1,720,966 research outputs found
A comparative study of the impact of neoliberal trade agreements and the ideology of political elites on democratization processes: The cases of ASEAN, MERCOSUL, and NAFTA
No full textThis study examines three trade agreements that share a common commitment to increased trade and yet have political regimes that vary in their levels of democratic practice. The literature on democratization processes is extensive and scholars identify a number of causal and intervening variables, or even antecedent or necessary conditions, to explain how societies achieve higher standards of democracy. Following John Stuart Mill\u27s method of differences, the study compares processes of democratization in three regional economic agreements - the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUL), and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - by contrasting ramifications of two competing theories; modernization theory and elite theory. More specifically, it tests the hypothesis that increased levels of trade lead to higher democratic standards. As an alternative, it seeks a different explanation by testing the role that the ideology of political elites plays in those processes. Because of the different social, political, economic and cultural backgrounds of those agreements, I believe this study might help us better direct our focus and future efforts in explaining such a complex phenomenon as democracy
Human rights and authority patterns: State legitimacy in the modern era
No full textThis thesis is a comparative evaluation of the human rights performance of twenty Latin American nations between the years of 1973-1983. Two theoretical propositions are assessed: (1) that poor human rights performance can be attributed to the nature and extent of external economic linkages and, (2) that human rights violations are more prone to occur under conditions of rapid and uneven economic change. Indicators associated with internal socio-economic characteristics were found to be more significantly associated with variations in levels of human rights performance, though not at all times in the hypothesized direction
The agrarian myth as narrative in agricultural policymaking
No full textAgricultural policy scholars have stated that the influence of the agrarian myth can be seen in American agricultural policy, but have not provided a substantial amount of empirical evidence to back up such a claim. It appears as if the agrarian myth is a narrative expressed in American popular culture, but does the agrarian myth hold relevance in the narratives of American agricultural policymaking? Through an exploration of the origins of the American agrarian myth and how it has been portrayed in American popular culture as well as agricultural policymaking, this project will attempt to better understand the role of the agrarian myth in the American agricultural policymaking process. This study will consider what types of interest groups or individuals have used the agrarian myth in agricultural policymaking, how interest groups or individuals may have used the agrarian myth to achieve their desired goals in the policymaking process and whether the agrarian myth may be a way to explain the outcomes of the American agricultural policymaking process
Casualties of war and research: A case study of United States women veterans of Vietnam
No full textDespite the proliferation in recent years of literature and scholarship which explore yet another new facet of the Vietnam war, women veterans remain largely invisible in academic research. With a few recent exceptions, if mentioned at all they are relegated to a chapter, a sub-section, a paragraph, or even a sentence or two. Unfortunately, this neglect is not limited to academia: veterans\u27 administrations, counseling centers, the courts, the general public, and the military organizations in which they served are just beginning to address the needs of women veterans. This dissertation undertakes a tripartite research agenda: to obtain missing information about the experiences of U.S. women in the Vietnam war; to examine the epistemological causes of their invisibility in research and its consequences in their lives; and to explore several hypotheses concerning relationships between gender-specific aspects of women veterans experiences and the development and manifestation of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other war-related problems. Primary focus is given to the first area in this dissertation. The second and third areas are explored here on a preliminary basis and constitute the groundwork for the research I plan to pursue in the future
Organizational cohesiveness and polarization of ethnic foreign policy lobbies in the United States: A comparative study of the pro -Israel lobby and the pro -Arab lobby, 1980s-2000s
No full textWhy ethnic foreign policy lobbies are organizationally cohesive or polarized is theoretically explicated in this study. My theory of intra-lobby cohesiveness (Th.ILC) suggests that the achievement of organizational cohesiveness (OC) is contingent upon high levels of the lobby\u27s collective sense of belonging (CSB+) and aggregated self-confidence (ASC+). These levels correspond with the lobby\u27s positive perception of the image of its ethnic community (LPC+). A satisfactory amount of the community\u27s support of the lobby leads to a high level of LPC+. This community\u27s support is mostly determined by the high socio-economic status of the community. The achievement of OC leads to: aggressive lobbying activities in the legislative sphere, a significant impact on the hostland\u27s foreign policy, and a strong relationship between the lobby and the political regime of the original homeland. The findings suggest that the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC was cohesive during the examined years due to its correspondence with those principles. My theory of intra-lobby polarization (Th.ILP) postulates that organizational polarization (OP) is explained by the low to moderate levels of the lobby\u27s collective sense of belonging (CSB-) and aggregated self-confidence (ASC-). CSB- and ASC-correspond with the lobby\u27s negative perception of the image of its ethnic community (LPC-). An unsatisfactory amount of the community\u27s support causes LPC-. The low community\u27s support is mostly affected by the community\u27s non-high socio-economic status. OP results in: limited lobbying activities, an insignificant impact on the hostland\u27s foreign policy, and a weak relationship between the lobby and the political regime of the original homeland. The findings suggest that the pro-Arab lobby NAAA-ADC was organizationally polarized during the time period covered in this study because of its significant CSB- and ASC-
A multidimensional approach to the United States-Japan Structural Impediments Initiative: Gaiatsu, transgovernmental politics, and elite policy networks
