"The history of the Spanish-speaking population of Texas, as noted throughout this study, is synonymous with this group's struggle to overcome its social and economic subordination in a society where Anglo-American culture, language, and customes predominate. Mexican-American politics during this century have included several factors, namely abolishment of predjudices against Americans of Mexican ancestry, improvement of educational facilities and opportunities, eradication of this group's social apathy, and elimination of any other inequities which plagued this ethnic group. Progress in these fields was, Mexican-American leaders believed, precursory to direct governmental participation of Texans of Mexican descent - as voters and candidates - in local, state, and national elections."--leaf 90.

Nées dans l'incertitude, les autorités administratives indépendantes semblent aujourd'hui durablement implantées dans le paysage institutionnel français. Le succès remporté par la catégorie juridique ne saurait, toutefois, éluder les questions que posent ces instances vis-à-vis des principes fondateurs de la démocratie moderne. Au regard des schémas ordinaires de la théorie de la représentation, les autorités administratives indépendantes constituent, en effet, une déviation du système démocratique. Pourtant, une conception renouvelée de la théorie politique permet d'établir ces organismes comme de potentielles entités démocratiques. En dehors des rouages traditionnels de l'Etat, la formule institutionnelle révèle la possibilité d'une démocratie enrichie et ressourcée. Reste que, sous peine de ruiner l'originalité de l'objet juridique, les pouvoirs publics et les corps constitués doivent prendre la mesure du phénomène par un ajustement du contrôle juridictionnel et un aménagement du contrôle politique. / Despite uncertain beginnings, independent administrative authorities now appear implanted once and for all in the French institutional landscape. However, the success of this legal category must be confronted with the founding principles of modern democracy. By comparison with the dominating theory of representation, independent administrative authorities constitute, in fact, a deviation from the democratic system. Yet a renewed conception of political theory enables these organisations to be considered as genuine democratic entities. Beyond traditional state structures, their institutional configuration reveals the possibility of an enriched and revitalised democracy. Nevertheless, both government and state bodies must take stock of the impact of this phenomenon by adjusting both judicial and political controls; otherwise, the originality of this legal subject could be ruined.

Due to the standards and values that characterized our society through history women have had a hidden place in the historiography. By a qualitative media analysis these values have been analysed to find out how   women with the right to vote moved the values and how they were described in newspapers and magazines.  The study is from Judith Butlers interpretation of how the gender perspective went through a process of normalization. The linguistic dimension of women has been analysed for two reasons firstly to discover how women are described as political subjects in 1911 and 1921 and how this can have affected perceptions of gender and value.  In my study I came to the conclusion that their political interests and achievements most often were overshadowed because of their gender 1911 more than 1921.  During 1921 it was still more important that women were women than men were men. Secondly I have studied how the women through magazines tried to tone down the fact that they were ground breakers. The study resulted in that the women often described their female characteristics in relation to their political relevance to give the reader the impression that femininity and politics belong together. These phenomena showed up more often in magazines than newspapers and were interpreted as these connections between femininity and politics were a part woman’s leverage to get the right to vote. The study contributes to the research of women’s history and a wider understanding for how language and journalism can contribute to perceptions of genus.

Bibliography: leaves 286-306.

Between 1880 and 1900, the Oregon Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) significantly impacted the lives of Oregon women. Not simply an organization of middle class white women, the Oregon WCTU enlisted Native American and African American women, and persistently advocated for improved conditions for working women. The WCTU aspired to be more than a simple temperance union, taking on a broad social agenda which had as its goal the social emancipation of women. It successfully secured positive changes for women in the areas of sexuality, labor, personal safety, education, and prison life in addition to successfully advocating several temperance issues on the state and national level. The union also served to solidify the bond between women, mobilizing them into a social class. Despite their commitment to improving the lives of women, not all WCTU members were supportive of the suffrage movement. Open conflict between the WCTU and the state suffrage association, led by Abigail Scott Duniway, highlights the complexity of women's politics in Oregon at the end of the nineteenth century. Divisions between women on the issues of suffrage and temperance reveal early disagreements as to the best route to increased freedom for women. Such division led to a delay in achieving equal suffrage in the state of Oregon. Despite their disenfranchisement, women's work in the public arena shaped the development of communities and the state of Oregon. Through petition circulation, public speaking, industrial schools, labor union organization, and political lobbying, Oregon women influenced the decisions made by voting men. The activities of Oregon women at the end of the nineteenth century suggest that women wielded political power long before they gained the right to vote. / Graduation date: 1999

This thesis analyzes Jason Brennan's paper "The Right to a Competent Electorate," then critiques his argument in favor of restricting voting rights to those deemed competent. I consider the practical and ethical implications of testing for competence, then conclude, contrary to Brennan, that granting all citizens voting rights is more just than restricting the voting population.

