Government

In its Honors Program the Government Department awards one level of Honors to student research projects. The projects listed below have been defended successfully, and a copy of the thesis deposited in Swem Library.

Key:

Student, "Thesis" (Honors level)
Committee Chair + Other Committee Members

2023-2024

Caleb William Fulford, "Roads Less Traveled: Abortion, Interstate Commerce, and the Post-Dobbs Politics of Travel" (Honors)
Christine Nemacheck + Claire McKinney, Lindsay Barna
Andrew Joel Hoffman, "The People's House?: Countermajoritarianism in the House of Representatives" (Honors)
C. Lawrence Evans + John B. Gilmour, Salvatore Saporito
Sophia Lorraine Tammera, "AI-ing the Future: An Analysis of Past Treaty Features in Regulating Innovative Technologies" (Honors)
Mark Deming + Dennis Smith, Philip Roessler, David Homard
Alison Lise Trahan, "An Experimental Test on the Effects of Digital Framing Disputes on Social Movement Organization’s Mobilization and Organizational Image" (Honors)
Mackenzie Israel-Trummel + Geneva Cole, Alexandra Joosse
Jonathan Terrell Wilkins, "Developing Politics While Detained: How Juvenile Incarceration Impacts Political Participation and Behavior" (Honors)
Mackenzie Israel-Trummel + Christine Nemacheck, Nicole Dressler

2022-2023

Helena Ruth Buckman, "The Future of Digital Resistance: An Analysis of App Popularity During Service-Based Internet Shutdowns" (Honors)
Fiona Shen-Bayh + Sharan Grewal , Marcus Holmes , Peyman Jafari
Hadley Elizabeth Day, "“And We’ll Fight Them For 800 More”: Violence and Nationalism in Northern Ireland" (Honors)
Lina Kassem + Audrey Horning , Peyman Jafari
Samuel Caleb Ketchem, "Under the Blue Berets: Race and Ethnicity as Factors for Peacekeeping Success" (Honors)
Sue Peterson + Etienne Poliquin, Rui Pereira

2021-2022

Dermot Curtin, "In Search of a Just Peace: Insurgency and Peace Processes in Northeast India" (Honors)
Rani Mullen + Philip Roessler, Lina Kassem, S.P. Harish
Gabrielle Bozeman, "“Protect Black Women”: Narratives of Black Women’s Experiences with Police" (Honors)
Jackson Sasser + Mackenzie Israel-Trummel, Jody Allen
Isabel Conti, "Understanding Italian Corruption: Law 190/2012 and Network Corruption" (Honors)
Sharan Grewal + Rani Mullen, Monica Seger
Maxwell Markel, "State Political Entrepreneurs in the Age of Modi: Opposition Politics in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal from 2019-2021" (Honors)
Rani Mullen + Sharan Grewal, Chitralekha Zutshi
Michaela Hill, "The Journey of Unlearning: A Close Reading of Civil War Pedagogy in Alabama and Virginia" (Honors)
Jackson Sasser + Chris Nemacheck, Adrienne Petty
Paige Groome, "Braving the Breakers: A Study of U.S. Political Polarization & the United States’ International Reputation as a Reliable Global Partner" (Honors)
Amy Oakes + Dennis smith, Erin Webster
Yuchen Tang, "Reset The Boundary: State Activism in Juvenile Transfer Reform" (Honors)
John McGlennon + Mackenzie Israel-Trummel, Vivian Hamilton

2020-2021

Ella Benbow, "“All Is Quiet in Arlington”: The Desegregation of Arlington County Public Schools and How We Remember It" (Honors)
Jackson Sasser + Christine Nemacheck, Jody Allen
Leslie Davis, "Defining Sexism: The Impact of Elite Cues on Conceptualizations and Labeling of Gender-Based Prejudice" (Honors)
Jaime Settle + Mackenzie Israel-Trummel, Dana Willner
Ziyi Fu, "Work in the Twenty-First Century: A Marxist-Feminist Reconceptualization on a Communicative Model" (Highest Honors)
Fabian Arzuaga + Robert Leventhal, Claire McKinney, Aaron Griffith
Ashley Hernandez Estrada, "Constructing Communities: The Effect of Housing Policy on County Populations and Election Outcomes" (Honors)
Paul Manna + John McGlennon, Sarah Stafford
Benjamin Hotchner, "Autocratic Influence in Democratic Transitions: How the Timing of Constitutional Reform Impacts Democratic Consolidation" (Honors)
Clay Clemens + Paula Pickering, Christopher Freiman
Zachary Kirk, "Playing by the Rules: The Use of Special Rules in the Contemporary United States House of Representatives" (Honors)
C. Lawrence Evans + James P. Barber, John B. Gilmour
Charles Williamson, "Dial E for Expansion: The Future of Trans-Atlantic Cooperation with the United States and NATO" (Honors)
Daniel Maliniak + Lawrence Wilkerson, Hiroshi Kitamura

