Search results

Title: "Engendering" Environmental Policy: An Analysis of Women's Legislative Advocacy in the U.S. Congress
Creator: Jonas-Day, Julia Erica (Julia Erica Jonas-Day) (Author), (Sarah Wiliarty) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2012-04-15
Description: 2012, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/793, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: "I'd Better Damn Well Be There for the Takeoffs": Reinvigorating U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the Wake of the Arab Spring
Creator: Davis, Amy Elizabeth (Amy Elizabeth Davis) (Author), (Kent Freeze) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2013-05-23
Description: 2013, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/997, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: "See Where It Takes You:" Attitude Formation and Collective Memory on USY Israel Pilgrimage
Creator: Kaplan, Talia Laya (Talia Laya Kaplan) (Author), (Douglas Foyle) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2018-04-15
Description: This thesis uses a specific high school trip to Israel?USY Pilgrimage?to learn about how Conservative Jewish Zionism manifests and to discern the impacts of teen travel to Israel on attitude formation and collective memory. For this study, a group of USYers participated a panel survey that produced data on attitudes both before and after trips to Israel in 2017. I find that USYers go into trips with collective memory that aligns with Conservative Jewish ideology, and this collective memory remains intact over the course of the trip. Trips reinforce general attitudes and form more specific ones: Upon return from USY Israel Pilgrimage, participants perceive that they are more knowledgeable about events and individuals that fit into a Zionist narrative about Israel?s history, and they develop foreign policy attitudes affiliated with militant internationalism. Additionally, their Jewish priorities shift; when asked about aspects of Judaism that have personal significance, participants, on average, place a greater value (both statistically and relative to other question items) on history and the State of Israel than they did before the trip. Experiential Israel education has the power to impact attitudes--both about Israel, specifically, and global issues (like foreign policy outlook)--so educators should think intentionally about content design and execution., 2018, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/2059, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: (K)not on Our Watch: The Politics of Saving Migratory Shorebirds in Delaware Bay
Creator: Catania, Taran Rosenfeld (Taran Rosenfeld Catania) (Author), (Marc Eisner) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2013-05-23
Description: Every year, shorebirds like the red knot make a remarkable roundtrip migration from the southernmost tip of South America to the Canadian Arctic. Their survival is dependent on the mid-migration nourishment of horseshoe crab eggs. With the world's largest concentration of horseshoe crabs, Delaware Bay serves as the principal migratory stopover for shorebirds. Due to horseshoe crab overharvesting by fishing and pharmaceutical industries, shorebird populations are rapidly declining. This thesis examines the political aspect of shorebird conservation. Limitations in the institutional architecture of federal statutes and public regulators, compounded by the difficulty of funding nongame species management, have made shorebird conservation a challenge. In response, public and private environmental organizations in Delaware Bay have formed ad hoc collaborative partnerships to improve horseshoe crab management and prevent shorebird extinction., 2013, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1084, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: A Balancing Act: Population Policy, Son Preference, and Asia's Missing Daughters
Creator: Cies, Alison Harris (Alison Harris Cies) (Author), (Michael Nelson) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2011-04-15
Description: 2011, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/600, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: A Bellicist Theory of War-Making and State Power in the Modern Middle East
Creator: Trexler, Andrew Robert Lee (Andrew Robert Lee Trexler) (Author), (Joslyn Trager) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2014-04-15
Description: 2014, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1252, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: A Comparative Study of Prisoner Disenfranchisement in Western Democracies
Creator: Bonneau, Alyssa Nicole (Alyssa Nicole Bonneau) (Author), (Jennifer Smith) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2014-04-15
Description: 2014, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1228, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: Addressing HIV/AIDS in South Africa and Uganda: Successes, Failures, and Recommendations for Other Sub-Saharan African Countries
Creator: Bell, Sarah Grace (Sarah Grace Bell) (Author), (Giulio Gallarotti) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2009-04-15
Description: 2009, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/292, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: An Examination of Ideologically Extreme Congressional Primary Candidates
Creator: Greene, Adam Miles (Adam Miles Greene) (Author), (Logan Dancey) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2016-04-15
