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Central planners and citizens, conservatives and reformers, 19th-century liberal statisticians and today's advocates of sustainable development all draw on statistics for the elaboration and communication of political visions. Yet, this striking phenomenon has so far largely escaped the attention of political philosophers in the English-speaking world. As politics has come to be informed and shaped by statistics, there is a need to scrutinize omnipresent statistical accounts for their political vision. Taking as its political vision the idea of society as a fair system of co-operation, this thesis offers a series of essays towards a political philosophy of statistics. To this end, the thesis retrieves the statistical macro-scopic point of view in the vision of co-operation as spelled out by John Rawls and contrasts this uptake of statistics with the one in Martin Heidegger's phenomenology of everydayness. The goal is to make explicit the implicit role of statistics in the philosophical reflection of these thinkers. This thesis then argues for the place of statistics in a system of co-operation in terms of accountability institutions. It also engages the contemporary political issue of sustainable development, which has seen the rapid development and use of statistics. It argues that the Index for Sustainable Development is not a measure of sustainable development, but rather a debunking index. As such, it is a stepping stone for more systematic accounts, such as the eco-space proposal. For these proposals to make a positive contribution to sustainable development, they must be situated within a vision of large-scale political society.

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This dissertation explores the complex relationship between state identity, foreign policy, and systemic norm diffusion. Based on an empirical examination of the international military response to the humanitarian crises associated with the Yugoslav wars of secession (1991--1995), Somali civil war and famine (1991--1993), Rwandan genocide (1994), and Zairian refugee crisis (1996), I contend that a state's foreign policy is primarily a product of its international identity. The country case studies (Canada, France, and the United States) are not merely isolated narratives. Drawing on the logic of 'system effects' analysis, with its emphasis on the role of feedback and indirect effects, I then situate each state within the larger systemic narrative, highlighting the systemic normative consequences of each state's policy choices. In addition to demonstrating that states from outside the great power club can exert significant international normative influence (a heretofore unexplored phenomenon), the study paints a much clearer picture than presently exists about the possibilities for, and limits to, ethical normative evolution in world politics.

The patriots depend on the uprising of the people and on popular enthusiasm in general, both for the physical and for the ideological support to achieve the revolution. In order to ensure the progress of the revolution, they will strive to control and direct popular agitation through written discourse. Revolutions de Paris, one of the most popular newspapers of the French Revolution, offers a good example of that: events are interpreted through narratives that distinguish 'good' popular uprisings from 'bad' ones, thus outlining a plan for the contribution of popular enthusiasm to the revolution.

This thesis identifies some of the new muckraking journalists writing for American newspapers and the role they are playing in the 1970's. To identify the modern muckrakers, questionnaires were sent to 50 newspaper journalists asking them-to define the term, discuss who's muckraking today and whether or not they consider themselves muckrakers. An additional 100 questionnaires were sent to all U.S. Senators asking them if newspapers in their state indulge in muckraking, character assassination and trial by newspaper. If so, they were asked to identify the newspaper, specific examples and name those reporters doing the muckraking. Senators were asked not to identify themselves on the returned questionnaire.As the result of this thesis it has been determined that muckraking is a bona fide practice today. However, many of those participating in this type of journalism prefer to call it investigative reporting. It was also determined that U.S. Senators are reluctant to make their views on the subject known, as only a small percentage answered the questionnaire.