2019-2020

Henry Blackburn, "Up Close and Personal: Ritual, Social Criticism, and the Russell Tribunal" (Honors)
John Lombardini + Joel Schwartz, Christopher Freiman
Clare DaBaldo, "Who's in Charge Here? How Motivations Shape Instances of CEO Activism" (Honors)
Marcus Holmes + Caitlin Brown, Bob Williams
William Moore, "What Europe Learns About Itself: Political Differences and their Effects on Citizenship Education about the European Union in England, Scotland and Nordrhein-Westfalen" (Honors)
Clay Clemens + Paul Manna, Mark Greer
Nicholas Ovideo-Torres, "White Liberalism: Jordan Peele Reads Harper Lee" (Honors)
Simon Stow + Jaime Settle, John Riofrio
Campbell Scheuerman, "Measuring Anti-Vaxx Sentiment on Social Media" (Honors)
Maurits van der Veen + Clare McKinney, Dan Runfola
Grace Shamlian, (Honors)
Larry Evans + Clare McKinney, Thomas Linneman

2018-19

Emily Earls, "Everyone is Pro-life: The Historical and Cultural Influences on Elite Discourse of Abortion in Argentina"
Claire McKinney + Chris Howard, Silvia Tandeciarz
Christopher Gundermann, "Sometimes Enemies, Sometimes Friends" (High Honors)
S.P. Harish + Lenneal Henderson, Rui Pereira
Ammon Harteis, "Who Does The Dying?: 'Martial Races' and War Time Unit Deployment in the Indian Army"
Philip Roessler + S.P. Harish, Robert Vinson
Daniel Herrera, "Political Motivations in Government Debt Issuance: Evidence from Mexico" (Honors)
Daniel Maliniak + Eric Arias, Alfredo Pereira
Luke Hogg, "The Rust on Gideon’s Trumpet: A Theoretical Diagnostic of Public Defense in America"
John Lombardini + Jackson Sasser, Adam Gershowitz
Deborah Kornblut, "When Science Isn’t Enough: The Importance of a New Social Contract for Conservation Communication" (Honors)
Daniel Maliniak + SP Harish, Dorothy Ibes
Grace Murray, "Comparing the Behavior of Indigenous Tribes, States, and Foreign Sovereigns as Submitters of Amicus Curiae within the Supreme Court" (Honors)
Jamie Settle + Christine Nemacheck, Alexandra Joosse
Alexander Nocks, "Small Town Justice in the Twenty-First Century: Opportunities and Challenges for Mayor’s Courts in Ohio"
Jackson Sasser + Christine Nemacheck, Ingo Keilitz
Carson Whitehurst, "'Full of Internal Contradictions': A Neutral Case for the Invalidation of the Death Penalty" (Honors)
Jackson Sasser + Christine Nemacheck, Adam Gershowitz
Wesley Garner, "The Art of Repression: Digital Dissent and Power Consolidation in El-Sisi’s Egypt" (Honors)
Caitlin Brown + Philip Roessler, Stephen Shellman
Blake Phillips, "Supreme Court Opinion Authorship Attribution on a Case-by-Case Basis"
Maurits van der Veen + Christine Nemacheck, Daniel Parker

