Search results

Title: Building Europe: Determinants of Identity, Trust, and Support for Integration.
Creator: Jones, Eryn M., Ehrlich, Sean D., Grant, Jonathan A., Gomez, Brad T., Beazer, Quintin H., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of...
Show moreJones, Eryn M., Ehrlich, Sean D., Grant, Jonathan A., Gomez, Brad T., Beazer, Quintin H., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: Since its inception the European Union has made great strides in the realm of regional integration. However, the political and economic crises of the last decade have fundamentally changed the political landscape of the EU and have had important implications for continued support of the European project. In the era of the “constraining dissensus” many argue that a true European demos cannot exist and questions of EU legitimacy have taken center stage. As such, we are left with questions of to...
Show moreSince its inception the European Union has made great strides in the realm of regional integration. However, the political and economic crises of the last decade have fundamentally changed the political landscape of the EU and have had important implications for continued support of the European project. In the era of the “constraining dissensus” many argue that a true European demos cannot exist and questions of EU legitimacy have taken center stage. As such, we are left with questions of to what extent to individuals view themselves as European and what contributes to this identity? How might the legitimacy of, and therefore diffuse support for European institutions be strengthened? And finally, what factors contribute to support for continued integration in Europe? To understand how, and indeed if, the EU can continue to grow and integrate we must first examine the extent to which a European demos does exist as well as the extent to which the EU is viewed as a representative institution. To this end, this project examines the factors that contribute to an individual level European identity, how this identity influences trust in European institutions, and finally how the influences of these factors on individuals’ support for both continued widening and deepening in Europe.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: 2019_Spring_Jones_fsu_0071E_15119
Format: Thesis

Title: Private, Public, and Collaborative Engagements in Environmental Issues.
Creator: Kim, Minjung, Coleman, Eric A., Coutts, Christopher, Gomez, Brad T., Pietryka, Matthew T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of...
Show moreKim, Minjung, Coleman, Eric A., Coutts, Christopher, Gomez, Brad T., Pietryka, Matthew T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: This dissertation analyzes the conditions under which individual environmental behaviors, government environmental regulations, and collaborative environmental policy networks occur. Although numerous studies have investigated these various types of environmental engagements, they tend to rely on general assumptions with major limitations. The first essay of this dissertation tests the effects of an individual’s environmental attitudes on private environmental behavior, instrumenting for the...
Show moreThis dissertation analyzes the conditions under which individual environmental behaviors, government environmental regulations, and collaborative environmental policy networks occur. Although numerous studies have investigated these various types of environmental engagements, they tend to rely on general assumptions with major limitations. The first essay of this dissertation tests the effects of an individual’s environmental attitudes on private environmental behavior, instrumenting for the endogeneity of attitude measures. The second essay studies the predictors of city governments’ adoption of flexible environmental regulations, based on the new perspective that pro-environmental institutions can be tools for economic growth. The first essay examines the causal relationships between individuals’ environmental attitude and their environmental behavior. Unlike the prevalent approach in the literature assuming the direct causal relationship of environmental attitude to behavior, I propose a new model that presents an instrument for the endogenous attitude measures. Empirical results are mixed. People who are more concerned about climate change are more likely to use green products, while they do not recycle more. These diverging results of the two behavioral variables considered to be the most environmental suggest substantial differences among the private environmental actions. Environmental attitudes consistently predict certain environmental behaviors, but they have no effect on other environmental behaviors. In addition, the positive and significant effects of environmental attitudes on some non-environmental private actions indicate the possibility of the social desirability bias of attitude measures. The overall results show that the causal effects of environmental attitudes on environmental behaviors are not simple and consistent as generally assumed. The second essay studies the reasons for the different levels in the city governments’ adoption of energy-efficient land-use policies. Extant work presumes a conflicting and competing relationship between economic growth and environmental conservation. My approach differs from traditional presumption by looking at environmental land-use plans as the institutional tools for economic development. This essay tests the hypothesis that cities that need green business to achieve their economic prosperity would implement more environmentally friendly land-use plans. The estimated effect shows that the more important the green business is for the city’s economic growth, the more likely the city will adopt general energy-efficient land-use plans. The empirical results in the second essay show that the different levels of adopting environmental institutions in the cities can be explained by diverse paths to achieving the economic growth of each city.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: 2019_Spring_Kim_fsu_0071E_15176
Format: Thesis

Title: Democratic Blind Spots: Organized Labor and the Persistence of Subnational Authoritarianism in Mexico.
Creator: Griffis, John Garland, Reenock, Christopher, Frank, Andrew, Driscoll, Amanda M., Kern, Holger Lutz, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreGriffis, John Garland, Reenock, Christopher, Frank, Andrew, Driscoll, Amanda M., Kern, Holger Lutz, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: Newly transitioned democracies frequently exhibit authoritarian traits at the subnational level. The literature on subnational authoritarianism tends to focus on how these enclaves interact with national governments, ignoring how they maintain support in their own regions. This dissertation seeks to explain authoritarian persistence in the case of Mexico. I propose subnational autocrats maintain their local coalitions from the previous autocratic regime. Where they are able to successfully...
Show moreNewly transitioned democracies frequently exhibit authoritarian traits at the subnational level. The literature on subnational authoritarianism tends to focus on how these enclaves interact with national governments, ignoring how they maintain support in their own regions. This dissertation seeks to explain authoritarian persistence in the case of Mexico. I propose subnational autocrats maintain their local coalitions from the previous autocratic regime. Where they are able to successfully maintain these coalitions through economic and political shocks they can persist indefinitely into a nationally democratic regime. My empirical analysis looks specifically at Mexico, where organized labor remained an important supporter of the Institutional Revolutionary Party well after the democratic transition. I use data on organized labor mobilization, PRI electoral support, and social spending to see if there is an electoral and social spending connection between organized labor and the PRI. I find no clear evidence that labor served as a critical player in local electionsfor the PRI.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: 2019_Summer_Griffis_fsu_0071E_15299
Format: Thesis

Title: The Determinants of Vote Choice in Ballot Measure Elections.
Creator: Uttermark, Matthew Joseph, Weissert, Carol S., Herrington, Carolyn D., Barrilleaux, Charles, Pietryka, Matthew T., Florida State University, College Ofsocial Sciences and Public...
Show moreUttermark, Matthew Joseph, Weissert, Carol S., Herrington, Carolyn D., Barrilleaux, Charles, Pietryka, Matthew T., Florida State University, College Ofsocial Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: This dissertation consists of three essays examining the role of direct democracy in the American states. The papers broadly examine how actors in the direct democracy process decide to support ballot measures. Paper one is a panel experiment, conducted on the 2016 CCES. It explores what information matters to voters and when it matters in evaluating ballot measures. Paper two is an analysis of how newspapers cover ballot measures and how coverage influences voters. Paper three is an analysis...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of three essays examining the role of direct democracy in the American states. The papers broadly examine how actors in the direct democracy process decide to support ballot measures. Paper one is a panel experiment, conducted on the 2016 CCES. It explores what information matters to voters and when it matters in evaluating ballot measures. Paper two is an analysis of how newspapers cover ballot measures and how coverage influences voters. Paper three is an analysis of ballot measures and decentralization – exploring when and how decentralization influences citizen ballot measure support. Below I include brief abstracts of each. When and what types of informational cues do voters rely on when forming opinions? Previous tests on the influence of cues have used static, single time-frame designs and highlight the strength of partisan cues. In essay one, I make two contributions to that literature. It examines both partisan cues and policy information and does so over time. Using a panel experiment, I find that partisan cues trump policy cues when both are equally recent. However, policy information is capable of trumping party cues when policy information is more recent. These findings provide evidence that static experimental designs fail to capture the nuances of opinion formation that emerge from a more dynamic approach and that the type of cue leads to different effects at different times. Newspapers play a critical role in democracy–providing one of the few substantive and trustworthy sources of information for voters. Previous research has found that newspaper coverage of partisan elections is biased in the direction of the editorial board's endorsement. I extend this research to ballot measures. Newspapers may engage in selection bias, dedicating more space to discussing one side of a ballot measure than alternative voting options, or presentation bias, presenting one side of a ballot measure campaign more favorably than alternative voting options. In essay two, I answer these questions: First, is newspaper coverage biased in ballot endorsement elections? Second, what types of bias do papers engage in? Finally, does the bias of newspaper coverage in ballot elections affect the outcome of ballot measure elections? I collect a sample of 36 initiative elections across five media markets to evaluate coverage. Using this data, I perform a content analysis examining how newspapers cover ballot initiative elections. I find that newspaper engage in both selection and presentation bias. Additionally, while the tone of coverage is not directly associated with support for initiative measures, positive press coverage does decrease the relative impact of a newspaper's editorial endorsement. For decades, scholars of American and comparative federalism have found evidence of centralizing behavior in political institutions. The study of devolution has been relegated to specific policies (e.g. welfare reform) or dismissed as rhetorical bluster. In essay three, I argue that scholars of centralization have overlooked a potential institution of devolution – state ballot measures. I analyze a novel dataset of ballot measures in the U.S. states coded to reflect devolutionary impact. I find evidence that citizen-proposed ballot measures are decentralizing in nature and that centralization – regardless of proposing actor – is negatively associated with probability of passage.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: 2019_Summer_Uttermark_fsu_0071E_15314
Format: Thesis

Title: Inequality, Context, and Prosocial Behavior: An Examination of Redistributive Preferences.
Creator: Severson, Alexander William, Coleman, Eric A., Isaac, R. Mark, Großer, Jens W., Gomez, Brad T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreSeverson, Alexander William, Coleman, Eric A., Isaac, R. Mark, Großer, Jens W., Gomez, Brad T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: My dissertation "Inequality, Context, and Prosocial Behavior: An Examination of Redistributive Preferences" contributes to an emergent literature on the effects of inequality on policy outcomes by illuminating the psychological and institutional factors which influence support for redistributive policies differentially among the rich and poor. In my dissertation, I advance two primary arguments. First, drawing from the evolutionary psychological literature on competition effects and the...
Show moreMy dissertation "Inequality, Context, and Prosocial Behavior: An Examination of Redistributive Preferences" contributes to an emergent literature on the effects of inequality on policy outcomes by illuminating the psychological and institutional factors which influence support for redistributive policies differentially among the rich and poor. In my dissertation, I advance two primary arguments. First, drawing from the evolutionary psychological literature on competition effects and the social psychological literature on the social cognition of status, I argue that at the individual-level, economic threat moderates the relationship between social status and prosocial behavior. Secondly, drawing from the resource model of political participation and models of policy responsiveness, I argue that at the institutional-level, transparency interventions fail to promote redistribution to lower-income citizens specifically when (1) lower-income citizens do not access the information released by transparency interventions and when (2) lower-income citizens do not turn out to vote at rates comparable to higher-income citizens. I evaluate my first argument using both a laboratory experiment and public opinion data from the 2012 American National Election Study (ANES). In contrast to theoretical expectations, in the laboratory experiment I present evidence that under conditions of economic threat, low and high-status subjects behave similarly: they are equally likely to perceive threat and give roughly equal amounts to one another in a dictator game. Using data from the 2012 ANES, I present evidence that while income does not predict whether an individual is more likely to blame low-status consumers or high-status Wall Street bankers as being more responsible for the 2008 financial crisis, I do present evidence which suggests that high-income individuals who blame higher-status groups more than lower-status groups are significantly more likely to support increased aid to the poor. I evaluate my second argument empirically with a laboratory experiment and state-level panel data covering the years 1978-2000. Using a laboratory experiment, I present evidence that under conditions of budget transparency, subjects endowed with the power to create budgets were more likely to allocate greater proportions of their budget to subjects who had more resources and who had the power to veto the budget. Using state-level panel data between 1978-2000, I explore the relationship between transparency, media market penetration, class bias in voter participation, and welfare expenditures in the United States. Using a series of between-within panel models, I present evidence that the effect of transparency on public welfare expenditures is conditional on the different turnout propensities of the rich and the poor: in states where wealthier citizens are significantly more likely to vote in elections than the poor, longitudinal increases in budget transparency over time are associated with significant reductions in state welfare effort. The results of my dissertation have produced important insights into the psychological and institutional mechanisms that influence the redistributive preferences of individuals and the redistributive behavior of states. My research can move the fields of political science and social psychology toward resolution of unsettled theoretical debates concerning the generosity of different social classes and from a prescriptive standpoint reinforces the need for transparency interventions to move beyond a singular focus on information-release.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: 2018_Su_Severson_fsu_0071E_14653
Format: Thesis

