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Political Science Dissertations and Theses: Recent submissions
Now showing items 101-120 of 134
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The Challenge of Evaluating Charter Schools: The Case of KIPP Charter Schools in North Carolina
(University of Kansas, 2011-05-31)This paper examines the success of the two KIPP charter schools in North Carolina that have been significantly more successful at raising minority test scores than most other charter schools in North Carolina. This paper ... -
Rebel and Regime Adaptation in a Civil War Setting
(University of Kansas, 2011-05-31)Civil wars represent one of the most heinous forms of disagreement between human beings. The level of violence seen in some civil wars far outrank most interstate conflicts in casualty figures from pure military activity ... -
AMALGAMATED SECURITY COMMUNITIES
(University of Kansas, 2011-08-31)This dissertation examines the process of the formation and dissolution of Amalgamated Security Communities, a topic that has been ignored by the academic community except as a side note when the origins of Pluralistic ... -
Local Law Enforcement Implementation of National Anti-terrorism Policy
(University of Kansas, 2011-04-15)This study examines the role of local law enforcement officers in the implementation of national anti-terrorism policy within the context of Lipsky's (1980) theory of street-level bureaucracy. Interview and survey responses ... -
False Choices: Barack Obama's Balance Rhetoric
(University of Kansas, 2011-05-25)Barack Obama's speeches have been analyzed by journalists and academic researchers from countless angles. There remains a hole in the literature, however, as few researchers have systematically noted the President's use ... -
A Motivated Audience: An Analysis of Motivated Reasoning and Presidential Campaign Debates
(University of Kansas, 2011-03-11)Recent innovations in psychology bolster an information processing theory of motivated reasoning. However, there are few attempts to apply the theory outside of a laboratory setting, and it is limited in its application ... -
Can Local Governments Be Effective? Case Studies of Post-independence Ghana
(University of Kansas, 2011-04-05)Many African nations use both statutory and customary laws in governing their countries. This suggests an apparent mix of formal and informal rules. For example, the 1992 Constitution of Ghana did not abrogate customary ... -
The European Far Left: An Empirical Study of the Far Left Party Family and Its Voters
(University of Kansas, 2011-04-26)This paper empirically examines the far left party family and its voters across Europe to fill a gap in the literature. It addresses the question of where far left parties and their voters occupy the ideological space on ... -
Climate of Change: A Foreign Policy Analysis of China's Participation in International Environmental Agreements
(University of Kansas, 2011-04-25)In 2007 China became the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide. China's increased emissions have more than offset all reductions made under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. This makes China's participation in international ... -
`Home Away From Home:' Migrant Organizations and Transnational Politics Among Latin American Migrants in Spain
(University of Kansas, 2011-04-27)Mass immigration into Spain is a relatively new phenomenon. Additionally, the country's recent economic boom and ties to Latin America put it in the unique position of being home to millions of Spanish-speaking migrants. ... -
I VOTE THEREFORE I AM: EXPRESSIVE VOTING, ATTITUDES TOWARD GAYS AND LESBIANS, AND NASCAR DADS & WAL-MART MOMS
(University of Kansas, 2011-04-12)In the course of American politics, the voter has been the object of intense speculation. In order to make sense of this enigma, campaigns and scholars have sought to pigeonhole the voter by organizing the electorate as a ... -
Policy Impact in Criminal Justice: Intended and Unintended Consequences
(University of Kansas, 2010-12-13)This dissertation contains three chapters dealing with criminal justice policy. First, through time series analysis, it is found that there is no deterrent effect to the juvenile death penalty. Next, the idea of symbolic ... -
Issue Specific Explanations of China-ASEAN Relationship: Applying the Realist and Constructivist Assumptions
(University of Kansas, 2010-12-29)China's growing economic power combined with emerging Asian community is not only gradually enabling Asia to be one of the most important economic regions in the world, but also changing the international structure that ... -
Coalition of the Leaving: What Caused the Disintegration of the Multi-National Force in Iraq (2003-2009)
(University of Kansas, 2011-04-19)This mixed-methods dissertation investigates the countries of the Coalition of the Willing in Iraq (2003-2009) to identify the determinants of defection and of fluctuation in troop numbers. It makes theoretical contributions ... -
Bargaining in the Chinese Leviathan: An Examination on the Steel Industry after China's SOE Reform
(University of Kansas, 2010-06-28)This thesis centers on the competitions between enterprises in the steel industry in China after the SOE (state-owned enterprises) reform, which can be viewed as a case for mass economic reforms within Chinese Leviathan. ... -
Public Messages, Private Support: Base Reaction to Presidential Rhetoric
(University of Kansas, 2010-04-15)President George W. Bush's attempt to reform Social Security in 2005 provides an opportunity to test the effects of presidential rhetoric on public support. I analyze survey data taken before and after President Bush's ... -
Terrorist Safe Havens: Towards an Understanding of What They Accomplish for Terrorist Organizations
(University of Kansas, 2010-07-29)How do safe havens help facilitate a militant terrorist organization's activities and operations? This study expects to find that safe havens do matter, that they provide safety, training, rest, etc. The researcher presumes ... -
Racial Narratives, Group Identity, and African-American Political Behavior
(University of Kansas, 2010-05-13)My dissertation seeks to advance the racial politics and political behavior literatures in American politics by focusing on the role of "racial narratives" in explaining historical changes in African-American political ... -
CIVIL-MILITARY GAP AND MILITARY EFFECTIVENESS: THE IMPACT OF IDEOLOGY AND MILITARY EXPERIENCE GAP ON DEFENSE SPENDING IN THE UNITED STATES, 1952-2000
(University of Kansas, 2010-01-01)Previous studies of civil-military gap have argued that the difference in values, perspectives, and opinions between civilians and the military matters because it determines military effectiveness, but empirical analyses ... -
The Evolution of Obstruction: Mike Mansfield and Multiple Tracks
(University of Kansas, 2010-07-12)A core question in analyzing political institutions is how these institutions themselves change. This thesis seeks to understand how the institutional procedure change of multiple tracks affects the functioning of the ...