Undergraduate Journal of Political Science, Vol. 1 No.1

Undergraduate

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Journal of Political Science

Spring 2016

Volume 1, Number 1

Letter from the Editor Dear Political Science majors,

It is amazing how a mere idea back in Fall Quarter 2015 could blossom into a fullfledged journal this Spring Quarter. I am very pleased to present the first issue for the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Undergraduate Journal of Political Science! I would like to thank everyone who helped the journal grow to be what it is today. This journal would not have been possible without the students who submitted their best papers, the students who volunteered their precious time to peer review those papers, and the Political Science Department’s unwavering support for the journal especially Professor Guerrero for his tireless efforts in making the journal a success.

I would also like to profusely thank Jane Pojowa for her invaluable contribution to the journal. Without her artistic vision and experience with publications, this journal would not look as amazing as it does!

This journal is inspired by the National Political Science Honor Society Pi Sigma Alpha’s Undergraduate Journal of Politics which is published biannually during the Fall and Spring. The vision for this journal was to provide Cal Poly Pomona students with the opportunity to build up their resumes and examples of well-written papers by their peers. Unlike the Pi Sigma Alpha Journal, however, this journal is campus-specific and will be published in Spring for each academic year.

I hope this journal inspires students to spend more time and effort in writing papers for their Political Science classes so that they can aspire to have their papers published as well.

If any students are interested in submitting their paper or be a peer reviewer for the next issue, they can email cpppoliticalsciencejournal@gmail.com for more information. I would love to have more papers submitted and more peer reviewers to assist me in the paper selection process for the Spring Quarter 2017 issue! Please note that the deadline for papers will be the Friday of finals week during Winter Quarter and Political Science majors in their third year and up are preferred to be peer reviewers. There will be more information about paper submissions and peer reviewers as Winter Quarter draws closer.

–Tara Kwan

CO N T E N T S JOURNAL

6 CLOSING THE JUSTICE GAP The JusticeCorps are a campus organization that strives to help lowincome people get the legal help they need. As part of his senior internship project, student Joshua S. Ebiner conducted a five-month case study of the Pomona Self-Help Center to examine the impact the center has in meeting the legal needs of self-represented litigants.

At left, JusticeCorp volunteer and Cal Poly Pomona political science student Carmen Franklin works with litigants.

23 ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM »» p.6

Photo courtesy of PolyCentric

Why are three National Priorities List (NPL) superfund cleanup sites located in South Gate, California? Noticeable patterns of waste management facilities placed in areas of a low-socioeconomic status lead researchers to point to environmental racism as the culprit.

39 SOLAR POWER Solar panels make sense from both an environmental and healthcare perspective, but will they ever catch on with the American public?

Steven Tinsdale’s qualitative research study indicates that Californians are very concerned about air quality but not quite ready for the hefty price tag associated with photovoltaic panels. »» p.23

»» p.39

57 SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS Since the presidential elections in 2000 the internet, and social media in particular, have played an increasingly large role in both campaigning and financing candidates. Could social media be a deciding factor in the 2016 elections? Alexis Ojinaga finds support for that hypothesis in Obama’s successful bid for the 2008 presidency and the 2012 reelection by his capture of the youth and minority vote.

76 THE EGOCENTRIC PRESIDENCY

»» p.57, p.76

Does the president speak for all Americans? Travis Barrett explores the use of the pronoun “I” and equivalent statements in State of the Union addresses and finds that modern presidents are entirely comfortable with the use of “egocentric” language - and makes some surprising discoveries about who seemed to talk about himself the most.

CO N T E N T S

94 U.S. AND SAUDI RELATIONS UNDER GEORGE W. BUSH In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many Americans became mistrustful of key Middle East allies, and not without reason. 15 of the 19 terrorists involved in the attacks on 9/11 were Saudi Arabian citizens claiming allegiance to al-Qaeda. Thomas Davis reviews U.S.Saudi policy under the George W. Bush administration and finds the traditional relationship to be surprisingly stable.

101 MIGRANTS AND EUROPE As refugees flee the Middle East for safe havens in Europe, the manner in which migrants are received in their host countries differs considerably. Melissa Petersen explores the varying factors of Europe’s migrant affairs and the rise of radical party leaders.

119 WOMEN AND TERRORISM Women are generally the victims of terrorism and not the perpetrators.

But when women become radicalized terrorists, the media struggles to resolve the stereotypical roles of women as caregivers and sex objects with the reality of suicide bombers and shooters. Natalie Reyes investigates the role of women in terror networks and the media obsession over the attractiveness of female terrorists.

»» p.101

125 THE ATHENIAN MODEL OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY Plato’s The Republic has long been interpreted as a system of direct democracy, or rule by the people. Anthony Haddox finds through careful analysis that the roots of representative democracy were there all along and that Athenian democracy has evolved into a system of government that was perhaps not intended by its creator. »» p.94

»» p.125 © 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the editors and the faculty advisor of the California Polytechnic State University, Pomona Undergraduate Journal of Political Science.

The California Polytechnic State University, Pomona Undergraduate Journal of Politics is copyrighted by Cal Poly Pomona. The content of all papers is copyrighted by the respective authors. The Department of Political Science cannot and will not be held liable for the actions of the California Polytechnic State University, Pomona Undergraduate Journal of Political Science.

»» p.119

All assertions of fact and statements of opinion are solely those of the authors.

They do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Political Science, the Editorial Board, the Advisory Board, the Faculty Advisor, Cal Poly Pomona, or its faculty and administration.

INTRODUCTION TO THE UNDERGRADUATE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

“Most learning is not the result of instruction.

It is rather the result of unhampered participation in a meaningful setting.”

–Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society (1990)

H

ere in the Department of Political Science at Cal Poly Pomona, we hope to leave students with a lifelong toolkit to help them in their careers but also in their daily lives. For many, scholarship bridges the gap between academia and the real world application of politics. As a testament to the dedication of our students, but also to the university’s teacher-scholar model, the department works to encourage our students in the practice of scholarly research.

With over 50 undergraduate courses, the work in this journal represents the expertise and analysis of our students in six different subfields. The mix of articles in each edition of the journal represents critical issues examined from various places in the discipline.

While we hope that this journal engages the greater academic community, we also aspire to provide an example for underclassmen as they progress through the major. And as academic scholarship evolves, we expect our students to follow and engage in a similar path. Upon graduating from our program, students work in politics, but also enroll in law, master’s and doctoral programs. Again, the work found in the following pages of the journal underscores the department’s commitment in preparing our students for such work.

There are many people who have played an integral role to the development of the journal’s inaugural issue.

The tireless efforts of the department chair, Dr. Jill Hargis, has made this possible. Her vision and guiding force has propelled the department to astronomical heights during her tenure as chair. Our tireless faculty and instructors are the driving force behind the ideas in this journal. Our department administrative coordinator, Ms. Kim Alm, is the glue that holds our major together. And finally, our students really serve as the heart and soul of this journal. Special thanks goes out to the editor-in-chief Tara Kwan, publication designer Jane Pojawa and our student advisory board. Without their work, this journal would never have reached final publication.

Dr. Mario Guerrero Faculty Advisor

Closing the Justice Gap: A Self-Represented Litigants and the California Courts

Joshua S. Ebiner California State Polytechnic University, Pomona The growth in the number of self-represented litigants has created a number of challenges for the California courts. A basic assumption is made in the judicial system that every case is determined by its merits and the parties involved are competent in the practice of law. However, a number of factors have been pointed out that collectively create a justice gap. This gap creates a dilemma for the courts as it is becoming inaccessible to a large portion of its users. The literature review will examine these factors including the adversarial model, financial factors of participating in a legal case, and the high demand of court-based legal aid programs. I will also explore the self-help centers and the Shriver pilot projects which are programs the Judicial Council of California has implemented to attempt to solve the justice gap. To reinforce what scholars before me have observed, I conducted a five-month case study of the Pomona Self-Help Center to evaluate its ability to provide meaningful assistance to self-represented litigants. I found that the self-help center provides invaluable services to self-represented parties and the courts alike. Additionally, the center is a necessary component to the Pomona Superior Court in making the court more accessible to the public, efficiently managing the court’s caseload, and effectively preparing litigants for their cases. However, the self-help center is limited in its ability to provide services to all who need it. This paper encourages discussion in search for solutions that will close the justice gap.

T

he Pomona Self-Help Center is a court-based legal aid program that was established by the Judicial Council of California (See Appendix A) in an effort to make the courts more accessible and to provide meaningful assistance to self-represented litigants. JusticeCorps and the Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles (NLSLA) operate in a collaborative effort to provide meaningful access to self-represented litigants in the California courts. The center is managed by NLSLA which is a community-based, non-profit organization committed to serving low-income litigants. As a Jus-

ticeCorps member, I volunteer in the self-help center and provide individual assistance to the litigants who otherwise cannot afford to hire an attorney.

With the growing number of self-represented litigants in the last thirty years, the California courts’ ability to administer justice equally to all its users has been critically challenged. Scholars began to notice that the courts were largely inaccessible to indigent self-represented litigants due to structural barriers that marginalized those individuals. Aiming to improve the effectiveness of the judicial system, scholars focused on this justice gap and advocated

Created by Joshua S. Ebiner, Department of Political Science, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona for his seinior internship project. Correspondence concerning this research paper should be addressed to Joshua S. Ebiner, Department of Political Science, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, (909) 263-6730. Email: jsebiner@cpp.edu Undergraduate Journal of Political Science, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 2016, Pp. 6–22 © 2016, Political Science Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

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CLOSING THE JUSTICE GAP for solutions that would provide meaningful assistance to self-represented litigants. Accordingly, a number of programs have been created to close the justice gap including the self-help centers and the recent Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel pilot programs.

Although these programs are making the court more accessible, there still remain many challenges ahead to providing a completely fair judicial system.

I conducted a five-month case study of the Pomona Self-Help Center to examine the impact the center has in meeting the legal needs of self-represented litigants. The study reinforces that the self-help centers are a critical component of the court as the center “[increases] access to justice and [improves] the quality of justice and service to the public” (Judicial Council of California, 2005). However, the center is limited in two critical ways. First, the center’s resources are outstripped by the legal needs of the self-represented litigants. Second, while the center is able to provide assistance to most of their customers, there are a number of cases that cannot be served because the legal needs are too complicated. To solve this dilemma, I examined the Shriver projects as a complimentary solution for the self-help centers.

The Organization JusticeCorps is a federally funded program that operates in partnership with the Judicial Council of California, the Superior Courts of California, and a number of counties, universities, and community-based service providers. Founded in 2004, JusticeCorps recruits and trains over 250 college students each year to volunteer in the self-help centers located in the California courts and to provide legal assistance to self-represented litigants. Members of JusticeCorps assist the self-help centers in implementing programs designed to help self-represented litigants including legal workshops, completing legal forms, providing legal information and referrals to other resources and offering language assistance to Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals.

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To date, JusticeCorps members have recorded over 490,000 instances of assistance, filed 330,000 legal documents provide services in up to 24 languages.

The program has created a huge impact in its effort to make the California courts more accessible to its users. The American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services conducted a national study that released surveys to the 500 identified self-help centers throughout the country to measure the impact these centers have on self-represented litigants. The survey, which included feedback from all 80 of California’s self-help centers, indicated that about 11 percent of those centers rely on JusticeCorps members, in whole or in part, to staff the facility (American Bar Association, 2014).

The Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County (NLSLA) is a private, non-profit firm that is dedicated to expanding access to justice for the communities in Los Angeles County. Founded in 1965 “as part of the nation’s War on Poverty, NLSLA is now one of the largest and most prominent public interest law offices in California” (NLSLA, 2016).

NLSLA operates the self-help center in the Pomona Superior Courthouse with a staff composed of two full-time attorneys and three full-time staff members.

The focus of the center, in partnership with JusticeCorps, is to provide legal assistance for self-represented litigants in “areas of the law that disproportionately impact the poor, including housing…and [to] protect and enforce the legal rights of poor people by ensuring access to our justice system” (NLSLA, 2016).

The Internship Experience My experience working as a JusticeCorps member in the Pomona Self-Help Center has been challenging but rewarding one. Many of the litigants are unable to hire an attorney because they are living below the federal poverty guidelines and so the assistance that I will be providing them will most likely be the only form of assistance they will receive before their case is heard by a judicial officer. Working directly with

Appendix A: Judicial Council of California “The Judicial Council [of California] is the policy making body of the California courts…responsible for ensuring the consistent, independent, impartial, and accessible administration of justice” (California Courts, 2016). The council is composed of a number of task forces, internal committees, and advisory committees that provide recommendations for the council to consider. The reports outline issues and concerns that the Judicial Council should be aware of and provide appropriate solutions.

8 self-represented litigants is challenging because there is a lot of pressure to ask questions that will elicit information that is relevant to the case, complete the legal documents in a timely manner, and provide accurate information regarding the court process and procedures. Perhaps the most daunting aspect of this internship experience was that these litigants were entrusting their well-being in my limited knowledge of the law. Granted, an attorney would review the forms to make sure the documents were filled out correctly and would answer any of my questions. Regardless, I forced myself to learn and retain as much as I could so that I would be a valuable resource for litigants.

As a JusticeCorps member volunteering in the Pomona Self-Help Center, I was exposed to an array of family law and housing law matters including dissolutions of marriage (divorce), paternities (establishing parentage), child custody and support, unlawful detainers (evictions), name changes, and expungements. Although each case is unique and requires an individualized approach to providing the best service, the self-help center provides the same legal information and services to all of its litigants. Furthermore, the center utilizes a triage model which allows an efficient processing of litigants’ cases. As an intern in the center, I had an obligation to provide neutral legal information. In other words, I would have to provide the same information to the petitioner and the respondent in a given case.

In fact, it was not uncommon to help the petitioner with their legal documents and within the month, help the respondent fill out their response packet.

Assisting litigants with their cases was challenging because it is difficult not to get emotionally involved in a client’s case. There have been a number of cases in which it was difficult not to sympathize with a litigant’s situation. The most challenging cases that come to mind are evictions where the litigants are filing a response because they need to buy time before they are evicted from their home; child custo-

JOSHUA S. EBINER dy and visitations where one parent has not seen their child because of the other parent; and expungements where individuals are struggling to find a job because of their criminal record. But the same elements that made this internship challenging also made it a rewarding experience. I was in a unique position to create a positive impact in the lives of those in my community who otherwise would have had to present to their case a judicial officer unprepared. As it will be pointed out, litigants who utilize the self-help centers are better prepared for their cases and are more likely to have a favorable outcome as a result (Judicial Council of California, 2005; Judicial Council of California, 2007, Greacen, 2010; Greacen, 2012).

While the self-help centers are crucial to closing the justice gap and making the California courts more accessible to its users, the centers are far from perfect. Like many other legal aid programs, the demand for the services often outstrips the center’s resources. As a result, the center has to turn away a large number of litigants who need legal assistance.

Another challenge for the center is its inability to provide meaningful assistance to litigants in complex civil matters. For instance, the center does not provide assistance for all cases involving elder abuse and foreclosures and certain expungement, divorce and paternity cases. For the cases that the center was unable to provide assistance, staff would provide referrals to other legal aid organizations or partner law firms. Additionally, the services we provide are nowhere near the quality of service one would receive in retaining an attorney. That is not to say that every litigant needs counsel to represent them in court.

Most self-represented litigants are able to participate in their case well without the assistance of counsel.

Overall, the self-help centers are a necessary function of the courts to ensure that self-represented litigants receive meaningful access to justice.

The services the centers provide empower litigants to represent themselves in front of a judicial officer.

Appendix B: The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) is an “international development program that promotes the rule of law by working with in-country partners to build sustainable institutions and societies that deliver justice, foster economic opportunity and ensure respect for human dignity” (2016). The program was established to consolidate the ABA’s five rule of law programs and has since been expanded into roughly 60 countries throughout the world. Those legal reform programs are dedicated to promote and improve access to justice which requires that justice institutions are accessible to and effective for citizens as they “obtain solutions to common justice problems” (ROLI, 2012).

CLOSING THE JUSTICE GAP However, there still remains a significant number of self-represented litigants that the center is unable to provide assistance to. This dilemma is caused by structural limitations that reduce the number of litigants the center can assist as well as the types of cases it can provide assistance to. Nonetheless, the self-help centers are a necessary component of the California courts in reducing the disparity in our judicial system.

Literature Review The last thirty years have been witness to a rapidly growing number of self-represented litigants (SRLs) in the American civil court. While a multitude of overlapping factors has been cited as an explanation for this phenomenon, two broad categories—economic structure and social demographics—appear at the crux (Chase, 2003). These two factors, in changing the legal landscape by posing new challenges to the court system and its users, have forced the legislature and the judiciary to adopt new strategies to ensure that the institutions are “[functioning] effectively to provide fair solutions to citizens’ justice problems” (Rule of Law Initiative, 2012; see Appendix B). The availability of fair solutions is the basis of a recently coined term —access to justice— which analyzes whether citizens can use institutions like the California courts as a means to solve common justice challenges. As Ursula Gorham (2014) points out, self-represented litigants “are realizing that ‘equal access to justice’ is an aspiration, not a guarantee”. In response to the challenges entailed with the growing number of SRLs, the California courts have adopted a variety

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of approaches to address the challenges and to better distribute access to justice for all of the courts’ users.

This literature review will examine three central topics related to self-represented litigants and the measures the California courts are implementing to close the justice gap. First, I will examine the structural and procedural barriers that create a justice gap between SRLs and the courts. Second, I will explore the impact the self-help center pilot programs have had in making the courts more accessible to indigent SRLs. Lastly, I will discuss a growing movement towards limited and full representative services that is designed to assist litigants involved in critical civil matters (See Appendix C).

The Justice Gap The California courts’ ability to equally distribute access to justice has been challenged by the growing number of self-represented litigants in three fundamental ways. First, litigants are generally unaware of the judicial system’s procedural requirements and legal expectations of them which often result in an adverse outcome in their respective cases.

Second, many of the SRLs are living near or below the federal poverty line which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to hire a lawyer to represent them.

Third, while free, court-based legal aid programs have been developed, the high demand for those services often exceed the programs’ limited time and resources (National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, 2016). Collectively, these three factors have created the justice gap: a phenomenon where-

Appendix C: The AmericAssembly Bill No. 590 In 2009, the California State Assembly passed AB No. 590 (aka Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act) which recognized that there “is an increasingly dire need for legal services for poor Californians” (Feuer, 2009). The bill was introduced as a result of limited and underfunded court-based programs that were not adequately meeting the needs of indigent and underserved groups such as the “elderly, disabled, children, non-English-speaking persons” (Feuer, 2009). As a result, many indigent self-represented litigants were routinely forfeiting their basic legal rights which prevented a meaningful access to the courts and justice.

The bill established the Shriver Projects, a total of seven pilot programs throughout California which began operation in 2011. With an operating budget of $9.5 million dollars annually, the projects appoint legal counsel to “represent low-income parties in civil matters involving critical issues affecting basic human needs in those courts selected by the Judicial Council, as specified” (Feuer, 2009). Those critical issues include housing, probate guardianship, child custody, and domestic violence. Accordingly, pilot projects have been established to provide legal representation in those cases. In the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles, for instance, two pilot projects have been established: the Shriver Housing Project and the Child Custody/Domestic Violence Project.

10 by the judicial system has become largely inaccessible to disadvantaged groups (Seidenberg, 2012).

The Adversarial Model.

The American legal system is built upon the adversarial model which relies upon two knowledgeable parties to present their case to an impartial judge or jury who then determines the truth in the case (Cambridge University Press, 2011). The parties’ ability to present the legal arguments of their case to the court and support their position with relevant facts is a central part of the adversarial system. A basic but essential assumption is made about the system which suggests that each party had relatively equal resources, knowledge of the law, and ability to present their case coherently. These factors must be consistently present in order for the system to operate fairly in administering justice. However, it has become evident that the system often functions unfairly with the increasing number of SRLs involved in civil cases.

The Honorable Sweet (1998) asserted that lawyers are essential to the functioning of an effective and just legal system because of their knowledge of the law. Similarly, Brown (2011) recognized that the legal needs of SRLs are systematically unmet which puts them at a “significant disadvantage when pitted against sophisticated opposing counsel who are experienced” in the practice of law. Because SRLs are held to the same “standard of substantive legal knowledge as a licensed member of the bar”, they often forfeit their legal rights and experience adverse outcomes for matters unrelated to the merit of their case (Kim, 1987). In other words, a significant number of cases involving SRLs are not decided “on the basis of the law and the facts” of the case (Tidmarsh, 2010).

In 2010, the American Bar Association surveyed over 1,200 state trial judges on the subject of self-represented litigants in civil cases. The results revealed that sixty-two percent of judges witnessed outcomes that were worse for unrepresented litigants due to a range of problems: failure to present necessary evidence, procedural errors, ineffective witness examination, failure to properly object to evidence, and ineffective arguments (Painter, 2011). These issues arise from the litigants’ lack of technical knowledge of the law and the subsequent burden of proof, thus creating a structural barrier that prevents proper administration of justice. A similar point was made in California’s Handling Cases Involving Self-Represented Litigants Benchguide for Judicial Officers wherein it was recognized that self-represented litigants “often have difficulty preparing complete pleadings, meeting procedural requirements and ar-

JOSHUA S. EBINER ticulating their cases clearly to the judicial officer” (Judicial Council of California, 2007). This dilemma reinforces the point made in Powell v. Alabama where the Supreme Court noted that “[t]he right to be heard would be, in many cases, of little avail if it did not comprehend the right to be heard by counsel” (Kim, 1987). In recognizing the ever-increasing complexity of the law, the need for assistance from those who possess a specialized knowledge of the technical and complicated legal principles (Columbia Law Review, 1966) has become a fundamental expectation to acquire justice (Goldschmidt, 2002).

Financial Factors.

To better understand the justice gap, scholars began to focus on the relationship between a litigant’s gross monthly income and their ability to hire a lawyer. Many unrepresented litigants are forced to handle their own case because they cannot afford to hire an attorney to represent them (Hough, 2003). In fact, legal services are often realistically beyond the financial reach of many Americans, even for members of the middle and working classes. Hough (2010) reinforced her initial observation, recognizing that the “cost of private counsel is prohibitively high for many litigants [as] the average family law attorney in California charges over $300 per hour and requires a retainer of approximately $5,000”. For the average California resident whose gross monthly income is just under $5,000 (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2015), hiring a lawyer would be a financial sacrifice that one would make if absolutely necessary.

But for the indigent SRLs making less than $3,000 a month, hiring a lawyer is simply not financially possible (Task Force on Self-Represented Litigants, 2014). And because the right to an attorney comes at such a high cost, it is estimated that three out of five litigants involved in civil cases are unrepresented (Self-Represented Litigation Network, 2016).

High Demand of Court-Based Programs. In response to the growing number of self-represented litigants and the lack of court programs to provide assistance to this group, the Judicial Council of California established a number of pilot programs including the family law facilitator program in 1997, three pilot Family Law Information Centers in 1999, and the Model Self-Help Center Pilot Program in 2002 which effectively established five self-help centers throughout California (Judicial Council of California, 2005).

Today, every one of the 58 counties in California has a court-based, attorney-supervised self-help service “that provides a full range of services to self-represented litigants” (Judicial Council of California, 2005).

CLOSING THE JUSTICE GAP Despite the innovative advances that the California courts have made towards addressing the justice gap, there remains a challenge towards the accessibility of these court-based programs. It is currently estimated that “over 1.2 million California residents have [sought] assistance annually from the Family Law Facilitators and court-based Self-Help Centers” (Judicial Council of California, 2014). However, it is also estimated that over 4.3 million of the annual California court users are self-represented (Judicial Council of California, 2004). Assuming that these figures are accurate, arguably only 28% of the self-represented population is receiving assistance from the major court-based programs. Similarly, others assess that “about four-fifths of the civil legal needs of low-income individuals, and two- to three-fifths of the needs of middle-income individuals remain unmet” (as cited in Rhode, 2005). Furthermore, the high demand of court-based programs forces many of the centers to turn away customers because of an inadequate amount of resources available to offer legal services to all who seek it (The Supreme Judicial Court Steering Committee on Self-Represented Litigants, 2008; American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services; 2014). As a result, while the California courts are progressively improving the accessibility of the court to the public, there still remains a large population that is disenfranchised.

Self-Help Centers The Model Self-Help Center Pilot Program was implemented in 2002 to “[increase] access to justice and [improve] the quality of justice and service to the public” (Judicial Council of California, 2005). With more than 75 percent of family law cases having at least one self-represented party, the California courts were faced with a unique challenge in balancing efficient case management and fair judicial proceedings (Judicial Council of California, 2010). SRLs have traditionally struggled in understanding and navigating the judicial system and often consume more court time and resources than necessary relative to their case. With the growing volume of cases in family law, judges were required to reduce the amount of time they could allocate per case while still having to “perform their fact-finding and decision-making functions” (Judicial Council of California, 2007).

To ensure meaningful access to justice, the selfhelp centers were established to provide “court-users information about the applicable laws and court processes, procedures and operations” (Judicial Council of California, 2007). The services that self-help cen-

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ters provide SRLs empowers the litigants as they represent themselves because they are better prepared in court, more self-confident, better able to present their case, have a more realistic expectation of the outcome of their case, and are more likely to obtain a favorable outcome (Judicial Council of California, 2005; Greacen, 2010; Greacen, 2012). In addition, the selfhelp centers encourage litigants to utilize mediation services and to settle cases outside of the courtroom which are a “faster… and less expensive method for resolving certain disputes” (Judicial Council of California, 2007). If a case can be resolved through mediation, the judicial officer simply enforces the agreement through a judicial order thus saving the court a significant amount of time and money (Greacen, 2009). As a result, the self-help services have been recognized as a core function of the courts as it is the optimum way to facilitate the efficient processing of cases (Judicial Council of California, 2014).

Because of the high demand of court-based programs, self-help centers utilize a triage process which allows the staff to quickly assess the needs of each individual case and provide assistance accordingly. In using triage, self-help centers can provide assistance to a larger number of guests, identify the options available to a guest, and target those cases that will require more time due to the complexity of the case (Judicial Council of California, 2005). Because of the abovementioned practice, self-help centers are serving a larger population of SRLs while reducing the cost of each case (Greacen, 2009).

While the self-help centers have been crucial for California courts, there remain several structural limitations that reduce its ability to completely address the needs of the SRL population. First, selfhelp centers are staffed by legal aid attorneys that are outnumbered 10,000 litigants to 1 (Judicial Council of California, 2007). As a result, a large portion of the clients are turned away because the center cannot accommodate their needs. Second, the center is not equipped for critical civil matters which are cases that affect basic human rights, specifically: “housing-related matters, domestic violence and civil harassment restraining orders, probate conservatorships, guardianships of the person, elder abuse, and actions by a parent to obtain sole legal or physical custody of a child” (Assembly Member Feuer, 2009; Harvard Law Review Association, 2010). Depending on the complexity of these cases, self-help centers can provide assistance but most often, as in the case of elder abuse, provide an array of referrals to organizations and firms they have established legal partnerships with. Third, the self-help centers promote mediation as an alternative to a court hearing

12 which does save time and money for the courts.

However, it creates a dilemma for SRLs negotiating the terms of a settlement, especially when the other party is represented by a lawyer who is conducting the negotiation (Hilbert, 2009). Fourth, self-help centers cannot provide legal advice which becomes problematic in critical civil matters wherein legal advice is necessary to make the best possible decision.

Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Pilot Projects In 2011, the California courts launched the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act Pilot Projects which was established and funded by the 2009 California Assembly Bill 590. The program was designed to ensure that “unrepresented parties obtain meaningful access to justice and to guard against the involuntary waiver or other loss of rights or the disposition of those cases without appropriate information and regard for potential claims and defenses” (Judicial Council of California, 2016). More often than not, legal representation is required to prevent the forfeiture of legal

JOSHUA S. EBINER rights and to guide litigants through the complexity of the legal system. Because the option of retaining a lawyer is primarily a financial decision, the Shriver projects specifically target low-income litigants who are involved in critical civil matters that affect the basic human needs abovementioned (Brown, 2011).

In order to ensure that the justice gap is being addressed, it is important that the California courts meet the legal needs of at-risk and disadvantaged groups which are underserved as a result of the limitations of current court-based programs. In determining a client’s need for legal representation, the projects evaluate a number of factors including “the complexity of the case, whether the other party is represented…the merits of the case, and the nature and severity of potential consequences for the prospective client if representation is not provided”, among other factors (Judicial Council of California, 2012). In addition, the projects are a cost-efficient program that is expected to resolve case disputes quicker and with less cost-intensive remedies as seen in housing cases wherein the cases resulted in more dismissals and settlements and

Appendix D: Study Methodology This case study is a five-month evaluation of the Pomona Self-Help Center, beginning in September 2015 and concluding in January 2016. The information used in this study is provided both voluntarily by the litigants who request assistance from the center and by the center’s staff and volunteers who provide the assistance. The data will allow me to examine the impact of the center in the five-month period by outlining the demographics of its visitors, the overall number of individuals assisted, and the level of service provided.

Upon every visit to the center, the litigant is required to complete a survey which elicits legal and personal information. The survey is divided into two sections. The first section is completed by the litigant and the second is completed by the staff or volunteer who provided assistance to the litigant. When a litigant visits the self-help center, they are requested to fill out a form which elicits personal information that helps the center examine the demographics of the litigants it is assisting. The litigant is asked to provide their monthly household income, family size, primary language, gender, referral source, and the reason for visiting the center. It is important to note that this information is strictly for the center’s record and does not restrict a litigant from using the center’s services. Once a litigant completes the first section of the form, they are called into the center where their legal needs are evaluated by a staff member. Whatever service the center provides to the litigant is recorded into the second section which is completed by whoever directly provides that assistance. This level of assistance can range from providing a referral to another legal aid organization or partner law firm to direct, individual assistance. All the data from the forms are collected and recorded by the staff members and volunteers and released in monthly reports produced by the Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles.

For the purpose of this study, I will be examining: the total number of monthly visitors, the number of visitors who received individual assistance, the number of visitors who received “How to” guide packets and forms only, the source of referrals to the center, the number of referrals to outside organizations, and the income ranges relative to the federal poverty guidelines.

CLOSING THE JUSTICE GAP fewer trials (Judicial Council of California, 2016).

The Shriver projects have been fundamental in meeting the growing needs of SRLs. Where traditional court-based programs have fallen short in providing meaningful access to justice for SRLs, the Shriver projects appear to be an acceptable referral option to continue to close the justice gap.

Analysis The justice gap in the California courts has challenged the Judicial Council of California to find solutions that will make the courts more accessible to self-represented litigants. To address this dilemma, the courts have implemented a number of courtbased, legal aid programs have made the California judicial system one of the more innovative and user-friendly systems in the country. However, there still remains a significant population of self-represented litigants that cannot access those resources which often make the difference between winning a case or losing it. The outcomes from these cases have significant, life-altering effects on the litigants which have prompted many scholars to advocate for an expansion of current court-based, legal aid programs and the continued search for, and development of, new programs to provide meaningful access to jus-

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tice. Through my experience working in the Pomona Self-Help Center and observing a number of court hearings involving at least one self-represented party, I have been exposed to a first-hand account of the current challenges the California courts are facing in addressing the legal needs of self-represented litigants.

To supplement my internship experience and to contribute to the scholarly debate, I conducted a case study of the self-help center in the Pomona Superior Courthouse to examine its impact in making the court more accessible to self-represented litigants.

As a whole, self-help centers have been recognized as a critical function of the California courts as the centers have helped the courts “facilitate the timely and cost-effective processing of cases involving self-represented litigants‌increase access to the courts and improve delivery of justice to the publicâ€?

(Judicial Council of California, 2004). The purpose of this study is to provide useful information that will encourage continued discussion and search for solutions in resolving the justice gap that challenges our judicial system. Furthermore, the study reinforces what many scholars have observed: that the demand of court-based, legal aid programs is significantly higher than the capacity of those programs (Legal Services Corporation, 2009; Greiner & Pattanayak, 2012). Lastly, the findings will determine how effec-

Appendix E: Total Number of Visitors

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Appendix F: Referral to Self-Help Center

tive the self-help centers are in addressing the legal needs of self-represented litigants and whether there are other legal aid models that can complement the centers in closing the justice gap. (See Appendix D)

Key Findings My case study indicates that the Pomona SelfHelp Center is a focal point for assisting self-represented litigants at the Pomona Superior Courthouse (SeeAppendix E). In the five-month period, the Pomona Self-Help Center has received over 7500 visitors, 44% of whom were referred to the center by the court (See Appendix F). It has become a common practice for court clerks and judicial officers to encourage self-represented litigants to utilize the services offered by the self-help center in preparation for various stages of their case. Traditionally, court clerks have been trained not to answer questions from the “nonlawyer public” in order to keep the courts’ neutrality (Judicial Council of California, 2007). This formality becomes problematic for self-represented litigants who do not fully understand the complexity and technicality of the law. As a compromise of sorts, court clerks often refer self-represented litigants to the self-help center to assist them in their case and to answer any questions the liti-

gant may have. Similarly, judicial officers are now trained to promote the self-help center as an option for litigants who may be struggling with their case.

In fact, I have observed several hearings in which the judicial officer notified the self-represented parties of the availability of the free services offered by the center and encouraged the litigants to utilize those services. Usually, the self-represented party will visit the center and seek out assistance. There was one instance in which a litigant was notified by the judge to use the self-help center to assist her in making an amendment to her petition. Later that day, I was working at the self-help center and I ended up assisting the litigant to make the necessary changes.

Furthermore, my study would suggest that the self-help center is an essential program that minimizes the justice gap by making the courts more accessible to the SRLs and preparing them for their cases. In a 2007 Report to the Legislature, the Judicial Council of California asserted that the self-help centers provide SRLs enhanced access to the courts because it is able to effectively prepare litigants with a “better understanding of court processes and procedures” through individual assistance, written materials, and videotapes. This preparation is essential because, in the adversarial model, both parties are expected to be knowledgeable and competent in the practice of law.

CLOSING THE JUSTICE GAP The large number of self-represented litigants challenged that assumption because many were unable to “navigate the justice system unassisted” and their cases, were either being continued or not fully resolved, or dismissed (Judicial Council of California, 2014). The former result creates additional demands on the court’s time and resources as cases are not being resolved in a timely manner. Additionally, these cases are more likely to return to court in an attempt to settle disputes between the two parties. The latter creates an injustice for self-represented litigants as they are losing their cases and facing adverse outcomes as a result for reasons unrelated to the merit of the case. The self-help center reduces the likelihood of these challenges by helping litigants meet procedural requirements, prepare adequate case packets with supplementary attachments, and give them a realistic expectation of the outcome of their case.

The Pomona Self-Help Center also addresses the financial disparity in the judicial system wherein low-income litigants are often at a fundamental disadvantage when facing a party that is represented by counsel. Over the five-month evaluation, more than 63% of the self-help center’s customer base lives below 100% of the federal poverty guidelines (See Appendix G and H). In other words, most of the self-represented litigants are forced to participate in

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the judicial process unrepresented because they cannot afford to hire an attorney (See Appendix I). While this disparity can be seen in all varieties of civil cases including paternities, divorces, and domestic violence, it is perhaps most prominent in eviction cases. In my experience, most petitioners in an eviction case have retained a lawyer who handles the cases for their client whereas the defendant is almost always self-represented. The Task Force of Self-Represented Litigants made a similar observation in its 2004 Statewide Action Plan for Serving Self-Represented Litigants (Judicial Council of California, 2004).

Despite the impact that the Pomona Self-Help Center has on providing addressing the justice gap, there are two major limitations. First, the self-help center is both understaffed and underfunded which limits its ability to effectively serve a significant number of its guests. Over the five-month evaluation, the center was able to provide individual assistance to about 36% of its guests (See Appendix J). This study reinforces Greacen’s (2009) observation that “most self-help programs serve only a fraction of self-represented litigants in their jurisdiction”. Keep in mind that although the center provides individual assistance to a small portion of the overall number of guests, not all the guests that visited the center require that level of service. For example, some litigants are

Appendix G: Litigant’s Income Range

16 unsure whether they want to start a civil case and are simply asking questions to develop a better understanding of the legal process; others are involved in a case and are seeking assistance but do not have the supporting documents. In the first instance, the center will provide “How to” guides and the forms for the litigant to complete if they choose to start a case. In the second instance, the center encourages the litigant to come back with their documents. In other words, because the center records all visits and level of service provided, the figure is not entirely accurate.

At the same time, however, providing “How to” guides and legal forms is a standard practice for the center when it cannot provide individual assistance.

The center provides service on a first come, first served basis. Once its capacity has been met and cases can no longer be set aside, the center has to turn litigants away. It has become common practice to give the “How to” guide and legal forms to the litigant and to encourage them to return to the center at a later date.

JOSHUA S. EBINER The Pomona Self-Help Center provided this level of service to over 60% of its guests since September.

Another limitation of the self-help center is its inability to provide meaningful assistance to litigants involved in complex and critical civil matters.

In order to preserve the court’s neutrality, the selfhelp center is strictly allowed to provide legal information. The information and service that the center provides one party in a case must be provided equally to the other party if necessary. For most litigants, individual assistance and legal information is sufficient to prepare them for their case. However, for litigants who are involved in cases that are complex in nature or will affect basic human rights, legal information is often inadequate and does not guard against adverse outcomes such as a dismissal or an involuntary waiver of their rights. My case study found that less than 5% of the litigants who visited the self-help center would fall under this category (See Appendix J).

Though it is a small figure, the results suggest that

Appendix H: Poverty Thresholds for 2014 by Size of Family and Number of Related Children Under 18 Years

Note. Poverty Thresholds: 2014. Adapted from Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 – Tables and Figures by the United States Census Bureau, 2014. Copyright 2014 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Adapted with permission.

CLOSING THE JUSTICE GAP

Appendix I: Financial Comparison

Appendix J: Level of Service Provided to Litigant

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JOSHUA S. EBINER

Appendix K: Employment Development Department of California The Employment Development Department (EDD) is one of the largest state departments and tax collection agencies in California. The EDD provides “many important services to millions of Californians each year [and] is responsible for the state programs involving unemployment insurance, disability insurance, payroll tax collection, and job training/workforce services” (State of California EDD, 2016)

self-help centers are not adequately equipped to meet this group’s legal needs which reinforces that the justice gap is still present in our judicial system.

Although there is minimal empirical data available to conclusively determine the effectiveness of the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Pilot Projects, preliminary reports point to the necessity of appointed counsel to protect litigants in critical and complex civil matters (Judicial Council of California, 2016).

Self-help centers and legal aid programs, though they are crucial to making the courts more accessible to the public, simply do not replace the quality of assistance provided by a lawyer. The assistance that the self-help center provides most of its litigants is adequate to effectively prepare the litigant for their civil case. However, a number of cases such as foreclosures, elder abuse, certain divorces, and paternities are simply too complicated for the center to provide effective assistance. Although my study suggests that roughly less than 5% of the center’s guests potentially fall into this category, the results confirm that the judicial system is not accessible to all of its users. As a result, a significant number of self-represented litigants are still facing adverse outcomes as they involuntarily forfeit their legal rights for matters unrelated to the merit of their case.

Conclusion The self-help centers have a significant role in reducing the disparity between the courts and the indigent self-represented litigants. The services the

center provides litigants better prepares them for their cases by giving them important legal information and a more realistic perspective of their case. This is beneficial not only for the litigant but also for the courts as cases are managed more efficiently and fewer resources are consumed (Judicial Council of California, 2004). Furthermore, the self-help centers “increase access to the courts and improve the delivery of justice to the public” (Judicial Council of California, 2014).

My case study of the Pomona Self-Help Center reinforces the importance of the self-help centers in minimizing the structural barriers that often marginalize indigent self-represented litigants. However, to ensure that the California courts are able to function efficiently and effectively address the legal needs of self-represented litigants, the Judicial Council of California must expand the self-help centers. Currently, the legal aid attorneys that staff the self-help centers in California are outnumbered 10,000 litigants to 1 which significantly reduces the number of litigants it can thoroughly assist (Judicial Council of California, 2007). Similarly, my case study indicates that a large number of litigants who visit the center cannot access its services simply because the demand supersedes the center’s resources. Furthermore, the center does not provide legal advice or representation which prevents it from assisting litigants involved in complex civil matters. Lastly, self-represented litigants will likely be a permanent characteristic of the California courts. Job projections over the next decade estimate the more than 68% of new jobs will have a compensation around minimum wage (Judicial Council of

Appendix L: California Occupational Employment Projections Between 2012-2022 While California’s occupational employment is expected to grow significantly in the next eight years, the majority of those job openings will either require a minimum of a high school diploma or less than high school. The compensation package for those jobs will hover around minimum wage. If an individual were to become involved in a civil matter, they would not be able to afford an attorney to represent them in court. Instead, it would be safe to conclude that many of these individuals will use the self-help centers if they have a legal dispute.

CLOSING THE JUSTICE GAP

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California, 2009; Employment Development Department of California, 2014; See Appendix K and L).

The Shriver pilot projects are programs that can potentially address the unmet needs of self-represented litigants in a capacity that cannot be matched by another other court-based program. First, Shriver programs provide legal representation and advice which is crucial for litigants involved in complex civil matters. Second, the Shriver programs could

potentially serve as a referral option for self-help centers as well as a supplement to meet the demands of self-represented litigants. These conclusions are based on a preliminary report which will be submitted to the Judicial Council of California for review and consideration. In the meantime, I would encourage the Shrive projects to expanded as well to ensure that the judicial system is equipped to meet the legal needs of self-represented litigants.

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(2011). Retrieved February 15, 2016, from http://cambridge.edu.au/go/download/?f=8407&t=1736 CHASE, D. J.. (2003). Pro Se Justice and Unified Family Courts. Family Law Quarterly, 37(3), 403– 430. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org. proxy.library.cpp.edu/stable/25740431 DRAFT: REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON THE SHRIVER CIVIL COUNSEL ACT JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF CALIFORNIA. (2016, January). Retrieved February, 2016, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/shriver-20151214-materials.pdf Employment Development Department. (2014, September 19). California Occupational Employment Projections Between 2012-2022. Retrieved February 5, 2016, from http://www.calmis.ca.gov/file/occproj/cal$occnarr.pdf Feuer, M. Assembly Member (2009, October 11).

Assembly Bill No. 590. Retrieved February 12, 2016, from http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/ pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_0551-0600/ab_590_ bill_20091011_chaptered.pdf Goldschmidt, J. (2002). THE PRO SE LITIGANT’S STRUGGLE FOR ACCESS TO JUSTICE Meeting the Challenge of Bench and Bar Resistance.

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Access to Justice — Civil Right to Counsel — California Establishes Pilot Programs to Expand Access to Counsel for Low-Income Parties. — Act of Oct. 11, 2009, ch. 457 (codified in Scattered Sections of Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code and Cal. Gov’t Code). (2010). Access to Justice — Civil Right to Counsel — California Establishes Pilot Programs to Expand Access to Counsel for Low-Income Parties. — Act of Oct. 11, 2009, ch.

457 (codified in Scattered Sections of Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code and Cal. Gov’t Code). Harvard Law Review, 123(6), 1532–1539. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40648378 American Bar Association. (2016). Our Origins & Principles. Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://www.americanbar.org/advocacy/rule_of_ law/about/origin_principles.html American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (2012). ACCESS TO JUSTICE ASSESSMENT TOOL. Retrieved November, 2015, from http:// www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/roli/misc/aba_roli_access_to_justice_assessment_manual_2012.authcheckdam.pdf American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services. (2014, August).

The Self-Help Center Census: A National Survey. Retrieved February, 2016, from http://www. americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/delivery_legal_services/ls_del_self_help_ center_census.authcheckdam.pdf California Courts. (2016). About JusticeCorps. Retrieved November 25, 2015, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/justicecorps-about. htm California Courts. (2016). Judicial Council. Retrieved February 02, 2016, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/policyadmin-jc. htm

20 Greacen, J. (2009, May 3). The Benefits and Costs of Programs to Assist Self Represented

Litigants. Retrieved December 6, 2015, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/partners/documents/ Greacen_benefit_cost_final_report.pdf Greacen, J. M. (2010, October). Self-Represented Litigants and Court and Legal Services Responses to Their Needs: What We Know. Retrieved December, 2015, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/ partners/documents/SRLwhatweknow.pdf Greacen, J. M. (2013, July 26). Services for Self-Represented Litigants in Arkansas: A Report to the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission. Retrieved February, 2016, from http://www.arlegalservices.org/system/files/Greacen-Arkansas_Final_Report_07-26-13.pdf Gorham, Ursula. (2014). Facilitating Access to Legal Information by Self-Represented Litigants: An Exploratory Case Study of the People’s Law Library of Maryland. Journal of Open Access to Law. Retrieved March 6, 2016, from https://ojs.law.cornell.edu/index.php/joal/article/ view/8/35 GREINER, D. J., & PATTANAYAK, C. W.. (2012).

Randomized Evaluation in Legal Assistance: What Difference Does Representation (Offer and Actual Use) Make?. The Yale Law Journal, 121(8), 2118–2214. Retrieved from http://www. jstor.org/stable/41510476 HILBERT, J.. (2009). Educational Workshops on Settlement and Dispute Resolution: Another Tool for Self-Represented Litigants in Family Court.

Family Law Quarterly, 43(3), 545–569. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25740714 Hough, B. R. (2003, June). Description of California Courts’ Programs for Self-Represented Litigants.

Retrieved January, 2016, from http://www.courts. ca.gov/partners/documents/harvard.pdf Hough, B. (2010). Self-Represented Litigants in Family Law: The Response of California’s Courts. California Law Review Circuit, 1, 15-24.

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JOSHUA S. EBINER at the California Courts website: http://www. courts.ca.gov/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=California Courts Self-Help Centers&Search.x=37&Search.y=5 Judicial Council of California. (2010, April). Elkins Family Law Task Force: Final Report and Recommendations. Retrieved January, 2016, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/elkins-finalreport.pdf Judicial Council of California (2012, August). Fact Sheet: Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act (AB 590) (Feuer). Retrieved January, 2016, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/AB-590. pdf Judicial Council of California. (2008, February 29).

Guidelines for the Operation of Self-Help Centers in California Trial Courts. Retrieved December, 2015, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/ documents/self_help_center_guidelines.pdf Judicial Council of California (2007, January). Handling Cases Involving Self-Represented Litigants. Retrieved December 22, 2015, from http:// www.courts.ca.gov/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=Handling Cases Involving Self-Represented Litigants Judicial Council of California. (2005, March). Model Self-Help Pilot Program: A Report to the Legislature. Retrieved January, 2016, from http:// www.srln.org/system/files/attachments/Model Selfhelp Pilot Program CA 2005.pdf Judicial Council of California. (2004, February).

Statewide Action Plan for Serving Self-Represented Litigants. Retrieved January, 2016, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/selfreplitsrept.pdf Judicial Council of California. (2014, October). Task Force on Self-Represented Litigants: Final Report on Implementation of the Judicial Council Statewide Action Plan for Serving Self-Represented Litigants. Retrieved February 07, 2016, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/partners/documents/EA-SRLTaskForce_FinalReport.pdf Kim, H. B.. (1987). Legal Education for the Pro Se Litigant: A Step Towards a Meaningful Right to Be Heard. The Yale Law Journal, 96(7), 1641–1660. http://doi.org.proxy.library.cpp. edu/10.2307/796497 Legal Services Corporation. (2009, September). Documenting the Justice Gap In America: The Current Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-Income Americans. Retrieved January, 2016, from http:// www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/marketresearch/PublicDocuments/JusticeGaInAmerica2009.authcheckdam.pdf

CLOSING THE JUSTICE GAP National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel.

(2016). The Justice Gap. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.civilrighttocounsel.org/ about/the_justice_gap Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County (2016). About. Retrieved November 23,

2015, from http://www.nlsla.org/about/ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (2016, January 25). Poverty Guidelines. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines PAINTER, R. W.. (2011). Pro Se Litigation in Times of Financial Hardship—A Legal Crisis and Its Solutions. Family Law Quarterly, 45(1), 45–94.

Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.cpp.edu/stable/23034375 Public Policy Institute of California. (2016). Policy Areas. Retrieved February 14, 2016, from http://www.ppic.org/main/policyareas.asp Self-Represented Litigation Network. (2016, February 18). About. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.srln.org/node/21/aboutsrln Seidenberg, S.. (2012). Unequal Justice: U.S. trails high-income nations in serving civil legal needs.

