Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science, 2016. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 125-134). / This project evaluates how elected officials communicate with their constituents and whether voters can tell if their interests are being represented. Specifically, I examine whether political communication strategies may inadvertently lead to suboptimal representation. In my first paper, I evaluate whether members of Congress use criticism of Congress as a means to connect with their constituents, using approximately 10,000 campaign advertisements aired throughout the 2000s. In both this observational evidence and through an original experimental study, I show that when members criticize Congress, this message has little impact on attitudes toward Congress in general or the member in particular. However, survey respondents view a member who criticizes Congress as more "like them," potentially introducing a distracting valence issue into elections. In my second paper, I find clear evidence that legislative behavior does not change as a consequence of the rise or fall of military presence in a district. However, members' communication with their constituents does change. Members who gain bases are more likely to emphasize military issues in their emails than they were prior to the redistricting, while those who lose bases reduce their mentions of military-related subjects. While members are not lying about their work in Congress, they are nonetheless painting a misleading picture of the scope of their efforts on behalf of district interests. In my third paper, I show that, despite incentives not to mention other politicians, members of Congress do talk about their peers in DC in about 30 percent of their political communications. I claim this is a means of ideological signalling, where members cite others who share their ideological space. Additionally, I demonstrate through a series of survey experiments that the public makes reasoned judgments about the ideology of a member who talks about another politician. Members thus have the opportunity to shape how constituents view their representative through references to other politicians. In these three papers, I show that members can use sometimes subtle techniques to influence their relationship with the district. / by Krista Loose. / Talking about congress: the limited effect of congressional advertising on congressional approval -- representing their former district: do members do it and do they admit it? -- Politicians as positions: citing others as a cue to ideology. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Page 239 is a foldout table. Includes survey in German. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-287). / Breaking with a long-held political stance that Germany is, despite a sizeable share of permanent immigrant residents, not a country of immigration, the German legislature has drawn up a new immigration law, which entered into force in January 2005. It states a new commitment to integrate legal immigrants into German society by teaching them German and acquainting them with the legal, cultural, and historical precepts of the German state and society. To gauge the role of the host society in the integration process, I use a three-pronged methodological approach to evaluate the influence of physical appearance and several other potentially salient attributes of immigrants on integration outcomes. Statistical analysis of recent census data provides a general picture of economic integration outcomes of foreign national residents in Germany. More specific information gathered by way of a structured survey among second generation immigrants in Germany allows me to investigate deeper levels of integration using variables geared more narrowly to my research question. Finally, qualitative interviews provide valuable insights into whether and to what extent immigrants themselves perceive language skills and physical appearance, as well as other issues, as shaping their integration experience. Overall, my analysis suggests that language proficiency is a strong predictor of economic integration. The impact of physical appearance, by comparison, is negligible. The survey suggests that despite high levels of cultural, social, and identificational integration, immigrants still feel disadvantage as a function of their cultural difference from the host society. They also universally report having and cherish ties to both German and their society of origin. In-depth interviews suggest that second generation immigrants, although aware of a certain degree of discrimination, do not see it as a major issue. Still, lasting emotional attachment to Germany could be boosted by policies that show genuine acceptance of immigrants' perceived or real ties to two cultures and communities, and recognize the assets they entail. / by Anne-Katrin Wickboldt. / Ph.D.

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This paper aims to explore the role of region in economy-based assessments of the government. Both economic perception and outlook have strong effects on evaluations of the federal government, the President, and Congress. Furthermore, economic concerns are different across regions, and vary over time. Prospective evaluations of the economy differ based on region, more than retrospective evaluations of the economy. These findings suggest that people across the country react differently to the state of the national economy, and that region is an important aspect of government approval. Though more research will be necessary to explain why regional variation across economic evaluations of the government exist, this paper highlights the importance of region within government evaluations and suggests some implications of it.

This dissertation theorizes recent political events in South Korea. It consists of three separate essays which proceed chronologically and are united by their critiques of the culture and government of South Korea. The first essay concerns the 2006 debate over South Korea’s founding that was shaped by two opposing achievements: the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government in 1919 and the creation of the South Korean government in 1948. Drawing on the fact that the majority of the South Korean population supports the former, I argue that the South Korean approach to founding is deeply tied to the issues of national identity and past history and the notion of “We, the People” as a cultural and historical concept. Deviating from the notion of individual rights and liberties, the South Korean case sits outside the existing perspectives—both foundationalist and anti-foundationalist—on founding. The second essay addresses the 2015 agreement between South Korea and Japan on the issue of the Korean comfort women during WWII. I demonstrate that emotions—specifically, an intense culture-bound sentiment called han—takes the center stage when dealing with issues of justice and moral concerns in Korea. The result is an emergence of an affective, historically-generated moral paradigm that is determined, not by the force of reason and logic, but by victimhood. I conclude that while such a standard of justice may be difficult to grasp for non-Koreans, it is easily understandable from the Korean perspective. The third essay deals with the candlelight protests of 2016-2017 that led to the impeachment of the former President Park Geun-hye. I analyze the causes of the candlelight protests of 2016-2017 with a view to investigating the distinctive characteristics of political protests in South Korea. I argue that while the common understanding of political protest is that it is a sign of a successful democracy and a symptom of healthy civil society, the South Korean situation suggests an alternative perspective; that it is instead an indication of a serious political dysfunction and an absence of an unconditional support for democracy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 1988. / Bibliography: v.3, leaves 628-655. / by Joseph L. Klesner. / Ph.D.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science, February 2014. / "February 2014." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 64-66). / Despite the benefits of economic globalization, popular opposition to foreign investment continues to influence policy debates. What explains opposition to foreign investment? Standard political economy theories suggest that support for international trade, immigration, and investment all depend on the impact these policies have on potential earnings in the labor market. According to standard models, those who stand to benefit economically from international exchange are expected to be more supportive than those who will face increased competition and declining wages. An analysis of four cross-national surveys from 57 countries provides empirical evidence that public opinion on foreign investment is not determined by economic self-interest, but rather by evaluations of the national economy, political ideology, and attitudes about the United States. These findings have implications for understanding the debate over globalization policy and domestic support for further liberalization around the world.. / by Joyce Lawrence. / S.M.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Political Science, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 102-105). / This thesis examines the role of the White House OSTP in the nation's budgeting for science and technology activities. Interviews conducted by the researcher with members of the White House staff as well as federal agency officials are the primary empirical support, with analysis of annual priority memoranda and presidential budget requests reinforcing the findings. The original contribution of this research is to highlight limitations of responsive competence despite presidential attempts to coordinate the R&D bureaucracy. In science policy, presidents obtain responsive competence by hiring entrepreneurial OSTP staff members in the areas that most align with their priorities. The centralized R&D coordination that OSTP does actually perform in budgets is highly constrained by legal authority, bureaucratic resistance, and the epistemic norms of the science policy community itself. The relationship of the President's Science Advisor with the Administration is an important confounder across presidencies / by John W. Halloran, Jr. / S.M.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [519]-550). / (cont.) Domestic politics, then, frequently have a decisive impact on strategic planning and produces policies that the consideration of external threats alone would not suggest. / This dissertation proposes that militaries in developing states are usually deeply divided internally on domestic social, economic, and political issues. Contrary to the way the military is often portrayed, there is no single "military mind." Neither, however, are internal military divisions primarily idiosyncratic. Differences in composition and sociology endow different military services and branches with distinct domestic preferences. High-tech military organizations are more likely to support liberal socio-economic positions, while troop-oriented ones often embrace integral nationalism--a statist vision of development aimed at unifying the state by reducing economic and social differences. These propositions are tested against the history of armies and navies in Thailand, China, and Indonesia since 1945, as well as additional evidence from Latin American, European, and other Asian states. The case studies examine coups, counter-coups, military-sponsored "mass" movements, and legislative battles involving uniformed officers. The historical evidence confirms the theory. Military services often take opposite sides in domestic disputes, with naval officers consistently backing more liberal socio-economic positions than their army colleagues, especially those from the infantry branch. The balance of power between contending military actors frequently determines national political trajectories for decades at a stretch. These patterns of divided military involvement in politics carry critical implications for international security. The political leaders who emerge victorious from domestic battles often secure their military flank by giving substantial control over strategy and force planning to uniformed allies. / by Eric Heginbotham. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 338-353). / by Karen J. Alter. / Ph.D.