Public and International Affairs Dissertations

Religion in political conflict: a constructivist theoretical model for public policy analysis, design, and implementation

Marian Gheorghe Simion — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:01:14 PDT

The second half of the 20th century introduced an unexpected phenomenon-the rise of religion as a marker for political identity, and as a power for structure mobilization. Policymakers often ignored this de-privatization of religion, thus failing to comprehend and recognize its power either as an impetus for structure mobilization (e.g., the Iranian Revolution, Intifadas, etc.), or as a marker of collective identity (e.g., Balkans, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Northern Ireland, Middle East, etc.). This is also a consequence of the secularist configuration of statecraft, and of the lack of comprehensive political theory on the role of religion in the public life.

...

Constructing the nation in opposition: human rights as strategic building blocks - a comparative analysis of Sinn Féin and the IRA, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas

Kimberly Jones — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:06:42 PST

Scholars of nationalism contend the nation or national identity is an artificial construction and they acknowledge one cannot create something from nothing -- a kind of "building block" is required. For some socio-political movements, including those that use violence, human rights violations become building blocks. The power of violations as a building block is grounded in their real and perceived importance in both the domestic and international political and legal arenas.

This study examines Sinn Féin and the Irish Republic Army (Northern Ireland); the Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt); and Hamas (Israel and the occupied territories), and finds that all are examples...

First steps on the ladder to college success: understanding the secondary school level factors that determine the college enrollment and retention outcomes of high school graduates in Massachusetts

Alison Helen Dickson — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 07:20:42 PDT

Despite the United States' long-standing public commitment to postsecondary education and the growing importance of college degrees for individual and national prosperity, today many Americans fail to achieve these valuable academic credentials. To be able to tackle this problem policymakers require a comprehensive understanding of college readiness: precisely, what abilities, attitudes, knowledge and skills do students need to successfully earn a college degree? This study contributes to developing this understanding by analyzing the effects different secondary school level variables have on the postsecondary enrollment and retention outcomes of high school graduates. In turn, these findings highlight the issues, and inform...

Democratic development in China’s urban communities

Chow Bing Ngeow — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:25:15 PDT

Since mid-1990s, the Chinese government has been promoting a policy of community construction (shequ) in urban areas. One of the main focuses of this policy is to build up the democratic infrastructure and institutions at the grassroots level in the cities. As a result, political and institutional reforms to make grassroots governance more democratic have been experimented and implemented in many cities. Members of the residents' committee, the "mass-organization" entrusted to governance the communities (shequ), are now to be democratically elected. The administration of the communities has to adhere to the principles of democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision....

The rhetoric of reform : examining the role of political language in Rhode Island's health care debate

Kevin P. Donnelly — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:18:52 PDT

Political language refers to the way in which public policy issues are portrayed, discussed, and ultimately perceived by the community at large. Focusing specifically on two case studies in Rhode Island--the efforts of two policy entrepreneurs to enact comprehensive health care reform, and Governor Donald Carcieri's successful pursuit of a Medicaid "Global Waiver"--this thesis begins with a description of the social, political, and economic contexts in which these debates took root. Using a "framework of analysis" developed for this thesis, attention then centers on the language employed by the political actors involved in advancing health care reform, along with the...

The politics of water fluoridation from a problem definition perspective

Robyn Olson — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:06:51 PST

Community water fluoridation has been controversial since it was first proposed more than 60 years ago. Proponents of fluoridation state that it is a safe and cost-effective method of solving a public health problem while opponents question its safety and effectiveness and whether it is a legitimate function of government. Most decisions regarding water fluoridation reside at the local level. In MA, the current law allows the local board of health to order water fluoridation The law stipulates that within 90 days of public notice opponents can submit a petition with the signatures of 10 percent of the registered voters...

Networking for power and change: Muslim women activism and the transformation of Muslim public sphere

Riham Ashraf Bahi — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:06:50 PST

At the dawn of the 21st century, a "critical mass" of educated, enlightened, and empowered Muslim women have emerged around the world. Their fundamental questions about Islam and women may help in transforming Islamic laws and bringing about modern, egalitarian Muslim societies. In this research, I argue that Muslim women scholar-activists are playing a key role in the reinterpretation of their religion and the modernization of their societies. This study probes and explores a complex, evolving, transnational Muslim dialogue about gender equality, in which the underlying concern is about empowering Muslim women to claim the public sphere as their medium...

Deadlock: a political economy perspective on the Massachusetts health policy reform experience

Kaitlyn Kenney Walsh — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:06:49 PST

The issue of health care reform has persisted on both the state and national political agenda for decades. State involvement in health policy reform has grown considerably since the enactment of Medicaid in 1965 and the states have increasingly served as ""laboratories of democracy"" testing different health reform initiatives and approaches. Massachusetts has been identified in numerous instances as a pioneer among those states experimenting with reform, particularly with respect to its efforts to promote comprehensive health coverage. In a sense, the Massachusetts experience has positioned this state at the vanguard of the national health reform debate. Since the failure...

Emerging judicial power in transitional democracies: Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda

Rachel L. Ellett — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:06:49 PST

It is broadly accepted that an independent and empowered judiciary is central to the rule of law. This dissertation examines the construction of judicial power in emerging democracies through addressing the paradoxical presence of strong judicial power in weak and volatile democracies. I argue that we must unpack our assumptions about democracy and move beyond regime based theories of judicial behavior. I find that existing strategic decision-making theories do not adequately account for the emergence of judicial power in sub-Saharan Africa. Instead this study finds that variation in level of judicial institutionalization or viability accounts for the presence of strong...

Building stable and effective states through international governance: the politics of technocratic interventions

Joseph B. Coelho — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:06:48 PST

Since the end of the Cold War, the United Nations and Western states have responded to severe internal crises of conflict-ridden territories by intervening and directly managing their internal affairs with the purported aim of strengthening state capacity. In some instances, external actors have even developed the institutions of government, while exercising the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of the modern state. This study explores the dominant assumptions that underlie the developmental strategies of the international administrations in Bosnia, Kosovo, and East Timor. I argue that these interventions tend to view state-building as a technical process that can ignore local...