This dissertation is comprised of three empirical studies that explore both the determinants and consequences of election law restrictiveness in the American states. The first study examines why states restrict the public's ability to use the initiative process. I argue that states will move to increase election law restrictiveness when the initiative is perceived as threatening to legislative autonomy, majority party control over policymaking, or a state's fiscal health. I test these expectations using a novel dataset that catalogues both proposed and enacted restrictions to the initiative process between 1996 and 2011. I find evidence that, contrary to the expectations of prior works, threats to state fiscal health exert a minimal effect on subsequent changes to election law restrictiveness. Rather, it is the threat to state autonomy and majority party control over policy that appears to shape state legislative response to direct democracy; in particular, the education of a state's electorate, electoral volatility, and citizen-government distance each exert strong effects on the willingness of states to make it more difficult for the public to successfully use the initiative process. The second study examines several potential effects of election law restrictiveness. Recently, many U.S. states that allow citizen initiatives have passed laws designed to make it more difficult for an initiative to qualify for the ballot (e.g., by increasing the number of signatures required to get on the ballot), thereby making it harder for citizens to bypass the legislature and make direct changes to public policy. Such laws have reduced both the number of measures that make the ballot, and the number that pass on Election Day. I show that laws governing access of initiatives to the ballot also shape the policy agenda; provisions making it harder for proposals to get on the ballot decrease the complexity of the initiatives on the ballot. Since less complex initiatives are more likely to be understood by voters, and voters are reluctant to vote for measures they do not understand, more restrictive laws increase the percentage of ballot measures that are approved. Finally, the third study explores how the complexity of ballot measures shapes individual-level abstention. That is, why do individuals who have turned out to vote abstain from voting on certain ballot measures? Previous work examines abstention at the aggregate level by observing ballot roll-off, and focuses on the readability of the ballot summary for a measure as the primary determinant of whether individuals will abstain. In contrast, I hypothesize that three individual-level factors interact with the accessibility (i.e., ease or difficulty) of a ballot measure's issue content to influence one's propensity to abstain. Individuals with low knowledge, who are risk averse, and who attach low importance to the issue should be more likely to abstain from voting than those with high knowledge, who are risk acceptant, and who attach high importance to the issue. Furthermore, the impact of each of these individual-level traits strengthens as the issue raised in the measure becomes less accessible. I find strong empirical evidence for these hypotheses using a survey experiment. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2014. / March 20, 2014. / Election laws, Elections, Interest groups, Voting / Includes bibliographical references. / William D. Berry, Professor Directing Dissertation; Brad T. Gomez, Committee Member; John Barry Ryan, Committee Member; Jennifer Jerit, Committee Member.

The study of diffusion and adoption of innovations in political science is incomplete and unable to answer the question why do policies diffuse? Additional information should be incorporated into the process. Specifically, rightly defining adoption events that are policy inventions leads to better distinction between major and minor policy changes. Merging two dominant and productive frameworks used for studying policy change-innovation, diffusion and adoption (IDA) framework, and Advocacy Coalition (AC) framework-we can incorporate contextual information more readily into an analysis of policy diffusion. I call this an Invention Based Approach (IBA). With the IBA I explicitly pursue historical events and critical junctures. In this dissertation I gain better understand of an invention event, resulting policy diffusion, and reinvention. I provide descriptive analysis of child adoption policy history in America prior to 1851 and analyze new data to buttress understanding policy invention. I show that conventional wisdom regarding how child adoption policy was created is wrong. I identify and describe important elements of belief for the major and minor coalition factions present at this time. The coalition variables receive limited support in diffusion models. Traditional indicators resource is supported. Other traditional indicators are insignificant which is supportive of the theory presented. Policy reinvention analysis also supports the theory that coalition replacement must occur before major policy change can occur. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2014. / April 8, 2014. / Advocacy Coalition Framework, Child Adoption, Invention Based Approach, Policy Diffusion, Policy Invention, Policy Studies / Includes bibliographical references. / Charles Barrilleaux, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lenore McWey, University Representative; Jason Barabas, Committee Member; Eric Coleman, Committee Member; Carol Weissert, Committee Member.

Inaug.-diss.--Leipzig. / Lebenslauf. Also published as heft 4 of Beiträge zur kultur- und universalgeschichte, hrsg. von K. Lamprecht.

The traditional notion of Western liberal democracy has in recent years been met with a barrage of negative criticism. Liberal democracy from both a minimalist and substantive position appears to be backsliding, and once more falling into what Samuel P. Huntington (1991) termed a reverse wave. The analysis which Huntington (1991) presented ended in an era in which liberal democracy once more dominated the political landscape for a third consecutive wave, without any indication that it was going to relapse. In light of Huntington’s (1991) closure, this study has attempted to continue with his analysis and point to the possible existence of a third wave reversal. In order to do so, this study has meticulously used the same methodological approach as Huntington (1991) did to highlight previous wave reversals. This has been done by critically discussing, with examples, the existence of those factors that lead to a global decline in liberal democratic practice as prescribed by Huntington (1991). This study attempts not only to point to the possible existence of a third wave reversal, but also to explain the contextual reasons behind such an increase in anti-democratic rhetoric. The application of Huntington’s (1991) wave theory does not explain the subjective reasoning behind the contemporary deterioration of liberal democracy, as his factors leading to wave reversals may be too pragmatic for this study. It is in this light that a second argument as brought forward by Huntington in 1996, serves as the contextual layer for the decrease in democratic support as it provides the basis for the application of a critical discourse analysis. Therefore, this study serves not only as an investigation of the possible existence of a current third wave reversal, but also as an analysis into the discursive nature of liberal democracy’s historical and future trajectory.

論文(碩士)--香港中文大學硏究院歷史學部,1977. / Ms. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 495-529). / Thesis (M.A.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue yan jiu Yuan li shi xue bu. / Chapter 第一章 --- 慈禧歸政前的德宗 / Chapter §一 --- 德宗的誕生與承統 --- p.1-7 / Chapter §一 --- 註腳 --- p.8-16 / Chapter §二 --- 德宗的宮廷生活 --- p.17-27 / Chapter §二 --- 註腳 --- p.28-34 / Chapter §三 --- 德宗的教育 --- p.35-54 / Chapter §三 --- 註腳 --- p.55-68 / Chapter §四 --- 小結 --- p.69 / Chapter §四 --- 註腳 --- p.70 / Chapter 第二章 --- 丙戌至戊戌期間的德宗 / Chapter §一 --- 德宗的親政與大婚 --- p.71-82 / Chapter §一 --- 註腳 --- p.83-89 / Chapter §二 --- 德宗與慈禧關係的惡化 --- p.90-113 / Chapter §二 --- 註腳 --- p.114-148 / Chapter §三 --- 小結 --- p.149-150 / Chapter §三 --- 註腳 --- p.151-153 / Chapter 第三章 --- 德宗的變法思想（上） / Chapter §一 --- 甲午前後戊戌前思想家對德宗的影響 --- p.154-210 / Chapter §一 --- 註腳 --- p.211-239 / Chapter §二 --- 文廷式對德宗變法思想的影響 --- p.240-255 / Chapter §二 --- 註腳 --- p.256-261 / Chapter §三 --- 康有為對德宗變法思想的影響 --- p.262-296 / Chapter §三 --- 註腳 --- p.297-328 / Chapter 第四章 --- 德宗的變法思想（下） / Chapter §一 --- 維新人士與德宗晉接 --- p.329-382 / Chapter §一 --- 註腳 --- p.383-416 / Chapter §二 --- 大臣對德宗變法思想的影響 --- p.417-462 / Chapter §二 --- 註腳 --- p.463-484 / 結論 --- p.485-494 / 徵引書目 --- p.495-529

This thesis investigates the political thought and activities of the French and English Dominicans. It began historically with a question concerning the nature of the work of John of Paris. Can his De potestate regia et papali be described as a fundamentally theological and philosophical exposition? Such a description would seem to imply a partial separation from the political situation in which he wrote and would see his treatise in relation to the vast mass of the theological literature of the day. In order to test this it would be sensible to undertake a comparative study and to try to see the situation of John of Paris and other Dominicans to discern the effects of this situation on their thought. To understand the major issues of medieval political thought, the preliminary chapter gives a brief account of the development of this thought. The influence which the Order of Preachers exerted on its members cannot be neglected. The heart of this thesis is found in two rather lengthy chapters dealing with the thought and activities of the members of the Dominican Order in both France and England. The result of this examination placed the political writings of the Dominicans in France -- of which John of Paris is the major example--in a position apart from that of their other theological and philosophical works. In England, the philosophical and theological productions of the Dominicans are similar to those which were produced by the Dominicans in France except in one major respect, that of treatises dealing with political thought. The conclusion of this thesis is that the total situation in which these men found themselves must be taken into account in any attempt to understand their thought. In view of this it is evident that Leclercq's view must be modified to the extent that the political situation in which John of Paris wrote explains in part the fact that he wrote a treatise dealing with political affairs. The De potestate regia et papali cannot be regarded merely as a theological and philosophical exposition comme les autres. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

陳強立. / 稿本(電腦打印本) / Thesis (Ph.d.)--香港中文大學哲學學部. / Gao ben (dian nao da yin ben) / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [134]-142). / Chen Qiangli. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue zhe xue xue bu. / 論文提纲 / 導言 --- p.1 / Chapter （上篇） --- 論晚清及當代儒家學者的文化反思方向 ´ؤ´ؤ「體用」論及「内聖外王」的思想格局 / Chapter 第一章 --- 從「體用」範疇的理論涵蘊看晚清「中體西用」思想的困局 / Chapter §1.1 --- 引言 --- p.5 / Chapter §1.2 --- 「體用」範疇的理論義蘊 --- p.6 / Chapter §1.3 --- 結語 --- p.12 / Chapter 第二章 --- 當代新儒家之（一）´ؤ´ؤ梁漱溟與熊十力的文化哲學 / Chapter §2.1 --- 引言 --- p.14 / Chapter §2.2 --- 梁漱溟的文化觀 --- p.15 / Chapter §2.3 --- 中國文化與儒家的獨特的理性主義 --- p.16 / Chapter §2.4 --- 熊十力的文化哲學 --- p.25 / Chapter 第三章 --- 當代新儒家之（二）一牟宗三之理性轉化理論 與「内聖外王」的再詮釋 / Chapter §3.1 --- 引言 --- p.31 / Chapter §3.2 --- 「内聖外王」的文化理想之再詮釋 --- p.32 / Chapter §3.3 --- 牟氏的理性轉化理論 --- p.36 / 總結 --- p.40 / Chapter 【下篇】 --- 論儒家政治理論傳统一一從政治之側面 檢討近百年儒家的文化發展構想 / Chapter 第四章 --- 重構儒家政治傳统的新進路 / Chapter §4.1 --- 引言 --- p.44 / Chapter §4.2 --- 史學與政治傳统 --- p.45 / Chapter §4.3 --- 倫理的政治觀 --- p.48 / Chapter §4.4 --- 政道與政治傳统 --- p.55 / Chapter §4.5 --- 政治典範與政治傳统 --- p.60 / Chapter 第五章 --- 兩種政治觀 / Chapter §5.1 --- 政治與道德 --- p.69 / Chapter §5.2 --- 利益平衡與人格提昇衡的政治觀 --- p.78 / Chapter §5.3 --- 儒家政治與人格提昇的政治觀 --- p.88 / Chapter 第六章 --- 先秦孺家政治思想之若干問題 / Chapter §6.1 --- 孔子政治思想 --- p.93 / Chapter §6.2 --- 孟子政治思想 --- p.94 / Chapter §6.3 --- 先秦儒家的合法性理論 --- p.97 / Chapter §6.4 --- 结語 --- p.102 / 總结 --- p.104 / 註釋 --- p.121 / 參考書目