Title: The Social Identity of Partisanship: Measuring the "Identity" in Party Identification.
Creator: Langley, Dennis Franklin, Gomez, Brad T., Plant, Ashby, Pietryka, Matthew T., Jackson, Robert A., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreLangley, Dennis Franklin, Gomez, Brad T., Plant, Ashby, Pietryka, Matthew T., Jackson, Robert A., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: Party identification is perhaps the central concept in political science. It has appeared in countless theories and empirical analyses across the political science literature. Party identification was originally conceived as a psychological attachment to the political parties but recent evidence shows that the standard measure for party identification, the NES measure, confounds group identity and group attitude. I show that party social identity, a direct measure of group identity, explains...
Show moreParty identification is perhaps the central concept in political science. It has appeared in countless theories and empirical analyses across the political science literature. Party identification was originally conceived as a psychological attachment to the political parties but recent evidence shows that the standard measure for party identification, the NES measure, confounds group identity and group attitude. I show that party social identity, a direct measure of group identity, explains variation in candidate preferences in political primaries where the standard measure of party identification cannot. I also show that machine learning can be used to predict party social identity in surveys that did not directly measure it, and that these predictions can be used to revisit empirical analyses and reevaluate inferences related to party identification. Finally, I show that changes in the NES measure of party identification may be due to changes in either the group attitude or the group identity component and that retrospective evaluations, commonly used to explain changes in party identification, are only associated with changes in the group attitude component of the NES measure.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: 2018_Su_Langley_fsu_0071E_14761
Format: Thesis

Title: Essays on Violent Conflicts.
Creator: Guo, Xiaoli, Großer, Jens W., Cooper, David J, Carroll, Robert J., Siegel, David A., Souva, Mark A., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreGuo, Xiaoli, Großer, Jens W., Cooper, David J, Carroll, Robert J., Siegel, David A., Souva, Mark A., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: My dissertation consists of three essays of violent conflicts. In the first essay, we propose a novel solution to improve the efficiency of third- party interventions in conflicts. When an intervener coerces the rivals of conflicts into peace, he may face a tradeoff between the effectiveness and cost of interventions. Extant studies generally suggest that severe measures are more effective, but also more costly. Using a game-theoretical model, with the assumption that the rivals' power...
Show moreMy dissertation consists of three essays of violent conflicts. In the first essay, we propose a novel solution to improve the efficiency of third- party interventions in conflicts. When an intervener coerces the rivals of conflicts into peace, he may face a tradeoff between the effectiveness and cost of interventions. Extant studies generally suggest that severe measures are more effective, but also more costly. Using a game-theoretical model, with the assumption that the rivals' power endogenously shift in conflicts, we find that moderate measures can achieve peace by inducing a reciprocal rival that attacks aggressively only if the other side strikes first. However, when the power dynamics determine that the rival's interest lies in exploiting the other side's passiveness instead of coordinating for peace, severe measures are needed to counteract opportunism. We also show that a weaker rival is not necessarily easier to restrain, and sometimes its aggressiveness comes from its weakness. In addition, we outline the empirical implications of another finding that interventions can work exclusively through the target's expectation instead of implementation. For example, the relationship between the presence of penalties and their effects may be correlational rather than causal. In the second essay, we tackle how the ownership of endowments in dispute affects the actor's behavior in crisis bargaining and the outbreak of costly conflicts. We design tailor-made Nash bargaining games and experimentally test the hypotheses derived. The results indicate that, first, the endowment as a salient focal point serves as a strategic tool rather than a reference associated with biased valuations; and second, the legitimacy of ownership can elicit behavioral responses from the actor, when it is in line with rational expectations. We also find that, conditioned on the actors' expectations, a chance to back down can but does not necessarily reduce conflicts when the status quo and power are roughly balanced. Due to the self-selection effect, aggressive demands do not necessarily cause more conflicts. More generally, we highlight two important perspectives to understand bargaining---the strategic application of focal points, and the subtle influence of the legitimacy of ownership. The third essay is a continuation of the second one. Crisis bargaining most often is a process, in which the disputants sequentially propose a demand and try to arrive at an agreement that both sides deem acceptable. Depending on the disputants' preferences, equilibrium of a bargaining game very likely varies. In this paper, we use variants of the Rubinstein bargaining game and a lab experiment to explore how the disputants communicate about their preferences in crisis bargaining, and the effect of such communication on the likelihood of bargaining failure and conflict. We find that the players mostly communicate their preference strategically according to rational expectations. Besides, inequality aversion and some overoptimism are observed. We also find that more focal points do not necessarily lead to more conflict, and a chance to back down decreases conflict only when the player's endowment in balanced with his probability of winning.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: 2018_Sp_Guo_fsu_0071E_14371
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effects of Co-Ethnic Refugees on International Conflict, Repression, and Domestic Terrorism.
Creator: Ulasoglu, Saadet, Souva, Mark A., Grant, Jonathan A., Ehrlich, Sean D., Borzyskowski, Inken von, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreUlasoglu, Saadet, Souva, Mark A., Grant, Jonathan A., Ehrlich, Sean D., Borzyskowski, Inken von, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: This dissertation contributes to the political violence literature by examining the impacts of refugee communities on the likelihood of international conflict, repression, and domestic terrorism. The main message of this study is that the co-ethnicity of refugees with politically relevant groups in the receiving countries is crucial to the understanding of potential security risks created by refugee populations.
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: 2018_Sp_Ulasoglu_fsu_0071E_14484
Format: Thesis

Title: Anti-Establishment Political Parties: Conception, Measurement, and Consequences.
Creator: Cornacchione, Teresa Lee, Ehrlich, Sean D., Grant, Jonathan A., Weissert, Carol S., Gomez, Brad T., Beazer, Quintin H., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and...
Show moreCornacchione, Teresa Lee, Ehrlich, Sean D., Grant, Jonathan A., Weissert, Carol S., Gomez, Brad T., Beazer, Quintin H., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: The incredible rise of so-called "anti-establishment" parties in Europe has left scholars scrambling to define and classify the movement. Much scholarly attention has been paid to radical right wing parties, and the sources of their electoral support. While important and intriguing, the current literature has yet to develop a cohesive definition of the anti-establishment, and has too heavily used terms such as "populist," "anti-establishment," and "radical right-wing" interchangeably. Further...
Show moreThe incredible rise of so-called "anti-establishment" parties in Europe has left scholars scrambling to define and classify the movement. Much scholarly attention has been paid to radical right wing parties, and the sources of their electoral support. While important and intriguing, the current literature has yet to develop a cohesive definition of the anti-establishment, and has too heavily used terms such as "populist," "anti-establishment," and "radical right-wing" interchangeably. Further, extant research has based theories of these parties' electoral support largely with the radical right-wing in mind, potentially ignoring theories that could explain support for these parties from the left, right, and center of the political spectrum. Finally, current research has not substantially explored how these parties, traditionally excluded from policy-making, behave once they are seated in parliaments. This dissertation aims to remedy these three shortcomings. First, I develop a conceptual definition and measurement scheme that encapsulates both ideological positioning and anti-establishment sentiment. Then, I explore how political trust in influences electoral support for anti-establishment parties positioned at all areas of the classic left-right spectrum. Finally, I analyze their parliamentary behavior, assessing their level of activity and their preferred policy domains. My findings underscore the importance of conceiving anti-establishment parties as existing along a unique dimension, separate from ideology, whose electoral viability can be explained via a unified theory, and who behave uniquely in parliament.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: 2018_Su_Cornacchione_fsu_0071E_14698
Format: Thesis

Title: U.S. Foreign Policy Toward North Korea's Nuclear Development: Its Failure and Available Options.
Creator: Lim, Jiyoung, Souva, Mark A., Kern, Holger Lutz, Beazer, Quintin H., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Program in International Affairs
Abstract/Description: North Korean foreign policy decision process has complexity and differences from that of democratic states. Pyongyang has multiple motivations related to developing nuclear weapons, which are derived by both international and domestic factors. Moreover, North Korean preferences related to the pursuit of the nuclear weapons have also changed according to the circumstance that the country faces. The regime begun to build the nuclear weapons because of the external security threats resulting...
Show moreNorth Korean foreign policy decision process has complexity and differences from that of democratic states. Pyongyang has multiple motivations related to developing nuclear weapons, which are derived by both international and domestic factors. Moreover, North Korean preferences related to the pursuit of the nuclear weapons have also changed according to the circumstance that the country faces. The regime begun to build the nuclear weapons because of the external security threats resulting from the geopolitical changes like the disassembly of the Soviet Union. After Pyongyang faced the severe economic stagnation, their priority has moved into economic interests. Moreover, Kim’s regime has faced a domestic political legitimacy issue of the authoritarian regime so that the regime has utilized the nuclear development as means to consolidate their power. The characteristics of authoritarian regime also impact the leadership’s preferences and rational decision choices. However, the U.S. foreign policy in the past, based on the security-oriented approaches and a theory focused on economics, failed to understand the regime’s systematic complexity. Washington’s political changes, following its power transitions, also exaggerate distrust between the United States and North Korea. The shifts in its political strategies also create the credible commitment problems. In addition, its external complexity around North Korea also reduces the effectiveness of the U.S. strategies. In this regard, the new alternative strategy for Washington should build on a comprehensive understanding of how Kim’s regime thinks, what it values, and how it judges its options. In addition, the United States should understand not only Pyongyang’s objectives but also how Kim’s regime views U.S. objectives and whether they consider U.S. statements credible in order to resolve the issue. Thus, this paper proposes a comprehensive option which is a combination of coercive diplomacy and diplomatic, economic strategies.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: 2018_Sp_Lim_fsu_0071N_14542
Format: Thesis

Title: Out of Order: Essays on the Rule of Law in the Caribbean.
Creator: Wilks, Jason Malcolm, Berry, William Dale, Stewart, Eric Allen, Reenock, Christopher, Barrilleaux, Charles, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public...
Show moreWilks, Jason Malcolm, Berry, William Dale, Stewart, Eric Allen, Reenock, Christopher, Barrilleaux, Charles, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: International actors have championed the rule of law as a fundamental principal for national progress among developing states. But for the post-colonial democracies of the Caribbean region, the concept of the rule of law engenders questions of whether citizens and state actors have sufficient understanding and acceptance of the new institutions of justice developed to protect the basic rights of citizens functioning effectively or, as evidenced by the high levels of crime and violence in the...
Show moreInternational actors have championed the rule of law as a fundamental principal for national progress among developing states. But for the post-colonial democracies of the Caribbean region, the concept of the rule of law engenders questions of whether citizens and state actors have sufficient understanding and acceptance of the new institutions of justice developed to protect the basic rights of citizens functioning effectively or, as evidenced by the high levels of crime and violence in the region, are other rules more significant factors in how social order is negotiated. Do citizens in the region even expect democratic accountability on issues of safety and justice? Are there instances where incentives continue to persist in the postcolonial space for criminal justice institutions to deliver safety and justice in a prejudicial manner? And if the conventional means of promoting social order are dysfunctional, what other mechanisms might be available to support collective goals of peace and safety? This dissertation presents three essays in response to the aforementioned questions. Chapter 1 addresses the weaknesses of prior studies examining the relationship between criminal victimization and democratic accountability and provides evidence that victims of violent crime do intend to hold incumbents accountable at the polls. Violent victimization evokes anger that spurs voters to seek redress for the traumatic experience by engaging in protest voting that goes against the interests of the incumbent government. Protest voting offers expressive benefits that helps restore within victims of violent crime a sense of self-determination and autonomy by voting against the under-performing incumbent government. At the same time, the expressive value of protest voting is conditional on the degree to which the voter is politically affiliated with the incumbent government. Victims of violence who support the incumbent government are more likely to feel anger towards the incumbent government, having a sense of being betrayed by those they expect to protect their interests. Accordingly, the added sense of psychological loss will increase their use of protest voting. I test this theory with data from the 2014 wave of the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) AmericasBarometer survey. Using the intended vote choices of 11,242 registered voters in five Caribbean countries and a multinomial logistic regression model I will demonstrate that, after controlling for alternative explanations for the focus relationship, partisan identity and violent victimization interact to influence prospective vote choices. Chapter 2 turns to the question of dysfunctions in law enforcement by exploring three explanations for the use of lethal force by Jamaican police. By adapting the social control framework to the postcolonial context and accounting for institutional factors that facilitate partisan policing, I show that the police’s use of lethal force extends beyond conventional considerations of reactive crime control to also include maintenance of social and political order. The presence of economic elites in a given area exerts pressure on local police officers to safeguard their lives and property, leading to the use of lethal force as a strong and clear deterrent. In addition, incumbent government actors may also receive political benefits from promoting the use of lethal force against the support bases of their political competition. I provide indicative findings that the presence of these two motivating factors can produce an interactive effect on the number of police fatal shootings that may largely be determined by the institutional incentives involved. This study uses original data produced from the official administrative database of the Jamaican police on fatal shooting incidents. Specifically, the scope of the study will include the 1,745 police fatal shootings that occurred annually from 2002 to 2010 and sorts them according to the electoral constituencies where they occurred to demonstrate the influence of political dynamics. Using a negative binomial regression model, I will show that the economic context and political affiliations of where a citizen resides influences the use of lethal force by the Jamaican police even after accounting for factors such as the level of serious crimes and state capacity for coercive and beneficent controls. Chapter 3 explores the potential for conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs to promote pro-social behavior among beneficiaries. I will show that design elements of CCT programs provide recipients with the resources and motivation to engage in collective problem solving that otherwise similar non-recipients would not possess. In so doing CCT programs reduce the cost for recipients to engage in collective action, making civic engagement such as voting in general elections more likely. At the same time, the positive effect of CCT recipient status on civic engagement is provisional- depending on the recipient’s ability to leverage the socialization experience based on other cognitive resources such as civic knowledge. Low levels of civic knowledge among recipients may even serve to diminish the civic engagement of CCT recipients while higher levels will spur on such engagement. I test my theory using aggregate- and individual-level data on Jamaica’s national CCT program, the Program for Advancement through Health and Education (PATH). Jamaica makes for a good case study as the prominence of clientelism in the country’s political culture will help offer a stern test of whether programmatic features play a role even when political partisanship is a salient matter. Jamaica also typifies the global trend of declining trends in electoral participation as shown in Figure 3.1, allowing my findings to potentially extend to a wider international context. By combining both macro- and micro-level analyses and employing dual measures of program participation, I will demonstrate that CCT programs do produce policy feedbacks that are substantive and nuanced.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: 2018_Sp_Wilks_fsu_0071E_14527
Format: Thesis

