Government & Politics Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2775
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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 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 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 ELECTORAL LOSS AND CONTENTION(2019) Patch, Allison Kathryn; Birnir, Johanna K; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation is an exploration of the consequences of elections for those kept out of power. I draw from both the winner-loser gap literature, which explores attitude differences between winners and losers following elections focusing on individual voters as they process electoral results, and the electoral contention literature, which examines the causes and consequences of protests, riots, and violence connected to electoral contests focusing on the elites. My dissertation works to bring these two literatures by examining the factors that create opportunities for attitude and behavioral change for those who are unable to access power in the aftermath of elections. The first two papers use surveys to focus on individuals—their personal identities and their attitudes towards democracy and political contention or violence. The third paper examines the motivations of individual leaders in making public accusations of fraud and the consequences these accusations have on the voters’ perception of the legitimacy of elections and the likelihood of electoral contention. Through the ideas explored in these papers, this dissertation provides further context for differences in attitudes between winners and losers towards democracy and contention, while also cautioning some of the more dire predictions of the consequences of the gap in perceptions and attitudes between winners and losers. Additionally, by examining the ramifications of fraud accusations in the wake of election loss, we can see a better picture of the kinds of motivations that can successfully mobilize those out of power to contention.Item OVERCOMING NON-COOPERATION: DESIGNING A PATENT SYSTEM FOR THE PUBLIC(2019) Leaderman, Arthur Isaac; Soltan, Karol E; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Patents allocate power by assigning exclusive property rights to persons who claim to have discovered new scientific or technical art. Accordingly, infringers can be treated like trespassers. In a longstanding theoretical quarrel, some insist that these exclusive rights serve society as incentives to innovation and as just rewards for inventors. Others counter that learning is socially generated and that intangible ideas should not be privately rationed. Theory aside, the institutional facts are polycentric and modulated. While a dominant regime of codes and treaties indeed protects exclusionary property in ideas, several enduring exceptions (subregimes) counter patent exclusivity. Regulations in the technology domains of environment, energy, pesticides, plant genetic resources, and some pharmaceuticals, for example, sometimes set aside strict exclusionary norms and force a patent holder to include others in a semi-commons of cooperative sharing. This dissertation observes that the polycentricity and variability in the patent system expose resistance to exclusionary property rights in ideas. The resistance is stable and can inspire an institutional redesign that brings inclusive norms into dominance, without forfeit of reasonable social and material rewards for inventors. It further challenges the two prevailing modes of justification for the dominant exclusionary norms. Utilitarian or welfare-maximizing justifications for the exclusionary norms are shown to be both multifarious and conflicting. At the same time, non-consequentialist justifications, under the banner of natural rights for the inventor, stumble because patents can be assigned arbitrarily, waste the resources of non-patent holders, and constrain society’s collective liberties to expand knowledge. This study also supports a “proof of concept” for an alternative, inclusive patent system that 1) operates without prohibitory injunctions; 2) extends licenses-of-right that compensate inventions without deadweight losses; 3) opens application and examination procedures for better patent quality; and 4) expands private ordering of disputes to lower transaction costs. This inclusive alternative is hardly utopian: the aforementioned subregimes significantly validate the practicality of cooperative, non-exclusive norms.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 BY INVITATION ONLY: A LEGISLATIVE THEORY ON PUBLIC LOBBYING AND THE GATEKEEPERS OF INFLUENCE(2019) Vallejo Vera, Sebastián; Calvo, Ernesto; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In democratic politics, the participation of interest groups in policymaking is commonly understood as a secluded affair; an exchange were interest groups actively influence the fine print of statutory laws without being observed by the public at large. Why would interest groups and policymakers make public an otherwise private affair? By focusing on the public participation of interest groups in legislative committees, I argue that legislators use the public participation of interest groups in the legislative process as a means to raise the salience of issues they own. By taking advantage of the sequential organization of the legislature, legislators with gatekeeping authority will open the gates of committees to interest groups when the party benefits from the increased public attention and close them when the party does not. Interest groups, on their part, are granted access to micro-manage policy--to benefit from specific modifications of a law--. Evidence to test my arguments comes from an original dataset of 6,989 instances of interest group participation in committee meetings in the Ecuadorian Congress between 1979 and 2018, as well as over 30 semi-structured interviews to interest group representatives, legislators, and congressional staff. I find that, not only are legislators inviting interest groups to