Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

 

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 194
  • Publication
    Convictions and Consequences
    (2013-05-01) Petsagourakis, John
  • Publication
    Applying Social Norms Theory in CATS Programming
    (2017-12-01) Bicchieri, Cristina; Noah, Thomas
  • Publication
    How Personally Relevant Cases of COVID-19 Influence Individuals’ Level of Concern towards the Virus
    (2021-04-05) Nicklas, Timothy J
    This paper presents the findings of a statistical analysis exploring the ways in which personally relevant cases of COVID-19 influence an individual's level of concern towards the virus. The analysis makes use of public opinion data collected throughout the pandemic by a market research company called Ipsos. This study conducts an OLS regression analysis using three different samples of data from three distinct periods of time during the pandemic. The paper addresses each component of the study's deductive approach, outlining everything from the initial hypothesis to the conclusions and broader implications. Ultimately, this study does show evidence that an individual's personal experience with COVID-19 influences their attitudes towards the virus. This is consistent with the findings of previous psychological research that has explored how personally salient information affects humans' attitudes and beliefs.
  • Publication
    In Defense of Liberty: Social Order & The Role of Government
    (2022-12-22) Conrad, Dylan J.
    This thesis seeks to address some of the most central questions to the fields of political philosophy and political economy. First, how can social order and government rationally develop out of anarchy? Next, what acts of force, if any, are morally permissible for the State to perform in its relations with individuals, so as to maintain political legitimacy? Lastly, what policies ought the State implement to achieve the best welfare outcomes for a society? This thesis will first show that a laissez-faire capitalist social order can spontaneously emerge from a purely self-interested State of Nature, with the institution of government being a mere product of market forces. Then, this thesis will defend a theory of natural rights on the basis that persons are normatively separate, before establishing that a laissez-faire capitalist social order is uniquely in compliance with these universal moral standards of conduct that predate the institution of any government. Finally, it will be argued in this thesis that the key tenets of laissez-faire capitalism - strong individual rights to life, liberty, and property - produce maximal human welfare from both individualist and collectivist aggregations, before such conclusions are translated into a foundation for limited government. Cumulatively, these arguments serve to fortify libertarian political philosophy and demonstrate that laissez-faire capitalism is the optimal form of social order.
  • Publication
    A Survey In Network Economics: Spam Email, Internet Routing, Graphical Economics, and International Trade
    (2005-01-01) Haase, Mark E
    A survey of current topics in network economics, a relatively new and growing field of research at the intersection of economics and network theory. Case studies in spam email, Internet routing, and graphical economics are presented as practical applications. A network economic analysis of international trade is also offered. Most of the current literature addresses a highly technical audience. This paper intends to bridge the gap by presenting network economics in language that will be familiar to students of economics.
  • Publication
    Critical Theory and Social Media: Alternatives and the New Sensibility
    (2018-05-08) Becker Marcano, Philippe E
    Social media platforms are technological communication tools that dominate our social relationships. As we increasingly notice how little control we have over these platforms and how much influence they have on our behavior, the search for alternatives becomes even more pressing. Critical theory is a practical and theoretical framework we can use to develop a qualitative critique of social media platforms, in extension to the large body of work that addresses the quantitatively measurable effects of the platforms. The internet was originally conceived as a space that would open a more communitarian future, but now it has been reduced to a realm dominated by giant corporations like facebook. Critical theory alternatives include structural change recommendations, but they often lack a discussion of what the aesthetics of a new social internet space would look like. By turning to Herbert Marcuse’s concept of the “new sensibility,” I argue that, if altered, the social media platform space opens up a possibility to combine the practical and the aesthetic and lead us to a radically different social internet space.
  • Publication
    A Study of the Effect of Online News Consumption on Political Polarization and Deliberative Democracy
    (2015-01-01) Hofbauer, Tara
    This paper examines the effect that the Internet and online news consumption has had on American society. It looks first at the number and types of people who use the Web. These are the individuals liable to be impacted by online news consumption. The study then looks at the factors that control Internet users’ acquisition of information. These gatekeepers, as they are referred to here, play a role in determining the impact of online news consumption. At last, the study examines what exactly this effect is, showing that homophilous social networks and incivility online have limited the capacity for serious democratic deliberation and contributed to political polarization.
  • Publication
    For the Economy or for Security? Using 5G to Explain Federal Intervention in US-China Technological Competition
    (2022-04-20) Matheson, Will
    The United States under the Trump administration shifted federal policy toward greater state intervention in the technology innovation economy in response to perceived advances in this space by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This shift is noteworthy given the free-market orthodoxy that traditionally defines US politics and has persisted despite similar perceptions of competition from more state-driven economies in the past (e.g., Japan in the 1980s). This paper seeks to understand why this shift in American economic orthodoxy appears to be occurring now, in reaction to Chinese technological innovation. It does so by beginning to investigate the motivations for shifting US federal 5G policy. It evaluates two explanations for the shift: that the economic relationship with China and broader domestic backlash to globalization have initiated a genuine shift in economic thinking toward industrial policy, or that perceptions of great power competition with the PRC create a national security impetus for intervention in the technology space that supersedes economic orthodoxy. While both trends likely play a role in the shift in federal innovation strategy, I find that the national security dimension of the US-China relationship plays the most significant role in shaping this federal policy change.
  • Publication
    A Letter From The Editor
    (2020-05-18) Liu, Jenna