The dissertation that follows is a result of nearly two years of Zoom interviews with self-identified conservatives and/or former Republicans. In light of the changes brought forth by Trump and the new Republican Party, each of these individuals find themselves without a party to call their own. Situated during the heart of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the 2020 election, it is the story of how Donald Trump hijacked the Republican Party, and the lasting consequences polarization has on democratic institutions such as the United States. By giving voice to those previously silenced by political extremism, I argue in favour of a direct approach to political action using the methods commonly found within Anthropology. In doing so, we give voice to the individual previously silenced by extremism on both ends of the political spectrum. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In a Bayesian perspective, the probabilistic dependencies between hypotheses under consideration and diagnostic pieces of evidence are the only relevant information for probabilistic updating. We investigated whether human probability judgments conform to this assumption, by manipulating the sensory systems involved in the acquisition and processing of information concerning evidence and hypotheses. Hence, we ran five (computer-based) experiments using a variant of the classic book bag and poker chip task (e.g., Phillips & Edwards, 1966). Participants were first presented with pairs of urns A and B filled with a different proportion of balls that turned either red or green in the visual condition, balls that emitted either a low- or high-pitched sound in the auditory condition, and balls that both turned a color and emitted a sound in various cross-modal (i.e., audio-visual) conditions. One urn was then selected at random, some balls were randomly drawn from it, and their color and/or sound were disclosed. Participants’ task was to estimate the probability that each of the two urns has been selected, given the information provided. In Experiments 1 and 2, we compared the probability judgments referring to probabilistically identical visual and auditory scenarios that only differed with regards to the sensory system involved, without finding any difference between the answers provided in the two conditions. In Experiment 3, 4, and 5, the addition of cross-modal scenarios allowed us to investigate the effects on probabilistic updating of synergic (i.e., both visual and auditory evidence individually supported the hypothesis they jointly supported) or contrasting (i.e., either visual and/or auditory evidence individually supported the hypothesis opposite the one they jointly supported) audio-visual evidence. Our results provide evidence in favor of a synergy-contrasting effect, as probability judgments were more accurate in synergic conditions than in contrasting conditions. This suggests that, when perceptual information is acquired through a singular sensory system, probability judgments conform to the Bayesian assumption that the sensory system involved does not play a role in the updating process, whereas the simultaneous presentation of cross-modal information can influence participants’ performance.

This project analyses the meaning of the term “conservative” in political discourse during the Civil War Era. Far from an ideology, the term “conservative” denoted a measured approach to change that moderated political discussion on the emotional topic of slavery. Utilized by all major parties of the day, conservatives strove to provide moderate, sane solutions to an increasingly imbalanced world as the nation lumbered toward war. Specifically focusing on a unique form of conservatism, this project examines political conservatism in the states along the Ohio and Missouri Rivers or the Civil War Era West. The West was a diverse place where white colonizers from the American South, the Northeast, and various immigrant groups from Europe comingled in one location. In order to avoid conflict at home and on the national level, many in the West attempted to consolidate a western consensus that celebrated a shared white western identity, decried governmental interference with slavery, promoted compromise as a moral good, and claimed that slavery was a negotiable part of life. As I argue in this work, conservatism based on the western consensus was a major force in the politics of the era influencing major figures like Stephen A. Douglas and John J. Crittenden. Slowly over time, this form of conservatism lost ground to competing claims of the mantle for true conservatism as free soil and proslavery conservatives battled for the future of the West.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the evidences of Conrad's conservative tastes and beliefs as indicated by his way of life and his associations, and to show, further, that this conservatism is revealed directly and indirectly in his stories and novels.

The purpose of this paper is to study how the conservatism have changed in the conservative party in the United Kingdom and what influence the party leader seems to have over the party ideology. To answer this purpose an idea analysis is used and a material consisting of election manifestos from three periods of the party´s history (Churchill, Thatcher and Cameron) but even political biographies of the leaders. The result shows some difference between the manifestos and the leaders, but even some similarities. One difference, but also a similarity over time, is the view of a cooperation in Europe. Churchill’s manifestos are positive to a cooperation between nations in Europe, Thatcher and Cameron there manifestos share the same skeptics against a further European cooperation. One similarity over time is the support for family as one of the central values in the country. About the leaders and the manifestos there are some similarities, but also some difference between them. Example of similarities are Churchill and the manifestos support full employment, Thatcher and the manifestos support aim on inflation. Cameron is personally divvied in his relation to trade unions and so is the manifestos.  One difference between Churchill and the manifestos is that Churchill accepted capital punishment, but the manifestos never take a stand in this issue. Thatcher and the manifestos don’t share the same view on homosexuality rights, Thatcher is negative and the manifestos not even take a stand. Cameron´s view on privatization is unown, but the manifestos are positive.

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M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Thesis advisor: Nasser Behnegar / My dissertation explores the epistemological and political thought of Charles S. Peirce, the founder of American pragmatism. In contrast to the pragmatists who followed, Peirce defends a realist notion of truth. He seeks to provide a framework for understanding the nature of knowledge that does justice to our commonsense experience of things. Similarly in contrast to his fellow pragmatists, Peirce has a conservative practical teaching: he warns against combining theory and practice out of concern that each will corrupt the other. The first three chapters of this dissertation examine Peirce’s pragmatism and related features of his thought: his Critical Common-Sensism, Scholastic Realism, semeiotics, and a part of his metaphysical or cosmological musings. The fourth chapter explores Peirce’s warning that theory and practice ought to be kept separate. The fifth chapter aims to shed light on Peirce’s practical conservatism by exploring the liberal arts education he recommends for educating future statesmen. This dissertation makes clear that Peirce was not a crude utilitarian or simply concerned with “what works.” He was, moreover, not anti-metaphysical. Peirce has much to instruct contemporary thinkers. His is an anti-skeptical but modest theory of reality that remains valuable to contemporary readers. His message of caution in the practical realm is sound. Finally, his call for what a university ought to be and the liberal arts education that will best groom students for a life of action is still an important message. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

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This thesis explores how the American right fought the culture wars of the 1980s in the context of the rights revolution and the regulatory state. It does so by examining divisions over anti-abortion measures in Congress, controversies surrounding allegations of discriminatory withholding of medical care from disabled newborns, debates over the extent to which Title IX and other federal anti-discrimination regulations bound Christian colleges that rejected direct federal funding, and the interplay between rights and education during the AIDS crisis. In doing so, it contributes to the still-growing historiography on both American conservatism and the culture wars. Firstly, it adds shades of nuance to the literature on the American right, which has, until recently, posited the election of Ronald Reagan as the beginning of an era of untrammelled conservative ascendancy. However, these case studies reveal that despite Reagan’s resounding electoral success and the refiguring of the Republican party along conservative lines, the 1980s right was forced to fight many of its battles on terrain that remained structured by the liberal legacy. This finding also contributes to recent trends in the historiography of the culture wars, which have added a great depth of historical understanding to America’s interminable conflicts over abortion, evolution, equal marriage and other social issues. By examining how the right conceived of and reacted to the enduring influence of the rights revolution and the regulatory state in the culture wars of the 1980s, the centrality of the right to privacy becomes clear. Acknowledging the importance of this right leads to the conclusion that the fundamental restructuring of relations between the federal government and the states that had taken place during the 1960s gave rise to the culture wars of the 1980s.