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

In the decades following WWII, countries across the globe witnessed the rise of anti-system parties. Political scientists have attributed their success to economic conditions, electoral systems, party systems and the electorate's disaffection with mainstream parties. The analysis also suggests the influence of global factors. While the causes for success have been examined, effective policy choices for democracies have not been equally explored. This study makes the argument that by including anti-system parties in government, states are able to lessen the threat they pose to democracy. The analysis of India's Bharatiya Janata Party and Austria's Freedom party suggest that anti-system parties loose their allure when they come to power. Also, democracies by adopting the contrary policy of exclusion, in fact create conditions that foster support for anti-system parties. Lastly, this study suggests that the international community in response to anti-system parties in power should adopt a policy of cautious engagement.

Committee: Liam Anderson (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

This dissertation attempts to find a new explanation for political and community disengagement that complements the existing research on the topic. The American tradition of individualism, which has been significant in recognizing and protecting individual rights, is singled out and critically examined for ways in which it could be leading citizens to disengage from their communities and the political process. This is a departure from previous research that has focused logistical concerns and external conflicts as the leading causes of disengagement. The primary causes discussed herein are ideological in nature, thereby suggesting internal factors. The United States Constitution is strongly rooted in classical liberalism. It has a commitment to liberal ideals of limited government, consent and individualism, and these ideals have been applied to all areas of American life—political, economic and social—with varying degrees of success. The liberal ideal that has come into the most conflict with the principles of democracy and self-government, however, is individualism. The American political system requires the involvement of the people, and the liberal need for a limited government requires a neighborly concern for others in society. Unfortunately, individualism leads people away from both of these requirements by providing the justification and rationale for non-participation. Factor analyses of national datasets from the years 1960-2004 demonstrate a consistent relationship between individualistic attitudes and participation. The resulting factor scores consistently explain significant portions of the variance in other individualistic and communalistic attitudes and behaviors. Additionally, content analyses of elite discourse uncover consistent differences between the major parties' use of individualist rhetoric in platforms and State of the Union addresses over the same period. Despite these successes, neither the factor analyses nor the content analyses provide (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Michael Margolis (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

This study focuses on the cases of Serbia, specifically Kosovo from 1988 – 1999, and India, specifically Gujarat in 2002 to explain the causes of ethno-nationalist violence. In refining existing concepts, this study seeks to add to the elite persuasion theory of ethnic violence with the concept of elite manipulation, which is a subset and extreme version of elite persuasion. The cases of Serbia and India were so extreme in their ethnic nationalist violence that mere persuasion does not accurately describe or explain them. Instead, elites, through a combination of manipulation and repression, actually shaped mass behavior. In both cases majorities felt threatened by minorities, leading to a security dilemma. The majority felt the need to take an offensive position to defend itself against the minority, leading to violence. Elites used culture, specifically in the form of a common history, to make ethnic nationalist appeals to shape public interest. Leaders then attempted to control media content by promoting their own common history and criticizing or excluding the competing culture's coverage. Moreover, they retained power through repression, including physical violence against both the main competing cultural group itself and aspects of their culture. This allowed elites to gain power, as people were left with few options other than to support the regime or violently conflict with it. With this combination of manipulation and repression, elites shaped mass behavior by forcing the public to focus on nationalist issues. The power elites sought was in the form of electoral gain either in the early stages of democratization or in a period of political instability. An examination of elite manipulation in these cases shows that violence is instigated in two distinct ways – either by elites themselves (elite led violence) or by the masses (mass initiated violence). In both cases, elites take advantage of the instability to lead and/or perpetuate violent conflict to gain p (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Laura Jenkins (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

As the Muslim population in Western Europe (mainly France, Germany, and Holland) increases exponentially, understanding processes of integration is critically important. However, despite this importance, there seem to be many misconceptions surrounding this topic as people tend to conflate integration and assimilation, even though they are not the same. After reviewing the literature on the concepts of assimilation and cultural pluralism, this thesis concludes that both concepts have evolved historically from their traditional conceptualizations and have converged to a point where one does not exclude the other. This finding carries significant policy implications, as convergence of the two frameworks could serve as the basis for future policies. A case study of Muslim immigrants in Holland is used to promote policies which will help immigrants integrate more smoothly while simultaneously reassuring the population at large that their dominant culture will not be eroded at the expense of the newcomers.

