Browsing by Author "McIvor, David, committee member"

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Open Access
Conceptualizing transnational democratic networks: a case study of world wide views on biodiversity
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Fiske, Desirée, author; Betsill, Michele, advisor; Stevis, Dimitris, committee member; McIvor, David, committee member; Taylor, Peter, committee member
Democratic theory has most recently found itself in a 'deliberative turn.' Extending beyond the capacity maintained by state institutions, the deliberative turn may be understood as necessary for conditions of democracy to move beyond the bounds of the nation-state and to incorporate conditions of a globalizing world. As global governance literature recognizes nuanced abilities to regulate through private and public interactions, the democratic voice of citizen input is in a shift. Deliberative democratic theory has found its way into International Relations discussions, as it proposes methods for transnational democracy. World Wide Views on Biodiversity (WWVB) is the second transnational citizen deliberation to be held on a global scale, allowing a window of opportunity to bridge the normative theories with empirical observation. Identifying WWVB as a transnational democratic network, this analysis simultaneously seeks to inform the project of its pragmatic successes and limitations while placing WWVB within theories of transnational democracy. Results find Transnational Discursive Democracy best explains and understands the phenomena of WWVB. Furthermore, the theoretical findings inform practical implications for the WWViews Alliance to support network expansion through inclusion and dissemination practices. Specific recommendations are made to the network based on the analysis of theory and praxis.
Open Access
Growing diverse co-operative networks?: an examination of boundaries and openings to resilient food futures
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Hale, James W., author; Carolan, Michael, advisor; Hempel, Lynn, committee member; Malin, Stephanie, committee member; McIvor, David, committee member
Efforts to improve connections between people, food, agriculture, and the environment abound – Community Supported Agriculture, land-sharing, school and community gardens – just to name a few. Yet, the ability of groups to work together on such projects, and pull the resources that help them thrive, varies. This is the focal point of this dissertation. Drawing on extensive field work, this research examines how food and agriculture co-operative networks diversify their resources. Through a series of papers, I demonstrate: 1) that the importance of such inquiry lies in a relational approach to resilience thinking which views resilience as the imminent potential of networks to enact diverse resources. Assuming that diversity and equity play a vital role in fueling adaptation and transformation, I pay particular attention to the socio-cultural values and interactions which create openings and boundaries to more diverse network performance. 2) Honing in on the role of frames and framing processes in community development activities, I demonstrate the vital role of cultural and symbolic values in shaping co-operative network resource access. As symbolic power becomes more concentrated, diverse resources becomes more difficult to enact. For example, the more a utilitarian frame shapes co-op member engagement, the more this can limit boundaries and openings to cultural diversity and bridging social capital. My research suggests that while sustained dialog around co-op values can help networks adapt and access more resources, it also requires additional resources which may take away from other activities. 3) While co-operation the verb is often assumed in the co-operative organizational form, my research suggests that co-operative efforts can be unco-operative in practice. By adopting an egalitarian view of co-operation, I show that decision-making can often be exclusionary, that leadership can reproduce socio-cultural inequities, and that the emotional work necessary to co-operative relationships can sometimes limit membership recruitment and engagement.
Open Access
Media framing and public perception: a content analysis of the Nation and ThisDay newspapers' coverage of the 2023 presidential elections in Nigeria
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Ogundare, Olukayode Kay, author; Kodrich, Kris, advisor; Wolfgang, David, committee member; McIvor, David, committee member
This thesis explores the role of prominent Nigerian newspapers, The Nation and ThisDay, in helping to shape public perception of the 2023 presidential elections in Nigeria. With framing theory as a framework, the study conducts a detailed content analysis to examine how these newspapers portrayed political candidates, issues, and events during the election campaign. Analyzing each newspaper's thematic and episodic frames, the research uncovers noticeable patterns in media framing strategies and discusses how they may impact public perception and understanding of the electoral process. This study contributes to the broader understanding of media influence on political communication in Nigeria and highlights how newspapers may shape public opinion during critical democratic events.
Open Access
Partnering for inclusion: democratic function in deliberative recruitment strategies
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) McMonagle, Kalie, author; Knobloch, Katherine, advisor; Carcasson, Martin, advisor; McIvor, David, committee member
Inclusion serves as one of the key tenets of deliberative theory. This tenet asks that all those affected by an issue be given a meaningful opportunity to participate in the deliberative process. However, there are multiple sites and actors within the deliberative system that are responsible for implementing inclusion. Deliberative theorists and practitioners rely on cross-sector partnerships with governmental, educational, business, and non-profit organizations to recruit diverse stakeholders for deliberative processes. This study sought to understand the way cross-sector partners conceptualized stakeholders, faced barriers to recruitment, and implemented recruitment strategies. Findings indicate that there remains a significant difference in the way that theorists, practitioners, and cross-sector partners view and implement inclusion. Cross-sector partners require additional support to meet the deliberative standard.
