Political Science Honors Theses

With the downfall of the authoritarian Apartheid government in 1994, South Africa has begun to establish itself as a more democratic nation. This paper examines levels of interpersonal trust in post-Apartheid South Africa by using data from “trust games” that were conducted using students from South African universities. Given the large amount of racial, linguistic and cultural diversity that is prevalent in South Africa and that the sample population has spent most of their lives living under the new multiparty democracy, we hypothesize that old racial and social factors that in the past had influenced interpersonal trust will have diminished leaving only partisanship as the predictor of interpersonal trust. Furthermore, we examine what impact the income inequality that was a result of the apartheid era will have on the future of politics in South Africa. The results of the study show that while race still matters, partisanship matters more when determining trust and that inequality among blacks remains high even after the fall of apartheid.

Voter turnout is one of the most widely examined phenomena of interest in Political Science; however, researchers have paid less attention to the specific traits that may determine a candidate’s popularity among the electorate. The United States has a winner-takes-all political system, which indicates that in any given election, the stakes are too high. Consequently, every aspect of the candidate’s life becomes a relevant factor. However, if we could identify which traits are important to the electorate, then we could focus on the important aspects of the political process- the candidate’s stance on the issues. In this study, I focus on the effect that knowledge of a political candidate’s participation has on the candidate’s likability rating. Moreover, I study whether basketball or golf cause the greatest impact.

This study examines the effect that divided or unified government, in the United States of America, has on the delegation of trade authority to the President. Using a qualitative analysis approach, I examine competing views and formulate an independent opinion based on the peoples’ preferences and evaluation of the principles of America’s Constitutionalism. I conclude that overemphasis on the impact of divided government is misleading because trade issues provide the primary mechanism which determines the implementation of America’s trade policies, and the principles of Constitutionalism are valuable guidelines. Blended with the discussion is the awareness of an American ethos which challenges formulation of trade agreements in an era of increased globalization.

Recusal, or judicial disqualification, occurs when a judge abstains from a particular legal proceeding because of a personal conflict of interest. All levels of the judicial system and some administrative agencies in the United States apply the concept of recusal, but this study focuses on the United States Supreme Court. Title 28 of the United States Code provides standards (not obligatory by legal means) on when Supreme Court Justices should recuse themselves. But Supreme Court Justices are themselves the arbiters of their own recusal and often these substantive standards are not met. The method of study applied is theoretical, using both quantitative and qualitative data from past Supreme Court cases.

This paper examines the history of electronic surveillance for national security purposes within the United States and relates the statutory and constitutional law to the current, post September 11th practices. An extensive examination of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the recently leaked, classified Terrorist Surveillance Program shows that the FISA Court, within its narrow jurisdiction, adequately accounts for constitutional standards, yet the TSP—including recent reforms—is in clear violation of constitutional and statutory law.