2017-18

Dara Bright, "Standing At A Crossroad: An Examination of Societal Expectations on the Attitudes of African American Men & Women towards Academic Achievement at a PWI and a HBCU" (Honors)
Claire McKinney + Lenneal Henderson, Joanna Schug
Hannah Gourdie, "Accessing the Right to Choose: Factors Predicting the Enactment of State-Level Abortion Clinic Access Laws" (Honors)
Christine Nemacheck + Jackson Sasser, Claire McKinney
Michelle Hermes, "Breaking the Stereotype: Age and Public Opinion Towards Refugees in Germany" (Honors)
Jaime Settle + Clayton Clemens, Jennifer Gully
Devon Wolfe, "J.S. Mill the Democrat: Connecting Mill, Athens, and Election Reform" (Honors)
John Lombardini + Rebekah Sterling, Elizabeth Radcliffe

2016-17

Eudora Arthur, "The Degradation of an American Ideal: How Facebook News Integration Affects Civil Liberty Importance" (Honors)
Daniel Doherty + Jamie Settle, Jeanne Wilson
Courtney Blackington, "Hooligans or Saboteurs? Democratic Backtracking in Eastern Europe" (Honors)
Paula Pickering + Clayton Clemens, Laurie Koloski
Halia Czosnek, "Responding to International Health Emergencies: Comparing the World Health Organization Response to Ebola and Zika" (Honors)
Susan Peterson + Michael Tierney, Alison Scott
Joseph Malanson, "The Christian Right and Israel: A Love Story?" (Honors)
Chris Howard + John McGlennon, Annie Blazer
Emily Wasek, "A Woman’s Place in the State House: Exploring Backlash Effects of Women’s Increased Descriptive Representation" (Honors)
Jamie Settle + John McGlennon, Leisa Meyer

2015-16

Gray Decker, "The Effect of Austerity, Urban-Rural Divide and Clientelism on Euroscepticism" (Honors)
John McGlennon + Maurits van der Veen, Clay Clemens, Bruce Campbell
Emily Draper, "Yes-Women: Gender and Agreement in Online Political Discussion" (Honors)
Jaime Settle + Leisa Meyer, Maurits van der Veen
Michael Hamilton, "Imposing Change: Analyzing Lustration Policies in Post-War Iraq and Germany" (Honors)
Sue Peterson + Paula Pickering, Michael Butler
Duenya Hassan, "Lurking Online: Countering Extremist Narratives in Unfamiliar Territory" (Honors)
Amy Oakes + Jaime Settle, Stephen Sheehi
Minu Nagashunmugam, "Not All Politicians are the Same: The Effects of Gender and Political Party on Candidate Evaluation" (Honors)
Cheryl Dickter + Meghan Sinton-Miller, Jaime Settle
Alexandra Phillips, "Margaret Thatcher, Dilma Rousseff, & Angela Merkel: The Impact of Female World Leaders through Collaborative Negotiation" (Honors)
Marcus Holmes + Amy Oakes, Victoria Castillo
John Stuart, "Disgust: An Emotional Component of Conservative Attitudes toward Transgender Individuals" (Honors)
Jaime Settle + Paul Manna, Matthew Hilimire
Hallie Westlund, "Equitable Distribution of Microfinance: How Language, Ethnicity, and Religion Affect Access to Microcredit Loans" (Honors)
Maurits van der Veen + Till Schreiber, Amy Quark
Jimmy Zhang, "A Few Good Men: A Quantitative Analysis of High-Level People's Liberation Army (PLA) Promotion Patterns under Xi Jinping" (Honors)
Tun-Jen Cheng + Paul Manna, Hiroshi Kitamura

2014-15

Arvin Alaigh, "Examining the Role of Cultural Paradigm Shift on Originalist Interpretation: Implications on the Second Amendment" (Honors) Joel Schwartz + Jackson Sasser, Chinua Thelwell
Stephen D'Alessio, "Patterns of Controversy: The Factors that Influence the Passage of Voter Identification Laws" (Honors) John McGlennon + Richard Lowry, Ronald Rapoport
Samuel Dunham, "From Activism to Annoyance: Framing, Threat, and Public Tolerance toward Protest" (Honors) Jaime Settle + Ronald Rapoport, Dennis Manos
Tanner Russo, "Reasonable Expectations: State Appellate Courts and the Third-Party Doctrine" (Honors) Christine Nemacheck + Jackson N. Sasser, Jr., Adam Gershowitz

