Matching Items (22)
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- All Subjects: Arizona
- Creators: School of Politics and Global Studies
Description
As Arizona enters its fifteenth year of drought and Lake Mead hits historic lows, water management and policy planning will become increasingly important to ensure future water security in the Southwestern region of the United States. This thesis compares water demand trends and policies at the municipal level in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona over the time period from 1980-2010. By analyzing gallons per capita per day (GPCD) trends for each city in the context of population growth, drought, and major state and local policies over the twenty year period, reasons for declines in per capita water demand were explored. Despite differences in their available water sources and political cultures, both the City of Phoenix and the City of Tucson have successfully reduced their per capita water consumption levels between 1980 and 2010. However, this study suggests that each city's measured success at reducing GPCD has been more a result of external events (supply augmentation, drought, and differing development trends) rather than conservation and demand reduction regulations adopted under the auspices of the Groundwater Management Act.
ContributorsSnyder, Rachel Claire (Author) / Larson, Kelli (Thesis director) / Hirt, Paul (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The Arizona Global Development Network (AGDN) is a group of diverse nonprofit organizations within the state. This network is a platform for member organizations to collaborate and exchange ideas on a wide range of topics regarding international development. Announced in 2016, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) consists of 17 goals determined by the United Nations to address complex issues regarding human health, inequality and the environment around the globe. This self-designed code categorization study and semi-structured qualitative interviews aimed to explore Arizona’s international impacts and its alignment to the SDGs. First, the study completed a comprehensive observation of the information presented on these organizations’ websites. Second, interviews were conducted with representatives from each organization. The findings of this study provide an in-depth understanding of the network’s contributions to the wider, international community.
ContributorsRegorgo, Ray Gerard Lunar (Author) / Cruz-Torres, Maria (Thesis director) / Gutierrez, Veronica (Committee member) / Ortiz, Anna (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
This podcast highlights the voices of organizers and activists across the nation. Representatives from various organizations and individual activists provide their experiences in working within reproductive health activist spaces. By listening to their stories and expertise, the hope is for listeners to center Reproductive Justice as a point of view. The goal is to encourage the audience to join an organization, support their local organizations, or at the very least, learn about resources provided to them by local and national organizations.
ContributorsPerez, Maya Isabella (Co-author) / Adversario, Kim Alexis (Co-author) / Quan, H.L.T. (Thesis director) / Brian, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
This paper examines the role of refugee resettlement and integration agencies on a federal, state, and nonstate level, and the role they each play in facilitating effective refugee integration. Wars, poverty, and political unrest have all contributed to creating the largest number of refugees in history. An important step in beginning to resolve this refugee crisis is to offer the victims a chance at rebuilding their lives. Every State in the international community has a responsibility to resettle those who have been displaced. It is important to understand the process of refugee resettlement and integration, and the organizations involved, which I map out and then assess what area of refugee integration plays the most important role, and how organizations on every level work together to provide the greatest amount of resources possible. I then evaluate any gaps and problems in the refugee integration system.
ContributorsHarb, Brittany Rene (Author) / King, Kristy (Thesis director) / Dille, Brian (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This thesis explores the current standards and the progress being made for civic education in the state of Arizona. To develop a new model, it draws on the programs offered to students in the community of Camden, NJ by the thriving civics department at Rutgers University. Motivated by the current lack of civic resources in Arizona high schools, this research seeks out a practical, community-centered approach to improving the civic education standards. Arizona was one of the first states to make civic education a priority by passing the American Civics Act, but there is still a long way to go to create civically engaged classrooms for students. The proposed plan combines citizenship pedagogy with direct service opportunities, mentorship, and community projects to help students become engaged in their local communities.
ContributorsMiller, Mekenna Moriah (Author) / Simhony, Avital (Thesis director) / Lennon, Tara (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This short documentary on the Equal Rights Amendment features attorney Dianne Post and State Representative Jennifer Jermaine, and it examines the fight for passage at the federal and state level. This film attempts to answer the following questions: What is the ERA? What is its history? Why do we need it? How do we get it into the Constitution of the United States of America?