Title: Institutional Determinants of Legislative Behavior: Legislative Goals, Electoral Reforms, and How Lawmakers Perceive the Value of the Office.
Creator: Fahey, Kevin Thomas, Weissert, Carol S., Berry, Frances Stokes, Jackson, Robert (Professor of Political Science), Beazer, Quintin, Florida State University, College of Social...
Show moreFahey, Kevin Thomas, Weissert, Carol S., Berry, Frances Stokes, Jackson, Robert (Professor of Political Science), Beazer, Quintin, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: The conditions under which legislators engage in idiosyncratic behavior remain poorly understood. Their personal ambitions and desires constantly confront obligations to constituents and institutional constraints. Often, lawmakers pursue goals that are destructive if seen through an institutional or voter-based lens, but rational if the legislator's individual preferences are taken into account. This dissertation develops our understanding of the idiosyncratic incentives of lawmakers, and how...
Show moreThe conditions under which legislators engage in idiosyncratic behavior remain poorly understood. Their personal ambitions and desires constantly confront obligations to constituents and institutional constraints. Often, lawmakers pursue goals that are destructive if seen through an institutional or voter-based lens, but rational if the legislator's individual preferences are taken into account. This dissertation develops our understanding of the idiosyncratic incentives of lawmakers, and how they translate into policy outcomes. My results find that lawmakers are not driven to pursue wealth at the expense of governing.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_SUMMER2017_Fahey_fsu_0071E_13858
Format: Thesis

Title: Nuclearization as National Security a Comparative Analysis of Framing and Frame Building in Indian and Pakistani Newspapers.
Creator: Saleem, Awais, McDowell, Stephen D., Coutts, Christopher, Opel, Andrew R., Graves, Brian, Florida State University, College of Communication and Information, School of...
Show moreSaleem, Awais, McDowell, Stephen D., Coutts, Christopher, Opel, Andrew R., Graves, Brian, Florida State University, College of Communication and Information, School of Communication
Show less
Abstract/Description: Global politics is a complex game, particularly when conflict dominates the relationship between countries. South Asia is no different as both India and Pakistan have fought four wars since achieving independence from the British in 1947. Both countries have acquired nuclear capability but the tense nature of the bilateral relationship has given rise to fears of a potential nuclear war in the region. There were hopes of a thaw in relationship after the new governments assumed power following...
Show moreGlobal politics is a complex game, particularly when conflict dominates the relationship between countries. South Asia is no different as both India and Pakistan have fought four wars since achieving independence from the British in 1947. Both countries have acquired nuclear capability but the tense nature of the bilateral relationship has given rise to fears of a potential nuclear war in the region. There were hopes of a thaw in relationship after the new governments assumed power following the general elections in Pakistan (2013) and in India (2014). However, these hopes were quickly dashed following an escalation in cross-border firing incidents along the line of control (LoC) in the Kashmir valley. The status of Kashmir valley has become a flashpoint of bilateral conflict between India and Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan occupy parts of the valley and blame each other for illegal occupation and infiltration to justify the use of aggressive tactics. India and Pakistan have a collective population of close to 1.5 billion (almost twenty percent of the global population). Both countries rank consistently low on human development and press freedom indices, but the respective governments in India and Pakistan continue to divert large chunks of their annual budgets for defense-related expenditures instead of providing better health, education, and infrastructure facilities to their citizen. In such a scenario, the media’s role in framing this conflict becomes critical. It merits attention to explore whether the media is part of the problem or part of the solution. Therefore, this dissertation applies Galtung’s (2002) peace journalism model to the coverage of Kashmir conflict during 2016. The news coverage of the Uri attack on September 18, 2016 in the Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 16 Indian soldiers and the Bhimber attack in the Pakistani-administered Kashmir that killed seven Pakistan soldiers was chosen for the content analysis to explore how the English-language newspapers in India and Pakistan (three top-circulating newspapers in each country) framed the bilateral conflict. The findings showed that the coverage in both India and Pakistan had a similar pattern. It was primarily episodic, was using mainly conflict frames and lacking focus on solutions of the conflict, was relying on official sources to further the national security narrative prevalent in each country, and was showing a clear tendency to promote war journalism at the cost of marginalizing the human cost of war. The second part of the analysis in this dissertation was based on interviews with journalists (15 each from India and Pakistan) to explore the processes attached to frame-building. The journalists were asked questions about the framing of stories related to bilateral conflict and which factors were likely to affect this coverage. They were also asked about the presence of pressure groups, censorship, organizational policy, alternatives available, and suggestions for improvement in the standards of coverage. The responses indicated that news television had gained a place of prominence in each country and was driving the content of print and social media as well. It was revealed that the private media ownership structure in both India and Pakistan, backed by big media houses, was aggravating the situation. The media owners in India were found to be hand in glove with the religious right-wing that had seen a rise in Indian mainstream politics after 2014 elections while the media owners in Pakistan had a nexus with the powerful military establishment in their country. The journalists revealed during the interviews that these media owners were getting good ratings on television by focusing on bilateral conflict, which meant good business, while they were able to use that clout in the ruling establishments for tax breaks and other benefits as well. The journalists generally did not express much hope in the track-II dialogues or social media as an alternative forum unless the overall environment between both countries improved. It was surprising that the interviewed journalists showed little concern about what impact such coverage could likely have on the public perception. The study also explores an interplay of framing and securitization. The findings provide a clear idea that the coverage of bilateral conflict in India and Pakistan justifies war and has a securitization agenda (Buzan, 1997). The implications of such coverage in making the audience more accepting of the hawkish foreign policy steps taken by their respective governments as well as the consequences for the overall peace and stability of the region have been discussed. How the findings of this study contribute to the existing literature on conflict framing, war/peace journalism, and securitization is also part of this dissertation. It shows that researchers should also focus on frame-building processes to put the news frames in context. In the conclusion, limitations of this research as well as future directions for researchers interested in the study of framing and framing-building have also been discussed.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_SUMMER2017_Saleem_fsu_0071E_14066
Format: Thesis

Title: Unilateral Action and Executive Power.
Creator: Cockerham, Alexandra Groom, Crew, Robert E., deHaven-Smith, Lance, Driscoll, Amanda, Weissert, Carol S., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreCockerham, Alexandra Groom, Crew, Robert E., deHaven-Smith, Lance, Driscoll, Amanda, Weissert, Carol S., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: Numerous scholars have argued that highly autonomous executives are a threat to democracy, which makes understanding the conditions surrounding the use of unilateral action an important topic for research. Accordingly, I turn to the American states for analysis and have compiled an original dataset of all unilateral actions taken by governors in the 50 U.S. states from 2010 through 2014. In my first dissertation essay, I find that unilateral action is not only a means to circumvent a hostile...
Show moreNumerous scholars have argued that highly autonomous executives are a threat to democracy, which makes understanding the conditions surrounding the use of unilateral action an important topic for research. Accordingly, I turn to the American states for analysis and have compiled an original dataset of all unilateral actions taken by governors in the 50 U.S. states from 2010 through 2014. In my first dissertation essay, I find that unilateral action is not only a means to circumvent a hostile legislature, but is also deployed in ways that are potentially beneficial. My second essay critically engages extant work to show that conflicting accounts about the reasons for unilateral action stems from the fact that most researchers assume that all "significant" executive orders are equal in terms of policy content. In my final dissertation essay, I argue that executive term limits encourage unilateral action and undermine inter-branch bargaining because they force a governor out of office precisely when she is most willing and able to bargain with the legislature. I find that governors with term limits issue more executive orders at every year in their tenure than those without.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_2017SP_Cockerham_fsu_0071E_13751
Format: Thesis

Title: The Role of Public Preferences and Racial Sentiments in the Policy Process: A Study of Medicaid Generosity from 1988-2012.
Creator: Lanford, Daniel, Tope, Daniel, Berry, Frances Stokes, Quadagno, Jill S., Taylor, John, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of...
Show moreLanford, Daniel, Tope, Daniel, Berry, Frances Stokes, Quadagno, Jill S., Taylor, John, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Sociology
Show less
Abstract/Description: This dissertation is composed of three distinct studies. Study 1 asks what type of 'public opinion' is most likely to influence policy. Studies arguing for a strong link between public opinion and policy outcomes have focused on purely political sentiments almost exclusively. These studies have neglected to account for research on racialized politics which suggests racial sentiments often play a key role in shaping policy outcomes. Yet as often as public opinion is implicated for policy...
Show moreThis dissertation is composed of three distinct studies. Study 1 asks what type of 'public opinion' is most likely to influence policy. Studies arguing for a strong link between public opinion and policy outcomes have focused on purely political sentiments almost exclusively. These studies have neglected to account for research on racialized politics which suggests racial sentiments often play a key role in shaping policy outcomes. Yet as often as public opinion is implicated for policy outcomes, and as often as racial sentiments are implicated in public opinion, few studies have quantitatively assessed the link between racial factors and actual policy outcomes. The goal of the present study is to address this gap by analyzing the relative influence of liberal-conservative ideology, attitudes about the role of government, policy-specific preferences, and racial sentiments for Medicaid generosity in the U.S. states from 1988-2012. This study analyzes a unique dataset composed of MRP public opinion estimates, socio-structural measure, and Medicaid expenditure data. Results of the analysis show that racial sentiments play a uniquely powerful role in shaping Medicaid outcomes. This study suggests research on policy responsiveness would do well to consider the political influence of racial sentiments on policy outcomes more broadly. Study 2 examines the link between program structure, public opinion, and policy outcomes. Analysts of all types commonly to refer to Medicaid as either a popular entitlement or a restricted welfare program. These often contradictory perspectives rest on untested assumptions about the relationships between program design, public opinion, and policy outcomes. In this study, expectations flowing from each perspective are reformulated as hypotheses and tested in two analyses. The first analysis draws on ICPSR and ANES survey data to assess the influence of program design on attitudes toward Medicaid. The second analysis examines the influence of different types of public opinion and non-opinion factors on actual Medicaid expenditures in the state. Both analyses are based on data available in various years from 1970 through 2012. Results suggest that Medicaid is best understood as racially restricted. Theoretical propositions following from the results are presented. Program design does influence public preferences, but not in the ways suggested in prior studies. Program size and policy legacies do not have the expected effect on public opinion. Yet the design of Medicaid does attract racial and ethnic antipathy, and this has a uniquely powerful influence on policy outcomes across the study period. Study 3 addresses class-based representational inequality. This study formalizes and assesses an age-old proposition: that policy makers are able to produce policy outcomes biased toward the political preferences of their affluent constituents because their inaffluent constituents offer electoral support on the basis of racial sentiments. This study employs recently developed methods of estimating public opinion at the state level and detailed data on Medicaid expenditures in the states from 1988-2012 to determine whether the liberal-conservative ideology, health policy preferences, and racial sentiments of different income groups influence Medicaid policy outcomes. Results show that policy responds to the political preferences of the affluent but not the inaffluent. However, policy also responds to the racial sentiments of the inaffluent. Taken together, the results suggest that policy makers employ racialized segmented responsiveness in order to limit the electoral sanctions which would otherwise follow from their overrepresentation of affluent campaign donors.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_2017SP_Lanford_fsu_0071E_13821
Format: Thesis

Title: Political and Policy Responses to the Sewol Ferry Disaster: Examining Change through Multiple Theory Lenses.
Creator: Cho, Ki Woong, Brower, Ralph S., McDowell, Stephen D., Berry, Frances Stokes, Lee, Keon-Hyung, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Askew...
Show moreCho, Ki Woong, Brower, Ralph S., McDowell, Stephen D., Berry, Frances Stokes, Lee, Keon-Hyung, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Askew School of Public Administration and Policy
Show less
Abstract/Description: South Korea, having experienced a recent transition from developing to developed country, is useful for examining the application of theories about U.S. disaster policy process, and the April 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster provides a particularly salient case study for this purpose. Focusing on the Sewol Ferry disaster, this study examines policy changes through three competing policy theory lenses. The Sewol Ferry disaster was more than a mere tragedy; it quickly became a major political issue....
Show moreSouth Korea, having experienced a recent transition from developing to developed country, is useful for examining the application of theories about U.S. disaster policy process, and the April 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster provides a particularly salient case study for this purpose. Focusing on the Sewol Ferry disaster, this study examines policy changes through three competing policy theory lenses. The Sewol Ferry disaster was more than a mere tragedy; it quickly became a major political issue. As a result of the immensity of the disaster and the sheer number of fatalities, new agendas and laws on emergencies were enacted, including three significant acts specifically referenced to the Sewol accident. To illuminate agenda setting processes related to these three Sewol Acts, this study conducts three parallel qualitative case studies, employing a single case (embedded) design, so that the parallel case analyses are intended to illuminate three theoretical perspectives about policy development: Multiple Streams Approach (MSA), Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET), and Blame Avoidance Motivation (BAM). Based on three case studies (chapter 4-6), this study seeks to reveal gaps between theoretical and practical solutions (fitness or similarities to the policy theory lenses and differences from the theories) based on three case studies by applying the three theories originating in the U.S. on the Sewol Ferry disaster in South Korea. In chapter 7, this study draws on recent disaster policy frameworks generated in the United States and holds them up similarly to the Sewol disaster. This analysis draws also on a model of indigenous administrative theories to illuminate how imported theories often require being filtered through a receiving country's traditional deep cultural values; societal domains of politics, economics, and culture; and management modeling, tools, and techniques. This study finds similarities and differences between U.S. and Korean disaster policy experiences based on the Sewol Ferry disaster and concludes with implications for transferring these lessons to other national contexts, including less developed countries.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: FSU_2017SP_Cho_fsu_0071E_13786
Format: Thesis

