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Political Science Departmental Honors Archive

The following list includes the names of Dickinsonians who have earned departmental honors, the thesis/project title, and the year of conferral. If there is no thesis or project title, the conferring department only will be listed. Each academic department (or program) has its own criteria for awarding departmental honors. Please see the Advising Guide or elsewhere on the department’s main website for details


Carrie Ann Becher (2023)
Theorizing Online Activism: Lessons from the Disability Justice Movement

Erin Colleen Lowe (2023)
Bordering Care: A Feminist Care Ethics Approach to Open Boarders

Jordyn Hope Ney (2023)
The Effects of Eliminating the Straight-Ticket Voting Option (STVO) in Pennsylvania: How Ballot Roll-Off and Demographic Considerations Differ Post-STVO

Amanda Rose Fruman (2022)
Evaluating the Roles of Gender and Religion in Defining Reproductive Health Case Law

Grace Marie Gontarek (2022)
Understanding Republican Voting Behavior on Climate Change Legislation in the 116th Congress

Sophie Hannah Ackert (2021)
Democratic Women and Republican Women: How Do They Campaign with Regard to their Gender?

Cara Elizabeth Dougherty (2021)
First Spouses in the States: Analysis of How they Inhabit their Roles and Contribute to the Executive

Cailey Barbara Cummins (2020)
Symbolic Protest and Creating Community: The Resilience of Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo

Andrew Tetlow Kaplan (2020)
The 17th Century Origins of 19th & 20th Century Radical Thought

Sarah Emily Lutz (2020)
Delegate or Trustee? Preferences of Representation for School Board Members and Constituents

Emma Dietrich Spector (2019)
Deliberative Democracy in the #MeToo Era: A Chance to Reconcile?

Celina Marie Natzic (2018)
Effects of Armed Conflict on Women's Political Participation: A Study of Selected Civil Wars in the Arab World.

Rehoboth Ketema Gesese (2017)
Taking Consent Seriously: An Anarchist's Critique of Liberalism

Abigail May Preston (2016)
Speech or Sex: The Porn Debate and American Politics

Shayna Elise Solomon (2016)
Shifting Discourses of Tolerance: The Framing of Muslim Minorities in the U.S. and the UK Before and After National Traumas

Emilia Eleanor McManus (2015)
Immigration Policy in Southern Europe from 1990-2010: A Comparative Perspective

Emily Louise Pryor (2014)
Democrats and the Death Penalty: An Analysis of State Democratic Leaders and Public Opinion

Caitlin Elizabeth Moriarty (2013)
Electoral Authoritarianism in Russia

Maximilian Weylandt (2013)
Decentralization and Political Corruption in Sub Saharan Africa

Christopher Lee Bowman (2012)
Locke, the Declaration, and the Constitution: Natural Rights, Social Contract theory, and Property and their tension in the Imperfect American Founding

Anna Katherine Krenkel (2012)
Dangerous Diasporas?: A Comparative Analysis of the Impact of Diasporas on Conflict in the Homeland

Darrell Ian Pacheco (2012)
Interest Group Branding and the Private Donation Habits of Lobbyists

Abigail Phillips Adams (2011)
Campaigning 2.0: New Media, Messaging, and Grassroots Organization in the 2008 Presidential Election

Thomas Matthew Carey (2011)
The Emergence and Strategic Orientation of Violent Islamist Movements Examining the Armed Islamic Group, the Islamic Group, and al-Quaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from the Perspective of Social Movement Theory

Samem Jabarkhail (2011)
The Pashtu dilemma: historical lessons in governance and security for contemporary Afghanistan

Meredith Karen Meisenheimer (2011)
The Effects of Democratization and Internet Penetration on Terrorist Recruitment

Christopher Albert Roberts (2011)
China, Reform, and Economic Development in sub-Saharan Africa

Cynthia Lynn Polasko (2010)
Judicial Reasoning Has No Expiration Date: An Analysis of the Natural Cycle Theory as Applied to the Supreme Court of the United States

Katie Lynn Stewart (2010)
Was It the Luck of the Irish? A Comparative Analysis of the Levels of Success Attained by the Irish and Basque Nationalist Movements

Kimberly Caitlin Wallace (2010)
Riyals, Dinars, and Dirhams: Political Inclusion of Migrant Workers in GCC Member States

Zachary Irving Rosenberg (2009)
"This is My City": Mayor Richard J. Daley, Chicago, and the Politics of Police Repression

Aaron Mark Williams (2009)
In Theory or in Practice: Legitimizing Characteristics of Judicial Review in England

