Government & Politics Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Browsing Government & Politics Theses and Dissertations by Issue Date
Now showing 1 - 20 of 283
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item THE BANDUNG CONFERENCE(1959) Newbold, Billy Charles; Government & Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Item STANDARDIZATION AND THE UNITED STATES(1959) Moench, John Otto Dax; Government & Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)For the past decade and more, the United States, through its military departments, other agencies of government, and private organizations, has placed a considerable investment in national and international standardization. A significant portion of this effort has gone into national standardization, but, with the increasing recognition of the principle of mutual defense and economic interdependence, an ever-increasing portion of the effort has been expended to achieve international standardization. However, in spite of good intentions and the application of considerable resources to achieve standardization, the results have been limited and the program, itself, has been marked with frustration, conflict, uncertainty, ignorance, open disagreement, and confusion. This is not directly a criticism of the personnel, agencies, and organizations participating in the program- - it is more a reflection of the conditions and circumstances encountered in society and in the processes of standardization. For four years (1954- 1958) the author of this thesis was in charge of the United States Air Force international standardization effort. During that period, he became uniquely concerned with many aspects of the United States national and international standardization programs. In consideration of this experience, while the author attended the Air War College of the United States Air Force (1958- 1959) he was given authority to conduct an extensive research of the problem of standardization. Based on this research and his personal experiences, the author then prepared for the United States government a lengthy history of the problem of standardization in the United States together with a discussion of the current national and international policy, organizational, and other problems. Due to the sources of much of the information used by the author in this governmental report and the nature of some of the conclusions, the document cannot be made public. However , since there is an almost complete lack of writings in the United States on this most vital national and international subject, the author considered it worthwhile to devote this thesis to discus sing those general portions of the problem that were not of a sensitive nature. In the bibliography appended to this thesis, the author has indicated the full range of the more important documents and information sources to which he has had access. It is not thereby implied that all the cited sources have been used directly in this thesis, but the listing will serve to give the reader a feel for the base upon which the author has built this thesis.Item Problems Raised by Technological Advances on Copyright in Musical Recordings(1961) Geraci, Philip Charles; Hathorn, Guy B.; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)This thesis attempts to point out a number of lacks in the present Copyright Act which exist because of recent advances in electronic technology. Specifically, it attempts to indicate the enormous growth of electronic entertainment for the home, and to show how this new form of entertainment poses problems concerning copyright which never have existed before. Since very few cases are on record which deal with the use of recorded music at home, it has been necessary to examine cases which deal with copyright and music in general terms and to draw analogies to adapt existing precedent to new situations. It is pointed out in some detail that the Copyright Act of 1909, still in effect today, does not treat present conditions as explicitly as might be liked, and results in considerable confusion where non- commercial and non-profitable use of recorded music is concerned. The subject is of vital interest to copyright attorneys, manufacturers of recordings and recording equipment, performing rights societies, artists, and amateur hobbyists since no thorough analysis of problems raised by home recording has ever been made. The handful of acknowledged authorities on the subject have only a personal opinion on the outcome of any hypothetical case dealing with home recording. Whether or not a home recordist violates the Copyright statute when he records music from a radio has never been officially determined. It is the intent of this paper to analyze the Copyright Act and its judicial and practical application and show how. by several lines of reasoning. home recording does not infringe. The thesis is divided into chapters which deal with the growth of modern technology. the present Copyright Act. performing rights societies and judicial interpretation. Finally. a concluding chapter offers a solution to the mounting problem of home recording as it could be treated in a general revision of the Copyright Act.Item Social Communication and Black Nationalism: An Application of Karl W. Deutsch's Model of Nationalism(1970) O'Sullivan, Elizabethann; Wolfe, James H.; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)In Nationalism and