Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Media and Communication

The World Bank classifies the Lebanese economic crisis as one of the 10 worst such crises globally since the 19th century—and possibly one of the top three. Azma fawq ‘azma [crisis upon crisis] includes financial collapse, inability to care for 1.5 million refugees, the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic on an already fragile healthcare system, and the catastrophic explosion in Beirut, one of the worst non-nuclear explosions in human history, that killed 218 people, injured 7,000, and left 300,000 unhoused. Due to unprecedented levels of inflation, the Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value, food prices have risen 500%, and 80% of the population lives in poverty. These crises have transformed Lebanon from a beacon of success to a failed state. Given the severe lack of organizational communication research in the Mashreq (Middle East), this dissertation is of particular importance as it fills a critical gap in research. The dissertation takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine how NGOs mobilize support, provide services, and engage in interorganizational collaboration to support citizens, residents, and asylum seekers struggling to survive in Lebanon. The triangulated methodological approach includes policy analysis, two phases of field research in Lebanon, and in-depth interviews with leaders, administrators, employees, and volunteers representing 52 NGOs. Interview respondents (n = 64) provided first-hand experiences, insights, and assessments of NGOs' efforts to combat intersecting crises, reflected on the complexity of these crises, and highlighted the need for economic and political reform to assuage the feelings of being trapped in the azma fawq ‘azma. Emergent themes include the importance of collective identity through interorganizational collaboration, the benefits of group cohesion in providing support and services, a sense of purpose that has expanded alongside the crises, a continuing (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lara Martin Lengel Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Lori Brusman Lovins Ph.D. (Committee Member); Terry Rentner Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ellen Gorsevski Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Area Planning and Development; Banking; Communication; Economics; Management; Middle Eastern Studies; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Near Eastern Studies; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Peace Studies; Political Science; Regional Studies; Rhetoric; Sustainability

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2023, German

Reparations and victim reconciliation have become a popular topic in the 21st century. In the fight for apologies, compensation, and corrections for human injustices, civil society actors play a necessary role in varied facets. Through qualitative research and case study comparison, I seek to investigate the questions: How did civil society organizations fight for successful reparations from the German government? Which factors lead to a successful or satisfactory outcome, and which to failure? By using Germany as the common perpetrator and respondent among the reparations claims, the study contrasts the experience and success of civil societies in their push for financial indemnifications and reconciliation. My focus is on the Jews following the Holocaust, the Ovaherero and Nama peoples for the Namibian Genocide, and the Roma and Sinti after the Porajmos. My research found that successful victim mobilization through civil society organizations relies on a combination of factors, including support from the diaspora, government connections, international support, and solidarity among civil society organizations. Additionally, this thesis finds that the advent of the internet has become widely beneficial to victims as they organize and mobilize efforts for transitive justice.

Committee: Christina Guenther Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Scott Piroth Ph.D. (Committee Member); Edgar Landgraf Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: History; Holocaust Studies; Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2024, American Culture Studies

This dissertation explores the role of democracy promotion in US foreign intervention with a particular focus on the weaponization of media and civil society by two important US democracy promotion institutions, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and US Agency for International Development (USAID). Focusing on these two institutions and building on scholarship that takes a critical Gramscian Marxist perspective on US democracy promotion, this study brings media imperialism and deep political scholarship into the conversation. Delimiting the study to focus on US activities, I trace historical patterns of intellectual warfare and exceptional states of violence and lawlessness pursued by the US government in case studies of foreign intervention in which democracy promotion has played an important part since 1983. I survey the evolution of elite US Cold War conceptions of managed democracy as well as transformations of covert Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) media and civil society operations into institutionalized, pseudo-overt US democracy promotion that became a foundational pretext and method for US interventionism post-Cold War. Case studies include the Contra War in 1980s Nicaragua, Operation Cyclone in 1980s Afghanistan, the 2000 overthrow of Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic, the 2002 military coup against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, the 2004 coup against Haitian president Bertrand Aristide, and the 2014 Euromaidan Coup against Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. I dedicate the penultimate chapter to US-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War that began in 2011, demonstrating how USAID provided instrumental monetary, media, and civil society support to primarily sectarian, theocratic, Salafi rebels against the Ba'athist government. Throughout the dissertation, I argue that the NED and USAID represent important engines of intellectual warfare in US foreign intervention, mobilizing communications and organizational resources to reinf (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Cynthia Baron Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Oliver Boyd-Barrett Ph.D. (Committee Member); Radhika Gajjala Ph.D. (Committee Member); Alexis Ostrowski Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: American History; American Studies; East European Studies; History; International Relations; Journalism; Latin American History; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Middle Eastern History; Military History; Military Studies; Modern History; Peace Studies; Political Science; Public Policy; Regional Studies; World History