The text of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) states that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” The amendment was authored by Alice Paul and was first introduced into Congress in 1923. The ERA did not make much progress until 1970, when Representative Martha Griffiths from Michigan filed a discharge petition demanding that the ERA move out of the judiciary committee to be heard by the full United States House of Representatives. The House passed it and it went on to the Senate, where it was approved and sent to the states for ratification. By 1977, 35 states had voted to ratify the ERA, but it did not reach the 38 states-threshold required for ratification before the 1982 deadline set by Congress. More recently, Nevada ratified the ERA in March 2017, and Illinois followed suit in May 2018. On January 27th, 2020, Virginia finalized its ratification, making it the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
Supporters of the ERA argue that we have reached the required goal of approval by 38 states. However, opponents may have at least two legal arguments to challenge this claim by ERA advocates. First, the deadline to ratify was 1982. Second, five states have voted to rescind their ratification since their initial approval. These political and legal challenges must be addressed and resolved before the ERA can be considered part of the United States Constitution. Nevertheless, ERA advocates continue to pursue certification. There are complicated questions to untangle here, to be sure, but by listening to a variety of perspectives and critically examining the historical and legal context, it may be possible to find some answers. Indeed, Arizona, which has yet to ratify the ERA, could play a vital role in the on-going fight for the ERA.
The text of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) states that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” The amendment was authored by Alice Paul and was first introduced into Congress in 1923. The ERA did not make much progress until 1970, when Representative Martha Griffiths from Michigan filed a discharge petition demanding that the ERA move out of the judiciary committee to be heard by the full United States House of Representatives. The House passed it and it went on to the Senate, where it was approved and sent to the states for ratification. By 1977, 35 states had voted to ratify the ERA, but it did not reach the 38 states-threshold required for ratification before the 1982 deadline set by Congress. More recently, Nevada ratified the ERA in March 2017, and Illinois followed suit in May 2018. On January 27th, 2020, Virginia finalized its ratification, making it the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
Supporters of the ERA argue that we have reached the required goal of approval by 38 states. However, opponents may have at least two legal arguments to challenge this claim by ERA advocates. First, the deadline to ratify was 1982. Second, five states have voted to rescind their ratification since their initial approval. These political and legal challenges must be addressed and resolved before the ERA can be considered part of the United States Constitution. Nevertheless, ERA advocates continue to pursue certification. There are complicated questions to untangle here, to be sure, but by listening to a variety of perspectives and critically examining the historical and legal context, it may be possible to find some answers. Indeed, Arizona, which has yet to ratify the ERA, could play a vital role in the on-going fight for the ERA.
ContributorsSchroder, Jude Alexander (Author) / Adelman, Madelaine (Thesis director) / Mitchell, Kathryn (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Cities and towns are creatures of the state. There is a constitutional hierarchy between levels of governments, and cities and local governments are structurally at the bottom of this hierarchy. However, despite this established dynamic of power, local governments in the State of Arizona have traditionally maintained a significant level of autonomy when it comes to enacting their own policies. In the face of slow-moving state and national governments, local governments have operated on a level that is quick to respond to the needs of its citizens, and cities have assumed the role of filling in the policy and administrative gaps of higher levels of government. However, relatively recently, there has been increased conflict between cities and the State of Arizona. The state legislature has passed various measures restricting local governments on a variety of topics ranging from elections, labor, firearms, immigration, environmental regulations, and more, preempting cities at a wide level.
ContributorsKhan, Nadira (Author) / Lewis, Paul (Thesis director) / Larsen, Dale (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Political scientists have long recognized the importance of representation as being critical to the American form of government. This paper begins by establishing the theoretical basis for representational studies in political science. It then turns to the empirical question of measuring the degree to which legislators represent their constituents. While there have been comprehensive studies of representation among members of Congress, several practical difficulties have prevented similar studies at the state legislature level. Underlying measures of representation are the preferences of constituents and the representational behavior of legislators. This paper proposes two metrics, a modified Partisan Voting Index and the American Conservative Union State Legislative Ratings, to compare the district-level preferences with roll call voting behavior (a form of substantive representation) of the corresponding legislators. This methodology is then tested against data collected from the Arizona legislature, specifically incorporating election returns from 2012, 2014, and 2016, and votes taken during the 2017 and 2018 sessions of the legislature. The findings suggest a strong relationship between the partisan and ideological leaning of a state legislative district and how conservative or liberal a legislator’s voting record is, even when controlling for political party. Two special cases are also examined in the context of this data. First, the three legislative districts with a split delegation are analyzed and determined to have a moderating effect on representative behavior. Second, five mid-term vacancies are examined along with the process for filling a vacancy. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this line of research can better inform legislators and help constituents hold their elected officials to account.
