Political Science
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/53
Political Science faculty's diverse research, teaching and outreach activities engage our students and the community in issues of ethics, power, identity, globalization governance, citizenship and representation. Our faculty are active scholars with recent awards for their publications, outreach, service and teaching.
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Item Montana Horizons Program: Transforming Communities from Striving to Thriving(MSU Extension: Local Government Center, 2009) Lachapelle, Paul; Flaherty, C.This report has descriptions of the sixteen communities stretching from Scobey to Anaconda. These sixteen communities successfully completed the Horizons II program during 2007-08 which provide just a small example of their achievements. The smallest town had 139 residents, the largest, 4,089. Poverty rates ranged from 11% to 41%. As examples throughout this report attest, the challenges in rural communities are significant but not insurmountable and opportunities abound. When community members focus on a specific outcome, join hands with collaborating partners and keep their eye on the future, the possibilities are never-ending. A new spirit and passion for community involvement is created when a common goal is identified and shared broadly.Item Using Focus Groups for Community Development. MSU Extension MontGuide(MSU Extension, 2008-05) Lachapelle, Paul; Mastel, TaraFocus groups can be an effective means of involving citizens in a decision-making process. Yet, focus groups can also increase conflict and strain group dynamics if not properly executed. This publication provides information on the reasons to use a focus group, the steps involved, the types of questions that could be posed and expected outcomes.Item Apsaalooke Upsauloouk Bucha Unnaylayda - Crow Men's Health(MSU Extension, 2009) Lachapelle, Paul; Real Bird, JamesWhether they talk about it or not, health is a very important part of all Crow mens' lives. A modern lifestyle of fast-food and little exercise has put this health in jeopardy. In this video, Crow men talk about their feeling on health and the Crow Men's Health Ride. The 2008 ride to Sacrifice Cliff/Four Dances Vision Site acknowledged the importance of health and recognized the young Crow men who gave their lives to save the tribe from smallpox.Item Access to Power or Genuine Empowerment? An Analysis of Three Community Forest Groups in Nepal(Society for Human Ecology, 2004) Lachapelle, Paul; Smith, Patrick D.; McCool, SFThe introduction of community forestry in Nepal represents an attempt to decentralize control and instill democratic reform in the management of forest resources through the direct involvement of individuals in decision making and benefit sharing. Detailed analyses of community forest outcomes, specifically an understanding of the process of self-governance and the exercise of power, remains a critical gap. Using a purposive sampling methodology, we identified 38 forest users representing a diversity of interests in three communities of the middle hills of Nepal and conducted in-depth interviews focusing on perceptions of an ability to exercise power in forest management. Power in this context is defined as the ability to create rules, make decisions, enforce compliance and adjudicate disputes. Our results identify inferiority, vulnerability, and a lack of transparency as factors that keep forest users from exercising power. We conclude that while community forestry offers tremendous potential to practice self-governance, the behavior of individuals based on complex informal institutional arrangements, such as caste and gender, must be accounted for in such formalized policy initiatives. Opportunities to influence power through mandated processes alone fail to fully explain or affect the potential for community forestry. Instead, we note that genuine empowerment is related to capacities involving the skills and confidence necessary to exercise power.