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The Rio Grande Expedition, 1863-1865

In October 1863 the United States Army's Rio Grande Expedition left New Orleans, bound for the Texas coast. Reacting to the recent French occupation of Mexico, President Abraham Lincoln believed that the presence of U.S. troops in Texas would dissuade the French from intervening in the American Civil War. The first major objective of this campaign was Brownsville, Texas, a port city on the lower Rio Grande. Its capture would not only serve as a warning to the French in Mexico; it would also dis… more

Date: May 2001

Creator: Townsend, Stephen A.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

Wisdom and Law: Political Thought in Shakespeare's Comedies

In this study of A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, and Measure for Measure I argue that the surface plots of these comedies point us to a philosophic understanding seldom discussed in either contemporary public discourse or in Shakespearean scholarship. The comedies usually involve questions arising from the conflict between the enforcement of law (whether just or not) and the private longings (whether noble or base) of citizens whose yearnings for happiness tend to be sub- or … more

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Date: December 2002

Creator: Major, Rafael M.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Rubber Stamps and Litmus Tests: The President, the Senate, and Judicial Voting Behavior in Abortion Cases in the U.S. Federal District Courts

This thesis focuses on how well indicators of judicial ideology and institutional constraints predict whether a judge will vote to increase abortion access. I develop a model that evaluates a judge's decision in an abortion case in light of ideological factors measured at the time of a judge's nomination to the bench and legal and institutional constraints at the time a judge decides a case. I analyze abortion cases from all of the U.S. Federal District Courts from 1973-2004. Unlike previous st… more

Date: August 2007

Creator: Craig, McKinzie

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Judicial Enforcers? Exploring Lower Federal Court Compliance in Regulating the Obscene

Although federal circuit and district court judges are placed within a federal hierarchy, and receive legal and judicial training that emphasizes the importance of the judicial framework and its structure, such judges are also subjected to other pressures such as the types of litigants within the courtrooms as well as their local political environment. Furthermore, such judges are apt to form their own views about politics and legal policy and are often appointed by presidents who approve of th… more

Date: May 2004

Creator: Ryan, John Francis

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Appellate Recruitment Patterns in the Higher British Judiciary: 1850 - 1990

This study seeks to advance the understanding of appellate promotion in the senior judiciary of Great Britain . It describes the population and attributes of judges who served in the British High Courts, Court of Appeal, and Appellate Committee of the House of Lords (i.e., Law Lords) from 1850 to 1990. It specifically builds upon the work of C. Neal Tate and tests his model of appellate recruitment on a larger and augmented database. The study determines that family status, previously asser… more

Date: December 2004

Creator: Thomas, Bruce K.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

Democratic Pantheism in the Political Theory of Alexis de Tocqueville

According to Alexis de Tocqueville, humanity is entering a new age of political and social equality, a new epoch in which the human race has no historical example or experience. As a result, he holds humanity's future will be largely determined by the political and moral choices made in this transitional time. For Tocqueville, the new egalitarian era is a forgone conclusion, but for him, the pressing question is whether humanity will choose a future in which it enchains itself to new forms of … more

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Date: May 2006

Creator: Bearry, Brian Anthony

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Foucault's Foundationless Democratic Theory

I examine a key shift in Michel Foucault's political philosophy from a position in which he was a staunch anti-humanist, to a final position in which he advocated not only the ability of the subject to influence his political condition, but also the individual freedoms assured by a democratic form of government. I begin by summarizing his overall critique of the post-Enlightenment West, and then explain how his observation of the Iranian Revolution served as a key turning point concerning his a… more

Date: December 2006

Creator: Carter, Kelly A.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

War and peace: Towards an understanding of the theology of jihad.

The growing number of terrorist attacks waged by Islamic fundamentalists has led to an increasing desire to understand the nature of jihad. These attacks have led to a renewed sense of urgency to find answers to such questions as why these attacks occur, and who they are waged against. Towards this end I turn to examine the political philosophy of four Muslim theologians. Specifically I look at the political philosophy of Sayyid Qutb, Shah Walai Allah Dihlawai, Ibn Rushd (Averroes), and Muha… more

Date: December 2004

Creator: Shaikh, Erum M.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Pride and sexual friendship: The battle of the sexes in Nietzsche's post-democratic world.

This dissertation addresses an ignored [partly for its controversial nature] aspect of Nietzschean philosophy: that of the role of modern woman in the creation of a future horizon. Details of the effects of the Enlightenment, Christianity and democracy upon society are discussed, as well as effects on the individual, particularly woman. After this forward look at the changes anticipated by Nietzsche, the traditional roles of woman as the eternal feminine, wife and mother are debated. An argu… more

Date: August 2008

Creator: Yancy, Lisa Fleck Uhlir

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Letters, Liberty, and the Democratic Age in the Thought of Alexis de Tocqueville

When Alexis de Tocqueville observed the spread of modern democracy across France, England, and the United States, he saw that democracy would give rise to a new state of letters, and that this new state of letters would influence how democratic citizens and statesmen would understand the new political world. As he reflected on this new intellectual sphere, Tocqueville became concerned that democracy would foster changes in language and thought that would stifle concepts and ideas essential to t… more

Date: December 2009

Creator: Elliot, Natalie J.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Schoolyard Politics: Ethics and Language at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has been both contentious and successful. By examining the ICTY from a Levinasian ethical standpoint, we might be able to understand how the court uses language to enforce ethical and moral standards upon post-war societies. Using linguistic methods of analysis combined with traditional data about the ICTY, I empirically examine the court using ordinary least squares (OLS) in order to show the impact that language has upon the… more

