111 research outputs found
Letter from W. & G. Tuckerman to Isaac Partridge, 15 January 1828
No full textGustavus Tuckerman writes from Boston, Massachusettes, to Isaac N. Partridge at the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy in Middletown, Connecticut, regarding an amount due to the firm of W. & G. Tuckerman from the Academy; he wishes to continue to supply the institution with buttons.Transcription by Raymond Bouchard. Transcriptions may be subject to error
Writ to attach goods of Isaac Partridge, et. al. for debt of $600.00, 30 April 1829.
No full textWrit to attach goods of Isaac N. Partridge, Cyrus Partridge, Elihu Emerson, Elijah Bingham, and Alden Young for non-payment of debt to William Tuckerman and Gustavus Tuckerman of Boston
Nancy Nash, Ethel Pehrson, and Bill Holm
No full textThis image shows author Bill Holm (right) with fellow alum Nancy Hanson Nash (left) and retired Gustavus professor Ethel Pehrson (center) in Alaska. Pehrson taught Music at Gustavus from 1950-76
Bill Holm
No full textThis image shows author Bill Holm sitting at an outdoor table in a rural area with cigarette in hand and box of Marlboros. Holm was a 1965 graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College. He died on 25 February 2009
Bill Holm
No full textThis image shows author Bill Holm reading from his book "Boxelder Bug Variations: A Meditation on an Idea in Language and Music." Holm was a 1965 graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College. He died on 25 February 2009
Agriculture delineated: or, the farmer's complete guide : being a treatise on lands in general: shewing the best methods of cultivating and improving the different soils, for the raising of wheat, barley, oats, pease, beans, vetches, lentils, turnips, &c. &c
No full textby Gustavus Harrison ... : also, remarks on the management of natural and artificial grasses, and directions for plowing, sowing, manuring, &c. according to the new and old husbandry. With comparisons made from experimental observation
Theatre Production - "The Greatest Show This Side of the Mississippi"
No full textThis image shows two actors dressed as clowns interacting with another actor in a dark dress. The image is labeled "The Greatest Show." This production was created by Gustavus student Cynthia Subby who served as the play's author and director. The play's full title was "The Greatest Show This Side of the Mississippi"
Leaning Toward Libertarianism? A look at Political Party Alignment Among Students at Gustavus Adolphus College
No full textThrough this project I hoped to develop a sense of the political attitudes of members of the Gustavus Adolphus College student community and to determine whether individuals at Gustavus professing to vote for candidates of, or have allegiance to, a particular political party-especially those identifying with the two major parties-are in actuality aligning themselves with a party less conducive to the promotion of their political beliefs than would be the Libertarian Party. I hypothesized that this was the case. I believe most Americans agree that people ought to be allowed to pursue whatever they wish, say whatever they wish, make as much money as they can, et cetera ... all with as little government interference as possible-and so long as their conduct does not harm or impede another in similar pursuits.Leaning Toward Libertarianism?
A look at Political Parry Alignment Among Students
At Gustavus Adolphus College
Robert De Haven
Political Science Thesis
Professor Chris Gilbert
December 16, 1999
POL-399 Fall Semester
Gustavus Student Repository
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I: Introduction
Research Topic & Explanation
Research Design & Strategy
A Picture of Respondents
Source Review
PART II: Findings
Filter Questions
Presidential Support & Party Identification
Government Size
Social Issues:
The War on Drugs
Consensual Sex for Adults
The Military Draft
Second Amendment Rights
Abortion
Communications Regulation
Economic Issues:
Minimum Wage
Foreign Trade
Government Subsidies
Federal Income Tax Rates
Social Security
PART ill: Conclusion: Libertarian Leanings
Bibliography
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Pagel
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INDEX OF FIGURES
FIGURES I, II &III A Picture of Respondents Page 6
FIGURES IV, V & VI Filter Questions Page8
FIGURE VII & VIII Presidential Support & PID Pages 9 & 10
FIGURE IX Government Size Page 11
FIGUREX The "War on Drugs" Page 12
FIGURE XI Consensual Sex for Adults Page 1 3
FIGURE XII Military Draft Page 15
FIGURE XIII Second Amendment Page 1 6
FIGURE XIV Abortion Page 17
FIGUREXV Communications Regulation Page 18
FIGURE XVI Minimum Wage Page 19
FIGURE XVII Foreign Trade Page20
FIGURE XVIII Government Subsidies Page 21
FIGURE XIX Federal Income Tax Page 22
FIGURE XX Social Security Page 2 3
FIGUREXXI Three Libertarians Page25
Gustavus Student Repository
I. Introduction
Research Topic & Explanation
For as long as I can remember, I've valued the many freedoms I enjoy as an American
citizen; I also have appreciated and valued the democratic and representational system of
government our country employs which allows and ensures those freedoms. Most would
agree that democracy and the historical lassiez-faire attitude of politicians and lawmakers
have made the United States, arguably, the best place to be.
While many agree that personal and economic freedom has led to the United States'
current state of wealth and prosperity, many also support political platforms that seem to
advocate ideas, laws and regulations (and the consequent larger and more distant
government bureaucracy) that by putting restraints on economic and personal activity
would curtail freedoms and might interfere with the very forces that colluded to bring
America to the pinnacle of human civilization.
The Libertarian party is a specific political party that strictly and earnestly advocates a
smaller, less intrusive government. The Libertarian Party is relatively young, but the main
principles under which a Libertarian government would function are not; elements of selfgovernment
and liberty have been articulated by many individuals for as long as political
theory has been discussed.
I've read lately, and not so lately, that most people hold a considerable amount of
Libertarian ideas and agree that something is wrong with the way business is conducted in
Gustavus Student Repository
the amalgamation of contemporary government bureaucracies. Indeed, the strong showing
of Ross Perot in recent presidential elections and the subsequent rise of the Reform party,
and the election of rogue candidates like Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, point to
America's dissatisfaction with the status quo. Media outlets of all forms have been
focused recently on the idea that citizens believe too many elements of their supposed
government "for and by the people" have been corrupted; politicians campaign across the
nation under the banner of reform in nearly every area of government ... yet the voting
public continues to elect Republicans and Democrats who they soon realize are much like
their predecessors. Is it because they believe they have no other viable choice? An issue
of The Freeman from February 1998 implies this, stating that "Most people are
Libertarians, and they don't even know it."
Through this project I hoped to develop a sense of the political attitudes of members of
the Gustavus Adolphus College student community and to determine whether individuals
at Gustavus professing to vote for candidates of, or have allegiance to, a particular political
party-especially those identifying with the two major parties-are in actuality aligning
themselves with a party less conducive to the promotion of their political beliefs than
would be the Libertarian Party. I hypothesized that this was the case. I believe most
Americans agree that people ought to be allowed to pursue whatever they wish, say
whatever they wish, make as much money as they can, et cetera ... all with as little
government interference as possible-and so long as their conduct does not harm or
impede another in similar pursuits.
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Most all will agree that it is very important for people to make informed political
decisions. Individuals must have all available information in order to make the right
decisions for themselves. If it is true that most people hold Libertarian ideals, but that they
vote Republican or Democrat or anything else, they must not have all relevant information.
At the outset, it was my hope that this project would confirm my suspicion that many
individuals are in fact "Libertarians and they don't even know it" and would bolster my
own relatively positive and optimistic opinion of the Libertarian Party.
Research Design & Strategy
In attempting to ascertain whether or not there exists a larger number of people in the
population who harbor Libertarian opinions on social and economic issues than is
popularly estimated, I developed a survey based on Libertarian writings and on the official
platform of the Libertarian Party. (A survey is attached). I formulated the survey largely
from the Libertarian party platform as my aim was to evaluate the political attitudes of the
Gustavus population as they pertain to the Libertarian Party, not simply "liberty" or
"freedom" in a generalized sense. Therefore, I decided that the actual platform outlining
the "official'' positions of the party should dictate much of the content of my investigation.
The survey began with three "filter" questions, by which I determined whether to
consider particular surveys in my analysis. These first questions asked for the month and
year of the next presidential election, the name of George Bush's Vice President, and the
position held by Al Gore. It was my opinion that individuals marking an incorrect answer
to any of these elementary questions is likely not greatly concerned with American politics
and is less likely than those marking the questions correct to be well informed regarding
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the subsequent survey questions. Accordingly, any survey with two or more of these filter
questions marked incorrectly was discarded.