All praise is to God who has made everything possible. This thesis has been a truly exciting and intellectually rewarding project. However, it would not have been possible without the help of a number of important people: I would firstly like to express, sincerely and earnestly, my gratitude to Professor Lawrence Hamilton, who has been an incredible supervisor. Not only has he been the victim of my ongoing dilemmas but he has also patiently, supportively, encouragingly and positively contributed to my personal intellectual growth. He has never turned away from my want to initiate a supervision session, no matter how random a place or time, and has always reacted in the same measured and well-thought out way, providing the stimulating feedback every graduate student can only hope for. Secondly I would like to thank my family for their unyielding support, love and concern, at times when I needed it most. They know what they have done individually and collectively and I cannot thank them enough. Thirdly, I would like to especially note the help and guidance ofDr Magnus Ryan, from Peterhouse College, University of Cambridge who, by sharing his expertise and knowledge of Medieval Political thought, illuminated my understanding of the subject. Fourthly, I would like to thank Dr David James for his help and comments on one of my final drafts. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

This thesis examines the reception of the works of Adam Ferguson, a major thinker of the Scottish Enlightenment, by a range of German readers in the late eighteenth century. It provides a survey of Ferguson's main political ideas, and argues that many of his prominent German readers did not come to terms with them. The thesis contrasts the political realities and concerns of Ferguson's Scotland with the profoundly different political concerns of his German readers, and their often vague and inaccurate ideas of Scotland, and of the British constitution. Their documented responses to Ferguson's works are brought as evidence for a cumulative and complex case of misreception. The terms in which Ferguson expressed his political ideas can be fruitfully analyzed as a political language, a vocabulary of recognizable and mutually complementing political terms. After a close examination of this particular vocabulary, the thesis proceeds to show in detail how Ferguson's German translators, commentators, reviewers and readers unwittingly dismantled this vocabulary, lost or ignored its republican and activist elements, and sometimes shifted it into other vocabularies which were far removed from the author's political intentions. However, the differences between the individual readers are emphasized, not only with respect to their varied intellectual backgrounds and works, but also touching on their personal profiles as readers and thinkers. The thesis aims especially to highlight three aspects of this Scottish- German encounter: the capacity of Ferguson's texts to be removed from their contexts and misread; the failure of civic humanist ideas to make a serious entry into German political discourse; and the merits of close textual analysis for supporting a type of explanation, which may supplement or counter-balance other explanations, about the limited effect of "imported" political ideas in eighteenth-century German discourse.

In recent years, philosophers of social science have drawn attention to the contributions of suggestive models or metaphors to political understanding. In doing so, they have suggested a distinction between models or archetypes of great scope and generality — politics seen as mechanical or organic relations, for example — and the individual metaphorical utterances in which they are presented. Historians of political thought have made a similar distinction between 'languages' or 'ideologies' which prescribe norms and conventions for political argument, and the expression and development of these languages and ideologies in texts. This dissertation shows these two developments to be complementary by investigating the extent to which political languages or ideologies are themselves made up of suggestive models of political activity. Taking our point of departure from Max Black's suggestion that a metaphor be seen as "the tip of a submerged model," we shall look for such models in groups of political metaphors sharing the same theme. Analysis of the concept 'metaphor' shows that understanding a metaphorical utterance is conditional upon a reader recreating a context in which the ground of the metaphorical identification is rendered intelligible by the point of the utterance. This distinguishes political metaphors from metaphors used in explanatory' or literary contexts. The principled strategies which authors and audiences use to produce and comprehend metaphors in political contexts are then shown to utilize existing conceptual classifications in the form of 'metaphorical fields' embedded in political discourse. These fields bring together abstract metaphor themes and concrete political doctrines to create political metaphors. In a field, the political value of 'imagery' — medicine, theatre, parts of the body or family relations — remains relatively fixed. Using illustrations mainly from metaphorical fields in which politics is seen as a therapeutic activity, political metaphors are shown to functions as maps, orienting men in a political world that is their own creation. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate