UNT Theses and Dissertations - 178 Matching Results

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Animal Rights and Human Responsibilities: Towards a Relational Capabilities Approach in Animal Ethics

Description: In this thesis, I analyze some of the most important contributions concerning the inclusion of animals in the moral and political sphere. Moving from these positions, I suggest that a meaningful consideration of animals' sentience demands a profound, radical political theory which considers animals as moral patients endowed with specific capabilities whose actualization needs to be allowed and/or promoted. Such theory would take human-animal different types of relationships into account to deci… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Guerini, Elena
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School of the Americas Graduates and the Possible Increase of Sexual Violence in South America

Description: The School of the Americas (SOA), currently known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), is a Latin American training program run by the U.S. army since 1946. While the U.S. claimed they were training young men to serve as security personnel for South America, the trainees were often violent, acting more like CIA-trained terrorists, killing innocent people and serving as leaders in some of the worst South American dictatorial regimes. Most of these regimes heavi… more
Date: August 2022
Creator: Hicks, Allison A.
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The Relationship between Judicial Independence and Ethnic Conflict

Description: The relationship between judicial independence and the levels of ethnic conflicts in developing countries has remained a significant research area due to increased cases of the conflicts with lack of judicial independence in the countries. Judicial independence is seen as an essential element of democracy in that an independent judiciary can act as an arbiter between different groups and institutions. The main aim of this study was to examine the relationship between judicial independence and … more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Laoye, Oluwagbemiso T.
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To Intervene or Not to Intervene: How State Capacity Affects State Intervention and Communal Violence

Description: How does state capacity affect the state's ability to intervene in events of communal violence? Communal violence is conflict that occurs between two non-state groups that share a communal identity. The state controls the monopoly on the use of force, so it should be expected that the state will control these violent events. Research on intervention has shown that a state's military is an important indication of their ability to intervene. The study of other elements of state capacity such as t… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Wilson, Alexander C.
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Plebiscites

Description: This study investigates factors that can influence leaders to use plebiscites to settle territorial claims. A quick survey of the plebiscite literature shows that the method has been extensively mentioned in the legal, historical, and philosophical fields (mostly through case studies) but less so in political science. This thesis is the first attempt, to my knowledge, to quantitatively investigate the different factors that can influence a leader to use a plebiscite. Using the latest version of… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Fonseca Acosta, Rosa
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The First Days of Spring: An Analysis of the International Treatment of Homosexuality

Description: In recent history, the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) persons have been in constant fluctuation. Many states criminalize homosexual behavior while other states legally recognize same-sex marriages and same-sex adoptions. There are also irregular patterns where LGBT interest groups form across the globe. With this research project, I begin to explain why these discrepancies in the treatment of homosexuality and the formation of LGBT interest groups occur. I develop a t… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Galvan, Michael R.
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Why Be Friends? Amicus Curiae Briefs in State Courts of Last Resort

Description: While there has been a substantial body of research on interest group activity in U.S. federal courts, there has been comparatively little analysis of interest group engagement with state courts. Given that state courts adjudicate the vast majority of cases in the American legal system and very few cases are appealed to the Supreme Court, understanding why organized interests participate in these courts is of great importance. The present study analyzes interest group involvement as amicus curi… more
Date: December 2014
Creator: Perkins, Jared D.
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Contemporary Patterns of Democratic Norms and Political Participation in Mexico

Description: Mexico's cultural norms have been the subject of repeated inquiries because democratic and authoritarian patterns appear concomitantly. However, few have focused on the potential demographic and contextual sources of these divergent results. This study attempts to clarify the sources of Mexico's political culture, and then determine the extent to which these factors affect political participation. Statistical analysis of a LAPOP dataset from 2006 makes limited progress to this end. The sour… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Ramsey, Adam Perry
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Reassessing the Role of Anxiety in Information Seeking

Description: Previous research of the theory of Affective Intelligence holds that anxiety in individuals causes learning behavior. If people are anxious they will actively seek new information. This new information gathered while anxious will cause each individual person to cease acting habitually and begin acting in a manner in line with rational choice models. This thesis addresses three hypotheses; (1) that people who feel anxiety engage in greater information seeking behavior and (2) when people feel… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Williams, Christopher J.
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Child Soldiers and Intrastate Armed Conflicts: An Analysis of the Recruitments of Child Soldiers in Civil Wars Between 2001 and 2003.

Description: This thesis examines why some governments and rebel organizations but not others recruit children to be child soldiers. The theory posits that if a country fights in a civil war of long duration, armed groups are more likely to recruit children as soldiers. I find that the probability of child soldier recruitment increases when a country experiences following conditions: a longer duration of civil war, a large proportion of battle deaths, a large number of refugees, a high infant mortality rate… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Samphansakul, Attaphorn
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Beggars, Brides, and Bards: The Political Philosophy of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew

Description: To do justice to Shakespeare’s comprehensive moral and political thought this paper seeks to discover what we can learn from the political philosophy of his largely neglected comedy, Taming of the Shrew. Not only does this endeavor provide a valuable forgotten link within the critical analyses of the theorists, but it also corrects the various misinterpretations of the play among contemporary critics. I argue that the play surveys various key themes that are rooted in classical political philos… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Murphy, Stephanie Miranda
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Judicial Creativity or Justice Being Served? A Look at the Use of Joint Criminal Enterprise in the ICTY Prosecution

Description: The development of joint criminal enterprise at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has been controversial since the doctrine was first created in 1997. For the judgments rendered by the ICTY to be perceived as legitimate, the doctrines used to bring charges against defendants must also be perceived as legitimate. The purpose of my thesis is to study the application of joint criminal enterprise at the ICTY and examine how the doctrine has influenced the length… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Williams, Meagan
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The Journalist as Legislator

Description: The focus of the study is the way which members of the press corps in the Texas Capitol influence policy-making through their friendships with legislators and through the news stories which they write. Methods of study included questionnaires to reporters and to legislators, interviews with members of both groups, and review of news stories written about the regular session of the 64th Texas Legislature. Respondents reported that journalists were used as "expert consultants" in legislative stra… more
Date: December 1975
Creator: Linn, Travis
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An Informational Theory of Midterm Elections: The Impact of Iraq War Deaths on the 2006 Election.

Description: There has been much scholarly attention directed at the Iraq war's role in determining voter choice. I attempt to extend that research into voter turnout to determine what role the Iraq war played in 2006 voter turnout. This paper argues that turnout at the state level could be explained by the number of US deaths each state had sustained from the Iraq occupation at the time of the election. A theory of voter activation based on information availability is put forth to explain the relationsh… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Kahanek, Jared E.
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Do Different Political Regime Types Use Foreign Aid Differently to Improve Human Development?

Description: Existing literature on foreign aid does not indicate what type of political regime is best to achieve human development outcomes or use aid funds more efficiently. I contend that political leaders of different regime types have personal incentives that motivate them to utilize foreign aid to reflect their interests in providing more or less basic social services for their citizens. Using a data set of 126 aid-recipient countries between the years of 1990 and 2007, I employ fixed effects estima… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Phan, Thu Anh
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State Level Causes of Terrorism: Limits on Political Expression

Description: Expanding on prior research into the state level causes of terrorism, I argue that state repression and limited state capacity reduces opportunities for non-violent political expression and increases the utility of terrorism. I also argue that economic freedom can is a form of political expression that can dissipate political grievances. While previous authors analyzed some of these variables separately using data on transnational attacks, I created a complete model incorporating the three cat… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Case, Erik S.
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Quadrennial -- Act 36: An Analysis of the Administrator-Director Form of Govenment in Fort Smith, Arkansas

Description: The purpose of this investigation is to review the first four years of municipal government operation under the Administrator-Director form of government in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The basis of this investigation is the reconstruction and review of the political forces and circumstances operating in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and their impact on the Administrator-Director form of government. In addition to the above, an examination of the progress made by the current Administrator-Director form of gov… more
Date: December 1972
Creator: Chiabotta, William I.
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The Political Theory of Ayn Rand

Description: The problem undertaken in this thesis is a study of Ayn Rand's political theory as presented in her writings. Rand considers herself both a novelist and a philosopher; her writings are not primarily political in nature. Thus, compiling her political philosophy requires an interpretation of her views on all subjects.
Date: December 1971
Creator: Gose, Barbara Baker
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The Political Philosophy of Arnold Brecht

Description: The purpose of this investigation is to examine the political philosophy of Arnold Brecht in order to determine the positive contributions which his thought offers to a practical science of politics and to a more rational view of the relationship between fact and value. As a political scientist, he has embodied a unique capacity for doing and teaching and for making the past meaningful for the present.
Date: December 1971
Creator: Magoni, Doris J.
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Training for Public Administration in Thailand

Description: The specific problem with which this investigation is concerned is training for public administration in Thailand. Of particular importance are the Western-style training programs developed since 1956, when Indiana University began the Institute of Public Administration in conjunction with the Thai government.
Date: May 1973
Creator: Tantibanchachai, Kasem
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