Current Search: voting (x)
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Title
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DIFFERENCES IN VOTE MARGIN OF CANDIDATES IN THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE.
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Creator
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Stevens, Meghan L, Jewett, Aubrey, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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What explains differences in the margin of victory in Florida legislative races? Data is collected for all 160 legislative races from 2016 (120 house contests and 40 senate elections) and two sets of analyses are conducted: all races and just competitive races. When looking at all races, five variables are statistically significant in the multivariate model. District party registration difference has a positive effect on margin of victory and the greatest relative impact. Races involving two...
Show moreWhat explains differences in the margin of victory in Florida legislative races? Data is collected for all 160 legislative races from 2016 (120 house contests and 40 senate elections) and two sets of analyses are conducted: all races and just competitive races. When looking at all races, five variables are statistically significant in the multivariate model. District party registration difference has a positive effect on margin of victory and the greatest relative impact. Races involving two major party candidates have a much smaller margin of victory, a contest with a major party versus a minor party (or No Party Affiliation candidate) has a somewhat smaller margin of victory, and a race involving only a write-in candidate as an opponent has a wider margin of victory. House races had somewhat smaller margins of victory compared to senate races. When examining just competitive races (contests that had at least two candidate names listed for an office) only two variables were statistically significant in the multivariate model. District party registration difference had a positive relationship with margin of victory and races involving a minor party candidate as the main challenger had higher margins than contests between two major party candidates.
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Date Issued
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2018
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Identifier
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CFH2000443, ucf:45826
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000443
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Title
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WHAT IMPACT IS FELONY DISENFRANCHISEMENT HAVING ON HISPANICS IN FLORIDA?.
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Creator
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Sanchez, Angel E, Wilson, Bruce, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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This research produces original empirical estimates of Hispanics in Florida's Dept. of Corrections (FDOC) and uses those estimates to measure the impact felony disenfranchisement is having on Hispanics in Florida. Research institutions find that data on Hispanics in the criminal justice system, particularly in Florida, is either lacking or inaccurate. This research addresses this problem by applying an optimal surname list method using Census Bureau data and Bayes Theorem to produce an...
Show moreThis research produces original empirical estimates of Hispanics in Florida's Dept. of Corrections (FDOC) and uses those estimates to measure the impact felony disenfranchisement is having on Hispanics in Florida. Research institutions find that data on Hispanics in the criminal justice system, particularly in Florida, is either lacking or inaccurate. This research addresses this problem by applying an optimal surname list method using Census Bureau data and Bayes Theorem to produce an empirical estimate of Hispanics in FDOC's data. Using the Hispanic rate derived from the empirical FDOC analysis, the rate of Hispanics in the disenfranchised population is estimated. The results reveal that FDOC systematically undercounts Hispanics (and overcounts Whites) by nearly 8 percent - i.e., there are over 2.5 times more Hispanics in FDOC data than actually reported by FDOC. However, even when applying the upward adjusted rate of Hispanics to the disenfranchised population, Hispanics are still underrepresented and less likely to be disenfranchised than their White and Black counterparts in Florida. This research provides an accurate up-to-date state of the data with respect to Hispanics in FDOC; it applies a surname method which other researchers can use to address lacking or inaccurate data on Hispanics in the criminal justice system; and it calls into question research that relies on FDOC's inaccurate race data. Taken together, these findings might facilitate answers to many pressing questions on felony disenfranchisement in Florida and its impact on the political process.
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Date Issued
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2017
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Identifier
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CFH2000216, ucf:46035
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000216
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Title
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HOLY BOOKS OR POCKET BOOKS? CLASS AND VALUES IN AMERICAN POLITICS.
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Creator
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Keaton, Matthew, Knuckey, Jonathan, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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There has been much speculation recently as to the political effect that "moral values" have on Americans and much research has shown inconclusive results as far as the effect of class. This paper aims to study how class and values, including moral values and postmaterialist values, interact with politics in the United States. The analyses performed to determine these effects include crosstabulation and logistical regressions and will include data from the National Election Studies (NES). It...
Show moreThere has been much speculation recently as to the political effect that "moral values" have on Americans and much research has shown inconclusive results as far as the effect of class. This paper aims to study how class and values, including moral values and postmaterialist values, interact with politics in the United States. The analyses performed to determine these effects include crosstabulation and logistical regressions and will include data from the National Election Studies (NES). It is found that postmaterialist values have little effect on political behavior but in separate analyses, class and moral values have increasing influences on vote choice and partisan identification. It is also determined that moral values currently has more influence on presidential votes, but there is no clear indication that values are consistent indicators of House vote choice or partisan identification.