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2021, International and Comparative Politics

This thesis examines one angle of state-society relations in authoritarian states through the lens of Chinese nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their legal environment. While grassroots organizations have not prompted political liberalization in China, they have not been entirely co-opted by the party-state either. Through an examination of policy changes, a study of 120 organizations, and a case study of a non-profit incubator, this thesis explores whether the political environment for China's domestic NGOs varies by geographic region and issue area. The findings suggest there is not significant variation as the party-state has implemented standardized policies for increased control over civil society.

Committee: Laura M. Luehrmann Ph.D. (Committee Chair); December Green Ph.D. (Committee Member); Judson B. Murray Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; Comparative; Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2020, Mass Communication (Communication)

This dissertation analyzes the ways Eritrean migrants adapted PalTalk chatrooms as venues for political deliberation, activism, and peacebuilding. By relating to annihilated traditional and modern civic spheres in the country, I explore how diaspora Eritreans build dynamic communities of solidarity and engage in counter activities against their government. Primarily using in-depth interviews and archival analysis, I have documented some milestone achievements this online community was able to accomplish in the period between 2000 and 2016, identifying breaking the spiral of silence in the diaspora, mobilizing protests, and consolidating clear political opinions. I also examine the role of Eritrean PalTalk chatrooms in building peace and deterring violence in relation to the overarching question about the role of new media in building peace. By focusing on a popular PalTalk chatroom called Smer, I identify the promotion of non-violent struggle, peace education, and truth sharing as important communicative exercises that can serve as examples that new media can contribute positively for peace and national healing. I also underscore how a sense of enervation with war and violence has inclined many Eritreans to pursue a negative peace that aspires the end of militarized governance and forced conscription.

Committee: Steve Howard Prof. (Advisor); Wolfgand Suetzl Dr. (Committee Member); Devika Chawla Prof. (Committee Member); Ghirmai Negash Prof. (Committee Member) Subjects: Mass Communications

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, Anthropology

Medical tourism, whereby individuals travel outside of their respective country for health care, is a highly unregulated industry. Despite a lack of international health policy and governmental regulation, how is medical tourism formally organized, monitored, and preserved at the local level, and by whom? Based on twelve months of fieldwork with a group of highly influential civic and social entrepreneurs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this dissertation explores how a private, for-profit civil society organization sought to transform its community economically by formalizing a local medical tourism industry. The author describes how this group of civic and social entrepreneurs directly shaped prospective foreign patients' medical travel experiences, and successfully formulated and managed a network of medical tourism service providers. This dissertation analyzes how organizational team members consistently practiced two key strategies of risk and partnership management to meet their end goal of establishing Rio de Janeiro as a “leading destination for world-class medical travel.” To meet this goal, team members had to secure a competitive market advantage by continuously redefining their organizational position-taking. In so doing, team members were forced to make impactful decisions regarding standards of patient safety and health care provider assurance and compliance in the absence of strict supervision and precedents from the public sector. With the capacity to retain and convert significant amounts of social and cultural capital into purpose-driven profit (economic capital) to directly influence health care delivery on-the-ground, civic and social entrepreneurs in for-profit civil society organizations warrant greater recognition within global health diplomacy and governance.

Committee: Vanessa Hildebrand (Committee Chair); Atwood Gaines (Committee Member); Lihong Shi (Committee Member); Eileen Anderson-Fye (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Cultural Anthropology; Entrepreneurship; Public Health

BA, Oberlin College, 2018, History

This thesis reconstructs the lives of two elite Hispanic New Mexican men who grappled with upheavals on the North American continent during the nineteenth century. Union army officers and influential patrones Nicolas Pino (1820-1896) and Jose Francisco Chavez (1833-1904) serve as the center of this paper's narrative chronological historical analysis. Intensive primary source work in the New Mexico State Archives reveals their footprints in the military, political, and legal spheres before, during, and after the war. The biographies of Chavez and Pino serve as a microcosm of the changes and continuities in Nuevo Mexicano social, cultural, and military practices during these turbulent years, revealing historical moments as they were lived by individuals. Their responses to American Indian conflicts, shifting borders, fluid borderlands identities, two international wars, and the penetration of Anglo-Americans into the territory reveal how two members of the elite Hispanic New Mexican community worked to maintain their elite status in the face of massive change.