Open Access
Pillars of stone or pillars of sand? An analysis of sustainability discourse in U.S. cities
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Means, Morgann K. R., author; Opp, Susan, advisor; Duffy, Robert, committee member; McIvor, David, committee member; Carcasson, Martín, committee member
Sustainability has emerged as a common governance paradigm in the United States, supplanting traditional top-down command-and-control regulations with a policy approach characterized by decentralization, municipal innovation, and the goal of ensuring that economic, environmental, and social systems function symbiotically. With institutional gridlock preventing comprehensive policy change at the national level coupled with state-by-state disparities in addressing environmental concerns, cities currently operate at the forefront of the sustainability movement. City governments have taken up the task of translating the broad precepts of sustainability into concrete policy decisions and planning trajectories. Despite its widespread adoption, the sustainability concept is as elusive as it is pervasive. While numerous cities throughout the United States have embraced sustainability as a guiding paradigm, the concept lacks an agreed-upon meaning and clear standards for practice. The recent rise of cities at the center of sustainability governance opens up numerous questions about how city officials navigate the definitional ambiguity of sustainability and integrate the core tenets of the concept into their planning frameworks. This dissertation contributes to a broader understanding of sustainable cities in the United States by analyzing three distinct, yet interrelated, aspects of municipal sustainability governance. First, through a content analysis of 200 U.S. cities, Chapter Two paints a picture of how cities conceptualize sustainability and the various factors (such as municipal demographics, structure of government, etc.) that correlate with a city's tendency to prioritize certain aspects of sustainability while deemphasizing others. Chapter Three builds upon this analysis by exploring the meaning of sustainability in disaster-vulnerable cities. Through both quantitative analysis and qualitative interview data, the chapter analyzes the nuances of policy change, issue definition, and the focal power of natural disasters in the sustainability domain. Chapter Four uses data from interviews conducted with city officials to examine the role of citizen participation in structuring the meaning of sustainability and the policy goals that cities incorporate under the sustainability umbrella. The core ideas from each of these chapters are discussed holistically in Chapter Five, which identifies how the findings from this dissertation provide empirical support for certain theories and assumptions related to sustainable cities, while challenging others. Taken as a whole, this dissertation finds significant variance in how cities conceptualize sustainability, shedding light on the contested meaning of the term. While the sustainability paradigm is often touted for its capacity to reduce tradeoffs between environmental protection, economic development, and social equity and to bring these three systems into a productive balance, this research shows that the meaning of sustainability is constructed situationally and that cities often prioritize only one or two pillars of the concept. Each chapter also sheds light on the nuances of issue definition and policy change in sustainable cities, including the catalytic impacts of natural disasters and the role that citizen participation plays in shaping cities' unique conceptualization of sustainability.
Embargo
The stories of U.S.: nationalisms among college educated white women who voted in the 2016 U.S. presidential election
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Strapko, Noel, author; Hempel, Lynn, advisor; Opsal, Tara, committee member; Lacy, Mike, committee member; McIvor, David, committee member
Relatively recent sociological theories of nationalism understand the nation as variable processes whereby the nation is (re)constructed, albeit in different ways, via nationalism. Nationalism includes nation-oriented meanings and sentiments people embedded within socio-political contexts continually (re)formulate and imbue the nation with, which is how the nation is subjectively (re)created. Research on U.S. nationalism, however, primarily focuses on the subjective content of nationalism while the subjective contextualization of it remains understudied. In addition, although many aspects of nationalism are gendered, how women experience the nation and (re)create it is rarely examined. Addressing these gaps in the literature, this dissertation examines both the subjective content and the contextualization of U.S. nationalisms from the standpoint of college educated white women who voted in the 2016 presidential election. Utilizing in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews, I describe the various, yet patterned, ways America and Americans were constructed among interviewees and I examine the how they contextualized their expressions of nationalism. I argue "true" Americans' experiences with the American Dream were used to evaluate America's greatness, or lack thereof, which shaped the national sentiment the interviewees expressed. Findings provide key insight regarding: 1) the relevance of the American Dream for constructions of America, 2) how Americans and "true" Americans were constructed, 3) how gender relations, as well as those concerning other statuses, were used to contextualize nationalisms, 4) why expressions of nationalism can be ambivalent, and 5) how forms of nationalism are intertwined in constructions of American national membership.
Open Access
Wildlife governance in an era of social change: how science, politics, and culture influence conservation governance
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Sullivan, Leeann Marie, author; Manfredo, Michael, advisor; Teel, Tara, advisor; Gruby, Rebecca, committee member; McIvor, David, committee member
Wildlife conservation faces unprecedented ecological challenges in the years ahead. But it is the human dimensions of conservation, from competing values to inequities in access to power, that pose the most significant threat to these efforts in the near term. As values toward wildlife shift in response to modernization and more people become engaged in political activism around conservation issues, wildlife organizations in the public and non-profit sector face calls for governance reform to bring a broader diversity of the public into conservation efforts. Such inclusive and pluralistic models of conservation governance, however, mark a significant divergence from technocratic approaches of the past that prioritize input from technically trained experts over members of the public and root almost exclusively in domination ideologies. The resulting conflict between wildlife conservation centered on science and expertise and the democratic belief that all people should have a say in the management and protection of their natural resources marks a significant contradiction at the heart of wildlife conservation. Assessing the potential for achieving more participatory conservation within this frame requires a deeper understanding of the cultural, social, and political drivers of technocratic governance and how both internal and external factors serve to reinforce these political practices. In this dissertation, I draw out the historical, institutional, and cultural foundations of technocracy in wildlife conservation and their implications for achieving a participatory turn. In Chapter 2, I outline how historic paradigms for scientific expertise and domination values in U.S. wildlife management shapes the frame through which practitioners perceive their organizations as adaptable and accountable and ultimately influence perceptions of the need for change. In Chapters 3 and 4, I explore how existing governance modes are culturally reinforced, first through an internal "technocratic mentality" which proposes that scientifically-trained experts are solely and uniquely qualified to make decisions about wildlife and second, through external cultural pressures that influence governance processes in response to broader societal pressures for hierarchy and social order. Taken together, these chapters illustrate the complex and socially embedded nature of power in wildlife conservation and offer new insight into the potential for achieving governance reform in an era of social change.