Title: Taking Three Small Steps Forward in the Journey of Innovation and Diffusion Study.
Creator: Hwang, Suk Joon, Berry, Frances Stokes, Iatarola, Patrice, Feiock, Richard C., Yang, Kaifeng, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, School of...
Show moreHwang, Suk Joon, Berry, Frances Stokes, Iatarola, Patrice, Feiock, Richard C., Yang, Kaifeng, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, School of Public Administration and Policy
Show less
Abstract/Description: The aim of this dissertation is to fill in the vacant spots in the innovation and diffusion study, which are meaningful but have not had much work done previously. First, most policy diffusion studies have focused on the adoption of a new policy. However, the diffusion of the repeal of an old policy also occurs across organizations and governments. Thus, the first essay in this dissertation, diffusion of the repeal of a state prevailing wage law, contributes to enrich the theoretical...
Show moreThe aim of this dissertation is to fill in the vacant spots in the innovation and diffusion study, which are meaningful but have not had much work done previously. First, most policy diffusion studies have focused on the adoption of a new policy. However, the diffusion of the repeal of an old policy also occurs across organizations and governments. Thus, the first essay in this dissertation, diffusion of the repeal of a state prevailing wage law, contributes to enrich the theoretical development of policy innovation and diffusion from a different angle, and help us learn more about why governments terminate established policies. The economists have provided economic justifications about why state prevailing wage law should be upheld or abolished depending on their stances. However, the empirical result shows that economic justification is not the most persuasive reason. In other words, other factors are also influential in the repeal of prevailing wage law: regional diffusion, political ideology, union power, socio-economic conditions, minimum wage law and so on. This result accords with the arguments of previous policy termination literatures (Cameron, 1977; Deleon, 1987) Second, policy innovation and diffusion studies have not seriously considered the role of the judicial branch as one of the important actors in the process of public policy until now, even though it is one of three branches of a modern democratic government. In this dissertation, a systematic examination regarding this issue is attempted to see what impact court rulings have on the diffusion of state adoption of a same sex marriage ban. The result shows that the backlash of gay-friendly court rulings, state public opinion favorable to same sex marriage, Federal DOMA, and supportive institutions for homosexuals in a state are influential factors when a state introduces the first same sex marriage ban regardless of state DOMAs and constitutional amendments. Furthermore, we also find that the backlash of judicial decisions does not always occur by additional multi-state analysis. More specifically, the influence of gay-friendly court rulings has changed from negative to positive in the transition from state Defense of Marriage Acts to state constitutional amendments against same sex marriage. Third, more effort is needed to reflect the innovative characteristics of policy decision-makers on policy decision making under the theoretical framework of innovation and diffusion studies. The original question of policy innovation and diffusion was about whether a state’s policy innovativeness was a general trait of the policy decision-makers (Walker, 1969). However, policy innovation and diffusion studies have, since the early 1970’s, generally focused on a specific policy over time (with several exceptions, such as Boushey, 2010; Boehmke and Skinner, 2012; Nicholson-Crotty, Sean C., et al., 2014). Thus, the third essay of this dissertation attempts to show how state innovativeness works over multiple adoptions in a specific policy arena: alcohol impaired driving policies. We find that all of the aspects of state innovativeness -- general, traffic safety, and organizational -- increase the likelihood a state adopts alcohol impaired driving laws more comprehensively. Also, the institutional bandwagon is founded as one of the important factors to increase the comprehensiveness of state adoptions of drunk driving policies.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: FSU_FA2016_Hwang_fsu_0071E_13440
Format: Thesis

Title: The Development and Consequences of Heterogeneous Beliefs about Military Power and Supremacy.
Creator: Scott, Patrick Reed, Souva, Mark A., Duncan, Michael, Reenock, Christopher, Smith, Dale L. (Dale Lee), Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreScott, Patrick Reed, Souva, Mark A., Duncan, Michael, Reenock, Christopher, Smith, Dale L. (Dale Lee), Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: There are numerous examples from history that indicate that leaders can disagree about the impact that certain strategies and weapons systems will have on a conflict. The conflict literature in general tends to overlook these disagreements, at worst ignoring them as simple irrationalities. This dissertation presents economic factor endowments as a theoretical cause for disagreements of military power, and conducts a series of empirical evaluations for the impact that these disagreements have...
Show moreThere are numerous examples from history that indicate that leaders can disagree about the impact that certain strategies and weapons systems will have on a conflict. The conflict literature in general tends to overlook these disagreements, at worst ignoring them as simple irrationalities. This dissertation presents economic factor endowments as a theoretical cause for disagreements of military power, and conducts a series of empirical evaluations for the impact that these disagreements have for conflict outcomes. I propose that heterogeneous beliefs about military power result from differences in access to capital and labor resources, a process I call force capitalization. I argue that these beliefs affect the public's perception of military power, conflict onset and conflict duration. I use a survey experiment to evaluate my claim that citizens assess military power in accordance with their military's degree of capitalization. Lastly, I find that differences in force capitalization between countries are associated with an increase in the likelihood of war onset and longer lasting wars.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: FSU_FA2016_Scott_fsu_0071E_13530
Format: Thesis

Title: Explaining Urban Social Unrest and Violent Civil Conflict: Basic Needs Deprivation, Political Opportunity Structures, and Coercive Government Repression.
Creator: Borden, Nathalia Ricarte Gillot, Smith, Dale L. (Dale Lee), Padavic, Irene, Reenock, Christopher, Souva, Mark A., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public...
Show moreBorden, Nathalia Ricarte Gillot, Smith, Dale L. (Dale Lee), Padavic, Irene, Reenock, Christopher, Souva, Mark A., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: Under what conditions do economic grievances – stemming from broader deprivation of basic necessities – effect the likelihood of urban social unrest? And additionally, under what conditions will a state experience violent escalation leading to civil conflict? This dissertation seeks to bridge the gap in existing literature and provide a fluid theoretical argument explaining the causal story from economic grievances stemming from broader basic necessities deprivation to violent civil conflict....
Show moreUnder what conditions do economic grievances – stemming from broader deprivation of basic necessities – effect the likelihood of urban social unrest? And additionally, under what conditions will a state experience violent escalation leading to civil conflict? This dissertation seeks to bridge the gap in existing literature and provide a fluid theoretical argument explaining the causal story from economic grievances stemming from broader basic necessities deprivation to violent civil conflict. I argue that economic grievances stemming from broader deprivation of basic necessities increases the likelihood of urban social unrest, and this effect is conditioned by the political opportunity structures of a given regime. Secondly, I argue that in regimes that experience mass mobilization of dissent, the likelihood of an escalation to violent civil conflict is contingent on coercive government response. This scholarly work adds to the existing literature in several ways. First, this dissertation broadens the conceptualization of basic necessities deprivation to include access to potable water, housing security, food prices and food security, and access to affordable fuel. Building on the work of Levitsky and Way (2010) and Varieties in Democracy database project (2016), I forward a more appropriate conceptualization and operalization of regime type – political opportunity structures. Lastly, whereas previous scholarly work has studied nonviolent dissent or violent civil conflict in isolation, this work attempts to analyze these two forms of contentious politics together – as part of a strategic process. I utilize a nested research analysis or mixed-methods strategy – the use of both small–N, case study analysis and large–N, cross-sectional statistical analysis – in order to examine the theoretical arguments and expectations. The results from the cross-sectional, large-N empirical analysis suggests that indeed basic needs deprivation – measured as global food prices – increases the likelihood that a given state will experience urban social unrest, and that the effect is dampened in states in which the political opportunity structure is less open. Secondly, the results support my theoretical argument that urban social unrest will escalate to violent civil conflict in regimes that choose to mobilize the security apparatus against dissidents. Moreover, this dissertation adds to previous empirical research by utilizing two differing methodological approaches when examining the two outcome variables in question – urban social unrest and violent civil conflict. In examining urban social unrest, I argue that a moderating model is more appropriate, while when examining the escalation to violent civil conflict a mediating model is better able to examine the causal mechanism at play. To my knowledge, this scholarly work is the first to examine this strategic process utilizing both mediation and moderation.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: FSU_FA2016_Borden_fsu_0071E_13586
Format: Thesis

Title: Disaggregating Financial Liberalization: Capital Account Liberalization and Foreign Bank Entry in Developing Countries.
Creator: Chung, Chingju, Smith, Dale L. (Dale Lee), Schmertmann, Carl P, Souva, Mark A., Beazer, Quintin, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreChung, Chingju, Smith, Dale L. (Dale Lee), Schmertmann, Carl P, Souva, Mark A., Beazer, Quintin, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: Developing countries have seen a significant increase in cross-border financial flows and foreign bank presence over the past few decades. Although trade theory and the specific-factors model suggest that financial integration hurts mobile capital in developing countries, extant literature emphasizes the role of mobile capital in pushing for more openness. To reconcile seemingly inconsistent arguments, I propose a more nuanced treatment of financial liberalization. I argue that there are two...
Show moreDeveloping countries have seen a significant increase in cross-border financial flows and foreign bank presence over the past few decades. Although trade theory and the specific-factors model suggest that financial integration hurts mobile capital in developing countries, extant literature emphasizes the role of mobile capital in pushing for more openness. To reconcile seemingly inconsistent arguments, I propose a more nuanced treatment of financial liberalization. I argue that there are two separate aspects of financial liberalization: capital account liberalization and foreign bank entry. I elaborate on how the costs and benefits of each aspect are distributed between two domestic groups: (1) borrowers and savers and (2) domestic banks. In addition to the preferences of societal groups, I identify the institutional conditions under which governments respond positively to the demand for liberalization. I find strong empirical support for the liberalizing effect of borrowers and savers on capital account liberalization, and this liberalizing effect is conditioned by the government’s time horizon. The finding sheds light on the importance of financial inclusion and government’s time horizon in promoting greater financial integration and more efficient allocation of capital across the globe.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: FSU_FA2016_Chung_fsu_0071E_13597
Format: Thesis

Title: Gimme Shelter: The Hidden Causes and Consequences of Internal Displacement.
Creator: Delehanty, Casey, Ehrlich, Sean D., Moore, William H., Herrera, Robinson A., Driscoll, Amanda M., Shannon, Megan, Souva, Mark A., Florida State University, College of Social...
Show moreDelehanty, Casey, Ehrlich, Sean D., Moore, William H., Herrera, Robinson A., Driscoll, Amanda M., Shannon, Megan, Souva, Mark A., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: What are the causes and consequences of internal displacement during civil conflicts? This dissertation makes two general claims: First, internal displacement is often the intentional byproduct of territorial consolidation during civil wars. Non-state actors face a particular incentive to induce displacement as a means to increase their hold on territory in both the long and short term. Forced migrants are more likely to relocate within the state when displaced by a non-state actor, becoming...
Show moreWhat are the causes and consequences of internal displacement during civil conflicts? This dissertation makes two general claims: First, internal displacement is often the intentional byproduct of territorial consolidation during civil wars. Non-state actors face a particular incentive to induce displacement as a means to increase their hold on territory in both the long and short term. Forced migrants are more likely to relocate within the state when displaced by a non-state actor, becoming internally displaced persons rather than refugees. Second, internal displacement can be seen as a factor that influences the outcome of civil wars themselves. Wide-scale displacement leads to notable increases in civil war duration. As such, this dissertation refines our collective understanding of the causes of internal displacement while at the same time calling attention to the potentially severe effects of displacement on civil war resolution. This project examines these claims through the use of unique micro-level data on the Colombian Civil War as well as cross-national investigations of internal displacement and civil war duration.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: FSU_2016SU_Delehanty_fsu_0071E_13397
Format: Thesis