ABA Journal, 98(6), 56–59. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.cpp.edu/stable/23278133

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State of California Employment Development Department. (2016). About the EDD. Retrieved

February 14, 2016, from http://www.edd.ca.gov/ About_EDD/About_EDD.htm Supreme Judicial Court Steering Committee on Self-Represented Litigants (2008, November 21). ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF SELF-REPRESENTED LITIGANTS: FINAL REORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Retrieved February, 2016, from http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/legalservices/delivery/downloads/maselfrepfinalreport. authcheckdam.pdf Sweet, R. W.. (1998). Civil “Gideon” and Confidence in a Just Society. Yale Law & Policy Review, 17(1), 503–506. Retrieved from http://www.jstor. org.proxy.library.cpp.edu/stable/40239539 The Right to Counsel in Civil Litigation. (1966). The Right to Counsel in Civil Litigation. Columbia Law Review, 66(7), 1322–1339. http://doi.org. proxy.library.cpp.edu/10.2307/1120986 Tidmarsh, J. (2010). Resolving Cases “On The Merits”. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http:// www.law.du.edu/documents/denver-university-law-review/v87-2/Tidmarsh_PDF.pdf

Student volunteers from the JusticeCorps can make a tremendous difference in the lives of the self-represented litigants they serve. Shown here: the Los Angeles East District Superior Court and County Building in Pomona, California.

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JOSHUA S. EBINER

Joshua S. Ebiner

Joshua Ebiner is a third year political science and philosophy double major with an emphasis in law and society. His expected graduation date is June 2017. Although he is undecided as to what he wants to do after the completion of his undergraduate program, Joshua is considering careers in academia, politics, and/or law.

Environmental Racism: A Comparative Analysis Between Brentwood, Los Angeles and South Gate, California

Elena Ruiz Ramirez California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Environmental racism is a continuous cycle that often threatens the health and surrounding environment of minority communities. This thesis focuses on one of the most impactful environmental hazards: superfund sites. The two cases to be compared are: Brentwood, Los Angeles (an affluent community) and South Gate, California (a minority community). Collecting data from the Environmental Protection Agency shows that South Gate has 21 superfund sites, three of which are on the National Priorities List. As for Brentwood, there are zero waste sites located within the community. With using this information as the primary foundation of analysis, this thesis will then analyze the disparities between population density, race, and income by using 2010 census data. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to analyze how certain factors (i.e. race and income) attract or deter the placement of waste sites.

E

nvironmental racism generally targets areas of low socioeconomic status. Many examples involve the placement of toxic facilities that not only pose a threat to the environment but to those living near them; to illustrate, toxic landfills have been reported to cause high rates of birth defects, the release of methane, along with toxins seeping into the soil and groundwater which becomes an environmental hazard. With having the knowledge and understanding of how severe the health effects are from toxic facilities, what is the causal mechanism that allows the process of environmental racism to continue? Cases to be studied have a noticeable pattern of waste management facilities being located in communities consisting of predominately low-income and ethnic minority citizens. Using various examples of waste sites located in California will shed light on how people (specifically minorities, but people nonetheless) continue to be politically and financially exploited in a state that has made advancements in environmental policies. Such contradiction leads me

to question: Do waste management companies place facilities that have negative environmental impacts in communities based on its socioeconomic status?

To answer this question, it is important to fully understand the main concepts of this thesis and how they relate to each other. The first concept is waste management facilities with negative environmental impacts and the second concept is the socioeconomic status of a community. These concepts relate to each other because a community’s economic status and ethnic makeup can be the most influential factors as to where these hazardous facilities are located.

Additionally, there is a higher probability that waste management companies will choose an area with inexpensive land to maximize profits. Although this is a rather logical justification for the correlation between the placement of waste sites and the low-socioeconomic status of a community, this thesis will focus on the environmental and political disparities found between a minority community and an affluent community based on the placement of waste

Undergraduate Journal of Political Science, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 2016, Pp. 23–38 Š 2016, Political Science Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

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24 management facilities. Therefore, this thesis argues: waste management facilities that have harmful environmental impacts are placed in areas of low socioeconomic status because the citizens are more likely to be politically and financially vulnerable.

Hypothetically speaking, if a hazardous landfill site were to be placed in an affluent community, that community will more often than not have the necessary funds to either remove the landfill site or conduct research to build a case against the waste management facility. Whereas, most coalitions formed in a financially vulnerable community will not have the political influence or vigor against a waste site company as would a coalition created in an affluent community. If most political opposition posed by minority communities goes unrecognized, apathy will surely form to which its citizens will accept environmental racism as a natural part of life.

It is necessary for this issue to be further discussed in the field of Political Science, specifically the subfield Public Administration, due to the prevalence of environmental injustice (which is enhanced through the placement of waste sites) found in minority communities. With the use of statistical analysis, researchers have found a positive relationship of waste management facilities being placed in areas that have characteristics consistent with minority communities (i.e. high population density, low-income status, low employment rates, etc.). Interestingly enough, theories concerning environmental racism suggest it is fundamentally a social issue. Based on social institutions and interactions, minorities will continue to be bombarded with environmental hazards because they are politically, financially, and ethnically inferior. Most importantly, since minority communities are in a constant state of environmental racism (in both a theoretical and empirical sense) this suggests that government intervention is minimal to nonexistent. Environmental researchers find minimal government intervention is paralleled with unequal environmental protection; in essence, this is the most impactful contribution to environmental racism. After taking into account the following research, this thesis suggests that unequal environmental protection creates the systemic issue of waste management companies exploiting communities with low socioeconomic statuses based on the reasoning that minorities are less likely to be a political threat.

Using the given research on environmental racism, this thesis seeks to contribute to the active discussion by conducting a comparative analysis between an urban, minority community and an affluent community in Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles should be considered as a prime exam-

ELENA RUIZ RAMIREZ ple because not only are minority communities exposed to numerous environmental hazards (i.e. soil and groundwater contamination), but Los Angeles is a city located in a state with progressive environmental policies. Although California has made significant advancements in environmental politics, there continues to be disparities in the environmental protection of minority and affluent communities; thus, alluding to the need for a reevaluation of which environmental policies should be placed at the forefront. In its entirety, this comparative analysis will: 1) have consistent results with previous research on environmental racism and 2) enhance previous research by demonstrating that the most significant disparities between a minority community with waste sites and an affluent community are essentially created in a system that equates higher wealth with good health and financial vulnerability with poor health.

Literature Review Environmental racism is the intentional or unintentional targeting of minorities through policies or practices that have noticeable negative effects in their surrounding environment. Much of the research conducted throughout various periods of time have begun with a common observation: waste management facilities are often placed in low-income/racially homogeneous minority communities. This thesis seeks to further explore the nature of the relationship between communities of low-socioeconomic status and the placement of waste management facilities by conducting a comparative analysis between an urban city and its affluent counterpart in Los Angeles, California.

Minority communities are essentially politically and financially exploited during the process in which private companies seek to place hazardous waste sites. In both the theoretical and statistical examination of this topic, race is a common influential factor. This speaks to the idea that being a minority will render less environmental protection (Bullard, 1999). Environmental racism also considers the economic status of a minority community; therefore, it has been found that low-income minorities are less likely to act against the placement of a waste site in their community due to the potential employment opportunities (Boer et al., 1997). In addition, low-income communities will have a higher probability of lacking the sufficient funds needed to create a substantive political threat (in the form of a grassroots movement) against waste management companies.

A majority of this research has been conducted by environmental scholars, most of whom conclude that the government is not fully participating in the

ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM protection of minority citizens from environmental hazards. This literature review has therefore been categorized into three panels of discussion by researchers: the theoretical framework of environmental racism, the statistical analysis of environmental racism, and government outreach to affected citizens.

Theoretical Framework for Environmental Injustice Providing a foundation based on theory implies that an issue goes beyond numerical values; it sheds light on the importance and effects of social interactions, values, and institutions. The following research establishes a theoretical framework to further explain how and why environmental racism occurs in minority communities. Park and Pellow (2004) propose that environmental racism is a form of institutional racism. Institutional racism suggests racism is formulated as a habit based on societal patterns rather than individual intent. Interestingly, Park and Pellow branch away from the statistical analysis that is often done when linking race and the placement of waste facilities. Therefore, by highlighting the social environment of minority communities, environmental racism is seen as a natural part of life.

Although institutional racism is a rather attractive theoretical explanation for the existence of environmental injustice, it is not the only one. Pulido (2000) views environmental racism as a form of white privilege and uses Los Angeles as a case study. While also using theoretical and social frameworks to explain the continuance of environmental racism, Pulido suggests that white privilege is the primary reason that citizens of a more dominant race have the ability to move away from urban communities, therefore, rendering minorities as sole inhabitants of waste management facilities (2000). In addition, Godsil (1991), whose study focused on the socioeconomic status of African American communities and the placement of waste sites, introduces a widely known way of thinking that is often considered by affluent communities: “Not In My Back Yard” syndrome (otherwise known as NIMBYism). NIMBYism is exemplified when “[w]ell-meaning environmentalists and worried citizens of affluent communities oppose hazardous waste facilities in their backyards; as a result, developers all too often site facilities in predominantly poor and minority communities” (Godsil, 1991). All three studies shed light on how the root of the issue of environmental racism is deeper than most believe. It is embedded in the thought process that minorities are found inferior, which ultimately stems from social process-

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es and institutions. In order to resolve the societal thinking of environmental racism involve attending a higher education institution. Higher education challenges social hierarchies and encourages students to think critically about inequalities (Pellow, 2012).

Statistical Analysis of Environmental Injustice Not every researcher is a proponent for the idea that waste management facilities are placed in communities based on their ethnic makeup. Atlas (2001) suggests that his analysis provides no pattern of hazardous waste facilities being disproportionately placed in areas of minority communities. Instead, most of the waste sites were found to be placed in areas of low population densities with few minority/ low-income people (Atlas, 2001). This study demonstrates a possible counter argument to my research by providing an analysis that focuses on rural communities that have less of a minority population density than would an urban area. However, much of the research conducted to confirm the observation that environmental racism is found in communities of predominantly minority citizens does not focus specifically in rural areas; rather, research on the placement of waste management facilities often highlights the urban setting. The following scholarship provides multiple factors (all of which are consistent characteristics of minority communities) that affect the location of waste sites in urban areas based on statistical analysis and case study research methods.

The following research has been complied to counter Atlas’ findings of little to no correlation between the placement of waste sites and minority communities. Primarily, Bean v. Southwestern Waste Corp. (1979) highlighted the obstruction of civil rights due to the location and proximity of a waste disposal facility in Houston, Texas. This case called for the first empirical study that connected the placement of waste management facilities with the race of citizens. Secondly, twenty years after the publication of a breakthrough study of environmental racism in 1987 (Toxic Waste and Race in the United States by the United Church of Christ), environmental justice scholars published an update. By taking into account impactful events that have occurred in the past twenty years (i.e. grassroots movements and government action--or lack thereof), Bullard et al. (2008) finds that race still plays a significant role in the placement of waste management facilities. Lastly, Mohai and Saha (2007) used Geographic Information System (GIS) to further analyze the intensity of the relationship between racial inequality and the distribution of hazard-

26 ous waste facilities. GIS is used to capture, manipulate, and analyze various types of geographical data.

Therefore, the use of GIS solidified the conclusion that previous research failed to account for the proximity between the facilities and the minority communities; therefore, Mohai and Saha’s conclusion is in alliance with Bullard et al. (2008) and the findings in Bean v. Southwestern Waste Corp. (1979): race is an influential factor in the placement of waste facilities.

Specific case study analyses from areas such as North Carolina and New Jersey make it possible to apply the same research process to Los Angeles, California. Norton et al. (2007) conducted research based on the observation that waste management facilities are typically located in areas of low socioeconomic status in the state of North Carolina. The research methods included creating a statewide analysis by obtaining census data of race and income. Their findings concluded that there is a correlation between the placement of waste management facilities and minority communities in North Carolina (Norton et al., 2007).

In addition, Mennis and Jordan (2005) used New Jersey as example to demonstrate a positive relationship between minorities and toxic air releases (notably in densely populated and urban areas) by using univariate and multivariate statistics. This study can be used to have a greater grasp of studying environmental racism in the urban areas of Los Angeles, California.

When further analyzing case studies, other factors that contribute to the placement of waste management facilities in minority communities go far beyond race and income status. Boer et al. (1997) focuses on Los Angeles as an example on whether income and employment (in addition to race) were causal mechanisms of environmental racism. Just as the majority of other research concludes, the authors agree that race and income have a positive influence with environmental injustice. Significantly, employment opportunities make waste management facilities attractive in urban communities (Boer et al., 1997). This suggests that many minority citizens do not have thriving or stable incomes and are not willing to fight against the removal of waste sites if it provides a form of employment. Moreover, children of color, particularly Latinos and African Americans, living in Los Angeles have a higher chance of being exposed to toxic air quality based on the school’s location and construction (Morello-Frosch et al., 2002).

Lastly, Hamilton (1995) explores differences in citizens’ willingness to pay for environmental amenities which can be linked to income or education levels. A company will decide where to place waste management facilities based on the community’s willingness to pay for environmental amenities (Hamilton, 1995).

ELENA RUIZ RAMIREZ Statistical analysis and case studies have found unavoidable factors as a result from living in a minority community. For example, the limited amount of job opportunities, along with residential discrimination, contributes to the restriction of options when deciding which environment to live in (Bullard, 1993). Interestingly enough, waste management companies understand how their facilities provide employment to minorities and increase tax revenue which serves as justifications (Geisinger, 2012).

Therefore, the overall consensus in this section of scholarship is: waste management facilities are typically placed in urban, ethnic-minority communities.

Governmental Outreach to Affected Citizens Research concerning the correlation between minority communities and the placement of waste sites continues to develop as time passes. It is only natural to then question the government’s role (state government, primarily) in this process. Bullard (1994) analyzes the disparities found in US environmental policies created to protect citizens from hazardous and toxic facilities. The author goes further into depth in researching the EPA’s involvement with environmental racism to find little intervention.

Over the course of five years, the lack of government intervention continues and there is little change to the scarce protection of minority communities from environmental racism. Bullard (1999) conducts an analysis of environmental racism in the United States and how minorities in poor communities are subjected to environmental hazards (often through the form of waste management facilities) more often than those living in affluent communities. Therefore, the argument is made that minorities are not equally protected like their affluent counterpart and introduces the need for a grassroots movement in order to gain environmental protection (Bullard, 1999).

Konisky (2009) also seeks to find if the state government has little political involvement with environmental protection policies in minority communities by focusing on three policies typically enforced by the state: the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Konisky finds that there is a clear relationship between sparse government action and low-income communities. By examining the role of the state when it comes to corporations establishing harmful facilities in communities, corporations (viewed as separate entities) have become their own policy makers while the state’s power has slowly diminished (Pellow, 2001). There is an analysis on how to seek

ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM environmental justice with this new political process, for example, corporate-community compacts.

These compacts entail citizen collaboration and the advisement of companies on how to strengthen their knowledge on social responsibility and human rights.

Generally, there are three ways for citizens to provide their input in environmental policymaking: collaborating with companies, creating or participating in committees to enhance/promote regulation, and going to the courts (Markell, 2004). Despite the avenues presented for citizen participation, Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (ENGOs) are displeased with the results of noncompliance by waste management facilities and, most importantly, lack of government accountability (Markell, 2004).

With examining the research in this section, the commonality is little to no state interaction/intervention in the protection of minority communities from environmental hazards. Resolutions often involve the citizens’ direct cooperation with the companies. As a result, companies are not bound by law to upkeep regulation of their waste sites if there is no enforcement from the state; therefore, minority communities are to remain living in an unhealthy and toxic environment.

Based on this literature review, environmental scholars have continuously questioned the placement of waste management facilities in minority communities from the late 1970’s to present. Therefore, merely questioning why environmental racism has not yet been resolved is found to be insufficient.

Scholars have delved into the causal mechanisms of how environmental racism continues to exists; for example, institutional racism and white privilege (Park and Pellow, 2004; Pulido, 2000). Examining scholarship on the social and theoretical frameworks of this issue explains how minorities are in an ongoing state of environmental injustice due to various social processes and patterns that equates minority with inferiority. This association potentially contributes to the lack of government intervention and equal protection of minorities from environmental hazards (Bullard, 1994). Furthermore, scholars have justified the observation of the placement of waste sites in communities of low-socioeconomic status with the use of statistical analysis and case studies.

The various results are consistent with characteristics of minority communities: population densities in urban areas, race and economic status, and lack of employment opportunities (Mennis and Jordan, 2005; Norton et al., 2007; Boer et al. 1997).

This thesis seeks to further examine the extent of environmental racism in Los Angeles, California. By comparing an urban community with a high population density and an affluent community with

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the financial resources needed to pay for environmental amenities, this thesis should have consistent results like that of previous scholars. Most importantly, California is viewed as a state with admirable advancements in environmental policies; therefore, research conducted on this comparative analysis will also enhance the argument that environmental racism is a form of institutional racism because injustice continues to occur despite policy progress.

Methodology This thesis will take a qualitative approach by analyzing case studies in order prove the argument that minority communities are politically and financially vulnerable when it comes to the placement of waste sites. The ultimate goal will be to demonstrate a positive relationship between the placements of waste management facilities and urban, minority communities by comparing two cases: 1) Brentwood, which is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California and 2) South Gate, which is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As previously mentioned, Los Angeles is the best region to select potential cases because many waste sites are located in urban and densely populated communities (Mennis and Jordan, 2005). Furthermore, both units of analysis are commonly understood to be either an affluent community (Brentwood) or a minority community (South Gate). To gain a general sense of where these two communities are located within Los Angeles, South Gate is located approximately seven miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles and is neighbored by Watts, Lynwood, Cudahy, and Huntington Park; and Brentwood is a neighborhood in Los Angeles city on the Westside section of the county. The process in choosing which cities or neighborhoods would be viable candidates for this analysis depends, firstly, on the location of waste sites, and secondly, census data.

Environmental Protection Agency Data Collection

Because waste management facilities can range from landfills to disposals, it is important to narrow the search to one example to prevent extraneous variables and errors in analysis; therefore, this thesis will focus on superfund sites. Superfund sites are hazardous waste sites that threaten public health and the environment. Although this definition is rather vague, facilities with negative environmental impacts are determined and categorized as superfund sites through the discretion of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); therefore, regarding this study, the EPA pro-

28 vides less uncertainty as to which facilities to focus on.

The EPA developed a superfund program to clean up superfund sites and better the environment of those living near them. In order to provide transparency, the website www.epa.gov/superfund has a list of all superfund sites in the United States, “including proposed, final and deleted NPL sites and non-NPL Superfund Alternative Approach (SAA) sites.” According to the EPA, the city of South Gate currently has 21 superfund sites, 18 of which have a Non-NPL (Non-National Priorities List) status. The three other superfund sites have been added to the National Priorities List and are considered the most contaminated facilities within South Gate. The three NPL status waste sites are: Cooper Drum Co. (NPL 2001), Southern Avenue Industrial Area (NPL 2012), and Jervis B. Webb Co. (NPL 2012). This thesis will take into account all 21 superfund sites, but will focus and highlight the three NPL status waste sites because they pose the greatest health threats to those living in South Gate. As for Brentwood, there are currently no registered superfund sites in the neighborhood. Lastly, the EPA Superfund website also includes updated information referring to various levels of contamination, investigation, and cleanup. This is important information for this analysis because it reflects whether the cleanup process is handled in a timely manner. When concluding this section of methodology, the framework of analysis developed so far is a community with 21 superfund sites being compared to a community with zero superfund sites. Analyzing 2010 census data will further evolve this framework.

Census Data

Census data gives insight to the socio-economic status of a community. When used in a comparative analysis, census data also highlights disparities between two areas. This thesis will use those disparities and analyze how they contribute to the placement of waste sites in minority communities, specifically South Gate. Specific categories to be compared are: population, race, income, education, and unemployment. The categories listed are typically the criteria needed to determine whether a community is considered an affluent or a minority group. Furthermore, collecting information about both communities’ square mileage is needed in order to determine population density. Population density is also used as a determining factor for categorizing a wealthy and minority community.

Up to this point, it is a general assumption that South Gate is a minority community and Brentwood is an affluent community. This thesis provides a com-

ELENA RUIZ RAMIREZ munity assessment in order to clearly define the communities as such rather than relying on an assumption.

For example, with using the categories listed above and 2010 census data for the city of Los Angeles, Brentwood is compared to all other neighborhoods within the city. As will later be demonstrated, Brentwood is defined as affluent. The same comparison will be used for the city of South Gate, except 2010 census data for Los Angeles County will be used.

Therefore, when compared to other cities in the county, South Gate is defined as a minority community.

Both communities’ census data can be found with the website www.factfinder.census.gov. Not only is this website able to localize data by city, town, and zip code, but it provides the most updated information (2010 census data). Finally, the framework of analysis is now this: South Gate is a minority community with 21 superfund sites that will be compared to its affluent counterpart Brentwood, which has zero superfund sites. This framework of analysis is going to be able to provide a stable foundation for results. Therefore, the disparities found between these two communities can be further analyzed in confidence to prove the overall argument that minority communities with waste sites are politically and financially vulnerable.

Results I. Superfund Background

Prior to the 1980’s, there was a lack of regulation and oversight of waste management facilities in the United States. During that time, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not have the legal authority to intervene and extend help to communities with waste sites that posed a threat to citizens’ health; therefore, incentives or legal pressure directed towards responsible parties to clean up the contaminated areas were completely nonexistent.

The Love Canal site in Niagara Falls, New York is the primary example of how a lack of regulation and liability resulted in the perpetuation of severe health risks for surrounding citizens. Most importantly, the problems resulting from Love Canal can be seen with the superfund sites located in South Gate today.

The Love Canal’s initial purpose was to enhance industrial development in the area by providing inexpensive hydroelectric power (EPA, 2016). Unfortunately, the project was not carried out and Love Canal was used for recreational purposes instead. Because the Love Canal site is below ground-level (approximately 25 feet), this area became a rather attractive place for dumping waste. A chemical corporation

ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM at the time, Hooker Chemicals & Plastics Corporation, discarded over 21,000 tons of hazardous waste into Love Canal for eleven years (1942-1953) (EPA, 2016). The toxic chemicals inevitably contaminated the soil and groundwater. Love Canal was then abandoned by Hooker Chemicals & Plastics Corporation, which meant that there was no investigation or risk assessment carried out. Therefore, as years passed, the surrounding land developed into a residential area by which families settled in without knowing the potential dangers that Love Canal presented.

In the 1970’s, this sixteen-acre, excavated plot of land (now seventy-acers) was surrounded by family homes and a public elementary school. According to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDH), “…in the homes immediately adjacent to the landfill there were resident 97 families composed of 230 adults and 134 children,” during which that time 410 children were enrolled at the elementary school (1978). A majority of reports concerning the citizens’ first notice of contaminated soil and groundwater in their neighborhood commonly state that a “foul odor” began to develop. Furthermore, the odor and chemical residue led to an increased risk of cancer. The New York State Department of Health issued a health order in 1978 which recommended that the public elementary school should be closed, in addition to recommending that pregnant women and children under the age of two should be evacuated (Center for Health, Environment and Justice, 1979). Health risks posed on pregnant women could lead to birth defects, and due to their biological vulnerability, children “…are uniquely susceptible to health injury resulting from exposures to chemical toxicants in the environment” (Landrigan et al., 1999). Pressure for citizens to be evacuated grew stronger, leading President Carter to intervene by funding the relocation of all affected families.

The time-sensitive situation of Love Canal pressed the Carter Administration to enact the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA or Superfund).

CERCLA targets superfund sites which are defined as a polluted location that requires a substantial amount of resources (i.e. money, labor, and time) for reducing hazardous materials and is typically a long-term process. CERCLA is greatly significant because it placed “…a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided broad Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment” (EPA, 2015).

With its interventionist feature, CERCLA is able to create short-term removals and long-term respons-

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es. A short-term removal of superfund sites entails responding to immediate threats, does not require the sites to be listed on the National Priorities List (NPL), and has statutory limits of twelve months and two million dollars (EPA, 2015). Long-term responses are essentially long-term cleanups only for the waste sites on the NPL. During long-term responses, the EPA will first create an investigation of the superfund site and provide assistance in trying to find the “potentially responsible parties” (PRPs) for the damage. Long-term responses aim to “…permanently and significantly lower the dangers connected to releases or threats of releases” (McCory, 1999).

Lastly, one of the most important contributions that CERCLA allows the EPA to make is creating a trust fund for clean up when liability is not established.

The different legal avenues that CERCLA gives the EPA reinforce one idea: superfund sites are detrimental to the environment and those living near it.

The Environmental Protection Agency created a website dedicated to making the CERCLA process transparent. All information concerning superfund sites, both NPL and non-NPL sites, is made available.

By completing the Hazard Ranking System (HRS), the EPA will determine whether a site is to have a NPL or non-NPL status. The NPL is important to the CERCLA process because it will determine potential funding for cleanup, provide a health risk investigation if needed, and serve as a notification of remedial action for the public along with potentially responsible parties (EPA, 2015). Essentially, the Superfund website is a tool used to prevent another Love Canal situation by which families moved into a neighborhood without knowing the health hazards that the landfill possessed. According to the EPA Superfund website, there are 945 sites that are in California, 111 of which are NPL sites (2016). As previously mentioned, there are zero sites listed for Brentwood, Los Angeles and 21 sites listed for South Gate, California. 18 of South Gate’s superfund sites have a non-NPL status, meaning the three remaining sites posed enough risk to be categorized in the NPL. Those three sites are: Cooper Drum Co., Jervis B. Webb Co., and Southern Avenue Industrial Area. In the following subsections, this thesis will provide a brief history for the three NPL sites in South Gate to provide insight of the potential health hazards that citizens are facing in their daily lives.

Cooper Drum Co.

The Cooper Drum Company site is located at 9316 South Atlantic Avenue in South Gate, California. It is a 3.8-acre facility surrounded by residential, commercial, and industrial properties, in addition to

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ELENA RUIZ RAMIREZ

Figure 1a: Human Exposure Control Status

an elementary school (Tweedy Elementary) located adjacent to the superfund site. As a company that reconditioned steel drums for approximately 51 years (1941-1992), Cooper Drum Co. housed industrial chemicals. The reconditioning process “…consisted of flushing out and stripping the drums for painting and resale” (EPA, 2013). Although the cleaning process would be designated to one central area on the premises, leftover industrial fluids were gathered in open trenches and pits. This inevitably led to Cooper Drum Co.’s long-standing problem of contaminated soil and groundwater. Most notably, Tweedy Elementary was greatly impacted by Cooper Drum Co.’s reconditioning process. In 1987, fluids linked to the Cooper Drum site contaminated the elementary school’s soil: “…liquid waste had migrated via underground seepage…the waste resulted from the caustic wash water from the drum recycling process…”

(EPA, 2013). The Los Angeles County Health Department then issued that Tweedy Elementary was to be closed due to public health concerns, quite similar to the elementary school closed by Love Canal.

Cooper Drum Co. was eventually added to the NPL in June 2001. With the various investigative stages of CERCLA, the EPA concluded that contamination was found only in shallow water (EPA, 2013).

Yet, it is alarming to find that Cooper Drum Co.’s liquid waste seepage has the potential to migrate to a municipal well that provides drinking water to nearly 300,000 people. Presently, the Cooper Drum site is still in the CERCLA process in which the EPA is notifying PRP’s of liability and cleanup is underway.

Cooper Drum Co.’s Site Status: Human Exposure Status is Under Control; Contaminated Ground Water Status is Not Under Control; and Protectiveness Status is Undetermined.

Jervis B. Webb Co.

Jervis B. Webb Company is located at 9301 Rayo Ave and 5030 Firestone Blvd. South Gate, California. From 1950 to 1996, Jervis B. Webb Co. used industrial conveyor belt systems for metal fabrication and assembly operations (EPA, 2015).

Throughout this time period, other companies in the metal fabrication business purchased different portions of Jervis B. Webb Co.’s property. Similar to Cooper Drum Co.’s location, Jervis B. Webb Co. is surrounded by residential, commercial, and industrial properties in South Gate, California. It has been confirmed that the Jervis B. Webb Co. site has contaminated soil and groundwater with hazardous

Figure 1b: Groundwater Control Status

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Figure 1c: Protective Status

waste, in particular, trichloroethene (TCE). TCE is a manmade chemical typically used for spot removal in an industrial workplace. If not disposed of properly, TCE can seep into drinking water wells and contaminate the water supply. TCE also heightens the risk for cancer, along with damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system when consumed.

According to the EPA’s investigation, contaminated groundwater beneath Jervis B. Webb Co. has TCE levels of 35,000 ppb (35,000 parts per billion grams of water) (2015). Considering how the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act stated the maximum amount of TCE permitted in groundwater is 5 ppb, the Jervis B. Webb Co. site has an obscene amount of contamination. As previously stated, when not disposed properly, TCE can migrate and contaminate drinking water supplies. Jervis B. Webb Co. is located approximately four miles away from 35 drinking water wells, potentially harming 230,000 people (EPA, 2015). Although the CERCLA process is still in preliminary phases, Jervis B. Webb Co. should be considered as a time-sensitive issue because TCE is not only able to contaminate water but it can vaporize as well, causing health risks to increase. This site was placed on the NPL in May 2012 and is considered a “long-term cleanup.”

Jervis B. Webb Co.’s Site Status (refer to Fig.1a-1c): Human Exposure Status is undetermined due to Insufficient Data; Contaminated Ground Water Status is undetermined due to Insufficient Data; and Protectiveness Status is Undetermined.

Southern Avenue Industrial Area

Southern Avenue Industrial Area is located at 5211 Southern Ave. South Gate, California. This superfund site is walking distance from both Cooper Drum Co. (6 minutes) and Jervis B. Webb Co. (10 minutes), which means it is located near the same residential and industrial properties. Southern Avenue Industrial Area was owned by two in-house manufacturing companies that used TCE for cleaning. The first company, Pacific Screw Products, manufactured screw products until their bankruptcy in 1971. From 1971 to 2013, Seam Master Industries produced carpets with the use of hot-metal adhesive tape during assembly. As a result from improper disposal, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and Hazardous Waste Control Program found extremely high levels of TCE on the site. Additionally, soil and groundwater contamination was increased with both companies’ use of an underground storage tank in which industrial fluids were gathered. With the EPA’s initial investigation, “TCE was detected in onsite soils at levels up to 17 ppb and in groundwater beneath the site at levels up to 17,000 ppb” (EPA, 2015). Southern Avenue Industrial Area’s contamination has the opportunity to contaminate the same drinking water wells as Jervis B. Webb Co. Although the EPA’s Contaminants and Risks description states that the contamination is relatively shallow (60 feet), there is a need to continue on-site investigation for potential vaporization of TCE into residential areas (EPA, 2015).

Finally, this site was placed on the NPL in May 2012.

32 Southern Avenue Industrial Area’s Site Status (refer to Fig.1a-1c): Human Exposure Status is undetermined due to Insufficient Data; Contaminated Ground Water Status is undetermined due to Insufficient Data; and Protectiveness Status is Undetermined.

II. Community Assessment

This section will dissect various disparities found in the comparison of an affluent community to an urban, minority community with waste sites. What are the causes or factors that indicates a minority community like South Gate is to accommodate waste sites rather than an affluent community like Brentwood?

What makes an affluent community less attractive to waste management companies? The Community Assessment section will begin by clearly defining Brentwood as affluent and South Gate as minority. Next, an analysis of population density will be provided.

Thus ending with an analysis of how race and income may attract or deter waste management companies.

Brentwood, Los Angeles

Home to 35,482 people, Brentwood is commonly defined as an affluent neighborhood. Characteristics contributing to this definition involve examining the median household income, race, the education of citizens, unemployment rates, and the location while comparing it to other neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles. Brentwood’s median household income is $116,732 whereas the average income for Los Angeles is $84,456. As for education, 97.9% of Brentwood residents graduated high school, in addition to 40.8% of the population having a Bachelor’s degree and 37.0% having a graduate or professional degree.

Contrastingly, 74.9% of those living in Los Angeles are high school graduates, 20.8% have a Bachelor’s degree, and only 10.6% have a graduate or professional degree. The unemployment rate in Brentwood is 4.5% whereas the unemployment rate for Los Angeles is 7.6%. Lastly, Brentwood is located in the Westside region of Los Angeles, whose neighboring communities are Santa Monica, Bel-Air, Encino, Pacific Palisades, and Westwood. When comparing the neighborhood of Brentwood to the city of Los Angeles, it is clear that Brentwood is an affluent community.

South Gate, California

The city of South Gate has a total population of 94,396 people who are often perceived as a minority community. The same characteristics used to define an area as affluent can very well be used

ELENA RUIZ RAMIREZ to define an area as minority. However, South Gate is a city (unlike the neighborhood of Brentwood) which means it will be compared to the county of Los Angeles, making the comparison city versus cities. South Gate has a median household income of $43,526 whereas the average income for Los Angeles County is $55,870. Approximately half (52.0%) of South Gate’s 18 and over population has graduated high school. Only 5.4% of South Gate’s residents have a bachelor’s degree and 1.5% have a graduate or professional degree. As for Los Angeles County, 76.8% are high school graduates and 29.9% of the population have a Bachelor’s degree or higher (10.4% of which have a graduate or professional degree). Continuing to the unemployment rate, 9.1% of South Gate’s population is unemployed and 7.1% of Los Angeles County is unemployed. Lastly, South Gate is located in the Southeast region of Los Angeles County, whose neighboring cities are Watts, Bell Gardens, Walnut Park, and Cudahy. The city of South Gate is below average in median household income and educational attainment compared to Los Angeles County. Furthermore, South Gate has a higher unemployment rate which contributes to a higher poverty status. South Gate is a city with a low-socioeconomic status and is clearly a minority community when compared to Brentwood, Los Angeles.

Population Density

Population density plays a significant role in this study because it has been found to affect the proximity of superfund sites to one another, thus affecting the quality of life a community will have. The population density for Brentwood, Los Angeles and South Gate, California will be determined by using 2010 census data of population and the square mileage of each community. Brentwood has a population of 35,482 people and is 15.22 square miles. South Gate has a population of 94,396 people and is 7.45 square miles. By comparing the two units of analysis, it is clear that South Gate has a higher population density than Brentwood. South Gate’s land area is nearly half the size of Brentwood’s land and encompasses nearly three times the amount of people. Therefore, three assumptions can now be made: waste management facilities placed in a densely populated community are more likely to be clustered together; residents in a densely populated community are more likely to live near one or more waste sites; and waste sites placed in a densely populated community create higher health risks, lowering the overall quality of life.

As previously stated, there are 21 superfund sites located in South Gate, three of which are on

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Figure 2: Superfund Map

the NPL. Because non-NPL sites do not warrant the immediate intervention, investigation, or federally funded cleanup by the EPA, these sites become the state’s responsibility. This means that non-NPL site cleanups are to be funded and regulated by the state. Therefore, the primary difference between waste sites with a NPL and waste sites with a nonNPL status is the government entity responsible for oversight. The biggest similarity, however, is both NPL and non-NPL sites still pose health risks to the community and can potentially affect more people as the population density increases. Using Cooper Dum Co., Jervis B. Webb Co., and Southern Avenue Industrial Area as examples, finding the proximity between these three highly contaminated areas will be conducted in the simplest manner—Google Maps. By inserting the address of each superfund site, Google Maps will generate a map pinpointing each location, provide details on distance, and provide a time frame for each mode of transportation.

By deconstructing the map, Cooper Drum Co. and Southern Avenue Industrial Area are located a mere 0.3 miles away from each other and is only 6

minutes walking distance. Cooper Drum Co. is only 0.6 miles away (11 minutes walking distance) from Jervis B. Webb Co. Lastly, Southern Avenue Industrial Area is located 0.5 miles away (10 minutes walking distance) from Jervis B. Webb Co. A densely populated community can affect the location and proximity of these waste sites because of limited property availability due to growing residential areas and businesses. Taking a closer look at the map, it apparent that these superfund sites are located near other metal processing and industrial companies; for example, Elg Metals near Southern Avenue Industrial Area, California Metals Recycling near Cooper Drum Co., and Shultz Steel near Jervis B. Webb Co. It seems as if industrial companies such as these are all concentrated in one area which confirms the first and second assumptions: waste management facilities placed in a densely populated community are more likely to be clustered together and residents in a densely populated community are more likely to live near one or more waste sites.

Cooper Drum Co., Jervis B. Webb Co., and Southern Avenue Industrial Area are all located with-

34 in one mile from each other, meaning they all have the potential to contaminate the same drinking water wells and aquifers. As a reminder, Cooper Drum Co. has the issue of hazardous liquid seepage, Jervis B. Webb Co. has TCE levels of 35,000 ppb, and Southern Avenue Industrial Area has TCE levels of 17,000 ppb. The fact that either one of these three NPL superfund sites can contaminate drinking water supplies is alarming, yet the idea of contamination combined by all three waste sites affecting drinking water supplies is highly disturbing. Furthermore, the hazardous chemicals found on each NPL location in South Gate have the possibility of vaporizing which means residents are two times more likely to ingest TCE. Lastly, Tweedy Elementary School was closed down due to public health concerns caused by Cooper Drum Co. All these reasons and more are why South Gate residents’ health is significantly more at risk than those living in Brentwood. There are zero superfund sites (both NPL and non-NPL) in Brentwood, Los Angeles, meaning its drinking water supply is unthreatened

by TCE contamination. In addition, Brentwood has 10 schools located within its zip code (90049), none of which were closed down due to public health concerns. Thus, this not only confirms the third assumption but confirms the general concept of environmental racism: it is nearly unimaginable how South Gate residents are able to have the same quality of life when compared to their affluent counterpart, Brentwood.

Race and Income

Previous researchers have used Geographic Information System (GIS) to prove that there is a positive relationship between the race of a community and the placement of waste sites. Without the use of any statistical program such as GIS, it is abundantly clear that South Gate is the perfect example of such relationship because there are 21 superfund sites located within the city and 94.8% of its population (89,442 out of 94,396 people) are Hispanic or Latino (of any race) (2010 Census Data). To further support this claim, approximately 15.8% of Brentwood’s community are minorities, meaning 84.2% (29,846 out of 35,482 people) are white; thus, Brentwood is a predominantly white, waste site free community (2010 Census Data).

It is widely known amongst environmental researchers that waste site companies strategically take into consideration the ethnic makeup of a community.

Ethnic-minority communities are viewed as attractive to waste site companies because minorities are often seen as the “path of least resistance” (Saha and Mohi, 2007). The term resistance typically refers to

ELENA RUIZ RAMIREZ political mobilization or creating some expression of opposition against waste site companies. On October 19, 2011, there was a public meeting held in the city of South Gate concerning their three NPL superfund sites. However, this form of mobilization was held in order for the EPA to answer any questions the community may have along with instructing residents on how to submit comments to EPA Headquarters (EPA, 2015). This meeting was created by the EPA in order to fulfill a portion of the cleanup process and not out of opposition by South Gate community members. Most notably, not another public meeting was held since.

As for Brentwood, residents have formed an environmental community organization. Interestingly enough, there is no information provided on the Brentwood community website other than contact information. This alludes to the idea that this community organization was formed for recreational purposes by citizens with enough leisure to do so. Nonetheless, this affluent community has the ability to mobilize compared to its minority counterpart South Gate.

In addition to race, income is another important explanation as to why waste management facilities are often located in minority communities.

Using income for this analysis, this factor is able to address the disparities in opportunities residents in each community are able to have. According to 2010 census data, the average income for Brentwood residents is $116,732. As for South Gate, the average income is $43,562, which is a total difference of $73,170. A high income will provide the luxury of affording quality health care, whereas low-income families with inadequate health care who are currently living near waste sites are disproportionately exposed to contamination (Massey, 2014).

Yet, the most significant opportunity a relatively high income is able to provide is the opportunity to live in a waste site free environment, if one so chooses. More often than not, those of a higher income status prefer to live in a community that reflects their wealth; for example, ambient environmental quality, aesthetic views, and proximity to recreational sites, most of which Brentwood is able to provide. This also happens to contribute to the concept of NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard syndrome), where citizens of affluent communities oppose hazardous waste sites in their immediate surroundings, rendering minority communities as the sole proprietors. Moreover, waste management facilities are able to diminish property value: “A meta-analysis shows that landfills that accept high volumes of waste decrease adjacent residential property values by 12.9%, on average” (Ready, 2005). It has been reported that the median property value in Brentwood (a waste site free

ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM community) is $2,280,700, whereas South Gate’s median home value is $366,600 (Zillow, 2015).

Therefore, it is assumed that communities without waste sites have either high or increasing property values compared to communities with waste sites.

Having a relatively low income provides very limited and restricted opportunities to find housing in a waste site free environment. Those of a low socio-economic status living near waste sites can potentially define environmental racism as a natural part of life. As previously described, there are disparities between the quality of life residents of Brentwood and South Gate currently have. These disparities in combination with a lack of mobilization can create a form of stagnation within a hazardous environment. What is there else to do besides adapt? Citizens of South Gate have adapted to their hazardous environment for decades, which can possibly explain their continual acceptance of waste sites.

In addition to adaptation, South Gate may continue to accept waste sites in its community due to the potential employment opportunities (Boer et al., 1997). In comparison to other cities in Los Angeles County, South Gate’s unemployment rate is high (South Gate: 9.1% vs. LA County: 7.1%). For the sake of this analysis, this thesis will provide an estimate of jobs provided by the 21 waste sites located in South Gate. QualaWash will be used as an example because it was the most recent superfund site (non-NPL) in South Gate to be listed on the EPA Superfund website, which means it will have the most updated information concerning employment. This branch was established in 2005, providing heating equipment and repair services. Based on its profile on www.manta.com (a small business marketing website), the QualaWash company typically employs 20 to 49 people. By multiplying the estimated amount of employees by 21, there were approximately 420 to 1,029 jobs created by superfund sites in South Gate. Acknowledging that this is a very rough estimate, it still provides insight as to how superfund sites are able to pacify any potential resistance from minority communities against waste site companies based on employment opportunities.

Conclusion Based on this case study analysis, the placement of waste sites are heavily influenced by the political and financial vulnerability of South Gate residents (a minority community). This thesis suggests that those living in South Gate are in a state of political vulnerability because a lack of opposition is, and will continue to be, taken advantage of by waste man-

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agement companies despite the potential health risks waste site activities produce. As was demonstrated, South Gate community members have not engaged in any form of resistance via community meetings or forums. In addition, waste management companies often associate political vulnerability with race.

South Gate houses 21 superfund sites and 94.8% of its residents are Hispanic or Latino. Without delving into community involvement, this correlation alone shows that there is a positive relationship between race and the placement of waste sites, especially when compared to Brentwood who has an inactive environmental community organization, has an 84.2% white population, and does not house any superfund sites.

South Gate city officials have made transparency a priority. Information about the three NPL sites and the CERCLA process has been made available on South Gate’s city website. Although transparency creates awareness and possibly creates deterrence, those who are financially vulnerable are essentially stuck in their environment. This thesis indicated the many opportunities that are related with a higher income. Individuals with a relatively high income (i.e. Brentwood residents) have the advantage in living in a waste site free environment. Whereas, those with a relatively low income (i.e. South Gate residents) are limited and restricted in choosing their place of residence, specifically living in an area without superfund sites.

The grandest disparity that was found between South Gate and Brentwood was the difference in quality of life. This finding not only takes into account the disparities of race and income, but population density as well. Population density affected the proximity of superfund sites in South Gate, especially the three most contaminated sites there: Cooper Drum Co., Jervis B. Webb Co., and Southern Avenue Industrial Area. Because of this, South Gate’s aquifers are three times more likely to be contaminated with massive amounts of TCE. In contrast, Brentwood’s water supply will not be affected by the potential contamination from a superfund site. Lastly, the TCE contamination found on South Gate’s superfund sites has the ability to vaporize.

Unfortunately, this means there is a possibility that South Gate residents will encounter both water and air TCE pollution. Thus, the quality of life is diminishing with each waste site placed in a community.

To conclude, this thesis recognizes the most obvious restriction when conducting a case study analysis is external validity. By analyzing and comparing Brentwood to South Gate, the general argument for this thesis was able to hold true. However, these findings cannot be generalized across the nation or even generalized in the city of Los Angeles. There-

36 fore, with future research, I would like to take my methodology or my framework of analysis and apply it to other minority communities with waste sites located in Los Angeles. If given more time, there would be shift in focus towards the public policies that affect the placement of waste sites. 21 superfund sites drastically affects the quality of life and land that minority communities are living in. There needs to be a greater in depth discussion about environmental racism in the Political Science field because this form of injustice is life threatening.

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Love Canal. Retrieved from http://chej.org/ wp-content/uploads/Documents/love_canal_ factpack.pdf Environmental Protection Agency. (2015). Basic NPL Information. Retrieved from http://www. epa.gov/superfund/basic-npl-information Environmental Protection Agency. (2015). Superfund: CERCLA Overview. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-cercla-overview

ELENA RUIZ RAMIREZ Environmental Protection Agency. (2015). Superfund Site Overview, Pacific Southwest, Southern Avenue Industrial Area. Retrieved from http:// yosemite.epa.gov/r9/sfund/r9sfdocw.nsf/3dec8ba3252368428825742600743733/d9acef4a71cbca01882579130078b555%21opendocument Environmental Protection Agency. (2016). EPA Superfund Program: Love Canal, Niagra Falls, NY. Retrieved from http://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0201290 Environmental Protection Agency. (2016). Superfund Site Profile. Retrieved from http://cumulis.epa. gov/supercpad/cursites/srchrslt.cfm?start=1&CFID=21534284&CFTOKEN=45246954 Geisinger, A. (2012). The Benefits of Development and Environmental Injustice. Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, 37(2), 205-244.

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Race, Wealth, and Solid Waste Facilities in North Carolina. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), 1344-1350.

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Pellow, D. N. (2001). Environmental Justice and the Political Process: Movements, Corporations, and the State. The Sociological Quarterly, 42(1), 47–67.

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According to the Environmental Protection Agency, groundwater and soil samples indicate high levels of trichloroethylene (TCE), a metal-cleaning solvent, at Southern Avenue Industrial Area and the Jervis B. Webb Co., both located in South Gate. Photo by Fantail Media via Flickr Creative Commons.

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ELENA RUIZ RAMIREZ

Elena Ruiz Ramirez

Elena Ruiz Ramirez is a fourth year political science major. She transferred from Citrus Community College in 2014 and is expected to graduate from Cal Poly Pomona in June 2016. She plans to go to graduate school to begin a career in academia.

Solar Power: Friend or Foe? What Californians Think About Solar Energies

Steven Tinsley California State Polytechnic University, Pomona This thesis examines the various health incentives clean air provides and the many rebates available for solar panels. Health incentives and monetary rebates are two important facets of solar panels that can be used as huge selling points. These two facets are thought to be the guiding force behind encouraging Californians to purchase more solar panels. This thesis uses interviews with citizens to show that people are not familiar with the negative health effects associated with the use of coal burning power plants and the multitude of rebates available to them. The interview process consisted of two groups: a control and experimental group. The individuals’ interviewed were a mixture of solar power users and traditional fuel users. Based on the assumption that some people are not very informed, we created an experimental group that provided more information to these individuals. The interview was set up to explore this assumption and discover any truth behind this claim. Ultimately my research aimed to discover if Californians are self-interested and have no motivation to help the environment through the use of solar panels.

“Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but... humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is?

A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.”

–Agent Smith, The Matrix (1999)

C

limate change is a threat that affects the American way of life; it gives us longer, hotter summers and displaces people across the country. Many scientists believe that it is too late to stop climate change and that we must learn how to survive in the new atmospheric conditions. Making the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energies is one way to survive the changing climate and keep particulate matter out of the air. My research is important because it will help American politicians create a renewable energy policy and it will provide insight on techniques that can be used to protect the environment. This paper will utilize terms like tax

incentives and public actors, however even though it is rooted in political science there will be terms used that are specific to the field of environmental science.

Terms like ‘photovoltaic panels’ which are glass cells that convert light into electricity, ‘respiratory health’ which is health directly associated with your lungs, ‘particulate matter’ which adds to the problem of air pollution, and ‘renewable energy’ which is energy that is derived from a non-fossil fuel based source.

This paper will explore how monetary rebates and health incentives are necessary for people to help the environment through purchasing solar panels.

Additional research will show that due to the inher-

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40 ent self-interest of the general population, incentives and rebates are necessary to spread the usage of renewable energies. This is the expectation because people will not uproot their lifestyles if there is no type of benefit to be earned. Unfortunately, the hoi polloi does not think about multiple generations in the future, they only think of themselves. This being said, Californians must see a benefit in their lifetimes so they can make a change.

Aside from the self-interest of the general population, there is a clear cause and effect relationship at play here. I believe health incentives and government funded monetary rebates associated with solar panels will push more Californians to purchase solar panels.

This ultimately has the effect of allowing homeowners to rely less on coal burning power plants. This in turn keeps smog out of the air and benefits citizens’ respiratory health. It also allows pushes citizens to utilize government rebates such as the “California Solar Initiative Rebate,” which decreases the cost of owning and maintaining solar panels.

