Department of Political Science

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Anticipating backfire: the effect of institutions on repression of nonviolent dissent
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Miller, Gina Lei; Gibler, Douglas M.; Ritter, Emily Hencken; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The state repression literature has paid disproportionate attention to explaining and predicting repression in response to violent dissent while overlooking the role of nonviolent dissent in the repression-dissent process. I present a theory of repression that considers how the tactics and participants involved in nonviolent dissent uniquely threaten political power and affect leaders' decision-making differently than violent dissent. Violent dissidents rely on physical coercion and must possess the willingness and ability to engage in violence; this requirement tends to result in homogeneous dissident groups that are not representative of the larger population. Nonviolent dissidents, on the other hand, use non-physically coercive tactics and are often more representative of the general public than violent dissidents. These peaceful tactics and diverse participants increase the chance that the public will disagree with the use of repression and sanction leaders. Strategic leaders recognize that repression of nonviolent dissent may backfire in this way, but they cannot easily gauge the likelihood that audiences will learn about or be angered by the use of repression against nonviolent dissidents. I suggest that certain domestic institutions provide leaders with information on the likelihood of backfire that serves as a constraint on repressive behavior. Specifically, I predict that leaders in those states with high levels of press freedom and a constitutionally protected right of petition expect that repression of nonviolent dissent is more likely to backfire and will be less likely to repress as a result. A free press threatens to disseminate information on the state's use of force against peaceful citizens, and the potential media attention increases the likelihood that citizens learn about the abuse and sanction leaders. Where the right of petition is constitutionally protected, leaders have an additional expectation that repressing nonviolent dissent will upset domestic audiences and that these angry citizens will mobilize to sanction repressive leaders. I test these predictions using the Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes (NAVCO) v2.0 dataset and use an illustrative case of repression in Mexico to test the plausibility of the theory.
Assessing the level and changes in bipartisanship in Federal higher education: a historical analysis of higher education appropriations, 1980-2017
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Adair, John Lucas; Katsinas, Stephen G.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Despite the continuous shifts in and long-term trend toward more partisanship in our national government, there is a need for consistent and accurate research to better prepare and inform policy leaders of trends in federal higher education appropriations. There is some literature regarding federal funding for higher education that assesses the changes in appropriations, but there is little, if any that reveals the impact of divided government and the use of reconciliation as budget tools. This study analyzed federal allocations to nine different higher education programs. The nine programs are: (1) Pell Grants, (2) Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), (3) Work-Study, (4) Perkins Loans, (5) Direct Student Loan Program, (6) Family Education Loans, (7) Aid for Institutional Development, (8) TRIO programs, and (9) Scholarships and Fellowships. A comparison of appropriations over 37 years from the inception of the United States Department of Education in the final year of President Jimmy Carter’s administration, through the second administration of President Barack Obama was conducted. This period encompassed the tenures of 6 presidents, 19 Congresses, and 11 federal Secretaries of Education from 1980 to 2017. The importance and need for this analysis is underscored by the recent finding that, for the first time in 2010, the federal government surpassed all state funding as the main source of revenue to fund public higher education. This funding shift speaks to a growing federal role in higher education, and occurs even as most commentators document growing political polarization in the United States. In the three articles that follow, the level of partisanship of federal higher education appropriations is analyzed across the executive and legislative branches of government. The first article assesses how U.S. presidents treat federal investments in higher education. It specifically compares presidential budget requests to actual enacted appropriations. What presidents propose the greatest and the least in higher education appropriations? Do election years matter for higher education budget proposals? The second article analyzes the impact of party control on annual higher education appropriations among the presidency, U.S. House of Representatives, and U.S. Senate. Does higher education are better under one party or the other? In the 37 years under study, there have been 12 years of a divided Congress, 13 years of a Democratic Congress, and 13 years of a Republican Congress. Article three assesses the impact of budget reconciliation on higher education appropriations. This is important because Congress has passed all 12 appropriations bills only four times since 1977. Together, these articles provide a clear analysis of the level and changes in bipartisanship of federal higher education over the 1980-2017 period.