Title: Citizens' Political Information Behaviors during Elections on Twitter in South Korea: Information Worlds of Opinion Leaders.
Creator: Lee, Jisue, Mon, Lorri M., Rohlinger, Deana A., Burnett, Gary, Hinnant, Charles C. (Charles Christopher), Florida State University, College of Communication and Information,...
Show moreLee, Jisue, Mon, Lorri M., Rohlinger, Deana A., Burnett, Gary, Hinnant, Charles C. (Charles Christopher), Florida State University, College of Communication and Information, School of Information
Show less
Abstract/Description: This research investigated South Korean citizens' political information behaviors on Twitter during the 2014 Seoul Mayoral election. By using the mixed methods design of network analysis, tweet content analysis, and interviews, this research examined how citizens collaboratively engaged in the political communication and deliberation via Twitter during an election campaign. Intensive interviews with 13 citizen opinion leaders on Twitter provided the insights into understanding how their...
Show moreThis research investigated South Korean citizens' political information behaviors on Twitter during the 2014 Seoul Mayoral election. By using the mixed methods design of network analysis, tweet content analysis, and interviews, this research examined how citizens collaboratively engaged in the political communication and deliberation via Twitter during an election campaign. Intensive interviews with 13 citizen opinion leaders on Twitter provided the insights into understanding how their perceived societal types, norms, and perception of information value led to certain information sharing behaviors. Also explored was the dynamics of interactions within the virtual public sphere of Twitter as reflected in the conflicts and synergies of multiple information worlds. The Theory of Information Worlds (Jaeger & Burnett, 2010) was used to better understand the current phenomenon of citizens' virtual political communication and deliberation via social media. This research was the first to apply the Theory of Information Worlds into an empirical study examining social worlds of Twitter. This mixed methods research reported both quantitative and qualitative findings identified through the lens of Theory of Information Worlds. Findings from the perspective of network and tweet content analysis demonstrated what information citizens discussed and shared and how they engaged in the collaborative information sharing behaviors (e.g., selective information exposure and/or avoidance) driven by perceived social types, norms, and the perception of information values—opposing political orientations. The separated information worlds were clearly observed through the boundaries between two groups of citizens sharing respective political orientation. The qualitative findings from semi-structured interviews particularly featured how individuals considered as the same social type (e.g., media representatives) interpreted the shared social and/or occupational norms and differently applied them into particular information behaviors. The alteration in interpreting social and/or occupational norms resulted in the creation of conflicts as well as synergies within, between, and across the information worlds. In particular, use of a variety of interview modes in this research (i.e., emails, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) programs, and face-to-face interviews) offered practical strategies, implications, benefits, and drawbacks of interviewing social media users. This research demonstrated the increasing importance of conducting qualitative interviews with social media users in the era of Internet research as well as it suggested a number of practical strategies for how to design, conduct, and analyze intensive interviews. The strategies included the process of identifying purposive set of subjects, recruiting participants, interview scheduling, participant retention, recording, transcribing, translation of the responses, and presentation of the results. Overall, this research attempted to achieve three goals: 1) to provide a holistic and comprehensive view of South Korean citizens' collaborative political information behaviors via Twitter during the election campaign; 2) to investigate the possibility of application of the theory of Information Worlds; and 3) to highlight the importance of using mixed methods design for researching individuals' political information behaviors via social media platforms. Given the lack of research from non-Western politically less stable countries, this case study from South Korean election provided richer empirical findings to the growing body of knowledge.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: FSU_2016SP_Lee_fsu_0071E_13138
Format: Thesis

Title: Attaining Influence in Complex Governance Systems.
Creator: Mewhirter, Jack M., Scholz, John T., Berry, Frances Stokes, Coleman, Eric A., Feiock, Richard C., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreMewhirter, Jack M., Scholz, John T., Berry, Frances Stokes, Coleman, Eric A., Feiock, Richard C., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: THE ABSTRACT IS STILL UNDER REVISION. IT WILL BE COMPLETED BEFORE THE NEXT SUBMISSION.
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: FSU_2016SP_Mewhirter_fsu_0071E_13129
Format: Thesis

Title: Audience Costs and the Domestic Public: The Attenuating Effects of Dispute Contexts.
Creator: Abitbol, Aldo David, Ehrlich, Sean D., Grant, Jonathan A., Souva, Mark A., Gomez, Brad T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of...
Show moreAbitbol, Aldo David, Ehrlich, Sean D., Grant, Jonathan A., Souva, Mark A., Gomez, Brad T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: When will the domestic audience be responsive to publicly made threats in international disputes by their leaders? Theoretical models and empirical evidence suggest that audience costs can be strategically invoked by leaders to credibly signal their intentions in conflict bargaining situations. However, an emerging literature points out that audience costs depend on individual-level behavioral processes within the domestic political environment. This dissertation further explores the factors...
Show moreWhen will the domestic audience be responsive to publicly made threats in international disputes by their leaders? Theoretical models and empirical evidence suggest that audience costs can be strategically invoked by leaders to credibly signal their intentions in conflict bargaining situations. However, an emerging literature points out that audience costs depend on individual-level behavioral processes within the domestic political environment. This dissertation further explores the factors that influence whether voters mobilize audience costs when leaders renege on public threats specifically, in regards to two distinct issues. One, when are citizens attentive to foreign disputes that their leaders publicly signal in, and what effect does this have on audience cost mobilization? Two, will citizens automatically punish leaders for reneging in foreign disputes they are attentive to, or will the decision to punish be subject to normal candidate evaluation processes. Using experimental evidence I find strong empirical support for both factors attenuating audience cost generation in foreign crisis disputes. Finally, unlike previous work on audience costs, this dissertation demonstrates that factors outside of a leader's direct control influences the degree to which they can credibly signal through publicly made threats.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_2015fall_Abitbol_fsu_0071E_12906
Format: Thesis

Title: Restorative and Retributive Justice Techniques: A Case Study of the Former Yugoslavia.
Creator: King, Janelle, Program in International Affairs
Abstract/Description: This research project focuses on methods of bringing sustainable peace and justice to the victims and their communities of the former Yugoslavia, specifically regarding the countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Serbia. The paper discusses the various restorative and retributive justice mechanisms that have been established to bring justice to the Balkan region. There has been insufficient scholarly investigation into both perspectives of justice, while also considering the opinions...
Show moreThis research project focuses on methods of bringing sustainable peace and justice to the victims and their communities of the former Yugoslavia, specifically regarding the countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Serbia. The paper discusses the various restorative and retributive justice mechanisms that have been established to bring justice to the Balkan region. There has been insufficient scholarly investigation into both perspectives of justice, while also considering the opinions of locals and victims who lived through the conflict. The conclusions from this paper will be helpful to victims, community members, political leaders, and nongovernmental, civil society, and international organizations in this specific region in order to successfully restore justice. The primary research in this study involved several qualitative interviews with various representatives from nongovernmental and international organizations, the Tribunal that incarcerates perpetrators of the human rights abuses that occurred in the 1990s, and locals who lived either in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, or Serbia during the conflicts. The research attempts to determine what is missing in these countries to achieve sustainable peace. Conclusively, persistent themes are acknowledged through these interviews and addressed in a methodological foundation to attain viable reconciliation in the context of the region.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0474
Format: Thesis

Title: From Laughter to Learning: The Effects of Political Satire on Political Acquisiton.
Creator: Hamrick, Hunter K., Department of Political Science
Abstract/Description: This thesis examines the effect and various aspects that Political Satire shows have on the political acquisition of people. The intention of this thesis is to highlight the effects that political satires such as the Colbert Report and the Daily Show, have on a person's ability to recall political nformation presented to them in the form of broadcast media.
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0476
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of Economic Globalization on Transnational Terrorism a Pooled Time Series Analysis.
Creator: Parks, Danielle M., Department of Economics
Abstract/Description: This research analyzes the effect of economic globalization on the number of transnational terrorist attacks within a country. The pooled time series analysis, conducted on a sample of 160 countries from 1968 to 2014, is an updated, expanded, and revised version of Li and Schaub (2004). The analysis first replicates Li and Schaub (2004) proving the accuracy of the tests. Next, it examines the effect of a larger sample and time period. Finally, existing variables are revised and new variables...
Show moreThis research analyzes the effect of economic globalization on the number of transnational terrorist attacks within a country. The pooled time series analysis, conducted on a sample of 160 countries from 1968 to 2014, is an updated, expanded, and revised version of Li and Schaub (2004). The analysis first replicates Li and Schaub (2004) proving the accuracy of the tests. Next, it examines the effect of a larger sample and time period. Finally, existing variables are revised and new variables are added in order to improve the test. Countries have not only become more interconnected, but also the nature of transnational terrorism has radically evolved since prior research was conducted. Following the September 11, 2001, Pentagon and Twin Tower attacks, the world has been facing a new form of terrorism. Empirically, the amount of transnational terrorist attacks globally has been decreasing after the September 11, 2001, transnational terrorist attacks. Overall, the results show that international economic integration has overtime had a greater effect on the number of transnational terrorist attacks than research had previously suggested. Specifically, foreign direct investment (FDI) and portfolio investment have a statistically significant negative effect on transnational terrorist attacks within a country. However, trade openness no longer has a direct effect on transnational terrorism. Additionally, a country's economic globalization and partners' economic globalization does not have a statistically significant effect of reducing the amount of transnational terrorist attacks that a country experiences. As a result, the analysis provides policymakers with a greater understanding on what specific economic conditions may currently promote or inhibit the transnational terrorist attacks from occurring within a country.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0566
Format: Thesis

Title: Cool but Correct: Humanitarian Discourse and the US Justification for Intervention in Chile.
Creator: Forehand, Kristen D., Department of History
Abstract/Description: Intervening to supposedly protect human rights constitutes a potent justification for foreign involvement, but how humanitarian discourse became critical to the United States' (US) foreign policy remains poorly studied. I argue that humanitarian discourse, while present in the Spanish-American War of 1898, became essential to the US during the Cold War. Rationalizing the 1973 overthrow of the democratically elected socialist Chilean President Salvador Allende, the US relied on anticommunist...
Show moreIntervening to supposedly protect human rights constitutes a potent justification for foreign involvement, but how humanitarian discourse became critical to the United States' (US) foreign policy remains poorly studied. I argue that humanitarian discourse, while present in the Spanish-American War of 1898, became essential to the US during the Cold War. Rationalizing the 1973 overthrow of the democratically elected socialist Chilean President Salvador Allende, the US relied on anticommunist rhetoric joined with accusations that Allende violated Chileans' rights. However, the overthrow led to a brutal dictatorship. Thus, the thesis interrogates primary sources such as declassified government documents, speeches, memoirs, films, murals and music to discover hidden meanings. It employs the methodology of subaltern history as articulated by Ranajit Guha to investigate sources contrapuntally. Therefore, the thesis sheds light on the vaguely understood connection between imperialism and humanitarian intervention. The thesis utilizes a theoretical prism informed by Walter Benjamin, Slavoj Žižek and David Smith to understand how language can justify humanitarian intervention. Finally, the thesis adds to Latin American history and the history humanitarian intervention, specifically the scholarly works of Peter Kornbluh, Steve J. Stern and James Peck. I argue that the US manufactured rhetoric to gain approval for policies that would have otherwise been opposed. Following the Cold War, anticommunist justifications for intervention became less prevalent. However, humanitarian discourse continues. In many cases, the language becomes a façade for less noble reasons to intervene. Thus, Chile continues to provide a model for intervention in the name of protecting human rights.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0556
Format: Thesis

Title: The Best Laid Plans, Laid to Rest: The Fall of the Florida Department of Community Affairs.
Creator: Medin, Kyle A., Department of Political Science
Abstract/Description: Florida Governor Rick Scott defended his move to eliminate the growth management-oriented Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in 2011, claiming that the DCA was killing jobs in the state of Florida, and that it was an inefficient use of Government money. This paper set out to test Governor Scott's claims against the data, to see if there was evidence to support his assertions. The relationship between DCA's presence and three employment variables (monthly construction jobs, aggregate jobs,...
Show moreFlorida Governor Rick Scott defended his move to eliminate the growth management-oriented Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in 2011, claiming that the DCA was killing jobs in the state of Florida, and that it was an inefficient use of Government money. This paper set out to test Governor Scott's claims against the data, to see if there was evidence to support his assertions. The relationship between DCA's presence and three employment variables (monthly construction jobs, aggregate jobs, unemployment rate) was tested with multivariate linear regression models. DCA's effect on job growth was tested by comparing job growth data from Florida with the corresponding data from Texas (a state without any such growth management agency) and the national average (to contextualize the states' growth), using paired t-tests. The effectiveness of the DCA at regulating housing growth was similarly tested, by comparing data on housing growth rates and housing density from Florida with the corresponding data from Texas and the national average using paired t-tests. The majority of the tests refuted Gov. Scott's claims. This paper lends support to the proponents of growth management, using a novel approach.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0567
Format: Thesis