Committee: Dr. Richard Harknett (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

The City of Cincinnati has experienced a wave of governmental reform of a magnitude that has not been felt since the 1920s. Frustrated with racial unrest, a lack of accountability and legislative inefficiencies, local political leaders and public activists called for greater accountability and decisiveness from their urban government. Blame for these failures landed squarely upon the backs of the City Council and the weak Mayor system. As a consequence of this pressure, Cincinnati reformed its city charter to incorporate a ‘Hybrid' Model of municipal governance. This is not just a specific modification of the current charter, rather it is an attempt at a full governmental reform in order to change the very seat of legislative and leadership power. Within the field of political science, urban governance literature is founded solidly upon qualitative case study research. Because of the time consuming nature of gathering, encoding and statistically analyzing large volumes of data, the study of the impact of charter reform measures has remained relatively devoid of quantitative research. This dissertation offers a quantitative based analysis that reveals that there are certain statistically significant consequences that have resulted from this governmental reform. My research analyzes five critical hypotheses that the qualitative scholarly literature and political reformers determined would change as the result of a city adopting this governing model. Hypotheses tested involve Legislative Leadership, Party Unity, Committee Assignments, Media Perception and Political Participation. This dissertation illustrates that the primary consequences of reform have occurred within three areas; First, an increase in party unity within the (minority) Republican Party. Secondly, an increase in negative attitude towards the Hybrid Mayor post-reform in the city's newspaper reports. Third, a small increase in the percentage of ordinances the mayor proposed before Council. The results of (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Michael Margolis (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

In the past decade, access to the Internet has substantially increased, and now various commercial software packages provide the means for researchers to readily design and create online surveys in a short period of time. The purpose of this dissertation is to demonstrate the utility and cost-effectiveness of conducting methodological experiments on survey question effects such as effects of not sure, don't know, and no opinion, tone of wording: forbid vs. allow, effects of middle response alternative, and response order effects. Since political scientists rarely collect their own data, due to related cost issues, investigators are unable to easily test hypotheses due to their dependency on secondary data or small voluntary student samples. In this research, several classic experiments on question form, wording, and context were replicated using the Internet as a public opinion laboratory. This study was conducted in two phases prior to 2000 presidential election using Internet technology at the University of Cincinnati. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of the two question forms, and the topics of survey questions in this study were focused on issues in the 2000 presidential election campaign adapted for self-administration on the Internet. Six experiments were conducted examining the effects of no opinion, don't know, and not sure response alternatives. Except in one case, in which a large number of respondents with a higher level of education expressed opinions about a fictitious issue, the results replicated earlier findings by Schuman and Presser (1981). Two experiments examined the selection of "forbid" vs. "not allow" showing the preference of respondents to choose "not allow" over "forbid." However, we found a lower margin of difference in our experiments in comparison with those of Schuman and Presser (1981). Three experiments examining the effects of a middle response alternative clearly suggested that offering a "middle alternative" results in a s (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. George Bishop (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

This research will explore the different facets of political trust and it will look at the severity of dissatisfaction that exists within the American electorate by analyzing the content of letters written to the editor of various regional newspapers. It will cover the years between 1990 and 2000 and specifically look at three different snap-shots in time: 1990, 1994-95, and 1999. This research will not attempt to measure any increase or decrease regarding the number of Americans who are angry with the government. It will give a general overview of the data and findings, which will include an analysis of where letter writers are directing their anger. It will characterize the nature of this dissatisfaction, its severity, and where this anger fits into theories of government distrust. This research will specifically look at dissatisfaction that is directed at the US Congress and the Supreme Court to determine if the letter writer is angry at the institution or the people within the institution. Demographic differences such as sex, region of country, elite verses mass opinion, and year are also explored. The 1994 congressional election will also be explored regarding the extent to which dissatisfaction and hostility towards government contributed to the unexpected Republican takeover of both houses of Congress. Letters will be critically evaluated for any discussion of the “Contract with America” to determine possible effects it had on the election. Finally, this research will consider the nature and severity of systemic complaints and look at the severity of changes proposed by letter writers.

