Reproduction To Consumption: The Economic Deterioration Of Families In The United States After World War Ii, Michael David Gillespie

Dissertations

The United State's “great recession,” beginning in December 2007, is the latest indicator of the economic decline of middle- and working-class families. This research questions why the economic condition of U.S. families deteriorated after World War II. To address this research question, social structure of accumulation theory is used to examine the changing role of the family as an institution in capitalist society.

First, a qualitative institutional analysis of federal welfare, labor, and financial regulatory policies from the New Deal to the present is conducted. This analysis shows that, initially, the family was vital to the capitalist economy as the …

Political And Civic Engagement Attitudes Among Asian American College Students, Matthew Vanada

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study explored the attitudes of political and civic engagement among Asian American college students. Previous research suggests that young people are increasingly more inclined to participate in civic activities over traditional forms of political participation. The researcher considered this trend by examining the views of Asian American students, a group whose political behavior has not been largely investigated.

This study employed a qualitative research design. Students from public institutions of higher education in Las Vegas were interviewed using an in-depth and semi-structured format. Findings suggest that there is a general willingness to become involved in civic activity such as …

The Emergent Challenges For Policing Terrorism: Lessons From Mumbai, Simon O'Rourke

Australian Counter Terrorism Conference

On November 26, 2008 ten armed terrorists from Lashka-e-Toiba utilised military assault style tactics to attack a number of establishments including restaurants and hotels in the city of Mumbai, India. This new attack paradigm indicated a significant shift in tactics from the placement of improvised explosive devices or deployment of suicide bombers, and contains valuable lessons for contemporary law enforcement particularly with regard to intelligence, response, and media management. There are few agencies currently geared to deal with the sheer scope of an event involving trained terrorists well versed with small team tactics, heavily armed and equipped conducting operations in …

To Me, Goffman Was A Shakespearean Figure, The Fool Who Spoke The Wisdom Of The Play, Marvin B. Scott

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

Dr. Marvin B. Scott, Professor Emeritus at Hunter College, wrote this memoir at the request of Jackie Wiseman.

Torch (November/December 2010), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

November Roundtable: Multiculturalism And Integration Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Germany's Integration Blinkers. What's So Bad About Parallel Societies?” by Henryk M. Broder, Spiegel Online, November 20, 2010

and

“Angela Merkel: German Multiculturalism has Utterly Failed,” by Matthew Weaver, The Guardian, October 17, 2010

Irish Healthcare; The Evidence On Communicating Policy., Vivienne Byers

Conference Papers

The complexity of the health care environment necessitates that health policy, legislative objectives, resource allocation models, and management structures be aligned to plan and deliver healthcare services strategically. Policy in the Irish health care system is guided by the National Health Strategy of 2001; in that there should be equitable distribution of health services focused on the need of the citizen-client. Though the Strategy uses the words ‘evidence based’, ‘population health’, ‘equity’, ‘people-centred’ and ‘health and social gain’, there is little evidence that these concepts have gained purchase in the present implementation of policy and planning in Irish health care …

Mobility And Permanence Of Local Ethics: The Case Of Young Adults Involved In The Banco Palmas Economic Solidarity Movement, Lillian Steponaitis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The global capitalist model produces economic centers and peripheries on many scales. In Fortaleza, Brazil this pattern is evident, with the majority of the wealth and capital concentrated in central neighborhoods. As one travels to the edge of the municipality, one encounters economically and socially marginalized communities. One of these communities, Conjunto Palmeira, has attempted to mollify this exclusion by imagining and exploring new modes of existing and finding economic growth outside of the capitalist model. In 1998, the residents created Banco Palmas, a community bank. Operating under the philosophies of economic solidarity, Banco Palmas offers microcredit loans, circulates a …

Semillas Y La Ciudad: La Agricultura Urbana En Oaxaca De Juárez Como Un Aporte A La Soberanía Alimentaria, Katie Oberwager

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este proyecto trata de examinar el movimiento creciente de la agricultura urbana en Oaxaca de Juárez, México como un aporte potencial a la soberanía alimentaria. Las políticas económicas en los Estados Unidos tienen un efecto directo en las vidas mexicanas, y esto es especialmente la verdad con los campesinos mexicanos. Por ejemplo, el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte ha causado la inundación de México con maíz barato. La mayoría de los campesinos mexicanos no pueden competir con estos precios bajos y han sido obligados a huir de su tierra en busca de trabajo en las ciudades o …