Title: The Choctaw Club: Martin Behrman, Reform, and the Roots of Modern American Politics.
Creator: Criss, Ralph Eric, Jumonville, Neil, Bonn, Mark A, Creswell, Michael H., Gray, Edward G., Stoltzfus, Nathan, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department...
Show moreCriss, Ralph Eric, Jumonville, Neil, Bonn, Mark A, Creswell, Michael H., Gray, Edward G., Stoltzfus, Nathan, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of History
Show less
Abstract/Description: The proper role of government at all levels—local, state and federal—has been debated since the birth of the Republic. This project explores that debate by illustrating how a variety of social and political issues manifested themselves in the real life of New Orleans' longest serving mayor, Martin Behrman, and the lives of millions of other Americans, in the early twentieth century. Integral to the story of Martin Behrman's life is the tale of Storyville—the infamous red-light district—the...
Show moreThe proper role of government at all levels—local, state and federal—has been debated since the birth of the Republic. This project explores that debate by illustrating how a variety of social and political issues manifested themselves in the real life of New Orleans' longest serving mayor, Martin Behrman, and the lives of millions of other Americans, in the early twentieth century. Integral to the story of Martin Behrman's life is the tale of Storyville—the infamous red-light district—the growth of the beer industry, and World War I. These matters were bound together in a ball of confusion surrounding the act of congress authorizing the war and its funding. Specifically, questions poured in from across the nation, asking which parts of American cities sailors could visit, whether or not sailors and soldiers were to be treated equally under the law, and even whether or not a civilian could buy a soldier a cold beer to say "thank you" for his service. In this way, the politics of beer, sex, and reform exploded across the United States. In Louisiana, these issues contributed to the defeat of Martin Behrman in the mayoral election of 1920, the weakening of the "Regular" political machine, and the ascent Huey Long, the "Kingfish." Many of the same legal and moral questions that were asked in 1915 are now asked in 2015 as presidential candidates jockey for position in the presidential primaries of both major parties. How much federal government intrusion into the private lives of citizens is appropriate, given the urgent need to protect the nation from terrorism? Which civil liberties may be encroached upon and to what extent? What is government's role in promoting public health, fair wages, and morality? What is the appropriate role of the federal government versus states and localities, especially during wartime? How do we handle the large numbers of immigrants flocking to our shores—from both a policy and rhetorical perspective? Answers to such questions constituted the political fault lines of the early twentieth century, as they do today. This study does not attempt to answer the policy questions above. Rather, it seeks to add context to debates surrounding them and to demonstrate their durability. The challenge is how to discuss these complex issues in a concise and cohesive manner. The author chose the political career of the longest serving mayor in the history of New Orleans to act as the glue that holds the narrative together.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_2015fall_Criss_fsu_0071E_12842
Format: Thesis

Title: Bring the Pain: Three Essays on the Influence of Military Capabilities on International Conflict.
Creator: Crisher, Brian Benjamin, Souva, Mark A., Grant, Jonathan A., Moore, William H., Ehrlich, Sean D., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreCrisher, Brian Benjamin, Souva, Mark A., Grant, Jonathan A., Moore, William H., Ehrlich, Sean D., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: This dissertation consists of three individual studies that examine the influence of military capabilities on international conflict. Chapter 2 examines the influence of naval power on non-contiguous hostile disputes. I present a unique argument that links absolute naval power to international conflict through uncertainty of resolve and fears about future threats. Increasing a state's naval power increases the amount of issues they will dispute. Yet these issues are likely to be of low...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of three individual studies that examine the influence of military capabilities on international conflict. Chapter 2 examines the influence of naval power on non-contiguous hostile disputes. I present a unique argument that links absolute naval power to international conflict through uncertainty of resolve and fears about future threats. Increasing a state's naval power increases the amount of issues they will dispute. Yet these issues are likely to be of low salience. Because the issues are of low salience defenders will be uncertain about the resolve of challengers. Additionally, because of the increase in naval power, defenders will fear future threats. Defenders that fear future threats are more likely to resist coercive threats. As such, defenders have incentives to bargain aggressively against challengers. In this case, we should be more likely to observe military disputes as challengers look to signal their resolve. Utilizing a new data set of naval power, I show that as states acquire naval strength they are more likely to initiate non-contiguous hostile disputes. Additionally, I find that contrary to realist and expected utility theory expectations, relative naval power has little influence on hostile dispute initiation. The findings have implications for the future actions of states whose naval strength is growing. Chapter 3 examines the influence of military parity on international conflict. Studies of power parity and conflict implicitly assume all balanced dyads are created equal. However, variation exists within the capabilities of the states in these particular dyads. I address the question of what affects the likelihood of conflict onset within relatively balanced dyads. I argue uncertainty – in particular the uncertainty of the expected costs of conflict – determines the likelihood of conflict among these dyads. More uncertainty of costs means a greater likelihood of miscalculation leading to bargaining errors. First, I argue as an opponent's capabilities increase, uncertainty of costs increase and the likelihood of conflict increases. Second, military action serves a purpose in bargaining and can help reduce uncertainty by signaling a state's willingness to inflict and endure costs in order to gain a better settlement. Third, information transmission is likely to be effective only when states have the capability to inflict significant costs. As such, while greater capabilities will lead to a high likelihood of conflict onset, they also lead to a reduced likelihood of conflict escalation. The testing of non-directed dyads from 1946 to 2001 supports the theory's implications. Chapter 4 examines what influences the likelihood of a war ending with an absolute outcome. Past work has focused on understanding questions about war outcomes in-terms of win, lose, or draw (Slantchev, 2004; Bennett and Stam, 1998; Stam, 1998). Yet little-to-no attention has been paid to understanding why some wars end with one side losing their ability to resist rather than a limited negotiated settlement. Here I present one of the first empirical tests for determining the likelihood of a war ending with an absolute outcome. I argue that two conditions increase the likelihood of a war reaching an absolute outcome. The difficulty and costs involve mean that a state must have the willingness and capabilities to impose such an outcome. Wars where credible commitment concerns are present gives the willingness while asymmetric power gives the capabilities to pursue an absolute outcome. The contribution of this study is to move beyond the questions of limited war outcomes to helping us understand war at its most punishing phase. Such an understanding can help identify which wars have the potential for reaching extremes, allowing the international community to attempt other solutions.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9580
Format: Thesis

Title: Participation Matters: Stock Market Participation and the Valuation of National Equity Markets.
Creator: Forbes, Matthew D. (Matthew David), Smith, Dale L. (Dale Lee), Souva, Mark A., Gomez, Brad T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department...
Show moreForbes, Matthew D. (Matthew David), Smith, Dale L. (Dale Lee), Souva, Mark A., Gomez, Brad T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: Equity markets are becoming an intricate part of economic growth. They provide a source of capital, among other things, that companies may use to grow, innovate, and compete in a domestic or the world market. With the increase of equity markets and their implications of economic growth there has been some recent research on the valuation of equity markets. Many of the political, economical, and institutional factors that are suggested to influence equity market valuation have been...
Show moreEquity markets are becoming an intricate part of economic growth. They provide a source of capital, among other things, that companies may use to grow, innovate, and compete in a domestic or the world market. With the increase of equity markets and their implications of economic growth there has been some recent research on the valuation of equity markets. Many of the political, economical, and institutional factors that are suggested to influence equity market valuation have been extrapolated from the research on bond markets and FDI. While concurring with many of the factors already discussed in the literature, this thesis suggests that a factor is missing in the analysis. I claim that stock market valuation is conditioned on the domestic stock market participation level within that country's stock market. I contend that an increase of stock market participation by the domestic populace, conditioned on the type of regime, will increase the valuation of the equity market of that country.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9599
Format: Thesis

Title: Beyond Bouazizi: Culture, Terror and Gender Equality in the Arab World.
Creator: Shamaileh, Ammar, Großer, Jens Willi, Ryvkin, Dmitry, Souva, Mark A., Coleman, Eric A., Siegel, David A., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreShamaileh, Ammar, Großer, Jens Willi, Ryvkin, Dmitry, Souva, Mark A., Coleman, Eric A., Siegel, David A., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: This dissertation explores two distinct lines of inquiry that are linked thematically through their focus on how narrow or broad an individual's world is affects that individual's beliefs and actions, as well as their regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Part 1 of this project provides the first known scholarly exploration of the relationship between generalized interpersonal trust and participation in terrorism, and finds substantial evidence to support the contention that, on...
Show moreThis dissertation explores two distinct lines of inquiry that are linked thematically through their focus on how narrow or broad an individual's world is affects that individual's beliefs and actions, as well as their regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Part 1 of this project provides the first known scholarly exploration of the relationship between generalized interpersonal trust and participation in terrorism, and finds substantial evidence to support the contention that, on average and when all other variables are held constant, an increase in generalized interpersonal trust is associated with lower levels of terrorist activity and support for the use of terrorism. I begin this section of the dissertation by presenting motivational examples in Chapter 2 that dissect the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Syria and the divergent turns those uprisings took. That exploration provides evidence that the differences between those uprisings may have been rooted, in part, in variations between the three states with respect to social capital and interpersonal trust dynamics. In Chapter 3, this dissertation theoretically examines the decision to choose terrorism over other, less costly forms of resistance through the analysis of a formal model, and further provides theoretical evidence to support the contention that lower levels of interpersonal trust are associated with a higher likelihood that an individual will participate in domestic terrorist activities. This project subsequently tests the relationship between generalized interpersonal trust and support for terrorism in the Arab world through the analysis of an ordered probit regression model, and finds substantial support for the hypothesis that generalized interpersonal trust is negatively correlated with support for terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa. Chapter 5 tests my central hypothesis at the country level through the analysis of a two-stage ordinary least squares regression model, and finds that states with lower levels of generalized interpersonal trust, on average and when all other variables are held constant, experience higher levels of terrorist activity. Part 2 of this dissertation studies whether the internet can assist with the tearing down of cultural barriers to female political empowerment in the Arab world. This portion of the dissertation presents three alternative theories and related hypotheses regarding the effect access to the internet has on perceptions of female political leadership ability in Arab countries. It subsequently tests these theories utilizing survey data drawn from six countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and finds substantial evidence to support the hypothesis that access to the internet affects female, but not male, perceptions of female political leadership ability in the region. Beyond simply explaining how the internet affects perceptions of female political leadership in Arab nations, it aims to more generally help shed light on how internet access may affect populations that are politically marginalized or discriminated against.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9450
Format: Thesis

Title: Three Essays on Policy Network Ties in the Dynamic Process of Conflict Resolution.
Creator: Lim, Seunghoo, Berry, Frances Stokes, Lee, Keon-Hyung, Barrilleaux, Charles J., Brower, Ralph S., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, School...
Show moreLim, Seunghoo, Berry, Frances Stokes, Lee, Keon-Hyung, Barrilleaux, Charles J., Brower, Ralph S., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, School of Public Administration and Policy
Show less
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the import of the policy network for policy conflict resolution. Emergent networks, or self-organizing informal relationships that appear below the surface of formal networks or relationships, could be viewed as conflict resolution mechanisms despite their potential to conflict with or crowd out the formal networks or relationships. Informal policy networks can complement formal solutions and resolve certain coordination problems more efficiently...
Show moreThe purpose of this dissertation is to explore the import of the policy network for policy conflict resolution. Emergent networks, or self-organizing informal relationships that appear below the surface of formal networks or relationships, could be viewed as conflict resolution mechanisms despite their potential to conflict with or crowd out the formal networks or relationships. Informal policy networks can complement formal solutions and resolve certain coordination problems more efficiently than would be possible between pairs of groups. The literature on public management topics in network settings and on the design of policy networks is extensive, but issues related to the emergence and evolution of self-organizing policy networks are not yet fully understood. In particular, one poorly understood aspect of these networks is how the presence of multiple motivations or incentives that various actors face in situations of conflict affects the structures of interaction among these actors; this recurrent decision-making process has not been studied systematically. This dissertation consists of three studies. The goal of the first study is to examine the form of a policy network by focusing on how networks emerge and evolve at the micro-level to solve collective action dilemmas endemic to the decentralized and democratized policy decision-making processes, particularly in the conflict resolution arena. The goal of the second study is to examine the main actors and structural characteristics of network evolution in the dynamic process of conflict resolution. The goal of the third study is to highlight the role of tie formality in the evolution of multiplex ties in the conflict resolution process.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9382
Format: Thesis