Committee: Tamika Nunley (Advisor); Leonard V. Smith (Committee Chair); Danielle Terrazas Williams (Advisor) Subjects: American History; Hispanic American Studies; Hispanic Americans; History; Latin American History

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2018, History

The following dissertation examines the ways in which Union and Confederate ex-prisoners of war discussed their experiences of captivity between 1862 and 1930. By examining former prisoners' captivity narratives, this dissertation demonstrates that to the end of their lives, ex-prisoners worked to construct a public image—one of suffering—that differed from the typical gallant volunteer who fought and died on the battlefield. Ex-prisoners shared their stories of captivity as a way of affirming their identities as a distinct type of veteran and to affirm their place as American men, regardless of their time as a prisoner of war. Viewed singly, any of these narratives might be dismissed as a fascinating story of personal suffering and survival, but when they are considered as a body of literature, one can trace the development of a master narrative, both separate from and intertwined with the American public's postwar memory. This dissertation challenges conventional understandings of postwar reconciliation and adds to recent scholarship on veterans' reintegration into civilian life. Both Union and Confederate ex-prisoners of war often contradicted this preferred heroic narrative of the war. Some men, as they got older, accepted reconciliation and censored their bitterness and hatred. Others promised to never forget their sufferings and, as a result, remained obstacles to reconciliation. By examining ex-prisoners' narratives, this dissertation reveals how ex-prisoners did not accept or fit into the ideal trajectory of reconciliation.

Committee: Walter Hixson (Committee Chair); Lesley Gordon (Committee Co-Chair); Stephen Harp (Committee Member); Kevin Adams (Committee Member); Patrick Chura (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; American Literature; History; Military History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Sociology

Since the late 1990s, India has asserted its modernity through a “new middle class” that promises inclusion to all worthy citizens. Yet India's claims to modernity are consistently challenged by trenchant gender, caste, and class inequalities. The figure of the poor, uneducated rural woman marks the limits of Indian modernity. As such, rural young women and their families have become key targets of development programs. This dissertation looks at how families and young women in rural India are responding to new pressures to achieve social mobility and represent the nation. Using ethnographic data from ten months of fieldwork in the Guntur region of south India, I argue that gender, class, and caste are reproduced in distinctive ways, despite the vastness of change associated with modernization in India. I distinguish the current re-articulation of gender, class, and caste inequalities from the formations of the past on the basis of three characteristics: First, though women are becoming more educated, I find that education alone is insufficient to address social inequalities and may even increase disparities. Second, I demonstrate how the transnational migration of elites has transformed social life in Guntur. Lastly, I find that educational privatization has produced a highly stratified educational system that almost perfectly reproduces the class system. My analysis clarifies whether and how rural young women, who are often perceived as the most disadvantaged fraction of Indian society, are able to achieve social mobility.

Committee: Steven Lopez (Committee Chair); Mytheli Sreenivas (Committee Member); Korie Edwards (Committee Member) Subjects: Gender Studies; Sociology; South Asian Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2015, Mass Communication (Communication)

This virtual ethnographic study was about online communication and the democratic behavior in the Sudan's diaspora. It investigated the possibility of expanding the diasporic political public sphere among Sudanese diaspora by using the six requirements formulated by Licoln Dahlberg (2001a) for a rational-critical discourse of online deliberation of political public issues. The Sudanese diasporic online communities was a product of migration of large number of Sudanese to the Gulf States, the United States, and other regions due to the repressive political environment and bad economic conditions in Sudan and their connection to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in host societies. I used three methods of data gathering: online survey, online semi-structured in-depth interviews, and online participant observation. The findings of this study have shown that online communication provided diasporic communities with current political information. Sudanese online diasporic members used this political information in holding online political deliberations that enabled them to have freedom of expression and to establish civil society associations. The study found that although some scholars claimed that the provision of political information was not enough to realize political change, the political information that Sudanese diasporic online users got from the website `sudaneseonline.com' was crucial for depriving the current Sudanese Government from claiming democracy, for revealing corruption, for recognizing the manipulation of the Constitution and civil service. Undemocratic governments were keen to control the amount and the type of information their populations can get. The obtaining of political information was a significant factor in undermining undemocratic governments, which employ the resources of the state, including manipulated constitutions and judiciaries, to deprive their populations from acquiring political information, which is a huma (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Steve Howard (Committee Chair) Subjects: African History; Communication; Journalism; Mass Media; Multimedia Communications; Political Science

