Three independent studies drawing on the cases from different spaces and times comprise this research project, but they share a common theme: how do expansive reforms that open up paths to political participation take place? The first paper takes up the case of the motor voter reform, which allows people to register to vote at driver's license offices. The reform was widely legislated by U.S. states before the passage of the National Voter Registration Act in 1993. The paper investigates the factors that helped promote the reform at the state level by breaking down the reforms along two dimensions: the voter registration location and the implementation method. Motor voter legislation could either stand alone or be accompanied by agency-based registration (ABR), which includes registration at social service public agencies that primarily serve the poor. A reform could be implemented in an active or passive way. While ABR and active implementation had the potential to mobilize previously alienated socioeconomic groups, motor voter reform itself and passive implementation were expected to have a partisan-neutral and limited impact, respectively. Using data collected from the archived materials of the leading advocacy organization of the reform, Human SERVE, I test the following three general hypotheses statistically: 1) the Democratic Party is interested in mobilizing the poor, 2) electoral competition enhances mobilization efforts by parties, and 3) liberal political culture promotes inclusive electoral institutions. All three hypotheses find some support in the empirical analysis. The second paper focuses on a candidate selection method reform in contemporary Japan. Throughout the first decade of the twenty first century, the (then) opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) used kôbo, an open-recruitment candidate selection method, which was purported to open up the party nomination to non-traditional outsider aspirants. The DPJ's action presented a puzzle: searching for low-electability amateur candidates instead of traditional quality candidates seemed paradoxical for a party preparing to take over power. The paper reveals that using kôbo was a transitional strategy for a young party building itself under the mixed-member majoritarian system. I argue that recruiting "fresh faces" was not what really motivated the use of kôbo, by showing how kôbo increasingly produced insider candidates over time. The third paper investigates the development of direct primary in nineteenth century Pennsylvania. The historical origins of the U.S. primaries have mostly been discussed in terms of statewide legislations around the Progressive Era, which made the primaries mandatory for the two major parties. This paper focuses instead on the voluntary adoption phase that took place under the party by-laws, paying special attention to the case of Pennsylvania after 1842. I argue that the party elites of county organizations initiated the introduction of the primaries in order to prevent defection and to preserve party unity. As the vote share of a party increased, the party nomination became more valuable, and more people competed for nomination. More disgruntled nomination losers would run as independents, hurting the electoral prospects of a given party in the general election. For party leaders, whose overwhelming concern was the maintenance of party unity, the direct primary system offered a solution by presenting the primary winner as a focal candidate to the party voters. The primaries made it harder for losers to defect later, with the transparent features of their procedures. Thus, the stronger the party, the more likely it was to adopt the direct primary. The paper tests this hypothesis empirically with an original data set built from hundreds of archived local newspapers. To my knowledge, this is the first study on nineteenth century county-level party activities to use comprehensive data covering most counties from a single state. The findings have broader implications as to how party competition affects the choice of candidate selection methods, and the role which competition among elites plays in the democratization of the intraparty decision-making mechanism.

Esta tese investiga a recente mobilização política dos evangélicos no Brasil. Seu objetivo é analisar certas suposições encontradas na literatura sobre o crescimento evangélico (sobretudo pentecostal) e seu impacto político na América Latina e, em particular, no Brasil. Essas suposições dizem respeito à relação estabelecida entre político evangélico e eleitor; ao crescimento da presença evangélica nos legislativos brasileiros; à «força» eleitoral dos candidatos evangélicos e das igrejas pentecostais; e ao apoio de eleitores evangélicos a candidatos que sinalizam a mesma religião. Para realizar esse objetivo, a tese se apoia em revisão da literatura relevante, na construção de um novo banco de dados de candidaturas evangélicas para o legislativo no Brasil (1998-2014) e na realização de um experimento de survey com estudantes universitários da cidade de São Paulo. Os dados são analisados por meio de estatística descritiva, modelos de regressão OLS e logística. Os resultados revelam um quadro mais complexo sobre a atuação política evangélica do que a literatura costuma supor. As afirmações sobre a suposta atuação clientelista dos deputados evangélicos, conquanto não necessariamente equivocadas, não encontram apoio na produção de leis do estado de São Paulo. Entre 1998 e 2014, o número de candidaturas evangélicas para a Câmara dos Deputados e para as Assembleias Legislativas aumentou em termos absolutos, mas se manteve estável em termos relativos. O número de evangélicos eleitos aumentou no período, mas permanece inferior à proporção de evangélicos na população brasileira. Os deputados evangélicos são, cada vez mais, provenientes de igrejas pentecostais que adotam o modelo de representação corporativa. O apoio dessas igrejas a seus «candidatos oficiais» produz um efeito positivo sobre seu desempenho eleitoral mesmo controlando por fatores como gasto de campanha, incumbência, partido, entre outros. Porém, a despeito das suposições de apoio irrestrito dos fiéis a candidatos de suas igrejas, o sucesso eleitoral das igrejas pentecostais é menor do que se assevera. Por fim, o uso de pistas religiosas por parte de candidatos evangélicos só tem efeito positivo sobre os eleitores evangélicos condicionado ao tamanho da oferta de candidatos. Por outro lado, tem efeito negativo sobre outros grupos religiosos, sobretudo num cenário com apenas dois candidatos. / This thesis investigates the recent political-electoral mobilization of Evangelicals in Brazil. Its aim is to analyze certain assumptions found in the literature on Evangelical (and specially Pentecostal) growth and its political impact in Brazil and Latin America. These assumptions concern the relationship established between Evangelical politicians and voters; the growth of Evangelical presence in Brazilian legislatures; the electoral «force» of Evangelical candidates and Pentecostal churches; and the support of Evangelical voters to candidates who signal the same religion. In order to achieve this objective, the thesis is based on a review of the relevant literature, the construction of a new database of Evangelical candidacies for the Brazilian legislatures (1998-2014) and the conducting of a survey experiment with undergraduate students from the city of São Paulo. The data are analyzed through descriptive statistics, OLS regression models and logistic regression models. The results reveal a more complex picture of Evangelical political activity than the literature usually presumes. The statements about the supposed clientelistic performance of Evangelical legislators, if not necessarily mistaken, do not find support in the law making of the state of São Paulo. Between 1998 and 2014, the number of Evangelical candidates to the Chamber of Deputies and to the Legislative Assemblies increased in absolute terms, but remained relatively stable. The number of elected Evangelicals has increased in the period, but remains below the proportion of Evangelicals in the Brazilian population. Evangelical deputies are increasingly coming from Pentecostal churches that adopt the model of corporate representation. The support of these churches to their \"official candidates\" has a positive effect on their electoral performance even if controlling for factors such as campaign spending, incumbency, party, among others. However, despite assumptions of unrestricted support from the faithful to candidates from their churches, the electoral success of Pentecostal churches is lesser than what is asserted. Finally, the use of religious cues by Evangelical candidates only has a positive effect on Evangelical voters conditioned by the size of the candidates\' offer. On the other hand, it has a negative effect on other religious groups, especially in a scenario with only two candidates.

No description available.

This thesis addresses the need to reconceptualise the doctoral experience at a time when the boundaries between education, training, research, work and career development are becoming increasingly blurred. It does so by means of a detailed analysis of what candidates do and how they operate in a variety of disciplinary, employment and other contexts.¶ In order to synthesise and interpret the outcomes of that analysis a broader concept of the doctoral enterprise is developed within which the lived experience is embedded. It is argued that effective representation of the doctoral enterprise is as important as its reconceptualisation, and that both processes are required to generate in-depth understanding of the complexity, diversity and particularity of this phenomenon.¶ Case narratives incorporating the perspectives of candidates—as well as those whom they deem to be influencing their research and learning—are employed to portray distinctive elements of doctoral work and its associated outcomes. Quantitative data and analysis derived from a national survey of doctoral candidates are combined subsequently with this qualitative material in order to generate further insight regarding doctoral activities and the entities that are integral to their enactment.¶ Drawing on theories of practice, an integrative model of the doctoral enterprise is then presented. This comprises two basic components, one of which is a set of doctoral practices classified in terms of curriculum, pedagogy, research and work. The other is a set of doctoral arrangements that reflect configurations of entities inclusive of the participants, the academy and the community.¶ The purpose of the model is to increase understanding of the dynamic and evolving nature of the doctoral enterprise and the interrelationships involving practices and arrangements. This model has implications for candidates and others involved directly in the doctoral enterprise, regardless of their sector, role or status.

<p>Theories of ambition have taught us that higher offices are valuable commodities to certain politicians, and under the right circumstances, the benefits of running for an office outweigh the associated risks. Yet some ambitious politicians emerge as candidates while others do not. In this dissertation, I present a Theory of Strategic Candidacy Decisions to explain how primary elections unfold. With new comprehensive data on the timing of candidacy decisions, I test several hypotheses regarding the determinants of electoral and fundraising success, the timing of strategic candidacy decisions, the interactions of prospective officeholders, and the impact of strategic retirements on primary races for the United States Senate. Using both qualitative and quantitative tools, including event history techniques to capture the complex dynamics of primaries, I find that potential candidates interact with one another and the unique political context within each race and emerge from the pool of potential candidates in systematic ways. In the end, the strategic behavior of ambitious politicians has implications for the slate of candidates available to the electorate and ultimately, on the quality of representation between legislators and constituents.</p> / Dissertation

<p>This dissertation examines the topic of social perceptions regarding political candidates at the intersection of race and gender. Within this project I analyze 1) the degree to which stereotypes are held at different points of this intersection; 2) the degree to which these stereotypes can be influenced by way of priming via common news reporting messages; and 3) the ways in which these stereotypes and perceptions influence evaluations of Black female political candidates and their electoral prospects. In order to examine these issues, I utilize data from two surveys I have designed: the 2011 Social Cognition and Evaluation Survey and the 2012 Political Candidate Evaluation and Social Beliefs Survey. The former gathers information regarding social and personal perceptions of "average" and "elite" Black women, White women, Black men, and White men, and the ways in which negative intersectional priming messages can influence the evaluation of each of these groups. The latter survey includes an embedded experiment in which respondents participate in two mock elections and candidate evaluations. One mock election includes a Black female with a relatively dark complexion as the fixed candidate and the other includes a Black female with a relatively light complexion as the fixed candidate, with each competing against either a White male, White female, or Black male opponent. Based on the data from the aforementioned surveys, I find that people engage in stereotyping in an intersectional, rather than a one-dimensional, manner. Consequently, Black women at different social status levels and with differing skin tones are subject to distinct intensities of the attribution of racialized, gendered, and intersectional stereotypes. In turn, the ways in which the voting public evaluates them as political candidates are influenced by these stereotypes.</p> / Dissertation

This research explores the use of memories of past school experiences to help identify unnamed and unchallenged incidents of oppression that occurred in elementary and high school. What are the implications for educators when past school experiences indicate that racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, and other harmful practices took place, but went unexamined and unclaimed as such? Three inter-related reflective analyses are used to investigate the experiences of teacher candidates, the thesis author, and practicing teachers to fully explore this query. <p>The first section examines teacher candidates reactions to anti-oppressive education. Negative reactions by students are most often defined by scholars as resistance. This section reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of this definition. The memories students shared about their past schooling suggest looking beyond the current scope of theories that define negativity as resistance. The second section includes a retrospective analysis of the authors past school experiences where oppressive practices went unidentified and unchallenged as such. In the third section, Narrative Inquiry is used to gather stories from practicing teachers whose memories also indicate unnamed examples of oppression. Participants identify school memories that helped shape their current teaching practices and enhanced their commitment to addressing racism, classism, sexism and other issues in schools today.