The subfield of the research is American Politics with a focus on environmental politics, because it will only concentrate on rebates and solar purchases made here in the U.S. All research will be related to how Californians are affected by the various regulatory institutions that control these rebate and incentive programs. Government institutions have a significant amount of oversight over the environment. For example, “[s]ince more than one million acres of the Mojave have already been excluded from…development by a law sponsored by U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein…newly proposed [power] plants have already

STEVEN TINSLEY been dropped” (Stein, 2012). In this single piece of federal legislation, we see the wide-ranging influence of politics in regards to issues of energy and the environment.

The question of this thesis paper examines is “do the health incentives and monetary rebates associated with renewable energy in 21st century America make Californians buy more solar panels”. The expectation is that both rebates and health incentives are necessary for Californians to purchase solar panels. The research has led to this conclusion because without monetary incentives, Californians refrain from the purchase of high priced items. Also if there is no direct effect to their personal health, they will not take steps to better the environment and air pollution.

Californians should buy more solar panels because they are good for the environment, however there are other reasons that will affect their motivation. Due to the inherent self-interest of the general population, incentives and rebates are necessary to spread the usage of renewable energies. As such, going back to the main cause and effect of the argument, monetary rebates and health incentives should be the guiding force behind the spread of photovoltaic panels here in California. Without them, we would continue to utilize coal burning power plants exclusively.

The next portion of the thesis delves into past research on the various health incentives clean air provides and the plethora of government rebates available for solar energy. Respiratory health is important to the longevity of life and rebates are necessary for Californians to purchase big-ticket items.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Prima facie, I am grateful to God for the good health and wellbeing that were necessary to complete this thesis paper.

I wish to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Jill Hargis, Principal of the Faculty, for providing me with all the necessary facilities for the research.

I place on record, my sincere thank you to Dr. Sharon Hilles, Dean of the Faculty, for the continuous encouragement.

I am also grateful to Dr. Mario Guerrero, assistant professor, in the Department of Political Science. I am extremely thankful and indebted to him for sharing expertise, sincerity and valuable guidance and encouragement extended to me.

I take this opportunity to express gratitude to all of the Department faculty members for their help and support. I also thank my mother, Marnita Tinsley for the unceasing encouragement, support and attention. I am also grateful to my aunt, Christina Wallace who supported me through this venture. Lastly I am grateful to my beautiful girlfriend Jewelayna Fisk who has stayed up till the early morning with me editing my paper.

I also place on record, my sense of gratitude to one and all, who directly or indirectly, have lent their hand in this venture.

Undergraduate Journal of Political Science, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 2016, Pp. 39–56 © 2016, Political Science Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

SOLAR POWER Shortly thereafter, the literature review focuses on how health incentives and rebates motivate Californians to purchase more solar panels. Good health and affordable prices are key factors in the purchasing of solar panels here in California. However, once Californians understand that solar panels provide positive health effects, and have great rebates, they will purchase more of them, which in turn will provide positive effects for the environment.

Literature Review Incentives and rebate programs are necessary for the purchase of renewable energy. The compositions on incentives and rebate programs here in California are limited. However, the literature reveals trends that exist in relation to motivating factors with solar panel purchases. This research explores the incentives and rebates that make it economically viable for Californians to afford and want solar panels. My research is important because it will help American politicians create a renewable energy policy and it will provide insight on techniques that can be used to protect the environment.

The literature review investigates two areas of scholarship. The first portion delves into research on the various health incentives clean air provides, and the plethora of government rebates available for solar energy. Respiratory health is important to the longevity of life and rebates are necessary for Californians to purchase big-ticket items. The second portion focuses on how health incentives and rebates motivate Californians to purchase more solar panels.

Good health and affordable prices are key factors in the purchasing of solar panels here in California.

However, once Californians understand that solar panels provide positive health effects, and have great rebates, they will purchase more of them, which in turn will provide positive effects for the environment.

Health Incentives

Photovoltaic panels yield many positive health effects, but my paper will only cover the respiratory benefits of the panels. Although the literature is extensive in terms of which respiratory benefits solar panels may provide, this section briefly covers a few key benefits. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) found that the burning of coal power plants is linked to breathing problems, which lead to missed workdays and increases the overall costs of healthcare. Energy generation via solar panels does not cause air pollution, so the negative respiratory

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effects are non-existent with this type of energy generation. The UCS also found that energy generation that utilizes fossil fuels contaminates drinking water and has a plethora of other negative effects on the environment, while the generation of energy using solar panels has no negative effects on the environment (Rogers, 2015).

Similar to the UCS, Taylor gives data gathered on how weak policy in California keeps greenhouse gas levels higher than they should be. Taylor (2008) states, “The unprecedented scale of the technological transformation required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to “safe” levels…necessitates an emphasis on designing climate policy to foster…environmental innovation.” Taylor highlights the benefits of photovoltaic cells because it gives data on dangers of greenhouse gases and how environmental innovation in the form of solar panels will shield Californians from the innate dangers associated with them.

Similar to Taylor and the UCS, Grover has data collected on the health incentives of solar panels.

Grover utilized information collected by the Clean Air Task Force and the Clear Skies Act, to show the extreme amounts of particulate matter are pumped into the atmosphere from coal burning power plants.

Grover (2007) goes on to say that, “As shown…the emissions reductions…will have a positive impact on a range of respiratory…health issues.” A figure Grover includes shows a drastic decline in particulate matter when using solar panels, which in turn as the quote states, dramatically improves respiratory health. Grover’s (2007) figure states, “The SAI is projected to reduce annual CO2 emissions by 69 to 100 million tons in 2030. Annual NOX emissions would be reduced by 68,000 to 99,000 tons, and SO2 emissions would be reduced by 126,000 to 184,000 tons.”

Similar to Grover, Cooney has data gathered on the positive affects of solar panels on respiratory health. And the decrease of harmful air pollutants is another benefit of PV panels. Cooney (2003) goes on to say, “The report shows…over the past 30 years, total emissions of 6 principle air pollutants have decreased by nearly 25%...” This article supports my research because it demonstrates how harmful air pollutants decreased after the installation of solar.

The increase of solar panels in an area drastically decreases the harmful respiratory effects on residents. Ultimately, the literature on these respiratory benefits demonstrates that these panels actively decreases contaminates and greenhouse gases, suggesting that there are some real respiratory benefits for governments to spur citizens to adopt these technologies.

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Tax Incentives

Besides the inherent health benefits of PV panels, its also important to talk about the financial support associated with them. Purchasing solar panels is expensive to the average homeowner. The cost of the system depends on various aspects the average cost per panel here in California is around $3 to $9 dollars per watt. The watt refers to the individual solar cell which makes up the entire solar panel, for example a 5 kW system would cost around $25,000-$35,000.

This steep cost is one of the main reasons homeowners need monetary rebates to help them purchase the panels, this section will go over the various financing and rebate options available to homeowners who plan on purchasing solar panels. The authors Batchelder, et al. (2006) examines if tax incentives are better for the rich or the poor. Batchelder highlights the benefits of socially beneficial projects and rebates. The authors use data gathered on the $500 billion worth of incentives available to Californians to find that tax incentives for the rich for solar panel installation are less efficient than those for the poor (Batchelder, et al., 2006) While Batchelder et al. found correlations between incentives for the poor versus the rich, Black discovers data gathered on rate structures and subsidies offered by the California Government. Black (2004) states, “The two most important state government incentives are the $3.60/Watt rebate based on the AC output wattage as rated by the California Energy Commission and the 7.5% California state income tax credit based on the net after rebate cost of the system.” The California Government has various programs that benefit solar power usage, however unless you do research on the various programs most people are unaware. Black’s quote shows that these rate structures help to make the solar owner money which puts money into the owners pocket right away in the form of a lowered or nonexistent electricity bill. Even though Black discovered data on rate structures, there has been research done on a wide range of renewable energy rebates and incentives.

An article by Carleyolsen shows information on a wide range of RE policy, which in turn affects rebate programs. Carleyolsen (2006) states, “There is currently a complexity of public actors involved in RE development, all of whom operate according to their own agendas and with a different set of sporadic and often voluntary policies.” His quantitative analysis demonstrates how the U.S. government has not updated its renewable energy policies since the 1980’s. This shines light on the large disconnect that has been created between policy and rebates,

STEVEN TINSLEY and how that affects the rebate programs offered to Californians, especially when it comes to renewable energy.

While Carleyolsen gathered data on the disconnect between rebate programs and the effect on renewable energy, Doughman gathered data on the California Solar Initiative rebate program. Doughman (2007) states, “A future where the governor’s GHG-emission goals for 2050 are achieved could have the following characteristic… 78… new homes and businesses would have PV panels and/or building-integrated PV, including the evolving thin film technology.” This work increases our understanding of multiple building practices that include the addition of solar panels and it gives information on rebates offered to homeowners and businesses. Due to the increased variety of solar panels, RE is becoming more relevant.

Doughman has data gathered on a specific rebate program and various building practices, while Cooney has data gathered on cooperatives or when communities get together to bring about change.

Cooney (2003) states, “In late August, local government, advocacy groups, and industry assembled to educate consumers and offer discounted equipment in support of the first-of-its-kind cooperative” the cooperative was located in Sebastopol, California and the individuals involved in this venture were offered large rebates and percentages off solar panel equipment, courtesy of the California Legislature. It shows that when the government provides assistance to individuals it creates a chain reaction that spreads to various parts of cities, as a result of this Californians receive detailed information on incentives for the purchase of solar panels and due to this, more Californians purchase more solar panels.

While Cooney wrote about a state subsidized a solar panel venture here in the California, Landers (2002) has data gathered on rebates offered to businesses and utilities. Rebates are the guiding force behind people purchasing solar panels and this article adds support to this statement, by giving information on the Emerging Renewables Buydown Program.

Landers (2002) states, “…half of the project’s cost was covered by the state of California’s Emerging Renewables Buydown Program, which was established to promote the development of renewable energy sources.” This is a perfect example of the positive effects rebates have on getting Californians to buy more solar panels.

Like the Emerging Renewables Buydown Program (ERBP), Yaqub (2012) gives data on various price and financing plans that make owning solar a more affordable option for Californians. Yaqub

SOLAR POWER (2012) states, “The Solar Photovoltaic…cost gap with traditional power can be narrowed by proposing a financing method involving a combination of a longer-term purchase power…and lower interest rates.” This is an example of an affordable way to purchase solar. It compares homeowners purchasing them without governmental assistance to those who do receive governmental assistance.

Similar to Yaqub, the article by Hsu (2010) has data gathered on programs created by the Californian Legislature that help homeowners purchase solar panels. However, this particular program that is titled “California Solar Initiative Thermal Program” (CSITP) is for water heating. This study also shows how this program’s $350 million budget will displace older water heater models that utilize fossil fuels. Closely related to Hsu’s data gathered on the CSITP, Lifsher’s (2007) shows how the California Legislature worked to revamp and fix flawed legislation, so more homeowners could reap the benefits of monetary rebates and health incentives. Tax incentives are important because without them most Californians would not be able to afford solar panels and due to this, there would be a lot of toxins present in the air.

Even though there are a plethora of rebate programs offered to homeowners as mentioned above, there is still little incentive for the homeowners to purchase the solar panel system. This is because Californians are used to getting the majority if not all of their energy from coal burning power plants for cheap. The only way to increase the purchase of solar panels here in Californian is to make the population understand the monetary rebates associated with solar panel purchase. The next section goes over how the California Legislature pushes homeowners and businesses toward solar panel purchase or away from it.

Increased Purchase Positive health benefits and increased tax incentives, will result in the increased purchase of solar panels here in California. The only way for all Californians to learn about the positive benefits of solar panels is through social media and TV, however, these industries are all about profit and if airing info about these facets will not make them money they will not expose the populace to them. So, this is where politicians step in and either create a department that handles the social media aspect of informing citizens about the positive affect of the panels or they pay established social media and TV industries to air commercials and ads about them.

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The California Legislature is necessary in the purchase of the panels because they create legislation that funds their creation or the pass legislation that stops it. In contrast to Cooney and Landers who have data gathered on rebates offered to homeowners and how these rebates cut the cost of the PV panels’ price, Frishberg (2014) discusses how the lack of rebates causes less people to purchase the panels. This article gathered data on how the lack of subsidies keeps Californians from purchasing solar panels. It details how government incentive programs for solar panels are slowly disappearing, and that without these subsidies, renewable energy cannot stand on its own two feet.

Complementary to Frishberg, Stein discusses how legislation impedes the progress of solar power and solar companies. The impediment of rebates, and incentives for solar panels keeps Californians from purchasing them, which in turn keeps pollutants in the air and harms citizens’ repository health. Here in California, the legislature passed a plan to have thirty percent of our energy come from renewable sources, which will help with the respiratory health of the state. However, it is difficult to hit this standard when senators push to pass legislation that stops the building of solar plants in areas where they will be of the most benefit. Stein (2012) states, “Since more than one million acres of the Mojave have already been excluded from…development by a law sponsored

by U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein…newly proposed plants have already been dropped.” This is an example of how politicians directly influence solar panel purchases here in California, it gives information on how the adoption of renewable energy policies that are inconsistent with one another negatively affects solar panel purchases here in California.

Ultimately, the California Legislature will play the largest role in the increased purchase of solar panels here in California. As was stated above, the legislation that they create either adds to the purchase and use of solar panels or it takes away. They are the ones who create most if not all the rebate programs that are available to Californians for the purchase and maintenance of the panels. So they are singularly responsible for the monetary incentives associated with the panels. A culmination of understanding that there are a lot of positive health and environmental effects associated with solar panels and California Legislature creating more rebate programs will lead to better respiratory health for Californians, which will lead to a healthier environment all due to the increased purchase of solar panels.

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Methodology The research design will show that people are not familiar with the negative respiratory effects of coal burning power plants and that Californians will not purchase panels without governmental assistance. It will also show that if it does not have any type of positive benefit for themselves or their family, they will not have the motivation to purchase them. The research design is interviews, but with an experimental element incorporated into it. The research will utilize a convenience sample of family and friends because it allowed for easy scheduling of interviews, contact of these individuals, and increased comfort of being recorded.

The interviews were broken up into an experimental group and a treatment group. Each group consists of five people. The treatment group will be exposed to short video that has photos and video clips of China which is the most polluted country in the world today. It depicted children playing on smog infested

STEVEN TINSLEY beaches, and men and women walking their kids to school through chokingly thick fossil fuel vapors, we also threw in a picture showing a smog caked China from space. The video was created because we hoped to explore the compassion of Californians. In addition to seeing how this introduced information would change people’s opinions on these issues. My hope for the compassion generated by the video to transfer to the answers given by the interviewers. The intention behind showing these images is to explore the intricacies of the human psyche and see if some Pavlovian methods will produce varied answers from those of the control group. After they are shown these images within the video, the interview would be then administered. The first group, the control, would only be administered the interview. The main reason we are using an experimental group is to figure out if people are willing to purchase solar panels full price after seeing firsthand the awful effects fossil fuels have on the environment and their individual health.

For the interview, a prewritten script was used to conduct the interviews. The first two questions in

Appendix 1a: Questions for the Control Group 1: If electricity from coal burning power plants were free, would you use the electricity created from coal plants instead of solar-generated electricity?

YES or NO / Why? 2: Would you pay full price for solar panels knowing there are government subsidies and tax breaks available to you?

YES or NO / Why? 3: For the following two questions, rate how much you agree with the written statement.

I care about the negative health effects caused by fossil fuels, A: Strongly disagree B: Disagree C: Neither agree or disagree D: Agree E: Strongly agree Why? 4: I care about the negative environmental effects of

fossil fuels A: Strongly disagree B: Disagree C: Neither agree or disagree D: Agree E: Strongly agree Why? 5: Are you aware of any solar rebate programs?

YES or NO If yes what is it called?

Follow up Questions 6: What Political Party do you identify with?

7: What is your education level?

8: What gender are you?

9: What is your race/ethnicity?

10: What is your occupation?

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Appendix 1b: Control Group Interviews Interview 1: Jane 1: No Why: B/c using the natural resource from the sun is better, and its free, the source is free not the ability to utilize it she understands you have to pay for the equipment to utilize/ harness the power of the sun.

2: No Why: If you have nay problems with the panels that means you own and maintain it, by subsidizing it the government/ company is responsible for them. If there are leaks or not working proper the company/government is responsible for maintaining them that is why she would not want to own them right out.

3: 5 Why: I don’t want to agree with anything that causes health affects for anybody. The average person with no health affects will be affected by it over time and she doesn’t want to agree with anything that harms anyone. There are people who have health problems and fossil fuels make these problems worse so she does not want that.

4: 5 Why: Same reason as above answer.

5: No Currently no, got solar and stopped “looking” “this shows that solar rebate info is not readily available and have to be sought after” 6: Independent 7: BS Degree from University of Phoenix Online 8: Female 9: I don’t answer that question 10: Retired Interview 2: John 1: No Why: If I had a choice I would rather use solar, I don’t buy into global warming. But what I do know is that the solar is a much cleaner source of energy. When I WAS A KID in Santa Ana during the day smog was so bad it burned your eyes, on Fridays the fire department would sound a smog alarm. Due to the programs and restrictions created in CA the air has been cleaned up a lot. There is a connection between fossil fuels and pollution but I don’t think Humans have enough of an effect on the universe as a whole to say that we are ruining the planet.

2: No Why: Because the government has a way of misappropriating funds I have been paying into social security since I was 14 years old. 50 years I have been paying into this program and they are saying its appropriations, every cent the government has belongs to the people, therefor every cent that I can get out of them I

3: 4

4: 4

am going to get it. Addicted to spending other people’s money.

Why: I do believe that we have an effect on the environment but its not to the extent that the government says the have an agenda I don’t have an agenda. I want clean air but it comes at a cost, part of the cost is that we might not have clean air because of certain necessities.

Why: It’s the same as before, some things are just cost of doing business. There are things you can do, the clean air act and improved exhaust systems and catalectic converters, this helps improve the environment without wrecking the economy. I think you can improve the environment without wrecking the economy.

5: Yes Follow up: I don’t know of any titles or program names.

6: Republican 7: High School Diploma 8: Male 9: African American 10: Retired Interview 3: Richard 1: No Why: The damage its doing to the environment creates a lot of external costs, its free for me now but not in the future when I have to pay to repair the eco system around it once it destroys it. I rather pay up front and help the environment out even if it costs a little extra.

2: No Why: Because I am frugal 3: 5 Why: They have a direct impact on my life and will have a direct impact on my children’s life.

4: 5 Why: I want to know what is occurring so we learn how to prevent and mitigate it in the future.

5: Yes Me: Do you know any names? Him: not off the top of my head. I know of companies like solar city but I don’t know if they offer rebate programs.

6:N/A 7: College Senior Cal Poly Pomona 8: Male 9: Black 10: Student, and Clerical Work Interview 4: George 1: No Why: Even if it’s monetary value is free, it would cost us in the long run if we continue to use coal burning plants for an energy source. As much as I would love to

46 the script were simple yes or no questions, the middle questions had a numbered Likert scale of 1-5: one corresponds to strongly agree and five corresponds to completely disagree. Lastly, there will be one short answer question, with a yes or no option, asking respondents to elaborate if they responded yes.

Throughout all these questions, I took an informal style, where I also allowed respondents to expand on their answers however they saw fit. And for the experimental group these interview questions contained a caveat that made sure to ask respondents to elaborate on their feelings about the video, the solar rebate broadcasting system and their answers to some of the close-ended questions.

The first question is “if electricity from coal burning power plants was free would you use them instead of solar?” This question strengthens my research because an interviewee that responds in the

STEVEN TINSLEY affirmative will show that Californians are money conscious and look for the best deal. This shows that if rebates are offered for the panels and they are able to get a good deal they will jump at the chance of owning solar. The next question will examine if Californians understand the benefits of subsidies, the question is “would you pay full price for solar panels knowing there are subsidies and tax breaks available to you?” An interviewee that does not respond in the affirmative will show that Californians do understand the benefits of subsidies and will utilize them if possible.

The remaining questions are meant to demonstrate that Californians do not care about the negative health and environmental effects caused by the hyper use of fossil fuels. For the question of “how much do you care about the negative health effects caused by fossil fuels?” I expect my respondents to not care

Appendix 1b: Control Group Interviews, Continued not have to pay for electricity, paying for solar-generated electricity, or any renewable energy source, would benefit not only me, but the rest of the world.

2: No Why: If I was eligible and approved, I’d avoid paying full price for them. There aren’t many that would want to pay full price for anything. If I had the chance for a reduction in price, there would be solar panels all over the roof of my home.

3: 4 Why: The burning of fossil fuels causes multitudes of respiratory problems that plaque many people in the world. I wouldn’t want to have to live with chronic bronchitis or any of my children to have to live with other problems because of particulates released from burning fossil fuels.

4: 5 Why: It affects us all. The life we live could get much worse if it’s left unchecked.

5: Yes: SCE Solar Incentives 6: Nonpartisan 7: Some College 8: Male 9: American/Hispanic 10: Journeyman Inside Wireman IBEW LU 477 Interview 5: Bob 1: No Because it provides cleaner energy, coal is bad for the environment, solar is being developed for full coverage for ones home through solar batteries.

2: No

3: 5 4: 5

Why: I do not have a lot of money and I want to save where ever I can.

Why? Because it causes cancer and lung issues.

Because negative effects on the environment will effect us negatively so its important to stray away from it.

5: Yes I leased Solar panels using a rebate program and know there are multiple out there but do not know of any names.

6: Independent 7: BA Cal State San Bernardino 8: Male 9: Caucasian 10: Store Manager

SOLAR POWER about the health effects caused by the use of fossil fuels. For the question of “how much do you care about the negative environmental effects of fossil fuels”, I would similarly expect that respondents do not care about the environmental effects. While some Californians might care about the effects on their health and environment, there needs to be some type of monetary subsidy to help with the purchase of solar panels and they must be reminded of the negative effects fossil fuels have on their respiratory health.

The final question examines if the legislature is doing a good enough job in exposing Californians to the plethora of rebates available to them. The question asks “Are you aware of any solar rebate programs? If yes, what is it called?” I fully expected my respondents not to be aware of solar rebate programs, but this highlights the need of the legislature to find a more efficient way of letting Californians know about the various tax incentives available to them for solar panels.

In the next section, I analyze the results of these interviews in great detail. First, I explore how the control group, with no video or stimulus, responded to these questions in my interview. Second, I move to see how the video stimulus potentially changed the answers to some of these questions. Third, we compare and contrast our two groups, we elaborate on how the various answers evolved from the control group to the experimental group. We do this by using quotes and implying inferences based on the data collected. These responses are evidence for my argument that incentives and rebates are necessary for the increased purchase of solar panels here in California.

Our control group results will show that without rebates none of the respondents would fathom purchasing solar panels.

Results Control Group Results All names listed are aliases we have chosen not to use the subject’s real names to protect their privacy. Even though our initial hypothesis stated that Californian Residents would be unfamiliar with the negative health effects of coal burning power plants, my results showed otherwise. After the completion of the first set of interviews on our control group we realized that all of the subjects would need some type of monetary rebate in order for them to purchase solar panels.

The first topic we aimed to answer was the one associated with Californian’s and their unfamiliarity

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with the negative health effects associated with coal burning power plants. All of our subjects understood what a coal burning power plant was, and they were able to come up with a plethora of negative health effects caused by them. This went against our initial hypothesis and we were able to identify the null hypothesis. There is no relationship between Californians not knowing the negative health effects caused by fossil fuels therefor keeping them from purchasing solar panels.

All of my interviewees agreed with the statement “I care about the negative health effects caused by fossil fuels.” One person who really cared was Bob who said “[I] strongly agree, because it causes cancer and lung issues.” This statement shows that he believes there is a correlation between fossil fuels and harm to the government. Bob is a home owner that utilizes solar, he does this for the tax breaks and for the betterment of the environment. George; on the other hand, does not strongly agree. He states, “[I only] agree because the burning of fossil fuels causes multitudes of respiratory problems that plague many people in the world.” He works in the field of solar energy and deals with these rebate programs on a regular basis.

Another individual who cared for the health of individuals was Jane. She stated, “[I] strongly agree, because I don’t want to agree with anything that causes health affects for anybody. The average person with no health effects will be affected by it over time” The compassion for others’ lives is a common theme across our interviewees. However, these same individuals who have compassion for the lives of others would not purchase solar panels without utilization of a monetary rebate. In a perfect world getting rid of fossil fuels and using one hundred percent green energy would be great. But this is reality, and reality is tough and gritty, and things need to be done in an efficient manner. This efficiency would be lost if we switched industries like trucking and shipping to green energy sources and our next interviewee understands this. At first John was indifferent about his answer but after explaining the score to him he states, “[I] neither agree nor disagree [after explanation] no [I] agree, [because] some things are just the cost of doing business.

There are things you can do, the clean air act [for example] and improved exhaust systems, and catalectic converters, this helps improve the environment without wrecking the economy. I think you can improve the environment without wrecking the economy.”

48 This quote shows that there are a plethora of ways to combat the negative health effects caused by smog and other air pollutants, and it also shows that Californians understand the need for these green energies to work within our non-green society.

Our second statement, “I care about the negative environmental effects of fossil,” was unanimously agreed upon by the interviewees similar to the first statement. Bob stated, “[I] strongly agree, because negative effects on the environment will affect us negatively so it’s important to stray away from it.”

This shows that he is passionate about protecting the environment and that he does not want these negative

STEVEN TINSLEY consequences to affect not only himself but others as well. Similar to Bob, George stated, “I strongly agree, because it affects us all. The life we live could get much worse if it’s left unchecked.” His statement furthers our argument that fossil fuels are harmful to the environment, and that if we don’t find alternative energy sources we will live in an environment that is detrimental to our health.

The common theme amongst the results is awareness. These outcomes show that each individual has a full understanding of the harsh effects fossil fuels have on the environment and individual health.

They are all aware that fossil fuels effect the lives of

Appendix 2a: Questions for the Experimental Group Experimental Group Interviews Consisted of a Survey (Same as Control Group interview questions) and a two question Interview.

A: Strongly disagree B: Disagree C: Neither agree or disagree D: Agree E: Strongly agree

1: If electricity from coal burning power plants were free, would you use the electricity created from coal plants instead of solar-generated electricity?

YES or NO / Why?

Why?

2: Would you pay full price for solar panels knowing there are government subsidies and tax breaks available to you?

YES or NO / Why?

If yes what is it called?

3: For the following two questions, rate how much you agree with the written statement.

I care about the negative health effects caused by fossil fuels, A: Strongly disagree B: Disagree C: Neither agree or disagree D: Agree E: Strongly agree Why? 4: I care about the negative environmental effects of fossil fuels

5: Are you aware of any solar rebate programs?

YES or NO

Follow up Questions 6: What Political Party do you identify with?

7: What is your education level?

8: What gender are you?

9: What is your race/ethnicity?

10: What is your occupation?

Interview Question: 11: What do you think the key Points of video were?

12: Do you think rebates are broadcasted well enough?

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Appendix 2b: Experimental Group Interviews Interview 6: Eliana

Interview 7: Rachel

and the trade off is not with it.

Yes and No / Why: As a taxpayer, I feel that I should take advantage of government offered programs. If there were no rebates available, he would purchase them full price. But if I can save money I will, “its just good since”.

3. 4/Why: Because our health is the most important thing we have.

4. 4/Why: Because we are to be good stewards of our planet.

5. Yes/Not sure 6. Democrat 7. MA 8. Male 9. Black 10. Educator 11. Corporations not changing, the people had to change their life styles.

12. Not in a position to purchase so he does not do research on them. But he believes that there is not enough broadcasting of them for people who are in a position to purchase the panels. “This is coming from the perspective of someone who cannot afford or purchase them though.”

1.

Interview 9: Jonathan

1.

Yes / Why: Because they were free. I would not have to worry about the financial means.

2. Yes/Why: Because it would give me more incentive to invest.

3. 4 - Why: My health, as well as my future children and grandchildren will be affected.

4. 4 - Why? These effects are detrimental to future generations and we need to worry about the issue of climate change.

5. No 6. Neither/ N/A 7. Senior 8. Female 9. Filipino 10. Tutor 11. To show how bad the environment has gotten, shows the rest of the world how bad things have gotten.

12. No, we advertise more for water conservation than solar issues. Do not look for them, and not advertised well enough, water is key issue.

No/Why: Because I do not know what a coal burning power plant is.

2. Yes/Why? Because I would want to make sure the company was reputable, don’t want to rent the panels and have other requirements it would have to meet.

3. 4/Why? Because if its making us ill, that’s a concern.

4. 4/Why? Because if it is hurting our environment it is a concern.

5. No 6. Democratic 7. Associates Degree 8. Female 9. Black 10. Child Care Provider 11. Protecting themselves from pollution in the air.

12. Yes/ because several people have come to the house for solar panels, there is a lot of traffic coming her way to switch to solar panels.

Interview 8: Carl 1.

No/Why: Because solar energy is more responsible

2.

1.

2.

No/Why: Dangerous to our health.

Yes/Why: Actually yes and no depends if any of these plans are legit, and their main objective. I would purchase to own it, and avoid leans against my home, and its doable only if you have the money to do so.

3. 4 and 5/Why: Health conscious and the environmental effects.

4. 4 and 5/Why: Environment 5. Yes/Not by name, but through store, magazines and phone calls. (Advertisements) 6. Democrat 7. 14 years (Junior College 2 years) 8. Male 9. Black 10. Correctional Officer 11. Environment, dangers of where we are now, utilizing fossil fuels and coal and the dangers to our health.

12. They are broadcasted well but they are not telling the whole truth and they contain hidden agendas.

Interview 10: Roscoe 1.

2.

3.

No/Why: Because is does not help the environment.

No/Why: Solar is too expensive.

5/Why: Because it effects your respiratory system.

50 a lot of people around the world. Even though each individual is aware of the effect some do not feel that there is a strong enough alternative for us to get rid of fossil fuels while other interviewees believe that green energies can supplement fossil fuels.

The second topic we aimed to answer was first to find out if Californians would purchase solar panels because they were good for the environment, not for the monetary gains secondly we measured Californian’s and their unfamiliarity with solar rebate programs.

Similar to the first set of answers there is a common theme to this topic, and this theme is frugality.

Each individual knew that there were solar rebates available to them. This being said, they all felt it was a little illogical to not utilize these rebates and save money where they could. The second set of answers also has a theme, and it is the media. They all knew that rebates existed but only one of them was able to name one. Even the individuals who purchased solar panels with rebates were unable to give the name of the rebate they used. Because of commercial and radio bombardment, they were unable to remember even one of the rebates they heard or read about.

Even though rebate programs are broadcasted constantly they are not done so in a productive manner, and this 1:5 ratio of knowing a rebate program by name shows it. This is an important facet to figure out because if these individuals knew the names of these programs they would be able to pass them on to co-workers or family members. They would not have to do a search on their phone which sometimes leads to expired or non-existent rebate programs. The government here in California needs to do a better job at exposing its populace to these rebates via social media and TV because the more aware people are the more solar panels will be sold to the population.

The question is, “Would you pay full price for solar panels knowing there are government subsidies

STEVEN TINSLEY and tax breaks available to you?” Richard states, “No, because I am frugal.” This statement goes to show how money directly effects the willingness of individuals to protect the health of the environment and the inhabitants of the environment. It also goes to show that solar panels are too expensive for most Californians to even think about purchasing them full price even if it’s good for the environment. George states, “No, if I was eligible and approved, I’d avoid paying full price for them. There aren’t many that would want to pay full price for anything. If I had the chance for a reduction in price, there would be solar panels all over the roof of my home.”

This quote speaks volumes about the mind set of many Californians who are trying to save money where they can, when they can. The frugality of Californians and the individuals in our research shows that the environment, even though important, is not number one on their minds: making ends meet is.

Shining light on the statement regarding making ends meet is John, who states, “[B]ecause the government has a way of misappropriating funds, I have been paying into social security since I was 14 years old. [So for] 50 years I have been paying into this program and they are saying its appropriations, every cent the government has belongs to the people, therefore every cent that I can get out of them I am going to get it. [The government is] addicted to spending other people’s money.”

This individual has paid into social security for over four decades and when he wants to utilize the

Appendix 2b: Control Group Interviews, Continued 4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

5/Why: It effects the ozone layer.

No Democrat 1.5 Years College Male Black Retired Air pollution, how it effected the quality of life where they live. Breathing being effected by the environment and the masks show this.

12. No, they are not because they don’t show the actual cost of owning solar.

SOLAR POWER money he has paid into the system he is met with malice and contempt from government officials and lawmakers who call social security welfare. These are real problems from real people, and these problems effect whether they can purchase solar or not.

And if they can, these issues effect whether they can do it with or without government rebates. Due to this we were able to identify that our hypothesis does have significance and that government incentives are necessary for more Californians to purchase solar panels.

Furthermore, our control did not answer the way we wanted them to in our first topic regarding the health effects. Each interviewee knew that there are a plethora of negative facets associated with coal burning power plants and fossil fuels. This was a surprise to us because we thought the more aware people are of the negative effects, especially those on their children, they would take measures to mitigate or stop them. But we created this hypothesis via a perfect world, one that does not have financial or property restraints. These two facets can keep even the most environmentally conscious person from being able to purchase solar panels.

Being able to memorize and utilize rebates would help to mitigate the individuals who have monetary restrictions. They would be able to gather information on specific rebates and cross reference it with their finances to see if it is a viable option for them.

However, due to the radio and commercial dysentery this is hard to accomplish. These individuals do a quick google search which turns up nonfactual information on rebate programs. This is where the government needs to step in and protect its citizens from fraudulent practices and untruthful information.

Experimental Group Results The results from our control group were very eye opening, we were able to confirm the null hypothesis between Californians not knowing the negative health effects caused by fossil fuels and them purchasing solar panels. Similarly, we were able to identify a relationship between government incentives and Californians purchasing solar panels. I believe that my respondents asked more questions than a standard interview because the topic of solar panels is not widely accessible. As such, we ran an experimental group to see whether or not additional information would encourage people to respond positively to health effects and rebates, this group consisted of five people and we created a stimulus that we hoped would make the subjects answer the same questions we gave to the control group differently and more

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compassionately.

Similar to the control group, all of my interviewees agreed with the statement “I care about the negative health effects caused by fossil fuels.” One of my interviewees was very passionate about the negative effects fossil fuels have on her health and the health of future generations, Elliana states, “My health, as well as my future children and grandchildren will be affected.” This quote is just one of many that highlights the thought process of my convenience sample.

It shows that all of them want to live in a place that has clean air and would like to leave their children and grandchildren in a non-toxic environment. Another individual from my experimental group believed health is important and anything that hinders that is deemed dangerous. Rachel states, caring about the negative effects on the environment is important, “because if it’s making us ill, that’s a concern.” This individual who is a homeowner, mother, and business women understands that even though fossil fuels can be used to continue to live the comfortable lifestyles we here in California are used to, there needs to be a way to mitigate or lessen these effects on our respiratory health.

On a similar token, an additional interviewee states, “[I care about the environment] because our health is the most important thing we have.” Similar to a plethora of Californians, Carl is an educator and registered Democrat, who believes individual health is more important than the majority of the facets Californians deem as important. His quote goes to show that a third interviewee feels that respiratory health is an important and desirable quality that the environment helps to provide.

Our first interview questions was, “What do you think the key points of the video were?” The reason we asked this is to get a feeling on how effective or ineffective our video was in changing the opinions of the interviewees, and to test the validity of our stimulus. Eliana states, “[The video] show[s] how bad the environment has gotten, [and it] shows how bad the rest of the world has gotten.” This is a perfect example of what we wanted our stimulus to do, we wanted it to inform people about the harmful effects of the hyper use of fossil fuels, and we wanted this newly gained knowledge to make their answers on the survey/interview fusion differ from the control group.

Another issue that my interviews unearthed were that of corporate greed, one of my interviewee’s interpretations of the video was one related to big business.

Carl states, “[The video] show[s] corporations not changing, [and] the people having to change their life styles.” This interpretation was an outlier, the majority of our interviewees had a response similar to

52 Eliana’s for this question. However, Carl’s viewpoint is extremely valid because the video depicts various images of businesses pumping pollutants into the atmosphere. The degradation of the environment, the poor advertisement for solar panels, and poor advertisement for rebate programs have a lot to do with big business and where their interests lie. However, for the sake of this paper we will not focus on big business.

Our second interview question was, “Do you think rebates are broadcasted well enough?” The reason we asked this question is because we feel that due to the government not informing Californians well enough on rebates and other programs to save money on solar panels they are simply not purchasing them.

The main theme for the answers to this question was virtually split: two interviewees answered yes while three answered no. An enthusiastic interviewee by the name of Rachel states, “Yes because several people have come to the house for solar panels, there is a lot of traffic coming [our] way to switch to solar panels.” Rachel, who was mentioned previously is a homeowner, and like the quote says, she is visited frequently by individuals asking her and her family to switch to solar. However, as we conducted the rest of our interviews we saw that only a select few are approached and asked to switch to solar.

Eliana, who is not a homeowner, but lives in a traditional none apartment home states, “No, we advertise more for water conservation than solar issues.

[I] do not look for [rebates], and [they] are not advertised well enough, water is key issue.” This quote shows that there is a divide in who gets offered solar and who does not, be it not enough manpower, economic status, or even where you live there is a clear picking and choosing concept at play here. However, similar to the big business, this paper is not going to dive into this seemingly messy concept. Another one of my interviewees who is not a home owner states. “[I] am not in a position to purchase so [I] do not do research on them, but [I] believe that there is not enough broadcasting of them for people who are in a position to purchase the panels. [However], this is coming from the perspective of someone who cannot afford or purchase them.”

The reason we chose this quote is because it should not matter is you’re a homeowner or not all Californians should be exposed to solar rebate programs so they can in turn share this information with their friends or family who do own homes. There is

STEVEN TINSLEY no need for the constant phone calls or going door to door, all California needs is a social media outlet dedicated to exposing Californians to solar rebate programs. This would be cheaper and will reach more people than the old and traditional ways that are currently in place. As the quotes show these ways are not reaching a wide enough audience.

A paramount survey question we incorporated was, “Would you pay full price for solar panels knowing there are government subsidies and tax breaks available to you?” because we thought that a ‘Yes’ for this question would show that people care about the environment and are willing to pay full price for the solar panels to protect the health of future generations. Even though 4 out of 5 interviewees answered ‘Yes’ to this question, only one answered this way out of concern for the environment and our health. Carl states, “As a taxpayer, I feel that I should take advantage of government offered programs.

[However] if there were no rebates available, [I] would purchase them full price. But if I can save money [I] will, it’s just good sense.”

This quote shows the inner struggle that all Californians have to deal with. On the one hand they want to save money and be financially responsible, but on the other hand they feel that being stewards of the environment is also important. Carl’s statement identifies my null hypothesis. There is no relationship between compassion for the environment and purchasing solar panels. Even though all my interviewees believed the environment was important, none of them would be willing to purchase the solar panels full price if rebates were available to them, and none of them would jeopardize their financial status for the better of the environment and individual’s respiratory health alone.

On the other side of the spectrum is Jonathan, and his opinion brings us back to a similar theme mentioned in the control group section, this theme is frugality, the answer given goes against the former mentioned theme of frugality. He states, “Actually yes and no depends if any of these plans are legit, and their main objective. I would purchase to own it, and avoid leans against my home, and this is doable only if you have the money to do so.”

His initial answer of ‘yes’ is what we were hoping for, however, his reasoning behind it is not. We

SOLAR POWER were hoping that he would want to purchase them full price because of the negative effects fossil fuels have on the environment. This goes against the former mentioned theme of frugality because this individual is willing to pay full price to ensure his property is not taken from him in the long run. The control group interviewees never came to a conclusion like this regarding rebates. Jonathan is an outlier because he knows about solar rebate programs and he is willing to pay full price for solar panels.

The running of an experimental group substantially helped strengthen our research and initial thesis question. By using a stimulus, we were able to come to the conclusion that it is necessary for Californians to be influenced in some way to purchase the panels. In the case of the paper, the stimulus would be rebates. By giving more Californians rebates (stimulus), more of them will go out to purchase solar panels. This is shown in both the control and experimental group minus a couple of outlier interviewees.

Compare and Contrast Our control group exhibited content and outright anger towards some of our interview questions. All of our control group subjects would not purchase solar panels without government rebates, the reasons for their answers varied though. Some of them believed that the government should provide funding for ventures such as these while others believed that without the rebates purchasing the panels would not be cost effective. This group had one outlier who due to his frugality could not will himself into purchasing the panels without governmental assistance.

The experimental group was more compassionate and all but one of them would purchase the solar panels without rebates because of the negative health effects caused by the hyper use of fossil fuels. They agreed for various reasons, however the main theme of the answers was environmental responsibility. All of the interviewees believed that the extensive use of fossil fuels was detrimental to the environment but one of them, even though very caring about the future of the environment would not purchase the panes mostly based of their price.

We think the differences between the two groups came about after the stimulus was implemented. Our interviewees were asked the same questions minus the two new questions presented to the experimental group, however these two questions were in direct connection with our stimulus. This being said we believe that our video had a lot to do with this transformation, out of the ten people interviewed, four would purchase solar panels full price due to

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the positive health effects they provide. The various quotes previously used show the differences between their answers, there is a sharp divide between the frugal consciousness of the control group and the health consciousness of the experimental group.

These differences could be due to their political ideology. In my control group there were three Independents, one Republican, and one declined to answer, the control group had four Democrats and one not affiliated. Due to the heavy amount of non-affiliated identifiers, this might explain why monetary benefits outweighed the health benefits in their minds. And on the other hand due to the overwhelming number of Democrats in the control group they felt a stronger connection and need for health over monetary gain.

Conclusion Climate change is a threat that affects the American way of life; it gives us longer, hotter summers and displaces people across the country. Making the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energies is one way to survive the changing climate and keep particulate matter out of the air. Our survey and interview questions were aimed at informing the subjects about the above statement. We feel that this was achieved, our control group understood the challenge America has ahead, but climate-wise but they still choose to be frugal and save as much money as they can rather than save the environment. This is very perplexing because without a healthy environment, there will be nowhere to spend the savings accrued through the rebates.

However, as my research showed, there were a plethora of reasons people would not pay full price for panels and one of those reasons is fixed incomes.

There were multiple people we interviewed that were on fixed incomes and were unable to pay the money for the panels. But, even if they were working full time, they still would never fathom purchasing them full price simply for the environmental and respiratory benefits. This shows that due to the self-interest of Californians rebates are necessary for the purchase of solar panels. Frishberg states, “Yet the renewable energy industry, and solar power in particular, has been held up as a prime example of an industry that cannot stand on its own two feet yet, and therefore needs government subsidies and support to gain traction in the market.�

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STEVEN TINSLEY

This quote links perfectly to the self-interests of Californians, more solar panels are sold in California than any other state, but since we have the largest population density these numbers are dwarfed by states like New Jersey and Arizona who have lower rates of sale, but have half or even a quarter of Californians population size. Is it that these states care more about the environment? Our research did not lead us to that conclusion but these differences do show that even though solar is a great technology rebates are necessary for the average Californian citizen to purchase them.

Our control group showed what a little Pavlovian chicanery could do to a group of people. We were able to get ninety percent of our subjects to agree that purchasing solar panels full price was worth it due to the positive effects they have on the environment. This was a great triumph, because it shows that if you present solar panels in a different light than we have been in the last decade, you can get people on board the renewable energy train a lot faster.

Our stimulus depicted a toxic China, full of citizens who had to cover their faces to walk to the grocery store and children who have to live in a thick chok-

ing smog. These images and the clips associated with them was the trigger mechanism that made four out of five interviewees sympathize and understand the importance of the introduction statement and the relevance of switching our dependence and hyper use of fossil fuels.

The control group proved our hypothesis which was due to the self-interest of Californians rebates are necessary for the purchase of solar panels, and our experimental group gave us hope for the future by confirming the null for that hypothesis. The experimental group showed that Californians have sympathy and compassion towards the environment and the health of others, it showed that there are people out there willing to purchase big ticket items because they are good for something other than their pocket or checkbook. A very passionate individual from our interviews stated, “These effects are detrimental to future generations and we need to worry about the issue[s] of climate change.” Eliana is right, we do need to worry about the effects of climate change now, so we can augment the negative effects and implement changes in the 21st century to avoid major hardships on people in the 22nd century.

References

Frishberg, M. (2014). Solar subsidies help against financing headwinds. Research T e c h n o l o g y Management, 57(2), 7-8.

Grover, S. (2007). Energy, Economic, and Environmental Benefits of the Solar America Initiative.

Portland, Oregon: ECONorthwest.

Hsu, T. (2010, Jan 22). Rebates for solar water heaters okd; state utility regulators approve a program to offer $350 million. Los Angeles Times.

Klise, G. T., Johnson, J. L., & Adomatis, S. K., S.R.A. (2013). Valuation of solar photovoltaic systems using a discounted cash flow approach The Appraisal Journal, 81(4), 316-331.

Landers, J. (2002). California sewage plant turns to solar power. Civil Engineering,72(10), 31.

Lifsher, M. (2007, May 10). Gov. acts to salvage solar in california; legislative deal will lower electricity rates linked to state rebates. installations fell as law’s fine print added costs. Los Angeles Times.

Park, S. (2015). State renewable energy governance: policy instruments, markets, or citizens. Review of Policy Research, 32(3), 273-296.

Rogers, John. (2015). “Benefits of renewable energy use.” Union of Concerned Scientists.

Batchelder, L. L., Goldberg,Fred T.,,Jr, & Orszag, P. R. (2006). Efficiency and tax incentives: The case for refundable tax credits. Stanford Law Review, 59(1), 23-76.

Benthem, A. V., Gillingham, K., & Sweeney, J. (2008). Learning-by-doing and theoptimal solar policy in california. The Energy Journal, 29(3), 131-151.

Black, A. (2004). Financial payback on california residential solar electric systems. Solar Energy, 77(4), 381-388.

Brown, A. S. (2014). By the numbers: concentrated solar power makes a comeback. Mechanical Engineering, 136(4), 30-31.

Carleyolsen, S. (2006). Tangled in the wires: an assessment of the existing us renewable energy legal framework. Natural Resources Journal, 46(3), 759-792.

Cooney, M., Catherine (2003). News briefs: California strives for 1 mw of solar power.

Environmental Science & Technology, 37(21), 383-383A. Doughman, P. M. (2007). Californian’s climate change policy: raising the bar. Environment, 49(7), 35-43.

SOLAR POWER Stein, S. (2012). The environmentalist’s dilemma.

Policy Review, (174), 49-62.

Taylor, M. (2008). Beyond technology-push and demand-pull: lessons from california’s solar policy. Energy Economics, 30(6), 2829-2854.

Yaqub, M., Sarkni, S., P.E., & Mazzuchi, T. (2012).

Feasibility analysis of solar photovoltaic commercial power generation in California. Engineering Management Journal, 24(4), 36-49.

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Yi, H., & Feiock, R. (2014). Renewable energy politics: policy typologies, policy tools, and state deployment of renewables. Policy Studies Journal, 42(3), 391-415.

Zelazo, D., Dai, R., & Mesbahi, M. (2012). An energy management system for off-grid power systems. Energy Systems, 3(2), 153-179.

Most interview subjects were enthusiastic supporters of clean energ, but the prohibitive cost of solar panels leave many in the cold.

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STEVEN TINSLEY

Steven Tinsley

Steven Tinsley started his undergraduate career at Riverside Community College. It was there that he fell in love with the study of politics. Mr. Tinsley will graduate Magna Cum Laude with a major in political science and a minor in regenerative studies. He is a proud member of the graduating class of 2016. He will go on to be an Organizing Fellow for Students for New American Politics Political Action Committee (“SNAP PAC”) in summer 2016. After his fellowship, he will teach English in China for a year through the American ­China Culture and Education Foundation (AACCEF), then return to the United States to pursue his Masters in Public Administration.

Social Media: The Past, Present and Future: A Comparative Look into How Social Media Affects Fundraising and Strategies of Presidential Campaigns

Alexis Jordan Ojinaga California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Presidential campaign finance and campaign strategies are two topics that launch a candidate into office or into the shadows. This thesis focuses on how the Obama campaign was able to simultaneously raise money and attract voters by using technology to appeal to a younger demographic. By researching George Bush’s 2004 campaign, Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign, Obama’s 2012 campaign, and Donald Trump’s and Bernie Sanders’ current 2016 campaigns, it will show just how different candidates raise funds as well as shed light on the different strategies the campaign committee’s implement in order to win elections. Using past campaign sites, social media interfaces, popular sources, and interviews with individuals who worked directly inside Obama’s financial committee, I will address how Barack Obama’s 2008 fundraising strategies 2008 changed the way future campaigns choose their own fundraising strategies.