participate in issues the party owns, but they are doing so at a greater rate when the exposure of the party brand matters the most: before an election.Item Empathy and Electoral Accountability(2019) McDonald, Jared; Hanmer, Michael; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this dissertation, I examine the important role empathy has on voting behavior and election outcomes. First, I provide a rationale for why Americans find empathy a desirable trait in a leader. I argue that voters desire an empathetic leader, not because empathy is an inherently desirable trait as the literature so often assumes, but because this form of caring indicates that a politician is uniquely motivated and qualified to help others. And whereas prior scholarship emphasizes partisanship and global evaluations of politicians on support, I show how perceptions of empathy can serve as a heuristic for voters. This heuristic is especially important when voters do not have a partisan affiliation to influence their vote, such as in the case of pure independent voters and partisan voters in primaries. Second, I present a theory to explain why some politicians are perceived as more empathetic than others. Perceptions of empathy, I argue, are shaped largely by the presence of commonalities that link voters with a politician. In discussing the importance of commonalities, I differentiate between sympathy and empathy. I argue that empathy in a politician, or their ability to walk in another’s shoes, is more powerful than sympathy as a motivator of support. When a politician simply claims to “care” for the average American, voters may be skeptical. By demonstrating a common link with the voter, the politician overcomes what I call the “sincerity barrier,” or the tendency of individuals to approach the promises of politicians with skepticism. The key theoretical contribution in this dissertation is a classification scheme for the types of commonalities perceived by voters that lead to stronger perceptions of empathy: 1) a shared experience; 2) a shared emotion; or 3) a shared identity. To support this theory, I rely on a mixed-method approach, using in-depth interviews with political professionals, nationally representative surveys, and behavioral experiments.Item Intersectional Stereotyping in Political Campaigns(2019) Hicks, Heather Mary; Banks, Antoine J.; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Political scientists have debated whether gender stereotypes influence support for women candidates. Similarly, scholars have examined how racism among whites affects evaluations of minority candidates. Yet, rarely have political scientists considered how racism and gender bias intersect when a female minority candidate runs for office. In this dissertation, I propose a theory of intersectional stereotyping, which argues that evaluations of black women candidates are influenced by unique stereotypes based on the intersection of race and gender. Specifically, I argue that stereotypes associating black women with agentic traits (such as assertiveness, dominance, and anger) put black women at a disadvantage when they run for elected office. I hypothesize that members of racial or gender out-groups will penalize black women candidates when they receive campaign information consistent with these agentic stereotypes. On the other hand, I expect that black women will reward an agentic black female candidate because these traits suggest that the candidate is willing and able to stand up for the interests of black women. I test these expectations using a content analysis and two national survey experiments (one using a sample of whites and the other using a sample of blacks). In my content analysis of the 2018 Democratic primary for governor of Georgia, I find that Stacey Abrams, the black female candidate, was more likely to be described with agentic traits, especially negative agentic traits, in newspaper coverage than Stacey Evans, her white female opponent. My experimental data demonstrates that this media coverage of agentic traits puts black women at a disadvantage among white voters. White voters are more likely to penalize a black female candidate for acting in an assertive manner than identical white female and black male candidates. However, I find no penalty or reward for the assertive black female candidate among black voters. This research underscores the importance of studying the influence of race and gender in politics simultaneously. We cannot fully understand the effects of race and gender on support for minority women candidates by studying these concepts in isolation from one another.Item Corruption, Reform, and Revolution in Africa's Third Wave of Protest(2019) Lewis, Jacob Scott; McCauley, John F; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)What explains diverging calls for reform and revolution in Africa over the past ten years? African countries have made substantial strides toward actual democratic devel-opment, including a concerted effort to address corruption. As African democracies have strengthened, calls by citizens for anti-corruption reform have grown, highlighting the progress that is being made. Yet, in recent years, some anti-corruption movements have called instead for revolution - completely replacing the state or seceding altogether. What explains these calls for revolution? I argue that we need to understand how differ-ent types of corruption shape contentious goals. When corruption generates material benefits, citizens lose trust in politicians but do not lose trust in the system. In response, they call for reform, seeking to improve the system. When corruption generates system-ic benefits (distorting the system altogether), citizens lose trust in the institutions and instead call for revolution. I test this using individual-level data from survey experi-ments as well as large-n surveys, and group-level data using statistical analysis of pro-test events as well as case studies. I find strong support that types of corruption matter greatly in shaping contentious politics in Africa.