Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

[Review] Elizabeth Ellis, Australian Animal Law: Context And Critique. Sydney University Press, 2022. 390pp. Isbn 978-1743328514, A. P. A. Best

Animal Studies Journal

[Review] Elizabeth Ellis, Australian Animal Law: Context and Critique. Sydney University Press, 2022. 390pp. ISBN 978-1743328514.

[Review] Susan Nance And Jennifer Marks, Editors. Bellwether Histories: Animals, Humans, And Us Environments In Crisis. Seattle: University Of Washington Press. 242 Pp. Isbn 9780295751429, Wendy Woodward

Animal Studies Journal

163 [Review] Susan Nance and Jennifer Marks, editors. Bellwether Histories: Animals, Humans, and US Environments in Crisis. Seattle: University of Washington Press. 242 pp. ISBN 9780295751429.

Uni Political Science Newsletter, V19, 2023-24, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Political Science.

Political Science Newsletter

In this issue:

--- UNI Announces Grassley Endowed Professorship, Donation of Senatorial Papers
--- MPP Program Receives Accreditation, Enrolls New Cohort
--- Career Readiness
--- Civic Education
--- Women in Politics
--- Faculty and Students Honored by YWCA
--- Model United Nations
--- Vajpeyi Fellowship
--- 2023-24 Student Research Presentations
--- My Student Research Experience
--- Students Campaign for Voter Participation
--- Uprooting Redlining
--- Congratulations 2023-24 Graduates
--- Student Awards
--- Alumni Updates
--- Pita Agbese Retirement
--- Faculty Updates
--- In Memoriam: Dr. Robert Ross

Body. Freedom. Choice: Creating Artwork In Post-Roe America, Erin Sedra

MSU Graduate Theses

I knew from a young age that I never wanted children. Whenever I expressed my disinterest in motherhood, I was often met with bewilderment, disapproval, and hostility. The church I was raised in taught me that my value and worth as a woman directly correlated with the power of my birthing hips. This fundamentalist upbringing has significantly shaped my relationship with my femininity, my body, and my artwork. When I feel powerless, turning to my art gives me a sense of control and self-expression. This body of work began as a reaction to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and …

The Battle Over Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion And Critical Race Theory In Florida: A Case Study On The Stop W.O.K.E. Act, Grace Anne Castelin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Accelerating from 2022 and continuing through 2024, the state of Florida has experienced significant policy changes, particularly within the realm of higher education and affairs of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Many progressive officials, experts, and activists assert arguments that the state is on the verge of evolving into an authoritarian regime while many illiberal policies are being produced through the Florida legislature and current executive leadership—social and economic sectors are consequently threatened in order to maintain political oppression. The Stop W.O.K.E. Act has served as a catalyst for shifting the state's political stance on DEI, culminating in a chain …

How Super Pacs Supercharge Fundraising And Spending For Candidates In Presidential Primaries, Domenic Maglio

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The explosion of super PAC activity in presidential primaries since the 2012 election cycle prompts an examination of these organizations’ behavior and its effects on other types of committees. Specifically, this study investigates how fundraising and spending efforts by candidate-specific super PACs, or single-candidate super PACs, benefit their supported candidate’s principal campaign committee. Integrating data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and various qualitative sources, this study explores how candidate-specific super PACs are progressively exploiting their unique legal structure to fundraise for themselves and their candidate’s authorized committee. The probing reveals that candidate-specific super PACs steer …

Historical Legacies & Contemporary Anti-Americanism In Latin America, Ana Bello Marín

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Latin America is often cited as a prime example of historically rooted and deeply embedded opposition to the United States. There exists a prevalent assumption in the literature that suggests a legacy of foreign intervention can breed anti-Americanism. From this theoretical point of departure, we would expect individuals who lived through periods of intervention to express more negative opinions of the U.S. This thesis aims to explore whether historical legacies continue to live on and impact individual-level evaluations of the United States. By exploiting cross-country variation in the years and types of intervention, this study tests the empirical significance of …

"Her Best Teacher, Comforter, And Friend": The Gendered Politics Of Labor In Louisa May Alcott's Work: A Story Of Experience, Mena Bova

Scripps Senior Theses

"I only ask for a chance to be a useful, happy woman," exclaims main character Christie Devon in the opening pages of Louisa May Alcott's Work: A Story of Experience. Unsurprisingly, much of Work is focused on labor: over the book's span of twenty years, Christie participates in many forms of work, from waged labor to domestic labor to religious labor. While much of the existing scholarship about Work focuses on Christie's experiences in the world of external, waged labor, this thesis contends that Christie's experiences with domestic labor has been a historically overlooked area. Using a social reproduction …

Resilience Amidst Barriers: Understanding The Plight Of Undocumented Filipino Tnts In The Broken Us Immigration System, Eileen Linchangco

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the plight of undocumented Filipino immigrants, referred to as “TNT” or “tago nang tago” (hiding and hiding), within the context of an increasingly restrictive US immigration system. I argue that two key factors have driven more Filipinos to pursue unauthorized entry into the US since the 1980s despite heightened risks. First, US immigration policy changes enacted in the 1980s and 1990s implemented stricter numerical caps that severely limited available visas for Filipino immigrants to use legal immigration pathways into the United States. Second, enduring sociocultural constructs propagate the notion that Filipinos represent immigrant desirability for US citizenship. …

Identity Formation In The Lebanese-American Christian Diaspora, Matthew Cesar Audi

Honors Projects

Since the late 1800s, people have immigrated to the United states from Lebanon and Syria, and the community’s racial and ethnic position within the United States has been contested ever since. Previous research emphasizes that while people from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are legally classified as “white” on the U.S. Census. However, many people from the region do not identify as white, and they often face discrimination or threats of violence. For people of Arab and Christian backgrounds this is further complicated because they are a part of the majority through their religion, but part of a …

A Bargaining Theory Of Us-China Economic Rivalry: Differentiating The Trade And Technology Wars, Cathy Xuauxuan Wu

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

This article examines the outbreak and persistence of US–China economic war, which comprises both the trade war, featured with retaliatory tariffs, and the technology war, featured with restrictions on Chinese access to US technologies. Building on the analytical framework of bargaining and war, I argue that different components of the economic war emerged from distinct causes. The outbreak of the trade war was primarily driven by the information problem, characterized by mutual uncertainty and the lack of effective communications. The technology war was largely a result of the commitment problem driven by the existing power’s concern regarding potential future changes …

For A Lost Drachma: Contesting Hindutva Subjectivation In India’S Universities, Bhavika Sicka

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

The aim of this essay is to apply Michel Foucault’s ideas on power and the practice of freedom to the context of India’s increasingly neoliberalized higher education landscape. The essay revisits Foucault’s notion of subjectivation to analyze the cultural politics of the Hindu Right, which, through organized violence and self-disciplinary mechanisms, has attempted to masculinize, privatize, saffronize, and brahmanicize the nation-state (and the public university), erase the othered body from the nation (and campus spaces), and shape how individuals understand themselves, their identities, and their modes of being in relation to savarna-capitalist power and knowledge. This essay will also suggest …

An Exploration Into How Print And Online News Journalists Manage Political Fake News In Ireland, John William Hogan

Conference papers

This paper examines how a number of Irish political journalists, working for both traditional newspapers and an online news website, deal with the problem of fake news. The aim is to gain an understanding of what the journalists’ perception of political fake news is and the methods they employ to manage it - a sorely under researched topic. Our findings show that the journalists we spoke with feel there are a range of forms that fake news assumes, many of them insidious and challenging to overcome with facts. The paper highlights the important role journalists play in confronting political fake …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

Letter From The Chair Of Political Science, William Munro

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Editors' Introduction, Chase Beitz, Melinda Burgin

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Why Didn't The Republican Majority Repeal The Affordable Care Act In 2017?, Kaitlyn Calnan

Honors Theses

The provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were originally designed to be funded through an individual mandate. Thus, after the repeal of the mandate penalty in 2017, most supporters believed the entire ACA would collapse. However, despite a Republican Congressional majority, it has not. How come? While Republicans have generally opposed government involvement in healthcare, today’s Republican party has taken a populist turn. A study of American populism suggests that populism is compatible with government involvement in healthcare. America’s original right populist, the Nebraskan William Jennings Bryan, began a movement that produced electoral success as it moved north, even …

Public Opinion On Reforming U.S. Primaries, Robert G. Boatright, Caroline J. Tolbert, Nathan K. Micatka

Political Science

Objective: Few studies have measured public attitudes about reform proposals for changing direct primaries. Despite strong public support over the past century for holding primaries, does the public want to change the direct primary, given its very low voter turnout and its potential role in fostering political polarization?. Method: Using a unique nationally representative survey of 3000 U.S. adults conducted in March 2023 by YouGov, this study shows that a majority of Americans support reform of primary elections. Results: The reforms which receive the greatest support are those that seem more “democratic” such as establishing national congressional primary and holding …

A Praxis Towards Social Change Based On Foucault's Conceptualization Of Experience As Relational, Lila Maureen Wakeman

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

This project develops a praxis towards social change based on the works of Michel Foucault. It first establishes Foucault’s philosophical assumptions, methods, and political goal of countering “objectivizing” modern Western social forces. It then draws on sources from the three major phases of Foucault’s career to trace his development of a general conceptualization of experience as relational, or as non-exhaustively co-constituted by and through three indispensable kinds of social forces: knowledge, power, and ethics. It then evaluates implications of Foucauldian experience for efforts towards social change to conceptualize a general Foucauldian praxis towards social change. The praxis aims to affect …