Automated content analysis and the development and utilization of legal doctrine in the Federal courts
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Porter, Chase; Smith, Joseph L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The citation and interpretation of precedent and the development and utilization of legal doctrine are distinct concepts. Whereas previous literature has focused on the use of precedent, this study makes a theoretical argument for the importance of distinguishing between precedent and doctrine and applies automated content analysis tools to the measurement of legal doctrine in court opinions. These tools are used to study doctrinal utilization by the Supreme Court and the circuit courts in the United States judicial system. From a theoretical perspective, this study leverages a qualitative case study of the development and application of the Lemon test in Establishment Clause jurisprudence to illustrate the importance of carefully distinguishing between the concepts of precedent and doctrine. The case study exposes potential weaknesses in dependence upon Shepard’s Citations as a tool for understanding the development of legal doctrine. The concept of doctrinal vitality is proposed as a way to measure the impact of legal doctrine across time. Given the difficulties that are inherent in measuring a qualitative concept (language) quantitatively, a careful examination of various automated text analysis methodologies was conducted. The programming language Python was used to analyze the doctrinal composition of court opinions through unsupervised topic modeling and supervised sentence counting. Utilization of doctrinal language was modeled as a function of variables that impact judicial behavior on the Supreme Court and circuit courts, including doctrine age, judicial ideology, doctrinal vitality, opinion characteristics, and hierarchical effects. While the substantive findings are mixed, this dissertation considers important theoretical implications regarding the development and utilization of legal doctrine and explores the potential benefits and challenges related to the use of automated text analysis in the study of legal doctrine.
Challenging the President: Presidential-Senate Confrontations on Foreign Policy
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2020) Yun, Huicheol; Borrelli, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This dissertation is composed of three articles that analyze which determinants influence three aspects of the confrontational relationship between the president and the Senate in the foreign policy/treaty legislation area. The first and second essays focus on the situation that the President takes an “opposed” position on foreign policy legislation and his victories when he takes that position. The third essay focuses on the number of Senators voting against treaty ratification and proposing amendments to the treaties. If the Senate is voting on a bill or amendment that the president opposes, it seems to suggest a direct challenge by the Senate to the President. My finding is the president’s political capital influences the confrontational relationship between the Presidents and Senate in the foreign policy realm. I posit that several variables such as scandal, federal deficit, general approval rating, foreign policy approval rating, and president’s party’s control of the Senate, which reflect the President’s political capital level, influence the occurrence and outcomes of conflict. In the first essay, I find empirical evidence that political capital influences the president’s taking an “opposed” position on foreign policy legislation. A case study of George W. Bush’s taking an “opposed” position on Iraq Mission legislation (S. J. Res. 9) in 2007 is used to illustrate my findings and apply them to an actual historical case. In the second essay, I find significant evidence that political scandal, foreign policy approval rating, and policy types influence the president’s victories on foreign policy legislation where he takes a “opposed” position. A case study of Bill Clinton’s loss on the Iran Missile Proliferation Sanction Act in 1998 (H.R. 2709), where he took an “opposed” position, illustrates how scandal and foreign policy approval rating influence the president’s victories on foreign policy legislation. In the final essay, I examine which determinants influence the number of Senators voting against treaty ratification and proposing amendments to treaties. The number of U.S. troops deployed overseas influences the number of Senators voting against treaty ratification. However, treaty type and the presence of unified government impact Senators’ opposition in unexpected ways. A case study of Jimmy Carter’s Panama Canal treaty in 1978 is used to show how these variables affect Senators’ votes. I also posit political scandal and the number of US troops deployed overseas as variables that impact treaty amendment; I found that treaty types, scandal, the number of U.S. troops deployed overseas influence treaty amendments. The implication of these findings is that in terms of foreign policy, we may like to think the president and Senators usually cooperate to make a foreign policy law or ratify a treaty in light of the entire national interest. In practice and reality, however, presidents and Senators confront and cooperate with each other based on the president’s political capital. The findings of this dissertation will help scholars, Senators, and other foreign policy experts to understand and predict U.S. foreign policy decision-making in the future.
A comparative test of theories of polarity and conflict
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Zhang, Wanfa; Gibler, Douglas M.; Oneal, John R.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Works on the relationship between polarity and war in the past produce inconsistent, sometimes, self-conflicting conclusions. This is caused by the lack of a comparable way of conceptualizing and defining polarity and the lack of a common gauge for estimating that relationship. This research addresses these methodological shortcomings and explores the linkage between the international system of the major powers and dyadic conflict by conducting a comparative study of polarity and war. It tests the targeted relationship using: 1) a number of quantifiable polarity concepts proposed by several representative scholars, including John Mearsheimer, Jack Levy, Charles Kegley and Gregory Raymond, and George Modelski; 2) a common research design that has incorporated the Kantian variables and has drawn the essence from the latest progress in this discipline, and 3) an objective method of calculating a continuous measure of the polarity among the great powers. Such a research design can compare the impact of various types of polarity on the onset of wars while controlling for both realist and Kantian influences. It provides a broad prospective on the connection between polarity and war. This study confirms the existence of a connection between polarity and war of unipolarity > bipolarity > multipolarity in order of peacefulness.