Committee: Dr. Alfred Tuchfarber (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

Despite providing numerous plausible explanations of presidential approval, particularly how it changes over time, the research literature has significant deficiencies. These include the following: (1) over-reliance on aggregate-level research; (2) lack of a comprehensive model to determine which factors best explain presidential approval; (3) assumption of constancy in the meaning of the presidential approval question, such that the potential for change in approval being merely a reflection of change in the meaning of the presidential approval question has not been seriously considered; and (4) the assumption that measures of perceptions of the president as a person and his job performance are just two sides of the same coin, resulting in little consideration of perceptions of presidential persona as a key factor in explaining presidential approval. This dissertation addresses these deficiencies. By using data from National Election Studies in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000, we test, directly and indirectly, a comprehensive model of approval at the individual level, including perceptions of economic and foreign relations performance, party identification, socio-demographics, and perception of presidential persona. Our model essentially combines some of the key conventional explanations with one rival explanation. Tests of it show that the most important explanation of presidential approval is one's perception of presidential persona. This holds true on overall approval as well as approval of the president's handling of economics and foreign relations. We probed the matter further, and found change in presidential approval to vary rather consistently with change in perception of presidential persona, as measured by the favorability rating. In addition to the tests of our model, we considered a second rival explanation of presidential approval, change in the meaning of the presidential approval question. By presenting indirect evidence, we demonstrate the likelihoo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. George Bishop (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

This paper uses attitudes toward traditional authority as a proxy for moral worldviews. Traditional authority is then used to predict attitudes toward the culture war battles abortion, homosexuality, birth control and euthanasia. The moral worldview construct of traditional authority and Biblical literalism provide more explanatory power than social groups, providing further proof of a culture war. Traditional authority is also studied as a predictor of attitudes toward science and science knowledge in novel ways. It appears that science may be an emerging battle in the culture war. Capital punishment and affirmative action are also studied, but no evidence of a culture war is found. In all cases, traditional authority captures unique variation not tapped by attitudes toward Biblical literalism, and together they appear to form a larger construct of the source of moral authority and worldview.

Committee: Stephen Mockabee (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

This work will explore in three sections how theorist Jean Jacques Rousseau's religious perspective permeated his political thought. Initially, his viewpoints will be reviewed in light of available literature on his work. Second, using his own work and observational commentary about him, I will develop a biographical sketch of his life and times, as well as his character and religious beliefs. Finally, I will analyze A Discourse on Inequality and the Social Contract as the culmination of the ideals uncovered in the above texts. I will argue that Rousseau's misinterpretation and denunciation of key components of Christianity are reflected in numerous workability issues with the Social Contract itself, particularly in the function of the general versus the private will of the people. Problematic issues such as Rousseau's envisioned “civil religion” and the role of the “great legislator” will also be explored.

Committee: Dr. James Stever (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2003, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

The British Government has been engaged for more than thirty years in a struggle with terrorism related to Northern Ireland. During what is euphemistically called the Troubles, the British government has implemented a series of special emergency laws to address the violence. Drawing upon the political context and debate surrounding the implementation and development of the emergency legislation this research examines the overall effect of British anti-terrorism legislation on both respect for civil liberties and the government's ability to fight campaigns of violence. Drawing heavily upon primary sources, high profile cases of miscarriages of justice and accusation of an official 'shoot to kill' policy this project explores three distinct areas related to a government's balancing of the exigencies of individual liberty and societal order. First, accusations of an erosion of civil liberties are examined in relation to the war on terrorism. Second, it is argued three decades of special emergency legislation has led to the normalization of policies used to fight terrorism. Third, the powers created to deal with a unique crisis situation have expanded dramatically in scope and have continued to do so even as violence associated with the Troubles diminishes. The research concludes by exploring the project's findings and what the lessons the British experience may have for other liberal democracies dealing with sustained campaigns of violence.

