Government & Politics Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2775
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Item American Populism, Political Information, and Trade Opinion(2022) Campana, Robert David Louis; Gimpel, James G.; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Trade policy is a complex issue that involves economics and international politics. Traditionally, Americans have not often expressed opinions on trade policy due to its high issue complexity and because Democrats and Republican politicians since the later part of the 20th century have been inconsistent in their support for neoliberalism or protectionism. Despite this, populist candidates like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have repeatedly used their support for protectionist policies to differentiate themselves from more mainstream candidates. Using multiple public opinion surveys and survey experiments, this project explores how populism, anti-expert sentiment, anti-capitalism, diversity anxiety, and ethnonationalism influence American’s views on free trade policy and shows that all these factors are associated with greater support for protectionist policies. Additionally, this project examines and adjusts for the unusually high level of non-response regarding questions about trade policy.This project also analyzes what causes Americans to think trade policy (specifically, the withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership) is more important. This project finds that Americans who believe themselves to be strangers in their own country are more likely to believe the withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific partnership is important. Meanwhile, Americans who believe the United States is less respected than in the past are less likely to believe the Trans-Pacific Partnership is important. Two survey experiments are conducted to see how the presence of “don’t know” responses in trade opinion questions and patriotic framing shift attitudes on trade policy. In both cases, issue framing does not significantly shift opinion on trade policy. This project carries out a longitudinal study to see how the same group of Americans shift their attitudes on trade policy over a multi-year time frame. Generally, these shifts are very small; however, Americans with differing views on regulation displayed the greatest attitudinal shift. Initially, Americans who wanted more government regulation were the most protectionist while Americans who wanted less government regulation were the least protectionist. Over the multi-year period, this association became significantly less visible. Finally, this project analyzes how economic attitudes, immigration attitudes, economic identity, immigrant identity, local immigrant populations, and local economic data influence views on trade policy. The study finds that immigration attitudes are closely aligned with views of trade policy.Item OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND: HOW LATINO SEGREGATION AFFECTS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND POLICY OUTCOMES(2009) Pearson-Merkowitz, Shanna Helena; Kaufmann, Karen M.; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation evaluates the intersection of place and politics as it pertains to the effect of residential segregation on the civic engagement and political power of Latino Americans. Famously described by W.E.B. Du Bois as the problem of the 20th century, racial segregation persists in the United States, and while residential segregation has declined marginally for African Americans over the past 15 years, it has increased significantly for Latinos during this same period. Using a variety of data sets and methodological approaches, I investigate the socio-political consequences of this growing residential divide. I argue that segregation not only precludes socioeconomic mobility for Latinos, it also decreases their likelihood of civic engagement and political participation. Latinos who live in residential isolation are more likely to be economically marginalized and less politically powerful than their less segregated counterparts. Further, the marginalization of the Latino community has political consequences. Segregation concentrates Latinos into political jurisdictions where they must compete for resources with more politically powerful groups. As a result, their neighborhoods and needs are ignored by politicians and bureaucrats. To correct their under-representation in the political arena, participation among Latinos is essential. The findings of this dissertation call into question the stability of democracy if Latinos do not start participating at a higher rate, with the fate of the nation resting in part on the political and social mobility of its largest and fastest growing minority group.Item WE WON'T TURN BACK: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY PARADOXES OF IMMIGRANT AND ETHNIC MINORITY SETTLEMENT IN SUBURBAN AMERICA(2005-12-06) Frasure, Lorrie Ann; Williams, Linda F.; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study investigates the intersection of suburban political economy and recent immigrant and ethnic minority suburbanization in the United States. It uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to address: what factors lead various minority groups to move to multi-ethnic areas called suburban melting pot metros (SMPMs); how these spatial location decisions vary by class or race-based preferences; and how suburban institutions respond to the issues raised by immigrant and ethnic minority groups. Using the 1990 and 2000 Census Public Use Micro-data Series (PUMS), I test some key theories of residential migration, including spatial assimilation, place stratification, and 'economic sorting'. In a multivariate logit regression analysis, between non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Asians, and Latinos, residing in 29 US suburban areas, I find that SMPMs attract groups with lower levels of educational attainment. Moreover, rising income increases the likelihood that blacks and Latinos seek multi-ethnic suburban residence. While racial change had little impact on SMPM settlement, post-1980s immigration and linguistic isolation were significant predictors of SMPM settlement. Rises in housing values are likely to increase SMPM settlement for whites and Asians, but property tax increases are not a significant predictor of SMPM settlement for any of the groups. These Census results are supplemented by a case study of suburban Washington, DC. Data from five focus group discussions between black, Chinese, Iranian, Korean and Latino groups reveal that quality schools, safe neighborhoods, employment and housing opportunities, and pre-established family ties commonly attracted these individuals to certain suburban DC jurisdictions. Spatial location decisions, particularly for blacks, are limited by income. Perceptions of a county's ability to deliver local goods and services or the race/ethnicity of current county residents also influenced location decisions. Finally, using qualitative data from a collection of 114 in-depth interviews with elite officials in suburban Washington, DC, I develop a concept called 'Suburban Institutional Interdependency' (SII) to examine how local institutions respond to the issues raised by immigrant groups. The central tenets of this approach suggest that through repeated interactions, generalized reciprocity, and an exchange of selective incentives, suburban institutions may collaborate, to meet the needs and demands of suburban newcomers.