Department of Political Science
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/11287
2024-03-27T02:47:07ZA Study of Policy Implementation: Desegregation of the Dallas Independent School District
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/31185
A Study of Policy Implementation: Desegregation of the Dallas Independent School District
Swan, James Alan
Even though the significance of Brown v. Board of Education is recognized by almost everyone, implementing the decision has been a very difficult task. Implementation of the resulting desegregation order in Dallas has been influenced by the national response to desegregation as well as by local conditions and responses. The purpose of this study is to analyze those factors which influenced implementation. A history of the fight for public school desegregation up to, and including, the Brown decision, is given as background and to help understand why implementation was so difficult.
The nationwide attempt to implement Brown is discussed because the efforts toward implementation in other parts of the nation have strongly influenced the struggle in Dallas. Such factors as the problem of poor communication, the structure and traditions of the federal courts, the reasons for individual noncompliance and the focus on secondary issues such as busing and white flight are considered on a national scale.
Implementation of desegregation orders in Dallas is discussed as it relates to these national issues. Emphasis is placed on the tactic of delay as it is used to put off and avoid desegregation. The positions of Dallas school boards, public officials, administrators and the press are considered in light of various stages of the twenty-eight year struggle for desegregation of the Dallas Independent School District. The final chapter analyzes the current status of desegregation in Dallas and offers conclusions concerning how effectively the court orders for desegregation have been implemented.
1983-12-01T00:00:00ZBEYOND BRIBERY: AN EXPLORATION INTO LOBBYING AND INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE INFLUENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/27829
BEYOND BRIBERY: AN EXPLORATION INTO LOBBYING AND INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE INFLUENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Qualitative evidence suggests that corporations lobby within countries with informal structures abroad. While political science research on Western lobbying is robust, it falls short in understanding how multinational businesses operate in countries that do not possess regulated lobbying arenas. Given this, my research findings help fill a theoretical gap in political science literature by identifying how multinationals lobby within informal (unregulated) structures the same as they do within formal (regulated) arenas, like the US and EU. I argue that US multinational companies who engage the American lobbying arena are more likely to lobby within informal structures to ensure strategic goals. I create a behavior index to identify lobbying within informal structures and operationalize both lobbying disclosure issue reports and newspaper article mentions of three Middle Eastern country case studies (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan) to show how American companies lobby within both formal and informal structures. Overall, since we do not yet know much about lobbying in countries with unregulated structures, this thesis will help scholars begin to think about the variables that should be considered and the factors that might influence the occurrence of this activity.
2018-07-27T00:00:00ZPolarization and Nuclear Fear: How Partisan Message Processing Affects Public Trust in Government
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/27784
Polarization and Nuclear Fear: How Partisan Message Processing Affects Public Trust in Government
Scholars have found that an environment that appears increasingly polarized in the United States has been accompanied by a decline in institutional trust over several decades. Scholarship involving partisanship and trust suggests that out-party groups are less receptive to political messages than in-groups. In the wake of the false emergency alert in Hawaii that sent citizens into a panic for 38 minutes, messaging and nuclear issues remain a salient topic for study. This thesis presents the results of an experiment (N = 2,310) investigating how political trust is influenced by the partisan interpretation of a message. Survey respondents were presented with treatment messages from varied political sources and then asked a posttest question regarding diffuse trust in government. Results demonstrate that partisanship is a strong factor that affects how people interpret a message, even in the event of a large-scale disaster. The findings suggest that partisanship and preferences for or against authoritarianism influence trust and message interpretation.
2018-12-06T00:00:00ZWhen States Break the Rules: Membership Suspension in International Organizations
http://hdl.handle.net/10106/27496
When States Break the Rules: Membership Suspension in International Organizations
Hardt, Heidi; Sasley, Brent E.
Paper prepared for the Annual Convention of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., August 28-31, 2014
2014-01-01T00:00:00Z