Committee: Dr. Richard J. Harknett (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2003, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

This thesis attempts to contribute to the debate of why states go to war and what calculations dominate a state's decision making process as it relates to war. This paper attempts to explain this by an examination of the relationship between the weapon environment of a prospective war and the decision calculus of states. To do this, this thesis draws on literature concerning deterrence and prospect theory as well as the broader international relations theoretical debate over state preferences. The thesis offers two heuristic case studies of the Cuban missile crisis and the Persian Gulf war to explore the potential conditional relationship that exists between the broad category of weapon types (conventional or nuclear) and state preferences (relative versus absolute gains calculations). Through these case studies this thesis suggests that the weapon system that defines the strategic environment is the main factor impacting whether a state will base its calculations to go to war in terms of relative or absolute calculations.

Committee: Dr. Richard Harknett (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2002, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

In retrospect, the Sino-Soviet alliance of the 1950s based on a shared communism ideology was actually very fragile. However, the end of Cold War brought a new era of Sino-Russian relations. The two countries are heading toward the closest relations they have had in decades. Ideology no longer permeates Sino-Russian bilateral relations, but a clear movement toward cooperation and coordination is occurring.In this thesis I have two objectives: First, I intend to demonstrate what forces (independent variables) possibly drive Sino-Russian alignment (dependent variable) according to different theories' argument about alignment. I will specifically discuss Kenneth Waltz's balance of power theory, Stephen Walt's balance of external threat theory, and Richard Harknett's balance of interrelated threat theory, which is developed from Steven David's balance of internal threat theory. Second, I will try to demonstrate the theoretical and policy significance of the above different explanations of Sino-Russian alignment. After analyzing the explanation given by the aforementioned three theories, I conclude that Harknett' balance of interrelated threat theory provides the best current explanation to Sino-Russian alignment. While other theories focus on the external variables contributing to Sino-Russian alignment, Harknett's theory notes that Sino-Russian alignment responds to the interrelated threats. This explanation catches the substance of Sin-Russian relationship and the nature of the challenges that Russia and China have confronted in the Post-Cold War era. The advantage of Harknett's explanation is especially brought out, when some new developments of Sino-Russian relationship after 911 could not be properly explained by other theories.

Committee: Dr. Richard Harknett (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2002, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

Monitoring the popularity of the president is a vital aspect of public opinion research today. Presidential approval has become a very closely watched political indicator in the United States. The measure of job approval has grown in importance over time. It is now argued by many that a president's personal standing with the public is a very important aspect of his political power. While pollsters often report on "gaps" in presidential approval, citing differences in approval between socio-demographic groups, in most cases, the socio-demographic gaps referred to by pollsters are the products of simple bivariate analyses. Seldom are further steps taken by pollsters to investigate the reality of whether or not these gaps in approval actually exist when controlling for other factors. The focus of this research is directed towards the "gender gap" in presidential approval. In the literature review that follows, we see in detail that there is a gap between women and men, with women tending to the left and men tending to the right on many issues, including presidential approval. But does this frequently observed "gender gap" reflect a real difference in the political preferences of American men and women, or is it just an artifact of simple bivariate analyses, with many uncontrolled variables? In addition, does this "gender gap" interact with other socio-demographic variables to move presidential approval? This thesis tests the reality of the "Gender Gap" through a multivariate analysis of Ohio Polls conducted during the administration of Bill Clinton.

