One of the most compelling areas of research when considering the modern presidency is the role of the White House chief of staff (COS) and the direct impact it has on the presidency. The office of the president’s chief of staff is often referred to as the power behind the throne. Chiefs of staff exercise great authority and control within the White House Office (WHO) functioning as a filter or gatekeeper strictly controlling the access of information and people reaching the president. The COS is also one of the president’s closest advisers. James Baker, former chief of staff for Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush has stated the White House chief of staff is the second most powerful job in government. However, the position has commanded relatively little attention from presidential scholars. Nevertheless, understanding this component of the modern White House is important if we are to better explain why some presidencies are more effective than others. This study focuses on the chief of staff and how the office functions within the organizational and managerial structure of the White House as a key to understanding the effective operation of the modern presidency. Specifically the study considers Howard H. Baker, Jr. and his tenure during the Ronald Reagan presidency. Relatively little research has been conducted exploring Baker’s tenure as COS, yet the Reagan presidency experienced a major transformation during this period – going from an administration in serious trouble to a stable presidency with high approval ratings. A closer study of the transformation process may provide a better understanding of the impact the COS has on the presidency. The study finds strong support for the thesis that the White House chief of staff is a critically important component within the modern presidency and has a direct impact on the president and the potential effectiveness of his administration. Howard Baker’s tenure as COS clearly demonstrates the dramatic changes chiefs of staff can produce within a presidency. In Baker’s case the impact was both substantial and positive in the rescue and rehabilitation of the Reagan presidency.

Marion County, Tennessee was formed in 1817 and currently all seven cities within its boundaries combined account for 34,202 (thousand) acres. Within a short period time, Marion County will experience over 40,000 (thousand) acres of traditional forestland being converted to private, rural residential development. These former forested tracts are all located in remote areas of the county with very few existing public services. The intent of this dissertation is to demonstrate how government structure and funding mechanisms result in a type of rural sprawl that is rapidly fragmenting thousands of acres throughout Tennessee and the United States as timber companies sell their forest lands to private developers. This dissertation contends that local governments in Tennessee are not designed by state statute to address the public need of open space and recreation; nor does their fragmented institutional structure result in well-planned decisions related to growth. As a result, private development interests appear to determine how land is divided and utilized in the rural counties of Tennessee and specifically the South Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. This dissertation will explore how devolution has created a climate whereby local officials support and encourage rural growth for the rational purpose of revenue production, without considering the potential negative consequences of unplanned growth. The first case study of this dissertation outlines a series of actions taken by various governmental actors in response to a recent drought situation where towns were running out of drinking water, while rural water lines were being extended to new development. The second case study chronologically outlines specific actions taken by governmental units to consider whether to sell recreation land for private development. The third case study chronologically outlines a series of actions taken to limit sprawl through conservation with the support of local officials. Each case study occurred simultaneously in one county with interrelated governmental actors and events.

The United States presently focuses much of its energy on the prevention of terrorism through particular counterterrorism policies and strategies. Today, deterrence is the primary theoretical basis for counterterrorism policies. If the United States invests so heavily in deterrence as a counterterrorism strategy, is it successful? If not, what are its theoretical flaws? Who is best served by efforts to prevent terrorism through a deterrent project? This thesis will argue that a more appropriate understanding of terrorism is necessary. In order to achieve a more holistic conception of the terrorism problem, efforts should be made politically and theoretically to incorporate international relationships that include politics, economics and culture. Such an approach to understanding terrorism as a collective action that is related to various social structures is not facilitated within the 4 present theoretical application of deterrence to counterterrorism. Therefore, this thesis is a political and economic approach to understanding the relationship between theories of terrorism and strategies of counterterrorism. If deterrence is not the most appropriate way of addressing terrorism, then the first step to creating alternative strategies is to analyze the deterrence policies currently in place. Therefore, this thesis is a stepping stone to moving past present conceptions of how to address terrorism; in order to critique U.S. counterterrorism strategy and understand why deterrence is employed as a strategy so that we can create more suitable counterterrorism strategies.

This research is an examination of the impact of gender quotas in EU legislative bodies, analyzing data regarding the increase of women in national governments since quota implementation. This paper analyzes and compares the results of four case studies: France, Spain, Romania and Slovenia. The data is analyzed relative to their respective histories, cultures and political systems. The sources used for obtaining numerical data are government/EU documents, other academic work, and newspaper articles that have been published on the subject. Due to the limited scope of the research, the purpose is not to draw any definite, far-reaching conclusions about gender quotas in European Union legislatures. Rather, it is a demonstration of the knowledge acquired in conducting the research and how it may be pertinent to further research.

By observing each unique Olympic Game, it is evident that some games were more successful than others at creating an event that is based solely around the concept of a unified sporting culture. Looking at some of the most controversial Olympics in history, it is interesting to see how the host city selection, government, political atmosphere of the time, and the games themselves defined the overall nature of the event. The Berlin Olympics of 1936, the Mexico City Olympics of 1968, the Munich Olympics of 1972, and the Beijing Olympics of 2008 are each very different and occurred at very different times. However, they all ultimately have one thing in common; politics found a way to be the defining factor in each situation. Regardless of how hard a host city attempts to honor the Olympic Charter's goal of creating an atmosphere of unity and peace, politics is omnipresent. "In the words of former International Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage, politics is a 'savage monster' always ready to ravage the Olympic movement" (Cha, 5).

The Tea Party is a highly publicized movement that has been met with both support and opposition but very little objective reporting from the partisan media. In 2009, amidst a financial crisis unlike any in recent history, a war being fought oversees, and a questioning of American values, this movement known as the Tea Party arose. Borrowing from the annals of history and staying true to the foundations set by the Fathers of our country, the Tea Party movement seeks to provide answers to the growing economic and social issues in the United States. The three core values of the movement are fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free market economics. Yet, the Tea Party movement, while seemingly logical and legitimate, was and continues to be, met with much criticism and combativeness. The frequent colonial dress and showmanship which characterizes their protests, the historical reference from which they get their name, and their strict adherence to the Constitution all seem to fuel the frequent trivialization of these self-proclaimed patriots and their movement, resulting in misconceptions and the stereotyping of supporters. But in a time dominated by sound bytes, tweets and headlines, the media can be deceiving. Therefore, as a young Government major intrigued by a movement that had so rapidly gained America’s attention, I set out to discover through interviews with real Tea Party members what the movement is really all about.

In this dissertation I examine the reciprocal relationship between voters and political parties in coalitional democracies in three essays. First, I investigate how voters alter their perceptions of political parties in response to their participation in coalition cabinets. I argue that voters view coalition participation as broad and wide-ranging policy compromise and update their perceptions of the policy positions of cabinet participants accordingly. I find that voters perceive coalition partners as more similar than parties that are not currently coalesced, all else equal. In the following essay, I examine the electoral repercussions of this shift in perceptions by proposing a model of voting that considers coalition policy-making. I argue that voters will equate the policy compromise they perceive in the cabinet with a failure to rigorously pursue the policies they were promised and that voters who perceive compromise will punish the incumbent. The data reveals that this perception may cost incumbent cabinets about 2.5% of their vote share. Finally, I move from the electorate to the legislature to investigate if and how these perceptions condition legislative behavior. The previous essays suggest that coalition parties have substantial motivation to differentiate themselves from their partners in cabinet when voters perceive them as becoming more similar. I test this argument by examining partisan behavior in legislative review. The data show that coalition partners who are perceived as more similar are more likely to amend one another’s legislation.

This study attempts to (1) determine the validity of the claim that Pakistan was demanded and achieved on the basis of Islamic Ideology, and (2) assess the pre-partition views of the Muslim leaders concerning the polity of Pekistan. The first chapter is a brief survey of the historical background from 1357 - 1930 demonstrating the forces effecting Islamic conciousness and separatism. Chapter Two analyzes Muhammad Iqbal's religio-political thought as it emphasized Islamic Ideology and motivated religious modernism. The balance of the study indicates the increase in the Muslim ambition for religio-political autonomy. The Islamic ideal is further magnified. With the advent of the demand for Pakistan, this ideal united Muslims of divergent views behind the Pakistan cause. Individual differences were set aside but proclamations of the "ideal" brought out two distinct viewpoints: Modernist and Traditionalist. Both agreed on the Islamic Ideal, but differed in interpreting its implementation.

Madras legislature 1921-1939

A psychoanalytic critique