Date: December 2010

Creator: Hatcher, Robert

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Beggars, Brides, and Bards: The Political Philosophy of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew

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

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

The Organic-Progressive Principle in the Political Thought and Internationalism of Woodrow Wilson

This is an investigation of the intellectual roots of the political thought and internationalism of Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eightieth president of the United States. Exposed to the influence of Darwin, Wilson believed that politics had to be redefined as an evolutionary process. the older mechanical understanding of politics was to be replaced with an organic understanding of political development. This allowed Wilson to synthesize a concept of politics that included elements from the Chr… more

Date: December 2011

Creator: Flanagan, John Patrick

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Thucydides’ Sparta: Law, Piety, and the Regime

My dissertation investigates Thucydides’ presentation of Sparta. By viewing the war through Sparta, one is confronted with debates on the moral dimensions of war. Sparta decries the imperialism of Athens as unjust and while the Athenians imply that such claims are merely Spartan ‘hypocrisy’ and therefore that Sparta does not truly take justice seriously, my study contends that the Spartan concern with justice and piety is genuine. While the Athenians present a sophisticated and enlightened view… more

Date: August 2014

Creator: Hadley, Travis Stuart

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

New Wine in Old Wineskins: Hobbes’s Use and Abuse of Religious Rhetoric

Thomas Hobbes’s knowledge of religious doctrine, typology, and use religious rhetoric in his writings is often glossed over in an over-eager attempt to establish his preeminence as a founder of modern political theory and the social contract tradition. Such action, however is an injustice to Hobbes himself, who recognized that in order to establish a new, and arguably radical, political position founded upon reason and nominalist materialism he had to reform people’s understanding of religious … more

Date: December 2014

Creator: Higgins, Nicholas J.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Why Be Friends? Amicus Curiae Briefs in State Courts of Last Resort

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.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Friendship, Politics, and the Good in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Books VIII and IX provide A philosophic examination of friendship. While these Books initially appear to be non sequiturs in the inquiry, a closer examination of the questions raised by the preceding Books and consideration of the discussion of friendship's position between two accounts of pleasure in Books VII and X indicate friendship's central role in the Ethics. In friendship, Aristotle finds a uniquely human capacity that helps readers understand the good… more

Date: May 2015

Creator: Pascarella, John Antonio

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

The Political Philosophy of Rabelais’s Pantagruel: Reconciling Thought and Action

Political thinkers of the Renaissance, foremost among them Niccolò Machiavelli and Desiderius Erasmus, authored works commonly referred to as “mirrors of princes.” These writings described how princes should rule, and also often recommended a certain arrangement or relationship between the intellectual class and the political powers. François Rabelais’s five books of Pantagruel also depict and recommend a new relationship between these elements of society. For Rabelais, the tenets of a philosop… more

Date: August 2015

Creator: Haglund, Timothy

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Hobbes’s Deceiving God: the Correspondence Between Thomas Hobbes and Rene Descartes

In presenting their correspondence, I highlight the means in which Hobbes is able to divorce nature and politics in his philosophy. This is done by bringing to light Hobbes’s agreement with Descartes’s deceiving God argument. First, I demonstrate Hobbes’s hidden agreement with it by analyzing his objection to Descartes’s first Meditation. Second, I show that Hobbes and Descartes both retreat into consciousness in order to deal with the possibility of deception on the behalf of God. Third, I tra… more

Date: August 2015

Creator: Gorescu, Gabriela

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate

It has become something of a cliché for contemporary scholars to assert that Madison turned Montesquieu on his head and thereafter give little thought to the Frenchman’s theory that republics must remain limited in territorial size. Madison did indeed present a formidable challenge to Montesquieu’s theory, but I will demonstrate in this dissertation that the authors of the Federalist Papers arrived at the extended sphere by following a theoretical pathway already cemented by the French philosop… more

Date: December 2015

Creator: Drummond, Nicholas W.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

Scripture for America: Scriptural Interpretation in John Locke's Paraphrase

Is John Locke a philosopher or theologian? When considering Locke's religious thought, scholars seldom point to his Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul. This is puzzling since the Paraphrase is his most extensive treatment of Christian theology. Since this is the final work of his life, did Locke undergo a deathbed conversion? The scholarship that has considered the Paraphrase often finds Locke contradicting himself on various theological doctrines. In this dissertation, I find tha… more

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Date: August 2016

Creator: Kearns, Kevin M.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

A History of Overcoming: Nietzsche on the Moral Antecedents and Successors of Modern Liberalism

This work aims to understand human moral psychology under modern liberalism by analyzing the mature work of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. I seek to understand and evaluate Nietzsche's claim that liberalism, rather than being an overturning of slave morality, is an extension of the slave morality present in both Judaism and Christianity. To ground Nietzsche's critique of liberalism theoretically, I begin by analyzing his "master" and "slave" concepts. With these concepts clarified, I then app… more

Date: December 2016

Creator: Gill, Rodney W.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

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Knowing What is Useful: Rousseau's Education Concerning Being, Science, and Happiness

Is there a relationship between science and happiness and, if so, what is it? Clearly, since the Enlightenment, science has increased life expectancy and bodily comfort. Is this happiness, or do humans long for something more? To examine these questions, I investigate the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Specifically, I focus on the Discourses and the Emile, as he states in the Confessions that these works form a whole statement concerning the natural goodness of man. I agree with the literature… more

Date: August 2017

Creator: Gross, Benjamin Isaak

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

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

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

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries