Browsing by Author "Rogerson, Kenneth S"
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Item Open Access A Woman’s Place Is in Populism? Female Leadership in the Rise of Right-Wing Populist Movements(2018-01-25) Kaul, AnnaThis research project focuses on the identity formation of female leaders within the patriarchal ideology of right-wing populism. Case studies of Laura Ingraham and Michele Bachmann attempt to explain the emergence of female leaders within a male-dominated ideology. This research may help us better understand the role of women in the rise of right-wing populism and the distinct voices women bring to the movement. The project focuses on debate performances and podcasts produced by the subjects, as well as comparative analysis with Sarah Palin, one of the first female leaders of the right-wing resurgence. The research finds that these leaders purposefully construct an identity tailored to the expectations of their followers, employing a combination of both characteristically masculine, aggressive language and feminine, motherly characteristics. This identity formation allows them to amass followings even within an ideology that discourages female leadership.Item Open Access Assessing Human Rights Risk within U.S. and UN Private Security Contracts(2018-12) Garrett, CeliaRecent trends in privatization have affected the way governments wage war and direct security services. The past two decades have witnessed the rise of Private Security Companies (PSCs) and an increasing reliance on private security contractors by governments. The pace at which the private security industry has grown outstrips normative debates about the ethical presence of PSCs and use of private security by governments, instead demanding more accountable and responsible contracts and government regulation to protect against misconduct and human rights violations. This thesis explores the recent explosion of private security in U.S. and UN operations. The U.S. and UN both report significant increases in their use of private security contractors in the last ten years. Additionally, examinations of various private security contracts reveal inadequate accountability measures both in the U.S. and at the UN, particularly through an over-reliance on reporting mechanisms and contractor self-supervision. Similarly, policy documents and guidelines relating to private security contracting show weak oversight and poor management of private security contracts by both the U.S. and UN, from monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to insufficient government capacity to lacking disciplinary procedures. However, the two governance institutions diverge in their approaches to contracting private security services and risk assessment policies. U.S. agencies have internalized private security contracting as a core competency, essential to various operations, yet this study found the UN to be more cautious in its approach to contracting private security. The UN mandates comprehensive approval, risk analysis, and mitigation procedures and promotes a culture of responsibility, which are all absent from U.S. contracting policies and practices.Item Open Access Barriers to Health Engagement for Emerging Adults in Postsecondary Institutions of Durham, North Carolina(2018-01-25) Sicard, KelseyThe goal of this research project was to identify trends of and barriers to health engagement for emerging adults in postsecondary institutions. The motivation for studying health engagement—which includes all actions taken for, or behaviors relating to, the promotion of an individual’s health—stems from the growing prevalence and financial burden of chronic illness in the United States. Health engagement can help combat chronic illness by promoting more positive health outcomes. Emerging adults represent one target population for this health intervention since they are still forming their identities and lifelong habits. Postsecondary education is pursued by half of emerging adults in the U.S., so these institutions provide a natural avenue for research. This mixed-methods study focused on three postsecondary institutions which included a two-year community college, a public Historically Black University, and a four-year private institution. Statistical analyses on 874 survey responses found that engagement is a significant (p<0.001) predictor of self-reported health status and found significant differences (p<0.01) in the engagement scores and health outcomes among institutions. A regression model on the Youth Engagement with Health Services score identified significant predictors of engagement (R2=0.15; p<0.001). Focus groups, which included a total of 30 participants, helped inform the barriers faced by students and helped explain the significance of the variables in the model. Finally, an engagement process emerged that provides a foundation for institutional policy change to address these barriers.Item Open Access Bipartisanship in the 21st Century Cures Act(2017-12) Scoufis, CourtneyIn the 114th Congress, only 2.7% of introduced bills became laws. During this Congress, the 21st Century Cures Act passed with an overwhelming majority of 392 to 26 in the House and 94 to 5 in the Senate. The purpose of the act was to accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of treatments and cures, which is normally a partisan topic. Little comprehensive work has been done towards understanding the act. Content analysis allowed the exploration of the two questions: did political compromise occur in the act, and if so, what were the main characteristics of political compromise? Political compromise is a method of achieving bipartisanship. This project defined it as agreement over the wording of a section, lack of specific content, the removing of content, and the inclusion of content. Political compromise was identified in three main areas: the bipartisan committees used to develop the ideas for the act, the use of preexisting bills as provisions, and the resolving of disputes. The two characteristics that most strongly allowed for political compromise in this act are strategic planning and experienced leadership. These characteristics can help in the analysis of other bills to understand why they do or do not pass.Item Open Access Blockchain’s Democratic Promise?(2018-12-01) Goldstein, MaxwellThough blockchain may not reshape lives in the next five years, it may very well reshape those of future generations. As a result, individuals should be aware of the morality of its potential impacts. This thesis will explore three main areas: blockchain’s technical capacity, the necessary conditions which must exist for a government to consider blockchain adoption for public policy use, and how receptive users would be to adopting blockchain technology.Item Open Access Communicating Intelligence to Decision Makers(2021-05-05)Mid-career intelligence analysts selected to brief senior individuals outside their organizations face a daunting task. The skillset and training that make them strong intelligence analysts are markedly different than those needed to professionally communicate intelligence. Poor communication can result in ineffective engagements with senior leaders and lead to decision makers acting upon misused, misunderstood, or neglected intelligence. In this report, we answer the following question: before and during initial or early-stage interactions with unfamiliar principals, how can intelligence professionals best communicate complex information to decision makers to enhance their understanding of intelligence? Through interviews with 19 industry professionals with military, executive, legislative, and non-governmental experience, we identify several characteristics, considerations, and conventions that increase the likelihood of successful engagements. Characteristics of effective communicators include preparedness, credibility, flexibility, and confidence. Considerations for effective engagements include context, time, modality, and organizational perspective. Conventions for effective engagements include ensuring message clarity, delivering a penetrating message, earning trust, tailoring the communication strategy, and identifying the anchor. These findings inform a communication strategy model and workflow upon which future research can build.Item Open Access Crack-Whores and Pretty Woman: The Media Framing of Sex Workers(2018-12-05) Wang, VictoriaInternational human rights organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and Amnesty International have advised nations to decriminalize sex work in order to protect the rights and safety of sex workers (“Sex Workers,” 2018; “Sex Workers,” 2014; “Q&A: Policy to Protect the Human Rights of Sex Workers,” 2016). However, policy-makers in the US ignore these recommendations in favor of the full criminalization of sex work (Weitzer, 2010). Media largely influence public perception and policing of sex work, and media framings of sex workers align more with the current policies on sex work in the US than the research conducted and the proposals made by accredited human rights organizations (Nelson, 1997). This study examines newspapers published in California and Texas between 2002 and 2018 to uncover how media frame sex workers. The dominant frames in this dataset, the criminal frame and the victim frame, perpetuate and are reinforced by the US’ stringent sex work policies. The same moral convictions which influenced the criminalization of sex work in the US underlay the dominant frames in the dataset.Item Open Access Extra Extra or Extra Short: Young Adults and Embracing Summarized News Formats(2017-04-16) Zhang, SunnyDaily email newsletters that quickly summarize current issues have recently and rapidly gained popularity, particularly among younger and college-educated readers. This study measures how the format of a summarized news piece affects college-aged young adults. Two hundred and forty-three Duke students participated in an online study which analyzed the differences of recall ability from exposure to a summarized news format, a traditional news article format, and a video format. Participants were given news in one of the three formats, regarding the same topic with similar content, and all participants took a standardized quiz regarding the topic. Results from the quiz indicated no significant difference in terms of recall ability among the three formats. However, students who were exposed to the summarized news format exhibited similar or lower levels of interest, preference for format style, and perceived information usability as compared to the students exposed to other formats. Overall these results suggest that summarized news promotes similar recall levels among young adults as full length articles or news videos, but is not necessarily preferred over these two formats.Item Open Access Fundamental Fairness in Sexual Misconduct Adjudications: Evaluating Private Universities for Due Process Rights in their Policies and Procedures(2016-06-08) Gudavalli, MedhaThere is a national debate on how universities should respond to sexual assault, specifically the advantages and shortcomings of the campus adjudication Process. One major critique of university adjudication is that it does not provide the necessary due process rights to the accused and is therefore not fundamentally fair. This study seeks to assess this validity of this critique by seeing if sexual misconduct policies lack due process and if so, to what extent. This investigation is a comparative case study of 14 private higher education institutions, belonging to the Ivy Plus Society, analyzing their policy and procedure documents for indicators of due process. Findings show that schools are complying between 45% and 85% of due process indicators with an average of 65%. Colleges do lack due process rights and need to revise their policies and procedures to clearly present these rights. Key recommendations include guaranteeing a hearing procedure with impartial decision-makers and the opportunity to submit evidence and witnesses.Item Open Access Garnering Support for the Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax through Strategic Messaging(2018-01-18) Bandt, CarlyThis project aims to gain insight into public opinion regarding the Sugar Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax, and how framing of the SSB tax can influence public opinion. This empirical evidence is valuable, as the U.S. is on the verge of SSB tax proposals emerging in cities nationwide. There has already been great variability in the ways the SSB tax has been framed since 2010, and there is still a large knowledge gap in determining what messages are most effective with which types of voters, which can be closed through rigorous testing. There is also little information on whether sociodemographic characteristics and political affiliation moderate the impact of attitudes toward the SSB tax, despite implications for health disparities in SSB consumption and related health outcomes. The central question is: how do differences in the way the sugar-sweetened beverage tax is presented impact the attitudes of voting-age Americans toward the tax?Item Open Access Media Framing of the Ebola Crisis(2016-01-24) Vellek, TheresaThis study examines the role of international media framing in coverage of Ebola. A quantitative content analysis compared framing techniques in Ebola coverage across BBC Monitoring, The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph (UK), and The Straits Times (Singapore) in the 2000-2001 and 2014-2015 outbreaks. Results show that mutation contagion was by far the most frequently appearing frame in the media. Recent media coverage also mimicked the tendency to represent Ebola as distinctively “African,” as found in research on the 1990s Ebola outbreak. Additionally, the portrayal of Ebola as a globalized threat was especially important in coverage of the 2014 outbreak. Overall, media coverage of the Ebola crisis appeared highly politicized and event-based. Particularly because the media serve as the primary source of information about infectious disease epidemics for much of the public, their framing has implications for how the world views Ebola.Item Open Access Organizing Online - Political Participation and Hobbyism on Reddit(2021-02) McThenia, NoahOver the last decade, social media has transformed many aspects of society, including how citizens participate in politics. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit are famous for promoting conflict, driving polarization, and contributing to extremism. However, they may also be able to serve as powerful tools for fueling the types of political participation essential to democracy. This thesis examines the similarities and differences in how various online communities discuss political participation by performing a content analysis of user-generated posts and comments in four different Reddit communities during September 2020. During this collection period, organizing-focused, small, and liberal communities discussed substantive participation more than their counterparts did, with voting being the most commonly discussed form of participation. Communities varied in what percentage of their posts and comments discussed participation, with the highest rates at around 30% and the lowest at 0%. Users encouraged others to participate more often than they described their own participation. A higher percentage of posts discussed participation than did comments. These findings suggest that some online communities can be effective outlets for sustained, impactful organizing. They also lend insight into the characteristics of these communitites, which are often smaller, with specific community goals and significant restrictions on what type of content can be posted. The data suggests electoral campaigns can have particular success in using Reddit to drive participation. There is also a significant difference in how much liberal and conservative spaces discuss participation that is not strongly supported by prior literatute.Item Open Access Policy Proposals and Pinky Promises: Framing Print Media Coverage of Female Presidential Candidates(2021-12) Towfighi, MichaelaOn the stage of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Hillary Clinton made history on July 26, 2016. For the first time, a major political party nominated a female candidate for President. “If there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch,” she told the crowd, “let me just say, I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next.” Yet, her promise fell short, and the glass ceiling she intended to crack, still remained intact. Following her historic feat, six Democratic women entered the 2020 primary in hopes to be the first female President – again, to no success. Although the press is thought to serve as the fourth pillar of democracy in the United States – informing citizens, encouraging political participation and facilitating discourse – does coverage of these historic campaigns contribute to female candidates’ sequential losses? Can coverage from news organizations serve as one explanation as to why the United States has yet to see a female leader at the helm? This paper examines how local and national news organizations frame media coverage of female Presidential campaigns in the 2016 election and 2020 Democratic primary. Coverage favored discussing a candidate’s qualifications and policy plans, as opposed to gendered tropes or comments on emotion and appearance.Item Open Access Sabotage in the Digital Era(2022-04-28) Losito, MarcIn the digital era, sabotage is an attractive tool to policymakers looking for strategic utility below the threshold of violence, with little to no interaction with the target nation, and a very low risk of escalation. This project analyzes sabotage policy and operations to provide the Office of Irregular Warfare with insight on "can, should, and how" the Department of Defense might approach sabotage in the digital era. The project utilizes chronological policy analysis to track the evolution of U.S. cyber policy from 2001 to 2021 and examines three case studies, selected from twenty-four possible, using a building block model to identify sub-theories on sabotage. In the analysis process, three characteristics of the digital era's nature of warfare are identified--the threshold of violence, interaction, and escalation. Finally, a sub-theory is presented comprised of intensity, speed, and control that is adapted to Clausewitz's Trinity of Warfare. This new sub-theory provides a novel approach to thinking about sabotage policy formation and operations. Finally, the project revisits the "can, should, and how" framework to provide a succinct summation of findings.Item Open Access The Balancing Act: Freedom of Speech and Inclusivity on U.S. College Campuses(2017-12-07) Khanna, SakshiCollege campuses are faced with reconciling two opposing values—promoting freedom of speech and ideological diversity, versus censoring speech that marginalizes minority students and threatens the learning environment. Colleges have instated speech codes of varying degrees of harshness in order to limit offensive speech. This study assesses whether undergraduate students’ attitudes toward freedom of speech differ depending on whether they attend universities with restrictive versus unrestrictive speech policies. I administered an anonymous survey to undergraduates at Duke, Emory and Davidson. The findings illustrated a likemindedness across college-generation students despite varying speech policies at their universities. Students revealed a slight preference for curtailing offensive speech in order to protect minority sentiments and foster a positive learning environment. Females were more likely than men to take action against offensive speech. The results also illustrated how a majority of respondents felt that students would feel uncomfortable with expressing their socially conservative views. This trend was observed across the three schools and both genders. In conclusion, colleges are becoming increasingly more inclusive of minorities, but students with conservative viewpoints are being forced to self-censor, thereby limiting constructive ideological discourse on U.S college campuses.Item Open Access The Politics of Affirmative Action in North Carolina's Higher Education(2021-12-03) Melatti, KyleRace-based affirmative action has been under threat for the past several decades since its rise during the middle of the 20th century. As several Supreme Court cases have upheld and rebuked certain elements of race-conscious admissions, some states have even gone as far as to ban affirmative action in their public universities entirely. In 2003, the Supreme Court in Grutter v. Bollinger decided that race-based admissions would no longer be necessary after 25 years. While making this bold assertion, the Court left several questions open. For example, what would no longer needing affirmative action look like? This thesis examines the issue of race-based affirmative action by asking whether or not the admissions process at public and private universities is insulated from external influences. This “politics” of affirmative action potentially shows that race-conscious admissions is under attack not due to grave constitutional violations, but rather a mixture of federal, state, and local prejudice and diminishing public support. This thesis looks at North Carolina and adds to existing literature by using time-series regression of 39 public and private universities and difference-in-difference modeling on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after its major 2014 federal lawsuit, Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC. Findings indicate that private universities outperformed public universities in affirmative action outcomes between 1994 and 2020. This thesis argues the difference stems from politics. Results regarding the impact of the 2014 lawsuit remain inconclusive.Item Open Access The Use of Children as Props in Political Campaign Advertising(2018-02-03) Scandura, KateThis project explores the ways in which children are used in political campaign advertising. Analyzing 97 videos from the 2016 presidential and congressional elections, I coded for the types of children that appeared in campaign advertisements, in what ways they appear, and what messages they are used to convey. I then determined how this differed based on candidate characteristics. I found that girls tend to appear more often than boys, that advertisements feature white children more often than they feature non-white children, that blonde children are disproportionately represented in ads, and that this all varies by candidate and by candidate’s party. I also found that young children and adolescents appear more frequently than