Thesis (M.A. (Political and International Studies))--Rhodes University, 2005. / A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Political Studies.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xvii, 270 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-270). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-144). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Louisville, 2009. / Department of Political Science. Vita. "August 2009." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-67).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Louisville, 2009. / Department of Urban and Public Affairs Vita. "May 2009." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-121).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Allison Calhoun-Brown, committee chair; Michael Binford, Richard Engstrom, committee members. Electronic text (83 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed May 10, 2207; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-81).

Scholars have researched how voters make decisions for well over a half a century, but these studies are limited in what they are able to say about how voters make decisions because they have focused on the choice rather than the process. Most of these studies have focused on the choice that voters reach or the way their memories are structured, overlooking the importance of the search and acquisition of information. Specifically, scholars in political science have paid little attention to how contextual variations in the information environment affect how voters make decisions. This dissertation investigate`s how changes in context affect how voters search for information. I explore three specific contexts: the number of offices on the ballot, the availability of partisan information about the candidates, and the presence or absence of campaign dialogue between two candidates. Indeed, one of the prominent features of American elections is the variation in the number of elections across jurisdictions, the availability of partisan information about candidates, and the amount of campaign dialogue between candidates--the three contexts that I examine in this study. I conduct three experiments that manipulate each of these contexts, using a dynamic information board that simulates the campaign environment and process tracing methods to track the information subjects chose to view and in what order they chose to view it. Results indicate that context shapes the way voters search for and acquire information. When faced with long ballots, subjects examined information less closely, they compared more information between candidates, and they searched for information less systematically. When subjects were unable to use the partisan cue, they compared less information between candidates and searched for information less systematically. Finally, when there was no dialogue between candidates, subjects searched for less information and had a less systematic search for it. These findings suggest that there are better ways to design elections.

Although the topics of voting behavior and campaign strategy have vast amounts of political science literature, there is not much evidence that campaigns embrace theories of why people vote and how to get them to vote - especially at the local government level. This paper analyzes the urban voting behavior theory Kaufmann develops in The Urban Voter, Group Interest Theory, and combines with generally accepted methods of campaign strategy that produce the best outcomes. Applying this synthesis to the 2013 Boston mayoral election, the Group Interest framework does not seem to fully explain an open seat election in a rapidly changing Boston population. However, this framework does prove successful for the campaign strategies utilized in the preliminary election. Using archival research, personal interviews, and polling results, there is limited support for using the Group Interest framework and best campaign practices in being successful in an urban election.

abstract: This thesis explores the story behind the long effort to achieve Native American suffrage in Arizona. It focuses on two Arizona Supreme Court cases, in which American Indians attempted, and were denied the right to register to vote. The first trial occurred in 1928, four years after the Indian Citizenship Act granted citizenship to all Native Americans born or naturalized in the United States. The Arizona Supreme Court rejected the Native American plaintiff's appeal to register for the electorate, and subsequently disenfranchised Native Americans residing on reservations for the next twenty years. In 1948, a new generation of Arizona Supreme Court Justices overturned the court's previous ruling and finally awarded voting rights to all qualified Native Americans in the state. However, voting rights during the Civil Rights era did not necessarily mean equal voting rights. Therefore, this thesis also investigates how the Voting Rights Act of 1965 greatly reduced the detrimental effects of voter discrimination. This study examines how national events, like world war and the Great Depression influenced the two trials. In particular, this thesis focuses on the construction of political and social power in Arizona as it related to Native American voting rights. In addition, it discusses the evolution of native citizenship in the United States at large and for the most part within Arizona. The thesis also considers how the goal of native assimilation into American society affected American Indian citizenship, and how a paternalistic and conservative American Indian policy of the 1920s greatly influenced the outcome of the first trial. Another thread of this story is the development of mainstream white views of Native Americans. Lastly, this thesis identifies the major players of this story, especially the American Indian activists and their supporters whose courage and perseverance led to an outcome that positively changed the legal rights of generations of Native Americans in Arizona for years to come. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. History 2011