CUREJ – College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal

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The University of Pennsylvania was founded on the principle of uncompromising scholarship and its practical application. True to this tradition, the University has long been recognized as one of the nation's leading research institutions. Penn's College of Arts and Sciences is proud to be among the first to formally support and encourage its undergraduate students to participate in meaningful research with faculty mentors. The College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal presents a sampling of that research and celebrates the academic achievements of our young scholars.

 

 

 

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Subject: American Politics ×

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 52
  • Publication
    Not Quite White: Exploring Shifts in Classification and Self-Identity Among Racially Ambiguous Groups
    (2024-05-20) Baghdady, Isabela
    When Americans hear the terms “race” or “ethnicity,” certain categories come to mind: “White,” “African American,” “Hispanic,” “Asian.” From filling out the Census Race Question to checking off a box on a job application, these racial categorizations shape both public policy and self-identity. While racial categorizations play an important role in American society, there are certain groups whose identities do not fit into these neatly delineated categories, placing them in the ambiguous space between white and nonwhite. This thesis project examines racial categorization through the lens of three racially ambiguous groups, who each test the boundaries of whiteness and occupy a discrete position outside the lines drawn by present-day racial classifications: (1) Portuguese, (2) Lebanese, and (3) South Asian Indian Americans. Through tracking how these three communities have sought to institutionally express their racial identities over time, this project conducts a qualitative case study to consider: why did the Portuguese, Lebanese, and South Asian Indians—three groups who sought legal classification as white in the early twentieth century—move toward distinct racial self-definitions in the contemporary period, and how does this shift impact the boundaries of whiteness in the United States? This paper finds that shifts in racial classification among these three groups are due to a change in the meaning of whiteness between the early twentieth century and the contemporary period. The transition from overt racially discriminatory laws to covert racially discriminatory laws altered the ways in which whiteness is sustained and enforced, ultimately making it a less appealing label among racially ambiguous groups over time. In assessing this project’s broader implications for where America draws the boundaries of whiteness, this paper introduces a model that depicts whiteness as a concentric circle, arguing that whiteness is better understood as a series of degrees or gradations rather than a bounded category.
  • Publication
    Denying Democracy: Exploring the Electoral Penalty for Election Denial in the 2022 House Midterms
    (2023-05-01) Leghari, Sarem Ahmed Khan
    It is critical to assess the capacity and willingness of voters to check politicians’ anti-democratic behaviors. The 2022 midterms were the first nationwide opportunity for voters to hold Republican candidates accountable for endorsing President Trump’s “Big Lie,” which severely threatened democracy. 60% of GOP candidates in the 2022 midterms were election deniers. Previous research has either studied which congressmen objected to the electoral college’s certification or assessed the electoral penalty in statewide races in 2022. This analysis employs OLS regression modeling to explore the electoral penalty for election denial across 404 House midterm elections. First, using an OLS regression model, I explore the factors influencing GOP candidates’ election denial. Election deniers were more likely to run in districts that contained voters which were more racially diverse, less educated, and more supportive of Trump in 2020. Second, the politicization of election denial significantly blunts voters’ capacity to electorally penalize election deniers. As a result, these candidates face a limited electoral penalty. I attribute this limited penalty to bipartisan pro-democracy messaging from political elites and persuasion effects among independent voters. This electoral penalty doubled in districts that were either highly competitive or significantly favored Trump in 2020. Third, while election-accepting GOP incumbents do not face more competitive primaries, prominently visible critics of election deniers mostly lost their primaries. These findings indicate that despite this limited electoral penalty, the GOP has strong incentives to continue defending Trump’s “Big Lie.” The primary losses of prominent pro-democracy voices exacerbate the GOP’s turn towards election denial.
  • Publication
    The Puzzling Persistence of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
    (2009-05-13) King, Elizabeth D
  • Publication
  • Publication
    Disaster Response in the United States of America: An Analysis of the Bureaucratic and Political History of a Failing System
    (2007-05-10) Mener, Andrew S
    Disaster Response in the United States is plagued by bureaucratic and political obstacles. This paper analyzes the complete history of disaster response in the United States from the 19th century to the present. Specific attention is given to the establishment of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. The conclusion offers one possible suggestion to improve American disaster response.
  • Publication
    The Difference in Political Participation Rates Between Second-Generation Black Americans and Third-Plus-Generation Black Americans
    (2023-03-29) Thomas, Gibson
    This study uses data from the Cooperative Election Study (CES), as well as data from interviews that I conducted at the University of Pennsylvania to determine whether or not their was a difference in voting behavior and opinions on voting between Black American second-generation Americans (children of immigrants) and third-plus-generation Black Americans (children of non-immigrants). This research is important to conduct, as second-generation Black Americans make up a fast-growing population in the United States. My quantitative results show that third-plus-generation Black Americans vote at higher rates than second-generation Black Americans, as third-plus-generation Black Americans tend to be older and older people tend to vote at higher rates than younger people. When controlling for age, though, there is actually no difference in voting behavior between the two groups. In terms of my qualitative results, I find that of the people that I interviewed, third-plus-generation Black Americans tend to have different motivations to vote than second-generation Black Americans. Additionally, the groups also have differing perceptions of the importance of voting from one another. Overall, my most convincing and generalizable finding is that on the whole, third-plus generation Black Americans vote at a higher rate than second-generation Black Americans, but within the same age groups, there is no difference between the two groups.