babies and teenagers, that the children featured are most often not related to the candidate, that children are generally featured with their parents more often than they are featured with the candidate, and that children very rarely speak in ads, which lends support to the idea that they are used as props.Item Open Access To Seek or Not to Seek: Examining Health-Seeking Behaviors among Ethiopian Immigrants in the United States(2018-01-25) Elias, BlaineExisting literature suggests that immigrants underutilize U.S. health care. Care utilization is associated with poor health for both patients and those around them. Current health care research lacks data specific to Ethiopian immigrants and the influences of their health-seeking behaviors. Such research is necessary, as the Trump Administration has made recent efforts in reforming health care and immigration policies. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to investigate the reasons why Ethiopian immigrants choose and choose not to seek American health care. Past studies have identified (1) language differences with providers and (2) perceived discrimination from providers as barriers and (1) existing insurance coverage and (2) positive word-of-mouth testimonials from social networks as facilitators to health care use for immigrants. These identified factors served as the hypotheses for this thesis. Moreover, focus group methodology was applied to explore these hypotheses. Five focus groups were conducted with a total of 26 Ethiopian patients (n = 26) of Learn and Live Wholestic Health Services, a public clinic located in Northern Virginia, from July 2017 to August 2017. The focus group discussions highlighted both hypothesized and emerging themes. Language was not a barrier to health care for participants, but there was variation on characterizing social discrimination as a barrier. Public insurance was a facilitator and private insurance was a barrier to utilization. Positive testimonials were strongly regarded as facilitators. In terms of emerging themes, one’s attachment to Ethiopian traditionalism arose as a barrier, while professionalism of U.S. health care was branded a facilitator. This thesis concludes by providing the following policy implications: implementation of health advertisements in Ethiopian immigrant communities, development of tools to solicit Ethiopian ideas, improvement of language services in health facilities, and further health research on Ethiopians immigrants.Item Open Access To smoke or to vape? E-cigarette regulation in the US, the UK, and Canada(2018-12-05) Sear, AmandaE-cigarettes are hailed by some as a positive development in the war against smoking and reviled by others as a weapon used to addict a new generation to nicotine. This dichotomy highlights an important debate about e-cigarette risk trade-offs: how can governments strike a balance between promoting e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid / reduced harm alternative for adult smokers and ensuring that e-cigarettes don’t act as “gateway drugs” to smoking for adolescents and other non-smokers? To this end, this thesis will specifically examine how the US, the UK, and Canada are regulating e-cigarettes. This thesis will show that policymakers often must grapple with risk trade-offs, even if they do not explicitly say as much. I also show that at least in the case of e-cigarette regulation, policymakers focus more on scientific evidence when business interests are fractured. Due to a lack of explicit risk trade-off analyses, however, their assessments of risks vary based on society-specific concerns, which then contributes to great variations in regulation. These variations thus emphasize the need for better cost-benefit analyses of risk-risk trade-offs.Item Open Access U.S.-Turkish Relations: Re-situating the “Kurdish Question”(2016-04-19) Lawrence, ChristieHistorically many American policymakers have not prioritized the status of Turkey’s Kurds in bilateral relations, despite the significant political, cultural, and security implications of the “Kurdish Question”. The events over the past two years, including the devolution of the 2013 cease-fire between the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and the Turkish state, the concurrent increase in importance of the Kurds and Turkey in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and the Parliamentary elections in June and November 2015 have re-situated and further internationalized the “Kurdish Question”. Although Turkey’s July 2015 opening of the Incirilik air base to the anti-ISIL coalition was celebrated, Turkey’s air strikes against ISIL were matched with Turkish air raids of PKK targets in Iraq, urges for the anti-ISIL coalition to distance itself from the PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD), and pressure on the coalition to create a buffer zone that strategically divides Kurdish cantons in Syria. These developments elucidate a concerning dilemma: the United States must find a way to balance its new cooperation with a strategic ethnic minority against an important military and security-focused relationship with the geostrategic NATO ally. Through a historical analysis of U.S.-Turkish relations regarding the Kurds, examination of U.S. national interests, and 24 elite interviews, this paper investigates the Unites States’ prioritization of security over human rights regarding its relationship with Turkey. This thesis concludes with policy recommendations to the United States, recommending the United States prioritizes the “Kurdish Question” and holds Turkey accountable for its actions in order to achieve peace, security, and stability both in the fight against ISIL and in the region.