Architectural discourses related to portable buildings are largely positivistic and focused on structure, materials, and modern technology. Scholars profile small, prefabricated constructions as relocatable, adaptable, and reusable according to the user's contradictions. While romanticizing a unique lifestyle, portable house prototypes open the way for industrial mass production and low-cost housing. Intentionally designed as place-independent units, they can, and often do, remain in one place for a long time. This scenario impacts significantly the social and spatial contexts of a particular locality, as it confronts the territorial claims of special interest groups. What is the role of portable buildings in such a setting? Who are the decision-makers and decision-making agencies'? This thesis focuses on the difference between the declared design intention described in current architectural literature regarding portable houses and the political and social practice of placing them in one of the world's most contested territories — the West Bank.Methodologically, a discourse survey, developed with experimental, self-made portable and temporary dwellings in 2002, gives an overview of relevant categories of portable houses: prototypes, parasites, and developers. A fourth category, transformers, interprets portable buildings within the context of the West Bank. This is followed by a material culture study conducted on site in December 2004/January 2005. Finally, several interviews provide subjective perspectives of portable houses in the West Bank. In addition, the works of the scholars Kronenberg, Kozlovsky, Weizman/Segal, Rotbart, and Foucault provide the basis for much of this analysis.In the extreme case of the West Bank, it was determined that designed as site-independent, portable houses in the West Bank carry significant local and regional meaning. As they are industrially fabricated and quickly deployed in large numbers at various, elevated locations, they become instruments of spatial control (observation, psychological demonstration of Israeli power and intimidation, territorial gain, and presence). Furthermore, portable houses here are appointed a political role by various agencies: defining and extending the national boundaries in a state of political indefiniteness and negotiations. The particular construction technology of `portable house' is used by a culture within a well-considered strategy of war.The reality of transportable buildings outside the architectural discourses is based on mass production, clustered distribution at difficult places with the intention for territorial claim, while maintaining strategic flexibility. Ultimately, portable houses need to be redefined as active instruments--rather than neutral products—that create subjective place attachment and identity, actively influence a territorial conflict, and impact spatial order and control. Thus, it can be argued that portable buildings make a territorial claim permanent. / Department of Architecture

Previous research shows that women are more likely to vote Democrat than men. Using the 2000 Middletown Area Survey this paper tests the Feminist Consciousness Theory as a possible explanation for the gender gap in voting. Results indicate that women in the study voted more Democrat than men. Those who scored higher on the NonTraditional Gender Role Ideology scale, the Support for Gender Equality Scale and who said that they were a feminist were more likely to vote Democrat. Women were more likely to support gender equality and identify as being a feminist than were men. This means that because women are more likely to have a feminist conscious they are more likely to vote Democrat. / Department of Sociology

Note: / Many studies explore the determinants of support for ethnic parties, and the consequences of such parties for democracy. This dissertation addresses these questions through a study of the Bahujan Samaj Party (B.S.P.) in India's largest state, Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). The BSP is India's only successful lower caste party, and gained greatest support over the last two decades in U.P., which it now rules. The dissertation argues that material benefits, delivered on a programmatic basis, account for the success of the B.S.P., and perhaps other ethnic parties too, among poorer groups.[...] / De nombreuses etudes se penchent sur les facteurs expliquant l’appui citoyen aux parris ethniques ainsi que les consequences d’un tel appui en ce qui a trait a la democratie. Cette these aborde ces questions a u·avers une etude du Parti Bahujan Samaj (PBS) dans le plus grand Etat indien, !’Uttar Pradesh (UP). Le PBS est le seul parti de basses castes ayant connu un succes electoral en Inde, et dirige maintenant l’UP, resultat d’une popularite croissante au cours des deux dernieres decennies. Cette these argumente que les avantages materiels, distribues de facon programmatique, expliquent le succes du PBS, et sans doute celui d’autres parris ethniques representant les couches les plus pauvres de la societe.[...]

Using regime theory, we consider in this thesis whether there is evidence of the gradual establishment of norms, principles, rules and regulations governing donor policies with regards to linking foreign aid to human rights practices. We hypothesize that, despite the constraints caused by the multiplicity of foreign policy objectives for any given donor, there is evidence of a developing human rights regime in the foreign aid policies and practices of donors of aid. Using a historical approach, we study the aid policies and practices of two international organizations (the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and two aid donors (Norway and the United States). We investigate the donors' policy statements, monitoring mechanisms, policy implementation and changes in donor behavior for evidence of the presence of a regime. Our findings suggest regime development occurring over three distinct periods of time (1945-50; 1973-83; 1989-94), with the resulting regime operating at three distinct levels with varying degrees of efficiency and effectiveness.