The methodological approach used to tell the Smith sisters’ story is first and foremost a case study of women in the nineteenth century and the gendered categories that were constructed to define women. The story will be told through a biographical narrative, which will allow Hannah, Julia, and Abby Smith’s to tell their story in their own voice. Also, included within the biography is an examination of the nineteenth-century theories that defined women’s lives, and what effect, if any, these theories had on the Smiths. Each chapter is layered with three different narratives in an attempt to unravel the world that women lived in the nineteenth century. First, the chapter provides a description and analysis of the specific theories such as Republican Motherhood and cult of domesticity to ground the Smith women in the discursive world in which they lived. Then the chapter closely examines the practice or the way the Smith women lived their lives and what they thought about their world. Lastly, each chapter explores the secondary sources that have been written about each subject, such as the new female seminaries that opened in the nineteenth century. By combining these approaches, I hope to avoid some of the shortcomings that dominate the study of women today. First, the theoretical models and the study of real lives of women actually leave women out of their own stories. Second, historians tend to evaluate women’s lives from the past based upon their own political agendas and their own beliefs of what freedom and rights mean completely discarding what it might have meant to women in their own time period.

No description available.

This thesis examined the news coverage and editorial coverage the New York Times gave Susan B. Anthony’s participation in the women’s suffrage movement from the time Miss Anthony joined the movement in September 1852 until her death in March 1906. Using various books on Miss Anthony as well as the New York Times index, a chronological list of events and activities involving Miss Anthony’s participation in the woman’s suffrage movement was complied. Pages of the New York Times then were examined on the dates and near the dates of Miss Anthony’s activities to learn what coverage the newspaper had given her or the movement.The study showed that when the woman’s suffrage movement began in the early 1800s, women had few of the rights they enjoy today. Society of the time believed a woman’s place was in the home and that only man, as head of the household and chief breadwinner, should enjoy the right of suffrage. However, people who supported the woman’s suffrage movement believed women should enjoy the same employment opportunities and wages men of that day enjoyed and saw the ballot as the women could achieve those opportunities.Having shown the society of the early 1800s as well as the reasons for the woman's suffrage movement, the thesis focused on Miss Anthony's activities in the movement to show the coverage the New York Times gave her and the movement both news-wise and editorially throughout her life. The thesis found the New York Times covered her activities and those of the movement factually, based on the historical books written about her life and activities. However, the study found the newspaper's editorial opposition to the movement lacked the facts to support its emotional, and often illogical, feelings against the movement. Only when Miss Anthony was found guilty of voting did the New York Times stand on firm ground in opposition to her actions because it presented facts based on the United States Constitution to support its statements.The thesis concluded the New York Times reported its news stories factually and accurately, but used emotional appeals which lacked facts to support its opposition to the woman's suffrage movement. The thesis also concluded the New York Times reflected the society it served, a society that believed woman belonged in the home instead of out in a man's world, demanding the ballot in order to achieve equal rights with man.

The idea that Blacks were the prominent force in Southern governments during Reconstruction has been the theme of a number of Southern Whites and others who had sympathy for the South. They have emphasized this view so long that it has almost become an established fact. They have also pounced upon the weaknesses of a number of Black politicians of this period, labeling these men as "not fit to hold political positions." This writer has proven that not all of these men were unqualified as office holders through the life and career of John R. Lynch. The background and accomplishments of Lynch denies the "not fit to hold political positions" idea.Since there is little published on John R. Lynch apart from general histories of other prominent Black leaders of this period, the purpose of this study was to examine the life of John R. Lynch, the impact he had on Reconstruction and selected American historians' views of Lynch and Reconstruction. This writer did this study in hopes that an examination of the life of Lynch might serve to provide a more balanced account of the part played by Black office holders of that period.The research showed that Lynch was a significant political leader in post-Civil War Mississippi and in the United States Congress and that his contemporaries, Black and White, recognized his competence and his honesty. However, this record has remained obscure since no historian, White or Black, with the exception of John Hope Franklin, has selected Lynch as a major topic of historical research. While a number of historians have mentioned Lynch in their writings, none have given him full credit for his accomplishment. White historians such as James Ford Rhodes, John W. Burgess and William A. Dunning omitted him in their justification of White treatment of Blacks during Reconstruction. Black historians proved almost as neglectful in their lack of treatment.