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residential campaign finance and campaign strategies are the two growing topics that launch a candidate: either into office or into the shadows. When examining the literature on campaign finance and campaign strategies, it can take you into two very different directions when talking about a presidential campaign. This thesis examines the specific way the Obama administration was able to raise money and voters simultaneously. The focus of my thesis is presidential campaign finance and the strategies that these committees put in place to get a candidate into the White House. This research will show just how different candidates raise funds to be able to campaign in elections, as well as shed light on the strategies the campaign committees’ implement in order to win elections. I have chosen these subjects to focus this thesis on due to it being a presidential campaign year we are able to see politicians come

together and demonstrate what politics means to them. In order to do that they will need to raise money to appeal to the voters and gain their overall support in what each candidate believes in or what they propose to do for America. When you bring money into these campaigns, we are able to visualize the issues that campaign finance faces during campaigns.

The other portion of the thesis campaign strategies sheds light on many tactics the different committees implement in order to push their candidate to the top. In recent years, presidential elections have changed the way they choose to reach out to voters with technology growing at rapid speeds around us.

Everyone is connected with one another through emails, smart phones, tablets, videos, and social media. With the millennial voter generation being so widely connected, the campaign committees took notice and used these tools to their advantage. However,

Undergraduate Journal of Political Science, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 2016, Pp. 57–75 © 2016, Political Science Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

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58 the internet was not just invented in the last ten years, it has slowly been progressing since January 1983 when the TCP/IP Protocol that powers our modern internet was born (Agarwal 2004). Since the internet has been increasing in speed, accessibility, and availability, it has become easier for more and more people to be able to use it, which is connecting people from all over. The use of the internet for campaigns did not just start in 2008 when Barack Obama used MySpace and Facebook to connect with his voters and funders, he was just the first to put his brand on this type of campaign marketing. Presidential candidates before him created websites and blogs to try and reach the voters, but something was different about the outcome of these strategies used as compared to Obama’s campaign strategies. With that said, it raises inquiry about how President Obama was able to raise money, and ultimately, voters to put him into the White House for two terms. The current campaigns that these candidates market themselves hourly on the internet, makes the voters question that these candidates could be following some kind of unwritten book on how to campaign using the internet.

Research Question: This thesis query’s the question: how did Barack Obama’s fundraising strategies in 2008 change the way future campaigns choose their fundraising strategies. By using this question, this thesis hopes to compare the different campaigns use of the internet via websites and social media, which occurred before Obama ran for President, 2008 and 2012 campaigns, as well as the campaigns that are currently happening in the 2016 election. This thesis will examine

ALEXIS JORDAN OJINAGA George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign, how he raised money and supporters, and what different techniques his finance committee used to get him into office.

It will also look into Mitt Romney’s financial committee and his campaign strategies and compare this to Barack Obama’s and determine what Mitt Romney did differently that cost him to lose the race to Barack Obama, and if he could have changed a strategy maybe he would have won. Another campaign I will examine in the course of this thesis will be two of the current 2016 campaigns that are happening in the race for the nomination, business tycoon Donald Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders. This thesis will look at these two 2016 presidential candidates and look at what ideas and techniques that they copied from President Barack Obama’s past campaigns and what these two candidates are doing differently. The concepts that this thesis focuses on are: President Barack Obama’s finance committee and President Obama’s change in funding. These concepts relate to each other because the way President Barack Obama raised money for his campaign was so revolutionary, due to use of the internet. Showing his strategy in 2008, and looking at the evolution on campaign finance for the years to follow, the most likely outcome to the question is that other candidates have adopted some of the innovations that President Obama’s committee had implemented in 2008. By using these innovations, presidential candidates are able to overall receive more money and more voters.

This is the expectation of this thesis because people witnessed how these new ideas were successful in getting Barack Obama in the Oval Office; therefore, they will utilize the ideas for themselves. This could also go in a negative way; such as, other candidates

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First, I would like to thank Paul Ojinaga, Paulette Ojinaga, Maddie Ojinaga, T.J.Graham and Tootsie for all of their continued support through this entire journey of my undergraduate career. Without all of your support and encouragement, I do not think this research would have been the same. I love you guys!

My sincere thanks goes to Corinne Tapia, without whom this paper and project would have not come full circle into something as wonderful as it has. With her assistance, guidance and immense knowledge about presidential campaigns, it was one of the greatest resources available and I was very lucky to have it. Thank you for being the greatest mentor, and role model that I could have asked for, you have helped me grow as an undergraduate student and have prepared me for my next steps towards law school. Thank you Corinne.

Finally, I would like to thank Professor Guerrero. Without your help through this process every step of the way it would have never been completed. Thank you for your patience, motivation, knowledge and humor it contributed significantly to this thesis. Thank you for everything you have done for me during my undergraduate career at Cal Poly, from advising, to office hours. I could not have accomplished this thesis and my undergraduate career without a great professor, mentor, and advisor like you. Thank you Guerrero for everything.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS and their committees implemented the ideas and they failed to raise as much money, more voters and eventually lost the race. By looking at these campaigns and candidates, we look into the way that each individual was able to raise money and gain voter support by showing strategies that were indifferent than other candidates in the past, present and future.

This question is important to the subfield of American politics because it sheds light on the way people are choosing to campaign using different social media and internet tools. According to the Bureau of Labor: since political scientists study political trends, policies and the way political systems operate, it is crucial that they are aware of trends that change the way that future campaigns will be conducted by learning from the past. With the United States of America being part of a direct democracy, where we vote for our leader and representatives, it is only fitting that citizens have an inside knowledge into how these campaigns are conducted and how candidates choose to reach their voters.

Furthermore, this question is relevant for American politics because campaigns, candidates and their indicatives have a great impact on our country .

Argument:

Therefore, the argument to this thesis question is: the methods Barack Obama used in 2008 were so rare and produced tremendous results, other candidates chose to replicate his tactics in future campaigns.

The argument that is trying to be proved would produce the outcome of people following President Obama’s strategies in the 2016 election and further elections to come. By using this argument, George W. Bush’s campaign will also be looked at to compare what Obama’s finance team looked at in the past to change how they campaigned in the future. This argument will also prove where Mitt Romney went wrong during his campaign time and how his finance committee cost him the election, thus, the reelection of President Barack Obama. Then, the competing argument would be that if future candidates do not implement any of President Barack Obama’s campaign strategies and financial tactics, it is due to them wanting to use their own strategies and financial ideas to become the next president. Thus, that competing argument would look like this, future campaigns saw the strategies that President Barack Obama used in 2008 and went opposite due to trying to appeal to the Republican demographic, rather than the Democrats.

The arguments could then be proved by obtaining information on the political participation and the strategies that each candidate had during their election

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period. In order to achieve this, we must examine the candidate’s websites, fundraisers, various social media outlets, news articles, and any information that is available online. We also need to establish the timeline of the internet and social networking from 2004 to present day 2016 in order to get an idea of the number of voters’ accessibility and activity on the internet.

Literature Review

Presidential elections are something we, as Americans, have grown used to. With the 2016 presidential nomination upon us, it is appropriate to examine what strategies appeal to voters and raise money to fund campaigns. In recent years, we have seen elections take a whole new shape due to the ever increase in technology and internet. But, we must also look into the traditional campaign by examining finance legislation and strategy policy. In the following literature review, three separate paths of scholarly articles will be examined. One path will look into campaign finance and the way candidates raise money to fund their campaigns, as well as the legislation that affects the money. Another path will take a look into campaign strategies in general, and get an idea of what these candidates do to gather supporters and grow their approval ratings. The last path will examine scholarship in regards to specific campaigns, such as the 2012 presidential election race between Incumbent President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney.

Political Campaign Finance The importance of money in politics stems from its value as a political resource, which presumably benefits candidates who have it in abundance (Nice 1984). Before the Watergate scandal, the U.S. system of campaign finance had three basic features: no limitations on contributions, weak disclosure rules, and unlimited spending based on whatever the candidates were able to raise (West 2014). Since President Nixon left a bad taste in the public’s mouth with the Watergate scandal that caused campaign finance rules change dramatically (West 2014). United States Congress attempted to regulate the way American political campaigns for Congress and the presidency. This act is Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which governs nearly all aspects of campaign finance. FECA covers four large issues in campaign finance, which are the size of the contributions to campaigns, the source of the contributions, public disclosure of the campaign’s financial information, and all public financing of presidential campaigns.

In 1976, the landmark case Buckley v. Valeo, limit-

60 ed contributions to political candidates. It stated that candidates must disclose and report contributions, this case limits individual contribution as well as campaign expenditures (Rosenthal 1976). The case of Buckley used FECA regulations to set the stage for making people report their contributions and disclose what the campaigns are spending the money on. In the early 1980’s, political scientists had a great idea on how big of a role finance of campaigns influenced politics, and how a campaign needed to be well-funded to lead to win. Since elections have been closely contested, the parties have raised substantial sums of money. For example, in the 2004 election cycles, $370 million was spent more in presidential elections (Bergan 2005). It is clear to see the role that money is starting to play in the campaign systems and how rules had to be set to try and limit the money. Nice finds that public finance of campaigns help to reduce the influence of the wealthy individual voters and organizations that could play a large role in the system of finance (Nice 1984). However, not so conflicting scholar Stratmann and Castillo state that campaign finance in a democratic society must be regulated and that it is an important issue due to the belief that if regulations are stricter, it will improve the competitiveness of elections (Stratmann and Castillo 2006).

According to Nice states limited campaign contributions by union and by individuals, but these regulations differed in each state and by contributor per election year (Nice 1984). Campaign finance reform limits the increase of contributions, which Stratmann and Castillo argue does increase competitiveness while increasing party competition in the legislature (Stratmann and Castillo 2006). Nice talks about when we limit campaign contributions for corporations and individuals, we see that the limits vary from state to state and there are more limits on Republican party individuals that do not seem promising due to being too liberal; however, the more encouraging results we see are the individual campaign finance limits and the limits on the public finance system (Nice 1984). In 2002, Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). This was passed in response to reform the campaign finance system of the elements that are viewed as corruptive, would compromise the democratic process (Panagopoulos 2007). Bergan states that even after the campaign finance reforms in 1990, parties found ways around bans, like that of the collection of soft money by attempting to raise small donations in larger quantities (Bergan 2005). The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) began sending out direct mail to reach a small donor base while the Republican National Committee paid

ALEXIS JORDAN OJINAGA websites a commission of 30 percent if they directed contributors to the Republican sites (Bergan 2005).

As you can tell from these scholarly articles, the authors show how the limits on certain aspects of campaign finance are very grey, with it being hard to find out why these limits are in place. But just as the authors stated, both parties have found ways to raise money around the barriers that these reforms have put in place. These scholars state that without any kind of campaign finance reform, the current system creates a higher level of competitiveness between the campaigns, because the more money raised, the more voters that are supposed to follow. Samples said that campaign finance reform is simply a battle between two separate visions of politics, the first was the Madisonian vision of the constitutional framers and the second one was the progressive vision that rejects the framers’ ideals of liberty (Samples 2009).

Campaign Strategies

In presidential nomination campaigns, this is where candidates make strategic decisions to maximize their chance of nomination (Gruian and Hayes 1993). When candidates need to have a strong campaign, and a set strategy on how to gain voters; this is what will earn them nomination. When we are looking at the topic of campaign strategies, the first question that pops up is do campaign elections really matter? At the early part of the campaign, candidates are unknown and are at a disadvantage of getting votes and different contributions from voters, unless you are a celebrity running for the nomination like Donald Trump (Gruian and Haynes 1993).

Presidential campaign strategists look at the battleground states and media market (Burton 2007).

What Burton argues candidates want to target the swing states because those states will help them win the nomination. Some campaign strategies use different types of media to obtain voter support, the data then shows that the candidate activities had a positive and often-significant impact on both vote share and candidate favorability (Burton 2007).

Another form of campaign strategies is the candidate personality, according to Palazzolo and Theriault; there is an ongoing debate of the importance of issues and personal characteristics in the voting behavior literature (Palazzolo and Theriault 1996).

These authors also state that, identification is stable and a reliable factor in deciding the voting behavior among constituents; some of the voters responded to short-term stimuli that emerge during a campaign (Palazzolo and Theriault 1996). What this breaks down to is that voters are more likely to fall in favor

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS of a candidate during a campaign when media evaluate their personal characteristics. To fully understand candidate characteristics in campaign strategies and as well as voting behavior Amihai Glazer found that candidates maximize their vote totals by remaining ambiguous on issues (Palazzolo, Theriault 1996).

The reason that campaigns use tactics such as this is due to the fact that without putting a stance on certain issues or being very rowdy on topics keeps candidates out of the hot seat. Thus by remaining ambiguous on issues voters is unable to decide how they vote based upon some issue stances these candidates take.

A main problem that campaign strategies faces, is how to appeal to the electorate to get them to vote.

According to Barkan and Bruno campaign organizations are trying to obtain political knowledge from what is already known (Barkan and Bruno 1972).

By obtaining knowledge about campaign strategies, these current campaigns are looking into the history of how to win and lose campaigns. These campaigns are trying to gain knowledge of what was successful in certain situations as well as ideas to stay away from. In order to get to these voters, the campaign strategists must identify and locate the segments of the electorate that possess the marginal votes on which the outcome of the election depends and the segments are most likely to constitute a base of loyal support (Barkan and Bruno 1972). What these authors are trying to explain, these political staffers in these different campaigns try to find these voters that end up being the electoral majority of all voters and get them to vote for their specific candidate.

Campaign Case Studies

When we begin talking about campaigns, we will be discussing how president candidates raise awareness for their campaign and ultimately get votes. Every election year, different campaigns raise awareness of getting people to vote. They are targeting mostly voters older due to them being a high voting group that has the largest impact. These scholars will be looking at voter turnout, how the candidates reached the voters, what each of these campaigns did different, and what strategies worked to help them earn a nomination. In Campbell, the author examines the election on President George W. Bush and why he won the 2004 election (Campbell 2005). One hundred twenty-two million American voted in the 2004 election, which according to Campbell is nearly seventeen million more than in 2000 (Campbell 2005). Campbell states that three fundamental factors influence the vote: the public’s opinion about the candidates at the outset of the campaign, growth in the election

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year economy, and incumbency (Campbell 2005).

President Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008 was very different; he personalized it through Internet and television, which was raising his social capital (Ewing 2009). Obama’s campaign was connecting to his voters through social capital, establishing membership, trust and networks (Ewing 2009). As stated by Ewing (2009), Obama was able to effectively respond to any type of attacks on his character, campaign, or beliefs all through utilizing online technology. Obama’s campaign used YouTube for free advertising, his campaign material was watched over 14.5 million hours, his Facebook site had 3,176,886 supporters and he had 987,923 MySpace friends, they also used test messages to stay connected to youth voters (Hendricks 2010). As you can tell, Obama was a technological campaign entrepreneur. The reason that he was able to appeal to more voters and ultimately wins the election. Social media and the Internet in general would appear to greatly expand the number of voices that can be heard in political debates (Coffey, Kohler, Granger 2015). When Obama ran for reelection in 2012, he went up against Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney. Campbell states that Obama surely was facing a loss due to his current economic status and Romney faced a loss due to Obama being the current incumbent (Campbell 2005). President Obama was elected into his second term despite of his economic record and his ideological orientation, because voters did not blame Obama for the economy, they blamed President George W. Bush (Campbell 2012). The Romney campaign showed that it was not ready for prime time with one big statement, when the campaign chose to deal with the question of whether and when to make Romney’s tax returns public (Miller 2012). But just as Miller (2012) found out in his article, this had put Romney in a unpopular situation with the voters, because at first it was a secret then it turned worse when Romney tried to explain his reasoning. With these different campaign strategies that were tried by his campaign were just some of the few errors that were made. With examples such as these we will be able to look more in-depth in this thesis at more reasons Romney’s campaign fell short.

After Obama won re-election, commentators offered advice to the Republicans, they were told they needed to compromise on immigration, move to the left of social issues to win votes of the younger generation, and try to tone down conservatism that is more compassionate and not threatening (Miller 2012). With a statement made like this by voters to the Republican Party, this is something they should take into account for the next election. While examining each candidate currently in the running for president, we

62 will be able to identify if the Republican Party to the commentators’ advice on how to reach voters.

As for the current campaign, there is not any scholarly research done so far on how these candidates raise money and earn voters. However, by simply watching the campaign we can make some assumptions that the candidates are still taking some kind of media or technology to earn votes and followers. During the course of my thesis, the current 2016 campaign will be discussed further and will take a look into how these candidates are gaining ground towards a nomination.

Conclusion Many scholars have written about campaign finance and campaign strategies. They have explained how to raise money and what helps candidates win elections. After looking into Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, we can tell that things did not change as much in the sense of the way he campaigned. Obama was able to make the right choices and plan great strategies on how to earn money and voters. When he came up for re-election Obama was able to use those same strategies with great use of technology and win re-election. Scholars have found out the formula that Obama was able to tap into and figure out how to win elections simply by staying in touch with your voters.

Hypothesis: By using past scholarship on presidential campaigns with an emphasis on strategies and finance, in conjunction with internet and social media data, we are beginning to see a clear connection between social networking and presidential campaigns. Thus based off the current scholarship in the areas of presidential campaigns, elections, literature and data on social media with relationship to politics the following hypothesis can be made: H1: The increase in social network and internet use in daily lives of Americans has altered the way presidential candidates campaign in their elections.

The null hypothesis for this would then be: Although there has been an increase in social media and internet use in the daily lives of Americans, presidential candidates continue to campaign as they have in the past with no technological advances.

ALEXIS JORDAN OJINAGA

Methodology: In using qualitative analysis to achieve the results of this thesis, it predominantly examines six case studies. It will also include an interview with Corinne Tapia, a member of the Democratic National Committee in the finance sector from election years 2008 and 2012. The overall goal of this thesis is to find out how Barack Obama and his presidential campaign were able to use recent advances in technology to raise money and supporters. Once I am able to find Obama’s 2008 campaign strategies, I will be able to compare them to past and future presidential candidates.

The six case studies look at four different presidential campaign years: 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016.

In the years 2012 and 2016, we will be looking at candidates from the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. These campaign years are influential to examine because they all happen during the recent technology increase and are centered around the 2008 election year of Barack H. Obama which is my constant data set. To look into these campaigns, this thesis will focus on the candidates’ campaign websites during each of the candidates’ campaign years as well as social media sites that the candidates used. In order to go back in time to the internet as it was back in 2004, 2008 and 2012, this thesis uses a website called the Way Back Machine. This is an online portal, which allows users to see websites as they were in any given time period. The Way Back Machine takes snapshots of how different sites looks at different times and months of the years. By using this site, we will not only be able to look into the campaign websites but also the candidates’ social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Instagram and Snapchat. This site will open a portal to the past, which allows this thesis to compare past presidential candidates to present candidates to find similarities on techniques involving social media and the internet.

Social Networks Evolution in Politics: In order to understand the results of this thesis, you must understand what social media is and how it operates. Social media as defined by Merriam Webster states, “forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and micro-blogging through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos). Social media is a huge technological advance and it is present in our everyday lives, it did not start out that way when it was first created. When social media started in 2002 it was very

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS archaic to the way we view these networks today.

We now must establish a timeline for when social networks first began to emerge on the internet and when these social sites began to gain popularity.

In March of 2002, the granddad of social media sites was launched; it was called Friendster (Wood 2016).

By January of 2004, MySpace is launched, Google begins Gmail, and Facebook expands from Harvard to other universities (Wood 2016). By December of 2004, Facebook hit one million members in less than a year of university expansion (Wood 2016). At the end of 2005, Facebook became available to United States high schools and continued expanding to UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (Wood 2016). In 2006, MySpace takes first place for the most popular social media site in the United States (Wood 2016). In July of 2006, a website for mini-blogging and social networking began it was called Twitter (Wood 2016). April 2008, Facebook surpasses MySpace as the most popular social networking site; MySpace had been the most popular since 2006 (Wood 2016). By 2009, Twitter moves from rank 22 to the third-ranking social networking site (Wood 2016).

The Internet and Election in 2004 Social media was just beginning to pop up on the Internet in 2004; with MySpace making it’s début in January (Wood 2016). When President George W. Bush was running for reelection against Democratic Presidential nominee, John Kerry; social networking was not a huge trend. However, internet activity in 2004 was increasing “75 million Americans- 37% of the adult population and 61% of Americans who were connected online- used the internet to obtain political news, information, discuss candidate, debate issues via emails and participate directly to the political process by volunteering or contributing to the candidates” (Rainie 2005). Internet had grown rapidly in the political sector; voters were able to connect to online political news faster than before.

From 2000 to 2004 online political news grew from 18% to 29%, which was an increase of 11% in just 4 years (Rainie 2005). Americans were also beginning to credit the internet for their number one source for presidential campaign news; this was in increase of 50% from 2000 (Rainie 2005). According to the Pew Research Center, “61% of internet users said they had either gotten campaign information or news online, exchanged email about the campaign, or participated in campaign- related activity such as making an online donation” (Rainie 2005). In terms of finances, the 2004 presidential election saw an increase of 4 million people donate to a campaign online,

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that is an increase of 80% (Rainie 2005). Candidate websites functioned as an online equivalent of campaign headquarters, used to organize, mobilize, energize and raise funds from the existing supporters (Living room Candidate 2012). Candidates had to adapt and utilizes tools, because the internet was becoming more widespread and used by the public. In turn, campaign websites would be the new hub or headquarters for presidential campaigns in future elections. It would become a way to connect with supporters via the internet. This was the also the first year that candidates were able to use webbased video campaign advertisements; this was a new strategy to reach the people connected to the internet.

The Internet and Election in 2008 The social network community in 2008 has grown tremendously since the previous election in 2004, four years prior. This presidential election year was different, because this was the first time that three Democratic candidates declared their candidacies online (Rainie 2008). Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama, used the internet to announce that they were running for the Democratic nominee (Rainie 2008). After the primaries, the 2008 election year was narrowed down to Democratic nominee Barack H. Obama and Republican nominee John S. McCain. The voters were already witnessing a very different kind of campaign, simply based on how the campaigns are being operated mainly on the internet.

Between 2004 and 2008, the number of all adults that have used the Internet to obtain political news and information about the campaign is up from 31% (Rainie 2008). During the 2008 campaign, we witnessed a 14 % increase in the amount of college students as well as a 33% increase in minorities, who used the internet for political purposes (Rainie 2008). Social networking sites became a way to stay politically active in some form; younger adults (18-29-year-olds) are 66% more likely to have at least one social site compared to older adults (30 and over) with only 18% (Rainie 2008). Due to this type of statistic, the candidates made sure that they had a strong online presence to target the younger voters. Another first for this election year, we were able to look at the partisanship divide among internet users. Democratic candidates began to surpass the Republicans in their adoption of social media; over one-third of online democrats or 36% have a profile on a social network site (Rainie 2008). That number is 15% more than online Republicans and 8% higher than online Independents (Rainie 2008). Along with social networking sites, the campaign website is still as important in the

64 internet world as it was in 2004. The major difference between campaign websites in 2004 compared to 2008, are the capabilities and functions the sites have allowed the voters to explore the candidate in depth.

The Internet and Election in 2012 This is an election that should be slightly fresher in our minds, this was the election between current Incumbent President Barack H. Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney. By 2012, social media had become a high-speed freight train of information with no sign of ever slowing down. It was getting faster, more social media outlets were appearing, and it was becoming easier to get onto the internet and use smartphone applications. Due to the fact that social media is not a new and shiny object for the 2012 campaigns, this caused the candidates to look at internet trends to appeal to voters. In 2012, President Obama’s campaign made a much better use of social media due to having excelled in this area in the 2008 campaign.

According to The State of the Media, “Obama’s campaign produced 25 times more twitter posts then Romney’s campaign” (State of the Media 2012).

However, both President Obama and Romney faced negative messages on social media, although Romney took slightly more heat over religious views. More than 75% of online presidential advertisement campaigns were negative (Living room Candidate 2012).

The Internet and Election 2016 The presidential primaries for the 2016 presidential election are currently happening. As of March 5, 2016 the Republican party has four candidates in the race for the nominee while the Democratic party has two. The Republican party’s’ candidates that are left in the race are business mogul Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz, Governor John Kasich, and Senator Marco Rubio. While on the Democratic side the two candidates that are competing for the nomination are former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and Senator Bernie Sanders. Since these races are currently happening, the social networking data changes frequently, however we already see that just like the 2008 election year the way to campaign is through the internet. The Pew Research center conducted a study in 2015 on the amount of Americans who use the internet, it was 84% this increased 1% since the 2012 election (Perrin 2015). At a 96% usage rate is the age group of 18 to 29 year-olds, and at 93% usage is the age group of 30 to 49 year-olds (Perrin 2015). If we look at the older demographics of America, the age group of 50 to 64 year-olds only

ALEXIS JORDAN OJINAGA 81% use the internet while senior citizens who are 65 and older only 58% use the internet (Perrin 2015). If we look back at the 2012 presidential election there are only two age groups that increased in internet usage. Those groups were 50 to 64 year-olds who risen 3 % and 65 and older who increased 4% (Perrin 2015). This is proving to us that more American citizens in key voting ages are using the internet. We know that the candidates, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, are relying heavily on online campaigning.

These six case studies were chosen to prove this thesis for these following reasons. First, to establish a timeline for the presidential campaigns pre and post President Obama while also examining the internet with an emphasis in social networking. Second, to look at presidential campaigns after the social media boom in 2008 and see if the candidates follow trends and strategies of previous candidates.

Third, to prepare us and show us how presidential campaigns are evolving with technology as we as a country move into a high-speed world. However, each case will be slightly different due to the year, technology available and whether an incumbent is running or not. These are key issues we must take into account during the results in order to consider a level playing field for the data to be represented.

Results: To answer this thesis question and prove the argument to be true, this thesis analyzed the amount of donations each candidate received and then separated the online donations from the total amount.

This thesis also analyzed the amount of followers, supporters, and friends the candidates had at various points in the election year, and how many they have now. After collecting the data and compare it to the different candidate’s social network abilities to the amount of online donations received then cross referencing that with Obama’s 2008 campaign. From there, this thesis analyzed the effects of social networking on gaining voters as well as increasing online donation totals and test the research question and argument. The results are as follows, presented as a year-by-year and candidate- by- candidate analysis:

President George W. Bush 2004 Reelection Campaign: Due to the internet gaining steam after 2000, the Pew Research center concluded that presidential campaigns during the 2002- 2004 election cycle learned how to use some of the internet’s distinctive qualities pay off on a continual and systematic basis (Cornfield

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS 2005). During President George W. Bush reelection campaign in 2004, they knew that the internet was going to be a huge factor in the election compared to 2000. Bush and Cheney’s 2004 campaign (or BC04) was prepared, they were internet proficient due to the fact they had an internet campaign team in place before the Democratic candidates started competing with one another (Cornfield 2005). The BC04 had hired Chuck DiFeo, as the campaigns e-campaign director, and he took the campaigns sights off fundraising and placed them on the grassroots organizations (Cornfield 2005). “BC04 planned, tested, refined and committed itself and its allies to a program which fused the basics of old fashioned canvassing, marketing, and proselytizing with the latest in data acquisition, analysis and distribution” (Cornfield 2005).

DiFeo called this type of campaign strategy target grassroots. DiFeo had two major goals he wanted to accomplish, which were increasing efficiency and increasing output (Cornfield 2005). He accomplished this by following a strategy and keeping track of every action taken by the campaign (Cornfield 2005).

The BC04 campaign followed this strategy to obtain supporters, determine the voting population it wanted to contact, installed a rewards program, which included choice seats to events featuring the president to motivate its volunteers (Cornfield 2005). It equipped volunteers with talking points and contact lists customized so they can get the most out of existing relationships. It also supplied home door-knockers with downloadable maps spelling out the estimated walking times between houses (Cornfield 2005).

The Bush and Cheney’s 2004 campaign used one of the internet’s tools to organize, and coordinate team-building sessions towards the bigger goal of targeted grassroots operation (Cornfield 2005). Meetups hosted by the third party company Meetup.com, helped run the House Party for the President initiative, which was a 30-minute conference call on July 15, 2004 with the first lady Laura Bush (Cornfield 2005).

During these 30 minutes, Mrs. Laura Bush would answer six questions that were selected from earlier submissions, and then would bring President Bush to the phone for a surprise finish (Cornfield 2005). On July 15, 2004, Meetup.com hosted 6,920 parties in a day that had over 350,000 participants (Cornfield 2005).

Since there was no social media trend during 2004, the focus was on these third party contact sites, blogs and of course the campaign website.

The internet was just beginning to start social networking with the launch of MySpace in 2004. The Bush and Cheney’s campaign was running behind in the online campaign portion compared to candidate Howard Dean when it came to internet trends such

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as blogs (Miller 2008). But the Bush and Cheney campaign used their campaign website as a campaign headquarters, to mobilize, reach out, and appeal to grassroots organizations (Cornfield 2005).

President George W. Bush’s 2004 Reelection Finance Committee: Unlike the other candidates that were running against them in 2004, Bush and Cheney did not need to raise money from individual donors due to a large PAC following. The Bush and Cheney 2004 campaign had however for the first time raised more money from individual donors then the Democratic candidates (Edsall 2006). The Bush and Cheney 2004 campaign received $74 million dollars from federal funds, $3 million dollars from PAC contributions, $17 million dollars from other finances (Center for responsive politics 2006). However, Bush and Cheney raised $271 million dollars on individual contributions, this was attributed to the small donor surge (Center for Responsive Politics 2006).

Due to the internet playing a role as a platform for campaign contributors, we witnessed a surge in small donors who gave via online donations (Edsall 2006).

What policy and campaign analysts figured out after the 2004 election, was that the online donation platform was targeting a key donor group, the middle class, which had more women willing to participate in politics (Edsall 2006). Small donors began to play a much bigger role in the 2004 election than ever before which began to shed light on the political importance of the internet as a new fundraising regime (Edsall 2006). When the 2004 election ended and President George W. Bush was reelected, the reports were released on how much he raised through various areas. The average contribution to the campaign was $116, major donor programs raised $130.6 million dollars, $114.6 million dollars was raised via mail and phones, and $13.8 million dollars was raised with online donation (Eric 2004). After the 2004 election, analysts figured out that they could target a key group of voters, women and the middle class, which they had a hard time doing in the past.

As we can begin to grasp a strategy from the Bush and Cheney 2004 campaign, the internet was beginning to be the new outlet for political information. Although there were no social networking trends happening just yet, people were still communicating about politics through email, instant messaging and blogs. Campaign technology was advancing with the use of blogs, supporters and individuals could communicate their opinions and viewpoints through cyberspace which was brining supporters to-

66 gether to begin forming an online community (Rice 2004). The campaigns used emails to increase communication between voters, which became an effective way of increasing their total fundraising strategy (Rice 2004). However, because Bush and Cheney had an idea that the internet would play a large role in the 2004 election, they were building their email list of supporters for nearly six years and by the 2004 campaign they had almost 5 million supporters on their list (Rice 2004). By looking at the 2004 campaign, we can see that the internet was already becoming a large part of campaign politics, Bush and Cheney saw this major shift coming and were able to prepare for it. Thus putting them light-years ahead in terms of online campaigning, it is safe to say that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were the pioneers of online campaigns and online fundraising. They saw a shift in the election trends and where politics was heading post 2000 election and they planned ahead for the 2004 election.

2008- Election of Barack H. Obama: As we look back to 2008, this election year was legendary for a few reasons. First, we had a woman and an African American man running for the Democratic nominee. Second, it was the first time that a campaign was run via social networking, thus making 2008 an iconic election year. Using the Way Back Machine, we can see that Senator Barack Obama announced his presidential campaign on February 6, 2007 via the internet, before announcing his presidential bid Barack Obama was asking people on Facebook to give their feedback if he should run for president. Just six short days later Senator Barack Obama’s new campaign committee launched his presidential campaign website. This campaign website was not like anything voters had ever seen before, the options that were available were so revolutionary it made politics simplified. What the Obama 2008 campaign did that was different was they had a large online presence. Aside from his campaign website, Obama was present on twenty-one different online websites. These websites ranged from YouTube, Flicker, Gather and iTunes. However, we can already see a difference between the 2004 and 2008 campaigns; just in the sense of how much the internet and social media evolved in four short years.

When Senator Barack Obama was trying to win the nomination of the Democratic Committee, he was already establishing a strong online presence.

Looking back into social media using the Way Back Machine, in 2008 Obama’s campaign website had many things that others simply did not. On the site

ALEXIS JORDAN OJINAGA you could register to vote, sign up as a volunteer, sign up for email updates, donate, buy Obama gear, and supporters had access to my.barackobama.com where they had the ability to make their own site to raise money for his campaign. The supports had their own section on the campaign site where they could “Make a Difference” by making calls, and volunteering at campaign sites and events. Through Obama’s twenty-one online social media sites you could add “Vote for Obama” badges and banners to our own home pages, become his friend and talk to other Obama supporters. One of the things that Obama did differently than any other presidential candidate before himself was, he used YouTube to put campaign ads on the internet. By doing this he had over 19 million channel views with over 1 million people subscribed to his YouTube channel by the time he was elected.

When he used YouTube, Obama was also able to link those videos to his other social media websites, like Facebook. Which reached another demographic of internet and social media users then just one online site alone. This was one strategy of the Obama campaign that they were targeting different sites on the internet to reach as many people as possible.

With the help of the Way Back Machine it showed how the Obama campaign targeted many individual types of voters including students, women, minorities, environmentalists, religious individuals and the L.G.B.T. community. Due to his efforts trying to appeal to these voter demographics, his online presence was strong on websites that these types of voters would use on a daily basis. Barack Obama had profiles on Blackplanet, Faithbase, Eons, Glee, MiGente, MyBatanga, and AsainAve. All these websites had links on Obama’s campaign website, as well as links to his other social networking sites. Another great online strategy that Obama’s campaign committee used was the use of My.BarackObama.com, where supporters were able to make friends with other supporters, host events for Obama, help fundraise for Obama and host their own blog to raise awareness on Obama’s stance on certain issues as well as raise funds. By tapping into this uncharted area of presidential campaign tactics, it was a unpaved path that had never been traveled on before. But Obama’s campaign committee was able to grasp how to engage supporters and rally support around him due to turning Senator Barack Obama into the brand of “Obama” (IMG 2008).

2008-Barack H.“Obama,” the Brand: Barack Obama was able to do something a candidate had never done before, that was to turn themselves into a brand. His campaign committee

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS saw how he was gaining such a large following of students, young voters, Latinos and African Americans (IMG 2008). They used his name and created creative slogans that appealed to all the different demographics that Obama was targeting. His committee used creative slogans that Obama would say in speeches and debates such as “Change”, “Hope”, “A Road to Change”. This also helped him appeal to more and more donors, which would grow his supporters. Obama’s campaign took a page from Bush and Cheney’s 2004 campaign; they sent emails to supporters asking for money to support the campaign. However, Obama did not have six years to grow an extensive email list of possible donors, they had fewer than 50,000 emails, all of which came from Obama’s campaign for senate (Luo 2008). However, his 2008 presidential campaign committee was quick to help grow this list, at events and rallies that drew thousands of people, they asked the attendees to give their emails for the campaign (Luo 2008). This is how Obama’s campaign was able to tap into the small donor money market, by sending out emails asking for donations and to get them to volunteer (Luo 2008).

Figure 1: Internet Use 1995-2014

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2008- Election of Barack H. Obama Finance Committee:

With his campaign targeting small donors in the primaries and into the general election, they had an extensive donor list created (Luo 2008). Once the brand of Obama was established, his campaign committee alongside the Democratic National Committee targeted large and small donors for any kind of support that they could get from donors.

In an interview that was conducted with Corinne Tapia, a member of the Democratic National Committee in the finance division for election years 2008 and 2012, she was able to give insight into the Democratic National Committee and how they were able to raise tremendous amounts of money for Obama. By having an established brand like Obama did, it was easier to reach out to donors and ask for campaign contributions, stated Ms. Tapia. The event that set Barack Obama apart from other candidates was his ability to draw in donors who would give large amounts to the Democratic National Committee every year. But the dramatic change was when there was a large surge of high net worth African American donors giving money towards Obama’s campaign, stated Ms. Tapia.

With the use of all Obama’s social networking sites, campaign website and email lists and with the help of the Democratic National Committee for the 2008 election Barack Obama raised a total amount of $750 million dollars. Out of that $750 million dollars, 25% or $190 million dollars, consisted purely of online donations, which helped give Obama’s campaign an extra boost (Lou 2008).

A majority of the money that was raised online for Obama was through small donations of $20 or less (Pew Research Center 2012). As we look at how much the presidential campaign has changed since President Bush and Cheney were running for reelection in 2004, we can see that appealing to the younger generations is becoming easier with the connectivity of social media. The age group of 18-29 year-olds has been a demographic that is hard to appeal to or to get to vote, this changed with Obama due to targeting them on social media. Obama used technology, videos and social media to get his message and face to

68 the younger generation, with his get-out-and- vote campaigns in the battleground states proving to be a key reason for such a large turnout (Keeter 2008).

The 2008 election taught us that the internet is becoming a way to reach voters, supporters and raise money. Due to it being so easy to connect with one another, voters are able to educate themselves more about candidates and follow, or friend them on social media. Obama saw this as a huge plus because his supporters felt like Obama was relatable and seemed like a normal American with a family rather than a man who was rich, powerful and came from a political family like they had just experienced with President Bush.

2012- President Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney: President Obama ran for reelection in 2012 against the Republican nominee Mitt Romney. This election started out very different from elections in the past because it was the reelection of America’s first African American president, social media, the internet and smart phones were more accessible and faster than ever. The reason these were already creating a large impact was because smartphones were in the hands of 45 % of voting American (Fig 1) and 80% of Americans used the internet (Fig 2) (Pew Research Center 2014). The media and in-

Figure 2: Smartphone Ownership

ALEXIS JORDAN OJINAGA formation highway was faster than we had ever seen before during a presidential election year.

Mitt Romney 2012 Campaign: Mitt Romney launched his second attempt to gain the Republican nomination in June 2011 on his Facebook and campaign website (Way Back Machine 2011). With the help of the Way Back Machine, looking into Mitt Romney’s campaign website, he had a standard site that showed his positions on policies, accepted donations, had links to his social media, and allowed you to buy gear. However, Romney’s campaign was already doing something different then 2008 Obama, they did not have profiles on twenty-one social networking sites. Mitt Romney was present on Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, YouTube, Tumbler, Flicker, Instagram, Spotify and Mitts VP. For Romney’s online campaign, he hired Zac Moffatt to run his social media efforts and to try and create a brand of Romney (Felix 2012). When you look at Romney’s social media websites they have fewer followers than President Obama due to the profiles being newer (Felix 2012). However, a large difference between the layout of their social media pages is that Romney’s pictures are far way and they are more headshot candidate type pictures which make them less intimate when comparing them to Obama’s. When looking at the fol2011-2014 lowers and supporters on three of Mitt Romney’s social network sites, his numbers were not astronomical 12 million Facebook friends, 1.7 million Twitter followers, and 36,000 Instagram followers (Felix 2012). Mitt Romney’s campaign says that it is not accurate measure of their social media presence when you compare it to President Obama’s because Obama had four years to build a following (Burrus 2012). But the biggest issue for Romney was, social media as a strategy was not his campaigns top strategic priority (Burrus 2012).

The way that Romney was trying to campaign was to show that President Obama was not performing as a good president due to the state of the economy and that Obama was not good fit for the country (Pew Research Center 2012). Romney and Ryan’s strategy was to come at President Obama and Vice President Biden through the debates and challenge what

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS they have actually accomplished for the country in four years (Pew Research Center 2012).

2012- Mitt Romney Finance Committee: When we look into donations that Romney was able to collect during his 2012 election, he raised a total of $992.5 million dollars (Ashkenas 2012).

Romney got $994,782 dollars from PAC’s, $3 million dollars from other contributions, $52,500 dollars that he self- financed and got $384,901,892 dollars from individual donors (Center for Responsive Politics 2012). Romney was able to raise $282 million dollars through online donations from his website, social media accounts and emails, which was the highest amount of online donations we have seen collected by online donations when comparing 2012 to the election years of 2004 and 2008 (Center for Responsive Politics 2012).

2012- President Barack H. Obama Reelection Campaign: When President Obama and Biden started to run for reelection, they were prepared to battle via social media and the internet so they rehired Teddy Goff (Felix 2012). President Obama’s social media had a large following already but he gained more during the 2012 election. On three of his top social media sites is followers were in the millions, Facebook was at 32 million friends, Twitter had 21 million followers and 1.3 million friends on Instagram (Pew Research Center 2012). President Obama was able to use his brand once more and appeal to the same voters and demographics he targeted in 2008, including students, women and minorities, because these were groups that Romney could not appeal to (Pew Research Center 2012).

When using the Way Back Machine to look at the campaign sites for 2012, you can see that Obama’s campaign did not change the way that they reach out to the voters. The only difference is that there were more of the attacks towards each other on each of the campaign websites and social media sites. Mitt Romney gained ground against Obama after the first debate due to no preparation on the part of President Obama; however, Vice President Biden was able to slam-dunk a debate against Paul Ryan, which evened the playing field once more (Kennedy 2012). This showed supporters how well Joe Biden and President Obama work with one another.

Due to the Republicans using these attacks on the President, the Obama campaign came back at them with a vengeance. President Obama talked

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about Romney’s failed Bain Capital, labeling Romney as a job destroyer and how Romney just wants to protect the wealthy (Kennedy 2012). This helped President Obama gain support of the lower and middle class people who were swaying into the other direction. At President Obama’s field offices, they focused on swing states, but they had tools that they did not have in 2008, they had an enriched voter database, and collected viewing habits from television companies (Wilson 2012). With this information the campaign knew where they had to place President Obama’s advertisements, it was with cheap cable buys on channels such as HGTV, ESPN, Tennis Channel and on the Spanish language networks instead of spending money on high cost news networks.

2012- President Barack H. Obama Finance Committee:

President Obama’s campaign with the help of the Democratic National Committee once again, they were able to tap into a large individual donor market. Obama received $631,650,564 dollars with individual donations alone, $214 million dollars from small contributions of $20 or less while the large contributions were from donations of $200 or less (Center for Responsive Politics 2012). The president self-financed $5,000 dollars of his own money and collected $521,000 dollars from other funds (Center for Responsive Politics 2012). For the overall 2012 election, President Barack Obama, and the Democratic National Committee raised a total of $1072.6 million dollars of that $690 million dollars was from online donations (Ashkenas 2012). During the 2012 election, President Obama saw the big surge of donors when his campaign sent out emails to his supporters letting them know that he was going to be outspent by Mitt Romney (Wilson 2012).

When we look at how President Obama and Mitt Romney stack up against one another it is easy to see that President Obama used social media better and raised more money online then the Romney campaign.

President Obama campaigned in 2012 the exact same way he did in 2008, by targeting certain groups with his brand and making himself more relatable and personable on social media and in general. Which was something that Mitt Romney was unable to do, his social media accounts were cold and did not seem as personal like President Obama’s. It truly showed that social media was not a top priority of the Romney campaign; it was more of their priority to attack President Obama’s policies, economics, national debt, and jobs. Which backfired terribly when Mitt Romney had a hard time relating to minorities, the middle

70 class and especially women with certain comments such as his famous “binder full of women” comment.

If Mitt Romney was to ever try again for the Oval Office, maybe he will listen to the trends like President Obama did and use tools like social media to make himself seem relatable instead of superior to his voters.

2016- Presidential Primaries:

The presidential primaries began happening during the final months of 2015 and are currently happening now. As we have watched the Democratic and Republican parties thin the heard of potential candidates, we are down to a much smaller number in March 2016. There are two Democratic candidates running for the nomination, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. While there are four Republican candidates running for the nomination, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich. As we get closer and closer to June 2016, the primaries are just getting heated up between the remaining candidates.

While the younger generation is backing Bernie Sanders and trying to push him past Hillary, the Republicans are trying to stop Trump from obtaining the number of delegates needed for the nomination.

This race is already proving to be legendary simply due to the Republican party trying to stop Donald Trump. As we are seeing on the news and online daily, social media between the candidates is larger than ever. For this thesis we will examine the outliers from both parties to see how their social networking tactics and financing strategies compare to President Obama’s winning campaign strategy.

2016- Republican Candidate: Donald Trump These days you cannot talk about the current 2016 election without someone mentioning Donald Trump. He is truly outlier for the Republican party, as we can tell with the current “Stop Trump” campaign led by Mitt Romney. However, Donald Trump is an avid user of social media and we can look on his social networking sites and see that he has a large following that is growing daily. On Facebook Trump has 6 million friends, 1 million followers on Instagram and 6.2 million followers on Twitter (Evans 2016). During this campaign for the nomination, Trump has been in the hot seat a few times for statements made on his social media sites, mainly Twitter. Trump has done such outlandish things during his run for the nomination then we have ever seen any other candidate do, from mocking a handicapped reporter, to putting down a women reporter saying she was on her menstrual cy-

ALEXIS JORDAN OJINAGA cle, to his latest stunt with David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan (Evans 2016). Even with all this “sending Tweets from the bedside” type of antics, Trump is still soaring in the polls. “The rise of social media has forced us to forgive things that would’ve been a death sentence to candidates in the past, and Donald Trump is just the first benefactor” (Evans 2016). It is hard to tell if we as Americans have become forgiving of these events because of his celebrity status as pre-presidential candidate, but it seems like when Trumps rants and has a fiery twitter speech that it is a direct engagement to the voters (Evan 2016). Which in comparison to President Obama in 2008, is a much different way to appeal to voters and donors due to not relating to them but appealing to the anger or hatred of government that Trumps supporters are feeling.

2016-Republican Candidate: Donald Trump’s Finance:

One of the first things Donald Trump did in his campaign was to denounce PAC support and declared himself as a self-funding candidate and urged his opponents to do the same. Trump is gaining money from private donations, along with his own finances, but he is also getting individual donations from supporters.

“Social media has completely shifted the balance of power when it comes to funding a political campaign” (Evans 2016). As of February 2016, Trump had a total of $3.9 million dollars raised through online donation to his road to the nomination. Since this campaign is still happening, we will have to see how it unfolds to be able to completely compare Trump to Obama. But from what we have learned so far, Trump is using social media to his every advantage and getting in front of a camera as often as possible, so in the way he reaches voters it is very similar to President Obama’s strategy but he is not appealing to different groups like President Obama’s campaign. He is alienating the minorities due to his stance on immigrants and Muslims, alienating women on his stance on abortion, and alienating the Republican party with everything that comes out of his mouth or on his twitter feed.

2016- Democratic Candidate: Bernie Sanders:

On the side, the Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders is gaining followers and speed on Hillary Clinton. He is standing out in this election due to people viewing him a “socialist” and not a democrat. However, Bernie Sanders is much like Barack Obama in the sense of his use of social networking and online strategies. When we look at Bernie Sand-

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS ers social media accounts between Figure 3: his staff and himself they have a large presence on five different social media accounts. On Facebook Sanders has 2.8 million friends, between his staff’s twitter and his they have 2.9 million followers, his Instagram has 800,000 followers and his YouTube account has 100,000 followers. When we compare Sanders to Trump, the difference between the two is not that drastic but Trump has a larger following. Whether this is due to his pre-celebrity status or his super crazy posts as a presidential candidate, we will never know the truth. But what Bernie is doing different is using his social media to relate and appeal to his voters; he is targeting college students mainly. He is appealing to these individuals by using memes, and gifs to seem hip to the current trends of the college students. Memes are pictures with words describing a quote or a funny statement (Fig 3), while Gifs are pictures with moving images. This is a type of tactic he is replicating from Obama’s campaign, which is to target trends of the youth and reach out to them using these types of strategies. Sander’s campaign is also making Bernie a brand like Obama was; they have created catchy slogans like “Feel the Bern”.

2016- Democratic Candidate: Bernie Sanders’ Finance: When looking at Sanders financial strategy for his campaign so far we can see that he is taking all the help from individual donors that he can. So as of January 2016, Bernie Sanders has raised $96,356,657 dollars for the campaign and $2.5 million dollars through online donations (Center for Representative Politics 2016). What political analysts are already starting to put together is that Bernie is receiving donations in small denominations, similar to Barack Obama, in $20 or less (Center for Representative Politics 2016).

As the race continues, we will have to see if the tactics that Sanders campaign is using from Barack Obama will help him surpass Hillary Clinton for the nomination as Obama did in 2008.

Or if Donald Trump’s new style of reaching out

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Bernie Sanders Meme

to voters on social media will become the new type of normal for presidential elections to come.

Conclusion:

Social media and the internet have already begun to alter the way the presidential campaigns are being conducted. As we have learned with the dramatic increase in accessibly to the internet and with the evolution of social media, people can connect with one another faster and easier than ever before.

In 2008 Barack Obama and his campaign committee saw a trend that was increasing at a rapid rate and jumped on it. In doing so, they were able to market Barack Obama as a different type of candidate, something new, fresh, a brand. Barack Obama and his committee would have never seen the trend of social networking evolving as rapidly as it did if President George W. Bush and John Kerry caught on in 2004.