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2006, International and Comparative Politics

This thesis examines the definition of civil society, social movements and success and then analyzes these variables through a historical case study. It looks at the role of two women's groups in Italy from 1943-48 as they worked to achieve three political goals (women's suffrage, greater representation in politics, and the new constitution). The thesis will look at whether the variables necessary to social movement success were present in the movement in helping Italian women in the movement who mobilized and organized to achieve their said goals and objectives. It will conclude with remarks as to the lessons learned from the study of civil society and social movements and why these are important to the establishment of political and democratic goals and objectives. The conclusion will also discuss how social movements, civil society and women are inevitably linked and the impact of active Italian women in this movement on Italian history.

Committee: Laura Luehrmann (Advisor) Subjects:

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

What constitutes global civil society? Are liberal assumptions about the nature of civil society as a realm autonomous from and balancing the power of the state and market transferrable to the global level? Does global civil society necessarily represent and/or result in the promotion of liberal values? These questions guided my dissertation which attempts to challenge dominant liberal conceptualizations of global civil society. To do so, it provides two representative case studies of how domestic and transnational factions of the Religious Right, acting in concert with (or as agents of) the US state, and the political opportunity structures it has provided under conservative regimes, gain access to global policy-making forums through a reframing of international human rights discourses and practices pertaining particularly to women's rights in order to shift them in illiberal directions. The study investigates the ways liberal international human rights regimes, which are commonly seen as representative of an emerging liberal global civil society separate from and acting as a check on state power, are particularly vulnerable to contestations involving value orientations that challenge liberal conceptions of human rights and liberal feminist conceptions of women's human rights. The concept of women's human rights gained ascendancy in global policy-making through the development of transnational feminist non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the 1970s onward. Such NGOs fit the liberal model of global civil society actors operating separate from state apparatuses to check human rights abuses enabled by states. By the 1990s, however, domestic and transnational Religious Right NGOs began to emerge, with significant financial and ideological state support, to explicitly counter liberal feminist constructions of women's human rights. The dissertation uses secondary historical studies, primary NGO, governmental, and intergovernmental organization (IGO) documents, and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anne Runyan PhD (Committee Chair); Laura Jenkins PhD (Committee Member); Joel Wolfe PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: International Law

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Arts and Sciences : Communication

The World Social Forum (WSF), now in its eighth year, is described as an emergent network of networks, occurring once a year opposite of the World Trade Organization's usually held in late January in Davos, Switzerland. The timing of the WSF is meant to symbolize its opposition to the perceived inadequacies of top down neo-liberal globalization, instead offering a space for interested parties to discuss these perceived inequalities and act on the prospect of a more globally democratic alternative. This study looks at the World Social Forum's Charter of Principles (June, 2001) to better understand the Forum as a product of social complexity. More specifically, the study sets out to better understand the communication practices associated with its emergence as a social plateau in the ever-changing context of globalization (Chesters & Welsh, 2005).

Committee: Dr. Stephen Depoe (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Comparative Studies

When Estonia declared itself independent from the USSR in August 1991, it did so as the legal successor of the Republic of Estonia established in 1918, claiming to be returning to the Western world after a nearly five-decade rupture caused by illegal Soviet rule. As a precondition for membership in the European Union and NATO, Estonia launched in the late 1990s a national integration policy aimed at teaching mostly Russian-speaking Soviet-era settlers the Estonian language and reducing the number of people with undetermined citizenship. Twenty years into independence, Estonia is integrated into international organizations, while nearly 7 per cent of the 1.36 million permanent residents are stateless; equally many have opted for Russian citizenship. At the same time, the integration strategy declares Estonia a home for over 100 ethnic nationalities and the state is committed to the preservation and development of minority cultures. Grounded in 18 months of ethnographic research in Tallinn as well as readings of popular culture, legal texts, and policy documents, this dissertation takes an innovative approach to nationalism, integration and ethnic interactions in post-Soviet Estonia. I look at how actors on all sides draw simultaneously on pre-Soviet, Soviet, and liberal frameworks to consolidate their own positions within a complex democratic situation inflected by European institutions, global capitalist flows, and the neighboring Russian Federation. This dissertation argues that the policy areas of citizenship and multiculturalism are intertwined, both informed by the idea of ethnicity as a category of descent that is synonymous with nationality and complete with a national language, culture, character and ethnic homeland. The dissertation explores how the Estonian integration model combines this notion of ethnicity/nationality with liberal theories of multiculturalism in order to argue for the incommensurability of cultures and reinforce the Estonian-centered nati (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dorothy Noyes PhD (Advisor); Nicholas Breyfogle PhD (Committee Member); Ray Cashman PhD (Committee Member); Richard K. Herrmann PhD (Committee Member); Margaret Mills PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Folklore

