Presidents exercise influence over policy discussion and options in America by the frequency and language they use to describe the current conditions, the perceived problems, and the solutions. The ability for presidents to articulate problems and solutions assumes an underlying purpose exists. This study examines how presidents frame the policy discussion for education in America and how they describe the purpose of education in the public record: the benefit of education is for society (common good), or the benefit it to the student (private good). Then the study examines the extent to which those frames stay consistent or are variable within and between administrations. The study utilizes presidential issue framing and agenda-setting to examine historical documents in the Public Papers of the President archive to determine the articulated purpose using the framework proposed by David Labaree. This study focuses on three administrations of the most recent period of federalism in education policy in America, starting with Bill Clinton and ending with Barack Obama. The study found that President William Clinton used the purposes of Social Mobility and Social Efficiency most frequently, President George W. Bush used Social Efficiency – Public Good and Social Efficiency – Private Good most, and President Barack Obama used Social Efficiency – Public Good more than all other frames. All three presidents maintained relatively consistent use of their prominent frames throughout their administrations with some indication that slight shifts may occur. All three presidents had low utilization of the frame Democratic Equality, and all used the combined frame Social Efficiency the most. Some variation between the utilization of the second-level codes of Private Good and Public Good do exist between administrations. The prominence of the combined frame Social Efficiency across administrations may suggest a more crystalized definition for the purpose of K-12 education in America.

This work will provide insight into the concepts and strategies that may help explain how racial/ethnic minority groups, particularly racial/ethnic minority populations within the United States, exact change for their communities while working in/outside historically inaccessible, deep-seated institutional systems of power. This paper will draw context pertaining to the collective action theories through several sources, how they apply to racial/ethnic minority socio-political groups and movements and provide insight on how these two particular communities build coalitions amongst one another as a means to uplift their respective communities facing similar forms of oppressive legislation and systems. After its investigation, this piece will conclude that collective action, and active coalition-building, amongst minority communities, is key to empowering these respective communities to catalyze the change necessary to secure true equity and equality within the United States.

Political debates are essential. They are critical components of the democratic process. Debates in the United States of America encourage constructive discussion about the role of government, the actions of individuals in positions of authority, and the future of the nation. During the presidential debate, voters are given the opportunity to understand in detail candidates' platforms and where politicians stand on the hot-button issues of the time. Of course, what politicians say during debates is important. How important, then, is what the politicians do not say? Uncovering Covert Aspects of the Presidential Debate focuses on presidential candidates’ nonverbal communication tendencies, not actual words spoken, through an examination of a sample of presidential debates. Research contains the implementation of a focused analytical method with the objective of formulating a better understanding of how the general population forms perceptions about presidential candidates. Findings include interesting information about psychology, communication, and politics as well as a number of answers to the question of how nonverbal communication affects presidential debates. Politicians involved in the research are Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney. This research describes how these candidates behave and draws conclusions about trends in the body language of American politicians. No longer will the covert aspects of the presidential debate, which is viewed not only by millions of Americans but also by many individuals in other countries, remain a mystery. The truth behind what matters and what does not matter in the political debate has been established.