Social Communication Karl W. Deutsch has developed a model to aid in the study of nationalism. The purpose of this model is to enable the researcher, investigating a national movement, to make some predictions concerning its outcome. The purpose of this thesis was to test the adequacy of Deutsch's model for a study of black nationalism in the United States, and to see what, if any, predictions might be made concerning the outcome of such a movement. The thesis was developed in accord with Deutsch's basic framework: evidences from psychological and sociological research to indicate the amount of social cohesion in the black community; applications of various demographic data to determine the direction and rate of assimilation; and, discussion of other factors, e.g., educational facilities, which will further influence the direction of assimilation. It was found that while there was some evidence of cohesion within the black community, the community felt that its values and goals could best be obtained in an integrated society. Population groups which will either actively support or oppose a national movement have grown rapidly since 1900, causing the black community to consciously define itself. Language, educational, economic and cultural factors that occur within the black community tend to be weakly differentiated, if at all, from those in the general society. The only strong factor differentiating the black community was that of symbols. It was concluded that Deutsch's framework is adequate for developing some insight into the future of black nationalism, but in order to make prediction possible better criteria for determining the assimilated population were needed. It was found that the integrationist trend in the black community seems to be strong, but that continued frustration in reaching goals might give impetus to a strong black nationalist movement.Item Dialectical Methods in Marxism and Psychoanalysis(1978) Diamond, Michael A.; Glass, James M.; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Some of the first attempts to integrate the theories of Marx and Freud began at The Frankfurt School of Germany in the 1920's. The significance of psychoanalytic theory to marxist studies arose with the critical theorist's emphasis on ideologies and the human element behind social phenomena. This paper shall trace the origins of dialectical methods in marxism and psychoanalysis from its birth within the school of critical theory. My purpose is to describe and clarify the inherent dialectical content within both conceptual frameworks. In addition, I shall discuss the major contributions to marxian-psychoanalytic theory construction and implementation. Further, I will suggest much of the rationale for combining Marx with Freud inside the discipline of political theory and political philosophy. One of my primary motives for integrating psychoanalysis and marxism is to develop a theory of "dialectical unity" for purposes of political and personal inquiry.Item Design for Decline: Executive Management and the Eclipse of NASA(1982) Petrovic, Nancy; Elkin, Stephen; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)This study examines the organizational development of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from the creation of its parent organization in 1915 through the 1960s. It focuses especially on the relationships which the organization's leadership established with external groups and individuals, as well as with its own employees . The dissertation intends to: provide a more adequate explanation of NASA's decline than currently exists; gain some insight into the management of research and development organizations within the federal government; and determine the utility of using different theoretical perspectives for exploring how organizations change. The findings from the case study are related to existing theories of organizations, and different explanations of NASA's decline are evaluated. Among the various reasons identified for NASA's decline, management's maladroit handling of several potentially conflicting organizational goals figures prominently. Steady decline in agency appropriation levels after 1965, coupled with the lack of widely agreed upon criteria to evaluate its technical and management decisions, produced in NASA a striking example of an organization unable to successfully adapt to changes in its external and internal environment.Item The Politics of Variations in U.S. Foreign Direct Investment Policy Towards Less Developed Nations, 1948-1977: Focus on 1973 Policy Reorientation(1982) McDonell, Ann Temple; Piper, Don C.; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Previous studies of U.S. policy towards foreign direct investment in less developed nations by U.S. business corporations fail to fully identify policy content and the inter play of variables over time. Utilizing a public policy approach, this research is limited in scope to investment guaranty and expropriation policy. The policies are conceptualized both as dependent variables which need to be explained and as independent variables with influence on political and economic outcomes in inter-state relations. Drawing on Congressional hearings, historical accounts, roll call votes, nationalization cases, comparative country data, and detailed investment, insurance and aid statistics, the research found that international environmental conditions precipitated the formulation of policy content through a particular policy network concerned with investment issues. Investment guaranty policy was found to be primarily determined by foreign policy goals, liberal-conservative ideology, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Congressional specialists. Politicization of investment issues, accompanied by domestic pressures, caused the breakdown of consensus and policy reorientation in 1973. Investment policy effects, measured by goal aspirations, were marginal but implementation by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation provided unexpected utilities. Adverse effects were created by concentrations of investment, a by-product of unrestricted capital flows. Expropriation policy was determined by business corporate interests and Congress. As nationalizations of U. S. property increased from 1962-1974, counterproductive policy sanctions were mandated. To avoid policy decisions as crisis response, the full range of investment policy issues needs a comprehensive coordinated re-formulation through a restructuring of priorities in the Executive branch of the U. S. government and within the international community.Item Political Economy of the Third World Bilateralism(1984) Moon, Chung-in; Pirages, Dennis; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)The birth and development of extensive bilateral economic ties between Korea and Saudi Arabia, as we explained in Chapter Four, depended only partly on a set of preconditions conducive to the rise of such bilateralism. Industrial complementarity shaped by the precise timing of development sequencing provided both countries with various economic incentives to cooperate with each other. At the same time, their structural position in the international division of labor and the constraints resulting therefrom, combined with endogenous political and economic factors, had induced political elites of both countries to share a certain strategic consensus in their foreign economic policy which nurtured a feeling of mutual necessity. In this sense, it can be argued that both Saudi Arabia and Korea were endowed with a set of necessary conditions to promote bilateral ties. However, the mere existence of these necessary conditions alone does not offer a satisfactory explanation for the dynamic interactive processes which evolved around the Saudi Arabian-Korean connection. Certainly these preconditions define the parameters of the structure of bilateral interaction between two countries in terms of economic and political factors (i.e., comparative advantage and price, structural position in the international economic system and the range of policy choice, and domestic decision-making structure and the level of bilateral preference). It is from these preconditions that we can deduce a set of causal conditions leading to the rise of bilateral ties. Nevertheless, the process-level dynamics and the mechanisms through which this bilateral connection developed are not explained in these preconditions. In this connection, Chapter Two asserted that "the channel and process-level dynamics of inter-South bilateralism are a function of entrepreneurial dynamism (private) in general and the nature of business -state relationship in particular." In other words, since private entrepreneurs carry out economic transactions between two countries, it is essential to examine the role of private entrepreneurship in the evolution of the Saudi Arabian- Korean connection. Under standing the nature of entrepreneurial dynamism within the bilateral setting is not an easy task. However, Chapter Two identifies four behavioral and structural factors associated with business practices of private entrepreneurs: perception or monitoring capability of new markets, overall entry conditions in new markets, market penetration strategy, and the nature of a business connection as a structural determinant of the effectiveness of market penetration. This chapter's hypothesis is that the keener the perception of the new market the more effective the penetration strategy, and the more extensive the magnitude of business connections, the higher the level of bilateral economic transactions. once caveat is in order, however. The entrepreneurial dynamism involved in the Saudi-Korean connection is chiefly one way, rather than two way. While Korean businessmen were anxious to get into the Saudi market, Saudi entrepreneurs were less interested in Korea because their involvement with Korea was solely based on oil exports which did not require entrepreneurial efforts. We focus primarily, therefore, on the entrepreneurial dynamism exhibited by Korean businessmen and on the receptivity of Saudi entrepreneurs.Item Police Chief Professionalism: Does Race Make a Difference?(1992) Fisher-Stewart, Gayle A.H.; Marando, Vincent; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Research abounds on the police officer and his/her function in society. However, little research has been conducted on the police chief this most vital public administrator. His/her attitudes and perceptions about the job of police chief and the function of policing in American society assists in determining the values and attitudes of those who have awesome power in society -the ability to take life and liberty. In addition to the lack of research on the police chief, in general, there is no data on the black police chief whose numbers have increased dramatically over the years. As city mayors and other governmental officials are selecting police chiefs, should race be a and their roles differently from non-black police chiefs? This study focused on the attitudes and perceptions about the job and the issue of professionalism of this vital policymaker and whether those attitudes and perceptions affected the management of the police agency in terms of crime control/prevention philosophies. Using a self-administered questionnaire and the focus group technique, 165 police chiefs from all size departments, with varied backgrounds, were asked their opinions on the police chief job, the role of race in terms of their career, relationships with the community, management of the police agency, and the issue of professionalism. The findings tend to contradict the assertion of previous researchers and writers. First, there is consensus on what constitutes the job. Although traditional attitudes are still present, the majority of police chiefs hold attitudes that are community or future oriented. Second, in terms of professionalism, while the findings of previous (although limited) studies were upheld, their attitudes are supportive of four of the seven classical professionalism criteria. Third, although community oriented policing can assist in strengthening the police chief claim to professionalism, those police chiefs who "scored" low on professionalism were more likely to command a police agency involved in community oriented policing. Finally, with the exception of educational level and job experiences, the attitudes of black police chiefs were no different than those of non-blacks. The major conclusion of this study is that more research needs to be conducted on the American police chief. As society and its needs and problems are constantly and rapidly changing, there is a need to know what characteristics should be evident in the police chief selected to deal with those issues and who will lead the future police agency. Another conclusion is that with the variations in attitudes and perceptions about the nature of the job, there needs to be a basic "police chief curriculum" that all police chiefs should undergo. Inasmuch as police chiefs come from within the occupation, there also needs to be an analysis of training curricula from recruit level up through and including the executive level to determine if future police chiefs are being prepared to assume this most important leadership role.Item Making a Difference: The Policy Influence of Black State Legislators in Policy Making(2000-05) DeWeever, Guy Earl Wendell; Williams, Linda Faye; Government and Politics; University of Maryland (College Park, Md); Digital Repository at the University of MarylandBy utilizing various quantitative techniques and case study analysis, the dissertation examines the policy influence of black state legislators on the new welfare reform plan, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The dissertation begins with the analysis of a national survey of black state legislators; conducts a 50 state quantitative analysis of state-wide socioeconomic and demographic data as well as political variables; and composes an index of punitive welfare reform options chosen by states. In addition to the quantitative analyses, the dissertation also conducts case study analyses of Maryland and Mississippi to add depth and context. Theoretically, the study positions itself and the nexus of state income redistribution, black politics, and political economy. Once merged, these literatures provide an informed perspective no the combined influences of race, politics, and economics on redistributive public policies in the American states. The findings of the quantitative analysis were inconclusive. The dissertation found an inverse relationship between the proportion of black state legislators and the monetary assistance provided TANF recipients. As black state legislators proportionally increased, monetary benefits decreased. Surprisingly and counter to theories of income redistribution, the addition of socioeconomic, demographic, and political control variables – although contributing to greater explanatory ability of the overall model – were not able to reverse the negative relationship between percentage of blacks in state legislatures and the monetary outlays to TANF recipients. The case study analysis found that context played an important role in the effectiveness of black state legislators. The institutional position of Maryland’s black members provided them the opportunity to play and integral role in TANF policy making. In general, pragmatism rule the day in Maryland as consensus was reached with little conflict or controversy. In contrast, Mississippi’s welfare reform was heightened by the subtext of racial stereotyping, general disagreement, and unrealized expectations by Mississippi’s Legislative Black Caucus members. Furthermore, the inability of Mississippi’s black members to play a central role in TANF, particularly and policy making, in general, was heightened as a result of their lack of institutional power. Despite the differences in institutional authority and policy making, both Maryland and Mississippi legislators felt that TANF did not provide them an opportunity to model the legislation to meet their states’ individual needs. TANF, it was reported, was restrictive and not as enabling as it was originally touted to be!Item African American Women State Legislators: The Impact of Gender and Race on Legislative Influence(2001) Smooth, Wendy G.; Williams, Linda Faye; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)The increasing diversity of state legislatures coupled with the transference of power back to the states through devolution necessitates a closer look at these governing institutions. This study focuses on influence in state legislatures, questioning the impact of this increased diversity on the allocation of institutional influence. In this study, I specifically focus on the experiences of African American women state legislators to discern the impact of both race and gender on legislative influence. To do this, I analyzed both African American women's self-perceived influence, and their colleagues' perceptions. By utilizing an institutional approach, this analysis moves beyond state legislators' attributes and addresses the institutional and contextual variables that play a role in determining legislative influence. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to address its major research questions. In addition to conducting the National Survey of African American Women State Legislators, I also conducted face-to-face interviews with a cross section of legislators in Georgia, Maryland and Mississippi; document analysis; and participant observation. The resulting data show that both gender and race play a role in determining who is regarded as influential in state legislatures. Reflective of the deeply embedded gender and race divides existing in the state legislatures studied, influence is found to be both race and gender specific. African American women's influence was largely limited to other African Americans. Few white legislators considered any African American legislators as influential. Further, I find that while some African American women have acquired the attributes that traditionally confer influence in state legislatures, they have not acquired the institutional power and influence that are traditionally associated with these attributes. I also find that the legislative context matters significantly in the allocation of legislative influence. African American women were more likely to be perceived as influential in more professional legislatures that preference knowledge of policy issues and prior expertise as opposed to less professional legislatures that were more apt to operate according to norms reflecting gender and race-based preferences. Overall, the findings of this dissertation confirm that preferences around gender and race have become institutionalized and manifest as norms governing legislative behavior. State legislatures, like other institutions do not escape the ills of their state's political culture; instead, they most often mirror it.Item The Origins and Implementation of the 1992 Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) Agreement(2002) Perry, Todd E.; Quester, GeorgeThe 1992 Nuclear Suppliers (NSG) Agreement remains the only multilateral forum, with the exception of the complementary Zangger Committee, in which states capable of supplying nuclear and nuclear-related technologies attempt to constrain the flow of these technologies to countries of proliferation concern. This study reviews the history of multilateral nuclear nonproliferation export control cooperation and complementary international safeguards systems leading up to the conclusion of the 1992 NSG Agreement. This review reveals that nuclear-related crises like the Indian nuclear explosion of the 1974 and the discovery of the Iraqi near-proliferation in 1991 have been the most proximate causes of multilateral reforms, but that U.S. domestic politics has been the primary filter through which these crises have been interpreted and subsequently translated into domestic and multilateral export control arrangements. This study therefore asks the question as to whether or not the "feedback loop" between proliferation-related crises and multilateral export control reform remains in place. To evaluate the main variables responsible for reform and the evolving relationships between them, three increasingly stringent stages of multilateral export controls on nuclear weapons-related technology from 1943 to 1992 are analyzed. These variables are then reviewed for the 1992-2002 period and compared to the three earlier stages of reform to assess the continued relevance of the determinative factors of Cold War-era export control reforms to the export control challenges of the 21st century. This study concludes that the crisis-reform dynamic is unlikely to repeat itself due to changes at the U.S. domestic level, but that knowledgeable bureaucrats and outside experts remain prepared to pursue reform should U.S. leaders attempt to pursue reform in the absence of the public pressures created by a nuclear-related crisis.Item PEOPLE VS. BORDERS: COMPETING INTERNATIONAL NORMS OF PROTECTION IN COMPLEX HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES(2003) Weil, Carola; Quester, George; Government & Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)This dissertation tests the merits of two prevalent claims in the contemporary study of international relations: 1) that values and principles matter in international relations, and 2) that the increased emphasis on human rights and humanitarianism is eroding state sovereignty. The