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Sociology

In recent decades, an expanded notion of corporate responsibility has developed. Still grounded in the primary goal of generating profits, there is now a widespread expectation that businesses should benefit society in ways that transcend their economic contribution. This study explores the relationship between civil society and the private sector in shaping this change in expectations of corporate social responsibility. Using an original dataset of 803 articles from thirteen major U.S. daily newspapers, I examine patterns in public discourse about business-targeted collective action spanning from 1980 to 2010. I conduct pooled time series analyses of the relationships between business-targeted collective action, the establishment and growth of corporate responsibility reporting, and the socioeconomic conditions in which these activities are embedded. My findings suggest business-targeted collective action rises in response to increasing corporate power and declines in response to the institutionalization of corporate social responsibility. These results contribute unique perspective to the social movements and business ethics scholarship by focusing on the social processes that underlie corporate social responsibility politics and policies.

Committee: Randy Hodson PhD (Committee Chair); Rachel Dwyer PhD (Committee Member); Andrew Martin PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Management; Mass Media; Organization Theory; Social Research; Sociology; Sustainability

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2012, East Asian Languages and Literatures

China's sociological world is somewhat lacking of research that explores the collective consciousness during collective rights defense of the manufacturing industry's internal migrant workers. This is even truer of research that looks at the collective consciousness of Qingdao's internal migrant workers. Additionally, Chinese civil society organizations are in their infancy, and there are few organizations that aid internal migrant workers in their rights defense, especially in China's northeast region. There is even less research that attempts to understand the effectiveness of these organizations in aiding workers' right defense. Using Political Process Theory as its analytical framework, this study has two main aspects: 1) survey methodology that explores the collective consciousness in rights defense of internal migrant workers in Qingdao's manufacturing sector and 2) case analysis methodology that seeks to understand effects of Qingdao's LMN Organization on Internal migrant workers' rights defense. This study has found that the regional consciousness of Qingdao's internal migrant workers possesses a dualistic quality, they have a strong rights defense consciousness, and their collective action has shown a trend toward cross-factory cooperation. LMN Organization, the subject of the case analysis, has not only played a large role in the success of internal migrant workers' right defense, but it has also played a role in mobilizing workers for rights defense. However, LMN Organization exists in an exploitable crack in the surrounding political environment, and because of this, its future development is uncertain.

Committee: Galal Walker (Committee Chair); Xiaobin Jian (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2009, Political Science

I tackle the issue of under-representation of women in legislative body in Japan. In spite of its stand in economy, Japan lags behind other western democracies in the women's representation. Scholars have argued structural, cultural and political opportunity explanations for the women's under-representation. However, these theoretical explanations take women's political efficacy for granted and fail to explain why and how women become politically efficacious in the first place. This step has to be examined since even though the structural, cultural or political barriers are removed, women will not entertain the idea of running for office if they are not politically efficacious. I argue for the importance of non-profit organizations (NPOs) in raising political efficacy of the Japanese women since they are currently active participants in these organizations. This, in turn, can translate into the consideration to run for office by the female members. Contrary to a popular scholarly claim that civil society organizational participation raises political efficacy of the members, and the members become politically active outside the organizations, I hypothesize that the effect on the members' political efficacy depends on the NPO-Government relationship. Focusing on female members, I specifically hypothesize that NPOs which provide their members with opportunities to have face-to-face interaction with government officials through organizational activities are more likely to raise their political efficacy and act as a bridge between civil society and electoral political sphere than NPOs that do not provide such opportunities. This is critical since the NPO-Government relationship has transformed in Japan since the late 1990s. I test the hypothesis using the Japan General Social Survey of 2003 and conducted semi-structured interviews with 62 women from 41 NPOs in Osaka to shed light on mechanism in which women become political efficacious in the organizations.

Committee: Anthony Mughan PhD (Committee Chair); William Liddle PhD (Committee Member); Craig Jenkins PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science; Womens Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Sociology

Current world polity, international activism, and global civil society research reveal a common interest in the relationship between international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and civil society. This interest is derived from a long standing theoretical convention emphasizing the pro-social effects of a robust civil sector. Although many of these studies have concluded that INGOs constitute international or global civil society, much is still unknown about the relationship between NGOs, INGOs and civil society. In this dissertation, I collect data published by the Yearbook of International Organizations to create a more refined measurement of organized civil society. Specifically I develop a density measurement of organized civic society to better account for the local “buy in” among citizens. Descriptive analysis indicates that organization density is highly correlated to associational membership rates. Using a globally representative sample of nations between 1990 and 2004, I argue and demonstrate that the presence of an active civil society works to decrease governmental corruption, reduce state terror, and minimize the impetus for anti-governmental demonstrations and riots. In other words, the presence of a robust civil society holds governments accountable, protects its citizens, and provides a suitable outlet for people to voice their concerns and be heard. Data are analyzed using a pooled time-series, cross-sectional (TSCS) analysis. Results show that civil society strength does have a significant impact on governmental corruption, state terrorism and anti-governmental demonstrations. These results remain significant when accounting for economic development, political institutions, and cultural-geographic controls. By emphasizing the role organized civil society plays in a broad sample of nations, this study refines our understanding of the role that non-state actors assume in the health and maintenance of their own societies. Consequently, this pr (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Edward Crenshaw PhD (Advisor); J. Craig Jenkins PhD (Committee Member); Pamela Paxton PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, History

Although we know a great deal about the social and political history of Pennsylvania, we know surprisingly little about its first state constitution. Admittedly, the Pennsylvania constitution was acknowledged to be an anomaly by some leading figures within the Founding generation. Still, Pennsylvania saw one of the most important experiments in constitution-making in the Anglo-American world and effected one of the true revolutions in American history. One cannot grasp the radicalism of 1776 without making sense of the coming of the Revolution in Pennsylvania and its peoples' bold experiment in constitutional government. This dissertation unites a top down and bottom up approach to constitutional history and offers a comprehensive understanding of the 1776 Pennsylvania constitution. For the Security and Protection of the Community places the constitution within the context of the latter half of the eighteenth century and sees it as a continuation of trends begun in the French and Indian War, not as an anomaly of the Revolutionary era. The men who wrote the constitution understood civil society in Lockean terms, namely that its sole purpose was to protect life, liberty, and estate, but these ideas were adapted to the realities of colonial life on the frontier. Since, as Locke argued, the power to preserve natural rights had been placed “into the hands of the community,” every member of that community needed to participate in its defense. Indeed, any man whose life, liberty, and estate were protected by civil society was required to contribute to that safety. It was this vision that became reality in 1776.

Committee: Saul Cornell (Advisor) Subjects: History, United States

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Political Science

My research questions are: Do non-governmental organizations (NGOs) impact the Bretton Woods Institutions, and why or why not? I advance four hypotheses to explain change at the BWI which accord with NGO preferences: H1) Response to Member States (Null), H2) Organizational Defense, H3) Mission Efficiency, H4) Institutional Redefinition. These hypotheses are based in the three main paradigms of international relations theory: H1 from neorealism; H2 and 3 from neoliberal institutionalism; H4 from social constructivism. I use organizational theories to fill out the substance of H2-4. Systems theories of organization suggest that organizations adapt to pernicious environmental impacts; I term this ‘organizational defense.' Structural-functional organizational theories suggest organizations adapt for the rational purpose of more efficient mission completion. Finally, interpretive and sociological theories of organization suggest that organizations, like any social institution, may learn from environmental pressures and so redefine their self-understanding. In the case the null is incorrect, I postulate a battery of indicators of NGO impact to correspond to the counter-hypotheses. Change on these indicators suggests support for the parallel hypotheses. These indicators begin with the adaptive behavior of simple organizational defense and rise to the deep organizational learning of institutional redefinition: I1) Organizational Change (H2), I2) Program Consultation (H2), I3) Program Impact (H3), I4) Evaluation (H3), I5) Legitimacy (H4), I6) Policy Change (H4). The method is a structured, focused comparative study across this spectrum of indicators of NGO impact. Each institution is mapped against the scale of indicators, with evidence, or the lack, for each indicator presented individually. The means of data collection were 1) a survey, 2) interviews, 3) documentary analysis, and 4) participant observation. I found that the Bank has moved further down the list of indicator (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Chadwick Alger (Advisor) Subjects: