This dissertation is a study of the political transformation of Texas during the twentieth century from a predominantly Democratic to a two-party state. It is commonly asserted that the fundamental conservatism of Texas voters led them to abandon the national Democratic Party as it embraced more liberal reforms. This shift led to a rise in support in Texas for the Republican Party, which continued to advocate a more conservative agenda. But this change demands a more thorough explanation at the local level, in part because such a study can also reveal other factors at work. This dissertation first examines how prohibition impacted the state's political status quo and provided an opportunity for the Republican Party to increase its numbers. It then discusses the New Deal and the growth of Texas's oil industry, and how government regulation shaped political developments. The impact of urbanization and suburbanization on Republican growth are also addressed, along with numerous campaigns that reflected the changes occurring in Texas's electorate during this time. Although Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1952 and 1956 wins in Texas were a strong indication of the realignment among Texas voters, it was John G. Tower's election to the United States Senate that served as the first catalyst for the Republicans' dream of a two-party state. Following the election of Tower, the Republicans faced setbacks from the landslide victory of Lyndon B. Johnson after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, followed by the Watergate scandal, but they managed to rebound effectively. Thus, in addition to addressing the question of what spurred the rise of the Republican Party in Texas during the first half of the twentieth century, this dissertation provides more nuanced answers to the question of how Texas became a two-party state by 1988, which of course paved the way for a Republican triumph just ten years later.

The intent of this thesis is to analyze the political development of the six counties comprising the I-4 Corridor from 1944 to 2016. The literature review will develop an understanding of realignment theory and its application to Southern and Florida politics. The data analysis will analyze Presidential, Gubernatorial and Senate Election Results from the six counties, compared with census data for each of the six counties to show voting trends at a county-level basis. U.S. Census Data from 1940 to 2010 will also be used to analyze population and population density of the region at-large, and at a countywide level, in our attempt to examine variance in countywide election results across decades.

The 2016 U.S. presidential election results surprised many, after several groups many believed to be surefire voters for Democrats based on previous elections voted for Republican Donald Trump (Bump, 2016). Whenever a change takes place in voter patterns, one begins to hear phrases like “critical election” and “political realignment.” A critical election is an election where there is a change of at least 10 percent in partisan alignment, but it does not persist in the next election. A partisan realignment is similar to a critical election, but the change is more durable. This research explores whether the 2016 election can be classified as a critical election and whether and how key groupings of Democratic voters voted in the election compared to their votes in the 2012 election. Using data aggregated at the county level, regression analyses suggest that voters’ education, access to health care, union membership, racial/ethnic diversity, and income level all had statistically significant relationships with votes in both elections and with the change in vote between 2016 and 2012, all were substantively significant or in directions consistent with the presence of a critical election when viewed either from the national or even regional viewpoint. Evidence suggests that 2016 was a critical election. / M.A. / If 2016 proved anything about elections, it is that at times they can be difficult to predict. Predicting voter behavior based on past elections is not straightforward, in part because at times voters can make sharp changes in their party alliance over the course of four years. Sometimes those changes are lasting, but they also can fade by the next election cycle. This study examined whether the 2016 U.S. presidential election constituted such a sharp and sudden change from the 2012 election, an event social scientists term a “critical election.” Conducted at the county level, the study examined whether and how voter groupings (based on education, access to health care, union membership, income, and race/ethnicity) changed notably between 2012 and 2016. What was found was that as expected Democrats experienced a negative change in support among union, white, and impoverished voters. What was not expected was the negative change in Black votes for Democrats between 2012 and 2016. Another unexpected, though smaller, change was a drop in Democratic support by the college educated. No significant change in Democratic support was found among Hispanics or those with access to healthcare. Based on these findings 2016 can be considered to have been a critical election for Blacks.

This thesis presents a fully integratable read-out front-end for recording from piezoelectric sensors. It is proposed to periodically reset the input signal to avoid build-up of large voltages across the circuit input terminals. Digitizing the signal after buffering allows removal of the reset steps in the digital domain, thus yielding a faithful representation of the applied input force variation. Different realignment algorithms are presented in this thesis, and the measured results as well as the simulated results from a bench setup are reported which confirm a 52.5 dB dynamic range and recording of frequencies as low as 0.55 Hz. It is also shown the effect of input current leakage is reduced. The proposed system is simulated using the Cadence Spectre simulator, Synopsys HSPICE and National Instruments LabVIEW to confirm its operation. Different realignment algorithms are examined using MATLAB. The read-out circuit is further realized by 0.35 £gm 2-poly 4-metal Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) process technology. The chip measured results are reported and compared to the simulation. The measured implementation yields a pressure recording range of 0.4 N to 169 N, while consuming 230 £gW from 3 V supplies.

This dissertation is a study of political realignment from a rhetorical perspective. Specifically, I use the lens of doxa to rhetorically explore how basic assumptions regarding the role of government shift over time, and how crisis narratives are used to usher in these doxastic transformations. I explore the elections of Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama as markers of such shifts. In chapter one, I provide a statement of purpose and justification for my study, along with a description of the historical contexts of the 1932, 1980, and 2008 presidential elections. Chapter two includes a literature review, in which I discuss scholarship related to political realignment, the rhetorical situation, doxa, and crisis rhetoric. I also provide a description of my method of rhetorical criticism, and an explanation of how the analysis chapters are structured. Chapter three is my first analysis chapter. Using 55 news and opinion articles, I construct a doxa of the Roosevelt era, a doxa of the Reagan era, and a doxa of the Obama era. Creating these doxai provides a context for understanding how each respective candidate challenged the doxa of his time, and sought to usher in a transformation of the role of government. In chapter four, I explore five speeches delivered by each respective candidate to examine how these doxastic transformations are rhetorically manifest. I also investigate how crisis narratives are employed in the service of ushering in a doxastic transformation. In chapter five, I explore the implications of my analysis, and reflect upon limitations of this study and possibilities for future research. In sum, this study provides insight into the ways in which basic assumptions regarding the role of government change over time, and the implications of these shifts.

Managed realignment is now widely seen as an important part of coastal management strategy, as an environmentally sustainable, cost-effective alternative to traditional, hard defences. However, the trajectory of salt marsh development in managed realignment schemes remains uncertain and it is unclear how sites should be managed to fulfil both coastal defence and biodiversity objectives. In this study, the overarching aim is to find out ways in which we can create salt marshes that are self-sustaining and function as closely to natural ecosystems as possible, by considering the linked biogeomorphological processes in salt marsh ecosystems. Such an approach will improve predictions of habitat development and recommendations for future practice in managed realignment schemes. The first important question is: How do pre-alignment plant species growing within managed realignment sites respond to salt water inundation upon re-exposure to flooding? Understanding the responses of the terrestrial vegetation community to initial seawater flooding may improve predictions of the short-term transition into salt marsh vegetation. To answer this, the effects of seawater inundation on pre-existing vegetation are initially examined in a greenhouse experiment in Chapter 3. It was demonstrated that one common plant species component of many coastal grasslands, Trifolium repens, responds poorly to simulated seawater soil flooding, but the response is population-, i.e. ecotype-, specific; therefore, the species consequently has an adaptive capacity to withstand short periods of soil inundation by seawater. In addition, I look at how and why the vegetation community of a restored site transitions following the reintroduction of tidal water, including the response of the original community of non-salt marsh plant species to salt water inundation and subsequent salt marsh plant community reassembly. After three years of tidal inundation at South Efford managed realignment site (SEM), terrestrial vegetation had decreased in cover and nearly all species recorded on the adjacent natural marsh had colonised. However, the cover of salt marsh species was limited by waterlogging, caused by modifications to the tidal regime by a self-regulating tidal gate. This leads on to the second question: How do new engineering techniques alter the tidal regime and what specific aspects of the new regime drive plant community reassembly and sedimentation patterns? In Chapters 4, 5 and 6, three years of ecological and geomorphological development are investigated in response to a variable inundation regime imposed by regulated tidal exchange at SEM. Inundation of the marsh surface was very regular, but water levels were not deep enough to encourage sufficient morphological development, sedimentation nor hydrochory. In contrast, ecological development was limited by waterlogging. Balancing the tidal regime with the drainage efficiency of managed realignment sites may be the most likely scenario under which restored salt marsh will develop with maximum biodiversity benefits. Otherwise, further management techniques, such as the excavation of tidal channels, may need to be employed to improve site drainage. Consequently, the final question is: How can biodiversity be maximized on realignment sites through the use of different management techniques and site design? Tidal channels on a range of managed and natural sites were shown to improve the drainage efficiency of adjacent soils (particularly channels of greater width and/or higher Strahler order). Plant species diversity was generally higher on channel banks in managed realignment sites. On sites with highly reduced soils, the colonisation and establishment of halophytes could be advanced on the banks of tidal channels. Additionally, topographic heterogeneity introduced by tidal channels created a variety of habitat niches, which allowed a range of salt marsh species to establish in the absence of highly competitive species, such as Elymus repens. Results from this study could contribute to the generation of a number of recommendations for the implementation of managed realignment schemes, particularly regarding the excavation of tidal creek networks.

