2020 Graduate Student Publications

Voluntary leadership and the emergence of institutions for self-governance

Avery Lord — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:24:48 +0000

Voluntary leadership and the emergence of institutions for self-governance Avery Lord Thu, 06/18/2026 - 11:24

Voluntary leadership and the emergence of institutions for self-governance

By: Krister P Andersson, Kimberlee Chang, Adriana Molina-Garzón

Abstract:

Strong local institutions are important for the successful governance of common-pool resources (CPRs), but why do such institutions emerge in the first place and why do they sometimes not emerge at all? We argue that voluntary local leaders play an important role in the initiation of self-governance institutions because such leaders can directly affect local users’ perceived costs and benefits associated with self-rule. Drawing on recent work on leadership in organizational behavior, we propose that voluntary leaders can facilitate a cooperative process of local rule creation by exhibiting unselfish behavior and leading by example. We posit that such forms of leadership are particularly important when resource users are weakly motivated to act collectively, such as when confronted with “creeping” environmental problems. We test these ideas by using observations from a laboratory-in-the-field experiment with 128 users of forest commons in Bolivia and Uganda. We find that participants’ agreement to create new rules was significantly stronger in group rounds where voluntary, unselfish leaders were present. We show that unselfish leadership actions make the biggest difference for rule creation under high levels of uncertainty, such as when the resource is in subtle decline and intragroup communication sparse.

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Rejecting representation? Party systems and popular support for referendums in Europe

Avery Lord — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:00:30 +0000

Rejecting representation? Party systems and popular support for referendums in Europe Avery Lord Thu, 06/18/2026 - 11:00

Rejecting representation? Party systems and popular support for referendums in Europe

By: Brett R Bessen

Abstract:

Under what conditions do citizens favor deciding political issues by popular vote? Models of support for popular vote processes usually consider the influence of individual attitudes such as political trust and interest in politics. But much less is known about the effect of institutional variables on support for popular vote processes. This article builds on research showing that disaffection with elected officials shapes support for referendums by considering the influence of the party system. First, an analysis of multilevel data from twenty-four European democracies indicates that individuals are more supportive of referendums in countries with fewer effective political parties. Second, a mediation analysis provides evidence that the number of parties influences referendum support through individual-level political trust and external efficacy. Where there are fewer viable parties, feelings that elected officials are unresponsive tend to increase popular support for referendums. These findings suggest a trade-off between available representation by political parties and support for direct influence over public policy.

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A Social and Cultural History of the Great Pueblo Flood of 1921, Its Aftermath, and Its Legacy

Avery Lord — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:40:40 +0000

A Social and Cultural History of the Great Pueblo Flood of 1921, Its Aftermath, and Its Legacy Avery Lord Wed, 06/17/2026 - 13:40

A Social and Cultural History of the Great Pueblo Flood of 1921, Its Aftermath, and Its Legacy

By: Jonathan A Cohen

Abstract:

In June of 1921, a devastating flood hit the city of Pueblo, Colorado. Though the flood physical devastation and story have been well documented, historians have never been able to accurately count the number of people who perished during the event, with low-end estimates of just under a hundred individuals while the highest estimates claim up to 1,500 deaths. This paper, while originally intending to indicate a more precise range of casualties, has concluded three important new findings regarding this event. First, archives of those who were reported missing in the local newspaper have been consolidated into a spreadsheet to form a list of over 600 individuals who were likely victims of the flood. To the author knowledge, no such list has previously been compiled. Second, many of those listed as missing had their physical addresses included, and these have been cross-referenced with Google Maps™ mapping service to paint a larger path of devastation than has been previously reported. Third, two of the communities that were reported to have widespread devastation from the flood make up very few of those reported as missing, leading to an assertion that the numbers of victims are very likely under-reported. While the reasons for this remain unclear, it does indicate a high likelihood that the Great Flood of 1921 in Pueblo was the most deadly in Colorado history, and perhaps one of the most deadly in United States’ history.

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SSRN Research Paper: The American Foreign Policy in the Middle East: A Geopolitical Transformative Change

Avery Lord — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:33:22 +0000

SSRN Research Paper: The American Foreign Policy in the Middle East: A Geopolitical Transformative Change Avery Lord Wed, 06/17/2026 - 13:33

SSRN Research Paper: The American Foreign Policy in the Middle East: A Geopolitical Transformative Change

By: Dania Arayssi

Abstract:

The paper is examining the U.S Foreign policy toward the Middle East, in particular toward Iran and Saudi Arabia, in the light of the Iranian attack on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in September 2019. The paper is providing a historical evaluation for the bilateral relationship between the United States and Iran and between the United States and Saudi. Then, the paper is analyzing the tremendous shift in U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East and U.S. allies, explaining the possible reasons behind the alteration. Besides, the paper analyzes from the political theory standpoint the different approaches used by U.S. administrations to contain Iran nuclear program. The paper used the comparative-analysis methodology to build a conclusion on the transformation in the foreign policy of Washington, D.C, toward the Middle East, mainly toward Saudi Arabia.

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The Socio-Economic Development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Gender Inequality Index and Policy Recommendation

Avery Lord — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:28:31 +0000

The Socio-Economic Development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Gender Inequality Index and Policy Recommendation Avery Lord Wed, 06/17/2026 - 13:28

The socio-economic development of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia: gender inequality index and policy recommendation

By: Dania Arayssi

Abstract:

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is experiencing a dilemma since 2005. The dilemma is between the modernization of its social system underscoring the importance of gender equity in the community, particularly for women and girls, while facing the traditional, conservative norms and values that undermine the women's capacity to engage in society with men. Since 2005, Saudi Arabia has embarked on the modernization routes for its rules and policies to create more economic, social, and civil opportunities for women to be actively engaged in the community. In the paper, we will explore the relationship between the legal reforms that occurred in Saudi Arabia regarding women's rights and their impact on Saudi Arabia's Gender Inequality Index (GII). Understanding the relationship will build a comprehensive understanding of Saudi Arabia's capacity to achieve comprehensive sustainability for the society known by Saudi Arabia Vision 2030. The project relies on quantitative and qualitative meta-analyze research methods to assess data and build conclusions.

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The Developing Countries: Challenges in the Global Economy

Avery Lord — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:26:17 +0000

The Developing Countries: Challenges in the Global Economy Avery Lord Wed, 06/17/2026 - 13:26

The developing countries: Challenges in the global economy

By: Dania Arayssi

Abstract:

The growth of the global economy and the increasing complexity in the international trade raised questions about the competitiveness capacity of the developing countries and the ability to integrate efficiently into the global economy, given the challenges and the difficulties experienced.

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Voluntary leadership and the emergence of institutions for self-governance

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 22:30:26 +0000

Voluntary leadership and the emergence of institutions for self-governance Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/16/2020 - 16:30

By: Krister Andersson, Kimberlee Chang, Adriana Molina-Garzon

Publication Date: October 2020

Abstract:

Read it here!

Also, CU Today published a press release about the article that you can read here!

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War, Inequality, and Taxation

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 16:24:29 +0000

War, Inequality, and Taxation Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/07/2020 - 10:24

Dalton C. Dorr and Adrian J. Shin. "War, Inequality, and Taxation." Forthcoming at Economics and Politics

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Linking Gender, Language, and Partisanship: Developing a Database of Masculine and Feminine Words

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 16:22:55 +0000

Linking Gender, Language, and Partisanship: Developing a Database of Masculine and Feminine Words Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/07/2020 - 10:22

Damon C. Roberts and Stephen M. Utych. 2020. “Linking Gender, Language, and Partisanship: Developing a Database of Masculine and Feminine Words.” Political Research Quarterly, 73(1): 40–50. DOI: 10.1177/1065912919874883.

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Rejecting representation? Party systems and popular support for referendums in Europe

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 22:57:46 +0000

Rejecting representation? Party systems and popular support for referendums in Europe Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/06/2020 - 16:57

Bessen, Brett R. "Rejecting representation? Party systems and popular support for referendums in Europe." Electoral Studies 68 (2020): 102219

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