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Economic Inequality and its Roots: A Comparative Analysis of the United States and Canada

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In the United States, the past thirty years have brought with them a substantial rise in income and wealth inequality rates. Inequality in the U.S. has risen to levels not seen for nearly a century and shows no signs of decreasing in the near future. Conversely, Canada has experienced lower…

In the United States, the past thirty years have brought with them a substantial rise in income and wealth inequality rates. Inequality in the U.S. has risen to levels not seen for nearly a century and shows no signs of decreasing in the near future. Conversely, Canada has experienced lower levels of inequality during this same period despite many similarities and ties to the U.S. Therefore, the purpose of this paper will be to examine the extent to which these two countries differ in this area and identify some of the more salient factors that have contributed to this divergence, including tax policies, unionization rates, and financial industry regulation, as well as the deeper, more fundamental elements of each nation's identity.
ContributorsPetrusek, Nicholas Anthony (Author) / Puleo, Thomas (Thesis director) / Sivak, Henry (Committee member) / Thomas, George (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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Geopolitics of the South China Sea: How Territory, Territoriality, and Sovereignty Reflect China's Ambitions

Description
The disputes in the South China Sea involve overlapping territorial claims from multiple nations and have grown increasingly contentious over the past decade. The area is rich in natural resources and is strategically significant regarding international trade and military capabilities. Due to the significance of the area, the competing claims…

The disputes in the South China Sea involve overlapping territorial claims from multiple nations and have grown increasingly contentious over the past decade. The area is rich in natural resources and is strategically significant regarding international trade and military capabilities. Due to the significance of the area, the competing claims have global ramifications and the conflict involves actors beyond the region. This paper examines the geopolitical factors involved in the disputes and how they shape states' actions in relation to the South China Sea. Specifically, this paper will show how China's actions in the South China Sea reflect both the geography of the region, and also its political ambitions in the region and international community. The states' claims contend the territory, territoriality, and sovereignty of islands in the South China Sea, and are based on both international law and historical evidence illustrated in the case between the Philippines and China in the Scarborough Shoal. It demonstrates China's tactics for managing competing claims, its increasing military capabilities, and the uncertainty of resolutions to the conflict. The mechanisms for the resolution of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea are shown to be largely ineffective given the differing basis of claims over the South China Sea states have. International institutions, such as United Nations tribunals, and other nations without direct claims in the South China Sea, such as the United States, have interests in the conflict related to the peaceful resolution of disputes between nations, while also influencing states' actions. This paper reviews the concepts of geopolitics and how China's strategy in the South China Sea reflects both critical and classical geopolitics and its objective of regional hegemony.
ContributorsKelly, Megan Jean (Author) / Sivak, Henry (Thesis director) / Lundry, Chris (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
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Examining the Relationship between Nationalism, Geopolitics, and Political Integration: The Cases of Post-Soviet Estonia and Georgia

Description
This thesis approaches the concept of nationalism within the context of post-Soviet Estonian and Georgian state-building from a sociological perspective, building upon the work of Émile Durkheim, Bernard Yack, Anthony Smith, and Rogers Brubaker. Taking such a stance identifies nationalism as a social concept whose relationship with geopolitics and political…

This thesis approaches the concept of nationalism within the context of post-Soviet Estonian and Georgian state-building from a sociological perspective, building upon the work of Émile Durkheim, Bernard Yack, Anthony Smith, and Rogers Brubaker. Taking such a stance identifies nationalism as a social concept whose relationship with geopolitics and political integration comments on the merits of post-Soviet Estonian and Georgian geopolitical conditions and their respective state-building processes, specifically regarding ethnic minority and international integration. I argue that the cases of Estonia and Georgia demonstrate that social solidarity institutionalized in states and expressed through nationalism has significant effects on geopolitics and the integration of ethnic minorities into a broader multi-ethnic state as well as on the integration of a broader multi-ethnic state into the international community. This thesis demonstrates that the different paths that Estonia and Georgia took towards this integration indicate the significance not only of domestic nationalistic circumstances, but also of the larger geopolitical realities and underlying historic foundations in which and from which state-building must occur.
ContributorsLepley, Karissa Renee (Author) / Sivak, Henry (Thesis director) / Pout, Daniel (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12