Title: Crime, Elites, and Democratic Support in Latin America.
Creator: Liebertz, Scott Sinclair, Reenock, Christopher, Warren, Patricia Y. (Patricia Yvonne), Coleman, Eric A., Maestas, Cherie D., Gomez, Brad T., Florida State University, College of...
Show moreLiebertz, Scott Sinclair, Reenock, Christopher, Warren, Patricia Y. (Patricia Yvonne), Coleman, Eric A., Maestas, Cherie D., Gomez, Brad T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: This dissertation uses insights from political psychology and theories of elite influence to examine an important but understudied aspect of democratization - the role of physical insecurity in transitional democracies. To examine how elites affect citizen support for democracy, I focus on the region of Latin America, an area of the world dealing with extraordinary levels of criminal violence at the same time that most of its member countries are still trying to consolidate their relatively...
Show moreThis dissertation uses insights from political psychology and theories of elite influence to examine an important but understudied aspect of democratization - the role of physical insecurity in transitional democracies. To examine how elites affect citizen support for democracy, I focus on the region of Latin America, an area of the world dealing with extraordinary levels of criminal violence at the same time that most of its member countries are still trying to consolidate their relatively young democracies. As violent crime rates continue to rise in Latin America and impunity becomes a fact of life, it is reasonable to fear that this may threaten the process of consolidation. The aspect of democratization that I focus on in this work is the public support for democratic values, principles, and institutions. If the democracies of Latin America fail to meet the most basic of responsibilities - protecting its citizens' physical security, then it may cause citizens to question their support for a truly democratic regime. A number of seminal works in the area of democratization recognize that the widespread public perception that democracies are not successfully carrying out the basic functions of government, will likely undermine consolidation (Lipset, 1961; Easton, 1975; Linz, 1978). In other words, democracy will suffer significantly and may not survive if citizens do not feel that it can provide for their essential needs, and perceive it to be an ineffective form of government. Indeed, this is not an unpopular belief. Various international organizations operate as if this relationship were the case, committing resources in the form of aid to nascent democracies dedicated to reducing crime and enhancing police operations all in the name of protecting democracy. Although scholars have long recognized the threat to democracy represented by criminal violence, and the existence of what O'Donnell (1994) called "brown spaces" outside the state's ability to provide rule of law, we still know relatively little about the mechanism by which physical insecurity undermines public support for democracy. While scholars expect that the growing prevalence of violent street crime will undermine support for democratic principles (Bateson, 2012; Malone, 2010; Demombynes, 2009), evidence is inconsistent and inconclusive. This dissertation is novel in that it incorporates an important element of the crime and democracy story which has yet to be seriously analyzed - the role of elites. Drawing from Affective Intelligence theory in Political Psychology, I offer a new explanation of how citizen support for democracy in the face of high crime rates is moderated by the influence of elite actors. By applying a theory of opinion formation, I am able to derive the conditions under which the rampant crime experienced by many Latin American countries represents a serious threat to citizen support for democratic principles and institutions, and potentially democracy itself. Specifically, I find that the anxiety produced by physical insecurity does not have a monolithic effect across all national contexts. Criminal violence represents a threat to democratic support in that it makes anxious citizens more vulnerable to the messaging of authoritarian elites. When elites are promoting anti-democratic ideas and policies, fearful citizens are less supportive of democratic principles. But when the elite environment is not sufficiently authoritarian, crime-induced anxiety has no effect on democratic support. In addition to examining the role of elites in affecting attitudes about democratic values, I also analyze how elites - both in terms of their political and media resources - affect attitudes toward specific criminal justice institutions, in particular the police. In order to support the theoretical claims of this dissertation, I employ a mixed methods strategy that consists of qualitative case studies informed by semi-structured elite interviews, statistical analysis of survey data from all eighteen Latin American democracies, and content analysis of newspapers from fourteen countries in the region. The findings have important implications for scholars and practitioners of democratization in terms of the role of elites and the consequences of widespread criminal violence in transitional democracies.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9381
Format: Thesis

Title: The Role of International Alliances in Civil War Onset.
Creator: Fletcher, Paul Todd, Souva, Mark A., Grant, Jonathan A., Smith, Dale L. (Dale Lee), Ehrlich, Sean D., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreFletcher, Paul Todd, Souva, Mark A., Grant, Jonathan A., Smith, Dale L. (Dale Lee), Ehrlich, Sean D., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: While significant scholarly attention has been given to the literatures on civil war and on alliances, there has not been any exploration of the important role international alliances play in civil war onset. This dissertation posits that international alliances can greatly decrease the onset of civil war. Leaders wish to remain in power, and alliances can serve as a means to that end. Allies need foreign leaders who will ensure that their states can fulfill their alliance obligations. Civil...
Show moreWhile significant scholarly attention has been given to the literatures on civil war and on alliances, there has not been any exploration of the important role international alliances play in civil war onset. This dissertation posits that international alliances can greatly decrease the onset of civil war. Leaders wish to remain in power, and alliances can serve as a means to that end. Allies need foreign leaders who will ensure that their states can fulfill their alliance obligations. Civil wars undermine the ability of leaders to meet alliance obligations. Through the formation of alliances, leaders may be seeking international solutions to domestic problems. This dissertation proposes that alliances go beyond their written obligations by also providing foreign states with security from domestic threats. The empirical results of this dissertation demonstrate that powerful states can substantially reduce civil war onset in their allies. However, further research indicates that this benefit may come at a cost. By heavily relying on help from a powerful ally, states may be more vulnerable to irregular removals of leaders, especially in the form of coups. More broadly, this dissertation also seeks to provide a possible policy prescription for stability and security in the world.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9333
Format: Thesis

Title: He Leans to the Right: The Personal and Political Identities of Gay Republicans.
Creator: Chouinard, Michael S. (Michael Steven), Nudd, Donna M., Hellweg, Joseph, Proffitt, Jennifer M., McDowell, Stephen D., Florida State University, College of Communication and...
Show moreChouinard, Michael S. (Michael Steven), Nudd, Donna M., Hellweg, Joseph, Proffitt, Jennifer M., McDowell, Stephen D., Florida State University, College of Communication and Information, School of Communication
Show less
Abstract/Description: We all contain multitudes of identifiable characteristics, which contribute to our ever-evolving individual and collective identities. These identities function in a variety of ways to reflect and shape our beliefs, actions, sense of self, and relationships to others. Yet, given the plethora of unique and fluid identities within each of us, it is to be expected that not all of them will fit harmoniously together. Sometimes multiple identities are determined--either by oneself or by broader...
Show moreWe all contain multitudes of identifiable characteristics, which contribute to our ever-evolving individual and collective identities. These identities function in a variety of ways to reflect and shape our beliefs, actions, sense of self, and relationships to others. Yet, given the plethora of unique and fluid identities within each of us, it is to be expected that not all of them will fit harmoniously together. Sometimes multiple identities are determined--either by oneself or by broader social influences--to be at odds. An example of this dissonance, and the focus of this dissertation, is individuals who identify as both gay and Republican. The American political landscape seems to grow more inhospitable with each passing year, as the two dominant parties work to promote a politics of polarization. This is not surprising since Democrats and Republicans have much to lose by compromising on issues, as compromise requires concessions and would demonstrate moderation, thereby opening the door for other political actors to pull some power from the left and right. Thus, the parties push away from one another, dividing citizens along clear party lines. One current divisive issue is LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) equality, which has garnered significant support from the Democratic Party and considerable opposition from the Republican Party. This is not to say that all Democrats or all Republicans agree with their respective party's position, but the fact remains that at this point in American political history, a clear divide is depicted between the dominant political parties on issues regarding sexual minorities. Nevertheless, some LGBTQ individuals--particularly gay men--continue to identify with the Republican Party, despite its vocal opposition to their sexual identity. These gay Republicans offer a compelling glimpse into an American political system in which compromise is rarely achieved at the party level but is expected of anyone who seeks membership in those parties. That is, individuals who identify with a political party are assumed to accept the entirety of that party's platform, even if that means compromising on some issues. Of course, this creates tension for gay Republicans, who experience marginalization from both communities on the basis of their identification with the other. To better understand the gay Republican experience, this qualitative study draws on in-depth interviews with nine such individuals. Through a process of interpretive analysis, interviews were transcribed and coded to reveal key themes related to political identity, sexual identity, and the ways in which these identities exist congruently. Participants are revealed to harbor a diverse array of perspectives and experiences, thereby collectively challenging the popular notion that one cannot identify as both gay and Republican at this time--2014 to 2015--in American history. Findings are explored with respect to the theoretical concepts of virtual insider status and agonistic pluralism, and hold implications for the ways in which all individuals experience and negotiate identities. Specifically, because of their firsthand experience attempting to pass as virtual insiders within a political party that opposes their equality, most participants have adopted an agonistic, rather than antagonistic, approach to politics. Moreover, they resist popular notions that sexual orientation--or any single identity trait--is a solid base on which to build one's political identity. Ultimately, gay Republicans are shown to be uniquely situated as poster children for participation within an American political sphere based on concession, in which all citizens seem to be working against their interests in one way or another.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9305
Format: Thesis

Title: National Human Rights Institutions: Adoption, Design, and Effectiveness.
Creator: Welch, Ryan M. (Ryan Merrill), Moore, William H., Reenock, Christopher, Twiss, Sumner B., Beazer, Quintin H. (Quintin Hayes), Shannon, Megan, Florida State University, College...
Show moreWelch, Ryan M. (Ryan Merrill), Moore, William H., Reenock, Christopher, Twiss, Sumner B., Beazer, Quintin H. (Quintin Hayes), Shannon, Megan, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: Does adopting a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) makes states' international commitments more constraining? If so, why would states adopt the constraining institution in the first place? When states do adopt an NHRI, how do they design it? I answer these three questions in three separate essays in the dissertation. Past scholarship emphasizes the role of domestic institutions for international human rights commitments. NHRIs, domestic institutions tasked with the protection and...
Show moreDoes adopting a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) makes states' international commitments more constraining? If so, why would states adopt the constraining institution in the first place? When states do adopt an NHRI, how do they design it? I answer these three questions in three separate essays in the dissertation. Past scholarship emphasizes the role of domestic institutions for international human rights commitments. NHRIs, domestic institutions tasked with the protection and promotion of human rights, represent another institution to explore. Focusing on the generally secretive practice of torture, I argue NHRIs provide information to potential mobilizers and domestic legal systems increasing the probability states follow through on their commitment not to torture. I find that when a country already ratified the Convention Against Torture (CAT), the presence of an NHRI substantively decreases the chances the state tortures often. Given NHRI ability to constrain state behavior, why do states adopt NHRIs? Most NHRI adoption happens within a norms cascade. I argue states weigh the reputational benefits with the costs of NHRI adoption. Shaming by other actors approximately signals how those actors perceive the state in question's status with respect to the international society of states. Those states never or always shamed do not reap high enough benefits to adopt; more adoption exists in the middle. I test the hypothesis with a Cox Proportional Hazards model and find support that states adopt NHRIs to manage their international status. Not all NHRIs are created equally, though. Considerable variation exists pertaining to what actions NHRIs can legally take to affect their charge; some even levy punishment. The final essay proposes a theory of legislature delegation to NHRIs with the executive seeking to influence the process to retain maximum discretion in the future. Electoral laws and political situations allow the executive to leverage her power with respect to the legislature in order to decrease the probability the NHRI may levy punishment. The executive may even hijack the whole process and create the NHRI unilaterally through decree also decreasing the probability legal NHRI punishment powers. Estimating a Bayesian logistic regression, that accounts for selection and uncertainty, I find support for the theory.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9521
Format: Thesis

Title: The Mechanisms of Motivation: Examining the Implications and Realization of Several Mechanisms of Motivated Reasoning Theory.
Creator: Flanders, William D., Gomez, Brad T., Arpan, Laura M., Jackson, Robert A., Pietryka, Matthew T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,...
Show moreFlanders, William D., Gomez, Brad T., Arpan, Laura M., Jackson, Robert A., Pietryka, Matthew T., Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Department of Political Science
Show less
Abstract/Description: In this dissertation, I attempt to answer the question, what are the important factors that predict whether or not people will learn political facts? I make the case that two mechanisms of motivated reasoning theory—confirmation bias and disconfirmation bias—have different implications for our understanding of the rationality of the general public. I argue that factual information is far more difficult to refute than the sort of opinion information that has often been studied in political and...
Show moreIn this dissertation, I attempt to answer the question, what are the important factors that predict whether or not people will learn political facts? I make the case that two mechanisms of motivated reasoning theory—confirmation bias and disconfirmation bias—have different implications for our understanding of the rationality of the general public. I argue that factual information is far more difficult to refute than the sort of opinion information that has often been studied in political and social psychology. Consequently, differences in knowledge on these questions should be better explained by differences in information exposure (confirmation bias) rather than differences in the conscious or subconscious acceptance of encountered information. Using laboratory and cross-sectional data, I test the components and implications of this theory. Across three studies, I show that people are willing to update their beliefs about counter-attitudinal facts when they encounter them, and that differences in the media content of one's information environment are far more predictive of knowledge than is partisanship. I also show that people's default factual beliefs in the absence of information are quite ephemeral and are readily changed when more certain information is provided. In totality, this dissertation adds to our understanding of the way that the mechanisms of motivated reasoning theory apply on questions of fact and offers a somewhat hopeful message for proponents of public rationality.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_2016SP_FlandersIV_fsu_0071E_13015
Format: Thesis

Title: New Descriptive Representation in the White House and African Americans' Sense of External Political Efficacy.
Creator: O'Brien, Kevin, Department of Political Science
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0427
Format: Thesis

Title: Colonial Autonomy: Maryland's Legal Foundation.
Creator: Corkell, Liam, Department of History
Abstract/Description: The colony of Maryland, granted to Lord Baltimore by Charles I in 1632, was the host of considerable, political turmoil regarding the scale of the royal governor's authority. The Charter of Maryland granted Baltimore, for all intents and purposes, the authority of a liege lord within the province, with the intention of making the chartered colony as close a parallel to England as was physically achievable. However, with the withdrawal of supervision from across the Atlantic in the mid 17th...
Show moreThe colony of Maryland, granted to Lord Baltimore by Charles I in 1632, was the host of considerable, political turmoil regarding the scale of the royal governor's authority. The Charter of Maryland granted Baltimore, for all intents and purposes, the authority of a liege lord within the province, with the intention of making the chartered colony as close a parallel to England as was physically achievable. However, with the withdrawal of supervision from across the Atlantic in the mid 17th century, Maryland, like several of its fellow colonies, began to grapple with the idea of political autonomy. Although the sentiment behind this newly found desire for self-management was nowhere near the extent that it would be during the Imperial Crisis more than a century later, the royal governorship was effectively challenged, both in London, and North America. In this political environment, Maryland, with the absence of royal supervision, functioned not only as a colony, but as an autonomous, quasi-independent state.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0299
Format: Thesis