  • Publication
    Philadelphia’s Complaint System Against the Police: A Band-Aid on a Bullet Wound
    (2023-05-02) Prakash, Anika
    Complaint systems against police officers are often cited as a means by which to reduce police misconduct and promote accountability; however, they do not necessarily function as ideally as intended. Despite Philadelphia’s transparency in its complaint data, there are many flaws with both the complaint system and adjudication process that prevent it from being truly constructive. Philadelphia’s data, like that of other cities, highlights the bleak outcomes of allegations brought against officers, with few complaints being sustained, fewer officers being found guilty, and still even fewer officers actually facing disciplinary consequences. Moreover, Philadelphia’s complaint data mirrors racial trends exhibited across the country, such as a disproportionately high representation of Black complainants, with Black residents also being more likely to report serious allegations of misconduct. This thesis utilizes data from Philadelphia and other cities in conjunction with a variety of literature to demonstrate that both in Philadelphia and across the country, complaint systems are minimally effective in providing either satisfaction on an individual level or in spurring reform on an institutional level, especially as it relates to reducing police misconduct and racial bias in policing.
  • Publication
    The ‘Chilling’ Effects of Misinformation: Why Immigrants Avoided Welfare Programs that were Excluded from the Public Charge Rule
    (2023-05-02) Richards, Adalyn
    In 2019, the Trump administration dramatically expanded the Public Charge Rule to restrict the number of people eligible for visas and green cards. The revised rule made it more difficult for immigrants to enter or remain in the United States if they were dependent on public assistance. This paper investigates why eligible immigrants avoided welfare programs that were excluded from the Public Charge Rule following its announcement in 2018. Building on literature about political rumors and immigrant integration, this paper presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of misinformation about the Public Charge Rule and the subsequent drop in immigrant welfare usage. Data on misinformation was collected from online news articles and two social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, from 2018 to 2021. The findings demonstrate the prevalence, common sources, and characteristics of misinformation. Discontinuity analysis was employed to determine the extent to which immigrant welfare participation declined following waves of misinformation about the Public Charge Rule. There is clear evidence that misinformation consistently emerged after important announcements about the rule, followed by a stark decline in immigrant use of public assistance programs that were excluded from the public charge criteria and thus had no bearing on their immigration status. This paper argues that misinformation about the Public Charge Rule was largely responsible for this counterintuitive welfare avoidance by spreading fear and confusion among immigrants. The resulting lack of critical health and nutrition services will have significant consequences on the health, well-being, and integration of immigrant communities for the indefinite future.
  • Publication
    Reform in Name Only: The Difficulties of Dismantling Mass Supervision in Pennsylvania
    (2022-03-30) Ramakrishna, Srinidhi
    Pennsylvania has one of the highest rates of people on probation in the United States. Probation reform legislation has repeatedly emerged in the Pennsylvania legislature since controversy arose in 2017 over rapper Meek Mill’s long probation sentence. However, probation reform initiatives that would reduce the use of probation in Pennsylvania have been obstructed or amended to actually increase its use and severity. To understand what makes achieving such probation reform difficult, this thesis analyzes three significant roadblocks – the phenomenon of devolution and the actions of two advocacy groups. This thesis is grounded in ten interviews conducted with key actors whose work intersects with the Pennsylvania probation system. These interviews are analyzed alongside scholarly literature, reports from advocacy organizations, and news and legislative materials. The analysis finds that firstly, the consequences of devolution encourage funding probation departments, create entrenched stakeholders, and impede anti-carceral activist efforts. Secondly, the REFORM Alliance, a national advocacy organization particularly active in Pennsylvania, is complicit in punitive changes to the bills it endorses, excludes community organizers, and maintains a neoliberal alliance with the carceral state under the guise of reform. Thirdly, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association greatly shapes probation reform measures to be more punitive, benefiting from a political landscape in favor of tough-on-crime district attorneys despite some prosecutorial fragmentation. By identifying key institutional barriers, this thesis aims to assist efforts to end mass supervision in Pennsylvania.
  • Publication
    The Antifederalists Were (Mostly) Right: An Analysis of Modern American Public Opinion on the Concerns of the Antifederalists
    (2022-04-20) Nash, Jamie B
    This thesis analyzes the connection between Antifederalist objections to Constitutional ratification and modern-day public opinion on related topics to see the long-term validity of the Antifederalist claims. Using Pew Research Center data, this study focuses on topics of rural consciousness, nationalism, presidential identity, governmental distance from constituency, and the Electoral College as proxies through which to consider Antifederalist claims. The use of proxies is meant to allow the contextualization of Antifederalist attitudes within a context that will produce meaningful public opinion data. This paper also seeks to find explanatory variables for the trends discovered in the data. The results show that the core ideas behind Antifederalist concerns are still largely present within the American public, specifically related to nationalism, congress being too distant from the constituency, and the Constitution being too difficult to amend. The growth of presidential power making presidential identity unimportant, though, is not present and thus contradict part of Antifederalist claims. This study adds to the field of American politics by taking a novel approach in considering the long-lasting impact of Antifederalism. This group is frequently overlooked and discounted, but this study shows that, perhaps, they deserve to be given more credit for their anxieties than they often are.