Academic dishonesty has been widely reported to be a prevalent occurrence among university students and yet little research has been done to explore, in depth, the meanings the phenomenon holds for students. In response to this gap in research, the purpose of this study was to discover senior Education students understandings of academic honesty and dishonesty. A naturalistic research design was employed and the data were the verbatim discussions of five groups of senior Education degree program students from two western Canadian universities.<p> Findings were focused on the substantive, structural, and future applicability in students understandings. Essential elements of academic dishonesty appearing in students understandings were existence of rules, intent to break those rules, and resulting unearned grade advantages. These elements were extrapolated to serve as a baseline definition of academic dishonesty and as principles of culpability. Numerous situational considerations were volunteered by students that described enticements, deterrents, and beliefs about likelihoods associated with academic honesty and dishonesty. These considerations served as structures for the contemplation of risk that appeared prevalent in students understandings. Future applicability in students understandings was centred on expectations for teaching and professionalism. As teachers, students expected to need to respond to and prevent academic dishonesty. When working in a professional environment, they expected little need to acknowledge sources and a more collaborative climate overall that, for them, meant concerns for academic dishonesty had less relevance. Students expectations suggested rules for teaching and they contrasted the environments experienced as students with those anticipated as teachers.<p> The findings of this study were integrated to suggest students vision of a system for academic honesty that bears some similarity to a moral system. Also extrapolated were four metaphors for the roles of students in the university related to concerns for academic dishonesty: student as subject, student as moral agent, student as trainee, and student as competitor. Implications for higher education policy development and communication were based on students focus on grades and students sense of subculture for academic honesty and dishonesty. Students deference to the authority of the professor suggested implications for instructional practice. A lack of monitoring of students and professors behaviours related to academic honesty and dishonesty had implications for administrative practice in terms of fostering norms for academic integrity. A model for discernment of the student voice is proposed for student concerns appearing to be most freely and richly explored in a discussion among students. Recommendations for approaches to future research of this nature and for research questions and student populations bring the dissertation to a close.

This research explores the use of memories of past school experiences to help identify unnamed and unchallenged incidents of oppression that occurred in elementary and high school. What are the implications for educators when past school experiences indicate that racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, and other harmful practices took place, but went unexamined and unclaimed as such? Three inter-related reflective analyses are used to investigate the experiences of teacher candidates, the thesis author, and practicing teachers to fully explore this query. <p>The first section examines teacher candidates reactions to anti-oppressive education. Negative reactions by students are most often defined by scholars as resistance. This section reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of this definition. The memories students shared about their past schooling suggest looking beyond the current scope of theories that define negativity as resistance. The second section includes a retrospective analysis of the authors past school experiences where oppressive practices went unidentified and unchallenged as such. In the third section, Narrative Inquiry is used to gather stories from practicing teachers whose memories also indicate unnamed examples of oppression. Participants identify school memories that helped shape their current teaching practices and enhanced their commitment to addressing racism, classism, sexism and other issues in schools today.

Academic dishonesty has been widely reported to be a prevalent occurrence among university students and yet little research has been done to explore, in depth, the meanings the phenomenon holds for students. In response to this gap in research, the purpose of this study was to discover senior Education students understandings of academic honesty and dishonesty. A naturalistic research design was employed and the data were the verbatim discussions of five groups of senior Education degree program students from two western Canadian universities.<p> Findings were focused on the substantive, structural, and future applicability in students understandings. Essential elements of academic dishonesty appearing in students understandings were existence of rules, intent to break those rules, and resulting unearned grade advantages. These elements were extrapolated to serve as a baseline definition of academic dishonesty and as principles of culpability. Numerous situational considerations were volunteered by students that described enticements, deterrents, and beliefs about likelihoods associated with academic honesty and dishonesty. These considerations served as structures for the contemplation of risk that appeared prevalent in students understandings. Future applicability in students understandings was centred on expectations for teaching and professionalism. As teachers, students expected to need to respond to and prevent academic dishonesty. When working in a professional environment, they expected little need to acknowledge sources and a more collaborative climate overall that, for them, meant concerns for academic dishonesty had less relevance. Students expectations suggested rules for teaching and they contrasted the environments experienced as students with those anticipated as teachers.<p> The findings of this study were integrated to suggest students vision of a system for academic honesty that bears some similarity to a moral system. Also extrapolated were four metaphors for the roles of students in the university related to concerns for academic dishonesty: student as subject, student as moral agent, student as trainee, and student as competitor. Implications for higher education policy development and communication were based on students focus on grades and students sense of subculture for academic honesty and dishonesty. Students deference to the authority of the professor suggested implications for instructional practice. A lack of monitoring of students and professors behaviours related to academic honesty and dishonesty had implications for administrative practice in terms of fostering norms for academic integrity. A model for discernment of the student voice is proposed for student concerns appearing to be most freely and richly explored in a discussion among students. Recommendations for approaches to future research of this nature and for research questions and student populations bring the dissertation to a close.