Over time, our American society has been fixated on trying to achieve demographic representation in political realms among all three branches. The recent excitement of progress in terms of slightly more equal gender representation in the United States Congress, with almost one-quarter of the total body after the 2018 midterm election consisting of women, was an element of motivation for this thesis. Throughout the thesis, the Literature Review and Theory section presents background as to the importance of representation in general provided by well-respected political scientists’ work. It follows with a section on Women’s Impact on the Political Sphere, and discusses quality candidates in regards to common characteristics political scientists, particularly Peverill Squire, claim are crucial to political success. As the interest for the thesis arose from President Trump’s victory in 2016, as public opinion buoyed an outsider into the most prestigious elected office, my ultimate research question deals with the profile of the winning candidate of first-time members to the House of Representatives in the past ten years and whether Trump’s election may be indicative of the changing type and quality of qualified candidates who are winning Congressional seats recently. It is crucial for both the political parties and society to be aware of the type and common qualifications of political candidates running and ultimately winning in recent years. With a coding metric, similar to Squire’s, research was conducted by coding first-time elected House members’ backgrounds provided by CSPAN over the past ten years, 110th-116th Congressional sessions. The intent was hoping to show how the type of quality candidate is evolving over time. This was demonstrated by determining whether political candidates’ highest level of education, occupation before Congress, and highest level of prior political experience was really that crucial to their success or considered by voters as not as important in terms of being a qualified, winnable candidate when measuring against age, gender, and party affiliation. There were many notable results in regards to overall trends and incredible differences between males and females between each variable measured just within the past ten years. While there is a noticeable increase in those winning with zero prior political experience this past midterm election, and although President Trump’s election was not analyzed as a potential cause of the rise in success of those without prior office experience, my hypothesize was correct in that there could be a correlation drawn as to Trump’s influence upon the change in this country’s thoughts towards candidates. Among other noticeable results, this thesis finds that despite extensive preceding political science research on quality candidates, prior office experience may not be considered as relevant anymore to voters in terms of considering a quality candidate, and the prior “on paper” qualifications in order to be successful may be evolving in today’s politics, most especially for first-time members in the House of Representatives.

Political scientists have long recognized the importance of representation as being critical to the American form of government. This paper begins by establishing the theoretical basis for representational studies in political science. It then turns to the empirical question of measuring the degree to which legislators represent their constituents. While there have been comprehensive studies of representation among members of Congress, several practical difficulties have prevented similar studies at the state legislature level. Underlying measures of representation are the preferences of constituents and the representational behavior of legislators. This paper proposes two metrics, a modified Partisan Voting Index and the American Conservative Union State Legislative Ratings, to compare the district-level preferences with roll call voting behavior (a form of substantive representation) of the corresponding legislators. This methodology is then tested against data collected from the Arizona legislature, specifically incorporating election returns from 2012, 2014, and 2016, and votes taken during the 2017 and 2018 sessions of the legislature. The findings suggest a strong relationship between the partisan and ideological leaning of a state legislative district and how conservative or liberal a legislator’s voting record is, even when controlling for political party. Two special cases are also examined in the context of this data. First, the three legislative districts with a split delegation are analyzed and determined to have a moderating effect on representative behavior. Second, five mid-term vacancies are examined along with the process for filling a vacancy. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this line of research can better inform legislators and help constituents hold their elected officials to account.

The 2016 election brought to light a political climate change in the United States and showed that questions scholars and pundits alike thought were answered perhaps had not been completely addressed. For some, the main question left unanswered was what would it take for a woman to become President of the United States? For others, the question of fear politics and the effects of social media were raised. Perhaps, the most intriguing was exactly who has influence over US elections? While these, and other, questions were asked in the context of the presidential election, they are also applicable to all political races. This dissertation examines how voter perceptions based on stereotypes and racial threat can affect Latina candidates’ prospects for election. Using an online experiment with 660 subjects and two elite interviews to test four hypotheses in order to determine whether or not racial resentment and stereotypes play a role in voter perceptions of Latina political candidates. The results show that racial resent and gender stereotypes play a role in voter perception of Latina political candidates. The results have theoretical and practical implications.

The intent of this paper is to first demonstrate the consistency of a U.S. based poultry technology incentive program regarding Nigeria, with current United States State Department and related United States Agency for International Development mission, and present day programs. By implementing the proposed incentive strategy, Nigeria in the midst of a devastating famine will become more food secure, and as a result the country as a whole will gain political stability. The correlation between food security and political stability will be discussed in greater detail further in the essay. The basis of an incentive strategy stems from the lack of poultry companies entering the current Nigerian market, due to risk factors and lucrative alternatives, however there are increasing benefits to companies willing to partner with or supply Nigerian domestic producers. The proposed incentive strategy is limited to U.S. poultry technology companies for the efficiencies inherent in poultry production. Limiting the incentives to U.S. poultry technology companies only entering the Nigerian domestic markets as partners or suppliers has its pros and cons, but will have a positive effect on Nigeria. Most importantly, the economic benefits, strengthening of U.S. and Nigerian diplomatic relations and promotion of stable democracies in the region are all compelling reasons for the United States to implement the proposed strategy. Nigeria is in the grips of a devastating famine threatening millions of its citizens with malnutrition and starvation. While there are ongoing humanitarian efforts that stem this tragedy, most focus solely on short term needs. The United States has an established diplomatic relationship with Nigeria, which supports key trade dependencies, both inbound and outbound from the US. The frailty of the present political and human conditions, while presently friendly to the US, presents risks to subversion to this important relationship. This proposal seeks to deploy strategies in the local food production, specifically the poultry segment, which; address frailties in the current environment, can be implemented within intermediate timeframes, are sustainable in the long term, and create synergistic outcomes for both the US and Nigerian interests.

In the midst of our nation's heightened political climate, it seems as if politics is polarized more than ever. Voters witnessed the impact of identity politics in the previous national election. As Facebook and Twitter are flooded with political debate, it seems as if the ability to engage in civil discourse has been lost. In the past election cycle, women's issues were a major focal point. Firstly, the country was presented with the potential to elect its first female president. Discussions of workplace diversity, the gender pay gap, and racial divide brought up serious concerns of inequality. Women were infuriated so much so that they organized all across the nation and came out strong, but not unified, in the notable Women's March. The March was arguably politically fueled and perceived by conservatives as an anti-conservative movement. Since the March was purposefully scheduled the day after President Trump's inauguration, the idea of "resistance" was interpreted as "anti-Trump." Interestingly enough, a pro-life feminist population was excluded from being sponsors of the movement. This story received national coverage, and is a topic of debate. The 2018 Women's March proved to be just as political with speeches encouraging people to only vote Democrat in the following elections. The Women's March is a microcosm of our nation's inability to find common ground. This project will explore the ideologies of conservatism and feminism and develop the concept of the "conservative feminist." In this study, we surveyed students studying political ideologies at Arizona State University, assessed results, and then conducted informational interviews to explore those results in greater depth. Accordingly, this thesis explores questions such as: Why did a civil rights movement become seemingly polarized? What are the semantic and conceptual obstacles to "conservative feminism?" The goal of this analysis is to explore the stigma of political ideologies and labels, and to open the discussion for better understanding of feminism, conservatism, and conservative feminism.

In this paper, I defend the Electoral College system used to elect the President of the United States against criticisms that the system should be more democratic. I first take a look at federal republican theory and the contemporary issues which influenced and persuaded the Founding Fathers to adopt this theory \u2014 not only as the foundation of the presidential election system, but also as the foundation of the United States Constitution. I describe that the purpose of federal republicanism is to ensure that power is distributed such that no group of people is too powerful to oppress others. I then provide a basic description of the Electoral College and demonstrate how the system is not purely democratic. From here, I defend the Electoral College's partially undemocratic nature on the grounds that state representation is a fundamental part of federal republicanism. I subsequently address four issues alleged by critics concerning the Electoral College: discouraged voter participation, unrepresented state minorities, the creation of battleground states and safe states, and the entrenchment of the two-party system. With respect to discouraged voter participation, I argue that the issue is not unique to the Electoral College system. With respect to unrepresented state minorities, I argue that if states distribute College electors proportionally to give state minorities representation, it would strengthen national interests at the expense of state interests and hurt the federal system of government. With respect to battleground states and safe states, I argue that they do not cause presidential candidates to ignore voters any more than under a national popular vote system. And, with respect to the two- party system, I argue that it does little harm to representation because the Democratic and Republican parties are internally diverse. Finally, I use federal republican theory to challenge the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) \u2014 a purely democratic solution to reform the Electoral College without Constitutional amendment \u2014 on the grounds that it would throw away state representation, eliminate the federal aspect of the election system, and face legal controversy.

The GI Bill has an extensive history dating back to 1944. There have been different versions over the years, the most recent being the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Theory would suggest that the education incentives that go along with the bill would cause veterans to go back to school. However, this study explores other factors that may influence the decision-making process. Using a sample of 25 undergraduate student veterans from Arizona State University, this study explores the outside factors that may affect the decision to return to school post-military.