I know from my own experience (in getting surveys through the campus post office)
that unsolicited material of this sort is almost always given little thought by recipients and
is often times discarded immediately. In order to combat this type of non-response, I
decided to pursue other avenues of survey distribution. I believed that surveying students
in class would better suit my project as this method ensures nearly 100% response and
guarantees immediate reply. Therefore, the survey was administered to six Gustavus
political science classes; there were 121 respondents, approximately 5% of the student
population.
In order to evaluate the data compiled and to decide if many people hold political
views consistent with those of the Libertarian Party without their cognition, either because
they have not heard of the Libertarian Party or because they have not explored the party's
intentions and goals sufficiently enough to determine whether they and the party are a
good match, I attempted to ascertain what party respondents align themselves with
currently. For instance, I asked in Question #5, "Which political party most closely suits
you?" and then offered choices including Republican, Democrat, Reform, Libertarian,
Green and Socialist. Answers to this question in conjunction with others aimed at
determining party association and conservative/liberal affiliation were then compared to
answers pertaining to specific political issues both economic and social. (Note, Question
#18 pertaining to respondent's opinions of Federal welfare programs was not evaluated, as
I realized it was too subjective in nature. Question #20 was also not evaluated as some
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Republicans have also called for the dismantling of the Department of Education-this
fact makes determination of "disagreement" with one's party difficult).
If it is true that many people feel the same way about political issues as the Libertarian
Party does, but have been underexposed to the party's ideas and thus " . .. are Libertarians
without even knowing it," there would be a discrepancy between what is answered
respecting the initial Republican/Democrat questions and the later questions addressing
specific political issues. I expected that the majority of survey respondents would identify
with one of the two main parties but that a substantially sized group's responses to the
later questions would illustrate that the Libertarian Party's positions were closer to their
own than the party with which they initially claimed identity.
A Picture of Respondents
About 5% of respondents were first year students, 36.6% were sophomores, 24% were
juniors and 29% were seniors, 5.4% of respondents did not answer the question pertaining
to class at Gustavus. Approximately 46% of respondents were male and approximately
48% were female, 6% of respondents did not indicate their sex. (See chart on following
page).
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FIGURE I FIGURE II
FIGURE I: l=Freshman, 2=Sophomore, 3=Junior, 4=Senior
FIGURE II: l=Male, 2=Female
The majority of respondents were "Social Science" majors ( about 70%) the rest were
almost equally divided between "Humanities" and "Hard Science."
-3
FIGUREID
Source Review
Much has been written regarding Libertarian ideas, but nearly nothing has been
proffered which seeks to prove whether or not there really are more Libertarians than is
commonly thought. Because of the nature of the aim of this project, I could not rely on my
own interpretation of the various political parties and their respective opinions regarding
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contemporary issues in the American political milieu, therefore I used the respective
platforms of the Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians as explicitly outlined or, in
some cases, articulated by sources directly connected to the parties (Republican National
Committee, Democratic National Committee etc.) for the development of my survey.
Charles Murray's What it Means to be a Libertarian was also helpful in developing
an idea of what issues are important to the Libertarian Party and in developing the survey.
The book provides direct and specific answers to contemporary and common questions
concerning Libertarian ideas. The author addresses America's "War on Drugs," the
privatization of many government agencies, and discusses in detail many Libertarian ideas
and defends them with adequate knowledge and insight.
II. Findings
To my disappointment, the data collected did not exhibit a widespread trend of
Gustavus students aligning themselves with the "wrong" party. I hypothesize that had I
surveyed more students from other departments, especially those considered to be
relatively conservative-such as the Department of Economics and Management-I may
have found more individuals professing allegiance to the Republican Party but in actuality
being better suited for the Libertarian Party.
Filter Questions:
Of the 121 survey respondents, rune individuals marked the first question
incorrectly-four thought the next presidential election year was 2002 , four marked 2001
as the correct year, and one individual marked the next presidential election as 2004. Six
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individuals marked the second filter question incorrectly-three identified George Bush's
Vice President as Michael Dukakis, two thought it was James Baker, and one individual
marked Ralph Nader. One individual marking the second filter incorrectly also marked
the first filter incorrectly; that survey was discarded and was the only survey with two
filter questions marked incorrectly. Only one respondent marked the third filter
incorrectly, identifying Al Gore as Secretary of State (see figures lV-Vl below).
' ' 12 '
10a 1CB
8
I 6l "
4
2
L....,
2 3 4
ELECT_VEAA
FIGURE IV
8
56 "
4>
2>
, 0 1 2 3 4
BUSH_VICE
FIGUREV
5
5
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
ID_AL_GORE
FIGURE VI
Key: Figure IV➔ l = Nov. 2002, 2 = Nov. 2001, 3 = Nov. 2000, 4 = Nov. 2004
Figure V ➔ 1 = Dau Quayle, 2 = Ralph Nader, 3 = James Baker, 4 = Michael Dukakis
Figure VI ➔ l =Sec.of State, 2 =Sup.Court Justice, 3 = Vice President
Presidential Support and Party Identification:
The following two questions inquired about respondent's choice for president in the
most recent presidential election and their party identification (PID). Because many
individuals responding to the survey were too young to vote in 1996, the question was
worded, "Whom did you support in the previous presidential election [italics not in
survey]." The PID question simply asked, "Which political party most closely suits you?"
As was expected, respondents supporting Clinton in the last election were very likely to
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also identify with the Democratic Party, just as those supporting Dole usually identified
with the Republican Party.
2
FIGURE VII
In Figure VI, above, the area designated by the #1 in the left-hand pie chart is the
proportion of respondents supporting Clinton in the previous election, this section's
counterpart is the area designated by the #2 in the right-hand pie chart-this is the
proportion of respondents identifying with the Democratic Party. Likewise, section #2 on
the left-hand pie chart represents Dole supporters and its corresponding section on the
right hand pie chart is section #1. Though this example alone does not prove that Section
#1 on the left and section #2 on the right are made up of largely the same individuals
(Clinton-Democrats) and that section #2 on the left-hand pie chart and section #1 on the
right hand pie chart are made up largely of the same individuals (Dole-Republicans), this
fact becomes apparent when we look at the actual numbers across these two survey
questions. (See table on following page).
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FIGURE VIII
xxxxxxx DEMCRT REPBLCN REFORM LIBRTRN GREEN SOCLST
CLINTON 58 10 2 0 3 4
DOLE 0 24 2 2 1 0
PEROT 0 2 0 0 0 1
NADER 0 0 1 0 2 1
Note: Numbers above do not total to the number of respondent's surveys used (120) because some
respondents did not answer one or both of the presidential support or PIO questions
Government Size:
After establishing that individuals, for the most part, have aligned themselves with the
"proper" political party given their choice for president during the last election, we can
move to other, more specific, issues.
The data indicate that, given their answers to question #6 regarding the size of the
Federal Government, respondents have aligned themselves with the correct political party.
Most of those individuals indicating a belief that the government was too large were
Republicans and all but two believing the government was too small were Democrats. The
size of government is not a black and white issue, thus there were Republicans believing
that the government is the right size, and one Republican believing the government is too
small. Similarly, there were a fair number of Democrats believing the government is too
large. Overall, and somewhat surprisingly, Republicans were slightly more likely to
believe that the government is "the right size" as opposed to "too large," and were very
unlikely to believe that the government is "too small." Democrats were much more likely
to believe the government is "the right size" as opposed to "too large" or "too small."
Each of the three respondents identifying with the Libertarian Party indicated a belief that
the Federal Government is "too large," this position is consistent with the Libertarian
10 Gustavus Student Repository
Party's position. A fair amount of individuals from both of the two major parties believe
the government is "too large." This sentiment is reflected in the current rhetoric from both
sides regarding federal tax-cuts and smaller government.
FIGURE IX
[he Federal Government is:
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
REPUBLICAN
DEMOCRAT
REFORM
LIBERTARIAN
GREEN
SOCIALIST
A-Too Small B-Too Large C-The Right Siz;J
TOO LARGE TOO SMALL THE RIGHT SIZE
15 1 21
12 7 38
3 0
3 0 0
3 1 1
3 0 2
SOCIAL I S S UES-The War on Drugs:
The most popular answer across all respondents as to the efficacy of the "War on
Drugs" was that the effort "is not working and should have more funding." This was the
most popular answer for both Republicans and Democrats (16 of 36 or 44.4% of
Republicans and 21 of 55 or 38% Democrats). Since both of these parties advocate more
spending on fighting drugs, this position shows proper party alignment. Both of the two
Libertarians answering the drug question indicated that the "War on Drugs" "Is not
working and should have less funding or be discontinued." This illustrates proper party
alignment for the Libertarians.
Sixteen Democrats voiced a strongly negative opinion of the "War on Drugs" but not
as many as wished to give the effort more funding. This might indicate a tendency toward
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the Libertarian position on this issue for these individuals. However, Democrats on the
whole were properly aligned with their professed party.
FIGUREX
The "War on Drugs":
xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx
A-Is working as is, but should have more funding
B-Is working as is, and should have no more funding
C-Is not working and should have more funding
D-Is not working and should have less funding or be discontinued
WORKING: WORKING: NOT NOT
WORKING: WORKING:
xxxxxxxxxx SHOULD HAVE SHOULD HAVE SHOULD HAVE LESS MONEY/
xxxxxxxxxx LESS MONEY SAME MONEY MORE MONEY DISCONTINUE
REPUBLICAN 5 9 16 6
DEMOCRAT 11 7 21 16
REFORM 0 0 2 3
LIBERTARIAN 0 0 0 2
GREEN 0 1 0 4
SOCIALIST 1 0 3 2
SOCIAL ISSUES-Consensual Sex for Adults:
Responses to the survey question regarding the regulation of consensual sex among
adults were perhaps the most interesting. 53% of respondents "Agreed Strongly" or
"Agreed" that "Consensual sex among adults should not be regulated in any way
(homosexual sex, prostitution, etc.)" The most popular answer was "Agree," with 33% of
respondents-20% of respondents "Agreed Strongly" (for a total of 53 % in agreement).
24% "Disagreed"-9% "Disagreed Strongly" (percents do not add to 100 due to rounding
and because 13% of respondents were Not Sure"). Since the Libertarian Party is the only
party advocating the repeal of all laws pertaining to consensual sex between adults, any
respondent identifying with the Republican or Democratic Party and indicating agreement
with the survey's statement is in disagreement with their respective party. Thus, 13.6 % of
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Republicans and 27.3% of Democrats support parties with platforms inconsistent with
their own views on this issue. One of the three Libertarians in the survey "Disagreed"
with the statement (a 33% mis-alignment), however the sample of Libertarians is
extremely small. There is evidence here to support the idea that several individuals are in
disagreement with their own parties on this issue, as the Libertarian Party is the only party
that believes "that adults have the right to private choice in consensual sexual activity" and
that "oppose[ s] any government attempt to dictate, prohibit, control, or encourage any
private lifestyle, living arrangement or contractual relationship" and that "support[s] repeal
of existing laws and policies which are intended to condemn, affirm, encourage, or deny
sexual lifestyles or any set of attitudes about such lifestyles."
FIGURE XI
Consensual sex among adults should not be regulated in any way (homosexual sex, prostitution, etc).
A-Agree Strongly B-Agree C-Disagree D-Disagree Strongly E-Not Sure
xxxxxxxx AGREE AGREE DISAGREE DISAGREE NOT SURE
xxxxxxxx STRONGLY STRONGLY
REPUBLICAN 4 12 15 2 4
DEMOCRAT 13 19 9 7 11
REFORM 2 1 1 1 0
LIBERTARIAN 1 1 1 0 0
GREEN 1 3 2 0
SOCIALIST 3 2 0 1 0
SOCIAL I S SUES-The Military Draft:
Though many agree, probably correctly, that the legal status of the military draft is not
a pressing political issue, some strongly believe its banishment would be symbolic and
somehow serve as a testament to increased freedom for Americans. As was the case with
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the survey question addressing consensual sex for adults, there is indication of dispari
How Did Sweden's Military Evolution Under Gustavus Adolphus II Create Battlefield Success
Full text linkThe “Lion of the North,” Gustavus Adolphus II, created the true northern lion by systematically reforming Sweden’s military system in the 17th century. The changes that he made to the Swedish military led to their success on the battlefield against larger forces, such as the Holy Roman Empire. These reforms would later contribute to Sweden’s victory during the Thirty Years War.Peer reviewedstudent peer-reviewed journal articlefinal article publishe
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