Brian Bradford Booher (2008)
Countering a Global Trend: Popular Responses to Neoliberalism in Chile, France, and Australia

Benjamin Abraham Midanek (2008)
Developing Democracy: A Probabilistic Framework for Assessing Preconditions to Democracy in Later-Developing Countries

Lindsay Marie Robinson (2008)
Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia in Comparative Perspective

Peter Charles Backof (2007)
Distributing Speech: How the Internet Improves Democratic Access to the Mediated Public Sphere

Alexander Lawrence Stout (2007)
Presidential leadership of Congress: Woodrow Wilson, the New Freedom, and the 63rd Congress, 1913-1915

Robert Steven Dauses (2006)
Ordered Liberty: Constitutional Law and Domestic Surveillance in the War on Terror

Andrew B Ferguson (2006)
Brent Scowcroft and Condoleezza Rice: A Comparative Assessment of the Functions of the National Security Advisor

Sarah M Frankel (2006)
Media Coverage of Genocide: A Comparison of the Rwandan and Sudanese Cases

Amie Elizabeth Knauer (2004)
International Extradition and the Acquirement of Terrorists: The Quandary of Reciprocity and Justice

Jared Michael Mellott (2004)
Affirmative Action, the First Amendment, and the Gradual Erosion of Equal Protection from Racial Discrimination

Andrew Paul Miller (2004)
After Afghanistan: Al Qaeda's Future in Failed States

Heather Lynn Weaver (1999)
Marxism, Alienation, and Contemporary Culture

Christopher Peter Zubowicz (1998)
Analyzing Columns of "Priestley Pundits": E. J. Dionne, Jr., David Broder, and George Will

Derekh David F Cornwell (1997)
Anatomy of an Anomaly: Democracy in India

Lawrence J Olson (1996)
Departmental Honors in Political Science

Allyson Ankerbrand Holbrook (1995)
Bias in News Reporting: A Case study of New York Times Front Page Coverage of the Soviet Economy

Tim Grieco (1994)
Departmental Honors in Political Science

Nina Ledis Cannon (1983)
Professionalism and the Deterioration of American Federalism

Brad Bortner (1982)
Heidegger's Conception of Being (as Determined Through his Handling of Language and Poetry) and Various Political Conceptions Derivable from it

D Jeffrey Campbell (1982)
Jefferson Davis and the Anti-Federalist Tradition

David M Frees (1982)
Partisan Realignment: An Analysis of the 1980 Republican Electoral Victory

John W Frommer (1981)
John Dickinson: The Consistency of Liberty 1760 - 1787

Matthew J Creme (1977)
Party Identification, Political Behavior and the Future of the American Political Party System: A Critique of the Walter Dean Burnham End-of-party Thesis

Michael W King (1972)
The Politics of Birth Control in Latin America: studies of Brazil, Chile, and Peru

Walter H Ohar (1972)
Black Nationalism and Black Politics in the 1960's

Thomas R Eshelman (1970)
The American "Military Mind": Perspectives on International Relations

Charles H Leven (1970)
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia: An Analysis of Trends and Developments Leading to the Liberalization Movement and the events of August, 1968

Jack M Stover (1970)
The Methodological Exploitation of Culture: A Study in Nazi Propaganda

Barry E Taylor (1970)
The Theory and Practice of African Socialism

Deborah E Bell (1969)
The Implications of Electoral Reform

J Brent Burkey (1968)
Approaches to the Study of American Politics

Faith Thompson Campbell (1968)
The Yugoslav System of Workers' Management

Douglas C Day (1968)
Americans for Democratic Action

Henry S Kenderdine (1968)
Impetus for Change in Latin America - Internal or External?

William G Scarborough (1968)
The Role of the Negro Church in Racial Advancement

Esther Friedman Schaeffer (1968)
Behavioralism in Political Science: An Interpretation of its Uses and Limitations

John Lorentz (1967)
The influence of Social Darwinism on constitutional laissez-faire (1873 to 1895)

Ronald B Tischler (1966)
Loyalty by Oath: A Critical Analysis of Loyalty-Security Programs in the United States

Robert H Dickman (1965)
Military Heroism and Electoral Success

Macy Potamkin Lasky (1965)
Religious Intensity, Militancy, and Anomie in the Carlisle Negro

Thomas R Rafalsky (1965)
Senator McCarthy and his Methods

Marc I Stern (1965)
Containment: America's Foreign Policy since World War Two

Mel Blumenthal (1964)
Communism and the Democratic Process: The Test of Freedom

Linell Davis (1964)
The Republican Party in the South