No full textThe United States-Japan Structural Impediments Initiative of 1989-90 (SII) was an attempt in which the U.S. and Japanese officials tried to solve trade frictions by creating both an international epistemic community and regimes, and accelerating domestic change through a joint bureaucratic structure. The research describes and explains the SII process by using four conceptual models with different levels of analysis, to examine two research questions: why the SII was initiated and what was the relation between the levels of Japanese concessions and the underlying factors. The initial proposition was that the levels of Japanese concessions in the five SII issue areas were related with at least four factors, (1) the levels of U.S. pressure, (2) the size and strength of the transgovernmental coalitions among the governmental subunits, (3) the size and strength of the transgovernmental coalitions among cabinet-level policy-makers, and (4) the level of common perceptions between the U.S. and Japanese working-level officials. Hitherto studies on the U.S.-Japan trade negotiations used the case study method combined with an economic analysis of data. But they did not distinguish those four factors and therefore did not distinguish different explanations with different levels of analysis. Nor did they systematically research the different explanations. The initial proposition with four specific propositions were tested by a case study, combined with a content analysis, using the four conceptual models--the government as a unitary rational actor, the transgovernmental coalition of subunits, the transgovernmental coalition of top-level policy-makers, and the transgovernmental elite policy networks of working-level officials. The research results of the specific propositions, which are not mutually exclusive and complement each other, provide conceptually different explanations which support the initial proposition. This research adds to the tradition of trade negotiation/decision making research. It applies Allison\u27s models to trade negotiation processes, adding the perspective of elite policy networks in the field of international political economy, thereby enhancing the power of describing, explaining and predicting the outcomes of international trade negotiations
The environmental and democratic consequences of liberal hegemonic discourse: A case study of the North American Free Trade Agreement
No full textThe purpose of this study is to theorize about the linkages between pluralist, elitist and Marxist schools of thought on representation, then test this theory on the policy debate over the Environmental Side Agreement of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The theory of dynamic hegemony posits that some policy domains will be a dominated by a single ideology over time. However, to sustain that ideology in the face of opposing ideologies and interests, parts of the opposing ideologies will be co-opted into the hegemonic ideology, resulting in a synthesis ideology, though with the primary tenets of the hegemonic discourse intact. This synthesizing process will repeat itself over time, thus the hegemonic ideology is never static, but changes as it absorbs opposition. Within a particular policy debate, this synthesis process can be seen by examining the discourse of the policy debate and comparing it with the content of the policy output. The policy debate over time will reflect the simultaneous process of co-optation of the opposition and subversion of the hegemonic interests. In studying the history of environmental and trade policy domains, we find a constant struggle between ideas of private property and capitalism and equity and environmental values. In both domains, in the post-World War II era, there have been attempts to synthesize these struggles into a single embedded liberal ideology. In the NAFTA analysis, a variety of groups had access to the debate and that the environmental treaty was most similar to moderate environmental group demands. Environmental groups and business groups both changed their language over the course of the debate, thus further synthesizing Liberal trade and environmental ideologies. In keeping with the dynamic hegemony theory, those environmental ideas included in the treaty were those that did not undermine embedded liberal ideas. Environmental values counter to embedded liberalism were either not included in the treaty or not even represented in the debate
The paradigmatic logic of the emergence of international and security communities in Africa
No full textAs major paradigms of international politics, liberalism, constructivism and realism all prescribe solutions for the security dilemma. But, whereas liberalism and constructivism point to the development of communities and specially security communities as a means to overcome the security dilemma, realism relies on power politics and interest. In this thesis, I use three African cases, notably the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in order to test the explanatory power of these three paradigms. My findings suggest that none of the paradigms provide a satisfactory explanation for the emergence of communities and security communities in Africa. Although liberalism and constructivism, in general, offer more elaborate theories of communities and security communities, their explanations for the emergence of the AU, ECOWAS and the SADC are faced with insurmountable obstacles. As for realism, although confronted with serious limitations, it constitutes a closer fit to all three African cases. Such a finding runs counter to the general literature about communities and security communities, which remains characterized by its Eurocentric approach
Globalization, neoliberalism, and popular resistance: The case of Latin America
No full textThis dissertation explores the interconnections that exist between international financial institutions, the state\u27s implementation of economic policies, and the development of resistance movements in Latin America. The first part of this research looks at the three main models of economic growth implemented in Latin American countries since the conquest (colonization, implementation of liberal economy, and import substitution strategy) and pays particular attention to the imposition of neoliberal policies by international financial institutions in Latin America. This part particularly looks at how states have implemented neoliberal policies, and examines the development of resistance movements against those policies. The second part of this research focuses on the implementation of economic models in Mexico and the development of resistance movements in this country. This research shows that throughout history in Latin America as a whole and in Mexico as a case study, the development of resistance movements in Latin America since the conquest, has been intrinsically related to the implementation of capitalist models of economic growth
Abortion abolition activity: An exploration of the moral crusade, social movement, and religious revival perspectives on group formation and dynamics
No full textThis project uses three approaches to explore the genesis and dynamics of the drive to abolish legal abortion in the United States. First, the phenomenon is examined as a moral crusade in the first part of its history after the Supreme Court\u27s decision in Roe v. Wade. Second, its tenure as a social movement is explored, beginning near the end of the 1980s, with consideration of both traditional and new social movement theory concerns. Third, the relationship between the abortion abolition enterprise and the theological and linguistic aspects of religious revival are examined during the most recent period of the enterprise, with particular attention to Operation Rescue. From both the historical findings and an empirical study of current participants in the abortion abolition enterprise, a new model is proposed for understanding the dynamics of faith-based political action
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