Political Science electronic theses and dissertations (MU)
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The items in this collection are the theses and dissertations written by students of the Department of Political Science. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Columbia. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
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Item The legislative career of Champ Clark(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1933) Bevington, Ethel Elizabeth"Champ Clark, christened James Beauchamp Clark, was born in a Kentucky farm cottage on March 7, 1850, in the town of Lawrenceburgh, some sixty-odd miles from Louisville. His was a typical pioneer home, a small structure with low ceilings and rough clapboard finishings. His father, John Hampton Clark, was a New Englander who had migrated to Kentucky. Although a member of a distinguished family, John Clark had been overcome by adversity, and occupied a relatively humble position in life. A. wagon-maker by profession., he was also a dentist, a singing master, and a student of current affairs. Champ Clark's mother, Aletha Jane Beauchamp, a daughter of one of Kentucky's prominent jurists, died at an early age, leaving two children, Champ and Elizabeth."--Page 1.Item Democratic representation : the immigrant American case(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2024) Rovelo, Aime; Landgrave, Michelangelo; Squire, Peverill[EMBARGOED UNTIL 12/01/2025] Descriptive and substantive representation links have been found for minority groups such as women and various racial/ethnic minorities. Extant research has not examined whether the link exists for other minority groups, such as immigrant Americans. I ask if legislators with recent immigrant heritage play a disproportionate role in providing substantive representation--in the form of immigration and alienage bill sponsorship--to immigrant Americans relative to their non-immigrant colleagues. This form of substantive representation captures a legislator's involvement with this policy area over others, not whether the policy is 'pro-' or 'anti-' immigrant. I tested this theory for the 2023 regular sessions of eight states where the top migrant group to the U.S. has settled and where immigration activity and policy are salient. Using an original dataset of legislators' public immigrant heritage information gathered from official websites and newspapers, I use Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression to test my hypotheses. The dyadic representation results show that an individual legislator's recent immigrant heritage cannot predict a legislator's shares of sponsored immigration and alienage legislation, except in Nevada. The state-by-state results indicate a single legislator with recent immigrant heritage is not enough, and neither are a few legislators, to substantively represent migrants. In other states, other factors mattered more than recent immigrant heritage in predicting whether a legislator would represent migrants through policy representation. Despite the individual-level results, collectively, when these legislators serve in legislatures with the highest shares of legislators with recent immigrant heritage, they sponsor more immigration and alienage legislation than their counterparts. I also examine substantive representation by non-descriptive representatives of other historically excluded backgrounds (i.e., women and racial/ethnic minorities). Individually, these legislators do not have an inclination or reservation for providing policy representation for migrants. The exceptions to this result were Black legislators, Democrats, and legislators representing districts with majority-minority voting-age populations (VAPs). Still, collectively, both legislatures with the highest shares of racial/ethnic diversity and legislatures with the highest shares of women had legislators who provided less policy representation for migrants than predominantly white legislatures and predominantly male legislatures.Item Progress in State administrative reorganization in Missouri since the report of the State Reorganization Commission of 1955(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1960) Botner, Stanley Benton"More than six years have elapsed since January 1955 when the State Reorganization Commission of Missouri submitted its report containing 112 recommendations to improve the organization and operation of Missouri state executive agencies. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the extent to which those recommendations have been implemented, and to examine other recent changes in agency organization and operations."--Introduction.Item The ambiguity of ideology and administrative reform(University of Missouri--Columbia., 1975) Tummala, Krishna Kumar; Gabis, Stanley T."The central question of this study is whether social and administrative reform has an essentially different character in developing as compared to developed nations. For example, if reform, in developing countries is primarily ideological rather than incremental, the significance for a theory of reform can be very substantial. What is suited to the bureaucracy of a developed country may be very unsuitable to a developing nation. Attention in particular, will be focused on the relationship between ideology and reform. The discussion is centered around the following major questions, with primary reference to India--a developing country, using Britain and the United States--developed countries, for contrasting perspectives: 1. Whether social and administrative reform has essentially a different character in a developing country, as compared to a developed one? (Is incrementalism suited to a developed country, equally suitable to a developing country? Or, is a developing country properly advised to stress ideology, as the basis of reform? Perhaps there is a third alternative, an intermediate position between pure incrementalism and pure ideology--a position which can be correlated with the transitional nature of a. developing system.) 2. Does ideology, understood as a belief system that is to be actualised, as opposed to mere speculation, provide a useful 2 guide and support for administrative reform? 3. What are the preconditions for successful incrementalism, and what are the causes for dysfunctional incrementalism? 4. Can we relate functional and dysfunctional aspects of incrementalism and ideology to a principle of balance and linkage between ideology and social, political and bureaucratic functions and structures? In case one of the elements becomes substantially stronger than the others, what will be the consequences? In attempting to answer these questions, the author hopes to shed light on the relationship between bureaucrats and politicians in a developing country, especially in regard to the process of social and administrative reforms."--Introduction.Item Miranda and the police : the impact of the Miranda decision in medium size Missouri cities(University of Missouri--Columbia., 1973) Long, Richard Wayne; Wells, Lloyd M.The United States Supreme Court ruled in Miranda V. Arizona that persons questioned by the police, if they are in any significant way deprived of their freedom of movement, must be warned that they have a right to remain silent, that any statement they make may be used against them, and that they have the right to either retained or appointed counsel. The famous decision has been the source of much controversy with supporters of the Court hailing a new era of justice and critics predicting doom for law and order. Spokesmen for police forces have been among the most outspoken opponents of the decisions. Recent studies questioning the degree to which edicts of the courts actually have significant impacts on society and particularly on those who are charged with administering the court's orders, have suggested very real questions about the effect on society of the Miranda decision. Police officers in several medium sized Missouri cities were interviewed and observed to measure their feelings about their place in society, their role, their feelings about the courts and the Miranda decision in the course of their jobs. Most of the police officers were cognizant of the Miranda decision. They indicated that they carried out its requirements in their work. On the other hand many officers indicated that they were aware of methods of administration which would result in the warning having minimal effect. Some officers were skeptical about the rigor of their brother officers in applying the Miranda rules. The reactions of the police officers are particularly significant in the context of their characteristics and attitudes. Most police officers feel isolated from civilian society. They perceive a hostile environment in which they are required to function as a paramilitary defense force against an army of crime. The attitude of isolation which the policemen display seems to increase in proportion to the size of the city in which they work. The officers who feel more isolated also tend to be more hostile toward the terms of the Miranda decision and more apt to disregard the requirements of the decision. Not surprisingly the police officers seem to regard the United States Supreme Court as more of an obstacle to their work than as an ally. On the other hand the police regard their local courts as being fair and even perhaps sympathetic. Support for the Miranda decision among police officers is limited. However officers with more education, those who attended police academies and those who feel less isolated tend to indicate greater support for the decision as measured by a Guttman scale. Support or hostility toward Miranda indeed represented a breaking point in attitude and demographic characteristics generally. Hence it might be concluded that two distinct subgroups of policemen having differing attitudes and characteristics exist. Within each of the subgroups the characteristic attitudes are widely dispersed. In the terms in which the matter is generally debated, the Miranda decision would seem to be of limited importance in the administration of justice in the medium sized Missouri cities which are studied. The police can evade some of the effects of the decision and some of the effects, according to the police, are of limited significance. However the Miranda decision has had an effect upon the police themselves. The police interpret the decision as an attack upon law enforcement. In this view they have the support of some segments of society. Within the police profession there is a subgroup which supports the Miranda decision, thereby fracturing the consistency of the cleavage and reducing the pressure on the political system induced by the conflict of views.