Josephine Borich and Dr. Chris Karpowitz, Political Science Because of changing demographics in the United States, the way legislators respond to minority constituents and to women is becoming more important. My ORCA grant focused on the relationship between constituents who ask immigration related questions to federal and state legislators through letters. For the first part […]
Leveraging Technology and the Wisdom of Crowds
Robert Morello and Dr. Daniel Nielson, Department of Political Science A structural problem plagues the delivery of foreign aid: the beneficiaries have little ability or means to inform the donors of the projects’ initial needs, progress, or effects. As development projects are typically executed, donors carry out assessments that often involve surveys or other before-and-after […]
Investigating where Japanese Political Loyalties lay through the Candidate Selection Processes
Yoshiki Matsunaga and Dr. Jessica Preece, Department of Political Science Goal/Purpose of the Project The goal is to find out the candidate selection/nomination process for Japanese political parties, and then we will test whether differences in these processes impact Japanese Legislators’ voting behavior. Importance of Project In order to win an election a candidate has […]
Do Donor States Care About NGO Quality?
Nicholas Jones and Dr. Darren Hawkins, Department of Political Science Our research examines whether donor countries care about the quality of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) when giving foreign aid to poor countries. When donor states give foreign aid to recipient states, such the US giving foreign aid to Uganda, the donor states must choose what is […]
Tea Party Endorsements: An Analysis of the 2010 Congressional Elections
John Holbein and Dr. Jeremy Pope, Department of Political Science My ORCA project focused on the strategies and impacts of the Tea Party Movement in the 2010 Congressional Elections. Using data gathered from an analysis of 55 national and local newspapers, this project examined endorsements made by the Tea Party Movement in House of Representatives […]
Political Risk and the Currency Markets: A Look at How the Structure of Government Impacts Exchange Rates in Emerging and Developing Economies
Aaron Gifford and Dr. Joel Selway, Department of Political Science Overview For the last three years, the world has seen dramatic changes in the global economy. What began as a local failure of a couple banks and the deterioration of innovative financial products in the U.S. soon spread to other nations around the world. While […]
How Religious Practices Affect the Rise of Populism in Latin America
Victoria Garcia and Dr. Kirk Hawkins, Department of Political Science Populism is “a Manichaean discourse that identifies Good with a unified will of the people and Evil with a conspiring elite” (Hawkins 2009). It is a movement that has been spreading in Latin America, in which a group of people consider themselves as the majority […]
Representation in Utah’s Candidate Nomination System
Matthew Frei and Dr. J. Quin Monson, Department of Political Science When Senator Robert Bennett was defeated in the 2010 Republican state nominating convention, many political observers suggested that Utah’s nomination system gives too much power to convention delegates who nominate candidates who do not well represent most Utahns. My ORCA research addresses these concerns […]
Beyond Populism: An Empirical Categorization of Elite Political Discourse
Stephen Cranney and Dr. Kirk Hawkins, Department Political Science The project Dr. Hawkins, Mayavel Amado, and I completed with the assistance of the ORCA funds provided was an extension of a previous project that we presented at the American Political Science Association’s annual meeting in 2010. Specifically, that paper presented theoretical possibilities for expanding the […]
Walking the Walk: Gender Issues and Ugandan Non-governmental Organizations
Zachary Christensen and Dr. Michael Findley, Department of Political Science Ugandan non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have played a prominent role in the transmission gender equality norms in Ugandan. Uganda typically fares poorly in international measures of gender equality which in part seems to stem from the socially conservative political views of the country. Notwithstanding those views, […]