Competing issue frames and attitude consistency: conditions for understanding public opinion
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Park, Young Hwan; Cassel, Carol A.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Competing elite cues help citizens crystallize their policy opinions. Political leaders prime and frame issues in opposing terms, allowing them to be emphasized and discussed in electoral competition. With equal message flows, citizens contrast policy issues and attach personal relevance to the side of the issues as campaigns connect policy alternatives to citizens' underlying political principles. Through these means, citizens in a low information environment become better informed. Since data are structured in levels of groups and coefficients can vary depending on groups, multilevel models are used. The findings show that when they are exposed to competing issue frames, citizens tend to increase constraint between their general political principles and perception of meaningful differences between candidates. This effect is remarkable for the less grounded people.
Corruption, political institutions and foreign direct investments: a disagregated study
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Munga, Jane; Gibler, Douglas M.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
There is great debate if corruption deters or helps foreign direct investment (FDI). In my dissertation I forward this debate and offer two suggestions. The link between corruption and FDI is best observed at the FDI industrial level. I disaggregate FDI into three dependent variables: market-seeking, labor-seeking and raw materials-seeking FDI. Second I argue the relationship between FDI and corruption is affected by the prevailing political institutions in a host country. I include veto players as a measure of political institutions. I conduct quantitative analyses and results indicate that FDI is indeed a firm level decision. I find that for the most part corruption and weak political institutions are a deterrent to FDI, however, in raw materials-seeking corruption compensates the consequences of a defective bureaucracy and bad policies. These findings show that foreign investors invest in different host environments in pursuit of different institutional advantages. The positive relationship between weak political institutions and corruption on raw materials-seeking FDI should however, not be interpreted as an ultimate institutional advantage. Results indicate that corruption is an effective tool in the short-term only, in the long run, the positive effects of corruption on raw material-seeking FDI diminish indicating that a government's commitment to foreign investments is best signaled by legitimate government institutions.
The daily creation of the nation-self and the problem of the border
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2019) Hughston, Terry Lynn; McKnight, Utz; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This dissertation is an attempt to give a more accurate answer to the perennial question of “What is a nation?” by offering a novel theory of the nation-as-self. The theoretical foundation of this theory is largely built upon the works of Ludwig Feuerbach, Carl Schmitt, and Friedrich Nietzsche by arguing that the nation is created through a regular (if not daily) process by which a rational self-reflective agent generates a conception of nation as an alienated version of the politics of that self. Nation essentially possesses the political and personal characteristics of the self yet stands, abstractly, in distinction to the self. The individual then uses the nation-self to examine other claims of nation by other selves as a way of determining whether they are similar enough to the self to warrant a tenuous and temporary designation as a conational or be designated as exception. After establishing this theory of the nation-self, I will examine the potential of civic compassion as a method by which we can relax the view of nations as essentially bordered and imagine a paradigm of boundless political identities without states of exception and exclusion.
Does the media send mixed messages?: a case for competitive framing
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Mitchell, Sean Patrick McLean; Cotter, Patrick R.; Cassel, Carol A.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Based upon the work of John Zaller, the way people receive information can at least temporarily affect their opinions. Considering that most people get at least some of their information from broadcast/print news outlets, the way in which those organizations present, or frame, the information is incredibly important. The news media can activate predispositions by how they provide and/or do not provide information. This in turn can affect how the public feels about a news topic. This dissertation builds upon the work of Zaller, Druckman, Kahn and Kenney, and other leading researchers to show that different media sources use different framing techniques in their coverage of news events. Whereas previous studies into competitive framing have concentrated primarily upon political campaigns, this dissertation analyzes how the media uses various framing techniques in covering an issue. The analysis concentrates on the broadcast/print news media coverage of President Bush's "60 Stops in 60 Days" tour to promote his Social Security initiative during the spring of 2005. The analysis of competitive framing within the "Length", "Placement", "Frame Strength", and "Tone" variables is included. In a more traditional study, Length and Placement might be thought of as "agenda setting" rather than as framing variables; however, the fact that this study is on a major Presidential initiative means that the news media is expected to cover the issue. How much they cover it and where they place the coverage is a result of their own gate-keepers' perceptions of the importance level, or weight, relative to other stories. The interest here is with the actual content of media coverage. Specifically, this study examines whether or not there is variation in the way a political topic is framed within various news outlets. That is, in framing political issues, do various news outlets engage in "competitive framing."