2013-14

Jake Douglas, "Commitment Without Control: The Burdensharing Dilemma in the US-Japan Alliance" (Honors)
Tun-Jen Cheng + Sophia Hart, Hiroshi Kitamura
Taylor Feenstra, "Political Chameleons: An Exploration of Personality and Political Conformity" (Honors)
Jaime Settle + Christine Nemacheck, Cheryl Dickter
Maryam Kanna, "Emirati Foreign Aid: Overview and Foreign Policy Implications" (Honors)
Debra Shushan + Chris Howard, Till Schreiber
Keenan Kelley, "Fixing Failing Schools: How States and Localities Implement Federal Reforms" (Honors)
Paul Manna + Jaime Settle, Peter McHenry
Rachel Lienesch, "Partisan-Colored Glasses? How Polarization Has Affected the Formulation and Impact of Party Competence Evaluations" (Honors)
Lawrence Evans + Ron Rapoport, Amy Quark
Molly Michie, "Parents and Preschool Decisions: How Networks, Research, and Priorities Affect Program Quality" (Honors)
Christ Howard + Paul Manna, Jamel Donnor
Ben Reynolds, "The Birth of the School: Mass Education and the Making of Industrial Man" (Honors)
John Lombardini + Rebekah Sterling, Jacqueline Rodriguez
Margaret Schwenzfeier, "When Social Pressure Fails: Evidence from Two Direct Mail Field Experiments" (Honors)
Jaime Settle + Ronald Rapoport, Julie Agnew
William Smith, "The Impact of Solar Lights on the Individual Welfare and Fishing Productivity of Liberian Fishermen" (Honors)
Philip Roessler + Paul Manna, Mary Fabrizio
Taylor Stephens, "Reconciled Liberalism as a Mechanism for Foreign Aid Evaluation" (Honors)
Joel Schwartz + Michael Tierney, Chris Adkins
Ryan R. Warsing, "To Polish or Demolish? The Resurgence and Reimagining of America Rail" (Honors)
John McGlennon + Christopher Howard, Matthew Allar

2012-13

Kathryn Beaver, "United States Foreign Policy and Multilateral Institutional Effectiveness" (Honors)
Michael Tierney + Katherine Rahman, David Corlett
Andrew Engelhardt, "Disadvantage and Self-Interest: Social Class and Policy Preferences" (Honors)
Ronald Rapoport + Jaime Settle, Caroline Hanley
Andrew Follett, "The Wrong Right Stuff: Why NASA Consistently Fails at Congress" (Honors)
John Gilmour + Sophia Hart, Rowan Lockwood
Mason Rayner, "John Locke and the Creation of Liberal Subjects" (Honors)
John Baltes + John Lombardini, Elizabeth Radcliffe
Gregory Yellen, "Friend or Foe? Interest Distance Theory & U.S. Responses to Postwar Challengers"
Amy Oakes + Dennis Smith, Chitralekha Zutshi

2008-09

Allison Anoll, "Creating Citizens: Civics Education, Civic Socialization and Engagement Patterns" (Honors)
Paul Manna + Joel Schwartz, Jeremy Stoddard
Daniel Byler, "Online Social Networks and Their Relationship to Social Capital and Political Attitudes" (Honors)
Ron Rapoport+ Joel Schwartz, Bob Archibald
Alexander Ely, "David vs. Goliath: Offense-Defense Theory and Asymmetric Wars" (Honors)
Amy Oakes + Dennis Smith, Chris Westberg
Deborah Klonsko, "Recognizing Secession: The Influence of Politics on Statehood" (Honors)
Paula Pickering + Amy Oakes, James Frusetta

2007-08

Patrick Doherty
Clay Clemens (Fall 2008)
Lauren Garrett, "Deconstructing the Gender Card: An Examination of Femininity Performance in US Elections" (Honors)
Stacey Pelika + Chris Howard, Jenny Putzi
Robert Landicho, "Can Foreign Aid Give an Incentive for Good Governance? The Case of the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Jordan" (Honors)
Michael Tierney + Rani Mullen, Mark Smith
Ryan Powers, "A New Measure of Environmental Lending: Measuring and Explaining Environmental Mainstreaming at the World Bank" (Honors)
Mike Tierney and Maria Ivanova + Timmons Roberts, Rob Hicks
Ryan Scott, "The Nexus of Business & Politics: The Case of Same-Sex Partner Benefits" (Honors)
Ronald Sims (Mason School of Business) + John McGlennon, Stacey Pelika
Joshua Turner, "Religion and the Political Sphere: The Limitations of Public Reason" (Honors)
Joel Schwartz + John Baltes, Alan Meese