Description: Since the 1970s, the process of polarization in American politics has resulted in a growing divide between the Republican and Democratic parties. In recent decades, there has been a growing number of ideologically extreme candidates in congressional elections and extreme politicians in Congress. Political scientists have devoted considerable attention to this polarization process and the study of congressional elections. This thesis works to contribute to this segment of the literature by conducting a quantitative analysis aimed at determining the conditions that are most conducive to extremist success in congressional primaries. The results of this study point to the critical importance of fundraising in both absolute and relative terms, in regards to extremist success. They also demonstrate that partisan leanings of districts and states play a role in the chances that the most extreme candidate wins the primary. There is mixed evidence as to the impact of district education levels and no evidence to suggest that neither primary type, nor the size of the field of candidates influences extremist success., 2016, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1700, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: An Unfulfilled Promise: Persistent Inequality in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Creator: Glick, Olivia Eng (Olivia Eng Glick) (Author), (Michael Nelson) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2016-04-15
Description: Why has inequality between South Africa’s racial groups persisted, and in some cases worsened, in South Africa since the end of the apartheid? This project answers this question using three levels of analysis: the global system, the state level and the sector-specific (employment and education) level. I contextualize post-apartheid South African development as an outcome of global forces as well as the result of decisions by individual and group state actors. On the global level, I draw on both Wallerstein’s world-systems analysis and Gilpin’s state-centric realism as theoretical frames of reference. I argue that South Africa’s position as a middle-income, semi periphery country within a Western-hegemonic world system has largely shaped South African development. While state actors promoted policy choices they believed to be in the interests of South Africa, the state’s position within the greater world system limited the extent of agency these actors could exercise. On the state level, I analyze persistent inequality through five causal factors: the apartheid legacy, the neoliberal agenda, the business-political elite, unions and corruption. I argue that the apartheid legacy, the neoliberal agenda and the business-political alliance are the most important factors for inequality. Neoliberal policies, pushed by the business and political elite, have stratified the labor market and the education system into a two-tiered system, defined by the apartheid legacy. Unions and corruption are also important, but insufficient on their own to create these patterns of inequality. Finally, on a sector-specific level, I find that while immigration is widely perceived as a major cause of inequality within employment, this belief is largely baseless and speaks more closely to growing public frustrations. I also find that teacher quality is an important causal mechanism for wide gaps in education between races., 2016, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1551, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: Angels, Actual Reality & AIDS in New Haven: a Case Study
Creator: Nichols, Michele Elise (Michele Elise Nichols) (Author), (Melanye Price) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2009-04-15
Description: A case study of the response to HIV/AIDS in New Haven, Connecticut., 2009, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/313, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: Another Path to Democracy: Investigating the Relationship Between Nonviolent Resistance and Democratization
Creator: Liu, Leonid (Leonid Liu) (Author), (Logan Dancey) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2014-04-15
Description: Does the choice to adopt nonviolent tactics of civil conflict, rather than violent ones, lead to more democratic outcomes? If so, which democratic transitions can be attributed to nonviolent resistance, and which ones cannot? What causal mechanisms explain how and why there exists a relationship between nonviolent resistance and democratization? By examining the 250 violent and nonviolent civil conflicts between 1945 and 2006 in the NAVCO 2.0 data set and using newly developed methods in the causal inference literature, my empirical thesis produces several findings: (1) nonviolent resistance substantially increases the likelihood of democratization, and the relationship is unlikely spurious or endogenous, (2) nearly all democratic transitions following nonviolent resistance would likely not have occurred when they did had the same campaign used primarily violent tactics, and (3) the relationship between nonviolent resistance and democratization is partially mediated by a success mechan, 2014, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1305, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: BCRA in Color: Incorporating Race into the Campaign Finance Debate
Creator: Dockeray, Alan Kennith (Alan Kennith Dockeray) (Author), (Melanye Price) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2008-05-01
Description: 2008, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/108, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: Bolivia Under the Mas: A Case Study for Assessing Proto-Democratic Characteristics in Hybrid Regimes
Creator: Ellerbeck, Alexandra Carlyn (Alexandra Carlyn Ellerbeck) (Author), (James McGuire) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2013-05-23
Description: 2013, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1078, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: Bush, Obama, and Terrorism: A New Framework for Analyzing Threat Response Rhetoric
Creator: Gillombardo, Tabitha Courtland (Tabitha Courtland Gillombardo) (Author), (Ioana Emy Matesan) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2016-04-15
Description: This thesis presents a new strategy for analyzing threat response rhetoric that is grounded in the five potential responses an actor can have to a threat. An actor can (1) discuss the threat within the context of international law; (2) try to rally support for his foreign policy through (a) fear, or (b) nationalism; or (3) give in to the temptation of reinforcing in-group and out-group mentality through (a) dehumanizing the enemy, or (b) exoticizing the enemy. I elaborate on these five potential responses by linking them with the literature that explains each response’s framing—just war theory, securitization theory, rally around the flag effect, social psychology, and orientalism. I summarize each of these theories and conclude with the lexical triggers that we expect to see if the actor invokes a given literature’s framing to talk about the threat and the enemy. I demonstrate the effectiveness of this framework through a case study: President George H. W. Bush and President Barack Obama’ terrorism rhetoric. Although I apply this new framework to presidents and look at their response to terrorism, it can be used to analyze any actor’s rhetoric on any type of threat. My new approach addresses the weaknesses of the existing literature. The research is repeatable and allows for an easy comparison of multiple actors’ threat response rhetoric., 2016, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1552, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: Congress and the Constituent: Investigating Member Responsiveness in Contemporary Congresses
Creator: Wulderk, Zachary Ryan (Zachary Ryan Wulderk) (Author), (Logan Dancey) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2015-04-15
Description: This thesis examines whether the relationship between members of Congress and their constituents has changed as increased partisanship and polarization have altered the American political environment. I investigate the link between district demographics, district ideology, and member ideology to determine the factors to which members are most responsive. Largely drawing on US Census data, DW-NOMINATE scores, and my own original data, I pay special attention to House Republican legislation related to nationally salient issues—the Affordable Care Act and executive action on immigration—under the Obama administration. I find that members’ own ideological leanings affect their decisions to sponsor and cosponsor, as do demographic factors, although neither factor is a consistent influence on behavior. The district’s strength of partisan preference, however, does not play a role. As a result, contemporary conceptions of member responsiveness to constituents should reflect this nuanced view of legislative behavior., 2015, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1451, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: Contested Nature: Displacement, Exclusion, and Contradiction in Urban Parks Policy
Creator: Klein, Mira Rachel (Mira Rachel Klein) (Author), (Yamil Velez) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2017-04-15
Description: The Community Parks Initiative is New York City’s recently-implemented policy to address a long history of inequity across the city’s park spaces. Amidst rapid gentrification, however, these park improvements may serve to augment broader processes of neighborhood change and displacement. In a process called “environmental gentrification,” park renovation can simultaneously exclude some residents from these newly beautified parks. In the context of this “pernicious paradox,” the creation of park equity must be more thoroughly examined. The Community Parks Initiative provides a unique opportunity to tackle questions of environmental gentrification. From the structure and text of the initiative to its implementation and impact, the Community Parks Initiative sits at the nexus of green space rhetoric, community-level changes, and infrastructural improvement in a time of housing and displacement crises. Through this project I take on an examination of environmental gentrification as it relates to this particular urban parks policy, using this analysis to more broadly investigate how public green spaces are made for some and not others. While employing this critical lens, I also challenge the presumed inevitability of environmental gentrification and its exclusionary impacts. In doing so, I hope to find ways to disrupt existing relationships between park renovation and urban displacement., 2017, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1747, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: Continuing Barriers to Parity in Participation: An Empirical Investigation of the Gender Gap in American Campaign Contributions
