Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
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Item Rural Voting Behavior in the 21st Century(2010) Karnes, Kimberly Anna-Kate; Gimpel, James G; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation provides an update of the literature on American rural political behavior. As a field of study, rural political behavior has been under studied, with the last influential piece of work being written in the 1960s. Since that time, popular culture and academia have relied on outdated work and antidotal evidence to perpetuate stereotypes about rural America. Utilizing the Cooperative Congressional Election Study from 2006 and 2008, I investigate numerous aspects of political behavior in rural America to paint a picture of 21st century rural politics. I find that even after accounting for standard compositional values, living in a rural area has a significant independent effect on some aspects of political behavior, such as president and self-reported party identification. However, rural residence does not account for a completely unique political behavior of its residents- some political attitudes are shared by both rural and urban residents, and rural residents are highly alike their suburban fringe neighbors. The findings in this dissertation highlight that rural America is not a static political environment, and should be given the same consideration that urban and suburban political behavior receive.Item Rocking the Suburbs: Suburban Renewal(2010) Bowley, Sarah Rose; Kelly, Brian P; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Many Americans prefer to live in the suburbs with their own house and yard. However, the inner suburbs are aging and deteriorating, effectively pushing those who wish to live in the suburbs further and further out from the metropolitan centers, which is not sustainable. This pattern provides an opportunity to rethink the existing inner suburb and single-family residence so that it might become more attractive and competitive compared to new suburban development. The chosen location is the neighborhood of Harundale, which is a typical American suburb --a placeless development that could be located outside of any American city. Therefore, experimentation in this location is potentially applicable across the country. Developed in the late 1950's, Harundale houses hold historical value as mass-produced postwar design and construction, while the Harundale mall was the first enclosed air-conditioned mall east of the Mississippi River. This was once the "happening place to be", but over time the area has declined. This thesis proposes the use of existing infrastructure as a springboard for rethinking the function and image of the suburbs.Item Understanding Modern Segregation: Suburbanization and the Black Middle Class(2008-06-12) Harrell, Rodney; Baum, Howell; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A new sociological phenomenon exists: middle class African Americans are moving to suburban areas and many are moving to majority black neighborhoods and developing majority black communities. This challenges common thinking among social scientists and policymakers who make broad assumptions that concentrations of African Americans are inherently problematic. This project distinguishes the involuntary segregation and concentration of the black poor from those who choose to live in racially concentrated communities. Those in the middle class who choose to live in majority black neighborhoods may do so for several reasons, including social institutions, political incorporation, ethnically responsive commercial development, and their individual preferences for integration. It focuses on majority-black Prince George's County, Maryland, a prominent example of this phenomenon, and compares those homeowners there with those in predominately white neighborhoods in neighboring Montgomery County. The research hypothesizes that those who choose predominately black neighborhoods do so because these neighborhoods give them access to cultural or physical amenities associated with African American culture and the comfort of living with other African Americans, and also that those who live in predominately black neighborhoods differ from those that live in predominately white neighborhoods in their preferences for those amenities specific to a majority African American neighborhood and those amenities that often exist in majority white neighborhoods. These questions are addressed through several methods: the analysis of national housing data to describe the extent of African American middle class suburbanization, site visits and historical analysis of both counties, and semi-structured interviews of middle-class African American residents to provide reasons why they live in the neighborhoods that they have chosen. The study includes 50 respondents: 38 in Prince George's and 12 in Montgomery. The findings that some prefer African American neighborhoods have several potential policy implications, including a shift in housing policy from a focus on racial integration to one of economic integration and community development. More specifically, it argues for a particular focus on education reform, economic development and the promotion of responsible commercial development in predominately black neighborhoods, and it points toward considering the benefit of racial/cultural amenities in existing poverty deconcentration efforts.