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Although I. Bernard Cohen has shown that the American founders were not appropriating the terms of Newtonian physics when using words such as "balance" and "equilibrium" to describe the institutional relationships delineated in the Constitution, it remains unclear why these terms recur throughout their writings. Following Cohen, it is the argument of this paper that the founders drew these and similar expressions from the organismic analogy of the state as a "corpus politicum" or a "body politic." In particular, I argue that James Madison's Federalist 10 relies upon an eighteenth-century medical metaphor that has been overlooked due to the transformation in the science of medicine that occurred between Federalist 10's initial publication and its rediscovery by Charles Beard in 1913. While Madison's invocation of the ancient analogy of the state as a body politic has occasionally been noted, what has thus far gone unnoticed is Madison's use of this analogy as a foundation for a more historically bounded biomedical metaphor integral to his argument. Relying upon an analogous relationship between health and justice traceable to the writings of Plato, Madison contends in Federalist 10 that the democratic analogue to sound bodily health - conceived by Hippocrates as the "krasis," or the proportionate mixture, of the humors - is obtainable only in an extended republic. Just as the krasis of the humors within the corpus humanum is the definition of health, the self-equilibrating balance of factions within the corpus politicum of an extended republic becomes the definition of political justice. Madison's use of the analogy of the state as a corpus politicum, implicit in his efforts to offer his readers a "remedy for the diseases most incident to republican government," is thus highly purposive, providing rhetorical support for his theoretical argument and a carefully chosen rhetorical frame for the ongoing debate over the proposed Constitution. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional understandings of policymaking as a state-centric process are being challenged by the appearance of a variety of new private, voluntary governance mechanisms. Institutions such as certification institutions are emerging in which civil society groups interact directly with other non-state actors like corporations to develop new sets of rules—rules which are neither created nor enforced by the state. The emergence of these private regimes raises interesting questions about the power of non-governmental advocacy groups in the policy arena. Without using the power of the state for leverage, how do advocacy groups encourage behavioral change among corporations? To what extent are corporations driven to comply with the demands of civil society groups? This paper addresses these questions by considering the extent to which pressure from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) drives company participation in environmental certification programs. Using the U.S. forest products sector as an example, the paper considers why firm responses to NGO pressures have been variable. Some firms have chosen to participate in the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which is the program preferred by the NGOs. Other firms have joined the American Forest and Paper Association’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), the chief competitor program which is not endorsed by NGOs. Examining the evidence from four firm-level case studies, the paper argues that generalized NGO pressure against the sector does prompt firms to participate in some type of certification program. Surprisingly, however, an intense, direct NGO campaign against a particular firm actually drives that firm away from the certification option most preferred by NGOs. Thus instead of complying with NGO demands, directly targeted firms are more likely to resist civil society pressure and adopt the industry-sponsored certification program. Using a process tracing methodology, the paper demonstrates that other important independent variables such as high internal commitment to the environment, low transactions costs, and the presence of stringent and non-discretionary regulations on forest practices may encourage firm compliance with NGO demands; however, the addition of direct campaigns against the firm causes resistance and/or compromise. The paper explores the reasons behind this reaction, arguing that direct targeting by NGOs has critical, negative effects on policy network relations. Moreover, these effects are not confined to targeted firms, but spill over to impact the decisions of other firms in the industry. Thus while NGO campaigns may be effective in encouraging a general behavioral shift among U.S. forest products firms, NGOs will have more difficulty in provoking the particular behavioral response (participation in the FSC) that they most desire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

there has been serious discussion over the vulnerable situation of refugees, even after being resettled in a developed country. This paper explores whether refugees differ in their earnings in comparison to other economic immigrants in the United States. I intend to focus on a cross-section of data on economic performance of refugees and other economic immigrants and explore whether previous research findings still prevail. If there are significant differences between earnings, I intend to explore potential reasons for these outcomes. The role of the region of settlement is speculated as an important determinant of the earnings discrepancy. This paper will use Current Population Survey (CPS) data from the U.S. Census Bureau. I will use the latest 2008 CPS surveys that include information on respondents’ income, education, immigration status, national origins, and other demographic indicators. I intend to analyze this data using basic OLS statistical regression to test relationship between region of settlement and earnings of immigrants. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the modern United States Congress, a member of Congress has several pressures that influence their behavior: party, information, re-election, good policy, and personal characteristics. These factors interact and create a set of incentives for a given member of Congress. Partisanship is generally considered the most predictive quality but a steady and increasingly influential body of literature suggests that female members of Congress have different policy opinions than men and act differently as legislators. This paper aims to measure gender's role in the delicate balancing act that manifests in a given member of Congress. Using a series of multiple linear regressions, this paper finds that Republican women are more likely to vote the party line than Democratic women but female Republicans used to vote in a more liberal manner than their male colleagues. Secondly, this paper finds that ideology used to be the dominant factor in predicting support for women's issues but ideology now shares it's importance with party, suggesting a rise in Congressional polarization. Lastly, this paper investigates the role that gender salience in greater American society plays within the institution of the United States House of Representatives. These three broad inquiries attempt to add to the understanding of what goes into a member of Congress' vote choice and describes the relative significance gender holds in this calculus. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With renewed emphasis on environmental protection and growing scholarly consensus of the need to move beyond the traditional command and control approach to environmental regulation, the “window” may be opening for significant changes in U.S. environmental policy. Much of the dialogue focuses on “next generation” environmental policies that are cooperative not confrontational, comprehensive rather than fragmented, and flexible instead of rigid. As such change is considered, it is important to examine the potential ramifications at all levels of the policy arena. In particular, front-line workers must be considered â€" namely environmental inspectors. Significant changes to the environmental regulatory system are likely to have profound impacts on inspectors and their jobs. Accordingly, this paper explores the discussion of next generation environmental policies and what their adoption may mean for environmental inspectors. The paper concludes that a transition to next generation policies would have significant impacts on existing inspectors and their duties; accordingly, without considerable retraining, current inspectors may not be the sorts of front-line workers that next generation policies demand. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What, if anything, has Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's tenure on the Supreme Court meant for the position of women under the law? Has there been any hint of feminism in O'Connor's jurisprudence? Has her voice been distinctively feminine? This paper considers Justice O'Connor's gender jurisprudence for evidence of the different moral voice identified by Carol Gilligan in her 1981 classic. Some feminist legal theorists who could be identified as "feminine-voice" theorists interpreted and extended Gilligan's theory to argue that caring and relationship characterize a specifically feminine voice in legal theory and practice. This paper concludes that, although O'Connor did bring a different voice and a different perspective to the Court, it was not the caring, relational voice identified by feminine-voice theorists. Rather, it is the perspective of liberal feminist legal theorists, women lawyers of O'Connor's generation who insisted that women don't need special accommodations to achieve equality with men. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What factors explain the unilateral and multilateral uses of force by the United States? That is the research question this paper addresses. In order to answer the question, the paper uses the dual concepts of opportunity to use force and conditions for the use of force (Meernick 1994, Ostrom and Job 1986) to identify a set of factors that lead either to a unilateral uses of force or to multilateral uses of force by the United States. Among those factors are NATO memberhip, which pushes the use of force in Europe towards multilateral options, and direct threats to the homeland, which pushes the United States towards unilateral uses of force. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Walleye management can be contentious on Lake Erie because the fish is valuable economically to both Canada and the U.S. On Lake Erie, five state and provincial jurisdictionsâ€"Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Yorkâ€"must work together to establish an annual walleye harvest limit known as a “total allowable catch” or TAC. To facilitate cooperation, the jurisdictions formed the Lake Erie Committee, which operates pursuant to a multijurisdictional agreement called A Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries. Most of the time, members of the Lake Erie Committee can agree on and adhere to the annual walleye TAC. However, the committee failed to maintain consensus on the 2004 TAC after consensus was achieved and announced. The committee could not resolve the dispute on its own and invoked the Joint Strategic Plan’s dispute provisions, a rare occurrence. This paper discusses cross-border walleye management on Lake Erie, describes how the jurisdictions handled the dispute, and reflects on how the Joint Strategic Plan can help jurisdictions overcome conflict. The paper argues that the plan can address distributional issues like TACs, despite being non-binding. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using quantitative and qualitative approaches, this paper examines the effectiveness of service-learning in an introductory course in the American public policy process. As part of a semester-long discussion of private and public approaches to problem-solving and policymaking, students partnered with two community organizations to deliver meals to people with HIV/AIDS and to learn and practice advocacy skills ranging from writing letters to lobbying state legislators for increased funding for HIV/AIDS education and services. Data include pre- and post-experience surveys of the students, as well as content analysis of the students' structured journal assignments. This paper will be the initial phase of an ongoing research project, and will assess how the service-learning experience reinforces course concepts and impacts student learning. Benefits of this teaching and learning strategy to students, faculty, the university, and the community will also be considered. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two arguments about theories of congressional parties and organization are made in this paper. First, theory must focus more directly on the often-competing factions within the majority party. Other analyses emphasize the polarization between the parties—the intra-party cohesiveness and inter-party differences—but this paper proposes that factions within the majority party usually compete for control of the party and the House and often produce winners and losers. Second, while other analyses treat negative and positive forms of agenda power as distinguishable and subject to different dynamics, I argue that (1) the two forms of agenda manipulation are essential for agenda control and are likely to develop together and (2) legislators' preferences for the agenda power allocated to their parties are dependent on their factional location. In short, we should reorient the discussion of congressional organization and agenda power. Factional politics within legislative parties should be central to our accounts of the distribution of power in Congress. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the 2008 elections, the majority of Americans have favored “the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and the Gaza strip.” Reflecting such public opinion, after the “roadmap,” US foreign policy will continue the pursuit of that end, calling for “establishing two independent states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side within secure and recognized borders.” Consequently, the main question asked by this paper is why the US has shifted from an “Israel only” position toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to supporting an “Israel and Palestine” formula for peace. In order to address this question, the pro-Arab lobby was examined for interactions with US decision-making toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before and after the end of the Cold War, specifically from the Camp David period of the late 1970s until the invasion and occupation of Iraq during the mid 2000s. Paper concludes that while international factors such as the end of the Cold War cannot be overlooked, changes in domestic public opinion and lobbying had significant impacts on the US led international community’s efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with two states. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will attempt to show that a strategy of flexible integration can be a superior alternative to other forms of statecraftâ€"especially on problems of self-determination which are at the center of many of the threats of terrorism, regional war, economic damage, loss of legitimacy, and nuclear proliferation that the U.S. now faces. Flexible integration refers to a way of making America secure by seeking to partially integrate select territories and/or countries whose real or potential conflicts threaten U.S. vital interests. In the past, the U.S. has helped induce various forms of integration between the territories of Europe; Germany; Bosnia; Northern Ireland; Sudan; and Iraq. In every case however the integration that results through this strategy involves two or more political communities that share and divide powers rather than one community becoming fully subordinate over another, as with the relations between an empire and a colony. This paper will proceed by (1) describing what flexible integration is, (2) deriving categories for comparison between competing forms of statecraft, and (3) explaining why flexible integration is a better alternative for the U.S. as compared to other American foreign policy strategies. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits Michael Walzer’s neglected argument in Spheres of Justice for thinking about “complex equality” when judging the fairness of social institutions. Walzer argues that we should regard many elements of the social world, including e.g. wealth, citizenship, vacation time, and hard work as separate spheres of value in which the overall goal should be non-domination of any single sphere over the others. (Money, in other words, should not be able to purchase citizenship, but should also not be used to deprive persons of free time or force them into very hard jobs.) In this paper, I argue that Walzer’s conception of equality is superior to that of John Rawls, because it takes better account of the non-exchangeability of many human goods. It also provides more determinate standards for evaluating existing real-world social orders, and takes more seriously the actual difficulties of pursuing social justice among flawed human beings. In its later sections, the article takes up debates about indigenous rights as carried out in the United States, Canada, and Australia to show in detailed ways how Walzer’s account helps us to understand and evaluate these debates in useful ways, while Rawls’s account does not. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reinterprets the origins of US bankruptcy law. Current bankruptcy law has its roots in the Bankruptcy Act of 1898. Existing studies describe that law as the product of conflicts between regional, commercial, and populist interests, or as a legislative reaction to the depression of 1894, or simply as an expression of Congress’ and the public’s pro-business sympathies. This paper departs from those studies and instead identifies the statute as one of Progressivism’s early national successes. Progressive influences on the legislation can be seen in the critical role played by commercial organizations of middle class businessmen in drafting and lobbying for the Act, and in the Acts’ emphasis on professional administration and efficiency. Likewise, focusing on implementation in Southeast Michigan, the paper demonstrates that the 1898 law endured where earlier national insolvency laws failed because it provided key roles for progressive-minded professionals. In short, Progressivism provided the platform for the 1898 Act’s successful enactment and implementation, and set the course for the shape of current bankruptcy law. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first round of findings from a new dataset, the Blogosphere Authority Index (BAI). Building off of the agenda set out in "Understanding Blogspace" (Karpf 2008b), the paper treats elite political blogs as quasi-interest groups, gathering places for online communities-of-interest and asks how the increased traffic and heightened attention of the 2008 campaign season affected the institutional development of these new internet-mediated organizational forms. Three core questions are explored: (1) how much stability is there in the relative influence of these blogs? Does the #1 blog during offyear elections remain #1 during the heightened attention of the presidential election season? (2) How have conservative community blogs in particular fared during the election cycle? The community blog format is particularly useful for converting blog discussion into collective action, and progressive bloggers have a demonstrated edge in this type of blog. Has the 2008 election cycle led to an increase in conservative community blogs' sphere of influence? (3) Do progressive blogs or conservative blogs gain relatively more traffic during the election season? Previous research (Karpf 2008a) demonstrates a small advantage for the political left. Has this advantage increased, diminished, or remained unchanged?Drawing upon a set of weekly and monthly BAI rankings, the paper demonstrates that the system is indeed quite stable, supporting Hindman's (2008) suggestion about the stability of website rankings. It finds that the gap between the political left and political right has substantially grown since 2007, and also finds that conservative community blogs have entered a surprising downward spiral. The paper ends by discussing avenues for future research on the blogosphere and internet-mediated organizational forms. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper first tests whether voters punish incumbent state supreme court judges who are ideologically distant from the state’s citizens. The paper then examines whether ideologically distant incumbent judges are more likely to be punished when facing politically involved citizens. The empirical results show that ideologically distant incumbent judges are more likely to lose an election, but that this effect is conditional on the citizenry’s level of political participation. While this effect appears to be disproportionately stronger in partisan elections, the relationship between incumbent defeat and ideological distance also appears to be present in non-partisan elections. These results have two main implications. First, it provides additional evidence that ideological accountability is a feature in some judicial elections. Second, the results show that judicial elections are very similar to non-judicial elections, in that politically interested voters cast more sophisticated votes. These findings lessen two concerns about judicial elections: that judicial elections are fundamentally different from non-judicial elections and that voters are unable to hold elected judges accountable. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between the state and nonwhite civil society, specifically the connection between social policy regimes and the activities and ideologies that nonwhite organizations adopt. This paper conducts binary-logistic regression analysis of New York City Nonwhite Associational Dataset and the London Nonwhite Associational Dataset. This paper finds a relationship between governmental funding and the lack of a racial ideology in New York City and a relationship between governmental funding and the presence of a racial ideology in London. These findings reveal the influence of the neo-liberal social policy regimes of the United States and the United Kingdom, suggesting that the imperatives of the state more so than socioeconomic exigencies define the organizational tendencies of nonwhite communities. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the evolution of political communication and the impact of blogs on mass media and national politics. Through the use of blogs, the Internet has enhanced ordinary citizens access to news and opinion, decentralizing the flow of information and challenging the role of mass media as sole arbiters of news. To explore the impact of blogs on the political message, this paper examines the role of technology in the reporting process, focusing on contemporary accounts of key events from 1992 to 2008, such as Rathergate and journalist remarks regarding U.S. Troops. The transformative effects of online research and publishing, the appearance of several major scandals within the traditional press, and the growing ability of bloggers to break major stories have redefined political communication, allowing self-styled maverick journalists to supersede established voices in the national media. A study of these events is critical to better assess reporting by the contemporary media in order to distinguish fact from speculation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how judicial codes of conduct affect judicial campaigning in the post-White era. In Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, the Supreme Court liberalized judicial campaign speech by striking down a state judicial code. Judicial scholars are still attempting to understand the extent to which White has changed the nature of judicial campaigning. Part of the difficulty stems from the fact that states have interpreted the commands of White differently (Eakins & Swenson 2007; Caufield 2008). Some scholars have found increased negative ads for supreme court races in states offering a broad interpretation of White. In this paper, we look at the current state of local judicial campaigns and ask whether or how judicial codes of conduct affect campaigns in states with partisan or nonpartisan judicial elections. We survey local judicial candidates in the 2008 election in six states (Texas, New York, Washington, Minnesota, Illinois, and North Carolina). The survey asks questions about the themes, issue agendas, and messages of these campaigns, as well as candidates’ levels of familiarity with the White case. We also ask candidates how judicial codes of conduct may have affected their campaign messages. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the traditional concepts of recognition and sovereignty under the laws of the United States as well as the political or popular notions of recognition and sovereignty as it relates to the 'Taiwan' issue. This abbreviated paper examines the myths of recognition and the erroneous role that most believe that international law plays regarding recognition and sovereignty. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper details the design and implementation of an Election Day field study targeting the operation of polling stations. This pilot study represents the first systematic attempt to determine how common lines are on Election Day, at what times of day lines are most likely to form, bottlenecks in the voting process, and how long it takes an average citizen to cast his or her ballot. We collected data during the 2008 presidential primary election in California measuring the efficiency of the operational components of 30 polling stations across three counties. During the Election Day, voter arrivals peaked twice: in the early morning and the early evening. Our data also suggest that experienced poll workers are not more efficient than first-time poll workers, even controlling for age. We also find that voters who used a DRE machine took a full minute longer to cast their ballot than voters marking paper ballots that were subsequently scanned. This study illustrates the need for further and more extensive data collection about the operation of polling stations. The study also shows how better data can help election officials make critical decisions on the allocation of capital, labor and other resources. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and analyzes three major dimensions of the 2008 election campaign as played out in North Carolina: the Democratic presidential primary, the general election, and the effect of the presidential campaign on the two other major races in the state, Senate and Governor. It links those events to the national situation, and discusses the interaction and symbiosis between national campaign developments and strategy and electoral dynamics at the state level. A major thesis of the paper is that events in North Carolina were very consequential—arguably decisive--in determining that Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee. I argue that his success in that phase of the campaign laid the groundwork for North Carolina to play a very important role in his overall national strategy, which was to force the McCain campaign to spend precious time and resources defending traditionally Republican turf in states such as North Carolina. I further argue that the cumulative effect of his efforts in North Carolina was not only to win the state himself, but also to exert a powerful influence on the state's other major races, producing a clean sweep for the Democrats. Overall, therefore, North Carolina very much affected and was very much affected by the 2008 campaigns and elections, and thus may be poised to play an even more prominent role in future national contests. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the 2008 election within the broader context of American electoral and political development. Questions to be addressed will include whether the election outcome represents: 1) the change or consolidation of a political regime; 2) electoral realignment; 3) significant change in the direction of public policy. The paper will also examine future impact of the 2008 election campaign on the nominating process, campaign financing, and the political mobilization of minorities and women. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on the work of scholars who study foreign policy decisions by courts as well as legal scholars who have noted an anecdotal trend of court deference to the political branches of government when deciding cases involving international law. It puts these anecdotal observations to the test by empirically examining if courts faced with cases involving international law follow the attitudinal model or instead defer to the expressed preferences of the political branches, particularly the Executive branch. This will build on a paper I am presenting at the Southern Political Science Association, which examines international law cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. It will study whether the lower courts follow the same patterns of decision-making. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper begins with the suggestion that Protestant theological interpretation and religious practice are important, although thoroughly under-analyzed, factors in the emergence and structure of early political populist movements in Prairie Canada. Specifically, Protestant Christian theology originating in the United States, which is so often mentioned as a factor in the evolution of that country's democratic theory and practice, has also significantly influenced the development of a general, "pre-ideological" populist political spirit that exists in the Canadian Prairies. This paper provides a working definition of populism, with specific focus on its anti-establishment and anti-elite characteristics, before reviewing relevant literature related to religious influence on populist political sentiment in both the United States and Canada. This paper concludes with the suggestion that, although it is reasonable to expect a similar connection in Prairie Canada as one finds in America between religion and populism, further research is required to establish an empirical link. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the extent to which Democrats and Republicans disagree over policy in the U.S. Congress. No one disputes that the parties are increasingly voting differently from one another, but this papers calls into question the popular conception that the parties’ policy stances are also becoming more divergent. An examination of cosponsorship reveals that bills, prior to being placed in the meat grinder of the legislative process, are as bipartisan now as they have always been. Furthermore, I present evidence that shows that it is the actual procedural machinations on the floor of both the House and the Senate that have driven the parties apart. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the impact on Congress of many types of collective action-demonstrations, lobbying, speeches, etc.-for 60 policy proposals on the congressional agenda 1989-90. For well over 30 years, researchers have systematically collected data on political activities from newspaper articles and estimated their impact on policy change. Most often the data have been on protest and its impact has been gauged for a single issue. This paper advances this research tradition in four ways. It (1) analyzes congressional action on a stratified random sample of 60 policy proposals; (2) uses data on all forms of political activity aimed at influencing congressional action on those proposals, as described in the press; (3) searches many publications in order to find data on as much political activity as possible; and (4) tests hypotheses about how much collective action there is likely to be, and about which types are especially likely to have an impact. There proves to be very little collective action; most of it is associated with a small number of proposals, while most proposals evoke little or none; the lack of collective action limits its impact. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the overall role of the U.S. Foreign Policy's consequences for democratization in Latin America, in an era when Latin America has democratically elected left presidencies, and when new-born democracies (in most cases at least) are supposed to become consolidated. After a historical overview of the U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America during the 20th century; showing that doubts consistently could be raised on the issue of U.S. democratic assistance and Latin America; the paper moves into three main parts. In the first part cases when the United States promoted democratic development and liberal democracy with capitalism is explored. In the second, cases when the United States defeated democratic left-wing rule with strong anti-capitalism is explored. Finally, the third part deals with the question that this paper conclusively attempts to address - what implications the U.S. historical democratic record toward Latin America might have for democratic development and democratic setbacks when the region once more is facing the reality of democratically elected left presidents? ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are currently more than two million prisoners that are incarcerated within America’s prison system, as opposed to 744,000 in 1985 (Myser, 2007). America has the world’s largest incarceration rate of about 1 in 143, as compared to other nations in Europe with rates of 1 in every 1,000 people are incarcerated. Furthermore, it cost about $40 billion a year to maintain the nation’s prison system (Travis, 2005). Recidivism is a major factor contributing to these extraordinary incarceration rates. Of the 600,000 prisoners released from prison each year, over two-thirds of that population will return to prison within the first three years of their release (Harding & Morenoff, 2008; Myser, 2007).Transitional programs seek to effectively reintegrate newly released prisoners into their communities by providing them with jobs, housing, education, and life skills. This paper aims to examine and compare the factors influencing the effectiveness of such programs. Specifically, this paper will offer case analyses of two transitional programs , Delancey Street and the Gemeinschaft Program, and will offer a cross-analysis of the costs and benefits of programs like these. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this paper compares the similarities between the elections of 2008 and 1932, especially because each election was during an economic crisis. In the paper, I compare the various differences and the several common points between these two ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The status of women in politics is a subject of constant discussion and research, with a focus on the progress women have made as elected officials. While it is important to look at how women have advanced in elected office, it is also necessary to study how women operate within the legislative bureaucracy. Congress is in the business of passing legislation to solve a myriad of issues, and congressional staff play a key role in assisting legislators to acquire the necessary information and resources to make appropriate decisions. This paper uses empirical data and qualitative interviews to offer an analysis of legislative staff in the U.S. House of Representatives from a gender perspective. First, the paper examines staff legislative portfolios â€" are women assigned “women’s issues,” such as abortion, health care, and education, while men are assigned more traditionally masculine issues, such as defense and finance? Second, it investigates whether traditional gender stereotypes impact work-delegation practices among congressional staff. Finally, it explores potential implications of staff gender differences on how Congress functions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the internet in political campaigns has certainly received a great deal of attention in the 2008 presidential election. However, there is little work demonstrating whether the increased use of the internet as an information gathering tool has served to alter the way that potential voters develop political attitudes. Specifically, this paper attempts to evaluate those younger voters that are attempting to use the internet to find political information via blogs, online news outlets, or even social networking sites. The paper uses the 2006 National Election Studies dataset in order to determine whether younger voters that relied more heavily on the internet were more likely to develop a negative opinion of President George W. Bush than those who used more conventional forms of media (such as television, radio, or print news). The findings demonstrate that there is a statistically significant negative relationship between the amount of internet usage and approval of President Bush for individuals under the age of 31. For individuals over the age of 31 there is no statistically significant relationship. Additionally, the other forms of media usage are not correlated with attitudes toward President Bush regardless of age. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The philosophical foundation of the copyright system in the United States is based on utilitarianism that views authors rights as a mere product to facilitate the desired end of encouraging the creation literary and artistic works for the general public. A result of utilitarianism is an over reliance on market rewards to provide an incentive for authorial creativity. This paper argues that this produces a diversity of literary and artistic works that may be of inferior quality and that may not necessarily promote the progress of society. The thesis in this paper is that authorship and creativity is a product of authentic human expression that the law must encourage. While the commercial market for literary and artistic works encourages the creation of diverse works to meet popular demand, the market also encourages the creation of works that may lack social and cultural value or utility. This paper argues that natural law philosophy, which believes in a natural order for society and man, has a lot to teach us about the copyright system as a larger ethical and moral institution to promote the progress of society and the process of authentic authorship that ought to be the basis for recognizing authorial rights in creative works. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of policy diffusion has recently come under closer scrutiny as researchers tried to disentangle the various channels through which policies diffuse across jurisdictional boundaries (e.g.: learning vs. competition). At the same time, researchers became interested in the question of how to differentiate between genuine diffusion and common exogenous shocks. What has been largely overlooked so far is the way in which diffusion influences interact with political and institutional conditions within jurisdictions. This paper argues that the same diffusion influence can exert different effects depending on the political and institutional conditions in the jurisdiction subject to this influence. I thus propose modeling the effect of diffusion processes as conditional upon the political and institutional specifics of jurisdictions. As an example of this approach, the paper studies diffusion influences and their conditional effects in the context of smoke free air legislation and tobacco taxation in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Using data for the time from 1970-2007, I show that effects of diffusion change considerably if state-level political conditions (control of state legislature) are taken into account. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on the risk of conflict between the US and China is incomplete in a major aspect: Few studies pay sufficient attention to how a war could occur between these states. Available analyses propose speculative scenarios for a Sino-American war without grounding their arguments in historical evidence. This state of scholarship is problematic, since understanding the mechanisms through which China's rise could lead to war with the US is essential to estimating the risk of war and uncovering the conditions that would prompt a conflict. And a major obstacle to discovering the pathways for war is the absence of research on America's past interactions with rising powers. This paper aims to overcome these shortcomings by providing a systematic historical scrutiny. We investigate how the US came to fight wars with ascending powers in the past. The examined cases include American wars with Imperial Germany (1917-19), Nazi Germany (1941-45), and Imperial Japan (1941-45). Also analyzed is how the US avoided a fight with the ascendant Soviet Union (1946-62). This paper, however, goes beyond a mere historical survey: We apply relevant historical findings to exploring probable pathways for a future conflict between China and the US. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The judiciary, and especially the Supreme Court, continue to be at the center of discussions of both the theory and practice of American politics. The first systematic case for the ends and objects of that power can be found in The Federalist Papers. Part political tract and part political theory, Publius' writings in defense of the proposed Constitution can be supposed to be a blend of convincing political rhetoric and a lasting theoretical and practical guide to future citizens and politicians. Thus, Publius’s presentation of the judiciary, and especially the Supreme Court, deserves renewed discussion. A careful treatment of Papers 78-83 in light of the whole of the Federalist is the purpose of this paper. Article III of the Constitution is much as it ever was, and so Publius’ description of it within the larger constitutional structure should still be relevant to the task of the development and preservation of republican government. The Reconstruction Amendments (and others) have altered the Constitution, but the ends of a properly constituted judiciary can be expected to have changed little, even if the means with which it was endowed to protect and preserve have expanded. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first three post Cold War presidents, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush occupied the Oval Office during times of international transformation. All faced dangers and sometimes used force to achieve their objectives and this paper investigates the relationship between personality characteristics, especially conceptual complexity, and willingness to choice force instead of other policy options. The project relies on Margaret Hermann’s leadership trait analysis and at-a-distance measures. The paper compares scores of seven explanatory variables, e.g., conceptual complexity, distrust of others, etc., on leadership and world orientation for George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush against the scores for every American president since Harry Truman. The comparative analysis helps demonstrate the role of individual of individual level traits in creating and implementing foreign policy. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to examine the Kurdish Question in Turkey and its effects on Turkish- American relations. It seeks to explain how this problem shapes the policy decisions and the consequences of these policies in domestic and foreign affairs of the two countries. Erupting as a domestic problem in Turkey in the mid-1980s, the Kurdish Question has not only become an important issue in Turkey but after the invasion and destabilization of Iraq, it has gained an aspect which has a potential to change the fundamental relationship between Turkey and the United States. This concept is supported by the fact that an independent Kurdish state is considered casus belli by Turkey, and that it is now overwhelmingly believed in Ankara that the Kurdish desire to become independent received a great deal of acceptance in American decision making circles. The relations are strained at times due to the lack of mutual perception of the issue and action\reaction mechanism between two NATO allies. Under these conditions, the paper will be adressing possible outcomes of this distinct relationship. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States has been transformed from its original constitutional status as federal union of small republics into its current de facto existence as a liberal unitary regime. In this new regime, liberal freedom is secured by curtailing (if not terminating) local republican self-rule. This has been the victory of Hobbesian liberalism over Republican localism. Although the major implications of this were delayed until Progressive, New Deal, and Great Society periods, such centralizing events would not have been possible without the antecedent of Lincoln crushing the Southern States’ sovereignty, which included their right to secede from the Union and engage in independent republican self-rule. Without the triumph of Lincolnian-Leviathan, the threat of State nullification and secession would have continued to check the centralizing-ambitions of politicians in the federal government. In addition to relevant historiography, this paper will employ theorists such as Aristotle, Hobbes, Montesquieu, the Federalists, the Anti-Federalists, Lincoln, Lord Acton, and other relevant authors. Also, this paper will consider the normative problems that have been resolved and created by this regime transformation (e.g., race and empire issues). ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has multiple roles. This study addresses an aspect of the speakership that has not been previously analyzed. In this paper we examine the floor behavior, through speaking and voting, of the past six Speakers of the U.S. House. .x000d.The congressional literature is been replete with debates over competing models of party influence in the House. Smith argues that single goal models are insufficient to explain party leadership. Sinclair emphasizes party polarization as a critical factor in explaining behavior in the post-reform Congress. Cox and McCubbins have advanced the cartel theory of control by party leaders. Electoral influences are dominant in Rohde’s analysis..x000d.In this paper, we will explore whether the floor appearances of Speakers lend support for any of the competing theories of party leadership in the House. The 1983-2008 time period and number of different Speakers (14 years for each party) provide a rich data set with variation to test these hypotheses. These are first data of actual floor appearances that have been analyzed. They are available from data collected from C-SPAN video recordings of the House of Representatives. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American electorate can be seen as two contrasting electorates -- one partisan (Democrats vs. Republicans), the other non-partisan. Partisans are more politically attentive/involved, strongly inclined to view candidates and campaign through their partisan “lenses,” and more partisan in voting behavior than nonpartisans. This paper will examine how these two electorates have changed between 1992 and 2004. Its data primarily come from two national surveys, conducted as part of the Comparative National Election Project (CNEP) in the two “book-end” years, which focused uniquely on information sources in the election campaigns. ANES data will complement the CNEP data, especially between 1992 and 2004, to establish whether these years were unrepresentative outliers. Some observers suggest, while others deny, that the American electorate has polarized during this time. The paper will examine polarization from the perspective of information sources as well as behavior. Preliminary analysis suggests that partisans, in contrast to nonpartisans, were exposed by 2004 to more homogeneously partisan information through the availability of TV and (especially) radio talk shows and their more partisan social networks. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 Presidential campaign has helped to put Internet politics on the forefront of the political debate. This paper investigates the effects of new media technologies, and Web 2.0 applications in particular, on information gathering, political learning and political knowledge during the 2008 presidential campaign. I will utilize data from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Pew Internet & American Life project to test for an independent effect of these technologies, in particular YouTube and online video, as well as social networking sites on respondents’ levels of political information as compared to traditional media outlets while controlling for standard predictors with a particular focus on young voters. Furthermore, this paper will include a comparison of these results with previous presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 to help better understand the consequences Web 2.0 technologies continue to have in shaping political information gathering and citizens’ political knowledge. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six years ago the United States government charged a ten member independent, bipartisan commission to study the 9/11 attacks. In August 2004, the 9/11 Commission released its report to much media buzz and fanfare. However, when all ten commissioners reconvened in late 2005 to issue a “report card” on progress made on the recommendations of the commission, they issued five F’s, twelve D’s, nine C’s, and one A-minus. This paper therefore looks at independent commissions in the United States and the role they play as “flak-catchers” â€" stopgaps for uncertain or unfavorable judgments cast onto the political system. Because they work as effective mechanisms of evasion, giving the appearance of government action while at the same time dodging responsibility, government bodies have frequently and readily turned to independent commissions. This paper looks at the ways in which the 9/11 Commission acted as a flak-catcher. It uses historical and comparative case-study analysis to portray how the 9/11 Commission operated, organizationally and symbolically, in a manner similar to other American independent commissions, and thus argues that we should expect similar outcomes whenever an independent commission is appointed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002, 28 states have shown opposition through a variety of responses including producing legislation, turning to the judicial system for recourse, and passing symbolic resolutions. This paper completes a cross-state analysis to determine why so much opposition exists and how states’ responses have influenced Congress’s inability to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, under which NCLB was created. States showing opposition vary tremendously, including by size, average family income, political ideology, and academic achievement prior to passage. By analyzing policy feedbacks due to implementation concerns of states, this paper adds to current scholars’ theories about the implementation process. By recognizing how excluded actors from the adoption of NCLB have influenced previously supportive actors of the law this paper combines elements of both top-down and bottom-up implementation approaches discussed in the literature to provide a richer and more accurate understanding of the implementation process. The starting point for such a study comes from understanding the response of those who have struggled with implementing NCLB. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, increasing numbers of state governments have invested in programs focused on recruiting accomplished research scientists to a state’s major universities. This paper reports on an event-history analysis of the socioeconomic, political, and diffusion factors influencing state adoption of eminent scholars programs over the 1983-2006 period. The results suggest that among the factors prompting the initiation of such programs are low levels of private R&D employment and patenting activity, gross state product, the institutional powers of governors, the use of certain structural arrangements for governing higher education, and an absence of comparable programs in neighboring states. Interestingly, the results suggest that a state’s economic conditions interact with the state’s political arrangements to prompt innovation toward these policies. The paper builds on theory and research in the areas of American federalism, policy diffusion, and policy entrepreneurship in explaining these findings. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1970s, there has been an increase in the number of Latinos being appointed to the federal bench. However, a large question remains as to whether ethnicity leads to divergence in voting behavior. In this paper, I argue that voting behavior of Latino judges is best understood when broad topics such as civil rights are disaggregated into a more narrow case selection that concentrates on issues directly related to race and ethnicity. Utilizing published decisions from the Federal Reporter in 2006 and between 2002 and 2007, this paper examines Latino and White judicial behavior across three issue areas: civil rights, race discrimination, and contractual disputes in the U.S. Courts of Appeals. After comparing both broad and narrow case selections, the results not only show the disaggregation of civil rights cases have important effects on the outcome of Latino voting behavior, but that differences in Latino judicial behavior are dependent upon on the presence of issues considered important to the Latino community. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have seldom tested the innovation and normalization paradigm of e-campaigning over time. Particularly outside the U.S., there is a lack of comparative analyses of candidate or party websites that deal with the concept's temporal validity and scope. The paper addresses this research gap through a longitudinal content and structural analysis of German party websites in the 2002 and 2005 National Elections. The results provide empirical evidence of a twofold development in e-campaigning that challenges past assumptions of the innovation and normalization framework. In particular, the paper proposes two theoretical revisions: First, innovation and normalization do not represent mutually exclusive opposites of a scientific controversy but rather a dynamic conceptual continuum which signifies parallel stages in the development of e-campaigning. Second, this continuum is affected by the website dimension (i.e., content or structure) as well as by the status of the political actors (i.e., parliamentary or non-parliamentary parties) being observed. Both intervening variables need to be taken into account in future research in order to accurately describe and explain the implementation of new information technologies in politics. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work on the problem of the proper constitution of the war powers has narrowly focused on legal reforms to promote inter-branch dialogue on the use of military force. The 2008 National War Powers Commission Report is a primary example of this approach and this paper will highlight its limitations and uncover alternatives. Instead of legal reforms - which have failed in the past - what is needed is a view towards the political regime as a whole; one that looks to material rather than legal checks on the use of force. This democratic approach works to develop and maintain a mobilized citizenry that constrains and directs military policy by serving as a check on elites. This paper demarcates the outlines of a theory of democratic war powers through the application of a range of political and legal theory to the proposals of the Commission. A regime approach provides a means to reestablish democratic accountability for the use of force through the political constitution of a tension between the people and their nation's use of arms. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent empirical studies by Timothy Johnson, Paul Wahlbeck, and Jim Spriggs using the papers of Justice Harry Blackmun have supplied strong confirmation of the idea that the nature and technique of oral arguments make a significant difference in the outcome of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Missing from much of these studies is a concrete accounting for the evolutionary foundations of oral argument. How did we get to where we are from the early Court led by Chief Justice John Jay? In this paper, I shall analyze the institutional foundations of oral argument, focusing on (1) the time allotted for oral argument (2) the nature of legal advocacy itself and (3) the comparative relevance of oral argument versus the legal brief in the outcome of Supreme Court cases. I end the discussion by examining recent trends in legal advocacy before the Supreme Court. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on the National Labor Relations Board has demonstrated the influence of ideology over final orders issued by the political appointees of the Board. Using original data collected under a National Science Foundation grant (#SES-01794), this paper examines the impact of initial decisions issued by administrative law judges (ALJ) as an alternative source of influence over aggregate Board decision making. The paper examines 2,252 final orders issued by the Board between 1991 - 2007 as a function of the ideology of the members of the Board, the initial decision of the ALJ, external political influences, economic factors, and case characteristics. Partial generalized ordered logit results demonstrate that although ideology plays a role in Board member decision making, reliance on the initial decision of the ALJ is an overwhelming influence on Board outcomes. These results not only demonstrate the importance of the role of the administrative law judge in agency decision making, a government actor that has been previously ignored, but they also bring into question the top down nature of the principal-agent theory that has been used to model agency decision making. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]