She Speaks For Millions: The Emergence Of Female Diplomatic Voices In The Russo-Ukrainian War, Amber Brittain-Hale, Amber Brittain-Hale

Education Division Scholarship

This research critically investigates the public diplomacy strategies deployed by a cohort of influential female European leaders on Twitter during the Russo-Ukrainian War of 2022-2023. The study comprises eight leaders - Kallas (Estonia), Marin (Finland), von der Leyen (President of the European Commission), Metsola (President of the European Parliament), Sandu (Moldova), Simonyte (Lithuania), Zourabichvili (Georgia), and Meloni (Italy) - representing millions of constituents. By mirroring the analytical attention given to Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this study scrutinizes the distinct approaches and dif erences in emotional, cognitive, and structural language use between these influential female figures and President Zelenskyy in their …

When Ballots Are Blank: Write-In’S Serving Local Government And The Implications For A Healthy And Vibrant Democracy, Thomas J. Ruter

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Our democracy depends on having a supply of candidates running for elected office, but in some instances, no one wants to run. This phenomenological study asks what the effects on a healthy and vibrant democracy are if ballots are blank and the seat is filled through write-in or appointment. Rooted in democratic theory, this study explores small, rural city elections where write-ins won election. Understudied, local governments are responsible for decisions affecting the lives of millions of people each day. Workforce scarcity, the alienation of young Americans from politics, government bashing, nasty campaigns, threats of physical harm, and other barriers …

Inflation Expectations And Political Polarization: Evidence From The Cooperative Election Study, Ethan Struby, Christina Farhart

Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Using a unique, nationally representative survey from the 2022 midterm elections, we investigate the partisan divide in beliefs about inflation and monetary policy. We find that party identity is predictive of inflation forecasts even after conditioning on beliefs about both past inflation and the Federal Reserve’s long-run inflation target. Partisan forecast differences are driven by respondents who express low generalized trust in others and have a high degree of political knowledge; high-trust and low- knowledge partisans make similar forecasts all else equal. This finding is consistent with the literature in political psychology that examines the endorsement of conspiracy theories and …

Title Page

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Author Biographies

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

American Political Engagement: Does Food Assistance Affect Political Participation?, Maya Patterson

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

This research paper examines the role of how program participation in food access programs influences political participation in the US, specifically “Does program participation in food access programs, such as receiving benefits from SNAP or WIC, influence political participation?” Using a self-reported, weighted 2017 survey of Rural America, this study demonstrates how people receiving food benefits within the last year affect their political participation, specifically how they voted in the 2016 presidential election. This survey was collected by the Roper Center's iPOLL databank, after searching for questions about receiving food assistance. By focusing on the last decade, this research paper …

Narco Service Provisions In Tierra Caliente: La Familia Michoacana, Los Caballeros Templarios, And Los Zetas, Itzel Mendoza

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

This article analyzes the mutual relationship of dependency between civil society and narco cartels in Tierra Caliente, focusing on civilian experiences in Michoacan, Guerrero and el Estado de México. This paper will examine the functions of La Familia Michoacana, Los Caballeros Templarios and Los Zetas through community service provisions and cartels’ governance. Additionally, socioeconomic factors of Tierra Caliente will be examined to determine which types of communities lend themselves to cartels to provide community provisions as I argue that socioeconomic factors drive cartels’ operations and behaviors.

Location, Location, Location: Geographic Qualities Of Political Instability And Military Coups, William O'Connell

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Previous research has shown that political instability can lead to military coups, especially when it occurs close to the capital. However, other than proximity to the capital, no other geographic qualities of instability and their relationship to coups have been explored. Therefore, this dissertation serves as a detailed analysis of how the location of instability conditions its impact on coups.

To show how the locational qualities of instability influence coup likelihood, I borrow from expected utility models of coups, and explore how instability influences militaries’ disposition and ability to coup differently when it occurs in different areas within a country. …

Defending The Role Of A Principle Of Proportionality In Just Punishment, Emma Mecklenburg

Honors Theses

What makes a punishment just or unjust is a familiar topic that the public and scholars alike recognize as an important question. Many factors are involved in conversations surrounding the just length of sentences, but this paper will specifically investigate two central questions: First, what makes a punishment just, and second, what role does a principle of proportionality play in thinking about just punishment.

Saudi Arabia's Nuclear Decision-Making In The Era Of Mohammad Bin Salman, Andrew Brown

MSU Graduate Theses

Strategic culture plays a crucial role in shaping countries’ decision-making in regard to security and foreign policy. In the context of nuclear proliferation, strategic culture can significantly impact a country’s willingness to pursue nuclear weapons and how it calculates the risks and benefits of such a decision. This thesis examines Saudi Arabia’s decision-making under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who has brought about significant changes in the country's strategic culture through aggressive top-down reform. While much of Saudi Arabia's traditional strategic culture has remained intact under MBS and his father, King Salman, some elements have shifted …