2006-07

Grant Gonzalez, "Competing Conceptions of State: The Government and the Egyptian Islamist Movements - 1975-1997" (High Honors)
Rani Mullen + Peter Bechtold, Tamara Sonn
Darby Hull, "Shifting Federalism: Latino Immigrants & Medicaid" (Honors)
Chris Howard + John McGlennon, Salvatore Saporito
Benjamin Malloy, "The Birth of Comedy: A Comparison of the Role of the Dionysian Perspective, the Comic Attic, and Masking as a Forum of Critiquing Democratic Institutions" (Honors)
Simon Stow + P.J. Brendese, Tim Costelloe
Ryan Marion, "Gangs vs. the Globe: Legal Conceptualization and its Effects on Fighting Transnational Organized Crime" (Honors)
Katherine Rahman + Mike Tierney, George Harris
Meghan McCarthy, "One Goal, Multiple Efforts: Donor Coordination in Ghana and Nigeria's Primary Education Sectors" (High Honors)
Rani Mullen + Ngoni Munemo, Berhanu Abegaz
Mary Moll, "Strategies of Inoculation: Issue Ownership and Entrepreneurial Behavior in Congress" (Honors)
Larry Evans + Paul Manna, Christopher Ball
Amanda Norris, "Explaining the Electoral Stability of the Front National and the Electoral Instability of the Austrian Freedom Party" (Honors)
Clay Clemens + Rani Mullen, Michael LeRuth
Brandon Stewart, "'On the Other Side of Silence': The Study of Tragedy in International Relations" (Highest Honors)
Simon Stow + P.J. Brendese, Kristi Burns
Jennifer Sykes, "Who Wins? And Why?: A Quantitative Test of Hypotheses about Organized Interests" (High Honors)
Larry Evans + Chris Howard, Carl Moody

2005-06

Marion Harris, "Media and Framing Effects on the EU Constitutional Treaty Referendum in France" (Honors)
Clay Clemens + Chris Howard, Michael Leruth
Dan Maliniak, "Chinese Exchange Rate Determination: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Love the Renminbi" (Highest Honors)
T.J. Cheng + Michael Tierney, David Dessler, Arnab Basu
Rebecca Milfeld, "The Perpetuation of Segregation in America's Subsidized Housing" (Honors)
Chris Howard + Paul Manna, Mel Ely
Laura Mirengoff, "The Rehnquist Court's 'Federalism Revolution'" (Honors)
Christine Nemacheck + Paul Manna, Hiroshi Kitamura
Adam Smith, "Red Over Europe: Democratic Consolidation and Hard Left Communist Successor Parties" (Honors)
Paula Pickering + Clay Clemens, Tuska Benes
Brendan Williams
Emile Lester + Joel Schwartz, David Jaeger

2004-05

Patience Bosley-Burke
John McGlennon + Paul Manna, Dennis Taylor
Sarah Brown
Larry Evans + Ron Rapoport, Jenny Kehl, Clyde Haulman
Christina Carroll
Emile Lester + Chris Nemacheck, Melvin Ely
Amy FitzHenry
Chris Howard + Paul Manna, Jennifer Bickham-Mendez
Thomas Gates
Emile Lester, Chris Nemacheck, Paul Mapp
Kimberely Grubb
Jenny Kehl + Clay Clemens, Ismail Abdalla
Mary Hallerman
John McGlennon + Ron Rapoport, Tom Linneman
Justin Kliger
Clay Clemens + Ron Rapoport, Harvey Langholtz
Julie Podlesni-
Christopher Howard + John Gilmour, Greg Capelli
Cara Passaro
Clay Clemens + Paula Pickering, LuAnn Homza
Daniel Queen
Mike Tierney + Katherine Rahman, Rob Hicks
Matthew Young
Clay Clemens + Paula Pickering, Harvey Langholtz