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Department of Political Science

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https://hdl.handle.net/10217/100501
This digital collection includes theses and dissertations from the Department of Political Science.

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Browsing Department of Political Science by Author "Braunstein, Elissa, committee member"

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    Transnational governance of farmed animal welfare: a critique of animals as commodities
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Miller, Mindy Tommasina, author; Stevis, Dimitris, advisor; Braunstein, Elissa, committee member; Macdonald, Bradley J., committee member
    This thesis explores whether transnational animal agribusiness is governed by looking at global governance and key players. It analyzes international organizations--the OIE, the FAO, and the WTO--as well as two key state actors in transnational animal agribusiness, the EU and the US. Given the growing scale of the industry, this thesis addresses the following: 1) Whether the transnational animal agribusiness ("TAG") is governed 2) Whether the governance of TAG addresses farmed animal welfare ("FAW") 3) Whether FAW addresses animals. Ultimately, this paper finds significant variation in the governance of TAG, however, even the most promising examples of governance fail to appropriately recognize commoditized animals as grievable beings. This thesis recommends adoption of a grievability framework which finds that alternatives to animal agribusiness and a shift in the human perception of nonhuman animals are necessary.
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    Without pause but without haste: economic and political change in Cuba
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Birch, Brendan Patrick, author; Mumme, Stephen, advisor; Velasco, Marcela, committee member; Braunstein, Elissa, committee member
    Developments in US-Cuba relations in December of 2014 impelled a renewed interest in Cuban affairs amongst academics, business professionals, and the general population in the United States. But very substantial reforms were taking place in Cuba since about 2007 -years before the US and Cuba decided to initialize a normalization of relations. This thesis provides an overview and analysis of these recent reforms. It also provides an overview and analysis of Cuba's past reform cycles, mainly through a theoretical lens developed by Carmelo Mesa-Lago, which characterizes Cuban reform cycles as either "pragmatist" (towards the market) or "idealist" (away from the market). Also contained in this thesis is an analysis of Cuba's monetary duality; Cuba's potential for further inserting into the Cuban economy; a history of US-Cuban relations, with particular emphasis on the United States embargo against the island. This thesis concludes that the Cuban economy has entered a permanent pragmatist period, characterized by a shift towards marketization and privatization on the island. Regarding US-Cuba relations, this thesis provides an explication of recent moves by the Obama administration, but stresses that the Embargo has not ended, as only Congress has the authority to fully abrogate the Embargo.