Evaluating the impact of state variation on gender and race through campaign finance
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2014) Sojka, Laura Merrifield; Fording, Richard C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
In spite of the increasing campaign finance legislation aimed at equalizing barriers in political campaigns, a fundraising gap persists across gender and race lines. In the era of modern campaigning, with the expenses of advertising and polling, among others, ample funds are necessary but not universally accessible to all candidates. This dissertation addresses the relationship between the candidate's gender and race with campaign fundraising, and the possible mediating impact of three dimensions of the state political context - state legislative professionalism, state Republican party strength, and state culture (South vs. Non-south). I evaluated fundraising totals across 15 states for over 3,000 candidates in the 2006 state legislative elections. Ultimately, the findings suggest that after controlling for other candidate characteristics, as well as district and state context, there is a slightly negative relationship between gender though not statistically significant and a substantially negative relationship between race, which is statistically significant. It demonstrates that, with other mitigating factors controlled, female candidates fundraise slightly less and non-white candidates fundraise much less than their counterparts. In addition, there appears to be notable variation in the effect of gender/race on legislative professionalization and the Southern states in relation to the fundraising gap. This study finds that candidates from underrepresented groups continue to fundraise less than their white, male counterparts and that state variation is important in understanding the gender/race gap in campaign finance.
How law clerks influence: information at the U.S. Supreme Court
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Kromphardt, Christopher David; Smith, Joseph L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The role of law clerks at the United States Supreme Court has long been a source of curiosity among observers and scholars alike. Of particular interest are what characteristics determine which applicants are selected to clerk and what influence clerks have on the justices' decision making. Using a two-part framework that identifies information asymmetries, where clerks possess relevant information that they can transmit to their justices, and conditions under which this information leads a justice to learn about policies' impact, I uncover evidence of a causal mechanism by which clerks wield systematic influence over the justices' decision making. I show that information clerks convey that is derived from their ideological preferences and from their experiences and socialization influences their justices' votes on the merits. In the concluding chapter, I argue that these findings shed light on the broader class of principal-agent relationships of which the justice-clerk dynamic is an example and discuss how law clerks pose an opportunity for scholars to learn how principals acquire and use information from their advisors.
Immigration policy in the American states: an event history analysis of state adoption and diffusion of the cooperative immigration enforcement 287g program
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Bozovic, Laura Beth; Borrelli, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The focus of this dissertation is to determine why states have chosen to cooperate with the federal government to enforce immigration laws. In order to identify why certain states are aligning with the federal government, an event history model is utilized to test state level factors leading to adoption of the 287g cooperative immigration enforcement program. The study concludes that the costs associated with sudden population growth increases the likelihood of state level immigration enforcement efforts, while, local level adoptions of the 287g program reduces the likelihood of statewide adoption.
The impact of public service motivation on the turnover intentions of federal employees
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Morrison, Jennifer Caroline; Baldwin, J. Norman; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This dissertation addresses the impact of public service motivation on the turnover intentions of federal employees. A survey measuring four types of public service motivation--attraction to policy-making, compassion, public interest, and self sacrifice--along with several traditional predictors of employee turnover was distributed to a random sample of 1,600 federal employees. The findings demonstrate significant relationships between turnover intentions and the traditional predictors of turnover but fail to demonstrate significant direct relationships between the measures of public service motivation and turnover intentions. However, the measures of public service motivation appear to indirectly affect turnover intentions through their relationship with organization commitment. The dissertation suggests that a larger and more diverse sample of federal employees might yield different findings, as would a study that investigates the turnover intentions of state and local government workers who have more direct contact with the general public and the clientele of their public agencies. The dissertation further suggests that future research might investigate the impact on turnover intentions of the interaction between public service motivation and the degree to which employees' jobs allow them to fulfill their public service motivation. Retention of employees will save government agencies money, resources, and knowledge talent. However, given its methodological limitations, this dissertation reveals that four popular forms of public service motivation do not predict federal employees' intentions to turnover. Instead, organization commitment, job satisfaction, and person-organization fit--three traditional predictors of employee turnover--are better predictors of federal employee turnover intentions.
International security and the space domain: applying traditional theories of international relations to the astropolitical environment
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2020-12) Rotter, Allen Eric; DeRouen, Karl R.; Frazier, Derrick V.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Traditional theories of International Relations have long been used to describe the politics of space. The space security debate itself reflects the inter-paradigm debate of the 1970s and 1980s in which neorealist and neoliberal institutionalist scholars argued over the constitutive character of the anarchic international system. This disagreement is projected onto the space environment and thus contending theoretical assumptions are used to justify opposing propositions concerning the securitization of the domain. Neorealists assume that militarization is an effective method of securitization while neoliberals assume that subscription to international institutions is a more effective method. The extant literature on space security appeals to or extends from military doctrine and political psychology to make prospective space behaviors intelligible. In this dissertation, I apply the theoretical assumptions that undergird traditional schools of thought to the space security environment and operationalize them in a manner conducive to quantitative statistical analysis. I propose that the security status of space can be operationalized by the frequency of non-military payloads placed in orbit every year. This represents the perceived precarity of the domain among civilian and commercial industrial leaders. I operationalize the neorealist explanatory variable as the frequency of military payloads placed in orbit every year and the neoliberal explanatory variable as the annual number of ratified international space treaties. These observations are regressed against the dependent variable and alternative explanatory variables in order to discover which of them accurately accounts for space security. This project utilizes an original, longitudinal database consisting of 195 political actors observed over 63 years from 1957 to 2019. Two estimator models are used to empirically analyze the respective effects of military activity and international space treaty subscription on the security status of space: feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) and generalized least squares (GLS) with Huber-White sandwich estimators. The results strongly support the neorealist position that military activity has a positive influence on security. The results to do not support the neoliberal institutionalist position that subscription to space treaty organizations has a positive influence on security.
Kids these days: political knowledge, young people, and the internet
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2014) Starling, Anderson Milton; Cassel, Carol A.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
In order for Americans to fully and effectively participate in their government, they must be adequately informed and knowledgeable about the policies, people, and processes therein. Prior literature has shown that those with lower levels of political information (women, less educated, and the young) are often the same groups whose political interests are under-represented in government. For this reason, this dissertation seeks to determine where and how political knowledge is distributed amongst demographic groups and also how, specifically, Internet access and use affect overall levels of political knowledge. As with most new media, political scientists were unsure the effect the Internet might have on the American public. Initial theories on ways the Internet would trigger population-wide gains in political knowledge have given way to more current theories about why this has not been the case. This dissertation's purpose is to add to the literature on the Internet and political knowledge by assessing the ways traditional political knowledge gaps have been affected by increases in Internet access and use. At the forefront of the three major analyses is the political knowledge gap between young people and older cohorts. Are the young, often provided with more opportunities for access and higher skills in Internet use, gaining political knowledge at a faster rate than older cohorts? Analyses of the effects of Internet access and Internet use are performed over separate survey data. One of the analyses in this dissertation also focuses on two additional political knowledge gaps, the education-and gender-based knowledge gaps, and how frequency of Internet use compares to the use of more traditional media. In addition to spotlighting the ways Internet and other media have affected political knowledge levels, measurement issues relating to political knowledge in the American National Election surveys are also addressed. In two of the three analyses, new composite items are constructed and tested as measures of political knowledge of the American population.
Learning the trade: states, leaders, and the construction of international relations
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Millard, Matthew Christopher; Gibler, Douglas M.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
I argue that conflict can best be understood as a learned practice that constrains states interacting peacefully or conflictually with other states in the international system. Vasquez (1993/2009) proposes that conflict is a learned behavior that emerges from a prior pattern of interactions. And if Senese and Vasquez (2008) are correct that we can understand behaviors such as alliances, arms races, rivalries, territorial disputes, and a non-democratic polity as increasing the probability of conflict, I maintain that we can understand the steps to war as learned behaviors. In other words, I maintain that alliances, arms races, and disputes in the presence of rivalries are learned behaviors. To provide evidence for this claim, I build a matrix of all available alliance texts from 1891-1995 and demonstrate why some states make strategic choices to copy prior alliance texts. Next, I argue that the arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States can be understood as a learning event, as each move by a side during an arms race reveals intentions, motivations, and values. Finally, I argue that evidence of diffusively learned conflict behavior can be found by examining states in rivalries and their interactions with non-rivalrous dyads. I find evidence to support my claim that the behaviors associated with the steps to war argument are learned behaviors.
Neither sword nor purse: the development of Supreme Court influence over lower courts
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Todd, James; Smith, Joseph L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Lower court compliance with the superior courts is now a norm in the judicial system of the United States. This dissertation will examine the development of the Supreme Court's ability to influence the decisions by lower courts. My general theory is that lower court compliance with the Supreme Court became more of a certainty as the federal judicial system developed statutorily, particularly after 1875. I will test the impact that three judicial reforms had (and continue to have) on Supreme Court power over lower courts: the Jurisdiction and Removal Act of 1875, the Judiciary Act of 1891, and the Judges Act of 1925. These reforms, I will argue, added characteristics to the judicial system that help predict compliance, all of which are still present in the system and can be shown to have an effect on compliance in contemporary times. These characteristics include the availability of federal forums for the implementation of constitutional policies, the authoritative communication of Court policies by intermediate courts to trial level courts, and the ability of the Court to select cases that allow it the opportunity to announce clear policy. To test my theory, I will use a variety of historically important Supreme Court policies and employ a coding scheme for lower court cases to test whether a case presents an instance of compliance or non-compliance with the specific Supreme Court policy.
Pledge fulfillment in Germany: an examination of the Schröder II and Merkel I governments
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Ferguson, Mark Joseph; Royed, Terry J.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Past scholarly research has indicated that campaign pledges are important. This research has led scholars to examine the various institutional differences between states. For instance, single-party majoritarian system, the British Westminster (UK), the American federal system for pledge fulfillment, coalition and minority systems, e.g., Ireland, Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden have been examined and compared. Combined, these scholars have presented academia compelling evidence that the rates of pledge fulfillment are a function of the individual institutional designs of the states examined. This dissertation expands on existing research by including the German system to the expanding understanding of pledge fulfillment and institutional design. This work examines the Schröder II (2002-2005) and Merkel (2005-2009) governments. I argue that there are several substantial questions that need to be addressed in relationship to Germany and pledge fulfillment. First, to what extent does the mandate model apply to Germany? Second, to what extent do parties in a grand coalition fulfill pledges, compared to normal coalition governments? Lastly, to what extent does the German case compare to previous research? I argue that pledge fulfillment under German coalition governments should be consistent with existing research; pledge fulfillment under grand coalition governments should be lower than previous research. By adding Germany to the already extensive work on pledge fulfillment, we are better able to make stronger inferences on the impact of institutional design on pledge fulfillment.
The political elements of selection
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2016) Cheney, Joseph; Borrelli, Stephen; Baldwin, J. Norman; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Despite cross-field implications, the strategic and political aspects of selection and appointment have received limited scholarly attention. Prior research has primarily focused on one system of selection or appointment. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the strategic and political elements of selection and appointment by investigating the influences, considerations, and strategies under different systems, with different constraints, and from different perspectives. The first part of this dissertation investigates the determinants of appointments to different bureaucratic job types in a legally unconstrained system by evaluating Papal appointments to the Roman Curia. The second part of this dissertation investigates how strategic behavior changes when a veto player is introduced to the selection and appointment process by evaluating how the political dynamics between the president and the United States Senate affect confirmation duration to agencies of different ideological backgrounds. The third part of this dissertation evaluates how procedural rules affect selection from within a body of colleagues by conducting a case study of the 2005 Papal Conclave, the first conclave under a rule that would have limited the “infinite game” until a two-thirds majority was achieved to elect a pope.
Predation in state and nation: towards a theory of minority participation
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2017) Davis, Brandon Davis; Fording, Richard C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
U.S. criminal justice policies have created the uniquely American style of carceral punishment. Since 1973, America has seen a sustained and substantial rise in its incarceration population and the manifestation of mass incarceration. Currently, the U.S. imprisons 2.23 million people, which amounts to 23% of the world’s total incarcerated population. Support for more punitive policies came from Whites and Black residents, politicians, and community. I maintain that the carceral predation has a political spillover effect of reducing Black political power by adversely affecting the political socialization process and development of efficacy. I hypothesize that carceral contact directly affects the political behavior of those personally contacted and those with network contact, and this effect is greater for African Americans than for Whites. I posit that carceral contact negatively impacts political trust, and that individuals can rationally assign the distrust to a specific level of governance. This effect should also be larger for Blacks. Thirdly, I theorize that carceral contact negatively affects not only the social and cultural aspects of political efficacy, but also the psychological components of political efficacy. I hypothesize that carceral contact and predacious political environments have an adverse impact on the development of self-esteem, happiness, and calmness. In the following chapters I will attempt to aid in the development of a theory of minority participation through the theoretical development of the concept of predation, presenting a new Black voting calculus, and empirically testing how carceral contact affects participation via political socialization and efficacy.

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