Committee: Dr. George F. Bishop (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2002, Arts and Sciences : Political Science

Much has been written about the success and failure of survey research organizations attempting to project election outcomes in advance using sample survey data. However, less is known about the relationship between specific data adjustment methods used to generate those projections and the level of accuracy those projections achieve. Organizations often adjust raw survey results using data adjustment models, developed a priori, incorporating one, two or all of the following methods: 1) demographic weighting, 2a) likely voter screening and related 2b) adjustments for turnout, and 3) the allocation of undecided voter preferences. However, few investigations have considered the relationship between election projection accuracy and these various adjustments in depth. This research contributes to the literature on pre-election polling and projections through a systematic analysis of the contribution that each of these three types of data adjustment (weighting, turnout adjustment and undecided voter allocation) make to the accuracy of election projections. This research finds that while some data adjustment methods improve election projection accuracy, not all methods improve projections over the accuracy level achieved using unweighted data. For example, while this research presents evidence that specific turnout adjustment methods often lead to improved election projection accuracy, extensive tests also found specific demographic and geographic weighting had a very limited impact on increased accuracy in many situations and actually reduced projection accuracy in several cases. Variation in accuracy across different types of election contests was found when single data adjustment models were applied. As a result, this analysis recommends experimentation with using separate data adjustment methodologies when projecting election results in four types of election contests: "Top of the Ticket" incumbent races; "Top of the Ticket" open seat races; "Bottom of the Ticket" inc (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Alfred J. Tuchfarber (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2007, Political Science

For years scholars have asserted that attorneys with more extensive expertise (either overall or in relation to opposing counsel) achieve a higher rate of success for their clients. However, there has been little direct investigation of how differing institutional features among courts might influence the impact of attorney expertise. This paper theorizes that the impact of attorney expertise on judicial decision-making is minimized in institutional contexts where a judge has significant access to neutral information (such as research provided by law clerks) in addition to the partisan information provided by counsel. A more complex method than those previously employed to measure attorney expertise is developed which incorporates information about an attorney's litigation experience, years of practice, relevant clerkships, subject-area specialization, Martindale-Hubbell rating, and law school achievements. The resulting index of attorney expertise is employed to compare attorneys' winning percentages in products liability cases in the federal district and circuit courts between 1995 and 2006. The results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference in the success rate of attorneys based on their expertise in the federal appellate courts where judges have relatively lower caseloads and more staff assistance than district court judges. However, in the district courts—where judges have less time and resources to obtain independent, neutral information—the winning percentage of attorneys with greater overall expertise than opposing counsel exceeds the baseline success rate to a statistically significant degree.

Committee: Sam Nelson (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Political Science

The principal purpose of this research is to explain and to analyze the policy preferences of Black and White state legislators in the Ohio General Assembly. In particular, the study seeks to understand whether or not Black state legislators advocate a distinctive policy agenda through an analysis of their policy preferences and bill sponsorship patterns. Essentially, one of the central objectives of the study is to determine the extent to which legislators' perceptions of their policy preferences actually correspond with their legislative behavior (i.e., bill sponsorship patterns). In addition to understanding the impact of race upon legislative preferences, I also analyze additional factors (e.g., institutional features, district characteristics, etc.) which potentially influence legislators' policy preferences and legislative behavior. The data for this inquiry derive from personal interviews with members of the Ohio legislature conducted in the early to late 1990's and legislative bills introduced in the 1998-1999 session. The analyses of these data suggest that Black state legislators exhibit distinctive agenda setting behavior measured in terms of their policy priorities and bill sponsorship patterns in comparison to White state legislators. Black legislators are significantly more likely to prioritize race-based policy issues relative to White state legislators. In addition, the findings indicate that Black legislators support policy priorities which are generally consistent with traditional legislative decisionmaking. Hence, Black legislators balance “dual representational roles” as both race representatives and responsible legislators. The results also suggest that the policy priorities of legislators parallel their bill sponsorship activity. Black legislators are proportionately more likely to sponsor Black interest (i.e., racial justice) legislation than White state legislators. The evidence also indicates that the majority of bill proposals (i.e., both B (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: William Nelson, Jr. (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Political Science

