Date of Award

Summer 8-2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Committee Chair

Robert Pauly

Committee Chair Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Committee Member 2

David Butler

Committee Member 2 Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Committee Member 3

Tom Lansford

Committee Member 3 Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Committee Member 4

Joseph St. Marie

Committee Member 4 Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

Abstract

This dissertation used a comparative case study strategy employing a mixed methods thematic content analysis approach1 to explore U.S. government support for Second Amendment freedoms as compared to other freedoms in the U.S. Bill of Rights in American-led state-building projects in Cuba (1898-1901), Germany (1945-1949), and Iraq (2003-2005). The dissertation tested for Republican and Democratic political party support regarding Second Amendment freedoms in U.S. state-building projects. Findings from the three case studies showed that the American government did not support individual arms rights in its state-building efforts as it did with the other nine Bill of Rights freedoms. Findings showed support by the Republican and Democratic parties for all Bill of Rights freedoms with the exception of Second Amendment freedoms.

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1Researchers have used other names, such as summative content analysis of text, for the identification of themes or major ideas in documents; see John Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed-Methods Approaches, 3rd ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications: 2009); John Creswell and Vicki Clark, Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2007), 67- 69, for more information on the nested or embedded approach and page 12 for more information on defining mixed methods using content analysis. Although this dissertation is focusing on the qualitative nature of the evidence, quantitative steps of data collection and analysis, which is historically linked to content analysis, will be included. The quantitative data for this dissertation will be descriptive in nature with no regression analysis.

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