The 2004 campaign was the foundation for a successful social media and internet based campaign, without the knowledge that was learned from the 2004 campaign about this information highway changing the way people view politics the 2008 campaign may have been totally different. But with

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ALEXIS JORDAN OJINAGA

Figure 4: Bernie Sanders’ Crowdfunding Campaign

political analysts reviewing presidential campaign and election years, we are able to catch trends and learn how to build upon them for future reference.

The 2012 election, President Obama and his committee did not change a thing abput how they wanted to campaign. They had found a strategy that worked at getting supporters, appealing to voters and raising money for the campaign. Mitt Romney on the other hand used social media but that was not his strong point in the campaign, he was out of date on how to stay fresh and cool on social networks, which just made him seem cold and not relatable.

The 2016 election is still happening and things are changing every day. But one thing is for certain; social media is changing politics, as we know it.

Things that used to be taboo are now just overlooked and there are no repercussions. 2016 will be a model year on how social networks have evolved presidential elections from how they used to be in the 1960’s

when candidates got more face time in with the voters to now when they simple send a tweet, a snap, or a post.

Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign was so revolutionary on how he was able to gain supporters and raise funds that future candidates have chosen to follow in his footsteps. Obama followed his own path in 2012, and won his reelection because of it. His opponent Mitt Romney tried his own type of social media campaign hybrid, but networking took a backseat to Romney’s other agendas, which cost him the race. As we can see in 2016, both of the candidate’s that this thesis covered are using President Barack Obama’s strategies for social media in some form but they are slightly evolving to put their own unique twist on social media. We will not know the outcome of the 2016 election, but looking at the campaigns so far they are choosing to replicate Obama’s 2008 campaign.

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In recent years, social media has had an increased influence on presidential campaigns and fundraising. Will popularity among social media users be a deciding factor in the 2016 elections?

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS

Alexis Jordan Ojinaga

Alexis J. Ojinaga is a fifth year political science major. Her graduation date is June 2016. She plans on attending law school post­graduation to continue her career in academia.

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TRAVIS BARRETT

The Egocentric Presidency:

How Modern Presidents Use Language to Communicate with the American Public

Travis Barrett California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Modern presidential scholars have indicated that over the last eighty years, presidential speeches have become longer in length and less formal in language. This thesis aims to expand upon the findings of modern presidential scholarship by analyzing all State of the Union addresses from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s address in 1934 to President Barack Obama’s most recent address in 2016. More specifically, by studying modern American presidents’ verbally delivered State of the Union addresses, this thesis aims to identify whether modern presidents have over time increased their use of “egocentric” language – or frequency of singular first person pronouns – in their addresses. In doing so, my thesis hopes to contribute to the notable scholarship of the “rhetorical presidency” and “anti-intellectual presidency.” Furthermore, this paper hopes to identify the general development of “egocentric” language in modern State of the Union addresses as well as observe and inspect how and why modern presidents use this language at all.

T

he President of the United States is seen as the leader of the free world and the centermost figure in American politics. Due to the American presidency’s prestige and mystery, scholars have always been interested in the institution since its formation in 1789. Much of presidential scholarship focuses on the President of the United States as an icon, or on the specific policies presidents enact during their presidencies. Less focus is on the language and rhetoric presidents use during their speeches to the American public. This thesis aims to do just that by contributing to a scholarly discussion about how presidents use language in order to increase their own favorability, gain more government influence, and advance their policy goals.

While presidential scholars have examined the rhetoric used by presidents, most evidently in a line of scholarship known as “the rhetorical presidency,” (Tulis, 1987) these scholars have not done so specifi-

cally looking at the use of “egocentric” language. For the purpose of this paper, “egocentric” language is language that a speaker uses to refer to himself or herself. More specifically, a speaker does this by using singular first person pronouns. When a president is giving a speech, he is referring to himself by using singular first person pronouns and is therefore using “egocentric” language. The singular first person pronouns that a president may use in a speech are: “I,” “my,” “me,” “mine,” and “myself.” In his 2016 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama, when speaking to the United States Congress and the American people, refers to himself several times in order to make a profound statement about the future of the United States. “That’s what makes me so hopeful about our future. I believe in change because I believe in you, the American people. And that’s why I stand here as confident as I have ever been that the state of our Union is strong” (Obama, 2016). This

Undergraduate Journal of Political Science, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 2016, Pp. 76–93 © 2016, Political Science Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

THE EGOCENTRIC PRESIDENCY thesis aims to evaluate modern American presidents use of the singular first person pronouns. In order to be efficient in this paper and to avoid redundancy, this thesis utilizes the term “I+” to refer to the use of the all singular first person pronouns (“I,” “my,” “me,” “mine,” and “myself”). Additionally, throughout the remainder of this paper, if a specific singular first person pronoun is being addressed – for example, “me” – this paper will make it explicitly clear that only that pronoun is being observed.

The question that this paper aims to answer is: have modern American presidents referred to themselves in State of the Union addresses more over time? By evaluating modern presidents use of “I+” pronouns in State of the Union addresses, this paper seeks to answer this question. This paper is based on the belief that over time, modern American presidents have gradually become more comfortable with the language and rhetoric they use, and therefore are more copious with the use of “egocentric” language and with referring to themselves. The foundation of this argument will be further explained in this paper’s literature review.

In order to successfully examine this study’s research question and argument, this thesis is divided into five parts following the introduction and an in-depth explanation of what the “egocentric presidency” is. First, this paper will examine the scholarly literature on the “rhetorical presidency” and the “anti-intellectual presidency” in a literature review.

This literature review will better explain the foundation for this paper. Additionally, within the literature review, presidential case studies will be utilized in order to best illustrate the “rhetorical presidency” and “anti-intellectual presidency.” Second, following the literature review, the paper’s hypothesis will be laid out. Third, the methodology used within this study in order to properly test this paper’s research question and argument will be explained. Utilizing SPSS to run a scatter plot and correlation test, this study largely uses a quantitative approach to test the research question and argument. Fourth, this paper reveals and examines the results of the study. Simply, this study will divulge the outcome of the scatter plot and correlation test, but will then take a qualitative look at several modern State of the Union addresses in order to give the reader a descriptive and in-depth explanation of the “egocentric” language used by modern American presidents. Lastly, the paper will close with a conclusion section, which will recognize several implications of this new line of scholarship and will identify what future research is needed in order to properly advance this scholarship.

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The Egocentric Presidency In this paper, what does the term, “egocentric presidency,” actually mean and what argument is this paper attempting to make with the term, “egocentric?”

Certainly, this paper is not attempting to call or claim that some modern American presidents are self-centered or narcissistic. Rather, this paper is an attempt to study how presidents invoke more “egocentric” language in their speeches. Moreover, egocentrism in this thesis simply refers to modern presidents’ use of “I+” words in their speeches. For this study, a president’s level of egocentrism is evaluated based on how often he referred to himself in his speeches in relation to how often other modern American presidents refer to themselves. The “egocentric presidency” is a study of the American presidency by solely examining how presidents use language to refer to themselves in their speeches. This paper does not examine a president’s personality or behavior while in office to determine his level of egocentrism, only his language during speeches.

Within presidential studies, it is essential to study American presidents’ use of language and rhetoric – the “rhetorical presidency” – in order to properly understand the presidency. Additionally, studying presidential language and rhetoric provides necessary insight into the presidency as a whole as well as helps to detect changes in the office. For instance, without taking a close look at presidential language, scholars would not have recognized the change in relationship between the President of the United States and the American public, as presidents at the beginning of the 20th century began to appeal to the public much more in order to increase their favorability with the public and to gain governmental influence. This study, by establishing a new facet to the “egocentric presidency,” will advance this line of scholarship further and contribute to presidential scholars understanding of modern presidential language and rhetoric.

Literature Review This literature review intends to underscore the academic discourse between scholars over the history of presidential language and rhetoric in two sections.

The first section will highlight the “rhetorical presidency” and “anti-intellectual presidency” through studies that examine how and why presidents use the rhetoric they do when speaking to the American public. The second section of this literature review will recapitulate studies that examine the “rhetorical presidency” and “anti-intellectual presidency” through

78 specific examples from recent presidential administrations.

The Rhetorical Presidency The main scholarship on the “rhetorical presidency” began with Jeffrey Tulis’ book, The Rhetorical Presidency (1987), which looks at the rhetoric presidents use and the possible meanings or reasons behind it. Tulis (1987) finds that a significant shift in presidential rhetoric and behavior occurred during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency from 1913 to 1921.

During this time, Wilson deviated from the behavior of past presidents by communicating directly to the American public. Before Wilson, previous U.S. presidents refrained from making speeches to the public as it was frowned upon as such acts were seen as demagoguery or ruthlessly appealing to the public’s emotions in order to gain power. Wilson’s behavior resulted in a massive presidential shift, in which all presidents since his presidency have felt comfortable addressing the public directly. In essence, Wilson split the American presidency into two rhetorical periods based on an evolving constitutional understanding of the presidency and what relationship the president is supposed to have with the American public.

The first period is called the founding period, where presidents refrained from appealing to the public fully and instead, focused on fostering a strong relationship with Congress. The second period is called the modern period, where presidents speak directly to the public in order to obtain more authority and support.

Contrary to the beliefs of Tulis, Laracey (2009) makes a direct argument against Tulis’ book, The Rhetorical Presidency. In Laracey’s study, he highlights seven presidencies during Tulis’ founding period, such as that of Zachary Taylor, where the president communicated directly with the American public – such as through speeches or newspapers – regarding policy. Lacarey argues that Tulis’ study inaccurately makes a general observation in regard to how “premodern” presidents acted, expressing that according to Tulis’ study, all “premodern” presidents had absolutely “no communication to the public about policy matters” (Laracey, 2009). Crockett (2009), in reviewing the disagreement between Tulis and Laracey, contends that Laracey’s study is wanting severely in three ways. Firstly, Crockett finds that the evidence presented by Lacarey is “unconvincing and open to question” (Crockett, 2009). Secondly, Laracey’s disagreement with Tulis’ book is mainly over defining terms rather than the actual conclusions Tulis makes. Lastly, Crockett expresses that the model Laracey created to dispute Tulis’ study comes up

TRAVIS BARRETT short, leaving Tulis’ model to remain valid. “In sum, although Laracey and Tulis operate in the same arena and make use of similar tools, they are really playing different games, and it creates analytical confusion to conflate the two scholarly projects” (Crockett, 2009).

Crockett argues that Laracey is comparing apples to oranges in order to dispute Tulis’ book.

In order to accurately understand the American presidency and its evolution, it is important to understand the office based on the behaviors of modern presidents as well as the power created based on their behaviors. Teten (2003) finds that the State of the Union addresses from George Washington to Bill Clinton have significant “structural and rhetorical changes” throughout American history (Teten, 2003). Using content analysis, this study suggests that there are three specific eras of the State of the Union address based on its rhetorical evolution.

These three eras are: founding, traditional, and modern. Predictably, Teten states the founding era began with President Washington as the State of the Union address “was little more than an update on the military situation of the day and was very brief” (Teten, 2003). Not long after Washington’s presidency, the State of the Union moved from the founding era to the traditional era with President Jefferson. “[W]ith the swearing in of Thomas Jefferson, the state of the union would change for almost 113 years” as Jefferson felt delivering a speech to Congress was like “a king’s pronouncement” or the act of a tyrant (Teten, 2003). Due to this, Jefferson “ended the live delivery of the address and sent it instead in letter form for the legislative branch to read. He felt this move would end a ‘speech from the throne’ and simplify the way the federal government operated (Teten, 2003). Like Tulis (1987), Teten finds that the modern period of presidential rhetoric began with President Wilson.

This period is distinguished by having shorter State of the Union addresses and by presidents’ uses of more “group words” (Murphy, 2008). Perhaps, the most important finding of this study is that “[t]he modern president speaks as one of the audience” (Teten, 2003). This study indicates that a president “goes public” as Kernell (1997), suggests by speaking as if he is simply any other American in the audience in order to successfully appeal to those he is ultimately speaking to. Kernell (1997) finds that the president uses “going public” as a way of pandering to the public in order to achieve a desired result, which was not attempted before Wilson, according to Tulis (1987) and Teten (2003). Kernell (1997) argues that “going public” has drastically transformed the relationship between the presidency and the legislative branch, as the president no longer relies completely on Congress

THE EGOCENTRIC PRESIDENCY for validation of power and legitimacy.

Contrarily to Teten’s assertion that the modern change in presidential rhetoric of State of the Union addresses began with Wilson, Murphy (2008) suggests that the “enduring change in rhetorical styles occurred during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration” (Murphy, 2008). In a more recent study by Teten (2008), perhaps in response to Murphy, Teten argues that many scholars of the rhetorical presidency frequently examine only the modern period of presidential rhetoric because they believe rhetoric of the founding and traditional period is too dissimilar to modern rhetoric, therefore making it useless to better understanding the presidency today. Teten suggests that this practice is unscholarly and marked with impropriety as scholars opt for “easier handles” to make their arguments within the study of presidential rhetoric (Teten, 2008). Additionally, failing to evaluate the rhetoric of presidents during the founding and traditional periods falls short in detecting how similar the language is between these two periods and the modern period. Teten’s study earnestly suggests that scholars must look to all periods of presidential rhetoric in order to properly evaluate the office’s history as a whole.

Ever since presidents have decided to “go public,” their reliance on the public opinion of the American people has become more and more meaningful. Due to this, presidents have crafted creative and sophisticated means to determine their popularity amongst the public. According to Jacobs (2005), presidents rely on the “collection of data – accurate, detailed, and extensive profiles of voters and, especially, critical slices of the electorate” (Jacobs, 2005).

Rhetorically, Jacobs expresses that the president has the role of conveying his devotion to the national interest of Americans. Jacobs argues that the president, in order to appeal to the public as effectively as possible, uses comprehensive polling data which helps his administration generate the best strategies to communicate with the American people.

In addition to polling, the President of the United States uses keywords in his speeches in order to hone in on a specific audience. In doing so, the president panders to that audience in order to achieve a desired result, such as to gain support for a specific policy agenda. Keywords and phrases used in presidential speeches differ not only based on the audience, the forum or mostly importantly, the president, but also based on the political party of the president. Hart and Lim (2011) find that there is a very distinct difference between the language Republicans use compared to that of Democrats. This study suggests that Democratic presidents, which are seen as the leader of the

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party of “progress and change” make reference to the future much more often than Republican presidents do, while Republican presidents, profess reference to the past much more often than their Democratic counterparts (Hart & Lim, 2011). Coleman and Manna (2007) find that presidents consistently use party references in their speeches in order to appeal to their party’s constituents rather than to “portray a statesman-like image above the political fray” (Coleman & Manna, 2007). Even when presidents “go public” in order to gain the support of the American people, they put more rhetorical emphasis on political parties than on being an unbiased politician, who is above the partisan game.

As public opinion has become increasingly more important to presidents, Shapiro and Jacobs (2001) find that this reality does not mean presidents are more likely to be responsive to the beliefs and attitudes of the American public. Instead, presidents aim to “manipulate public opinion” in order to achieve a desired result rather than to listen to the true opinions of American voters. Through polling, presidents collect data regarding the attitudes of the American public, but use this data to formulate a plan on how to best and most effectively influence the public. Due to this, Shapiro and Jacobs make a strong case that presidents do not pander to the American public, but rather tailor desired policy to popular opinion.

Likewise, Simon and Ostrom Jr. (1988) find that the president’s increased interest in public opinion has caused a “politics of prestige,” in which the support of the public determines, in no small way, the actions and behavior of the president. Similar to Shapiro and Jacobs, Simon and Ostrom Jr. find that a president cares about public opinion not because of a genuine interest in the beliefs of the American public, but rather because he cares to gain support for a desired outcome. Instead of sincerely listening to the American public, “presidents have an incentive to manage, manipulate, or otherwise control” public opinion of Americans (Simon & Ostrom Jr., 1988). Although the President of the United States looks at public opinion for political gain, the public merely influences the rhetoric presidents use to influence the opinions of the American people.

In eight short case studies, Zarefsky (2004) illustrates the power of presidential rhetoric and its ability “to alter public conceptions of political reality, thereby shifting the ground” (Zarefsky, 2004). Zarefsky uses case studies to best explain the effect presidential rhetoric has on public opinion. For example, in order to reduce the federal spending on welfare programs, Ronald Reagan “described isolated but egregious cases of welfare fraud, distinguishing the

80 perpetrators from the ‘truly needy’” which proved successful as Reagan stayed popular among the majority of Americans (Zarefsky, 2004). Through the calculated use of rhetoric, the president can sway the public by shaping an issue or policy in such a manner that is beneficial for his administration.

Through appeals to the public, the President of the United States aims to gain support for not only himself as a politician, but for his entire party and their respective policy agenda. As specified by Shapiro and Jacobs (2001) as well as Simon and Ostrom Jr. (1988), the president has additional incentives to use strategies in order to manipulate the American public’s political thought. Lim (2002) finds that there have been “five significant changes in twentieth-century presidential rhetoric,” specifically, “presidential rhetoric has become more anti-intellectual, more abstract, more assertive, more democratic, and more conversational” (Lim, 2002). In an effort to be received clearly and positively by the American public, presidents pander by using rhetoric that is deemed more easily understandable, informal, and colloquial. In doing so, presidents aim to communicate to the American public that they are not elitist and are instead “just regular people with whom the average American might want to have a beer with.”

One significant line of scholarship mentioned by Lim (2002) is the anti-intellectualism of presidential rhetoric, which Shogan (2007) explains is rhetoric that “disparages the rational complexity associated with intellectual pursuits” (Shogan, 2007). In its purest form, President George W. Bush – when speaking at a graduation ceremony at Yale – used anti-intellectual rhetoric in order to cater to “the hisses and boos” that welcomed him to the stage. Bush, instinctively assessing the crowd, used the power of rhetoric and self-deprecating humor in order to control the speech and the attitudes of the graduates, successfully leaving the stage with a sincere applause. Shogan (2007) finds that not only is there anti-intellectualism in the American presidency, but there is anti-intellectualism in everyday American life that contributes to its presence in presidential rhetoric. According to Shogan, there is poor relationship between American intellectuals and the political elites, in which elites use whatever means necessary to hold influence, power, and legitimacy. Sadly, anti-intellectualism is prevalent in modern presidential rhetoric because it is effective and remains beneficial for presidents to use.

Specific Evaluations Of Presidencies Since Woodrow Wilson to present day, the President of the United States looks to the American pub-

TRAVIS BARRETT lic for both power and legitimacy. The president uses a variety of tactics in order to manipulate public opinion in his favor. One of the earliest presidents to use modern media to pander to the public was President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In what historians explain to be “intimate exchanges between the president and the people,” President Roosevelt used the radio to facilitate his “Fireside Chats,” which enabled him to communicate with millions of Americans at once.

Through the use of content analysis, Lim (2003) finds that “the Fireside Chats were a harsher, more castigatory rhetorical genre” (Lim, 2003). Lim suggests that being a master of rhetoric, Roosevelt was able to convey an intimacy to the American people while still speaking about important issues and policy that is normally interpreted as political and crude (Lim, 2003). There is no question that the advancements of technology in the 20th and 21st century have created greater means of communication for presidents, which enables them to appeal to the public more frequently, effectively, and to a wider audience.

Just as Lim argued that President Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats were less intimate than previously believed, Osbourne (1980) argues that President John F. Kennedy used rhetorical strategies, such as anti-intellectualism, in his speeches in order to make them more understandable for his audiences.

This study breaks Kennedy’s 68 major speeches into four equally numbered and distinct categories based on audience. Through content analysis, Osbourne (1980) finds that Kennedy tailored his speeches to the audience and forum he was speaking in. Not surprisingly, Kennedy’s speeches exhibited rhetoric patterns, such as preferences to “end his national talks with appeals for God’s help” while preferring to open his speeches to college and business audiences with humor (Osbourne, 1980). Along with President Franklin Roosevelt’s rhetorical patterns, President Kennedy’s patterns help scholars better understand how presidents pander to the public.

Like the studies before evaluating Roosevelt’s and Kennedy’s rhetorical strategies, Jacobs, Page, Burns, McAvoy, and Ostermeier (2003) found that President Nixon also tailored his speeches specifically to his audiences. This study argues that Nixon changed the subject matter of his speeches based on the news and current events. For instance, the rate of unemployment dictated the amount Nixon would speak about the subject. When unemployment was high, Nixon spoke about it more often. Quite surprisingly, the study suggests that Nixon focused a high percentage of his speeches on actual policy (Jacobs et al., 2003). In addition, according to Rottinghaus (2008), Nixon used public opinion polls to gauge his

THE EGOCENTRIC PRESIDENCY overall public opinion. Alternatively, Nixon would also use “public opinion mail periodically to demonstrate to the public that the White House’s position was congruent with the position of the concerned public and, correspondingly, to persuade the public that their position was popular” (Rottinghaus, 2008).

Nixon is a perfect example of a president using several mediums to assess popularity as well as manage public opinion.

Although every modern president has used “going public” to his advantage, it is interesting to assess which presidents were better at it than others. Understandably, there are a variety of factors that determine whether or not a president effectively uses rhetoric.

Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton are two of the most of recent and most effective orators to occupy the White House in modern history. Sigelman, Lee, and Whissell (2002) used content analysis of Reagan’s and Clinton’s Saturday morning radio addresses and determined that Reagan’s language was closer to regular everyday American speech. Additionally, Reagan was “the less long-winded and more plain-spoken of the two,” contributing to the idea that he was “someone they [Americans] felt they knew well and someone with whom they would feel capable of, and comfortable in, sitting a while for a conversation” (Sigelman, Lee, & Whissell, 2002). Although, Clinton was less successful according to Sigelman, Lee, and Whissell, both his and Reagan’s rhetoric indicates that they aimed to speak in a familiar and understandable manner in order to be perceived positively by the American public.

The scholars mentioned within this literature review have contributed greatly to the study of the “rhetorical presidency” and “anti-intellectual presidency.” Without their insight and expertise, this thesis would not have been possible. This paper aims to expand upon these two lines of scholarship and delve into a new, undiscovered field by evaluating the American presidency through modern American presidents’ use of singular first person pronouns in State of the Union addresses.

Hypothesis According to scholars, who study the “rhetorical presidency,” modern American presidents use language and rhetoric in a manner unlike that of their predecessors when addressing the public. Modern presidents have shifted their use of language in widely publicized speeches in order to appeal or – pander – to the public. By doing this, a president is attempting to increase his favorability among the American populous, in turn leading to more governmental in-

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fluence, and improved opportunity at achieving his administration’s goals. Additionally, as recognized in the “anti-intellectual” presidency, modern presidents are pandering to the public by using language in speeches that is less formal and more colloquial. This “anti-intellectual” language is easier for the American public to understand and is much more conversational, which increases a president’s favorability as the American public feels they know the president on a more personal level. The argument in this study is that modern American presidents have begun to use “I+” pronouns more often over time because presidential language as a whole has evolved into a less formal and more “anti-intellectual” institution. From this, the following hypothesis can be made: H1: Over time, modern American presidents have gradually increased their use of “I+” pronouns in State of the Union addresses in relation to the total word count of their addresses.

Conversely, the null hypothesis for this paper is that modern American presidents have not gradually increased their use of “I+” pronouns in State of the Union addresses in relation to the total word count of their addresses.

Methodology The methodology used for this thesis is fairly straightforward and simple. In order to test this paper’s research question and hypothesis, it was essential to analyze whether there is a significant correlation between the frequency of a modern American president’s use of “I+” pronouns in a State of the Union address and the year that State of the Union address was given. To test this relationship, I collected the number of times a president used “I+” pronouns in every verbally delivered State of the Union address since President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first in 1934 to President Barack Obama’s final and most recent in 2016. Additionally, I collected the total word count of each of these addresses in order to create a ratio with the amount of times an “I+” pronoun was said divided by the total amount of words said in the address. Just as this paper utilizes the term “I+” to refer to the use of all singular first person pronouns, for the remainder of this study, the term “I+”/WC will be utilized to refer to the use of “I+” pronouns over the total word count of an address. The term “I+”/WC calculates the frequency in which a president uses “I+” pronouns, not simply the total number of times an “I+” pronoun is used. This can be more thoroughly

82 explained with an example.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan used “I+” pronouns a total of 61 times in his State of the Union address, but used a total of 3,774 words in the entire address. The “I+”/WC ratio for Reagan’s 1987 address is 0.01616, which means “I+” pronouns make up 1.616 percent of all words Reagan said in this address. In comparison, in 2012, President Barack Obama used “I+” pronouns a total of 103 times – which is much larger than Reagan’s 61 – in his State of the Union address, but used a total of 7,028 words – which is nearly double Reagan’s 3,774 words – in the entire address. The “I+”/WC ratio for Obama’s 2012 address is 0.01466, which means “I+” pronouns make up 1.466 percent of all words Obama said.

When simply comparing the raw numbers of these two addresses without observing the “I+”/WC ratio, it is obvious that Obama used more “I+” pronouns as well as more words in total, but when comparing the “I+”/WC ratio of both addresses, it is obvious that President Reagan used a higher frequency of “I+” pronouns. Reagan’s “I+”/WC ratio was 0.01616 compared to Obama’s 0.01466.

By creating the “I+”/WC ratio, this study can compare these speeches together and determine who is more “egocentric.” If I were to determine “egocentrism” simply based on the amount of “I+” pronouns used, President Obama is far more “egocentric” in his 2012 address compared to President Reagan in his 1987 address. Regrettably, this would not account of the word length of each speech and in turn would not calculate the frequency at which a president uses “I+” pronouns. It is important to use frequency of “I+” rather than total amount of “I+” used because it accounts for how often a president uses “I+” pronouns, not simply the number of times they were used. Using the “I+”/WC ratio, we are able to receive a better evaluation of which presidents are the most “egocentric” when comparing them to one another.

More precisely, I was able to collect the number of times “I+” pronouns were used in State of the Union addresses as well as the total word count of these same addresses by using the University of California, Santa Barbara’s “The American Presidency Project” website, (http://www.presidency.ucsb. edu/index.php). This website gave me access to all State of the Union addresses delivered since George Washington’s first in 1790. With access to all of the State of the Union addresses, I was able to ‘copy’ and ‘paste’ each address into an online word count tool (http://wordcounttools.com). This tool automatically collected the number of times “I+” pronouns were said as well as the total word count of these State of the Union addresses. From here, I manual-

TRAVIS BARRETT ly transferred the information collected by this word count tool into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was organized into four columns, 1 the president who delivered the State of the Union address, 2 the year the address was given, 3 the number of “I+” pronouns used in the address, and 4 the total number of words said in the address. Then, this spreadsheet was imported in SPSS, which was then able to analyze the relationship between two variables; each address’ “I+”/WC ratio and the year each address was given.

More specifically, these two variables were presented in a scatter plot, which plots these variables on an X, Y axis in order to compare their relationship. Additionally, in a study that involves “time” – or years – a scatter plot is able to show the general trend of the second variable over time, which in this study is presidents’ use of “I+”/WC or “egocentric” language.

In addition to using a scatter plot to analyze the two variables’ relationship, this study ran these variables through a correlation test. By doing this, this study aims to discover whether the relationship between I+/ WC and year is correlated.

Before delving into the results portion of this study, there are several important notes that must be made in order provide clarity and precision within this paper. Firstly, as specified earlier in the methodology, this paper only utilized the verbally delivered State of the Union addresses since President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first on January 3, 1934 to President Barack H. Obama’s last on January 12. 2016. It is important to note why President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the appropriate president to begin this study with. This thesis aims to evaluate only the “egocentric presidency” with regard to modern American presidents, so I used presidential literature to determine who was the first modern president in a study such as this. As established in the literature review, presidential scholars openly argue that the modern rhetorical presidency began with President Woodrow Wilson or President Franklin D. Roosevelt. For the purpose of this study, President Franklin D. Roosevelt is determined to be the first modern president, as Murphy argued, because this study aims to evaluate widely publicized speeches through a variety of mediums (radio, television, etc.). When President Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United States from 1913 to 1921, presidential speeches had not yet been broadcast on the radio or on the television. Because of this, President Wilson was not speaking to as large of an audience as later presidents would, which may have dramatically changed the language and rhetoric he used. Instead, I chose to begin my study with the State of the Union addresses of President Franklin D. Roosevelt because as Murphy suggests, the modern

THE EGOCENTRIC PRESIDENCY “rhetorical presidency” coincides “with the increased use of technology by the president and Congress and the expansion of the audience for the State of the Union speech,” which had completely occurred by President Roosevelt’s time in office (Murphy, 2008).

The second important point to note is to provide why this paper utilizes State of the Union addresses and not other presidential speeches. Firstly, State of the Union addresses have occurred nearly every year in verbal form thus allowing for this study to have consistency as to the audience the president speaks to. Additionally, it is important to express that the State of the Union address is “mandated by Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution” (Peters, 2016). More specifically, the United States Constitution stipulates, “He [the President] shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient” (United States Constitution, 1787). Because the State of the Union address is addressing Congress and then broadcast out to the American public, this event provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the use of presidential language and rhetoric. Due to the intended purpose of the State of the Union address, presidents tend to speak about issues of more substance and importance than in speech given in other forums and to other audiences. For this paper, State of the Union addresses were chosen to be the speeches to be analyzed because they provide a standard of consistency and due to their unique audience. Additionally, it must be noted that this study does not utilize State of the Union addresses that were delivered as written messages, such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s address in 1945 or President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s address in 1956. The chief reason for excluding these written messages is because the audiences of these written addresses are much different from the audiences of verbally delivered addresses. In this study and in all studies regarding “the rhetorical presidency,” the audience to which the president is addressing is crucial to the language and rhetoric the president chooses to use. For instance, the audience during a verbally delivered State of the Union address would be all individuals in attendance, anyone watching the address on the television, and anyone listening to the address over the radio. Contrariwise, the audiences of written State of the Union addresses only include individuals who have access, time, and interest in reading them. In order to provide consistency and relevance, this thesis only evaluates verbally delivered State of the Union addresses.

The last note that must be made before exploring into the results portion of this study is that five of

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the seventy-nine addresses included in this paper “are technically not considered to be “State of the Union” addresses” (Peters). Moreover, “the five most recent presidents (Reagan, Bush, Clinton, G.W. Bush, and Obama) addressed a joint session of Congress shortly after their inaugurations but these messages” are not truly State of the Union addresses (Peters). Peters (2016) argues that although the addresses are not truly State of the Union addresses, it is safe to consider them as such for research purposes. What is most important is that the audiences of these five speeches are the same as traditional State of Union addresses.

Additionally, Peters explains “the impact of such a speech on public, media, and congressional perceptions of presidential leadership and power should be the same as if the address was an official State of the Union” (Peters). The five speeches that are included in this study that are not technically State of the Union addresses, but for research purpose might as well be, are President Reagan’s 1981 “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Program for Economic Recovery,” President George H. W. Bush’s 1989 “Address on Administration Goals Before a Joint Session of Congress,” President Clinton’s 1993 “Address on Administration Goals Before a Joint Session of Congress,” President George W. Bush’s 2001 “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on Administration Goals,” and President Obama’s 2009 “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress.” In the next section, this thesis will reveal and examine the results regarding this study’s research question; have modern American presidents referred to themselves in State of the Union addresses more over time?

Results Within this section, I will divulge the findings of the research question and hypothesis. As hypothesized earlier in this paper, I expected to find that modern American presidents have gradually increased their use of “I+” pronouns in State of the Union addresses compared to the total word count of those addresses. By running my data in a scatter plot using SPSS in addition to testing this data in a correlation test, I was able to determine that modern American presidents have increased their use of “I+”/ WC in State of the Union addresses. More simplistically, using these two measures – the scatter plot and correlation test – I was able to determine that modern presidents have referred to themselves at a greater frequency in State of the Union addresses over time.

Specifically addressing this paper’s hypothesis, I can say with certainty that its assertion was correct. In

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Table 1: Scatterplot (x-axis: “Year,” y-axis: “I+/WC)

the next several pages I will use a number of tables and diagrams in order to effectively explain how this study was able to determine that my hypothesis is true and was proven.

Table 1, on the next page, is a scatter plot that plots the points of two variables, the “I+”/WC ratio of all 79 State of the Union addresses that this thesis has studied and that addresses corresponding year.

By using this scatter plot, I was able to show the general pattern of State of the Union addresses in relation to the use of “I+”/WC over time. In Table 1, it is important to note that my “I+”/WC variable is represented on the y-axis and the “State of the Union year” variable is represented on the x-axis. When viewing Table 1, it is apparent that there is a gradual incline in the use of “I+”/WC in relation to the State of the Union years. Additionally, because the general trend is increasing from left to right on the scatter plot, the relationship and correlation between these two variables is positive or direct. Table 1 supports this paper’s hypothesis that over time modern American presidents have referred to themselves more often.

More precisely, Table 1 shows that in the 1930s – at

the beginning of the modern State of the Union address – the average “I+”/WC ratio was approximately 0.0075. By the 1970s, Table 1 shows that there was a gradual incline in the average “I+”/WC ratio, which at this time was approximately 0.010. In the 2010s, this scatter plot shows that the average “I+”/WC ratio has continued to gradually increase and hovers around 0.014. By simply looking at the average “I+”/ WC ratios of State of the Union addresses over the last eighty years, it is clear that modern presidents have gradually increased the use of “I+”/WC. This scatter plot is just one measure used to show the rela-

Table 2: Correlation Test Between “Year” and “I+”/WC

THE EGOCENTRIC PRESIDENCY tionship between modern presidents’ “I+”/WC ratios and the year presidents gave their addresses. Next, I will support my findings with a correlation test run in SPSS. Running a scatter plot shows the general trend between two variables, but does not show or indicate the level of correlation and significance between the variables. In order to do this, SPSS was utilized in this study to run a correlation test, which tests both the correlation between “I+”/WC ratios and State of the Union years. Table 2 shows the output of the correlation test run for this study. When looking at Table 2, the two most important statistics to note are the “Pearson Correlation” output between “Year” and “I+”/WC and “Sig. (1-tailed)” between these same variables. The output for this test’s “Pearson Correlation” was calculated to be 0.406, which indicates that there is a “moderate” relationship between “Year” and “I+”/WC. Perhaps more importantly, the level of significance between “Year” and “I+”/WC was calculated to be 0.00. The relationship between

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two variables is significant when the output is less than 0.05. Clearly, 0.00 is less than 0.05, conclusively showing that the relationship between “Year” and “I+”/WC is significant. 0.00 indicates that the relationship between these two variables is significant and therefore is not random. In addition to Table 1, Table 2 supports this paper’s hypothesis as there is a correlation and significance between the year a State of the Union address was given and the increased use of “I+”/WC. Next, I will discuss two tables, which show the actual “I+”/WC ratios of modern American presidents. The first table (Table 3) ranks all modern presidents based on the average “I+”/WC ratio of all their speeches. In other words, Table 3 ranks modern presidents from most “egocentric” to less “egocentric.” The second table (Table 4) displays the top ten State of the Union addresses from modern presidents based on highest “I+”/WC ratios. In other words, Table 4 shows the ten most “egocentric” modern State of the Union addresses.

Table 3: Ranking the Modern Presidents Based on Average “I+”/WC

86 The first two tables support this paper’s hypothesis by demonstrating that there is both a direct correlation and significance between the increase in State of the Union address’ “I+”/WC ratio and the year the State of the Union address was delivered. Table 3 does not aim to support this hypothesis further, but rather aims to display the results of which modern American presidents are actually most “egocentric” by this paper’s standards. Quite simply, Table 3 is a ranking of the 13 modern American presidents included in this study based on their average “I+”/ WC ratio for all their State of the Union addresses. In order to calculate the average “I+”/WC ratio of each president, I added all the “I+”/WC ratios of all their addresses and divided that sum by the number of addresses they gave. For instance, President Gerald Ford gave 3 State of the Union addresses from 1975 to 1977. To calculate President Ford’s average “I+”/ WC ratio, I added his 1975 “I+”/WC ratio (0.0179), 1976 “I+”/WC ratio (0.0193), and 1977 “I+”/WC

TRAVIS BARRETT ratio (0.0235) together and then divide this sum by the number of addresses President Ford verbally delivered in total (3). President Ford’s average “I+”/ WC ratio of all his addresses is 0.02023. In addition, in order to make Table 3 easier to interpret, I multiplied the average “I+”/WC of all 13 presidents by the number 1,000. By doing this, Table 3 is more visually digestible and succinct, allowing the reader to effortlessly recognize the variances in averages and understand the intent to which some presidents were more or less “egocentric.” Specifically regarding the presidents’ rankings in Table 3, President Ford is judged to be the most “egocentric” in language as his average “I+”/WC is largest. Following Ford, the next four most “egocentric” presidents are President George H.W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and President Barack Obama. The middle four modern presidents with regard to “egocentrism” are President Richard Nixon, President Ronald Reagan, President George W. Bush, and President

Table 4: Top 10 “I+”/WC State of the Union Addresses Since 1934

THE EGOCENTRIC PRESIDENCY Jimmy Carter. The bottom four modern presidents – who are deemed by this study as being the least “egocentric” – are President Dwight Eisenhower, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, President John F. Kennedy, and President Harry Truman, in descending order. Although the bottom four presidents in this table are not in perfect chronological order, they are, at the very least, the least recent presidents to be in office. The bottom four presidents provide a revealing point as they support this paper’s thesis that modern presidents have over time increased their use of “I+” pronouns in relation to their address’ total word count. Eisenhower, Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Truman referred to themselves in their State of the Union addresses at the lowest frequency of all modern presidents. It must be noted that in the remainder of the rankings, the results are varied in order as Ford is at the top, although he was the President of the United States in the mid to late 1970s. Nevertheless, this thesis argues that there has been a gradual increase in the president’s use of “I+” pronouns in State of the Union addresses. Therefore, this thesis did not expect to find that every president was more “egocentric” than his predecessors and less “egocentric” than his successors. If that were the case, this thesis would have hypothesized that President Barack Obama was the most “egocentric” president while President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the least “egocentric.”

Table 4 utilizes the same approach as Table 3 did to determine the average “I+”/WC ratio of modern presidents’ State of the Union addresses. But this table displays the top 10 State of the Union addresses based on each addresses’ “I+”/WC ratio. Table 4 does not include an address from every modern president as not all presidents had an address with a high “I+”/ WC ratio. Additionally, there are several presidents that had more than one address that landed in the top ten, which is generally cogent when considering where they ranked based on average “I+”/WC of all their addresses in Table 3. As indicated in Table 4, President George H.W. Bush’s 1992 is deemed to be the most “egocentric” State of the Union address in the modern presidential era. Following this, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1969 address is the second most “egocentric.” The next four addresses based on level of “egocentrism” are President H.W. Bush’s 1989 address, President Ford’s 1977 address, and President Clinton’s 1993 address and 2000 address, in descending order. The seventh to tenth most “egocentric” addresses are as follows; President Ford’s 1976 address, President Nixon’s 1974 address, President W. Bush’s 2001 address, and President Ford’s 1975. In the top ten, three modern presidents are listed more than once, which are Ford, H.W. Bush, and Clinton.

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Predictably, in Table 3, these three presidents are the three most “egocentric.” Next, this paper will briefly look at several of the most “egocentric” State of the Union addresses listed in Table 4 in order to show how and why these modern presidents might have “egocentric” language in their State of the Union addresses.1 In order to provide a more in-depth and extensive explanation to this study, it is essential to delve into several modern State of the Union addresses, where the “egocentric” presidency is in full display.

For the remainder of this results section, this paper will look at the rhetoric and language used by modern American presidents in their addresses. Specifically, I will be analyzing five of the most “egocentric” modern State of the Union addresses. All five of these addresses were listed in Table 4, indicating that they are in the top ten most “egocentric” addresses. More precisely, I will be examining the following five State of the Union addresses: Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1969 address, Nixon’s 1974 address, Ford’s 1977 address, H.W. Bush’s 1992 address, and Clinton’s 1993 address, in that order.

The first State of the Union address this thesis aims to analyze in order to demonstrate how modern American presidents use “egocentric” language is President Lyndon B. Johnson’s January 14, 1969 address. This 1969 address was the very last of President Johnson’s five State of the Union addresses while in office. Additionally, this address came just six days before President Johnson would leave office and President-elect Richard Nixon would assume the presidency. In this speech, President Johnson’s “I+”/ WC ratio is 0.0281, which means “I+” pronouns constitute 2.81% of all words used in the speech, making it the second highest out of all modern State of the Union addresses. In this address, Johnson uses language such as “I believe” and “I think” countless times in order to recommend policy initiatives without using more forceful, and therefore negative, language. For instance, Johnson stated, “I believe that we should resume the talks with the Soviet Union about limiting offensive and defensive missile systems” (Johnson, 1969). It is clear that President Johnson is advocating for the United States to resume communication with the Soviet Union in relation to missile systems in order to promote global peace, but he does so in a passive manner as to avoid being perceived as authoritarian. Perhaps, the main use of “I+”

by President Johnson in this address is seen when he 1

Table 5 tests other external factors that may affect the “I+”/ WC ratio of State of the Union addresses.

88 reminisces on his time as a public servant and as he humbly thanks his fellow statesmen for their friendship. Although indicating that he had several reservations about giving a final State of the Union address just days before leaving office, President Lyndon B. Johnson states,

TRAVIS BARRETT Representatives – I have known most of the men pretty well who walked them. I know the questions that you face. I know the conflicts that you endure. I know the ideals that you seek to serve.”

In this quote, although, President Johnson seems to be using his rhetoric in a modest manner, his use “Now, my friends in Congress, I want of “I+” pronouns may be more appropriately attributto conclude with a few very personal words ed to an attempt by Johnson to improve his lasting to you. I rejected and rejected and then filegacy as President of the United States. Moreover, nally accepted the congressional leaderas this is Johnson’s final widely publicized speech ship’s invitation to come here to speak this as president, he may be using “egocentric” language farewell to you in person tonight. I did that in order to passively recommend policy and display for two reasons. One was philosophical. I more modest behavior to the American people. More wanted to give you my judgment, as I saw it, specifically, as Johnson leaves office and Nixon ason some of the issues before our Nation, as sumes office, the transfer of presidential power is not I view them, before I leave. The other was simply from one man to another, but this transfer is just pure sentimental. Most all of my life as additionally from one political party to another. As a public official has been spent here in this President Johnson leaves office he understands that building. For 38 years – since I worked on this is his final opportunity, as President of the Unitthat gallery as a doorkeeper in the House of ed States, to strengthen his legacy. Lastly, Johnson knows that under President Table 5: Regression (Evaluating External Factors Nixon’s and the Republican Party’s leadership, the difor the Increase in “I+”/WC) rection of the United States may drastically change from the direction he supports. Therefore, Johnson uses “egocentric” language in his last attempt to argue that his beliefs and the Democratic Party’s beliefs are best for the country.

The second State of the Union address this thesis will use to examine the “egocentric presidency” is President Richard Nixon’s 1974 address. In this address, which was delivered on January 30, 1974, President Nixon was under heightened scrutiny as the Watergate Scandal had persisted for over a year. More specifically, this speech is the seventh most “egocentric” modern State of the Union address as Nixon’s “I+”/WC ratio was 0.0186. The main use of “I+” pronouns in this ad-

THE EGOCENTRIC PRESIDENCY

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dress revolve around making a direct appeal to the public when addressing Watergate. Moreover, Nixon – with the use of “I+” pronouns – attempts to ease the concerns of the American people with regard to the national scandal. For instance, during the later portion of this address, Nixon states, “I would like to add a personal word with regard to an issue that has been of great concern to all Americans over the past year. I refer, of course, to the investigations of the socalled Watergate affair” (Nixon, 1974). By speaking about the scandal head on, Nixon hopes the American people will consider his behavior to be aboveboard and forthcoming. Just moments after speaking directly about Watergate to the American public, he once again appeals to the public as well as to Congress by stating,

from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, as he uses his “egocentric” rhetoric to focus on the successes of his presidency. It must also be mentioned that President Ford assumed the presidency after then President Richard Nixon resigned due to Watergate. Following Nixon’s resignation, the American people deeply distrusted the government, more specifically the presidency. During President Ford’s time in office, he attempts to restore the American people’s trust in the American government and in his administration, which he makes perfectly evident in this State of the Union address. In fact, Ford cleverly makes reference to his 1975 and 1976 addresses in order to show how – under his leadership – the country and presidency has improved. Specifically, President Ford states,

“Another point I should like to make very briefly: Like every Member of the House and Senate assembled here tonight, I was elected to the office that I hold. And like every Member of the House and Senate, when I was elected to that office [the Presidency], I knew that I was elected for the purpose of doing a job and doing it as well as I possibly can. And I want you to know that I have no intention whatever of ever walking away from the job that the people elected me to do for the people of the United States.”

“In January 1975 I reported to the Congress that the state of the Union was not good…A year ago I reported that the state of the Union was better – in many ways a lot better – but still not good enough… Now, after 30 months as your President, I can say that while we still have a way to go, I am proud of the long way we have come together.”

With the use of “egocentric” language, President Nixon attempts to demonstrate his authenticity, integrity, and intention to fulfill his duties as the President of the United States. Ironically, only seven months after Nixon delivered this address to Congress and the American public, he resigned from office. His resignation helped him avoid impeachment stemming from the events of the Watergate Scandal.

President Gerald Ford’s 1977 address is the third State of the Union address to be examined within this thesis. Ford spoke to Congress and the American people for the last time as President of the United States on January 12, 1977 and this address ranks as the fourth most “egocentric” modern State of the Union address, as his “I+”/WC ratio was 0.0235. As with President Johnson’s 1969 State of the Union address, this 1977 address is very much about the lasting legacy of the president as a new president has been elected and will take office in only a matter of days. In this case, Republican President Ford is leaving the White House, as Democratic President-elect Jimmy Carter will take office. In this address, Ford is very cognizant of the transfer of executive power

Using “egocentric” language, President Ford aims to stress the good he has provided the country and argues that the presidency is in better shape than it was when he took office. Following this, Ford – lacking modesty – states, “I am proud of the part I have had in rebuilding confidence in the Presidency, confidence in our free system, and confidence in our future” (Ford, 1977). Contrary to President Johnson’s use of “egocentric” language, President Ford does not care to be seen as humble, but rather, vigorously aims to improve his legacy by stressing the successes of his presidency.

President George H.W. Bush’s 1992 State of the Union address is the fourth address this thesis will use to assess modern president’s use of “egocentric” language. This address delivered on January 28, 1992 has an “I+”/WC ratio of 0.0303, making it the most “egocentric” modern State of the Union address as 3.03% of the speech’s words were “I+” pronouns.

More so than the three addresses analyzed earlier, this address uses “I+” pronouns to make general appeals to the American public by stressing his administration’s genuineness and truthfulness. For instance, President Bush states, “Let me tell you right from the start and right from the heart, I know we’re in hard times. But I know something else: This will not stand” in an attempt to pander to the public (Bush,

90 1992). Essentially, President Bush is informing the American public that he is fully aware that many Americans have fallen on hard times, but eventually, he is confident that those times will end, and prosperous times will follow. Additionally, in order to stress to Congress and the American public that his intentions are impartial and unbiased, he states, “Let me level with you. I know and you know that my plan is unveiled in a political season. I know and you know that everything I propose will be viewed by some in merely partisan terms. But I ask you to know what is in my heart. And my aim is to increase our Nation’s good. I’m doing what I think is right, and I am proposing what I know will help.”

Just in this short quote, President Bush uses “egocentric” language masterfully, using a total of twelve “I+” pronouns. President Bush’s use of “egocentric” language in this address is very much like President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1969 address as both presidents aim to convey to the American public and to Congress that they are modest, but genuine in achieving their administrative goals. Moreover, in this address, Bush is clearly making an appeal to the American public for their support.

The last State of the Union address this thesis will utilize in order to examine “egocentric” language is President Bill J. Clinton’s 1993 State of the Union address. On February 17, 1993, President Clinton – having been in office less than a month – addressed Congress and the American public in his first State of the Union address. This address has an “I+”/WC ratio of 0.0197, making it the fifth most “egocentric” modern State of the Union address. This address is different from the first four addresses analyzed in this paper because this is a speech given just after taking office. The first four were the last State of the Union addresses for the respective presidents; Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and H.W. Bush. Nevertheless, President Clinton uses “egocentric” language in this address to explain the current state of the presidency, as his two Republican predecessors had left it, and to speak about what he hopes to achieve in the next four years. Moreover, early in this address, President Clinton warns the American public that the country is not prospering as well as it should be, after the Reagan and H.W. Bush presidencies, but under his leadership the country is pushing forward. Clinton goes on to state, “I did not seek this office to place blame. I come here tonight to accept responsibility, and I want you to accept responsibility with me. And if we do

TRAVIS BARRETT right by this country, I do not care who gets the credit for it” (Clinton, 1993). As shown in this quote, Clinton is using “egocentric” language to express that it is the responsibility of all of the American public to get the country back on track and he will help lead this change. Additionally, Clinton uses “egocentric” language in this address to convey to the American middle class that he will be their champion and their lives will improve under his presidency. “To middle class Americans who have paid a great deal for the last 12 years and from whom I ask a contribution tonight, I will say again as I did on Monday night: You’re not going alone any more, you’re certainly not going first, and you’re not going to pay more for less as you have too often in the past” (Clinton, 1993). In this address, Clinton is masterful at pandering to the American public that he will be the president to lead the country into the future and into the right direction.

