Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1966. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>Recent national elections in the United States and Canada reveal an urban/rural cleavage in vote choice. This cleavage has been overshadowed by the red state/blue state analysis in the United States and dismissed as an artifact of demographic and regional differences in Canada; however, this voting gap appears to have emerged with the increasing salience of "culture war" issues in North American politics. Sociological theory suggests that there may be an affinity between urban and rural place of residence and the progressivist and traditionalist poles of the culture war which may explain urban/rural differences in vote choice. In the present study, urban/rural voting differences are assessed using election surveys from the Canadian Federal and United States Presidential Elections of 2004 and using aggregate data from Canadian Federal and United States Presidential Elections since 1920. The results show that the urban/rural gap has grown to its widest point in recent elections in both countries, coinciding with the reorganization of the right wing of Canadian party politics and the domination of the Republican Party by social conservatives in the United States. After controlling for demographic and social characteristics, rural residents are found to be on average more socially and morally traditional than urban residents. Individual attitudes on gay marriage, abortion and gun control contributed to the urban/rural voting differences observed in both countries. It is concluded that the high profile of moral and social issues associated with the culture war has led to the manifestation of urban/rural cultural differences as a political cleavage in recent Canadian and American national elections.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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Although the overall effect of labor unions represents a point of disagreement, most companies prefer not to have their employees represented by a union. The interest in preserving nonunion status has lead to the development of many diverse means of deterring unionization. These techniques are primarily provided by academicians who usually engage in empirical research, and by labor practitioners who base their writing on personal experience. This study serves to bring together the various techniques of union-avoidance, presenting those techniques as long-term, "preventive" actions, or as short-term responses to actual organizational activity. Further, the study examined the value of these techniques in actually deterring unionization. Finally, the study examined the possibility that a relatively few, particular techniques of union-avoidance were specially effective in preserving non-union status. Correlation and frequency analysis indicate that several of the techniques appearing in the literature are, in fact, related to company election victory. Other techniques, as identified in the literature, were not related to election outcome. Seven specific union-avoidance techniques were primarily responsible for distinguishing election losers from election winners. Companies which hope to remain non-union must be prepared to implement programs which are actually effective in deterring unionization. Failure to develop such programs will be unnecessarily costly and ineffective. / Master of Science

The Latino community in the United States, currently estimated at over 23 million, is projected to become the largest minority group in America within the next fifteen years. However, insufficient national-level data on Latinos has resulted in relatively few studies being published on the voting behavior of this increasingly important group. Using data drawn from the first national probability sample of Latinos, the Latino National Political Survey, this paper addresses selected socio-demographic indices correlated with voter turnout. The logistic regression model empirically demonstrates the importance of distinguishing among subgroups and identifies the life-cycle effect as a principle determinant of voter turnout.

This dissertation was inspired by two conflicting patterns: the United States is very proud of its democratic tradition, yet has the second lowest voter turnout rate in the world. In order to better understand America’s electoral hypocrisy and the decline in voter turnout, this dissertation examined how Americans have been encouraged to think about the vote, the voting process and their roles as voters through news media. Specifically, this dissertation asked: (1) How have voters and voting been portrayed in American newspapers from 1948-2004? (2) Have these portrayals changed over time? And (3) what are some potential implications of these patterns for the electorate? To answer these questions, an extensive content analysis and a set of experiments were conducted. In the content analysis, several electoral key terms pertaining to the electoral participation (Vote, Voter, Voting, Election and Electorate--and their derivatives) were located in the Campaign Mapping Project text-base and were subjected to quantitative and qualitative coding techniques. Findings indicate that while (1) voters were increasingly mentioned in print newspapers over time, (2) they were not featured positively, (3) were cast in the shadow of elites, (4) were rarely reminded of democratic responsibilities, and (5) were not connected to the past or each other in election print news coverage. In addition to these dominant patterns, the data also revealed that voters were more likely to be featured as (1) empowered agents in the democratic system between 1948-1968, (2) subsumed under opinion polls and as pawns of elites between 1972-2000, and (3) faced with challenges in the electoral process in 2004. Two on-line experiments (one with the general population and another with college students) were conducted to test the effects of the empowered portrayal of voters found in1948-1968. Results indicated that the empowered portrayal of voters increased citizens’ participatory intentions and trust in news media (college students reported these positive outcomes and more). These findings suggest that the way print news media cover voters and electoral participation may have important socialization effects on citizens’ political attitudes as well as some important practical implications for the press and journalists. / text

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (doctoral--Universität Duisburg-Essen, 2004) under the title: Das Amerika-Bild der Westdeutschen in der Zeit des Ost-West-Konfliktes im Spiegel der Wahlkampfkommentierung ausgewählter Tageszeitungen des Ruhrgebietes in den Jahren 1948 bis 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 273-317).

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This study compares present policies and procedures for selection of school board members in districts of The Council of Great City Schools with those advocated by board members, professional educators, and representatives of lay organizations. To determine present selection policies for school board members, a questionnaire was sent to the business manager of each participating district. Replies were received from twenty-one of the districts and presented in tables including number and percentage of respondents for each item. To determine opinions of board members, professional educators, and members of lay organizations, a thirty-five-item questionnaire was mailed to 190 board members, 22 school superintendents, 19 college professors, 19 PTA representatives, 22 NAACP representatives, and 11 chamber of commerce representatives. After a return of 200 usable questionnaires, data were presented in separate tables including number of respondents and percentage of respondents. Using the contingency coefficient technique for statistical analysis, null hypotheses were formulated to test relationships between the opinion of respondent groups and selection policies and procedures actually in use. The chi square test was applied to test the relationships, with the .05 level of significance as the criterion. Results were tabulated collectively. Tabulated results indicate that board members should be elected at general elections on a non-partisan basis representing at-large districts, should serve four-year, overlapping, unrestricted terms, should meet local legal requirements, should receive some type of compensation, and should not represent occupational and other special interest groups. Based on this survey, it is recommended that a similar study be made in districts with less population than those districts studied to determine if policies and'procedures for selection of school board members in the districts are comparable.

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