This study forthbrings a definition of economic vulnerability and indirectly measures how this definition correlates towards choice of party in the Swedish elections of 2010, 2014 and 2018. It does so by the help of regression analysis. The result is that there seems to be a connection between economic vulnerability and some of the parties. A partern in the material is that the parties Kristdemokraterna, Liberalerna, Miljöpartiet and Moderaterna has a negative correlation with economic vulnerability in all the examined elections. Socialdemokraterna has a positive correlation with economic vulnerability in all the examined elections. Sverigedemokraterna has a positive correlation in two of the examined elections. Centerpartiet and Vänsterpartiet only has statisticly significant results in one of the examined elections. Centerpartiet has a negative correlation and Vänsterpartiet has a positive correlation in that election. I try to explain these findings with Rational choice theory.Nyckelord: / Studien tar fram en definition utav ekonomisk utsatthet och mäter indirekt hur denna korrelerar gentemot partival i de svenska riksdagsvalen 2010,2014 och 2018. Till detta så användes regressionsanalys. Resultatet är att det verkar finnas ett samband emellan ekonomisk utsatthet och vissa partier. Ett mönster som uppträder är att partierna Kristdemokraterna, Liberalerna, Miljöpartiet och Moderaterna har en negativ korrelation i alla val som undersöks medans Socialdemokraterna har en positiv korrelation i alla val. Sverigedemokraterna har en positiv korrelation i två av de undersökta valen. Centerpartiet och Vänsterpartiet har endast statistiskt signifikant resultat i ett av valen. Centerpartiet har då ett negativt samband och Vänsterpartiet ett positivt samband. Jag försöker därefter förklara detta med hjälp utav ’rational choice’-teori.Abstract

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Among scholars in the field of state and local politics, the value of using the state and local levels of analysis cannot be overemphasized. Examining political trends at these levels often provides us with far more information about the United States than only looking at the national level. This is true particularly for subjects like elections, parties, and realignment. The research reported here adds to a body of literature that focuses on the state level when examining elections and party realignment. In this thesis I focus on the dynamics of elections in West Virginia. The main focus of this research is to see to what to extent West Virginia has experienced a realignment of its political party system. Due to regional differences within the state I anticipate that more change will occur farther north and east. The data used here to explore these differences are at the county and state legislative district levels and were gathered from the Secretary of State's office in West Virginia (on-line) and from the 1980 and 1990 U.S. census. Such measures as turnout, registration and election results at the federal and state levels will be used to indicate changes in partisan competition. / Master of Arts

During periods of turmoil when ideological preferences between the federal branches of government fail to align, the relationship between the three quickly turns tumultuous. Electoral realignments especially have the potential to increase tension between the branches. When a new party replaces the 'old order' in both the legislature and the executive branches, the possibility for conflict emerges with the Court. Justices who make decisions based on old regime preferences of the party that had appointed them to the bench will likely clash with the new ideological preferences of the incoming party. In these circumstances, the president or Congress may seek to weaken the influence of the Court through court-curbing methods. One example Congress may utilize is changing the actual size of the Supreme The size of the Supreme Court has increased four times in United States history, and three out of the four alterations happened after an electoral realignment. Through analysis of Supreme Court cases, this thesis seeks to determine if, after an electoral realignment, holdings of the Court on issues of policy were more congruent with the new party in power after the change in composition as well to examine any change in individual vote tallies of the justices driven by the voting behavior of the newly appointed justice(s). / Master of Arts