Conclusion

This thesis aimed to study the “rhetorical presidency” and “anti-intellectual presidency” by creating a new facet in these two lines of scholarship. More specifically, it was this thesis’ mission to study modern American presidents – from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama – and their use of “egocentric” language in State of the Union addresses. Precisely, this paper set out to answer whether these presidents have over time referred to themselves more in their addresses. Based on the conclusions made by past presidential scholars, this thesis hypothesized that over time, modern presidents would refer to themselves more because these presidents have become more and more comfortable with the language they use in order to communicate the American public.

By analyzing all 79 modern verbally delivered State of the Union addresses, this study was able to create a ratio of “I+” pronouns over the total number of words in a speech. This approach allowed for me to compare these addresses against one another and then rank them from most “egocentric” to least “egocentric.” Additionally, using a scatter plot and correlation test, I was able to run the “I+”/WC of all modern addresses against the year of the address in order to properly and effectively test my research question and hypothesis. In the end, I am able to conclude that over time, modern American presidents have referred to themselves more in State of the Union addresses. Furthermore, using several modern State of the Union addresses as examples, this thesis was able to examine actual presidential applications of “egocentric” language. This paper found that there has been a gradual, but steady increase in the use of “I+”/WC by

THE EGOCENTRIC PRESIDENCY modern American presidents.

It is essential to state that although the year a State of the Union address was delivered can undoubtedly help presidential scholars approximate the use of “I+”/WC for that speech, there may be additional factors that contribute to this gradual rise in “egocentric” language over the last eighty years.

Some external factors that could perhaps be valuable to test in depth in future studies with regard to the “egocentric” language of modern American presidents are the political party of the president, the state of the U.S. economy, the president’s approval rating, and the majorities in the House and Senate. Apart from institutional factors that may affect a modern president’s use of “egocentric” language might be based on his personality or rhetorical style. In both cases, this thesis could benefit from an interdisciplinary approach to study the “egocentric presidency.”

Lastly, there are two implications I have drawn from this study regarding possible explanation as to why modern American presidents have increased their

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Clinton, W. J. (1993). ‘Address Before a Joint Session of Congress on Administration Goals’, The American Presidency Project, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, http://www. presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=47232.

Coleman, J. J. & Manna, P. (2007). ‘Above the Fray?

The Use of Party System References in Presidential Rhetoric’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 37(3), 399-426.

Crockett, D. A. (2009). ‘’The Rhetorical Presidency’: Still Standing Tall’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 39(4), 932-940.

Ford, G. R. (1977). ‘Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on the State of the Union’, The American Presidency Project, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, http:// www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=5555.

Hart, R. P. & Lim, E. T. (2011). ‘Tracking in Language of Space and Time, 1948-2008’, Journal of Contemporary History, 46(3), 591-609.

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J. D. Aberbach & M. A. Peterson, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

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use of “I+” pronouns over time in State of the Union addresses. The first implication I draw is that modern presidents are using “egocentric” language as a clear and direct way to communicate their goals to Congress. By using this language, the president aims to strengthen their relationship with the legislature in order to advance their administrative goals. The second implication for this study is that modern American presidents are using “egocentric” language as a way of pandering to the public in order to increase their approval ratings and in turn increase their government influence. By using “I+” pronouns to refer to themselves in addresses, American presidents are appealing to the public by shaping their rhetoric to resemble a conversation with the American public rather than a more formal policy speech. This study does not conclude that modern American presidents are becoming progressively more “egocentric,” but rather that their language is.

Jacobs, L. R., Page, B. I., Burns, M., McAvoy, G., & Ostermeier, E. (2003). ‘What Presidents Talk About: The Nixon Case’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 33(4), 751-771.

Johnson, L. B. (1969). ‘Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union’, The American Presidency Project, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, http://www.presidency. ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29333.

Kernell, S. (1997). ‘Going Public’, CQ Press, Washington, D.C. Laracey, M., (2009). ‘‘The Rhetorical Presidency’ Today: How Does It Stand Up?’ Presidential Studies Quarterly, 39(4), 908-931.

Lim, E. T. (2002). ‘Five Trends in Presidential Rhetoric: An Analysis of Rhetoric from George Washington to Bill Clinton’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 32(2), 328-366.

Lim, E. T. (2003). ‘The Lion and the Lamb: De-mythologizing Franklin Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats’, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 6(3), 437-464.

Murphy, C. (2008). ‘The Evolution of the Modern Rhetorical Presidency: A Critical Response’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 38(2), 300307.

Nixon, R. M. (1974). ‘Address on the State of the Union Delivered Before a Joint Session of the Congress’, The American Presidency Project, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ ws/?pid=4327.

92 Obama, B. H. (2016). ‘Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union’, The American Presidency Project, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, http://www. presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=111174.

Osborne, L. L. (1980). ‘Rhetorical Patterns in President Kennedy’s Major Speeches: A Case Study’, Presidential Studies Quarterly,10(3), 332335.

Peters, G. & Woolley, J. T. (2016). ‘State of the Union Addresses and Messages’ The American Presidency Project, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, http://www.presidency. ucsb.edu/sou.php Rottinghaus, B. (2008). ‘Opening the President’s Mailbag: The Nixon Administration’s Rhetorical Use of Public Opinion Mail’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 38(1), 61-77.

Shapiro, R. Y. & Jacobs, L. R. (2001). ‘‘Source Material’: Presidents and Polling: Politicians, Pandering, and the Study of Democratic Responsiveness’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 31(1), 150-167.

Shogan, C. J. (2007). ‘Anti-Intellectualism in the Modern Presidency: A Republican Populism’, Perspectives on Politics, 5(2), 295-303.

TRAVIS BARRETT Sigelman, L. & Whissell, C. (2002). ‘‘The Great Communicator’ and ‘The Great Talker’ on the Radio: Projecting Presidential Personas’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 32(1), 137-146.

Simon, D. M. & Ostrom Jr., C. W. (1988). ‘The Politics of Prestige: Popular Support and the Modern Presidency’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 18(4), 741-759.

Teten, R. L. (2003). ‘Evolution of the Modern Rhetorical Presidency: Presidential Presentation and Development of the States of the Union Address’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 33(2), 333-346.

Teten, R. L. (2008). ‘The Evolution of the Rhetorical Presidency and Getting Past the Traditional/ Modern Divide’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 38(2), 308-314.

Tulis, J. K. (1987). ‘The Rhetorical Presidency’, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey Word Count Tool - A Free Word Counter Online. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2016, from http:// wordcounttools.com/ Zarefsky, D. (2004). ‘Presidential Rhetoric and the Power of Definition’, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 34(3), 607-619.

All about me? Not really. Modern presidents who communicated most frequently using the pronoun “I” were George H.W. Bush, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon and George W. Bush.

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Travis Barrett

Travis William Barrett is a fourth year political science major with an emphasis in American politics, more specifically the American presidency. Travis will graduate in June 2016 and plans to pursue a doctoral degree in American politics in hopes of becoming an esteemed presidential scholar and eventually an advisor to the President of the United States.

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U.S. – Saudi Relations: The George W. Bush Era

Thomas Davis California State Polytechnic University, Pomona A detailed analytical perspective into the foreign policy relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia during the post 9/11 George W. Bush Era has revealed that these two global powerhouses has remained steady and clandestine. The Saudi attackers on 9/11 caused conservative foreign policy such as the Patriot Act to be passed while the Saudi Monarchy simultaneously made great efforts to appear independent from U.S. influence. Domestic constituencies supported increasingly conservative policies and the rise of global conflicts such as the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict forced these two countries to have private interactions that continued to fortify the status-quo relationship of oil for security. Saudi Arabia continued to supply the United States with foreign oil, while the United States aided Saudi Arabia in its continuous quest for firearms. The literature suggests that states are inherently self-interested and despite global events, are still governed by state interest. The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia is not an aberration from the norm and will continue to prosper, even if hidden from public eyes.

T

he attacks on September 11th, 2001 were a complete shock to the United States and to the rest of the world (Bahgat, 2004). The United States citizenry would have never been able to fathom an attack that was successfully completed on American soil. There is no doubt that the United States citizenry lost their sense of security due to these atrocious attacks. As time evolved, a substantial amount of information and intelligence was gathered, this information led to a growing divide in the political alliance between Saudi Arabia and the United States of America (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Bremmer, 2004; Chanin et. al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Hoveyda 2002; Long 2004). The consensus of the intelligence concluded that 15 of the 19 attackers that orchestrated the terrorist attacks on September 11th were in fact Saudi Arabian citizens (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Bremmer, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Hoveyda, 2002). Given the

facts of the case, why did the United States continue to be allies with Saudi Arabia during the George W. Bush era?

After September 11th, The United States has established domestic policies that benefits and appeases their own constituencies, while Saudi Arabia continues to comply with U.S. demands (Al Faisal, 2013; Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2002). The United States has been synonymous with the Patriot Act, and Saudi Arabia has been making great efforts to concede to the demands of the United States in an effort to continue the relationship between the nations (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002; McCarthy, 2002). There are many areas of contention between Saudi Arabia and the United States, some of them being the policies created and enacted, the philosophy of people, and the

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U.S. – SAUDI RELATIONS: THE GEORGE W. BUSH ERA Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; McCarthy, 2002). The harsh reality is that the United States and Saudi Arabia remain important allies based on mutual interests, and the status quo relationship of trading oil for security remains the cornerstone of a fruitful and bountiful closed door relationship (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002).

United States Policy Towards Saudi Arabia Following September 11th When the United States government was enlightened by the wealth of intelligence regarding the September 11th attacks, the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States began to grow distant (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Bremmer, 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Chanin et al., 2004; Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2004). Many pieces of monumental legislation began to be passed; much of this legislation caused Saudi Arabian citizens much hardship (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004). The most prominent uniform legislation that is synonymous with the gaping divide between these two global super powers was the enactment of the United States Patriot Act (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; McCarthy, 2002).

In an effort to understand how the Patriot Act affected the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States, some scholars suggest that the historical relationship between the two countries has to be examined. Since the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the United States and Saudi Arabia had a very economically sound relationship (Bahgat, 2004). Forty subsequent years since Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration, it was clear the that the United States established a very simple agreement between them, trading oil for protection (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Gause, 2002; Long, 2004). This relationship has historically glued these two countries together, and some scholars argue that this historical relationship is now over because of the attacks on September 11th (Chanin et al., 2004; Long, 2004). Yet the grand majority of scholars and the literature suggest that the United States and Saudi Arabia will uphold the status quo relationship of oil for security (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Gause, 2002).

When the Patriot Act was passed, Saudi Arabian citizens were greatly affected (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004). The stipulations placed by the Patriot Act and other legislation such as the Bank Secretary Act began to financially constrain the

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Saudi Kingdom and it increased scrutiny in a variety of levels such as foreign financial transactions, visas, and foreign exchange students (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; McCarthy, 2002).

The major concern of the United States was foreign financial transactions as well as the state funding of non-profits along with the state funding of schools; many of the United States populace (including a large majority of legislators and political officials) accused Saudi Arabia for funding terrorist organizations through blanket non-profits and promoting terrorism through schools or mosques (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002). Although no apparent links could ever be found directly linking Saudi Arabian citizens to funding terrorist organizations, the United States had to enact policy that it felt appeased the American citizenry and secured its position as not taking any role or relationship with a sponsor of terrorism (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002).

Saudi Arabian Policy Towards the United States Following September 11th

After the attacks on September 11th, it was clear that Saudi Arabia had to take a defensive policy to the allegations and policies passed by the United Sates.

Saudi Arabia was blamed and criticized for many of the details of the attacks on September 11th, but it was also blamed for being instrumental in the formation and promotion of terrorism through state funded schools, the lack of political dissent in the kingdom, and the role of the zakat (Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002).

The attacks on September 11th caused the status quo relationship of trading oil for security between the United States and Saudi Arabia to appear to be over; in an effort to re-establish that relationship, Saudi Arabia began to adhere and cooperate with the demands of the United States (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002). Following the gripes and complaints of the United States, Saudi Arabia demonstrated a large effort to re-build trust and confidence between the two states (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002). According to Gawdat Baghat (2004) in an article titled “Saudi Arabia and the War on Terrorism,” Bahgat explains that Saudi officials tried to prove that the Saudi citizenry did not partake in the funding of terrorist organizations. Bahgat (2004) continues the article by discussing the measures and argument taken by the Saudi regime stating

96 that there were 4 main arguments presented by the Saudi officials; firstly, Saudi Arabia has a large foreign labor community, and most of the transactions that deposit their money into foreign accounts are first ran through American or European banks. Secondly, the role of the Zakat as a pillar of Islam proscribes a mandatory offering that each Muslim gives to those in need of financial help (Bahgat, 2004). Thirdly, the regime froze every single asset and blacklisted every account flagged by the United States Treasury (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004). Lastly, the Saudi kingdom implemented a series of investigations that helped prove Saudi Arabia was not funding terrorist organizations (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004).

One of the greatest policies that exemplify the willingness for Saudi Arabia to continue to be allies with the United States, which naturally reinforces the status quo relationship of oil for security, is the effort Saudi Arabia has taken to combat terrorism.

Before the attacks on September 11th, the Saudi Arabian government was known to financially support the Taliban; this was in most part due to the role of religion within the Saudi state (Bahgat, 2004; Hoveyda, 2002). After September 11th, the Saudi Arabian Monarchy began to distance itself as much as possible from organizations like the Taliban (Bahgat, 2004; Hoveyda, 2002). Saudi Arabia was also generous during the invasion of Iraq, the regime allowed the United States to establish a military base in the country, even with extreme discontent among the populace (Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Al Faisal, 2013; Long, 2004). Neither the United States nor Saudi Arabia benefit from the spread of terrorism, and President George W. Bush’s Global War on Terror has allowed the United States and Saudi Arabia to cooperate and collaborate to end terrorist threats (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Gause, 2002; Halter, 2002; Long 2002).

In a public statement offered by George W. Bush, the President announces the important role that Saudi Arabia plays in the Middle Eastern Region, and he acclaims the relationship between the two countries of being allied (Bahgat, 2003).

Areas of Contention Trading oil for security may be one of the cornerstones of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States, but there are large contentious policies, philosophies, and current events that affect the relationship between these two countries. In a broad sense, the main areas of contention between these two nations are the Patriot Act, the influential role of constituencies, and the Israeli-Palestinian

THOMAS DAVIS conflict (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; McCarthy, 2002).

As discussed earlier, the Patriot Act was one of the greatest measures taken by the United States that essentially became the model for both domestic and foreign policy in the United States, especially in its role in the U.S.-Saudi relationship (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Jervis, 2003). The Patriot Act was passed six weeks after the attacks on September 11th, and it unfastened the regulatory role of the United Sates government in areas of security (McCarthy, 2002). Some of the stipulations within the Patriot Act that adversely affected Saudi Arabian citizens were the denial of visas to students, the extended wait periods to receive visas, the creation of the TSA and their role in discriminatory check points in airports and other means of transportation, financial tracking, and the expansion of intelligence programs within the United States government (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; McCarthy, 2002).

Associated with the policies passed by the United States were the philosophies of the government in both the United States and Saudi Arabia. The attacks on September 11th were extremely influential in the introduction to the Bush Doctrine (Jentleson, 2007; Jervis 2003). Both Bruce Jentleson (2007) and Robert Jervis (2003) agree that the United Sates, under the George W. Bush administration, took a very doctrinal approach to the issues introduced by the attacks on September 11th. Jentleson (2007) argues that George W. Bush emphasized the global role of the United States as the first country to intervene or meddle in every occasion that happens on the global stage. He argues furthermore that the United States has to recede from its hegemonic or uni-polar role in the international system to one of inclusion of the global powers (Jentleson, 2007). With Jentleson (2007) arguing that the role of the United States has always been one of intervention and force, Robert Jervis (2003) argues that the very role of the United States in other affairs has only been increased and re-enforced by the Bush Doctrine. Jervis (2003) argues that there are pillars within the Bush Doctrine; first, the doctrine calls for the spread of democracy.

Secondly, the United States is continually threatened by terrorism and it must implement a preventive role in the international system (Jervis, 2003). The Bush Doctrine has introduced a greater effort to prevent terrorism with greater force and that is exactly what Jentleson (2007) argues should be avoided because of the exclusionary nature of the policies the Bush Doctrine adopts.

U.S. – SAUDI RELATIONS: THE GEORGE W. BUSH ERA In the country of Saudi Arabia, the philosophy has been one of victimization, but also one of spreading ideals within the region (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Hoveyda, 2002). The victimization comes in the form of the predatory policies passed by the United States, such as the expansion of the Global War on Terror and most especially the Patriot Act (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Gause, 2004; McCarthy, 2002). The predatory policies adopted by Saudi Arabia are actually fundamental catalysts in spreading inflammatory ideals within the region. Saudi Arabia is synonymous with the Sunni religion, more emphatically; they are synonymous with the spread of the Wahhabi tradition, a state religion that aims to abide to the original nature of the Quran (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Gause, 2004; Grasiowski, 2014; Lee, 2013). Saudi Arabia has a vested interest in the spread of their Sunni religion, which is exemplified by the backing of Palestine but also the financial support it provides to the Taliban (Bahgat, 2004; Gause, 2004). This has caused countries like the United States to increase scrutiny on the country in areas such as the financial sector, which has led the country to concede to U.S. demands at the price of receiving large discontent with their domestic constituency (Al Faisal, 2013; Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2002).

As the most influential area of contention, the role of constituencies within each country has greatly affected the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia (Al Faisal, 2013; Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2002). Each individual has a distinct idea of what the policy of their country should follow, the United States and Saudi Arabia are no exception to this. Clifford Chanin and Gregory Gause (2004) document a summit in which dignitaries from both the United States and Saudi Arabia discuss the current state of U.S.-Saudi relations, and how they could be improved. One of the largest recurring themes in the summit is the role constituencies play in forming policy (Chanin et al., 2004).

Scholars across the field agree that the citizenry in both countries significantly shape the relationship between the two countries, this being exemplified by the passage of the Patriot Act, but also exemplified by the increasing contempt amongst the Saudi citizenry that pushed the Saudi Monarchy to reduce their relations with the United States (Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2002). With the increased anti-western sentiment of the public in Saudi Arabia and the increased anti-Saudi sentiment in the United States that

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consistently grew from the September 11th attacks, there has been an increased area of contention for the relations between the two countries (Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2002).

By extension, the role of the constituencies has even affected large complex global political issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2006; Cordesman, 2006). The summit between the United States and Saudi Arabia documents the heated debate over the issue of Palestine, each of these two countries taking opposite sides; the United States strongly supports Israel, while Saudi Arabia strongly supports a sovereign Palestinian state (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2006; Cordesman, 2006). Although each country supports opposite regimes in the conflict, Saudi Arabia recognizes that the United States can be very influential in the solution to the conflict, but if it were to help Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian people, the American citizenry would be extremely unhappy and Israel would be infuriated, so the issue remains a tempestuous area of the relationship (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2006; Cordesman, 2006).

Reality U.S.-Saudi relations during the George W. Bush era has been very much surrounded by the global issue of terrorism and the announcement of the Global War on Terror (Hoveyda, 2002; Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Jentleson, 2007; Robert, 2003). The scholars emphasize that September 11th placed a strain on the relationship between the two countries, however there is not much evidence to support this claim.

When looking at the imports of oil from Saudi Arabia, it is clear that the United States has not in any form changed its imports of Saudi oil (Energy Information Administration, 2015). Saudi Arabia continues to be one of the largest consumers of weaponry in the world, and the United States has continually provided a steady and consistent supply (Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2002; Harjani, 2015). It is clear that the status quo has been very well sustained even during the turbulent years during and after September 11th (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002).

For decades, the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States has been synonymous with the trade of oil for security (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004). According to the Energy Information Administration (2015), the United States consistently imports thousands of barrels per

98 day from Saudi Arabia, a number that has not gone down at all since the attacks on September 11th. This signifies quite strongly that the United States and Saudi continue the status quo relationship and base their relationship on mutual benefit rather than on public opinion (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Cordesman, 2006; Gause, 2002; Hoveyda, 2002).

The Saudi military is tiny, it cannot protect itself from countries like Iran or Iraq (Gasiorowski, 2014), and the proliferation of terrorist organizations in the region has become a greater threat to the stability of the monarchy and the country itself, thereby forcing Saudi Arabia to continue relations with the United States. The status quo is met based on necessity with Saudi Arabia facing extremists in the region, and the United States having an insatiable appetite for oil, these countries trade freely in an effort to progress domestically and internationally.

Fereydoun Hoveyda (2002) states it best when he argues that there are never friends in politics, but rather just partners with a common interest. These two countries need each other, they are mutual partners in the war on terror and are substantially influential in the stability of the region. Saudi Arabia is the key to oil, after all, they are the largest exporter and have the largest reserves than any country in the world (Gasiorowski, 2014). The monarchy holds the key to the black gold of the Middle East and North African countries, especially with its esteemed role in the GCC (Gasiorowski, 2014). The principle in international relations is that countries are naturally self-interested and do not base their relationships on the basis of friendship, but rather that they make policies that aid them in staying in power, help them exert that power, and pursue the best policies that will serve their people (Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2002).

Scholars like Lee (2014) argue that religion, ideology, institutions, and identity are key to understanding the politics of countries, but the in depth analysis of the literature empirically shows that the relationship between nations comes down to common sense, with common sense being the creation of policy that positively benefits the government in power (Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2002). Wahhabism is manipulated through the establishments of madrasas and each Imam has his own philosophy or interpretation (tafseer) of how religion should be exercised (Gasiorowski, 2014; Hoveyda, 2002; Lee, 2014; Long, 2002). Saudi and other countries throughout the world manipulate and interpret religion to legitimize the political decisions they make (Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2002; Lee, 2014). They use these schools or madrasas to indoctrinate the polity into a certain

THOMAS DAVIS ideological perspective that aids the government in pursuing the policy it sees as most prosperous for the nation (Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2002; Lee, 2014). This is best exemplified when the United States and Saudi Arabian dignitaries discuss the increased need for “track-two diplomacy” in an effort to forego public opinion and do what is best for the country (Chanin et al., 2004).

Conclusion

U.S. – Saudi relations remain strong and the status quo is being met. September 11th sent a shock wave in the international system and is seen as a great strain on the relationship between the United Sates and Saudi Arabia, but the truth is, the relationship has always been stable and has remained so during the post 9/11 Bush Era. Oil for security remains the cornerstone of U.S. – Saudi relations (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004). Policy in the United States took a conservative strive after the attacks on September 11th, the American citizenry were very suspicious and resentful towards Saudi Arabia because of the large amount of hijackers that were Saudi citizens (Bahgat, 2003; Hoveyda, 2002). Saudi was scrutinized by the United States, but their response was not one of defense, but rather one of compliance and cooperation (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004). The Patriot Act placed a strain on the relationship, but it was met with a Saudi Arabian response of tracking financial transfers as well as allowing the United States to establish a base in the country during the invasion of Iraq (Bahgat, 2003; Bahgat, 2004; Gause, 2002; Long, 2004).

There are continued strains on the relationship of the country, which were only heightened after September 11th; however, the two countries never seemed to stop the original trade of oil for security which is exemplified by the imports of Saudi oil and the purchases of weaponry by Saudi from the United States (Energy Information Administration, 2015). Many areas of development (the Bush Doctrine, increased anti-western sentiment, and the growing debate over the Israeli-Palestine conflict) have been opportunities for these two countries to cut relations, but Hoveyda (2002) is a reminder that politics is about self-interest, it is about power, politics is about getting what is best for the country, it is not about ideals or appeasing the masses. The increased role of “track-two” policies exemplifies that government does not care about public opinion, but is rather aware that the public has no idea of what the country needs, therefore hiding relationships and agreements is the safer and less troublesome alternative (Chanin et al., 2004).

U.S. – SAUDI RELATIONS: THE GEORGE W. BUSH ERA

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Saudi Arabia is a strong ally to the United States, the Global War on Terror has increased the relationship between the two countries in the form of increased cooperation. Sharing intelligence, targeting terrorist cells, and continuing to trade oil for security has strengthened and solidified the relationship, even if it upsets the domestic constituencies (Bahgat, 2004; Chanin et al., 2004; Gause, 2004; Hoveyda, 2002; Long, 2002). In conclusion, Saudi Arabia and

the United States have built a façade of non-cooperation in an effort to appease their domestic constituencies, but the fact is that the two countries have increased their track-two politics and are increasingly influential in the continuation of the Global War on Terror. George W. Bush and King Abdullah do not benefit from terrorism, they do however benefit from oil and security.

References

Gause, F. (2002). Be Careful What You Wish for: The Future of U.S. – Saudi Relations. World Policy Journal, 19(1), 37-50.

Halter, K. (2002). U.S.-Saudi Relations: Views From the Kingdom. (Waging Peace). Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 21(3), 91.

Harjani, A. (2015, March 8). World’s Top Weapons importer Now in Middle East. Retrieved May 5, 2015, From http://www. cnbc.com/id/102486802 Hoveyda, F. (2002). Saudi Arabia: Friend or Foe?.

American Foreign Policy Interests, 24(6), 491-504.

Jentleson, B. (2007). Americas Global Role After Bush. Survival (London, England) [H. W. Wilson – SSA]. 49(3), 179.

Jervis, R. (2003). Understanding the Bush Doctrine. Political Science Quarterly, 118(3), 365- 388.

Lee, R. (2014). Religion and Politics in the Middle East: Identity, Ideology, Institutions, and Attitudes (Second ed., pp. 1-360). Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.

Long, D. (2004). US-Saudi Relations: Evolution, Current Conditions, and Future Prospects.

Mediterranean Quarterly, 15(3), 24-37.

McCarthy, M. (2002). U.S.A. Patriot Act. Harvard Journal on Legislation, 39(2), 435-453.

Al Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, T. (2013). Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Policy. Middle East Policy, 20(4), 37-44.

Bahgat, G. (2003). Oil and Militant Islam: Strains on U.S. – Saudi Relations. World Affairs, 165(3), 115-122.

Bahgat, G. (2004). Saudi Arabia and the War on Terrorism. Arab Studies Quarterly, 26 (1), 5163.

Bremmer, I. (2004). The Saudi Paradox. World Policy Journal 21(3), 23-30.

Chanin, C. & Gause, F. (2004). U.S. –Saudi Relations: A Rocky Road. Middle East Policy, 11(4), 26-36.

Cordesman, A. (2006). Saudi Arabia: Friend of Foe in the War on Terror?. Middle East Policy, 13(1), 28-41.

Energy Information Administration, U.S.. (2015, April 29). U.S. Imports from Saudi Arabia of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products. Retrieved May, 8 2015, From http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTIMUSSA2&f=M Gasiorowski, M. (2014). Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa (Seventh ed., pp. 91-120).

Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.

Former President George W. Bush and Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud enjoyed a close relastionship. Some might consider this a conflict of interest, but others consider it essential for national security.

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THOMAS DAVIS

Thomas Davis

Thomas Davis is a fourth year Political Science major who is highly invested in academia and plans to obtain a graduate degree in the near future.

Europe’s Migrant Affairs:

How Varying Factors Contribute to the Rise of Radical Party Leaders

Melissa Petersen California State Polytechnic University, Pomona This thesis examines the impact of migration on European politics through a binary logistic regression of countries within the Schengen Area from the beginning of the implementation of the Schengen Agreement in 1995 till 2014. By examining the historical and recently impactful influx of migrants streaming into and throughout the Schengen Area, I clarify the implications a growing population of foreigners has on their caretaker countries. The time period studied includes each Head of State’s migration policies and humanitarian actions aligned or unaligned with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and each country’s refugee population in three logits. Some scholars view the economy as the propelling agent for the successes of political parties, however, during mass movements of refugees, radical parties gain substantial support from both the public and opposing parties. This thesis challenges the argument that a country’s economy has the biggest influence on the public’s choice of political representatives.

Therefore, the time series logit also includes gross domestic product, unemployment percentages, year, and European Union membership. Data has been collected from archives, international polls, interviews, data reports, news media and public works. The likeliness of a radical party leader gaining enough traction to become Head of State, in many cases, results from an influx of migrants, the efficiency of a country’s asylum system and residential anti-immigration sentiment.

E

urope is more than a year into the largest migrant crisis since the Second World War. The European Union’s (EU) external border force, Frontex, monitors the different routes migrants use and the amount arriving at Europe’s borders. Frontex found that in 2015 more than 1.8 million had crossed.

The mass movement of migrants affects not only the migrants themselves but the countries where they seek refuge. Both are the living testament of photos, videos, and stories of young migrants attending schools in canvas shelters; criminal victimizations stemming from cultural differences; and protests embodying voices of outrage and horror that the rest of the world casually scrolls by in the media. With the United Nation’s (UN) calls to action, the EU’s inabil-

ity to stay united, and most countries’ antiquated system of asylum registration and refugee recognition, the issues surrounding the current and historic flood of migrants has assembled political parties and social activists for and against the acceptance of refugees.

Such opposing forces has encouraged a bureaucratic environment.

While many theorists and researchers believe in multiple causations convincing voters to become increasingly conservative, I argue that voters choose to become more conservative because of one source – the fear of societal disturbances as result of migrants.

Swedish writer, political commentator and professor of sociology Jens Rydgren (2011) has prescribed a number of theories as to why individuals support

Undergraduate Journal of Political Science, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 2016, Pp. 101–118 © 2016, Political Science Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

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102 far-right political parties. One of these theories is the ethnic competition hypothesis. In “Voting for the Radical Right in Swedish Municipalities: Social Marginality and Ethnic Competition?” Rydgren (2011) suspects that individuals support far-right political parties because they wish to reduce competition from immigrants over scarce resources such as jobs, housing and welfare benefits. Furthermore, according to this theory, support for the far-right should be higher in areas where there are more immigrants and lower-educated and lower-skilled voters who would face competition from them. In light of the current refugee crisis, history tells us that it is expected of native inhabitants to feel an innate disregard for migrants.

In spite of this assumption, the prevailing refugee crisis has upheld the anti-immigration appeal of radical parties steering voters to be more conservative in their values toward migrants.

In many cases right-leaning parties favor the slowing or halt of migration, yet in my findings, not all parties on the right side of the political line defend anti-immigration policies and not all left wing parties are necessarily pro-immigration. Hence my choice of using the label “radical” parties rather than “right wing” parties in order to stray away from the idiosyncrasies of the media as it points only to radical, right wing parties as the culprits of anti-immigration rhetoric. Due to the multitude of parties carrying a variety of unique, political agendas, it would have been inaccurate of me to assume that a conservative, religiously-based, and/or capitalist party is against the migration of asylum seekers into its borders. This predicament is necessary to consider as the thesis moves forward on the discussion of party leaders’ viewpoints on migration. No matter the political association, a leader from a liberal, conservative, centrist, or extremist party faces a difficult challenge during a time of increasingly large, foreign movements and acts of terrorism.

Although the political split on refugee initiatives and human rights concerns has been a longstanding issue, terrorist attacks on caretaker countries’ soil grants further discrimination toward foreign newcomers. An event such as the Paris attacks in November 2015 exemplified the scapegoat method Europe-

MELISSA PETERSEN an’s already put on refugees. Furthermore, the suicide bombing attack in Istanbul in January 2016, or the September 11 attack in the United States persuades a patriotic consciousness in which the public’s impression of a migrant alters. In such moments, many protest that no migrant, of any kind, is believed to have the right to infiltrate European society with a foreign religion, custom or language. On the other hand, during times of despair and fear other adversaries come together with a communal understanding that the migrants who have fled war and discrimination are surely innocent from acts of such large-scale violence.

Even before the attacks in Paris, Marine Le Pen, the president of the far-right National Front party, was gaining traction by transforming the fear of Islam, migrants and open door policies into political support (Nossiter, 2015). While in anger and mourning, France, and the rest of Europe, witnessed the strengthening voice of the far-right. Seizing the opportunity to expand her appeal, Le Pen demanded a “crackdown” on Islamists in the country while succeeding to force the main center-right party to adopt a stronger anti-immigration stance and convincing President Francois Hollande, a Socialist, to subsequently adopt her radical agenda (Nossiter, 2015). In another part of Europe, a surge of people volunteered to open the doors to their homes in pursuance of fulfilling the detrimental needs of refugees. “Fluchtlinge Wilkommen”, or Refugees Welcome, is a German housing organization that has created a skeletal replica of the well-known housing rental company “Airbnb”. Al Jazeera’s Humanitarian Crises section states that to accommodate refugees without fully depending on the government’s housing methods, Jonas Kakoschke found a way to welcome refugees into German households (2015). All in all, this takes cultural integration to a new level. Refugees integrate with the German culture, and the Germans form an understanding of the refugees’ cultural beliefs, yet German politicians are beginning to question the timetable of this assimilation continuing.

It is worth detailing historical sentiments toward refugee populations. In January 1939, well after the events of Kristallnacht, Gallup’s American Institute

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my professors for supporting my endeavors while I lived in Washington D.C., to my fellowship for advising me on my thesis topic, to my roommates who accepted my inability to enjoy the outdoors during the last couple weeks of writing and editing, to my friends who checked in on me when they knew I reached my highest level of stress, to my family who helped me research and edit, and to James for letting me rant on all things migration and my hopes in making the world a better place.

EUROPE’S MIGRANT AFFAIRS AND RISE OF RADICAL PARTY LEADERS of Public Opinion published a poll asking Americans: “should the U.S. government permit 10,000 mostly Jewish refugee children to come in from Germany?”

Turns out two-thirds of Americans said they would not take in 10,000 German Jewish refugee children (as cited in Tharoor, 2015). Ishaan Tharoor had also noted that “no matter the alarming rhetoric of [Adolf] Hitler’s fascist state…popular sentiment in Western Europe and the United States was largely indifferent to the plight of German Jews” (2015). It took decades of convincing reports and authenticated documentation before refugees from Nazism were widely perceived as genuine. Europe and the U.S. are once again in a debate over streaming refugees through their borders making it hard to ignore the mix of unveiled bigotry and sympathy echoing from the past.

The pronounced enhancement in technology from the old refugee crises till now has made a substantial mark in the way in which refugees travel and communicate. Facebook, a social media platform that has given people a voice and a place to arrange protests, currently facilitates a place for refugees to publicly share photos, videos and thoughts with their friends and foes. With refugees’ widening access to smartphones and WiFi connection, Facebook pages, like the “Zaatari refugee camp”, have the ability to give real-time updates to fellow migrants on recommended travel routes, places to sleep and reports regarding the war, border patrols and political initiatives affecting migrants. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has handed out 33,000 SIM cards to Syrians in Jordan and 85,704 solar lanterns, which are used to charge cellphones (Goldberg, 2015). Access to critical technology and finding accountability in GPS services, such as Google Maps, has reinvented the way in which refugees search for safe zones and helped pinpoint the whereabouts of family members. Additionally, the political advertisements surrounding the events of the refugee crisis has also captured the eyes of the public.

Citizens are communicating their views, notably discontent, on the influx of migrants. More specifically, Switzerland’s extremist groups have created an engaging and stream-lined campaign of ads marketing anti-immigration positions. In the months leading up to the Swiss vote on a referendum that limits the influx of foreigners, which essentially violates the European Union’s core treaties of the free movement of people, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) plastered fear-inducing posters which Barbara Stcherbatcheff of Newsweek describes them to be depicting a black, menacing apple tree with tentacle-like roots crushing Switzerland into little pieces, with the accompanying message: “Excessiveness harms! Stop mass immi-

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gration” (2014). Likewise, the SVP’s former anti-immigrant campaign illustrates white sheep kicking black and yellow sheep out of Switzerland and black crows pecking at the country (Stcherbatcheff, 2014).

Xenophobic rhetoric also prevails in television ads.

Producer David Vaverčák oversaw an ad for “HYZA vs Imigranti” in May of 2015 portraying a “Slovak family rejecting foreign and diseased chickens, opting instead for well-bred domestic chicken” (Frej, 2015). Such rhetoric is also prevalent in the mindset of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Prime Minister Fico is convinced that “migrants arriving in Europe do not want to stay in Slovakia. They do not have a base for their religion here, their relatives, they would run away anyway” (Frej, 2015). To understand the grand scheme of the effects migration crises are having on European countries, including the heightening developments of politics, culturally mixed communities, and unfamiliar economic values the thesis will use a time series logit and follow with pertinent explanations to answer the following: What factors of Europe’s migrant affairs mobilize radically political agendas?

Literature Review It has become apparent that throughout European history an influx of migrants crossing Europe’s borders has caused an increase of support for radical parties. The once anti-semitic and racist morale of Europe’s 20th century parties has grown into today’s anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant radical parties. This facet of Europe’s political party system capitalizes on its hip bigotry. Unlike years before, in this day in age it is unacceptable to discriminate Jews and blacks; yet on the contrary, the push for policies defending anti-Muslim sentiment is quite easily accepted. These instances of minority groups being discriminated by political figures and public backlash is resolved, in many cases, by either the course of time or a source of collective, humane efforts declaring the rights of the particular targeted group. Although party leaders usually affirm an informal agreement in order to halt the progressive stigmatization of unique sets of people based on his or her religion, ethnicity, and cultural beliefs, the first wave of cultural animosity produced

by European citizens and politicians is in most cases unstoppable and virtually inevitable.

Research and scholarship educates its audiences on the clash of cultural beliefs between immigrants and European citizens during European migrant crises. However, there has not been enough discussion on the crisis’ relational boost of radical followers as the fear of job loss, fundamental rights and social

104 inequality seize the minds of concerned voters. This thesis does not include an in-depth list of literature on alternative factors influencing voters’ opinion to vote either left or right. This thesis investigates the rise of radical and extremist parties that are dependent upon the European migrant crisis. As such, it is unnecessary to list and address every element of the political agendas and policy plans conceived by various political parties. A thorough examination contingent of the impending European migrant crisis and its effect on right wing party support is, therefore, the concentration for this thesis as literature recognizes the European migrant crisis as a broad inclusion influencing both cultural and economic issues (Pew Research Center, 2014).

The following literature review examines three themes of research reports and scholarship. The first category prioritizes the development of anti-immigrant sentiment and policy adjustments as a result of new, cultural identities. Additionally, a look into the digital use of right wing parties (Simpson & Druxes, 2015) provides a level of political influence unexamined by works of previous crises due to the lack of technological infrastructure. The literature review in the second category investigates public backlash.

Public opinion has been an influential element in western governments’ inability to successfully integrate refugees. Because the public has become an effective broadcaster of right wing party beliefs, this category includes designated polls on the subject of the historical and current migrant crises. The third category examines the challenges of humanitarian aid during a period in which caretaker countries and its citizens lose faith in foreigners’ ability to integrate into a society unlike their homeland.

Right Wing Policies and Strategies Disabling Cultural Integration The amount of public controversy linked to Muslims in Europe has become increasingly overwhelming. Nielsen (2015, p. 374) highlights the period of the “Danish cartoons of the Prophet”, the “burqa bans in Belgium and France”, and the “regulations in two Austrian provinces [preventing] the building of minarets” as a time where controversies were “limited in their effects” and scope. Now, controversies are merging into a transnational European phenomenon. It is the international community’s duty to integrate and recognize Muslims as a normal part of society, yet Europe’s contradictory legal discussion on freedom of expression, “civility” and “common decency” has granted the removal of visible mosques

MELISSA PETERSEN and religious practices (Nielsen 2015, p. 375). Such discussion must be furthered with scholarship on the interaction of Islamic militancy, new forms of European nationalism, and racism and ethno-pluralism.

However, there is an assortment of scholarship on the deeper historical parallels of migration, such as Safran’s (1986, p. 99) comparison of “post-war Muslim migration northward from the Middle East and North Africa with the prewar Jewish immigration westward from Poland, Russia and Romania.” Underlying values, social relations, customs and overall outlooks differ significantly among civilizations (Huntington, 1998), thus such a comparison is “analytically useful because it points…to the existence of universal patterns in the relationship between immigrant and host society and to the importance of time and context in shaping such relationships” (Safran, 1986, p. 99).

Unlike a majority of literature, Huntington’s (1997) analysis explains the major difference of politics and economic development deeply rooted in contrasting cultures. This type of realization validates Bach’s (1986) attempt to examine the economic progress of new immigrant groups and members of the capitalist class born into an industrial state. Therefore, the literature presumes that when Muslim immigrants enter Western societies, unfamiliar economic interests will begin to shift the host country’s economic development (Bach 1986 & Huntington 1997). Other than the fear of reduced occupational opportunities, there is an uneasiness on the integration of newcomers as they may alter a nation’s one dimensional economy into a multicultural economy.

The social and cultural changes in response to immigration has raised a political storm between right and left wing parties. Although a large portion of literature considers the economy to be the staple of political discussion between liberal and conservative parties, Art (2011) expresses an alternative staple — anti-immigration. Art (2011) argues that the “dominance of economic issues across Europe in 2008 [did not] allow radical right parties to play their strengths”, and as a result, they have taken the opportunity to address a culturally, sensitive issue that offers an emotional appeal (p. 134). This is evident in French workers’ sympathy to the xenophobia of the French National Front (FN) and opposition to FN leader Marine Le Pen’s proposed management of the French economy (Art, 2011). The maneuvering within radical right wing parties’ political agenda plays a significant role in Adams and Somer-Topcu’s (2009) study on the policy adjustment by parties in response to rival parties’ policy shifts in post-war democracies. The relationship between parties’ policy agendas during a period of panic and resolution

EUROPE’S MIGRANT AFFAIRS AND RISE OF RADICAL PARTY LEADERS heightens the intensity of party system dynamics and political representation (Adams & Somer-Topcu, 2009). For instance, in a period reeking with anti-foreign sentiment, party dynamics enter a mode of either accepting cultural diversity or escaping the threat of cultural diversity (Semyonov, Raijman, & Gorodzeisky. 2007). Semyonov’s et al. (2007) work, and the extension of it by Wilkes, Guppy, and Farris, identifies the intensity of anti-foreign sentiment in “places where the size of the out-group population is relatively large and where economic conditions are relatively suppressed” from 1988 to 2000 (p. 841).

Within a similar time period of research, Koopman, Michalowski, and Waibel (2012) produce original data on ten European countries from 1980 to 2000 and found no evidence of cross-national convergence. Citizenship rights were once inclusive, yet in 2002 a stagnation occurred. Immigrants are not born into the political community of their country of destination, therefore it is expected of states to formulate rules and conditions for how immigrants can acquire rights (Koopman et al., 2012; Bach, 1986). However, the electoral mechanisms of long-standing policy traditions have permitted right wing parties to slowly, yet ultimately reverse the aspiring liberalizations of the immigrant electorate (Koopman, et al., 2012).

Media coverage on political party tactics is a newer element in academia. Lara Mazurski’s contribution to Digital Media Strategies of the Far Right in Europe and the United States, “Right-Wing Campaign Strategies in Sweden”, unveils the campaign advertisement of the Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden Democrats, SD) during the 2010 parliamentary election. According to Mazurski, the “advertisement associated immigration and Islam with the economic failings of Swedish society” thus energizing a “new embodiment of Swedish identity” and a conceptualization of “‘the Other’” (Simpson & Druxes, 2015, p.

10). The arrival of social networking accelerates the format of new radical right groups and allows rightwing activists to organize around an anti-immigration agenda that authorizes pushback on the increase of migration flows and rejection of multiculturalism (Simpson & Druxes, 2015; Art, 2011). Being that the European migrant crisis has taken up extensive media coverage throughout news sources and social media platforms, the connection millennials have with their social media accounts, such as Facebook, and the groups and organizations they decide to follow, plays a key role in the development of political party engagement and feedback (McCorkindale, DiStaso, & Sisco, 2013). While radical right wing blogs, opinion sites, and social media accounts feed the populists’ outrage of contemporary changes in their home-

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land, topics like the building of mosques in Germany, the burqa or the headscarf, and the erosion of immigrants’ citizenship rights will cause further resistance and rejection of European assimilation with foreign immigrants of non-western values (McCorkindale, et al., 2013; Koopman, 2012; Simpson & Druxes, 2015).

Public Backlash

The European migrant crisis has rallied public backlash in favor of right wing ideologies. Europeans have become decreasingly supportive of refugees entering their borders (Pew Research Center, 2014; “Islam in Europe”, 2015), thus making them the biggest promoters of the radical right. According to Pew Research Center (2014), “many [European Union nations] believe that immigrants do not want to adopt their new country’s customs and ways of life, and many think immigrants are taking jobs away from native-born citizens” (Most Support Limiting Immigration section, para. 2). This is especially prevalent among the public in Italy, Germany and France (Pew Research Center, 2014). Savage (2004) appeals to a formal commitment agreed upon by both Europeans and Muslims to facilitate a prosperous relationship that does not undermine the dignity of Europe’s collective identity and Islamic communities.

Furthermore, Savage (2004, p. 25-26) breaks down the “European-Islamic nexus” as a collection of new phenomena which includes, “the rise of terrorism; the emergence of a new anti-Semitism; the shift of established European political parties to the right; the recalibration of European national political calculations; additional complications for achieving an ever closer European Union; and a refocusing, if not a reformulation, of European foreign policy.” The European Union’s (EU) complex bureaucratic processes and the European Parliament’s undemocratic nature has paved a path for right wing extremists (Polychronious, 2009, p. 28). The rise of extremist ideologies is a mirror image of Europeans’ disregard for voting in the EU election demonstrated by an abstention rate of more than 55 per cent in total across EU member states (Polychronious, 2009, p. 28-29).

A survey design on public opinion paired with a deliberate explanation as to why the public came to their conclusions, equips crisis observers with viewpoints of those personally affected. This is especially evident in the research methods and polling reports of Rubinstein (1997), “Islam in Europe” (2015), Wilheim (2015), Blinder (2015), Pew Research Center (2014), Wike (2014), International Organization for Migration (2015), and Esipova, Publiese, and Ray (2015). Rubinstein (1997) showcases the American

106 publics’ anti-immigration sentiment during preWorld War II through polls. This study coincides with Wike’s (2014) research on anti-immigrant and anti-minority sentiments, especially felt on the political right. Wike (2014) notes, “in Germany and France, respondents who place themselves on the right side of the political spectrum are more than twice as likely as those on the left to say they have an unfavorable opinion of Muslims” (para. 7). Wilheim (2015) strengthens Wike’s (2014) results with a more intimate study focused on the views of over one thousand Germans. The first part of the study focuses on the participants’ personal opinions concerning the increased number of refugees entering Germany and an evaluation of their personal level of engagement, such as donations or time spent volunteering (Wilheim, 2015). The second part covers an evaluation of Germany’s role in addressing the refugee crisis verses that of the EU or United Nations (UN), and an opinion on how peace in Syria could be reinstated (Wilheim, 2015). Wilheim’s (2015) key findings included: 51 per cent of the population thinks that Germany should host fewer refugees than it does momentarily; almost one-half of the population thinks that hosting refugees will have a negative impact on the German economy (47%) and culture (50%) and over one-half of the population (52%) has never met a refugee who arrived during the current crisis.

A Humane Response to Asylum Seekers

The structure and processes of humanitarian aid is in need of a major overhaul. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) (1999) uses the public’s sour outlook of UNHCR efforts to create a forthright report describing the international community’s devaluation of humanitarian support.

The amount of time and effort made by politicians and world leaders to demonstrate humanitarian aid in places that have the most appeal, for instance dissembling the systems permitting child soldiers in Uganda and prostitution in Thailand, has become obnoxious.

Although such causes are necessary, the UNHCR (1999a) explains that the crises that gain the most attention and funding contain the “sexiest” humanitarian operations. The issue in today’s humanitarian challenges is the lack of motivation to provide stability and financial support toward the victims of conflict in any given situation (UNHCR, 1999). Unfortunately, it has come to a point in which the humanitarian system is consistently misguided or untouched, and consequently leading international assistance and relations to be ineffective (Malloch-Brown & Barder, 2015). Haavisto and Kovacs (2014) analyze how well

MELISSA PETERSEN humanitarian organizations address the expectations of sustainable aid. Although there is a pursuit for aid effectiveness, humanitarian organizations rarely publish sustainability reports (Haavisto & Koyacs, 2014). The lack of assessment on humanitarian operations places an uncontrollable hole in researcher’s study of humanitarian aid as such information is not available to analyze and evaluate. Furthermore, right wing party leaders challenge the use of humanitarian aid within their own countries and create political agendas that aim to forfeit the attention given to refugees with a simple financial donation to countries neighboring places of conflict. Without a concrete method or negotiation of a resolution benefitting both refugees and countries touching the borders of places infested with war and conflict, the European migrant crisis will continue with no avail (Stafford, 2013).

