Illegal political activity has always been part of a democratic society. Despite this, not much is known about young people’s involvement in these political activities. Research portrays political influence attempts of this kind in different terms; as troublesome for the democratic political system, as expressions of conscious decisions vital for humanity’s future, and yet other times as illustrations of a coming-of-age rebellion. Overall there is a lack of collective knowledge on illegal political activity, and especially in adolescence – the age period when these political activities seem to peak. The aim of this dissertation is therefore to enhance knowledge of involvement in illegal political activity in adolescence. This dissertation addresses this task in four empirical studies. Results show that mostly boys engage politically with illegal political means. Adolescents involved are also interested in politics, believe in their own abilities to take part in political activities, have long-term political goals, and approve of violent political tactics. In addition, these activities also seem to associate with a challenge of authority. This could be seen in how political dissatisfaction was translated into illegal political activity, and in the way these activities seemed to be reactions to a non legitimized parental authority. Besides authority challenges, these activities are likely the result of important peer relations; influences from peers with experiences of illegal political activity seem to be a most probable answer to why adolescents adopt these political means. Taken together, the results of this dissertation show that adolescents involved in illegal political activity are well-equipped for political involvement, challenge authorities in most contexts of their lives, and are likely to adopt these political means from already involved peers.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--New York University, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references.

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For foreign and Mainland China spouses who were born in foreign countries but immigrated to Taiwan due to marriage, they probably come to Taiwan to pursue a better life and thus become our neighbors. However, owing to the differences in cultural background between them and the Taiwanese people, many misunderstanding and conflicts often happened between the early immigrants and the local habitants. There are many relevant studies discussing the living problems of those foreign and Chinese brides, but it is rare to see studies about their rights and obligations. This research applies the theory of ¡§funnel of causality¡¨ (Campbell, Converse, Millers & Strokes) to explore the voting behavior of the foreign and Chinese brides. The main concept of the theory is to regard party identification as a long-term and constant attitude factor. Therefore, it thought that party identification is the determinant affecting the voting decision, while the candidate orientation is only a short-term factor to influence the voting decision, and such decision is emotional and lacking of rational judgement. As to issue orientation, it has only limited influence on the decisions of voters, but in the wake of the gradual declination of the voters¡¦ party identification, ¡§candidate orientation¡¨ and ¡§issue orientation¡¨ turn to be the primary factors to influence the voters¡¦ decisions. This study uses party identification, candidate orientation, electoral issue, and political socialization as the four observable variants and carries out questionnaire investigation by using the quantified statistics. The results of the statistical analysis found that, in cognition of voters¡¦ voting behavior, political party preference is not a factor to influence the voting behavior, nor the Candidate¡¦s qualification creates notable differences. However, it was found that the foreign and Mainland China spouses paid much attention to the political views of candidates. The more they integrate into Taiwan¡¦s society, the more recognition of Taiwan they have. In view of the low voting turnout rate, this study proposes that the government should enhance the electoral advertising and promotion in order to increase the voting turnout rate. Furthermore, the government should show more concern about the foreign and Chinese brides and combine the power of the local communities to enable those foreign spouses to melt into Taiwan¡¦s society earlier and further to exercise and fulfill their rights and obligations. Finally, it is hope that the government may treat all Mainland China spouses and foreign spouses equally without discrimination, and help the Mainland China spouses to get their identify cards soon as the foreign spouses do. In this way, those foreign and Mainland China spouses will enjoy the same basic human rights as the local people, contribute their share toward Taiwan, and never be the underprivileged group in this society any more. Keywords: Foreign bride, voting behavior, political socialization

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2001. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-202). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p3018371.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-125).

Thesis--Gothenburg. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-190).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1981. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 386-406).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--North Texas State University, 1984. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 335-350).