Political Science, General

This study examined 1994 gubernatorial election coverage by two Florida daily newspapers, The Miami Herald and The Sun-Sentinel, to determine if their coverage was biased. The author conducted content analyses of the titles and terms both papers used to describe the candidates, the total column inches devoted to each candidate, and the number of times the candidate's name appeared in headlines. The results of the analyses were inconclusive for both elections, but in the Republican primary The Miami Herald appeared to show slight favoritism for Jeb Bush, a Miamian. The Sun-Sentinel provided relatively equal coverage for all four major candidates. In the general election both papers mentioned Lawton Chiles more frequently with more attention directed to his stand on issues possibly because of his incumbency.

This thesis examines the rhetorical effects created by political cartoonists through their depictions of Ronald Reagan. A representative sampling of these cartoons demonstrates that the pictorial and symbolic language in their visual dialogue was extrapolated from the heroic, mythic character types Reagan portrayed during his film career and with which he sought to be identified. This thesis argues that because cartoons depicted and caricaturized Reagan as an archetypal hero, they touched a responsive chord in the electorate and persuaded them to regard Reagan favorably.

The case of Boca Raton, Florida, illustrates many of the
key legal, environmental and intergovernmental issues emerging
in the growth management policies of other communities. In a
1972 amendment to the city charter, the voters of Boca Raton placed
an absolute limit on population and housing by a 40,000 -unit "cap"
on development.
The Growth Cap illustrates the expansion of an issue which
began with a small group of concerned citizens who wanted to preserve
the city's "low-density" character.
The controversy opened up multi-agendas which developed in
stages. Multiple access points were available to the proponents
(environmentalists and home owners) and opponents (developers and
real estate interests) of the Cap. Due to both the pluralistic nature
of the political system and the nature of the Growth Cap, the issue
was expanded beyond the city policy agenda and came to the county
and the courts.

The historic instability of pre-Castro politics in Cuba is
developed into three hypotheses dealing with a national
personality dominated by old order values which tend to be
anti-democratic, group-divisive, symbolic as opposed to realistic,
and dominated largely by the allure of personalismo,
a hypothesized Latin political phenomenon in which personalities
obscure the issues. The hypotheses were tested in the
analysis of a survey of samples of Cuban- and native-born
high school students in Dade County, Florida.

This study has confined itself to examining two specific questions:
(1) Are other minorities educationally isolated to the same extent
as Negroes? and (2) Does the level of concentration of other minorities
in the school population influence their segregation as has
been the case for Negroes? Results of the present study show
Negroes to fare significantly less favorably in the area of educational
segregation than the other minorities under study. Furthermore,
whereas the percent Negro showed a significant relationship
with the level of Negro school segregation, no such relationship
was found for the other minorities in this study. Controlling for
regional and ethnic variations did not significantly alter these
findings.

The British Broadcasting Corporation is generally considered a reliable source for international news. Their web site includes a Northern Ireland news page, which provides daily coverage of the province including extensive information on the ongoing peace process. This study examines the online coverage of the Northern Ireland conflict in the year 2000. Through a textual analysis of 21 articles, an ideological critique of the BBC's rhetoric is provided. To reveal the ideological perspective of the BBC Online, the verbal text used in each article is carefully analyzed, the sources consulted are examined in terms of representation, and the images that accompany the article are studied to determine if the images match the stories or simply cater to browsers. The findings show that despite their promise of impartiality, the BBC presents a view of the Northern Ireland conflict that leans toward a unionist perspective.

Clinton's success in engendering loyalty in the African-American, despite his failure to deliver socio-economic and political benefits, presents us with an apparent paradox. The contention is that the answer to this paradox could be found in the rhetorical style and strategies habitually employed by Clinton when speaking to African-Americans. What Clinton said to black America is important, but how he said it, is even more so. Through a critical examination of his eight speeches to the Congressional Black Caucus' Annual Dinner, using rhetorical theory, this research examines how Clinton said what he said. In utilizing the critical approach that examines stylistic techniques, it analyzes his rhetorical strategies within the framework of what I term a "rhetoric of inclusion." This concept embraces six rhetorical strategies that enhance identification and authority. Scanned through the prism of these strategies, the research shows that Clinton's rhetoric provided him with a distinct voice that was very effective in ensuring the loyalty of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The existing literature regarding political power, hegemony, and mass-elite relationships could benefit from the utilization of a common theoretical framework. Such an approach calls for the synthesis of extant theories of political power into a theoretical structure that is easily translatable across various systemic contexts. Most political structures are to an extent power-based and hierarchical. The analysis of these power-laden structures is an important component of both political theory and political action. This thesis uses three cases studies to illustrate that these structures are commonplace and to explain certain aspects of their creation and destruction. The chief goal is to critically analyze whether these power-laden structures are compatible with democracy, defined as government according to rule by the people.

This study investigates the influence of state characteristics, socioeconomic, cultural and political, on the variation of abortion legislation and accessibility in the American states. State discretion in abortion issues, historically and including the present time, has resulted in a lack of uniformity of regulations in the 50 states and a wide variance of accessibility to abortion services across the nation. Although abortion is considered one of the most divisive and controversial policy issues, it has largely been neglected in the literature as a public policy study at the state level. Therefore, a systematic and empirical basis for explaining the variance in abortion laws and accessibility is also lacking in the research. This study attempts to fill in that gap and the results of the analysis of the data reveals several important findings. First, there is little indication that accessibility is related to state legislation on abortion. Second, the measures for current legislation are not highly correlated. Each policy appears to be a separate issue for state legislators. Third, socioeconomic characteristics, as expected, are important to the pre-Roe measures of legislation and abortion rates. These characteristics are also important to recent abortion rates, Medicaid funding for abortions, and service provision. However, certain political variables, in particular public opinion/ideology, are also important to the variance of current measures. Fourth, traditional state characteristics do not explain the variance in two of the legislative variables included in the study--the number of post-Roe restrictions passed and parental notification/consent requirements. And last, religion, as measured by denominations or religious groups with an anti-abortion platform, does not play an important role in explaining variation in abortion laws or accessibility, contrary to the predictions. A larger percentage of Catholics is associated with increased service provision and less restrictive Medicaid funding for abortions. Fundamentalists are not important to the variation of either legislation or accessibility. This finding, in particular, is in contrast to not only the predictions of this study but also to the popular beliefs and assertions on the subject.