Countries that are in proximity of conflict are inheriting the unfortunate headache that follows an uncontrollable flow of refugees (UNHCR, 2014). Stafford (2013) finds that the amount of financial assistance used to support the various infrastructures and governmental coordination by neighboring countries is not enough to exterminate the barriers preventing reasonable accommodations and relief for the refugee population. More specifically, Syrian refugee camps have turned minor cities into major cities, and the strain on local communities has made it impossible to provide education, water, food, and health care (Stafford, 2013). The future cannot be predicted with certainty; however, when the former UN Under Secretary General and former Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Karen AbuZayd (2015) tells her audiences that in Syria over 220,000 have been killed, 6.5 million are internally displaced and tens of thousands have been forcibly disappeared or tortured in detention within, one can only hope that this new millennium strengthens field personnel who are willing to put themselves at risk to help refugees (UNHCR, 1999).

Literature reveals a political pattern continues to transpire in European history. In addition, literature finds that when an influx of migrants enter European borders Europe’s far right parties gain leverage in the political arena. A discussion can proceed with a close examination of the various factors of the European migrant crisis ushering in a rise in right wing party support. Considering historical references, such as the UN 1951 Refugee Convention which asserted the need for European countries to accept refugees and asylum from WWII and other war-ravaged areas, the current climate of migration issues will pronounce the ability of extremists to essentially ignore the UN’s

EUROPE’S MIGRANT AFFAIRS AND RISE OF RADICAL PARTY LEADERS call to action which is echoed in today’s European migrant crisis. On September 22, 2015, EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss the ongoing refugee and migration crisis, in what the UN cautions “may be the last chance to create a coherent repossess to end the suffering and exploitation of refugees and migrants” (UN News Centre, 2015, para. 1). The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres argues that this crisis combined with the lack of European unity is resulting in a “management mayhem” (UN News Centre, 2015, para. 2). European politicians’ tough response is largely due to radical right wing ideologies – which oppose the cultural integration, gain strength from populations hostile to the influx of migrants, and deny refugees and asylum seekers access to basic humanitarian aid.

Methodology

The time series logistic regression analysis utilizes data collected by the World Bank’s data catalog from 1995 to 2014. Statistical data for 2015 and 2016 are in progress and, therefore, not available for inclusion in my analysis. The World Bank Open Data, a free and open database allowing access to data about development in countries around the globe, provided the gross domestic product (GDP) at market price (constant U.S. dollars) calculated by the World Bank national accounts data and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development National Accounts data files, unemployment total (percentage of total labor force) curated by the International Labor Organization, and refugee population by country or territory of asylum formulated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee’s (UNHCR) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The refugee population indicator excludes asylum seekers – people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or people who are registered as asylum seekers.

The GDP and unemployment percentages variables are meant to measure any significance regarding the strengths and weaknesses of a country’s economy and its influence on anti-immigration policies.

Due to numerous scholarship identifying politicians’ economic policies as a main force in the progression or degradation of their political party, I find it is necessary to include GDP and unemployment in the logit analysis. Residents’ instinctual and collective fear has been contingent upon decreases in job availability and adjustments in their country’s economy and, thereby, underscores political parties’ transition to anti-immigration initiatives.

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The countries and years collected in my analysis are based on the countries that agreed to the terms of the Schengen Area, as well as the year the Schengen Area began in 1995. I decided to collect data on the countries of the Schengen Area because of the perpetrating challenges its Member States are facing from the influx of migrants and potential terrorists taking advantage of the dysfunctional border controls and asylum systems. The Schengen Area, also known as the Schengen zone, allows travel across Member States’ common borders without passports or customs controls. It essentially functions as a single country for international travel purposes with the cooperation of a mutual visa policy. Totaling 26 European countries, the Schengen zone encompasses 22 of the 28 EU Member States. The Schengen Area began in 1985 as the Schengen Agreement through the cooperation of five EU Member States from the European Economic Community. In 1990, the Schengen Convention implemented the Schengen Agreement and set forth a process to abolish internal border control (“The Schengen area”, n.d., p. 14). In addition, the Convention aimed to “strengthen external border checks, define procedures for issuing uniform visas, establish a Schengen Information System and take action against drug trafficking” (“The Schengen area”, n.d., p. 14). The implementation of the Agreement began on March 26, 1995 with the establishment of the Schengen Area. By 1999, the Schengen Area grew in membership and led to the integration of the Agreement into the legal framework of the EU. Considering the recent attention on the migrant crisis and the Paris attacks, Schengen Area countries have reintroduced temporary border controls. The European Commission’s report on the “Temporary Reintroduction of Border Control” explains that the “Schengen Borders Code provides Member States with the capability of temporarily reintroducing border control at the internal borders in the event that a serious threat to public policy or internal security has been established” (2016, para. 1). As a result of the migrant crisis, Denmark temporarily reintroduced border controls in the context of the events “requiring immediate action”, while Belgium, Austria, France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden have imposed controls in the context of “foreseeable events” (“Currently Temporarily” section, para. 4).

As the data is revealed, it should be duly noted that according to the UNHCR, the terms refugee and asylum seeker are often confused. The 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as someone who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is out-

108 side the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country” (UNHCR, p.14) In many cases, an asylum seeker is someone who says he or she is a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated. National asylum systems are meant to decide which asylum seekers qualify for international protection (“Asylum Seekers”, n.d., para. 2). After a properly administrated procedure, those who are judged not to be refugees, nor to be in need of any other form of protection, can be sent back to their home country. As such, the efficiency of the asylum system is critical. With a swift and fair asylum system, “people who know they are not refugees have little incentive to make a claim in the first place, thereby benefitting the home country and the refugees for whom the system is intended” (“Asylum Seekers”, n.d., para. 3). During a mass movement of refugees, the capacity to conduct individual asylum interviews for everyone who has crossed the border will never exist, nor is it even necessary due to the circumstances forcing them to flee. Such groups are “often declared ‘prima facie’ refugees” (“Asylum Seekers”, n.d., para. 4).

Throughout my readings and data searches it was apparent that the current registration processes are incapable of accurately calculating and determining not only who is an asylum seeker or refugee but a migrant worker or even terrorist. Much of the confusion is due to the fact that national asylum systems will simply depend on word of mouth and not properly share documented information across European countries. With the EU unable to reach a consensus on a successful standard formulation of best methods in refugee registration, the tallying of refugees will continue to pose a problem for the EU and its Member States, the Schengen Area and its Member States, and the electability of party leaders who oppose anti-immigration agendas.

Lastly, I categorized the political stance of each Schengen zone country’s Head of State. The political stance represents a Head’s of State voiced opinion and political actions in migrant affairs. Although a Prime Minister or Chancellor does not have the direct vote of the people, he or she is a representative of the State’s majority party which usually gains its seats by a direct public vote. By examining the beginning of the Schengen Area enactments in 1995 till 2014, I determined each Head’s of State stance on migration using the categories zero, one and two. These levels of measurement account for governments preventing refugee admissions and disregard the involvement of State action in foreigner’s societal assimilation to governments that fully welcome migrants and foster

MELISSA PETERSEN political action in human rights and cultural acceptance.

Category Zero Category zero represents Heads of State who advised an anti-immigration stance in the creation of strict migrant policies for the purpose of dismissing refugees from their borders. State leaders violating basic human rights according to Refugee International, the EU, UNHCR, and the general mission and held beliefs of the UN are also designated category zero.

Category One Category one represents leaders who welcome refugees but only through a system of equitable burden-sharing. These individuals are not particularly clear or forthright in their beliefs on migration, yet they demand that before agreeing to shelter and care for the hundreds of thousands of refugees traveling to their borders, there must be a reliable resolution amongst European countries that the influx of migrants will be shared equally. Some political leaders suggest a quota system, such as Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto of Hungary, in order to uphold a sturdy and fair means of regulation. However, in Hungary’s particular situation, a new kind of burden-sharing plan was devised by Szijjarto. In hopes of relieving Europe of the insurmountable progression of migrants, Budapest aims to implement a quota on “major players” around the world to bear some of the burden facing Hungary and all of Europe (O’Grady, 2015). Additionally, the European Commission’s plans for “permanent and binding” quotas as urged by Berlin and Brussels. The proposal applies to the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone and the EU asylum policy, which allows countries like the United Kingdom to opt out “saying it will not take part in any proposed European refugee-sharing scheme” (as cited in Traynor, 2015, para. 4). The Commission’s plan has triggered resistance by 15 of the 28 EU countries (as cited in Traynor, 2015, para. 3).

Category Two Category two includes Heads of State who welcome refugees with open arms. These leaders are open to the integration of foreigners and have taken upon themselves the responsibility to provide quality aid for refugees. Category two Heads of State include leaders like Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila offering his private home in Northern Finland (Uras, 2015) and ex-Prime Minister Antonio Guterres of

EUROPE’S MIGRANT AFFAIRS AND RISE OF RADICAL PARTY LEADERS Portugal elected to High Commissioner for Refugees by the UN General Assembly from 2005 to 2015.

While awaiting further instruction from the EU and UN, these State leaders enforce protection policies on the refugees’ behalf in order to preserve human rights and cultural harmony within society.

Results I determined the political stances through the use of international and national news articles, reports made by think tanks and distinguished news media, speeches given at UN, EU and state-wide conferences, campaign websites, and academic books and journals. The task at hand was to identify the differentiating opinions of the political leaders without being blinded by the false interpretations of the media and misleading dialogue. For instance, what the Head of State may say to their political party advisors and supporting constituents might contradict a conversation taking place among members of the UN. Ultimately, it was up to me to decide if level zero, one or two was the best fit for the political leader currently under investigation. In addition, it should be kept in mind that the data does not showcase the political gains of extremist parties. Although, in most cases, extremist party members have been unable to gain enough political stamina to achieve Head of State, they have been elected to multiple seats in a country’s parliamentary division and city government. If extremists are not earning seats, they are surely influencing the political agendas of current and potential Heads of State.

To assess the effects of GDP, unemployment, refugee population, years, and EU membership on a Head of State’s political stance concerning migration affairs, I find it appropriate to use the binary logistic regression. This political stance variable does not consist of a large range of categories. Consequently, the following results will take into account only two of the three categories of political stances in order to perform a binary logistic regression resulting in three different logits. A logit works well in this methodology as the dependent variable encompasses only two categories at a time. Moreover, the methodology features the beta coefficient (top), standard error (bottom), and identifies the significance (*) of each independent variable as it compares to the categories of political stance.

Table 1 illustrates the effect refugee population, GDP, unemployment rate, year, and EU membership has on political stance categories anti-immigration stance (0) and burden-sharing stance (1). The logit between zero and one is significant for unemploy-

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Table 1. Logit between anti-immigration stance (0) and burden-sharing stance (1)

Refugee Population GDP Unemployment Rate Year EU Membership Constant

.000 .000 .000 .000 -.104* .039 -.057* .029 4.297* 1.039 110.574* 57.149

* Indicates significance value under .05. ment rate, year and EU membership, and not significant for refugee population and GDP. The economic concerns surrounding unemployment rates could have intimidated voters into switching the political party in power. If individuals are losing jobs in a decreasingly dependable job market the blame, in many cases, is set on the current Head of State. In order to readjust the job market, voters attempt to change the party leader and sometimes succeed which can explain the stated significance for the year. Certainly, the political stances on migration correlate with the political stances on economic policies affecting unemployment rates and EU membership.

The EU expects authorities of each member country to correctly implement EU legislation into national law, and the international community and European countries look to the EU as it is a symbol of security and fiscal worth. When Member States remain compliant to the establishments and regulations of the EU, then the EU’s topical resolutions on migration and economic policy will signal to voters that there is a sense of stability amongst each Member State. On the other hand, Europe’s disjointed and arbitrary handling of the migrant crisis and the growing debate on EU

110 referendums symbolizes EU’s instability. Therefore, the EU’s contested stability in economic and migration laws influencing voters and their leader’s political stance is a cause for significance.

The beta coefficient explains that as the unemployment rate and year increase, the political stance moves from burden-sharing stance (1) to anti-immigration stance (0). This indicates that as the unemployment rate goes up, and as time moves on, the political party in power is stricter in its policies and less inclusive of foreigners moving into their country. For instance, over the course of the 20th century, Denmark of nearly six million became home to refugees and immigrants from the Soviet bloc, Balkans, and Middle East. As discussed by Edward Delman of The Atlantic, “today, immigrants and their descendants account for ten per cent of [Denmark’s] total population” (2016, para. 2). Also, having been an advocate for refugees and asylum-seekers, Denmark was one of the first countries to become a party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, and fully funds the humanitarian group Danish Refugee Council.

Even so, within 2015, 21,000 people sought asylum in Denmark causing the welfare state to respond with a series of dramatic steps aiming to dissuade migrants from entering (Delman, 2016, para. 3). At the beginning of 2016, the Danish parliament passed a bill empowering authorities to seize assets exceeding $1,450 from asylum seekers in order to help pay for the migrants’ subsistence in the country (Delman, 2016, para. 1). Over time, voters are more trusting of political leaders who believe in this manner and who are also efficient in boosting job security.

As countries become EU members, the political stance moves from anti-immigration stance (0) to burden-sharing stance (1). This demonstrates that the shift moves toward a political party that is somewhat inclusive in scope yet will agree only to terms that include a burden-sharing strategy. While in pursuance of a quota system based on the concept of equitable burden-sharing, the countries of the Schengen zone depend on EU laws and regulations to reach a consensus on overcoming the effects of migrant crises and assembling stability. However instances exist in which a non-EU member country successfully solves a crisis without the use of EU laws and regulations.

Consider the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYR Macedonia).

The FYR Macedonia was not a candidate for accession to the EU during the Kosovar refugee crisis and has still not yet entered into accession negotiations. The refugees of Kosovo generally received adequate assistance. The UNHCR’s “The Kosovo Refugee Crisis: An Independent Evaluation of UN-

MELISSA PETERSEN HCR’s Emergency Preparedness and Response” (2000) reports that the Kosovar refugee crisis came to a point of near-disaster in which the refugees were trapped at the Blace crossing point on the border between Kosovo and FYR Macedonia. FYR Macedonia was refusing to admit massive refugee flow unless it had reasonable assurance of the aid in other States.

As a result, a ‘burden-sharing program’ based on the UNHCR’s “underlying premise that protection is a common responsibility of states” (Main Conclusions section, para. 3) went into action. “Governments rather than [the] UNHCR took the initiative in these [burden-sharing] programs, particularly the United States of America [another non-EU member]” (Main Conclusions section, para. 3). The logit, along with this example, illustrates that EU membership is unnecessary to combat an anti-immigration stance.

Table 2. Logit between a burden-sharing stance (1) and welcomes refugees stance (2)

Refugee Population GDP Unemployment Rate Year EU Membership Constant

.000 .000 .000 .000 .061 .041 -.020 .026 -3.257* 1.025 43.427 52.185

* Indicates significance value under .05.

Table 2 represents the effect refugee population, GDP, unemployment rate, year, and EU membership has on political stance categories burden-sharing stance (1) and welcomes refugee stance (2). The logit between one and two is significant for only EU membership.

EUROPE’S MIGRANT AFFAIRS AND RISE OF RADICAL PARTY LEADERS It is important to define a separation between burden-sharing stance and welcomes refugees stance.

In all phases of European refugee policy to date, the question of sharing the burdens of refugee protection has played an important role. The Dublin Regulation of 1990 was a turning-point in the development of a European asylum policy. The Regulation established a hierarchy of criteria for identifying the Member State responsible for the examination of an asylum claim in Europe. The hierarchical criteria were based on family links followed by responsibilities assigned on the basis of the State through which the asylum seeker first entered (European Council on Refugee and Exiles, para. 1). In the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997, “the Member States agreed to jointly address important aspects of asylum and immigration policies, and draft uniform norms and procedures within five years” (Angenendt, Engler, & Schneider, 2013, p. 1). At its meeting in “Tampere in 1999, the European Council formally approved the establishment of a shared European asylum system” (Angenendt, et al., 2013, p. 1). The following two examples will further explain my reasoning in designating two seemingly similar categories into one logit.

As the Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi migrant crises became more troubling, various party leaders agreed to allow refugees into their borders. However, pressure from the EU, UN and neighboring countries may have been the true force pushing political leaders to be more willing to allow refugees to enter their country’s borders. If it was up to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta, he would not have allowed as many refugees into his borders; yet, with the promising declarations of the EU to disperse asylum seekers to other nations and to alleviate financial and housing burdens from Malta, Prime Minister Muscat was more willing to allow those seeking asylum to enter.

Secondly, the Slovenia Press Agency explains that Interior Minister Vesna Györkös Žnidar set out his case against binding quotas on EU Member States to accept refugees in the bloc via the Mediterranean (as cited in “Slovenia Opposed”, 2015). Slovenia has allied with a group of ten Central and Eastern European countries calling for voluntary quotas, while Germany and France lead a group of countries favoring binding quotas. A formula that considers the size of urban centers, existing capabilities for handling refugees, historical migration flows, and financial availability is necessary to properly apply burden-sharing measures – whether through voluntary or binding quotas – to all member countries.

Based on the negative beta-coefficient, as EU membership is fulfilled, the political stance moves from welcomes refugees stance (2) to burden-shar-

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ing stance (1). Therefore, EU member countries are more willing to agree upon a burden-sharing stance.

EU member countries depend on fellow members to share a similar burden in sheltering and assimilating refugees into European society rather than expanding open-door policies.

Table 3. Logit between a burden-sharing stance (1) and welcomes refugees stance (2)

Refugee Population GDP Unemployment Rate Year EU Membership Constant

.000 .000 .000 .000 -.027 .024 -.047* .020 .828* .259 93.144* 39.794

* Indicates significance value under .05.

Table 3 illustrates the two most distinct categories of political stance. The effect refugee population, GDP, unemployment rate, year and EU membership has on political stance categories anti-immigration stance (0) and welcomes refugees stance (2) are displayed in Table 3. The logit between zero and two is significant for GDP, year and EU membership, and not significant for refugee population and unemployment rate.

Considering that Table 3 demonstrates the most drastic logit of the three, the significance of each variable is the best indicator in resolving my thesis question. The refugee population in this logit reached the closest to a significance value under .05 unlike the previous logits. As such, this logit does show that when there is an increase in refugees entering a country, there is a developing comparison between a Head’s of

112 State political stance and their country’s refugee population. In October 2015, the far-right Freedom party of Vienna, Austria achieved a record result in a city election after concentrating its campaign on Europe’s refugee crisis. Tens of thousands of refugees had passed through Vienna throughout the progression of the campaign. Their sudden arrival prompted an outpour of sympathy and fears of rising immigration dismembering the national security of Austria. Reuters reports, “The election had increasingly become a personal contest between the mayor of 20 years, Michael Häupl, and the head of the Freedom party, Heinz-Christian Strache, who has repeatedly called for Austria to build a border fence to keep migrants out” (“Refugee crisis fuels”, para. 2). Furthermore, in February 2014, the Dutch lower house of parliament approved a controversial bill from the center-right government to expel 26,000 asylum seekers. According to BBC News, “the plans would force the failed applicants, many of whom have lived in the Netherlands for years, to leave [within] a three-year period” (2004, para. 1). The political gains in Austria and the Netherlands are two examples of the rise in radical views dominating authorities of the State. Such examples on the expansion of migration movements and boost in radical support prove that the logit and its comparison to refugee population will lead to a value closer to significance.

On the other hand, Prime Ministers of the Social Democratic party in Lithuania have made it a point to aid migrants even in increasingly delicate times of massive migration and threats of illegal immigrants.

In September 2015, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania held a debate “On the Approach of the State of Lithuania to the Refugee Crisis” which included the attendance of Social Democrat Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius and Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Antanas Linkevičius. Foreign Minister Linkevičius “pointed out 95 percent of Syrian refugees are to be regarded, under the terms of the Geneva Convention, as refugees in need of protection”, and countries like Italy, Greece and Hungary, that have set up the initial registration points, should put great focus on migration management centers (“Seimas discussed”, 2015, para. 2). In response to a recent study showing that 51 percent of residents of Lithuania would agree that Lithuania should take in refugees and 23 percent would oppose such a decision, Prime Minster Butkevičius addresses a strategic plan to bring cooperation amongst government agencies and working groups to draft a description of procedures that will serve as a basis for the thorough screening of refugees as the number of admissions increase (“Seimas discussed”, 2015). Accordingly, during a migration

MELISSA PETERSEN influx, residents are also willing to approve the governments intake of refugees.

From an economic standpoint, it was peculiar to see significance for GDP yet no significance for unemployment. Due to the many residential complaints regarding the inability to acquire jobs and with the abrupt inclusion of refugees who are assumed to diminish job security, one would think unemployment would have carried significance. The Hungarian government has taken a strong stance on the migrant numbers entering its borders by means of excluding migrants and taking on an anti-immigration approach.

The Hungarian Free Press explains Prime Minister Fidesz Viktor Orbán’s government continued to print 333 billboard-size posters reading: “If you come to Hungary, you can’t take away the jobs of Hungarians,” after activists of the Y-GEN wing of the Együtt opposition party were arrested for defacing the government’s xenophobic billboards (Adam, 2015, para.

2). In addition, the Stratfor Global Intelligence’s “Sweden’s Electoral Season Reveals Growing Concern with Immigration” (2014) report recognizes the effects growing migration and faltering economies have on major political elections.

Stratfor’s (2014) research initiates a discussion on Sweden’s newest issue during the 2014 electoral debates: growing immigration and its financial and cultural impact. Despite Sweden’s sturdy economic performance kept by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of the liberal conservative Moderate Party, the country began to move onto issues related to the violent riots shaking Stockholm’s immigrant-heavy suburbs, revealing Sweden’s struggle to integrate immigrants into mainstream society. Stratfor (2014) states that although “Swedes still largely support the idea of living in a country that is open to asylum seekers, they are [equally] worried about the economic and cultural impact of increased immigration” (para.

8). This is one of the factors driving the significant support for the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD). Garnering 5.7 percent of the Swedish Parliament votes in 2010 followed by polling at around ten percent in 2014 illustrates the SD’s new electoral weight. Prime Minister Reinfeldt said that he would continue to exclude the SD in deals on issues such as asylum and immigration, yet he seeks cooperation from them on other policy issues (Stratfor, 2014). Reinfeldt’s acknowledgement of the SD is yet another milestone in the party’s rapid growth.

The relationship between the discriminate political stances and EU membership is significant.

The recent migration crisis has supplied additional reasoning for referendums on whether to remain in the EU or not. Canadian economist, Governor of

EUROPE’S MIGRANT AFFAIRS AND RISE OF RADICAL PARTY LEADERS the Bank of England, and Chairman of the G20’s Financial Stability Board Mark Carney makes the case that EU membership delivers economic benefits because it makes the economy “open” (Kirkup, 2015).

In Carney’s view, economic benefits rest in part on EU immigrants: “It’s vital that we remain in the EU in order to go on enjoying the benefits of hundreds of thousands of foreigners coming to live and work here” (Kirkup, 2015, para. 11). Therefore, in accordance to Carney, migration has a positive impact for EU members and in assuring economic benefits.

Whether opponents like it or not, Carney appeals to the admission of migrants.

As time passes and data is made available from 2015 and 2016, the year and political stance comparison might reach a significance value below .05. The role a year plays into a political party’s agenda on migration policy holds importance as time fluctuates with various political, social and economic issues of concern. For instance, the manner in which German Chancellor Angela Merkel handles the progression of the migrant crisis, among other issues, will determine whether she will be victorious in her fourth consecutive German general election in 2017 – that is if she does not resign beforehand. Reuters (2016) finds during 2015, Merkel was plummeting in approval ratings, yet starting in February 2016, Merkel and her conservative bloc rose in voter support while the anti-immigrant far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party fell (“For the first”, 2016). Such situations in which a Head of State is winning and losing support from 2015 to 2016 as a result of the current migrant crisis cannot be fully diagnosed in the logit, because data from 2015 and 2016 are not yet available.

The GDP’s beta coefficient has a weak effect.

Despite GDP being significant, a value of .000 is not strong enough to evaluate its impact on political stance. This proves that the theorists and researchers, who believe that the GDP is the deciding factor in convincing voters to elect a radical party as the State’s majority, are misguided. Although I am unable to prove that the refugee population has a significant influence on the State leaders’ political stances, the logit does show that the push toward radicalism is not entirely due to GDP. The beta coefficient for the year reveals that as time goes on, the political stance moves from welcomes refugees stance (2) to anti-immigration stance (0). Respectively, as the years progress the refugee populations tend to increase. As a result, the evolving years emphasize the evolution of voters becoming more susceptible to radical parties, while at the

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same time the amount of refugees increase from year to year.

When countries assume membership to the EU, the political stance moves from zero to two. One of the fundamental criteria towards becoming an EU Member State is possessing “stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities” (Membership criteria section, para. 2). By assuming responsibilities of membership, the EU members of the Schengen Area have demonstrated welcoming characteristics concerning their borders, thus the beta correlation moves away from an anti-immigration stance (0) to a welcome refugees stance (2).

Throughout my research, I found barriers that may have caused some discrepancies in my analysis.

To represent the political stance, I collected the specific stances of each Head of State for each country of the Schengen Area. This led me to understand the changes in the public’s thinking based on the government’s majority party at the time, however, the data misses the rise in voter turnout for radical and extremist groups that failed to achieve Head of State.

In addition, the data is missing new extremist parties that had not been created until recently due to the migrant crisis. For instance, Finland’s Soldiers of the Odin, a new far-right citizens group, has multiplied in members as the country has become gripped with “fear and paranoia” after multiple sex assaults allegedly committed by asylum seekers on December 31, 2015 (Faiola, 2016). Furthermore, the data collected ends in 2014 and the additional numbers are not to be released until mid-2016 and mid-2017 for the years 2015 and 2016, respectively. This dilemma prevented me from analyzing changes in political agendas closer to the recent crisis. A large amount of research was put into understanding the true, distinct beliefs of political leaders. What is said during a United Nations conference may be different than what is said during a national conference. Therefore, what I came across during my research may have slight deficiencies in accuracy. I exercised judgment in determining if a particular leader was categorized as zero, one or two. To conclude, the data does not tell us who voted for the leaders or who the Heads of State represent: youth, adults, retirees, minorities, and/or social activists. Additionally, each country has its own voting dates. The voting dates may or may not coincide with migrant crises. Thus, the timing could play a major role in the electability of political parties.

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Conclusion Throughout my research, I found weaknesses in previous academia findings on the rise of Europe’s radical parties. The current and past refugee crises have changed the minds of politicians and voters which academia tends to exclude. The urgency of vulnerable migrants streaming in at alarming volume from countries engulfed in war, civil unrest and discriminatory practices places a strain on a host country’s willingness and ability to aid refugees in need of welfare and safety. Migration policies have hardened in response to the more than 1.8 million refugees entering Europe’s borders. Media coverage on the abuses committed by and toward refugees has increased.

Foreign cultures and religions have suddenly become a larger influence in European society as a result.

Muslim refugees have obtained a reputation for jihadist actions and religious delusion. These characterizing incidents, stemming from the migrant crisis, are substantially influential in a voter’s decision to choose politicians with radical political agendas over more lenient party agendas on the matters of migration and refugee assistance.

The future of the Schengen Area has been reportedly hanging in the balance as EU leaders are on the verge of agreeing to a suspension as increasingly toxic relations between countries reach alarming dimensions. According to the European Commission, the reintroduction of internal border controls within the Schengen Area will reduce EU economic output over a ten-year period between €500 billion and €1.4 trillion. In addition, the direct costs for border controls will cost between €5 billion and €18 billion annually.

As of early March, the European Commission hosted a summit addressing the intension to confront migration pressures and save the established Schengen Agreement. The Commission proposed the restoration of a fully functional Schengen system that would lift all internal border controls by the end of 2016. It also announced a pledge of €55 million to address the immediate needs of Syrian school-children in Turkey for access to formal education, and €40 million in humanitarian aid through the World Food Program and Turkish Red Crescent (“Refugee crisis”, 2016). The summit concluded with varying solutions, yet the EU’s relocation idea of a “one in, one out” migrant deal, strongly asserted by Chancellor Merkel, is proceeding in an insensitive and possibly illegal course of action according to UN officials (Rankin, 2016, para. 3). Aiming to instill self-serving policies while balancing working relations with Turkey, the EU garners increased Turkish

MELISSA PETERSEN involvement to curb the flow of refugees into Europe thereby reducing the impact radical parties have on domestic policies. Even with these developments, the direction in which European leaders and international players are moving is uncertain. Whether or not the proposed resolutions and operations are effective, the current migrant crisis, like all others, has left lifelong wounds on asylum seekers and refugees, undermined Europe’s ability to collectively resolve cultural and economic stigmas, and weakened the relationships between international entities such as the UN, EU and Schengen Area.

An anti-immigration approach in a political party’s agenda is enough to integrate extremist and nationalistic policies into society. State leaders have even sought radical politicians to aid in the creation of strong immigration policies and regulation. Overall, as discussions of anti-immigration policies gradually imbed into party agendas, Europe has seen less resistance from the usually moderate and humanistic political parties. A case in point of this political phenomena is the French Socialists’ indecisive methods in dealing with the effects of immigration, such as unemployment or inadequate welfare state benefits.

Marcus (1995) finds that the French Socialists’ strategy failed as it “quickly became clear that the real motor behind policy in this area [of immigration] was not so much the objective problems posed by immigration, but the public perception of these problems” (as cited in Williams, 2006, 104). The National Front had created an irrational fear that could not be diluted through moderate and rational policy action.

According to Michelle Hale Williams in “The Impact of Radical Right-Wing Parties in West European Democracies” the Socialist party’s tendency was inaction or to stand behind broad inclusive notions of French citizenship which does not always bode well with voters who believed the National Front configured a better answer to the problems of immigration. Minkenberg (1998) argued that the pressure to respond to the radical right prompted Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to actively contain the National Front by responding with “actions such as increased border patrols and also stopping foreigners at the border and detaining them when they carried invalid documentation for entry in 1997” (as cited in Williams, 2006, p. 104).

Europe’s radical and nationalist parties have not accumulated enough strength to form a government of their own. Nevertheless, they maneuvered their motives in way that has impacted the political agendas of moderate parties. In order to further their political evolution, radical parties must gain access to ruling alliances. Even if the majority of European

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countries are far from reaching a point of complete radicalism, the expansion of parties such as Sweden’s Social Democrats, Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland, Norway’s Progress party and France’s National Front confirms that radical parties are grow-

ing, and not only in countries that have been hit hardest by weakening GDP and unemployment rates, but by countries that have experienced the acceleration of migration movement firsthand.

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MELISSA PETERSEN

Melissa Petersen

Melissa Petersen completed her undergrad in March 2016 with a degree in political science as well as leadership experience with ASI’s Lobby Corp, the Political Science Club and award­winning National Model United Nations team. She plans to continue her work at Los Angeles City Hall, complete her graduate degree abroad in international development or public policy and finish off her career serving the United Nations with a focus in education. Thank you Cal Poly Pomona for making my aspirations possible!

Go Broncos!

Women and Terrorism: Challenging Traditional Gender Roles

Natalie Reyes California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

F

rom Jihad Jane to the Black Widow, women’s involvement in terrorism is particularly intriguing as it’s typically viewed in defiance of traditional concepts of gender. Because of men’s involvement in the majority of acts of terrorism, terrorism is associated with masculine traits such as strength, assertiveness, and dominance. Consequently, when women--whose gender is dictated by feminine qualities such as passivity, sensitivity, and submissiveness--dedicate themselves to the same acts of terrorism that men do, it raises many alarming questions. Although there is a significant difference in terms of masculinity and femininity, instead of analyzing female terrorists as merely female terrorists, I will attempt to analyze female terrorists as terrorists so that their agency and capacity to commit acts of terrorism is fully recognized. Moreover, I will examine the reasons in which women become involved, their roles in perpetrating acts of terrorism, and the media’s coverage of women involved in terrorism in order to thoroughly answer the question, “what is the significance of women’s participation in acts of terrorism?”

Without regard to gender, trying to understand the reasons that motivate terrorists to commit horrific acts of violence is complex in and of itself. Many scholars who research terrorism hypothesize that so-

cioeconomic conditions as well as psychological factors help explain why terrorists act the way they do.

In the current scope of terrorism and especially after the September, 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, “national politicians and United Nations officials were quick to identify poverty, global income inequality, unemployment, and low levels of education as key causes of terrorism” (Gottlieb 38). In a general sense, it’s easy to point to poverty as the source of the world’s overwhelming problems, and adding the issue of terrorism to the world’s list of problems prompts world leaders to take poverty more seriously. Likewise, the psychological status of terrorists concerns many who wish to identify the origins of terrorist attacks. Although most scholars typically don’t follow a “mental illness model,” the psychological background and behavior of terrorists also helps to explain their motivation to carry out attacks. Psychological damage such as trauma during childhood sometimes triggers terrorists to “see the world in a grossly unrealistic light,” which ultimately pushes them to justify their extreme violence (Mahan 13). These aspects lend us in our understanding of the motivations behind terrorist’s actions, but they are only small steps in revealing the context of terrorist motivations.

While looking at terrorist motivations irrespective of gender aids us in our understanding of terror-

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120 ism as a whole, gender still provides a vital role in grasping the reality of terrorism. Specifically, many feminist scholars use approaches such as the idea of relational autonomy to explain the motivation of women involved in terrorism (Sjoberg 72). Other scholars in the field of terrorism use already existing approaches such as the impact of traumatic events and historical context and develop them further so that they apply to women’s involvement in terrorism (Jacques 305).

The theory of relational autonomy critiques traditional concepts of autonomy. While autonomy brings up issues of self-awareness, individuality, and the ability to make decisions, autonomy as a theory also aligns itself with notions of masculinity, according to many feminist philosophers. Because masculinity stereotypes favor treating men as strong and independent and femininity stereotypes emphasize treating women as weak and dependent, the traditional view on autonomy lacks the perspective in which these stereotypes were historically used to employ oppression against women. Consequently, the first question imposed on women involved in terrorism usually wonders whether the terrorist woman or women were forced by a male authority or if they actually had the capacity to commit and plan terrorist acts themselves: “Did she do it under influence?

By ideology? To aid and abet?” (Huckerby). Yet, it’s actually almost impossible that anyone would ask a male terrorist whether they were forced by a woman to commit an act of terrorism. Thus, these questions in connection to the theory of relational autonomy indicate the important role that power relations play when trying to understand what motivates female terrorists to dedicate themselves to terrorism.

Jihad Jane In the case of Colleen LaRose, also known as “Jihad Jane,” some of the theories covering the reasons in which she became an extremist through the internet are particularly representative of the aforementioned ideas. Although LaRose certainly lived an obscure life--since she married a 32-year-old man when she was just 16 years old and dropped out of high school, she committed minor crimes such as writing bad checks, and she had a reputation as an eccentric alcoholic who talked to her cats--her background by itself does not necessitate a turn to extremist violence. Rather, according to scholars Jeffry Halverson and Amy Way, she found the online community that supported Jihad terrorism to be one of the only places where she found consolation:

NATALIE REYES The normative social structures of her troubled daily reality were subverted by the internet and the communitas she found in extremist circles that shared her scorn for American society. In this new reality, she was not only an important participant in a worldwide struggle encoded with profound transcendent status, but apparently valued romantically, which may reflect a longing for appreciation. (Halverson 143) As LaRose engaged Islamic radicalism over the internet, she found a new community that finally welcomed her, which demonstrates that her primary motive in perpetrating a terrorist attack was more personal than ideological. LaRose did not find autonomy in her marriage or other parts of her life, but she did find autonomy when she corresponded with other marginalized individuals over the internet. Ultimately, LaRose’s feelings of marginalization plus her access to an online community of radical Islamists gave her a new sense of empowerment that was not previously granted to her.

Historical Context Other than relational autonomy, looking at the historical context in connection to gender is important as well in trying to understand women’s motivations to become terrorists. As previously mentioned, gender stereotypes that place men as strong and active and women as weak and passive appear in institutions throughout history, both domestically and internationally. Further, in the case of the Black Widows of Russia, also known as Shahidka, women “joined the rebel group willingly in search of terror groups or deepening their involvement with them in response to deeply traumatic events” (Griset 240).

The Black Widows were not driven by ideology nor alienation from society like LaRose but were driven by the fact that they had witnessed the death or torture of a family member during Russia’s harsh counterterrorism campaign against Chechen separatists.

Russia as a state also conformed to gender stereotypes as they tried to garner support from Russians against the Black Widows “by telling Russians that Chechens sell their women into terrorism, and drug them to force them to carry out their missions,” even though no evidence supports their claim that women were forced to commit acts of terrorism (Sjoberg 72). Additionally, in terms of concepts of gender in the US, the Bush administration somewhat gave force to these stereotypes about gender when “in the famous ‘axis of evil’ speech, one of the things that

WOMEN AND TERRORISM separated good and evil… was how civilized people treat women – which is not to involve them in terror” (Sjoberg 72). While trying to gain support from Americans to advance the war in Iraq, this comment from George W. Bush accepts the clash of civilization theory, which believes that in this day and age, conflict will arise mainly due to a difference in culture. Nevertheless, in times of conflict such as during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, when society at large acknowledges that women have little to no agency, women will then seek ways so that society will recognize them. Empirically, most groups who experience oppression or poverty do not turn to terrorism.

However, a perceived sense of oppression, whether or not that oppression actually occurs does not matter, but the fact that a perception of oppression exists might trigger a violent response from the oppressed.

Thus, examining the historical context is significant when determining the motivating factors of a woman involved in terrorism.

Role of Participants Similar to the “why?” question that scholars in the field of terrorism try to answer, it’s also important to consider the roles of participants in terrorist groups and adding the scope of gender to those issues remains pertinent. As with many organizations who ascribe to a patriarchal point of view, even if women wish to participate, terrorist groups themselves reinforce gender stereotypes with “men [being] the planners and decision makers and the women [taking] orders” (Griset 241). Because of the prevalence of gender stereotypes, women’s roles in terrorist groups mostly keeps them on the sidelines of terrorist activity. Scholars Griset and Mahan of Terrorism in Perspective provide four main labels that identify the role of women terrorists: sympathizers, spies, warriors, and dominant forces.

Women who follow the “sympathizer” identity indirectly support acts of terrorism. “Sympathizers” observe the traditional patriarchal order. When the men of terrorist groups are busy planning, funding, and strategizing attacks, the women help them by performing domestic duties such as cooking, sewing, and being at their disposal for sex (Griset 242). Albeit their form of participation does not serve a prominent or superior role, sympathizers are “nevertheless crucial to the success of terrorist attempts to disrupt the social order” (Griset 242). Moreover, the sympathizer position challenges the myth that women participate in acts of terrorism because they are a “product of women’s liberation and feminist ideas” (Griset 247). Suggesting that women only want to take part

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in acts of terrorism because they want to overthrow the traditional way societies mandate gender roles completely fails to take into consideration the role of sympathizers.

Along the same lines as sympathizers, “spies” utilize gender stereotypes by having women participate as “decoys, messengers, intelligence gatherers, and spies” (Griset 243). Although this role is more direct than “sympathizers,” spies do not take an active role in the same manner that men of the group do when it comes to leading an attack. Spies carry out attacks through dramatic exploitation of feminine stereotypes. For instance, women will hide bombs in baby carriages or even pretend to be pregnant to disguise explosives (Griset 243). Because of gender stereotypes and the overwhelming conception that men dominate the sphere of terrorism, no one suspects women to commit terrorist acts. Accordingly, gender stereotypes work against those who counter terrorist forces as stereotypes about femininity and masculinity actually help “spies” in their terrorist attacks.

Additionally, Griset identifies a third category of participation among women terrorists: “warriors.”

Warriors, as the label suggests, play a direct role in executing the violence necessary to conduct a terrorist attack. However, while “warriors” are vital in using weapons and incendiary devices against enemies, they do not lead the group as they “seldom have any say in the policies or plans they are carrying out” (Griset 243). Ultimately, warriors signify that men of terrorist groups are committed to widening the group’s appeal, but when it comes to women having a say in their status, the leaders are reluctant.

In large contrast to the previous labels, Griset recognizes the “dominant forces” role, a small number of women involved in terrorism who become key developers of “ideology, leadership, motivation, and strategy” (Griset 243). Women rarely take on this position as a prominent leader, but when women become leaders of terrorist groups, they might bring about even more fear than a man who leads a terrorist group since “their actions are so far outside the boundaries of traditional behavior expected from women” (Griset 243). Women who act as leaders of terrorist groups, unlike sympathizers, spies, and warriors, confirm women’s sense of agency. Their leadership also differentiates them from the other groups as women who lead terrorist groups are strongly motivated by political ideology rather than personal experience. Moreover, the women who sustain “dominant forces” in a terrorist group signify the capacity of women to direct their anger with gender inequity towards militancy. Overall, the various ways women engage in terrorism shows that terrorist groups must

122 consider what role, if any, women should partake in if they wish to achieve their goal.

Media Coverage Media coverage of women in general perpetuates stereotypes about gender, and the media’s attention towards terrorism also extends those stereotypes to women involved in terrorism. As the media makes traditional gender roles apparent in its coverage of women, terrorists who adhere to those traditional roles go on to exploit them, i.e. “spies.” Further, in the same way media covers women in politics, media depicts women in terrorism with regard to their physical appearance, connection to family members, involvement due to love or romance, aggressive attitude as feminists, and cluelessness (Nacos 255).

These depictions completely undermine and overlook the reality that women in terrorism pose the same threat as their male counterparts, and the media evidently needs to take women’s contributions in terrorism more seriously.

The media’s exaggeration of physical appearance in regards to women seems the most obvious in their perpetuation of stereotypes. Since media often deems women’s involvement in terrorism more newsworthy than men’s involvement, the media also has a huge interest in the way women “look and dress” (Nacos 252). In particular, the media especially evokes feminine imagery when describing the way women terrorists look first and foremost: A newspaper article about Palestinian suicide bomber Wafra Idris began with the sentence, ‘she was an attractive, auburn haired graduate who had a love family and likes to wear sleeveless dresses and makeup.’ In another report, Idris was described as a woman with ‘long, dark hair tied back with a black-and-white keffiyeh. Another report on the wave of Palestinian women suicide bombers headlined ‘Lipstick Martyrs: A New Breed of Palestinian Terrorists.’

(Nacos 252) The examples in which media sources portray women and their value as terrorists in connection to their feminine appearance truly seems infinite.

Further, the media’s focus on women’s appearance suggests that although women terrorists participate in an “utterly male domain,” women still conform to their gender-specific role by maintaining a feminine appearance.

NATALIE REYES Likewise, the media utilizes women’s status as a wife, mother, or daughter to try to explain their involvement in acts of terrorism. In particular, when covering women terrorists, the media often emphasizes their connection to family as a partial exploration; however, this emphasis on male family members and their links to terrorist women indicate that familial relationships, marriage especially, bear more importance than other facts that could explain a woman terrorist’s motive. For example, the explicit nicknaming of the Shahidka as Black Widows symbolizes them as “vengeance-seeking widows who become a terrorist because their husband was killed by Russian troops” (Nacos 253). Further, the media and other institutions refer to the Shahidka as Black Widows to directly compare them to the black widow spider.

Black widow spiders, known for killing their mate after mating and also known for being one of the most dangerous spiders to humans, represent power and treat vengeance as a natural state of occurrence. So, in comparison to terrorism, when the media reports on the “Black Widow” women involved in terrorism it reduces their participation to a reaction to a mere personal grievance.

Another relevant framework, the involvement of women in terrorism due to love or romance, also mediates stereotypes about gender. When the news media attempts to investigate the reasons for why women participate in terrorism, they sometimes conclude that “‘women join because they admire someone in the terrorist movement’” (Nacos 254). For example, in the case of Colleen LaRose, news sources linked her enthusiasm for becoming a jihadist through the internet the same way a middle-aged woman fantasizes about finding a spouse through internet dating services. In fact, an editorial by Gwen Florio that was reproduced in several different news outlets describes LaRose as “[using] the jihadist site and others almost as a dating service… ‘like she was looking for a soul mate’” (Conway 16). While the news makes notice of women’s participating in terrorism because of love, it’s particularly quiet about men’s participating in terrorism for the exact reasons. Ultimately, the media’s depiction of women--an emphasis on appearance, family, and love--serves to mislead and undermine the significance of women in terrorism.

In conclusion, after illustrating women’s motivations, roles, and mediated outcomes of becoming involved in terrorism, the angle of gender in terrorism signifies a challenge to traditional gender stereotypes.

WOMEN AND TERRORISM

References Conway, Maura, and Lisa McInerney. “What’s Love Got to Do with It? Framing ‘Jihad Jane’ in the US Press.” Media, War & Conflict, 5.1 (2012): 6-21.

Griset, Pamala L., and Sue Mahan. “Women Terrorists.” Terrorism in Perspective. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. 239-61.

Print.

Halverson, Jeffry, and Amy Way. “The Curious Case of Colleen LaRose: Social Margins, New Media, and Online Radicalization.” Media, War & Conflict, 5.2 (2012): 139-153.

Huckerby, Jayne. “When Women Become Terrorists.”

New York Times. N.p., 21 Jan. 2015.Web.

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Jacques, Karen, and Paul J Taylor. “Male and Female Suicide Bombers: Different Sexes, Different Reasons?.” Studies in Conflict and Terroism [H.W. Wilson - SSA], 31.4 (2008): 304.

Nacos, Brigitte L. “The Portrayal of Female Terrorists in the Media: Similar Framing Patterns in the News Coverage of Women in Politics and in Terrorism.”

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 28.5 (2005): 435451. Rpt. Terrorism in Perspective. Ed. Pamala L. Griset. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. 239-61. Print.

Sjoberg, Laura. “Feminist Interrogations of Terrorism/Terrorism Studies.” International Relations, 23.1 (2009): 69-74.

The random horror engendered by acts of terrorism are almost incomprehensible, but the existence of female terrorists runs counter to assumptions about male aggression. More and more frequently, the killers turn out to be women, and their roles and motivations can vary considerably.

From left, Colleen LaRose, in a 1997 booking photo; Palestinian suicide bomber Wafra Idris; “Black Widow” 17-year-old Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova, who was a suicide bomber involved in the 2010 Moscow subway bombings; and Amanda Miller, who with husband Jared, carried out mass shootings in Las Vegas in 2014.

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NATALIE REYES

Natalie Reyes

A native of Phillips Ranch, Natalie Reyes is a fourth year undergraduate student at California Polytechnic University, Pomona. She will graduate in June 2016 with a B.A. in political science and a minor in women’s studies. With extensive experience in political campaigns and governmental affairs of the San Gabriel Valley, Natalie plans to work for the California State Legislature upon graduation. Natalie enjoys reading Sylvia Plath, eating Mexican food, and spending time with her dog.

The Athenian Representative Democracy: An Unintended Evolution

Anthony Haddox California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Athenian democracy has long been regarded as a system of direct democracy - rule by the people. Scrutinizing ancient Athenian society, however, has lead to the proposition of an alternative view; Athenian Democracy evolved into a representative system. To argue this view, we first examine Athenian history, social structure, and political institutions. Next, we perform an analysis of Plato’s The Republic, through a contemporary lens, to build an understanding of human nature, how governments are formed, and what constitutes a suitable government.

Finally, the analysis of The Republic, coupled with the findings outlined in the literature review, are applied to ancient Athens to show that the Athenian democracy evolved into a system of representation..

D

emocracy is a form of government developed by the ancient Greeks around 500-400 BC. A product of continual power struggles and changes in economic equality, democracy was a radically different system of government by which the people ruled collectively rather than a single individual or small group of individuals holding power.

After a series of conquests in Athens, democracy as a form of government was replaced, however the concept survived for several hundred years and regained prominence near the formation of the United States in the late eighteenth century. The modern concept of democracy appears to be very different than that of Athenian democracy on the surface, however it is possible that the idiosyncrasies of both forms of democracy are more similar than previously thought.

This thesis provides an alternative way of examining the concept of democracy; is it possible that Athenian democracy was unknowingly designed as a pseu-

do-representative democracy despite the outward appearance of being a direct democracy? Or does direct democracy naturally evolve into a system of representation as the population scales upwards?

Given the historical accounts of ancient Athens and the availability of knowledge about contemporary social and government institutions, we have better ability to analyze past systems. To the Athenian philosophers, the type of government they were developing was inclusive of all “essential” people.

Through the lens of contemporary social knowledge, the Athenian form of democracy was very exclusive to a certain group of individuals. This, however, does not necessarily mean that the Athenians were intentionally excluding part of the population, but it suggests that the Athenians were ignorant to their practice of democracy relative to what ideals it expressed. For instance, to be a government of the people, it follows that every sector of the population

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126 should be able to participate in government; children and slaves are excluded from this aggregation to preserve the Athenian social and economic structure.

Instead, it was the free adult male population of Athens that was allowed to take part in government and make decisions on behalf of the women and children living in their household. The power held by Athenian males over their households is akin to that of a legislative representative or a monarch, albeit in a lesser capacity. This suggests that rather than being a direct democracy, direct rule of and by the population, Athenian democracy was more aligned with representative democratic theory.

The secondary focus of this thesis is to examine the theoretical scalability of direct democracy and determine if it naturally evolves into a representative democracy. The Athenian population after the Peloponnesian War totaled 385,000 including women, children, resident aliens, and slaves; of this approximately 30,000 were Athenian citizens (Rothchild, 2007). The logistics of gathering eligible citizens to participate in governance vastly overshadows the effectiveness of direct democracy rendering the concept unusable on a large scale. One way to preserve aspects of democracy while maintaining legislative efficiency is by using a system of representation.

To develop this alternative view of Athenian democracy, this thesis will first examine the history of Athens before democracy was instituted. Subsequently, we will put into context what democracy was and how citizens were involved in governance.

To better structure our alternative view, we will look at some of the pitfalls surrounding Athenian democ-

ANTHONY HADDOX racy as it is traditionally described. Following the review of literature about Athenian democracy we will perform an analysis on Plato’s The Republic through a modern lens to arrive at a conclusion regarding our alternative view of Athenian democracy and direct democracy’s ability to function on a large scale.

Before beginning the literature review, there are several concepts and terms that must be defined to allow for clearer analysis. Solon and Kleisthenes were Athenian rulers who put fort democratic-style changes in the lead up to the formation of democracy as a system of government. Solon developed the precedent for institutions such as the Council of Five Hundred. Thucydides was a first-hand witness of Athenian life throughout the democratic period. Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War is a text in which several telling accounts of Athenian democracy occur, more notably the funeral oration of Pericles. On the subject of tyranny in regards to Athens, it must be established that the Athenian conception of tyranny dealt with a small group of individuals. Due to the political landscape of Greece in the years leading up to the implementation of democracy, the Athenians did not have much experience under the rule of a monarch. As such, many of their notions of tyrannical or malformed governments stemmed from oligarchic rule. The term polis refers to the political population of a nation, but more specifically Athens in the context of this thesis. Further definition of the polis will be elaborated upon later. Lastly, the term deme refers to a district of Athens.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents for ensuring my ability to attend and make it through college. My mother has been the biggest influence and motivation for me to pursue my degree in both Political Science and Computer Science.

The knowledge she has passed onto me throughout the years has been invaluable. Also, the sacrifices that my father made have allowed me to continue my journey through college. The time I have spent with my father has shown me the need for hard work, dedication, and the importance of following through.

I would like to thank Asa Randolph and my aunt Melissa Tarpley for making me apply to four-year universities. Without them I do not know if I would have achieved what I have so far.

I would also like to give thanks to my grandparents. They were among the generation who paved the way so that I could reach the point I am at today.

Thank you to Dr. Guerrero for the constant help and encouragement throughout the thesis process. His help was instrumental in organizing the ideas in this document.

Lastly, I would like to thank William Chiu and the Santez house.

ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY

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Literature Review

Athens Before Democracy

The concept of democracy was developed circa fifth century BC in the Greek city-state of Athens.

The premise behind democracy was that the majority of the people wielded the power of government rather than a minority of the population ruling the many. In contemporary times, it appears that the governments of developed nations claim to possess democratic tendencies as a measure of legitimacy.

Indeed, most tyrannical regimes claim to have free and fair elections, a contemporary democratic ideal, while maintaining a stranglehold on political power.

Although ideals such as free and fair elections or individual rights have become tenets of contemporary democracy, there was no such provision for elections nor was there a true concept of individual rights in ancient Athens. Because of the dichotomy between Athenian and modern democratic ideals, I pose the questions: was the original intent of the Athenians to develop the concept of direct democracy or was it actually a pseudo-representative democracy? If it was not a pseudo-representative democracy, is it possible that Athenian democracy naturally evolves into a system of representative democracy as the population of a nation scales upward?

Given the global influence of the United States, it follows that the state will attempt to continually advance its own ideals. But is it prudent to call the United States a democratic nation when it does not exhibit the democratic qualities of ancient Athens?

Rather, the focus should not be on the United States’ adaptation of democracy, but on ancient Athens.

Through deeper analysis and interpretation, it seems that Athenian democracy was not so much the rule of the people as a whole, but of a select group of people ruling from the top down, consistent with the definition of an oligarchy. I, however, see the Athenian system of democracy as a pseudo-representative form of democracy. I do not believe that it was intentional that certain groups were excluded from participating in government; in part, some of this must have been a product of a patriarchal society. To begin, this literature review will briefly examine Athens before the implementation of democracy. Following that, we will investigate some concepts surrounding Athenian democracy and the role of the citizen in government.

This discussion then leads to explaining structure of Athenian government, concluded by briefly examining some critical views of democracy

Before examining the concepts surrounding democracy, it is worth looking at the history of Athens prior to the implementation of democracy. By understanding Athenian history, it is easier to understand the motivations which helped to develop the idea of democracy. Tribal governments, economic changes, and power struggles were all factors that contributed to the development of democracy as a feasible form of government.

City-states in ancient Greece shared a rather typical system of government with that of other civilizations; Athens was a tribal government before the changes instituted by Kleisthenes in 507 BC (Held, 2006; Hansen, 1991). Athens was divided into four tribes, each of which sectioned into three ridings and several further subdivisions (Hansen, 1991). The ruling class of Athens was primarily composed of landowners and their rise to power gave way to tyrannical regimes (Held, 2006; Hansen, 1991); the words tyrannos and monarchos were synonymous words used to describe “the sole ruler who is responsible to no one other than himself, (Rosivach, 1988)� however changes in economic status for many Athenians led to shift in the balance of power favoring the small and medium-sized farmers (Held, 2006).

Tracing the redistribution of power in Athens shows the levels of instability the Athenians faced during the time period. Surrounding areas were governed by either tribal governments or monarchies. As Rosivach (1988) notes, Athenian democracy arose after the fall of the Peisistratids and other groups imposing tyrannical rule over the city-state.

Tribes evolved into aristocracies and as the families of former aristocracies were killed or expelled, there were other groups aiming to fill the vacuum of power (White, 1955). As such, the power to rule moved constantly from group to group prior to the rule of Solon and Kleisthenes. Continually shifting alliances and positive economic influences of a burgeoning slave economy led to the elevation of lower economic classes. This constant change facilitated a dissolution of the line between the rulers and the ruled. Keeping in line with this brief discussion on tyranny and the Athenian city-state, it is important to note that during the democratic period of Athens, the Athenians did not have any direct experience with a tyrannical regime; the enemy of Athens was regression into an oligarchy rather than a monarchy (Rosivach, 1988).

The eventual expulsion of tyrants from Athens did not necessarily mean the replacement of one form of government by another, bearing in mind the continual replacement ruling groups, but the opportunity for

128 the form of government already in place to function in such a way that served the interests of those other than the tyrant (Rosivach, 1988).

This brief look at Athenian history has provided some insight into the social and political landscape which produced democracy. It can be observed that a rotating control of power amongst groups contributed to the societal fear of oligarchs. An equalization of economic status, as well as a growing slave economy, allowed Athenian citizens to realign their self interests to involve more political activity. Alone, however, this does not explain how Athenian democracy may have been structured like a representative democracy. To make this connection requires analysis of Athenian democracy itself.

The Concept of Athenian Democracy The idea of self-governance was unheard of in the ancient world. As previously discussed, Athens was ruled by tribal governments prior to the rule of individuals such as Solon and Kleisthenes. Following several reforms and a revised philosophy on humans and government, democracy took hold as the preferred constitution of Athens. However, the way in which democracy functioned, as well as the ideas surrounding democracy, supports this paper’s claim of Athens being governed by a pseudo-representative democracy.

Given that the political systems in the ancient world were primarily monarchies or tribal governments, the development of democracy as a form of government was a radically new concept. According to the funeral oration of Pericles, later transcribed by Thucydides, the constitution of Athens was named a democracy, “because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people (Thucydides, 1972).” Held (2006) explains that the demos held the sovereign power to legislate and take part in judicial function, however Winton (2004) disagrees, arguing that this widely held view seems implausible. It seems that Pericles gives a unique definition of the term democracy based upon the meaning of the words kratos and demos (Winton, 2004). Rather than purely defining what democracy is, Pericles is offering a contrasting definition based upon other constitutions of the time period. The structure of monarchies and tribal governments placed power within the hands of one or several members of society. The successful function of democracy depended upon the involvement of many people in day-to-day governance (Winton, 2004). It is important to give thought to the context of phrases such as “the many” when examining the works of ancient Greeks, as well as scholars, because

ANTHONY HADDOX a dichotomy between what democracy claimed to be and what democracy actually was begins to appear.

Democracy was not just a new form of government, but a new way of thinking in regards to the role of the citizen. Because of the importance of citizen participation, there was a shift in the thought behind who was allowed to participate in government. Economic differences amongst the polis had less bearing on political participation. An increase in the economic strength of small farmers circa 500 BC aided in this shift in ideology (Held, 2006; Hornblower, 1992).

This meant that the poor Athenian citizen was not prevented from making contributions to government due to his lowly economic status (Winton, 2004).

Individuals of the polis were able to wield influence through fine oratorical skills used to communicate to mass audiences (Ober, 1993). As Pericles points out, each individual was obligated to be interested in the affairs of the state in addition to their own, for he who minded only his own business had no business in Athens at all (Thucydides, 1972). Each piece of evidence points towards the integral role of the citizen in governing the Athenian state.

As mentioned previously, power was wielded through careful use of public speech. Thucydides identified a relationship amongst public speech, facts, and power itself (Ober, 1993). In the ekklesia, an Athenian institution which will be discussed shortly, there was no way for a speaker to know the social composition of his audience in advance (Ober, 1993).

Without an individual being able to tailor their speech to the audience at hand, especially an audience the size of the ekklesia, the onus was on the orator to hone their rhetorical skills. The herald of the ekklesia would begin by asking the attendees who among them wished to speak (Kapparis, 1998) and an individual would be allowed to speak upon an issue for as long as his fellow citizens were willing to listen to him; when the members of the ekklesia grew tired of listening to a speaker they would shout him down (Ober, 1993). Taken in context with an individual’s economic status and the fact that the demographics of the ekklesia were unknown to all participants, it can be seen how the emphasis on oration and rhetoric played such an integral role in the influence of power in Athens.

A new system of governing, democracy put power in the hands of the people in an attempt to move away from the oligarchic rule of the past. Rather than being simple peons, citizens became important political actors in Athens. Due to the central role of the citizen, continuous participation of citizens became integral to the function of the state. An emphasis on deliberation led to the polis developing oratorical

ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY skills as a necessary tool in decision-making. After examining the role of the citizen, we now shift our focus to the concept of Athenian citizenship.

Athenian Citizenship With the continual use of the term and focus on the citizen, what exactly was a citizen in Athens?

Ancient Athens was a patriarchal society which gave responsibilities and rights to males; rights is being used as a general term in this instance given that the modern notion of “individual rights” cannot be directly traced back to Athens (Held, 2006). Indeed, Held (2006) and Ober (1993) explain that, “the demos consisted entirely of free adult males of strictly Athenian descent,” to the exclusion of women and foreigners. It is with this definition of the Athenian citizen that the premise behind democracy begins to fail. How can a system of government claim to be “for the many” (Winton, 2004) when in fact only 10 to 20 percent of the population living in Athens were classified as citizens during the time of Athenian democracy (Reiter, 2013)? We will continue an investigation of this question shortly.

Ober (1993) argues against the notion that democracy in Athens was fundamentally dependent upon slavery or the exclusion of women; for the purposes of guiding this discussion, I will mainly examine the argument in regards to women. Aristotle noted that an Athenian household consisted of a master and slave, husband and wife, father and children; these three types of relationships described humanity in the eyes of the Greeks (Schaps, 1974).

While there were distinct differences between free Athenian women and slaves, the lack of women in the Athenian political process corroborates the idea that a pseudo-representative democracy was the actual constitution of Athens. Schaps (1974) does say that in extreme cases women were documented as engaged in mass action, yet they were still excluded from participation in the ekklesia or the Council of Five Hundred. Rather, women were limited to mainly household duties while their husbands, fathers, or brothers were the heads of the household (Schaps, 1974). Any political decision was made not by the women, but the men. Through this we can see that the head of the household was king within the house, but a representative of the household in the ekklesia.

The adult male was the voice of the household interests and he did not always have his wife’s interests or his children’s in mind (Schaps, 1974). The argument here is that calling the Athenian democracy a government of the many is disingenuous given that another

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group of the many, specifically women, were barred from government.

Athenian Institutions Given the premise behind democracy, a possible misconception about the structure of the Athenian government would be that decisions were made by an aggregate of the polis, with no discernible institutions framing the Athenian governmental structure.

Athens, however, contained institutions comparable to those seen in contemporary times such as the popular assembly and law courts, the ekklesia and dikasteria respectively (Reiter, 2013); additionally there were positions in office which were filled by lot.

These institutions were developed in order to avoid a concentration of power among state officials (Winton, 2004).

Perhaps the most visible of the Athenian institutions, the ekklesia was regularly attended by approximately 5,000 to 8,000 citizens (Gomme, 1951; Ober, 1993) and convened over forty times per year (Held, 2006). Akin to the United States Congress, the ekklesia controlled finance, legislation, and foreign affairs, but rather than being expressly controlled by representatives, the ekklesia was controlled by regular citizens (Gomme, 1951; Held 2006).

The ekklesia contained a rather strange provision in regards to speech and its attendees. The ekklesia contained a law which gave priority to speakers over the age of fifty in debates (Kapparis, 1998). Looking back to the importance and power of public speech in Athenian society it is possible to see what sort of impact this may have had on institutional operations.

This raises a question: were the older male Athenians a more powerful force than the younger males? At first glance possibly; Kapparis (1998) explains that at the beginning of a speech given by the young Athenian Demosthenes, the speaker apologized for being the one to open debate on an issue. If we recall from our earlier discussion, members of the ekklesia would shout down a speaker if they did not want to hear him speak. Given the fact that a young person could navigate around the formalities of age with a few apologetic words, it makes sense that the Assembly moved away from these practices, a remnant of the aristocratic state of the past (Kapparis, 1998).

Another political institution of Athens was the Council of Five Hundred. The Council was the executive and preparatory body for the ekklesia, as declared by Aristotle (Hansen, 1991). There appears to be some uncertainty on the composition of the Council of Five Hundred. Some scholars say that the Council was staffed by fifty members of the ten

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ANTHONY HADDOX Critical Views of Democracy

tribes of Athens (Held, 2006), while other scholars claim that representation on the Council was based on the 139 demes, or districts (Hansen, 1991). Nevertheless, each of the members chosen to represent the tribes or demes were selected by lottery (Held, 2006). This system of representation based on tribe or deme helps to support our assertion of Athens being a pseudo-representative democracy. Rather than meeting forty times per year, the Council met every weekday and performed more day-to-day operations than that of the ekklesia. Hansen (1991) points out that the Council was more central to administrative function rather than making decisions like ekklesia.

But given that the Council met more frequently and served as a preparatory body for the ekklesia, it is difficult to accept Hansen’s statement about the Council’s decision-making. While I will not claim that the Council was the true source of power in the Athenian government without performing further research, I will propose the idea that the Council had more of an impact on politics than Hansen explains.

Citizens were selected to staff the Council of Five Hundred and other offices through the use of the lot. The use of the lot rather than elections is important to distinguish because Aristotle regarded the lot as a democratic practice and voting as oligarchic (Taylor, 2007). Taylor (2007) questions if the lot was actually democratic in its practice or if those who volunteered for the lot were only a small cross-section of society, such as the wealthy or those who lived close to the city; it appears that the latter was more likely. Wealth was an influential factor in political activity, with wealthy families represented more heavily in many areas of political life (Taylor, 2007).

Despite the attempt of democracy to equalize power, Athenian politics were riddled with corruption and bribery (Taylor, 2001). Similar to United States politics, money sped up the political process in Athens.

In a society of supposed equals, wealth held the same amount of influence on democracy as it held in aristocratic societies (Taylor, 2001).

Despite being collectively ruled by the people, Athens was controlled by several institutions on a regular basis. The Athenian assembly convened at least forty times per year and was the central decision-making body of the polis. The Council of Five Hundred set the agenda for the ekklesia and was staffed by the lot, taking on the appearance of an institution which may be attributed to a representative democracy.

Since the creation of democracy there has always been detractors to the system. The premise of democracy required large numbers of citizen participation, however the Athenians never had a full meeting of the citizen body (Carter, 1986). Thinking practically, it cannot be expected for the entire citizen body to meet. If thousands of people are expected to participate, and the ekklesia only met forty times per year, how effective can ruling and decision-making be? Hobbes’ (1975) interpretation of Thucydides was that Athens functioned best when the constitution was democratic in name, but actually a monarchy under Pericles. Other scholars viewed democracy as chaotic, mob rule, with the power of the people being too excessive (Mitford, 1838; Saxonhouse, 1993; Stanyan, 1751).

This literature review draws upon historical evidence and scholarly analysis to show that the Athenian system of democracy may have been a representative system. By examining democracy from an alternative prospective, this research allows scholarship to better draw parallels between Athenian democracy and contemporary democratic ideals. Analyzing Athenian democracy with a modern viewpoint allows for a stronger basis for interpretation because of the possibility to see the evolution of democracy in both ancient and contemporary times.

Analysis The purpose of this research is to develop an alternative way to examine Athenian democracy. This will be accomplished through logic and reasoning, examining the philosophy of Plato, and applying the knowledge to historical facts about Athens. To begin, we will lay the foundations of our reasoning by defining several key terms central to the philosophy surrounding our premise. Next, we will perform an analysis on human nature to create an understanding of human motivations. After that, the reasoning behind the formation of governments will be explained, and subsequent to this, is we will perform a deconstruction of Athenian democracy. Lastly we will expand upon how the concept of justice relates to government, later arriving at a conclusion regarding ancient Athens’ status as a pseudo-representative democracy.

Laying the Foundation Providing an alternative way of thinking about Athenian democracy is not a trivial undertaking. In order to adequately explain the reasoning, we must

ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY first clarify a few terms to allow for a more precise understanding. First we will discuss what it means when something is just and what justice is. Following that, we will define government and explain the differences between government and constitution.

It is of note that in the translation of The Republic, the word constitution is used in place of entities we would commonly call governments; later in this paper we revert back to using government rather than constitution to illustrate how constitutions are still systems of rule and simultaneously systems of government.

Individuals acting in a just manner, or an individual experiencing justice, was a major part of Athenian society, and the Athenian philosophy behind human action. Just can be defined as, “based on or behaving according to what is morally right and fair” (Just: Definition of Just in Oxford Dictionary, 2016), while justice is defined as, “just behavior or treatment” (Justice: Definition of Justice in Oxford Dictionary, 2016). The determination of what is considered “morally right” is the responsibility of society. Due to this, we must recreate the definition of just to make it applicable towards the target entity, ancient Athens. We can make the assertion that the definitions of just and justice are largely based upon reasonable individuals in a reasonable society. The determination of what is classified as reasonable, however, is also dependent upon society and the society’s cultural values.

To reinforce the necessity of societal values for determining what is reasonable, take into account the ages in which men and women marry and procreate.

“The age of consent refers to the legally defined age at which a person is no long required to obtain parental consent to get married... [and] it also refers to the age at which a person is held to have the capacity to voluntarily agree to sexual intercourse (Age of Consent Law & Legal Definition, 2016).” In the contemporary United States, the age of consent in some states is 16 years, while in others it is 18 years (Age of Consent Chart For The 50 States & D.C., 2016).

It is considered unjust to engage in sexual acts with someone younger than the age of consent. Therein lies the issue; the age of consent varies from state to state which suggests that the definition of what is just varies from state to state.

It is observable that cultural and societal values can vary amongst states even when they are bound together as a united entity in the same time period.

For instance, the grouping of states known as the “Bible Belt” possess values which are heavily influenced by the religious teachings of Christianity. Bible Belt states are generally opposed to United States progres-

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sive ideals such as same-sex marriage and abortion rights. In contrast, a state such as California is supportive of those progressive ideals; this exemplifies several states a part of the same union expressing divergent societal values. It follows that the definition of what is just in the contemporary era can contrast with that of Athens during the creation of democracy. Because of possible conflicts amongst definitions of what is just, the definition of just for the scope of this research will be, “preservation of an individual’s general well-being.” By extension, the definition of unjust will be, “damaging an individual’s general well-being.”

The term justice is as variable as the term just due to the various ways of implementing justice and the outcomes justice produces. To illustrate this point, take the following example: when a person is caught stealing an item, it would be just for the thief to return the item or pay the owner the cost of the item. The injustice in this situation is the theft of an item and the returning or reimbursement of the item’s value would be justice being served. Through the triviality of this example, we see that there are multiple ways to serve justice when an individual has suffered one unjust action. In this instance, the owner receives some sort of compensation to correct the injustice.

Now consider a different example in which an individual murders another individual. To rectify the situation, the murder could possibly be jailed, fined, or executed. Once again, there are multiple ways to serve justice in this situation, but are the outcomes equal? Once taken, a life cannot be replaced, therefore paying a fine may not cover the cost of a life.

Furthermore, executing the murderer only serves to take yet another life from society, and imprisonment can serve the same purpose for the length of imprisonment. At this point we must recall our definition of just: preservation of an individual’s general well-being. By extending the definition of just and applying it to society, we arrive at the definition of justice: the preservation of society’s function and well-being.

Justice is not necessarily about the fairness or equality of the outcome, but preserving a society and allowing it to function unimpeded. Of the ways to serve justice in the murder example, the adequate outcome of preservation is determined by the society it occurs in. By extension, the form and effectiveness of justice is determined by society.

Rather than developing a definition through reasoning, as was performed for justice, it is more useful to define government by looking at the etymology of the word. There are several evolutions of the definition, the earliest appearing in the late fourteenth century being “an act of governing or ruling

132 (Harper, 2016).” In the 1550s the definition shifted to “[a] system by which a thing is governed.” Further investigation reveals that government is an Old French word meaning “control, direction, [or] administration (Harper, 2016).” It appears that government deals with ruling and controlling the population.

Taking the same approach for the word constitution leads to an interesting conclusion. Constitution is a mid-fourteenth century word meaning “law, regulation [or] edict,” stemming from the twelfth century Old French word constitucion and the Latin word constitutionem meaning “act of settling, settled condition, anything arranged or settled upon, regulation, order, [or] ordinance (Haper, 2016).” The word later evolved in the 1730s to mean “[a] system of principles by which a community is governed (Harper, 2016).” The word constitution is concerned with laws and regulations versus government’s concern with rule. To that end, The Republic outlines several systems of principles which govern communities. For our purposes, government and constitution will be interchangeable terms. While a constitution may be an aggregation of laws, government typically creates these laws to guide society towards what it deems just.

We have developed several definitions which will facilitate our discussion on Athenian democracy.

It was shown how the definitions of just and justice are functions of the society in which they apply. This gave way to the construction of a general purpose definition for both just and justice which differ from the Oxford Dictionary definition. Subsequent to that we examined the difference between government and constitution, taking care to note that, in The Republic, the translation exclusively used constitution rather than government. This illustrated how Athenians were possibly more concerned with laws and regulations rather than ruling the populous. Now that these terms are defined, the foundation of our argument has been formed. The next task is to explain human nature to better understand some of the motivations behind human actions.

Human Nature An investigation into human nature must be conducted to adequately analyze the evolution of Athenian government. Government is controlled, and given legitimacy to, by the people within its sphere of influence. Given this fact, a government will take on the form and function of the persons who control it.

Subsequently, society’s reception of said government is based upon the competing natures of the rulers and the ruled. There are several claims from Plato’s The

ANTHONY HADDOX Republic about human nature which do not provide a realistic representation of what is observable in the real world, however they will allow us to construct a model which will ultimately help explain the disparity between the function of ancient Athenian democracy and the purported ideals of democracy. This section will provide counterpoints to Plato’s claims to create a more realistic portrayal of human nature and tendencies.

“Surely then, no doctor, to the extent that he is a doctor, considers or enjoins what is advantageous for himself, but what is advantageous for his patient? ... Doesn’t it follow that a ship’s captain and ruler won’t consider and enjoin what is advantageous for a captain, but what is advantageous for a sailor and his subject (Morgan, 2005)?”

In this excerpt, Plato holds a rather optimistic view of human nature. The premise of this point is that when a person enters a profession, they will conduct themselves in such a way that the outcomes of their actions are of no benefit to them; the captain commands the ship for the advantage of their crew.

The premise holds to be partially true in the fact that there is a reason behind every human action, voluntary or involuntary. Plato’s view, however, neglects to account for a person’s want for gratification. It is reasonable to believe that for every action, there is a personal stake in the matter. In the case of ruling, the possible outcomes are numerous: power, wealth, honor, glory, influence over society, to identify a few.

It is optimistic, yet unreasonable, to expect people to rule for the advantage of the people rather than for some advantage of their own. Even the end goal of helping one’s fellow humans can provide positive self-fulfillment to the “soul”.

“But do you think that those who rule cities - the ones who are truly rulers - rule willingly?... But, Thrasymachus, don’t you realize that in other kinds of rule there is no willing ruler? On the contrary, they demand to be paid on the assumption that their ruling will benefit not themselves, but their subjects... And doesn’t wage-earning provide us with wages, since that is what it is capable of doing?... would you call wage-earning medicine, even if someone becomes healthy while earning wages? ... We are agreed then, aren’t we, that each craft brings its own special benefit?” Each [craft] does its own work and benefits that with which it deals. ... no

ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY type of craft or rule provides what is beneficial for itself; but as we have been saying for some time, it provides and enjoins what is beneficial for its subject, and aims at what is advantageous for it - the subject... no one chooses to rule voluntarily and take on other people’s troubles in hand and straighten them out, but each asks for wages (Morgan, 2005).”

In this instance, Plato is continuing to work based off of the assumption of a perfect world, or that the men in his examples are just. While he does draw examples from the real world, Plato seemingly does not apply his theories to real world scenarios. Plato implies that one action leads to one outcome; he says that wage-earning provides wages and then goes on to connect wage-earning and medicine in a way that asserts wage-earning is equal to practicing medicine.

The mistake in Plato’s reasoning is not exploring the converse: practicing medicine is equal to wage earning.

In order to do something that does not immediately contribute to survival, such as hunting, gathering, or farming, it takes will or some other form of motivation. The doctor does not practice medicine for no reason. The doctor receives something from the completion of the task, be it happiness, fulfillment, or even profit. Simultaneously, the patient receives good health and well-being from the doctor’s treatment. This shows that a craft benefits both the craftsman and its subject, contrary to the philosophy of Plato. Similarly for those who rule, there is a component of willingness which influences their decision to continue ruling. Rulers possess an interest in the well-being of their subjects and the territory they control, consistent with Plato’s reasoning. However, in addition to concern about territory and the city’s inhabitants, rulers enjoy the benefits of their position.

We have already established that there are positive outcomes of ruling that directly benefit the ruler. It follows that those in power will do what is necessary to preserve the benefits that result from being the ruler, thereby providing what is beneficial for the ruler. “... no one, it seems, would be so incorruptible that he would stay on the path of justice, or bring himself to keep away from other people’s possessions and not touch them, when he could take whatever he wanted from the marketplace with impunity, go into people’s houses and have sex with anyone he wished, kill or release from prison anyone he wished, and do all the oth-

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er things that would make him like a god among humans (Morgan, 2005).”

Humans are subject to temptation and tend to travel the path of least resistance when given the opportunity. This view on human nature is supported by some of the unjust actions taken by people who come into power, more notably those who build tyrannical regimes. When some individuals experience power they commit injustice against other members of society. The ends which power can provide can tempt individuals to commit unjust actions they otherwise may not have. This raises the question, how do we quell this temptation? One way to do so is to remove the opportunities for the consolidation of power. By diffusing the amount of power an individual can posses, the opportunities for individuals to wield power in an unjust manner decrease.

What has been described is essentially a democratic system; power dispersed into the hands of many people. The issue with spreading power amongst the populous is when the population begins to scale upwards, power becomes vastly diluted. The typical citizen is likely to not regularly use their power or want to take the necessary steps to use their power. Participation is an integral part of the democratic system, however there are opportunity costs associated with participation. To maintain focus on the more pressing matters in their life, disinterested citizens will relinquish this power to another individual, letting them make decisions on their behalf as best they can. Even if a citizen does not formally allow another to make decisions for them, lack of participation in a democratic system is equal to relinquishing power. This lack of participation and decision-making on the behalf of others leads to a redistribution of power. This redistribution is akin to a system of representation. “... we are not all born alike. On the contrary, each of us differs somewhat in nature from the others, one being suited to one job, another to another (Morgan, 2005).” In general, people are naturally suited for certain tasks. Whether or not this is a measure of human nature or if it is a product of a person’s environment is debatable and beyond the scope of this research. A person who correctly and consistently performs an action will become better at that action; no person starts as a master of their craft. It takes years of work for the mastery of a skill, and even with years of practice some people reach a plateau while others continue to improve. Applying this to ancient Athens, those who were able to devote more time to honing their oratorical skills and participating in the ekklesia would develop more skills in governance. Those with other obligations, or areas in their life which required

134 more time and attention, would stagnate in their skills of governance. For those who did not regularly participate, it is conceivable that the skills required for use in the ekklesia would deteriorate. Based upon information found in the literature review, the ekklesia was not heavily frequented. Although we cannot determine who exactly attended the ekklesia or at what frequency, it is reasonable to expect attendance primarily by the higher skilled individuals. This supports Plato’s claim of individuals being suited to one job.

“But isn’t it of the greatest importance that warfare be carried out well? Or is fighting a war so easy that a farmer, a shoemaker, or any other artisan can be a soldier at the same time, even though no one can become so much as good as a checkers player or dice player if he considers it only as a sideline and does not practice it from childhood (Morgan, 2005)?”

The question Plato raises in this case also pertains to ruling. How can one be good at governance if it is not one’s every day profession? We previously examined Plato’s claim of individuals being better suited to certain tasks compared to other people. This question is an extension of that claim. It is reasonable to assert that Athenian citizens had other professions outside of the societal expectation of participating in government. Those professions were the livelihoods of those citizens. It follows that those citizens, if not supplemented by another source of wealth or income, would devote a much greater portion of their attention to their profession. Contrary to the beliefs of Athenian society, it is not reasonable for every person to have a stake in politics. Rather, the only probable interest these citizens would have in politics is in legislation that adversely affects their livelihoods or way of life.

Understanding human nature is an integral part of analyzing Athenian democracy. Dissecting some of Plato’s philosophy regarding humans proved a prudent place to begin. We began by showing that humans perform actions for the end of a form of gratification. Furthermore, these actions require some form of motivation in order for an individual to perform them. When humans gain an appreciable amount of power, they are subject to temptation and corruption because of this power which leads to tyranny, in the case of ruling. After this we showed that humans are diverse creatures and are naturally suited to different tasks, however they can become proficient at a task given enough time and practice. In the case of

ANTHONY HADDOX governing, not all individuals are suited and therefore tend to become disinterested in the political process unless legislation directly affected their livelihoods.

Forming Government First the discussion will cover how cities come to exist; government requires an entity in need of rule.

After that, the discussion will shift to why governments are necessary. To aid in the discussion, we will develop a hypothetical model which helps explain the need for government. Next, the discussion will refer back to The Republic to explain the purpose that government fulfills and government’s role regarding citizens.

“Well, then, a city comes to exist, I believe, because none of us is individually self-sufficient, but each has many needs he cannot satisfy (Morgan, 2005).” The basis of a city is bringing together people to provide good and services. One person cannot possibly provide everything needed for sustenance and live a comfortable life. As such, people will take on specialist roles to promote efficiency. If someone is not capable of a profession, it follows that they would choose another. That being said, let us apply this to human nature and government.

Contrary to Plato’s belief that people are naturally suited for one and only one task, humans can learn to do several things proficiently. Proficiency amongst abilities is not mutually exclusive. To determine if a person is capable of a task, they must experience some training in the area, as well as perform the task itself. It follows that those who excel at a task will be come well known and overshadow those with lesser ability. This does not necessarily preclude those with lesser ability from continuing to practice the skill.

Reintroducing government into the equation, people with experience and proficiency governing will overshadow the less experienced and less capable.

The lesser experienced will still be able to govern, possibly deferring to their betters in some situations.

Taking into account the structure of Athenian government, older members had more experience and more power. Athenian society functioned under the expectation that everyone was to participate in government. But from what we have discussed, we know that not everyone is capable of governance, and of those that are capable, not all share the same level of proficiency. This may have led to a system of deference towards elders and good orators, evident by the findings in the literature review.

“In fact, that is why the craft of medicine has been discovered - because a body is deficient and it is not satisfactory for it to be like that (Morgan,

ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY 2005).” Extending Plato’s logic, government has been discovered and implemented because individualistic tendencies are not satisfactory. We previously discussed why cities are necessary, and the formation of governments follows a similar line of reasoning.

Issues can arise when people function independently of one another, or even when people come together as a city. Can society trust the interested parties to settle disputes on their own? In certain situations, yes, disputes can be reasonably resolved. But in other situations, such as matters of justice, it is not always feasible for the parties to resolve the situation in a just manner without the aid of an impartial mediator.

Let us apply this reasoning to a hypothetical city, starting with a population of ten people. Being individualistic, while potentially problematic, is not necessarily detrimental to the well-being of society.

Resources and goods will be relatively plentiful given the population size. Those who formed families will not have any notable obstacles in terms of claiming land other than the energy required to work and maintain the land. While some professions require more work than others, ostensibly everyone will face similar hardships. Less disparity amongst the populous regarding standard of living will lower the chances of individuals performing injustice towards one another.

Now, let us revisit the city when the population has grown to one hundred citizens. Due to specialization in various areas, some individuals will have a comparatively high standard of living to other individuals. There will be more competition for resources, with wealthier individuals more able to acquire the resources they need. Additionally, those people with higher standards of living will conceivably exert less effort to maintain their way of life. More people and more possessions affords more opportunities for injustice, and subsequently more severe types of injustice. This brings us to another excerpt from The Republic.

“Doesn’t it follow that medicine does not consider what is advantageous for medicine, but for the body (Morgan, 2005)?” We can conceptualize government as the medicine and society as the body; government is the medicine for society. On the subject of medicine, it is created to cure a specific illness, regardless of its form. We know that some medicines have side effects, and these side effects can manifest differently in different people. While some of these side effects are not noteworthy, other side effects can seem to rival or even trump the illness. In our case, we are looking at democracy as the medicine for Athenian society. Democracy was the cure to the previous illnesses experienced by the Athenians - oli-

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garchy and tyranny. The Athenian democracy has an identifiable side effect; rather than being the rule of all of the people, the way democracy was intended to function, only a few people actually wielded power. “... those who have done and suffered injustice and who have tasted both - the ones who lack the power to do it and avoid suffering it - decide that it is profitable to come to an agreement with each other neither to do injustice nor to suffer it. As a result, they begin to make laws and covenants; and what the law commands, they call lawful and just.

That, they say, is the origin and very being of justice (Morgan, 2005).”

Government can be conceptualized simply as an agreement; government is a contract amongst citizens. People form governments to benefit the whole of society, which is evident through earlier examples.

It is much more difficult for injustice to go unpunished if there is a collective agreement on what is or is not considered to be just. To gain a better understanding, examine government and justice from a different view. If citizens believe a current society or government is performing injustice, they will seek ways to subvert or replace it. In the case of Athens, democracy replaced oligarchy. Bearing in mind that the entire concept of democracy was new and radical, it is reasonable to believe that the Athenians were not completely willing to change the entire system. To maintain a sense of familiarity with government, it is conceivable that when developing democracy, the Athenians retained some of the oligarchic tendencies of the past.

Deconstructing Government We have discussed human nature and some of the reasoning behind why individuals come together to form government. At this point we will shift our focus to deconstructing government. Through this deconstruction we arrive at the crux of one of our arguments; the natural evolution of a direct democracy is a representative democracy. Furthermore, we will apply the results of the deconstruction to ancient Athens. “... I think we should adopt the method of investigation that we would use if, lacking keen eyesight, we were told to identify small letters from a distance, and then notice that the same letters existed elsewhere in a larger size and on a larger surface (Morgan, 2005).” Through Socrates, Plato performs a particularly effective experiment in which he attempts

136 to explain how a government comes to fruition by working on a smaller scale. Plato outlines the factors which affect a person who would subsequently go on to form certain types of governments. Working in a smaller scale allows for an easier understanding of concepts. We will replicate this experiment, albeit in a slightly different capacity.

A city is a modular unit formed, from largest module to smallest module, by districts, communities, and families. Several families come together to form a community, communities to form a district, and districts to finally form a city. To begin, consider a family consisting of a mother, a father, several children, and a handful of servants, to keep consistency with the Athenian family structure. Given that Athens was a patriarchal society, the father would be the figurehead, the king of the family, responsible for the decisions which would affect the standard of living of the household. The mother would be in charge of the well-being of the children, and the servants would be tasked with day-to-day upkeep of the family property.

Previously we discussed how cities are formed; individuals come together because it eases the burden of providing for oneself. Taking the next step in building this city, consider several families coming together to form a community. Recalling how each family possesses a king, we are confronted with the issue of multiple kings to rule one community. There are three ways the community can resolve the issue of who should rule: a member of the community can assume kingship, the more powerful families, in terms of wealth, can assume control, or each head of household can collectively rule the community. The first option is unlikely in a community with a small number of families; the risks outweigh the returns of a power struggle in a small community. After the elimination of a single king, two options remain: oligarchy and democracy. However, in this case the use of democracy is suspect. The contemporary definition democracy posits a rule by all citizens. But given that the fathers of families are the decision makers, their role shifts from king to representative, and democracy would then transition towards representative democracy.

Expanding the scale of this example once more, multiple communities would come together to form a district, or perhaps even a small city. At this point in the venture, the city would be very resistant to a change in the form of government. Unless an individual is able to mobilize enough resources to secure a monopoly on power and become king, the city would remain as a functioning oligarchy or representative democracy. Through this example, it is an observable

ANTHONY HADDOX phenomenon of how a city is the sum of its parts and mirrors its foundations.

By applying the results of this example, we can see the progression of ancient Athens. Surrounding cities at the time were either tribal governments, managed by elders, or monarchies, controlled by kings. In the case of Athens, the tribes evolved into aristocracies which created the foundation for future Athenian government. Although there were power struggles and new ruling families put into place, the government remained oligarchic in nature. It was not until there was a sufficient upset to the status quo, a restructuring of Athenian economic classes coupled with continuous power struggles, that the oligarchy was supplanted with democracy. However, with regards to both this example and the example in the Forming Government section, we see that it was highly unlikely that Athens was able to remain a true direct democracy. The growing population of Athens would have prohibited the participation of all citizens; recall the fact that a citizen was an adult Athenian male. Given the limitation of direct democracy due to population size, Athens would have evolved into a large-scale representative democracy. Consistent with Rosivach (1988), the government changed to serve the interests of those other than the tyrant the former aristocracy.

Justice Following our example on how government evolves, it is helpful to reintroduce the concept of justice into government. Justice is a major factor in why people come together to form both cities and governments. By further elaborating on what justice is and how it affects society, we can gain a better understanding of the evolution of Athenian constitutions.

The following excerpts from The Republic cover tyranny in regards to justice, the power of injustice, and the fallibility of rulers and lawmaking. “... tyranny... uses covert means and force to appropriate the property of others...

When someone appropriates the possessions of the citizens, on the other hand, and then kidnaps and enslaves the possessors as well, instead of these shameful names he is called happy and blessed: not only by the citizens themselves, but even by all who learn that he has committed the whole of injustice.

For it is not the fear of doing injustice, but of suffering it, that elicits the reproaches of those who revile in justice. So you see, Socrates, injustice, if it is on a large enough

ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY scale, is stronger, freer, and more masterful than justice (Morgan, 2005).”

Plato has Thrasymachus play the devil’s advocate in regards to tyranny and injustice in this excerpt. In a tyrannical system of government, if a ruler, or rulers, is able to perpetrate injustice on a large enough scale, they can suppress any sort of resistance by the ruled and retain all of the privileges that power affords. Additionally, by holding so much power, tyrants are able to garner seemingly positive praise from both citizens and those outside of their sphere of influence. Because of this, those who commit injustice are fearful. Tyrants do not fear committing injustice, as it can provide for them the things they want, but they fear suffering some of the same types of injustice they perpetrate.

“Apparently, then, [the power of injustice] is such that whenever it comes to exist in something - whether in a city, a family, an army, or anything else whatsoever - it makes that thing, first of all, incapable of acting in concert with itself, because of the faction and difference it creates; and, second of all, an enemy to itself... (Morgan, 2005)” Justice is an underlying principle which helps preserve the good in society. Injustice holds such a power that it becomes a corrupting influence when it is present, slowly undoing the good that justice provides. When a person is just, it naturally follows that they commit just actions. Furthermore, just actions tend to create good outcomes. When a person has unjust tendencies, these tendencies can overpower their just tendencies and actions. By nature, injustice has the ability to divide the populous and create factions; injustice affects everyone differently and it is in human nature to gravitate towards those who share similar interests. Multiple opposing factions can lead to government becoming its own enemy.

“Each type of rule makes laws that are advantageous for itself... And so by legislating, each declares that what is just for its subjects is what is advantageous for itself the ruler- and punishes anyone who deviates from this as lawless and unjust... and are the rulers in each city infallible, or are they liable to error? So, when they attempt to make laws, they make some correctly, others incorrectly (Morgan, 2005).”

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Plato’s claim supports our assertion that the definition of just is based upon society. It is unreasonable to believe that every law, constitution, or government will be just. Because the views of society evolve with the passage of time, creating long lasting just laws is an unpredictable action. For example, take the Jim Crow laws following the reconstruction era of the southern United States, leading into the mid 1960’s. The Jim Crow laws were deemed to be just by a majority of the political leaders and the Caucasian population of the southern states. However, those who were oppressed by the laws as well as some other Americans felt the Jim Crow laws to be unjust. Southern society created laws that were advantageous for those in power, consistent with Plato’s words. It took a century for the Jim Crow laws to be unraveled, parallel with shifting societal views, however there remain individuals who believe the laws were justified.

With the premise behind democracy requiring vast citizen participation, it can be argued that those who led the shift from oligarchy to democracy made errors in their judgment. We have established that on a large enough scale, direct democracy becomes unfeasible; by society placing the onus on all citizens to participate, those who did not or could not participate are, in some capacity, unjust. But given the historical evidence of participation in the ekklesia, it is possible that society made a shift towards representation without having to openly replace their constitution. Recalling the connection between medicine and government, democracy was the medicine to oligarchy, and representative democracy was the subsequent medicine to the large scale direct democracy of Athens.

Connecting the Dots After looking at several critical areas, we are finally able to complete our new way to examine democracy. At the onset of this research, we took a look at literature surrounding historical Athens. Following this, the research explained how democracy became the government of Athens. It was established that government revolved around citizens and their participation in Athenian institutions; who was considered to be a citizen in Athens was defined. At the end of the literature review, we briefly discussed some critical views of democracy which helped to show how direct democracy on a large scale was impractical.

After the literature review we began laying the foundations of our argument by defining several terms. By defining these terms we were able to develop an understanding which would later help facilitate our discussion. Next we examined human nature to

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show what motivated their actions. Following this we discussed why cities and governments are formed, and subsequently ways how government may evolve.

Lastly, we performed a cursory investigation on how justice affects government and how this may have influenced Athenian government. We will now connect the evidence to determine if Athens was a pseudo-representative democracy and direct democracy evolves into a system of representation.

It is a necessity for individuals to form cities.

Self-sufficiency is only sustainable on small scales; when a society hopes to grow, people must choose areas to specialize in. Our analysis of human nature shows that some individuals are naturally suited for certain tasks, and by professions being distributed among the population, individuals are able to determine their natural task with little negative effect on their way of life.

At this point, we see that when society comes together, problems begin to arise. Some professions are more profitable than others; the doctor will likely acquire more wealth than the baker due to the differences in difficulty of their skill sets. By extension, those individuals who are more wealthy are able to pursue more avenues of gratification and have more means to commit injustice. This inherent power they possess can at times augment their need for gratification and increase their propensity for injustice. Recalling Athens before democracy, the oligarchs were those propagating injustice and the Athenians sought to remove their power. The remedy the Athenians developed for oligarchy was a diffusion of power through democracy.

We explored, through hypothetical examples, how government forms and evolves. Families congregate to form communities, which later form districts, and subsequently form cities. When this model is applied to ancient Greece, specifically Athens, we see a similar type of formation. Families formed the original four tribes. These tribes eventually formed the demes which composed the Athenian city-state.

When Athens reached the size of a city-state, the tribes became the oligarchs. This maintains consistency with our model. Our model states that people form oligarchies or democratic systems when the families come together to form communities. In this instance,

the tribes consolidated power for themselves rather than collective decision-making. Further consistent with our model and our discussions on justice, the Athenians later diffused power through democracy.

Recalling our example on government formation, at a certain population size, a democratic form of government must evolve into a system of representation. The initial Athenian democracy quite possibly was a direct democracy. Population growth means more people can participate, but does not mean they will. An individual’s personal matters require more attention, leaving them with little to no ability to govern, as may be evident by ekklesia attendance numbers. Not participating in a direct democracy, by nature, concedes power to other people; the concept of democracy is predicated on widespread participation.

Additionally, individuals may have possessed trusted friends or associates speak at the ekklesia on their behalf, recalling the emphasis on oratorical ability.

Furthermore, a patriarchal society and slave economy meant that women, children, and slaves had a default representative - the head of household.

Applying all of these results yields an interesting conclusion. It does not appear that Athens designed democracy as a pseudo-representative system. Given the prior ruling systems of Athens and their motivations for political change, the Athenians seem to have intended and expected widespread participation by the citizenry. Women and foreigners were not allowed to participate in ruling is a reflection of Athenian societal values, rather than intentional exclusion.

Consistent with our examples, it appears that Athens did, however, evolve into a system of representation.

Furthermore, looking towards modern democracies we see that they are all based upon representation and elections rather than total citizen participation.

Citizens can generally participate through electing officials or running for office. Modern society is more complex and more interconnected, making direct democracy impractical. Therefore, our newly developed view on democracy is as follows: on the small scale, democracy is a viable form of government. When a population grows and the differences amongst citizens become more apparent, democracy must evolve into a system of representation in order to efficiently remain as the government of society.

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Plato discusses the nature of humanity and governence with Aristotle in this detail from Raphael’s The School of Athens, 1509-1511.

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ANTHONY HADDOX

Anthony Haddox

Anthony Wayne Haddox is a sixth year double majoring in political science and computer science. His expected graduation date is June 2017. After graduating, he plans to enter the technology sector as a software engineer.

C.P.P. UNDERGRADUATE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

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ORGANIZATIONS THE POLITICAL SCIENCE CLUB Established in 2005, the Political Science Club represents Political Science majors and those who enjoy politics. The club publicizes career opportunities for the major, offers post-graduate advising, provides a forum to discuss political matters, and contributes the betterment of the campus and surrounding communities. Meetings are held weekly on Thursdays at U-Hour (12:00 PM to 12:50 PM) in Building 5 Room 138.

»» Poli Sci Club Executive Board 2015-2016

»» Mock Trial Team 2015-2016

New members are always welcome!

MOCK TRIAL The Cal Poly Pomona Mock Trial team is an organization that brings interested students together to simulate the practice of law in a mock trial. The organization competes at multiple tournaments against schools from across the country.

Through trial simulations, the Mock Trial Team not only allows students to participate in an organization unlike any other on campus, but it also allows students to develop public speaking and critical thinking skills. In order to participate students must take the prerequisite PLS 308 and PLS 308 Activity courses where they will learn the basics of trial advocacy and they will have the opportunity to be invited to participate based off in-class participation and work product.

NATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS (NMUN) »» NMUN Team 2015-2016

The Cal Poly Pomona NMUN team is a prestigious, awardwinning organization where students interested in the field of international relations come together to simulate the United Nations. Students will be assigned an UN committee and act as delegates for the assigned country. In NMUN, students hone in their research, writing, public speaking, and diplomacy skills through class exercises and NMUN simulations. NMUN offers students the opportunity to meet their peers from across the country and the world at the NMUN NY conference which is usually held in late March.

Interested students can apply to join the NMUN team through an application which is available during fall quarter and go through an interview process. Once selected, students are required to sign up for a class during winter quarter.