dissertation builds on social-constructivist approaches to international relations theory, most notably the work of scholars such as Martha Finnemore, Alexander Wendt, Thomas Risse, and Katherine Sikkink among others. The dissertation develops a conceptual framework for dynamic policy agenda-setting, and combines it with a case-study to investigate the competition between humanitarian/human rights and sovereignty norms. Focused on the African Great Lakes region, specifically the Rwandan genocide and humanitarian crises from 1993 to 1996, it assesses the impact of humanitarian principles in complex humanitarian emergencies (CHEs); i.e., sudden, internal social-political and usually violent crises involving large-scale forcible displacements of populations within and across national boundaries. Specifically the dissertation asks how do international humanitarian protection norms affect the international community’s responses to complex humanitarian emergencies. The theoretical model of norms competition and case study provide evidence for the role of norms as so-called ‘enablers’ but not as direct causal mechanisms for political behavior. Competition among norms contributes to a pattern of punctuated equilibria in the international humanitarian agenda. This study highlights the continuing importance of sovereignty and state interests as structural constraints on the growing significance of humanitarianism. The role of member states in influencing outcomes at the United Nations, the apparent weakness of transnational networks in international political communities, and the treatment of forcibly displaced peoples in particular suggest that boundaries and sovereign authority remain central to international relations. There exists a hierarchy of international protection norms that determines the speed, degree, and level of responses to humanitarian emergencies. An international military intervention response to CHEs ultimately depends on the relative cost of humanitarian norms to key constituencies within the international community, even as humanitarian intervention gains in legitimacy as a tool of international relations.Item An Investigation of the Contributions of Plato and Aristotle to the Development of the Concept of Toleration(2003-12-05) Sahin, Bican; Butterworth, Charles E.; Government and PoliticsABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF PLATO AND ARISTOTLE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF TOLERATION Bican Sahin, Doctor of Philosophy, 2003 Dissertation Directed by: Professor Charles E. Butterworth Department of Government and Politics This dissertation is about the concept of toleration. It asks: "Did Plato and Aristotle contribute to the emergence of toleration?" This question is important because it is widely believed that the concept of toleration is a product of modern times. If it can be shown that although they did not have an explicit theory of toleration the ancients had something to say about it, this would be a significant improvement in our understanding of the historical evolution of toleration. In the first part of the dissertation the relationship between skepticism and toleration is analyzed. The examination of the theories of knowledge of Plato and Aristotle shows that neither philosopher was a skeptic, thus, they did not contribute to the emergence of toleration on the basis of skepticism. While Plato fits the definition of the "dogmatist," Aristotle has a more modest stance in his claims of knowledge in the fields of ethics and politics. To the extent that Aristotle does not reject other views absolutely, it can be expected that he would be more tolerant. In the second part, the relationship between prudence and toleration is examined. Upon a close examination of Plato and Aristotle's moral and political views, it becomes clear that Plato emphasizes harmony and order in both individual and society and to that extent rejects conflict that can be caused by moral and/or ideological differences. Thus, he does not have a prudent approach to conflict emphasizing stability and peace rather than harmony. On the other hand, Aristotle exhibits a prudent stance towards conflict in the polis. Although he also has an ideal view of politics in which conflict is minimized, Aristotle does not dismiss less than perfect political arrangements. By requiring the citizens to be ready to have consensus only on the matters that concern everybody, Aristotle's concept of political friendship provides a private sphere in which the citizens can experience their differences. In this regard, on the basis of prudence, Aristotle's concept of political friendship is similar to the modern concept of toleration in terms of not enforcing uniformity among the citizens.Item The Politics of Public Participation and the Emergence of Environmental Proto-Movements in China(2003-12-09) Brettell, Anna M.; Pearson, Margaret M; Conca, Ken; Schreurs, Miranda A; Economy, Elizabeth C; Government and PoliticsThis dissertation provides new empirical evidence which shows that environmental activism has been increasing in China since the early 1990s. It explains why participation has increased and why it varies across provinces. It examines the potential emergence of environmental movements and shows the utility of applying social movement theories to studying participation more broadly. Finally, It shows how participation makes a difference in policy outcomes. Both qualitative and quantitative methods, including a statistical analysis of ten years of environmental data, an examination of 125 disputes and over 100 interviews in China, are used to examine the dominant modes of citizen participation; these include direct citizen protests, the dispute resolution and complaint systems, state-mobilized campaigns, and environmental social organizations. New political opportunities for citizen activism have opened up because authorities have encouraged participation. Authorities need participation to achieve policy goals, however this need is in constant tension with the desire to control it. While political opportunities have allowed for greater participation, they remain limiting factors to the emergence of traditional movements. Grievances, mobilizational structures, and framing processes, also are factors in determining patterns of participation. The Chinese regime has become more responsive to citizen environmental grievances and since the 1980s, there has been a "sophistication" of state-society relations. This, however, does not represent a significant change in the principals guiding the Chinese state. This research illustrates how political opportunity structures in reforming, one-party, corporatist countries like China differ from such structures in freer states. It shows how the Chinese State's approaches have largely worked in containing widespread social unrest. Authorities have encouraged participation in some channels but limited it in others. They utilize the familiar tools of repression and suppression as well as new tools, including regulations, institutions, and processes, through which they shape, channel, and control participation. On the other hand, citizens have taken advantage of opportunities. In some areas, they have established primarily autonomous environmental groups, practice "civil politics," and have created a vibrant conservation proto-movement. Proto-movements exhibit many of the attributes of traditional social movements, and can be precursors to them, but remain constrained by limited political opportunities.Item The Quest for the Multiracial Mandate: African American Candidates, White Voters, and Campaign Strategies in State Legislative Elections(2004-04-26) Stokes, Atiya Kai; Herrnson, Paul S; Government and PoliticsSince the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the number of African American elected officials at all levels of government has increased significantly. These candidates have traditionally been successful in districts where African Americans constitute a majority of the population. However, in recent years, African American candidates have been successful in racial diverse and majority-white districts. Given these victories, some scholars suggest that the saliency of candidate race has decreased in American campaigns and elections. While several scholars have researched the impact of race on elections, most attention to this subject has been devoted to congressional elections. As a result, we have little understanding of how race affects state legislative elections. Thus, this dissertation attempts to fill this gap by examining how candidate race, white voting, and campaign strategies impact the campaigns of African American state legislative candidates. White voters' dispositions toward race continue to place strategic imperatives on African American candidates (Reeves, 1997; Sigelman et al. 1995; Terkildsen 1993; Citron et al. 1990). Therefore, I argue that African American candidates who utilize deracialized electoral strategies are more likely to garner higher levels of white voter support and win state legislative elections. Using a multi-methodological approach including a national representative survey of candidates who competed in state legislative elections in 1996 and 1998, precinct level data to examine white crossover voting in twelve biracial elections in 2000, and qualitative interviews with state legislative candidates, I demonstrate that while African American and white state legislative candidates organize their campaigns in a similar manner, candidate race and campaign related factors, specifically issue and voter targeting strategies, influence the electoral success of African American state legislative candidates.Item Building Good Citizens: The Roles of School Size and Community Context in the Development of Democratic Values(2004-04-29) Lay, Jennifer Celeste; Gimpel, James G; Galston, William A; Government and PoliticsThis project examines the role of place in the socialization of young people into civic values, such as participation and tolerance. Are smaller communites better able to foster democratic values than larger ones? Are young people growing up in racially, economically and politically heterogeneous environments more likely to be politically active than those in homogeneous communities? These questions are related to perennial issues within political science, and are also closely tied to important questions in education policy related to school size. The case made by educational scholars that smaller schools are better for most educational outcomes is similar to the arguments others make about the benefits of small communities. I test whether smaller schools are better for democratic values, and examine the relationship between school size and community context. Are smaller schools better because of their size, or because they are most often found in smaller, more homogeneous communities? The results show that young people growing up in smaller towns, and those in less heterogeneous communities have higher levels of political knowledge and participation in school activities, but are less racially tolerant than adolescents living in larger, more diverse communities. In addition, the findings show that school size has very little influence on democratic values, except that young people in smaller schools are more likely to participate in school activities; and, smaller schools are of some benefit to children in urban areas. The final chapter discusses these results in terms of their normative and policy significance.Item Illusions of Freedom(2004-04-29) Brodin, Lars Jonas; Terchek, Ronald; Tismaneanu, Vladimir; Government and PoliticsThis dissertation examines Marxism's and liberalism's conceptions of freedom as they appear both in the respective theories and in the societies inspired by these theories. It argues that both Marxism's and liberalism's notions of freedom are illusory, because neither conception of freedom can be adequately implemented in practice. Marxism can neither realize the freedom of the creatively producing individual nor create a society based on total freedom that is not at the same time totally oppressive. Similarly, liberalism cannot deliver on its promise to protect the individual from outside interference with her autonomy. The danger of trying to implement the Marxist and liberal conceptions of freedom is that the resulting societies may push individuals into strictly private, isolated lives which are neither free nor autonomous. But there are, as Hannah Arendt points out, alternative conceptions of freedom within both the Marxist and liberal traditions; these conceptions view freedom and autonomy as something practiced in public rather than in private. This is the type of freedom which informed the revolutions of 1989, and if we want to give liberal democracy a chance of fulfilling its promise of freedom, we must protect the everyday public spaces in which people can practice alternative forms of freedom.Item Military Innovation and the American Revolution in Military Affairs(2004-04-30) Tomes, Robert R.; Quester, George; Government and PoliticsTwo objectives motive this study: relating key aspects of an intrinsically important military innovation period of interest to students of U.S. defense transformation and proposing an innovation framework to facilitate additional military innovation studies. The innovation period spans 1973 through 1986. A military innovation framework is proposed to help students of military change assess contextual and organizational factors influencing the ripeness of an innovation milieu.Item Agriculture, Trade, and Development in the International Political Economy: A Case Study of Jamaica(2004-05-12) Calhoun, Michelle Benjamin; Schreurs, Miranda; Government and PoliticsThis project hypothesizes that Jamaica should be more developed given its natural and human resource endowment. In light of Jamaica's agricultural underdevelopment, the project utilizes an agricultural framework to assess the processes by which politico-economic forces have shaped development in Jamaica and the larger Caribbean since independence. The project conjectures that both externally-driven and domestically-motivated forces have impeded Jamaica's development and investigates the extent to which these forces have forestalled national development. In so doing, the research tests the validity of the following competing theories of development for Jamaica: neoliberalism and dependencia. The Jamaican experience is highlighted as a case study that is representative of and generalizable to the Caribbean at large. As the Caribbean country that is arguably the most structurally adjusted in the region, with significant ties to the United States, the Jamaican experience can be viewed in the (dominant) neoliberal paradigm as the "best case scenario" for development in the region, one that should have "made it." As Elsie Le Franc (1994) stated, "one can always identify 'winners' and 'losers' in any situation of change, but it is necessary to try to tackle that more difficult issue of whether or not any identifiable winners can function, and most important, expand in a market economy." The research therefore demonstrates how structural adjustment conditionalities; bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade realities; limited investment into local agriculture; and overall domestic apathy and lack of agricultural reform have played out in what has been argued to be a model case for socioeconomic expansion, and how they have shaped that country's development and options in our rapidly globalizing market economy. The project's research findings reveal the conception of development, neoliberal or dependency, that is more relevant to Jamaica's experience. Finally, recognizing that mainstream strategies of development have not eradicated the problems of Caribbean underdevelopment, the project proposes an alternate model of development that reflects the voice of all segments of society and has at its core a strong state that fosters technological innovation, encourages export diversification, and channels investment to improve Jamaica's production, productivity, and competitiveness in the international political economy.