Title: History and Activism in Regards to the FDA Ban Against Homosexual Males from Donating Blood.
Creator: Fritz, Mary, Interdisciplinary Program in Social Science
Abstract/Description: This thesis deals directly with the FDA ban on sexually active homosexual men from donating blood. This work examines how organizations have made arguments against the ban and actions taken in both the legislative realm and college activism. This study also relies on scientific evidence to support the argument of those in opposition against the ban.
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0308
Format: Thesis

Title: The Importance of Sea Power: China's Modernizing Navy and its Effects on Regional International Affairs.
Creator: Brockman, Daniel, Department of Political Science
Abstract/Description: Analysts in the United States fear the unprecedented growth and modernization of China's Navy could lead to problems for the U.S. and its allies, upsetting America's political influence and economic interests in the Southeast Asia maritime region. I argue that China's naval modernization has increased China's political influence—and decreased that of the U.S.—over countries in the China Sea region that do not maintain defense agreements with the United States. Hypotheses from this argument...
Show moreAnalysts in the United States fear the unprecedented growth and modernization of China's Navy could lead to problems for the U.S. and its allies, upsetting America's political influence and economic interests in the Southeast Asia maritime region. I argue that China's naval modernization has increased China's political influence—and decreased that of the U.S.—over countries in the China Sea region that do not maintain defense agreements with the United States. Hypotheses from this argument are tested using voting data from United Nations proceedings and naval tonnage data. I find that there is a connection between China's growing Navy and how often countries in the China Sea region have voted in agreement with China (increasing) and the United States (decreasing). Furthermore, it was found that countries in this region with a U.S. military pact acted differently than those that do not maintain such an arrangement, increasing agreement with the United States relative to China.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0371
Format: Thesis

Title: The "Trafalgar Square Conservation Area": Deconstructing Spatial Narratives with/in a Collective Framework.
Creator: Bergholtz, Joel, Department of English
Abstract/Description: Abstract: (Key Terms: Collective Framework, Rhetorical Theory, Trafalgar Square, Spatial Narratives) This thesis is a rhetorical examination of language as elicited in spatial narratives. In doing so, it examines the various symbols that public spaces employ in order to rhetorically speak to us, move us, and make us act in certain ways. More specifically, it addresses Trafalgar Square as a problem space, deconstructing the various spatial narratives leading into and within the square. In...
Show moreAbstract: (Key Terms: Collective Framework, Rhetorical Theory, Trafalgar Square, Spatial Narratives) This thesis is a rhetorical examination of language as elicited in spatial narratives. In doing so, it examines the various symbols that public spaces employ in order to rhetorically speak to us, move us, and make us act in certain ways. More specifically, it addresses Trafalgar Square as a problem space, deconstructing the various spatial narratives leading into and within the square. In deconstructing these narratives, it attempts to find implicit meaning in what is explicitly inscribed into the land, and to examine this meaning alongside the social narrative that its occupants hold. This constructed narrative is explored through three frameworks: that of the physical framework of the square, those spatially enacted frameworks leading into it, and the larger collective framework of the city to which the square contributes. It finds that the frameworks of public space generally work toward establishing and authorizing a unifying ideological connection between the present society and societies of the past. However, these narratives are dependent on individual agents participating in the space's various frameworks; the meaning of a space is obfuscated by a society's current participant's usage of the space. In addition to this obfuscation, it discovers that the past role of a space can obfuscate the present meaning and role of the space in the overall framework, and that the present meaning can in turn obfuscate how individuals relate to and interpret the past.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0294
Format: Thesis

Title: The Role of Hip-Hop Music and Culture: Opinions of the Lives of Ethnically and Racially Diverse College Students.
Creator: Del Pino, Shanelle, Program in International Affairs
Abstract/Description: Hip-hop music has become relevant in the field of education due to the implications it contains for understanding social issues, race relations, and diversity. This study takes a look at how minority college student leaders experience and relate to hip-hop music and hip-hop culture. The study also critically reviews how their responses are relevant in the classroom. Sociologically, hip-hop music can be viewed from different perspectives. In my research, conflict theory is most useful for...
Show moreHip-hop music has become relevant in the field of education due to the implications it contains for understanding social issues, race relations, and diversity. This study takes a look at how minority college student leaders experience and relate to hip-hop music and hip-hop culture. The study also critically reviews how their responses are relevant in the classroom. Sociologically, hip-hop music can be viewed from different perspectives. In my research, conflict theory is most useful for analyzing the participants' responses. Results indicate participants' struggles directly correlate with the application of hip-hop music in their lives as well as their leadership roles. Social activism is crucial to these individuals' roles. Their position on these Executive board depended on their ability to uplift their respective communities from minority statuses. Through their programming, these agencies promote the awareness of the issues that affect their community. Discussion should be continued on how effective hip-hop music can be in the classroom on the topics of advocacy for anti-discrimination, anti-racism and bringing about social change.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0390
Format: Thesis

Title: Becoming American.
Creator: Amar, Monika, Program in International Affairs
Abstract/Description: This thesis examines various aspects of modern American culture and addresses potential causes and effects of American individualism and of the current mainstream American family dynamic. Discussing the effects that Americanism can have on interaction within immigrant families, as well as on society at large via globalization, this thesis evaluates historical, political and technological aspects of American society, which attribute to present-day functioning of individuals living in America...
Show moreThis thesis examines various aspects of modern American culture and addresses potential causes and effects of American individualism and of the current mainstream American family dynamic. Discussing the effects that Americanism can have on interaction within immigrant families, as well as on society at large via globalization, this thesis evaluates historical, political and technological aspects of American society, which attribute to present-day functioning of individuals living in America and beyond. Attributing changes in the way people communicate within the family realm and with others, this thesis analyzes the detrimental effects of overuse and dependence on information and communication technologies — mainly the Internet and the mobile phone — as well as the diffusion of capitalism into various realms of American society and even on a global scale as humans have become more interconnected. The intention of this thesis is to highlight the developing elements of mainstream American culture and to expose the potential for a worldwide community with the increased progressive industrialization and urbanization of more and more countries.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0337
Format: Thesis

Title: The Struggle for Power: Institutions, Autonomy, and Reliance in a Federal System.
Creator: Bunch, Jaclyn, Weissert, Carol S., Berry, Frances, Scholz, John T., Barrilleaux, Charles, Department of Political Science, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: In this dissertation I examine the relationship of power between federal, state, and local units of government. Specifically, I explore when a level of government will either gain discretion or be limited in action: resulting in either an increase of autonomy or an increase in the reliance in the federal hierarchy. Throughout each chapter I demonstrate that the division of power is not as simple as it may seem. In some instances states and localities are empowered to act in accord with local...
Show moreIn this dissertation I examine the relationship of power between federal, state, and local units of government. Specifically, I explore when a level of government will either gain discretion or be limited in action: resulting in either an increase of autonomy or an increase in the reliance in the federal hierarchy. Throughout each chapter I demonstrate that the division of power is not as simple as it may seem. In some instances states and localities are empowered to act in accord with local preferences, while in others the institutional set-up renders a more reliant relationship. These findings make use of various sets of data and empirical approaches in order to assess the power relationship between each dyad in a given institution.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-8742
Format: Thesis

Title: War and Rivalry: Political Shock and Bargaining.
Creator: Bae, Hackyoung, Souva, Mark, Kim, Daekwan, Smith, Dale, Shannon, Megan, Department of Political Science, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: When do rivalries between counties go to war during its rivalry period? This question has rarely been asked despite much research about the relationships between rivals as well as the factors surrounding the initiation and termination of their rivalry. This question is important in order to understand how to achieve peace during the rivalry period. I argue that political shock causes bargaining failure, leading to war between rivals. Political shock often results in different bargaining...
Show moreWhen do rivalries between counties go to war during its rivalry period? This question has rarely been asked despite much research about the relationships between rivals as well as the factors surrounding the initiation and termination of their rivalry. This question is important in order to understand how to achieve peace during the rivalry period. I argue that political shock causes bargaining failure, leading to war between rivals. Political shock often results in different bargaining ranges caused by a lack of information and the uncertainty that a rival will keep an agreement. Three factors are proposed in my dissertation to explain how political shock increases the uncertainty of the bargaining range and incredibility of agreement which can lead rivals to war: a change of major power alliance; a pre-occupied major power alliance; and an irregular leadership entry. Each of these factors can stimulate drastic changes of the rivals' incentives and expectations within a short period of time. Rivals then become uncertain about what they should offer and demand in the bargaining process and whether their rival will keep the agreement. I use a multivariate logistic regression model. The anticipated result provides theoretical grounds to understand the peace and war during rivalry, not only for scholars but also for policy practitioners in rival countries.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-8936
Format: Thesis

Title: Therole of Domestic Politics in Respect for Human Rights.
Creator: Jillienneehaglund, Moore, Will H., Gertz, Marc, Reenock, Christopher, Ehrlich, Sean, Shannon, Megan, Department of Political Science, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Do regional human rights courts influence respect for rights? Conventional wisdom suggests that absent hard enforcement mechanisms, international legal obligations have little influence on state behavior. International human rights courts arguably represent legal bodies posing greater challenges to state sovereignty and greater constraints on state behavior than other international human rights legal mechanisms. As a result, the literature suggests that states are unlikely to delegate to...
Show moreDo regional human rights courts influence respect for rights? Conventional wisdom suggests that absent hard enforcement mechanisms, international legal obligations have little influence on state behavior. International human rights courts arguably represent legal bodies posing greater challenges to state sovereignty and greater constraints on state behavior than other international human rights legal mechanisms. As a result, the literature suggests that states are unlikely to delegate to these regional legal bodies and delegation only occurs when (rights-respecting) states expect little change in behavior. However, states have increasingly delegated authority to regional human rights courts over time and these regional legal bodies continue to experience unprecedented growth in activity. Despite growth in the authority and activity of regional human rights courts, we know relatively little about their effectiveness, or the extent to which regional human rights courts influence respect for rights. In this study, I argue that the executive, as the final authority on human rights policy within the state, plays a primary role in regional court implementation and effectiveness. While the executive faces various incentives not to adhere to adverse regional court decisions, the executive often also faces various incentives to adhere to adverse decisions of the court (by adopting or implementing a policy of respect for rights), which may trump executive incentives to evade adverse regional court decisions. In this study, I explore direct threats to executive political survival, including international and domestic pressure placed on the executive to adhere to adverse regional court decisions. I also explore indirect threats to executive political survival for failing to adhere to adverse regional court decisions, including expectation of adherence by the domestic legislature and judiciary, as well as executive expectation of civil society mobilization. I then empirically examine the role of threats to executive political survival in generating executive incentives to adhere to an adverse decision through a policy of respect for rights, or the effectiveness of the regional human rights court, using cross-national statistical analysis of regional court decisions in both Europe and the Americas.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-8999
Format: Thesis

Title: Budgetary Tradeoffs and Public Sector Unions: An Examination of Florida Counties.
Creator: Ice, Jessica L., Weissert, Carol, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Barrilleaux, Charles, Jackson, Robert, Department of Political Science, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Over time, some counties in Florida have shifted spending away from social services to public safety--despite increasing demands on local governments to provide social services--while others have not. This tradeoff between spending categories calls into question the responsiveness of local governments to its citizenry and its obligations to implement programs from the state. In a time of both increasing devolution from the state as well as economic conditions that force local governments to...
Show moreOver time, some counties in Florida have shifted spending away from social services to public safety--despite increasing demands on local governments to provide social services--while others have not. This tradeoff between spending categories calls into question the responsiveness of local governments to its citizenry and its obligations to implement programs from the state. In a time of both increasing devolution from the state as well as economic conditions that force local governments to tighten their belts, the budgetary decisions that county governments make differ from county to county. This dissertation explores traditional explanations of budgetary tradeoffs, addresses the role that public sector unions play in local government decisions, and closely examines the differences between two counties and the "union advantage.".
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9009
Format: Thesis

Theses and Dissertations (114)	+ -
Undergraduate Honors Theses (28)	+ -
Digitized Theses and Dissertations (1)	+ -

History (35)	+ -
International relations (13)	+ -
Study and teaching (11)	+ -
America (10)	+ -
Politics and government (10)	+ -

Public policy (7)	+ -
Communication (6)	+ -
Public administration (5)	+ -
Social change (5)	+ -
Culture (4)	+ -
Communication in politics (3)	+ -
Social aspects (3)	+ -
Area studies (2)	+ -
Defensive (Military science) (2)	+ -
Mass media (2)	+ -
Military policy (2)	+ -
Peace (2)	+ -
Sociology (2)	+ -
United States (2)	+ -
Arts (1)	+ -
Asia (1)	+ -
Children (1)	+ -
Civilization (1)	+ -
Communication and technology (1)	+ -
Communication, International (1)	+ -
Communities (1)	+ -
Competition, International (1)	+ -
Criminology (1)	+ -
Critical theory (1)	+ -

Europe (2)	+ -
Asia (1)	+ -
Europe, Eastern (1)	+ -
Latin America (1)	+ -
United States (1)	+ -

text (142)	+ -
doctoral thesis (15)	+ -
master thesis (1)	+ -

Search In

Pages

Pages

Sort Results By:

Narrow results by:

Collection

Topical Subject

Geographic Subject

Genre

Type of Resource

Language

Creator

Owner