ContributorsFairbanks, Austin Kyle (Author) / Herrera, Richard (Thesis director) / Thomson, Henry (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
In the past ten years, social network services have expanded from a digital method in which the public connects with only their friends and families. Social network services have evolved to a highly-accessible, convenient, cost-effective tool to engage with communities beyond one's frequented social circle on a local, national, and global scale. Many politicians have adapted in order to use social network services to connect directly with their constituents. Politicians have begun to use their profiles on social network services as their own privately owned publicity channel, publishing raw "material" like political opinions or legal advocacy, appearances at events and media like photos, videos or links to maintain transparency and accessibility to their constituencies. The content analysis investigates the use of a social network service (Twitter) by five different Arizonan politicians from different municipal, state and federal offices over the period of six months. All posts on Twitter were recorded, evaluated, and categorized by content into one of seventeen different divisions: Constituent Connection, Correction, Culture, Economy, Education, Environment, Healthcare, Humanitarianism, International, Military, Operational, Personal, Political Activity, Reply to Constituent, Security, Social Issues or Sports. The date, category, content, media type and engagement (replies, retweets, and favorites) were also recorded. Understanding how political figures connect and engage with their constituencies contributes to understanding modern campaigning and modern government; politicians are now finding it imperative to have and maintain a social media presence in order to gain relevance, transparency and accessibility with their constituencies. This study examines how politicians are currently utilizing these micro-blogging sites.
ContributorsYeban, Jade Nicole Vos (Author) / Kwon, Kyounghee (Thesis director) / Chadha, Monica (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Debates about criminal justice have erupted onto the American political scene in recent years. Topics like mass Incarceration, civil asset Forfeiture, three strike laws, and mandatory minimums have been dredged up and discussed at every level of government from county courtrooms to state legislatures and all the way up to the halls of the US Senate and the desk of the White House. According to Marc Mauer of the Sentencing Project, a non-profit entity focused on prison population reduction, this new focus has yielded some important victories with New York, and New Jersey both reducing their respective prison populations by 26% between 1999 and 2012 (1). In the summer of 2015, President Obama became the first sitting President in American history to visit a prison. His visit to El Reno Prison, just outside of Oklahoma City, came on the heels of a speech against Mass Incarceration that the President made at an NAACP conference in Philadelphia (Horsely). The movement for change had reached all the way to the desk of the oval office. Indeed, it is of little wonder why our criminal justice system has come under such close scrutiny. With mass protests breaking out around the nation due to clashes between the criminal justice system and those it has victimized, the rise of a new Black Lives Matter movement, and an overburdened prison system that houses almost 25% of the world inmates (Ya Lee Hee), criminal justice in America has been driven to an ideological and financial breaking point. In a nation that purportedly values freedom and individual choice, the stark realities of our prison system have created a divide between those that would reform the system and those who seek to keep the status quo. I align with those stakeholders that desire comprehensive reform. In my opinion, it is no longer fiscally responsible, nor morally credible to lock American citizens up and throw away the key. The days of tough on crime, of Willie Horton, and of super predators are gone. Crime has been reduced to historic lows in almost the entire country despite significant increases in the population. According to Oliver Roeder, in a Brennan Center scholarly article, violent crime has been reduced by 50% since 1990 and property crime has been reduced by 46% (Roeder et al, p.15) while the population during this same period has grown by how much 249 million to 323 million, almost 30%. For the first time in almost 20 years, the conversation has finally shifted to how we can make the system equitable. My vision for our criminal justice system will stretch beyond the following plan to revise truth in sentencing. TIS remains a small component of a much larger question of our justice system. It is my fundamental belief that the way America treats its offenders needs reformation at every level of the system, from the court, to the prison. It is my view that our prerogative when treating offenders should be to address the root causes of crime, that is the societal structure that causes men and women to commit crime. Poverty, education, economics, and community reinvestment will be just some of the issues that need to be addressed to secure a better future. If we seek true justice, then we must seek to reinvest in those communities that need it the most. Only then can the lowest rungs of our society be given the opportunity to climb upward. In my view, a reimagined prison system idealistically strives to put itself out of business.
ContributorsHolbert, Connor Michael (Author) / Herrera, Richard (Thesis director) / Wells, Cornelia (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05