Showing 4371 - 4380 of 5709 Items
When is Change Possible? Presidential Power as Shaped by Political Context, Constitutional Tools, and Legislative Skills
Date: 2021-01-01
Creator: Ryan Telingator
Access: Open access
- Many Americans believe that the president is an omnipotent figure who can achieve any political or policy objective if they try hard enough. On the contrary, the presidency was intentionally crafted by the Framers of the Constitution to have limited legislative powers to mitigate the risk of despotism. Thus, this paper seeks to answer the question, when is change possible?, to try to bridge the gap between popular belief and Constitutional powers. Three questions guide this research: 1) What conditions are conducive for change? 2) What Constitutional tools help a president facilitate change? And 3) What skills can a president bring to office to help create change? This thesis seeks to answer these questions by reviewing the existing literature on political context, tools, and legislative skills. Case study analyses of the Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan presidencies are then presented to assess their legislative successes and failures, and the factors behind them. Finally, the thesis concludes by evaluating President Joseph Biden’s first 100 days in office and uses the theory and findings from the cases to predict Biden’s ability to affect change. This research reveals that the political context is the most important factor in determining the possibility of change – successful change relies on open policy windows, resilient ideological commitments, and a mandate to stimulate congressional action. Within the constraints of the case studies, Constitutional tools were not important. Legislative skills helped to pass legislation, however, they were not potent enough to overcome a bad political context.
Visions of Unity, Memories of Violence: American Civil Religion and the Japanese American Incarceration
Date: 2018-05-01
Creator: Brigitte Helene McFarland
Access: Open access
The Politics of Seeing: John Ruskin As Political Thinker This record is embargoed.
- Embargo End Date: 2027-05-16
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Hayden D. Redelman
Access: Embargoed
Modeling the Development & Expression of Political Opinion: A Zallerian Approach
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Avery C Ellis
Access: Open access
- Research focused on John Zaller's famous RAS model of political opinion formation and change from "The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion" (1992). Analyzed the mathematical and psychological underpinnings of the model, the first paper to do so in over fifteen years and the first to do so through an analysis of motivated reasoning and Bayesian reasoning. Synthesized existing critiques of Zaller's model and other literature to suggest ways to build on Zaller, utilizing fundamental reunderstandings of opinions and messages from political and mathematical perspectives. Found verification for Zaller's model, confirming its value, but also found support for the proposed RAIS model, which suggests foundational changes in the way citizens interact with information in the current political environment. Confirmed the utility of a Zallerian framework for analyzing shifts in mass opinion over time and suggested ways to improve the creation of surveys and polls for understanding elections and reported opinions on issues.
The Power of In-Person Digital Repatriation: Returning Historic Photographs to West Greenland Communities This record is embargoed.
- Embargo End Date: 2029-05-15
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Agnes Macy
Access: Embargoed