In the past 15 years, the post-communist countries have attempted to rebuild state society relations. Central to this process has been the formation of business associations. Existing literature often treats business associations as marginal players. This dissertation demonstrates that they are important organizations that have a profound effect on the political and economic life of post-communist countries. Moreover, while scholars have examined the behavior and influence of interest groups, the actual causes of group formation remain underdeveloped. This dissertation examines the creation of business associations and their subsequent development across countries and economic sectors. Based on a cross-national survey of firms in 25 countries as well as a comparative analysis of business interest representation in Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, and Kazakhstan, it finds that low-level bureaucratic corruption and excessive state regulations facilitate the formation of business associations. It argues that increasing bureaucratic pressure on businesses stimulates collective action to combat corruption. Another empirical finding is that firms in different sectors of the economy are unequally represented by business associations. Contrary to prevailing theoretical arguments, firms in the service sector are most likely to join business associations, while firms in mining and heavy industry are least likely to join. This is consistent with the previous argument because firms in service sectors are more vulnerable to invasive regulations. Analysis suggests that the nature of state regulatory institutions affects business association formation. When corruption and regulations by bureaucrats are rampant, businesses have greater incentives to join associations providing legitimate means to counter bureaucratic pressure. Thus, business associations arise as a defensive mechanism to protect business against corruption and extensive regulation. This contributes to the debates about th (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Timothy Frye (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Political Science

The scholarship on the interactions between Congress and Supreme Court typically incorporates two assumptions: Congress has the final word so that legislative actions constrain the Court and both congressional and judicial actions are motivated almost solely by ideological considerations. However, by enacting statutes, Congress acts first, and the Court responds to challenges to those statutes in cases brought by dissatisfied litigants. Further, the Supreme Court typically has the last word in constitutional cases. Second, both members of Congress and Supreme Court Justices benefit from achieving policy that is successful and consistent with their ideological preferences. This dissertation develops a framework that incorporates these departures. The theory argues that Congress is the constrained branch in constitutional interactions. It conceptualizes each statute as consisting of two components: its ideological content and its suitability – its effectiveness in achieving the goals that underlie it. Having the power to make law, Congress has to anticipate whether the Court would invalidate a prospective statute. If necessary, Congress will temper the ideological content of its legislation, or it will attempt to increase the suitability of the statute. The Supreme Court can accept trade-offs of increased suitability for lower ideological benefits. I conduct four empirical analyses. First, I test whether ideology and a statute's suitability influence judicial decisions to uphold or invalidate statutes. The second analysis reexamines these decisions in conjunction with the Court's decisions to review challenges to federal laws. The third analysis examines the impact of ideology and suitability on the fate of federal statutes over time. The final analysis focuses on statutes to determine whether and how the threat of judicial invalidation influences the suitability component of statutes. The findings support the theoretical model proposed in this dissertation. The empir (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lawrence Baum (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Political Science

Legislative parties are largely absent from discussions of party institutionalization in the extant literature; yet the ability of legislative political parties to become institutionalized directly affects the success of newly established democracies by fostering governmental performance and stability and ensuring greater representation and accountability. Drawing upon the literature on organizational culture, I develop a theory that argues legislative parties institutionalize when party leaders create, and legislators subsequently adopt, party culture, or the rules and norms guiding a party's behavior. I employ a multi-methodological approach to test the theory, combining an in-depth examination of legislative parties in Poland with a comparative study of new democracies in East Central Europe. First, based on in-depth interviews, I find that Poland's legislative party leaders have taken steps to establish party culture. Second, utilizing data from two surveys of parliamentarians and an original dataset of roll call votes, I conclude that legislators themselves have by and large adopted this culture. Lastly, I analyze existing studies of parties in the Czech Republic and Hungary for evidence of legislative party institutionalization and find that Poland's legislative parties are more institutionalized than those of either the Czech Republic or Hungary. This finding clearly challenges the conventional wisdom, which portrays Poland's parties as weak and poorly institutionalized.

Committee: Goldie Shabad (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science, General