Thesis (doctoral)--Freie Universität Berlin. / Issued in a published version: Ollenhauer : Biedermann und Patriot. Berlin: Siedler, 1984. Includes bibliographical references (p. 627-667).

This dissertation begins with the observation that discursive and visual representations of women in politics have direct consequences on the actual participation of women in politics (Beail & Goren, 2009; Bimey, 2010). For this reason I analyze current visual representations of female politicians in editorial cartoons. This work focuses on political cartoons because these artifacts provide information about cultural assumptions regarding gender roles and can bring insight about the cultural barriers that women still face when they become political actors. For this project I asked the following questions: How are female politicians represented visually? And how does the existing visual rhetoric enable, debilitate or restrain their political participation? This is also a comparative study of political cartoons that portray women in Mexico and the United States. To answer these questions, I analyze cartoons within a feminist framework, using literature on patriarchy, postfeminism, and the notion of the double binds faced by women in power. To examine portrayals of female politicians I developed a methodological approach that consists in identifying cartoons that rely on gender in order to construct their political commentary. Gendered cartoons are then classified using archetypes —specifically the Great Mother archetype— and stereotypes. For the analysis, I connect Kenneth Burke’s notion of perspective by incongruity with the feminist framework I previously constructed. The cartoons analyzed in this project comprise one decade, from 2002 to 2012, and four newspapers: La Jornada and Reforma (from Mexico), and The New York Times and The Washington Post (from the U.S.). I conclude that the argument that a patriarchal system no longer exists is not valid when we analyze cartoons that clearly resent women’s participation in the public political sphere. In these gendered cartoons women continue to be the symbol of the private sphere of the home. Their presence in the political space is portrayed as incongruous and cartoonists seek to restore the patriarchal order by visually taking women back to their traditional domestic space, depicting them as housewives and mothers. In these instances cartoons become powerful tools for reinforcing the traditional hierarchy of the private and public spheres. / text

High speed trains are very popular in Europe. In Sweden there has been a long political debate about the necessity of them. In 2008 there was a strong political no to the idea. However after some years of debate the government decided to build a new high speed railway between Järna (south of Stockholm) and Linköping, called “Ostlänken”. This study is about the decision-making process of an investment of 35 billion SEK involving a new railway during 2017 up to 2028. This study includes interviews with prominent politicians from different parties. The first issue concerns what arguments were used to promote the new railway, and how the local and regional politicians work to agree on a common stand point. Special interest is focused on the Right party (Moderaterna), who lead the coalition that governed Sweden from 2006 to 2014. In sum, four main issues were in focus. One conclusion is that a lack of railway-capacity between Stockholm and Linköping is important for the decision. Another issue is that “arbetslinjen” played an important role. The political interest in investments in infrastructure has raised sharply which also is positive for “Ostlänken”. A fourth issue is that globalization requires better connections to big airports.

This thesis consists of three essays. The first essay, "Press and Leaks: Do Newspapers Reduce Toxic Emissions?", uses data on plant-level emissions in 2001-2009 from the Toxic Release Inventory of the US Environmental Protection Agency, coupled with data on location and content of newspapers, to investigate whether media coverage induces firms to reduce toxic emissions. The results show that an increase in Newspapers Density, that is the number of newspapers nearby the plant, raises the press coverage of the plant's toxic emissions and reduces the amount of these emissions. This association is larger in industries exposed to consumer pressure and in counties subjected to extreme negative health outcomes. The second essay, "Gender Quotas, Female Politicians and Public Expenditures: Quasi-Experimental Evidence", estimates the effect of gender quotas on the election of female politicians and on public finance decisions in Spanish municipalities, using a Before-After Regression Discontinuity Design. Gender quotas have increased the percentage of female candidates and also, but to a lower extent, the percentage of female councilors. The difference between the two effects is due to the strategic positioning of candidates within lists. The effect of quotas on the election of female mayors and on the size and composition of municipal expenditures is not statistically different from zero. The third essay, "Are attitudes endogenous to political regimes? Beliefs about working women in state-socialist countries", studies whether individual beliefs about gender roles are endogenous to political regimes, using a Difference-in-Differences analysis. The results suggest a significant difference in the evolution of attitudes towards gender roles between Europeans in state-socialist countries and other Europeans during the period 1947-1991. Central and Eastern Europeans who formed their attitudes during state socialism seem more likely to hold progressive beliefs regarding working women.

This study examines the influence of polls and pollsters on politicians. The analysis reviews the American literature, which suggests that electoral technology is used by private political consultants to assist the politician in manipulating the voter. Six hypotheses are identified from the electoral manipulation literature, focusing specifically on the influence of political consultants on politicians. These hypotheses are tested with an historical analysis of the use of polls in the political organization of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1943 to 1984. Secondly, in-depth interviews were conducted with prominent Liberals, and are reviewed to further test the hypotheses as they relate to the influence of polling on politicians. The study concludes by examining the rise of electoral technocracy in the party, and by assessing the pollsters' influence on political decision-making.

This study consisted of qualitative interviews with six Afghan political leaders who served as cabinet members in the Afghan government prior to the Soviet invasion. The study sought to report the political conditions in Afghanistan based on the direct experiences and the reflections of these leaders whose titles and names remain anonymous.The data were collected and analyzed using a modified version of Spradley's Developmental Research Sequence Writing methodology. The data included field notes gathered from numerous interviews, casual conversations, tape recording, library research and documents provided by the informants.The rivalries that prevented political unity during the war of resistance have exacerbated the quest for power now that the common enemy, the Soviet Union and Afghan-Marxist regimes, has disappeared from the scene. No credible social or political within the country to initiate and promote political reconciliation. Each group appears to be attempting a unilateral solution to the national crisis. The great majority of Afghans are not only left out of the political process, but are also held hostage to the confrontation between competing groups whose political and military strategies is the elimination, or at best exclusion, of other competing groups. Dangerously, none of the powerful group's adversaries has given up the idea of war as the institution or nationally acceptable leadership is available instrument of political settlement. Among political leaders there is still much in Afghan political culture that is basically hostile to open and competitive politics. / Department of Educational Leadership

The focus of this dissertation is the political career of R. Vance Hartke, Democratic Senator from Indiana 1958-1976. The areas of emphasis include Hartke's role in the creation of the Veterans' Affairs Committee of the Senate and his chairmanship of the Committee, several of the controversies of his career, and his political style and philosophy.Books and articles written by Hartke were used extensively as were various newspapers and the Conqressional Record. Information was also obtained from interviews with Hartke and Frank Brizzi, who was staff director of the Veterans' Affairs Committee during Hartke's term as chairman.That Hartke philosophically was a liberal and politically was a risk-taker are among the conclusions reached in this study. Hartke's strongest asset in winning election to the Senate three times in a relatively conservative state was an energetic and personalized political style. Despite the controversies which surrounded Hartke and some apparent conflicts of interest," there is no evidence he committed illegal or unethical acts. Hartke used his power as chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee of the Senate to infuse his liberal ideology into public policy for American veterans. Furthermore, he expanded veterans' benefits during his tenure. / Department of Political Science

The purpose of the study was to compile an in-depth biography of Jonathan Jennings, the first state governor of Indiana. It was the first such research to originate on the central political figure in the development of Indiana statehood.All published or unpublished manuscript collections pertaining to Indiana politicians contemporary with Jennings were researched. Every Indiana state or territorial newspaper collection available during Jennings's years in government service were searched for references pertaining to his career. All federal, territorial or state public documents that could possibly refer to his career were studied. Fifty-three secondary books, fourteen journal articles, and seven published sets of reminiscences were utilized to complete this project.Findings1. Jonathan Jennings was a superb political organizer possessing a keen sense of timing and an ability to emotionalize political issues, to create personality clashes.2. Though generally Jeffersonian in outlook, Jennings was not an ideologue. He was a pragmatic politician, able to adapt his philosophy to the contingencies of the issues he supported.3. As a member of Congress, Jennings consistently voted from a provincial point of view.National issues, such as those which led the United States to the War of 1812, were viewed by Jennings as irritants which prevented Congress from legislating for the local needs of his constituents.4. Jennings's two terms as governor were his most valuable years of public service. His persistent support of state-financed public education, as well as aid to the elderly and infirm, indicated a sense of government responsibility uncommon for political leaders his day.5. Jennings was a frustrated, driven man who turned to alcohol rather than attempt to resolve deeply embedded feelings of inadequacy, a character flaw instrumental in his demise.Conclusions1. Rather than a prolific legislator in Congress, Jonathan Jennings was better characterized as an agitator, symbolizing the anti-Harrison, anti-slavery forces.2. Jennings's concern for local development enhanced his effectiveness as state governor. 3. Jennings's weakness for alcohol combined with the changing political structure produced by the emerging Jacksonian forces, brought to conclusion a political career which might otherwise have contributed for several years beyond its time. / Department of History

This thesis is a study of the fourth century B.C. Athenian politician Apollodoros the son of Pasion of Acharnae, and of the speeches which he delivered and which are preserved in the Corpus Demosthenicum. Chapter 1 contains a chronological survey of the lives of Pasion and Apollodoros. In Chapter 2, which contains an examination of the financial circumstances of the family, I am concerned not merely to tackle the vexed question of the size of Pasion's estate, but also to analyse the sources of that wealth, and the uses to which it was put. In Chapter 3 I examine the question of the authorship of the speeches which Apollodoros delivered, including the performance of some simple stylistic tests, which reveal a clear difference of style between these speeches and the genuine private speeches of Demosthenes. In Chapter 4 I discuss the form and function of the speeches, examining how far they diverge from the practice of other Athenian orators, and how far they are influenced by rhetorical theory. I also seek to question the generally held view that they are incompetently composed, and suggest that any diverges from Demosthenic practice or from rhetorical theory should not necessarily be considered indicative of a lack of ability on the part of their author. In Chapter 5 I try to assess whether Apollodoros received a rhetorical education, and I examine the likely sources of his legal and historical knowledge. In Chapter 6 I examine in detail one particular aspect of the speeches: the inclusion of a long and detailed historical narrative in Against Neaera. I attempt to determine the sources of this account, and then to look for any signs elsewhere in the speeches of an historical interest on Apollodoros' part. Chapter 7 deals with Apollodoros' political career, whilst in Chapter 8 I examine the position of the family within Athenian society. I attempt to determine the social circles in which Pasion and Apollodoros moved, the extent to which they were accepted into Athenian high society, and the ways in which they tried to use their money to acquire social acceptance. The two appendices contain a discussion of the authenticity of documents preserved in the manuscripts of the speeches, and the data from two stylistic tests which I performed.

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