Student Research Topics

Many political science majors have worked with Dr. John Gamble on his Comprehensive Statistical Database of Multilateral Treaties project, and several of those students have presented papers with Dr. Gamble at international conferences and have co-authored articles in peer-reviewed journals of international law.

Many majors have also been Schreyer Scholars, who have written honors theses on a variety of topics with all of our faculty members. Some of their topics in recent years have included:

American Politics

  • State Government Takeovers of Failing School Districts
  • Criminal Disenfranchisement
  • The Role of Regionalism in American Foreign Policy
  • The Constitutional Right of Privacy
  • Land Claims Disputes among Native American Tribes in Western New York
  • Affirmative Action Policies at Public University Law Schools
  • The PATRIOT Act
  • American Ethnic Groups and U.S. Foreign Policy

Comparative Politics

  • Ethnic Politics in Botswana
  • Government and NGO policy solutions to the Environmental Protection of Lake Victoria (Africa)
  • The Political and Social Integration of Hong Kong and China
  • American and Dutch Health Care: Similar Values, Different Implementation
  • Kurdistan: An Unrealized Dream
  • The Netherlands and the United Kingdom: Perspectives on Their Roles within the European Union
  • A Comparison of Margaret Thatcher’s and Tony Blair’s Policies and Positions Toward the Increasingly Powerful European Union

International Relations

  • Border Conflicts among Soviet Successor States
  • The Effectiveness of U.S. Foreign Policy in the Persian Gulf War
  • The Gender Wage Gap as a World Indicator of the Political, Social, and Economic Progress on the Issue of Gender Equality
  • Children’s Rights: The Emergence of International Protection
  • The Birth of the International Criminal Court: A New Paradigm for International Law?
  • NATO in the 21st Century
  • International Law and the Capture of General Manuel Noriega
  • The Treaty-Making of "Chinese Entities:" 1648-1995
  • Africa: The Forgotten Continent Chained to Colonial Darkness or Bound for a Brighter Future?
  • Defining and Understanding Economic Treaties: A 500-Year Perspective
  • Soft Law as Reflected in Multilateral Treaties