Creator: King, Carly Rogers (Carly Rogers King) (Author), (Logan Dancey) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2018-04-15
Description: Women in the United States have made up a lower percentage of political donors and accounted for a lower percentage of total campaign dollars in every national election cycle for which contribution data is reported and publicly available. While a significant body of literature has addressed women?s under-involvement and underrepresentation in American politics, comparatively little research has been conducted on the gender gap in political giving. This thesis employs qualitative, empirical and experimental approaches to investigate why this gap has become a fixture in our political system, despite the impressive increases in women?s empowerment, political engagement and participation that have occurred over the 170 years. I begin by reviewing the political impacts of the three major waves of the 20th century feminist movement and the significant female political mobilization that has occurred in recent years as a result of Hillary Clinton?s presidential campaign, Donald Trump?s election, and the rise of the #MeToo movement. After analyzing data drawn largely from Federal Election Commission reports and American National Election Studies surveys, I find that women?s rates of educational attainment, employment, political engagement and political activity now rival or even surpass those of their male counterparts. However, further analysis shows that women are still significantly disadvantaged financially and less likely to be solicited for political donations than men, two possible explanations for why so little progress has been made in closing the gender gap in giving. Finally, I present the results of an experimental survey designed as a causal test of past explanations for women?s low propensity to make political donations. I find that women were just as, if not more, likely than men to contribute in the experimental setting. These results, considered alongside the increases in female contributions that have been galvanized in recent years by the current sociopolitical climate, paint a more optimistic picture of the future of women?s political giving., 2018, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1911, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: David Amongst Goliaths: The Far-Reaching Effects of Regime Change in Nepal on Aid and International Politics
Creator: Adhikari, Sadichchha (Sadichchha Adhikari) (Author), (Mary Alice Haddad) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2016-04-15
Description: Despite the globally devastating economic recession and the politically strained situation in Nepal, foreign aid from China, Japan, and the United States increased significantly in the year 2008. Scholars have remained focused on historical development of aid, the effectiveness of aid, or aid's influence on democratization, but have rarely addressed the effects of regime change on foreign aid patterns. The case study of Nepal addresses the impactful effects of regime change by investigating foreign policy patterns of China, Japan, and the United States in relation to Nepal's new regime. It challenges McKinley and Little's (1979) donor interest and recipient need model to include an important new factor, recipient political conditions, in determining changes to foreign aid patterns. Additionally, this case study also exemplifies the importance of examining multilateral effects of bilateral foreign aid and establishes secularization as an important catalyst in altering aid patterns., 2016, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1556, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Title: Dictators, Terrorists, and Politics: American Foreign Policy Toward Libya in the Obama and Trump Administrations
Creator: Wadlow, Joshua Allen (Joshua Allen Wadlow) (Author), (Douglas Foyle) (Thesis advisor)
Date: 2018-04-15
Description: President Obama and President Trump are typically perceived as being spectacularly dissimilar in their understanding of, and idealized reactions to, policy of all kinds, including foreign policy. In 2010, the wave of political upheaval that is popularly called the Arab Spring spread to Libya and the Obama administration was forced to decide how they would address it. Humanitarian concerns drew them in to what they hoped would be a brief conflict and transition of power. By the end of Obama?s second term, he had faced political scandal due to terrorist attacks and expanded a series of executive orders to allow for an indefinite continuation of the conflict. The newly elected President Trump came in with a dual rhetoric that encompassed both the need to avoid meddling in foreign wars and the desire to crush terrorism abroad. He has now engaged in the slowly imploding Libyan state in much the same manner as his predecessor, despite his insistence that he would be able to avoid President Obama?s mistakes. This thesis examines the factors that drove these two disparate figures towards an area of near-overlapping policy about the contentious Libyan conflict., 2018, Old URL: https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/2007, In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted (InC-NC)

Digital Collections

Pages

Pages