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Date Issued
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2006
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Identifier
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CFE0001319, ucf:47028
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001319
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Title
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AUTONOMOUS REPAIR OF OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION DATA THROUGH SIMPLE VOTING AND MULTI-DIMENSIONAL INDEXING TECHNIQUES.
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Creator
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Sprague, Christopher, Weeks, Arthur, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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The three major optical character recognition (OCR) engines (ExperVision, Scansoft OCR, and Abby OCR) in use today are all capable of recognizing text at near perfect percentages. The remaining errors however have proven very difficult to identify within a single engine. Recent research has shown that a comparison between the errors of the three engines proved to have very little correlation, and thus, when used in conjunction, may be useful to increase accuracy of the final result. This...
Show moreThe three major optical character recognition (OCR) engines (ExperVision, Scansoft OCR, and Abby OCR) in use today are all capable of recognizing text at near perfect percentages. The remaining errors however have proven very difficult to identify within a single engine. Recent research has shown that a comparison between the errors of the three engines proved to have very little correlation, and thus, when used in conjunction, may be useful to increase accuracy of the final result. This document discusses the implementation and results of a simple voting system designed to prove the hypothesis and show a statistical improvement in overall accuracy. Additional aspects of implementing an improved OCR scheme such as dealing with multiple engine data output alignment and recognizing application specific solutions are also addressed in this research. Although voting systems are currently in use by many major OCR engine developers, this research focuses on the addition of a collaborative system which is able to utilize the various positive aspects of multiple engines while also addressing the immediate need for practical industry applications such as litigation and forms processing. Doculex TM, a major developer and leader in the document imaging industry, has provided the funding for this research.
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Date Issued
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2005
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Identifier
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CFE0000380, ucf:46337
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000380
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Title
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OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION: A STATISTICAL MODEL OF MULTI-ENGINE OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION SYSTEMS.
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Creator
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McDonald, Mercedes Terre, M Richie, Samuel, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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This thesis is a benchmark performed on three commercial Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engines. The purpose of this benchmark is to characterize the performance of the OCR engines with emphasis on the correlation of errors between each engine. The benchmarks are performed for the evaluation of the effect of a multi-OCR system employing a voting scheme to increase overall recognition accuracy. This is desirable since currently OCR systems are still unable to recognize characters with 100...
Show moreThis thesis is a benchmark performed on three commercial Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engines. The purpose of this benchmark is to characterize the performance of the OCR engines with emphasis on the correlation of errors between each engine. The benchmarks are performed for the evaluation of the effect of a multi-OCR system employing a voting scheme to increase overall recognition accuracy. This is desirable since currently OCR systems are still unable to recognize characters with 100% accuracy. The existing error rates of OCR engines pose a major problem for applications where a single error can possibly effect significant outcomes, such as in legal applications. The results obtained from this benchmark are the primary determining factor in the decision of implementing a voting scheme. The experiment performed displayed a very high accuracy rate for each of these commercial OCR engines. The average accuracy rate found for each engine was near 99.5% based on a less than 6,000 word document. While these error rates are very low, the goal is 100% accuracy in legal applications. Based on the work in this thesis, it has been determined that a simple voting scheme will help to improve the accuracy rate.
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Date Issued
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2004
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Identifier
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CFE0000123, ucf:46188
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000123
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Title
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EUROPEAN MIGRATION AND THE FAR-RIGHT: 2011-2017.
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Creator
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Wilson, Lauren, Turcu, Anca, Kinsey, Barbara, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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This study investigates the relationship between the current migration crisis in Europe and the escalation of far-right voting which has been witnessed since it's beginning. In order to do so this study utilized correlation experiments and detailed case studies to explore the relationship between legislative vote shares and asylum applications for the years 2009-2017 in the EU member states of Hungary, Germany, France, Greece and the UK. Control variables of GDP, unemployment and terrorist...
Show moreThis study investigates the relationship between the current migration crisis in Europe and the escalation of far-right voting which has been witnessed since it's beginning. In order to do so this study utilized correlation experiments and detailed case studies to explore the relationship between legislative vote shares and asylum applications for the years 2009-2017 in the EU member states of Hungary, Germany, France, Greece and the UK. Control variables of GDP, unemployment and terrorist attacks have also been utilized to measure alternative causes of far-right voting. Results of these experiments vary quite a bit from state to state - finding differing potential causal factors in each case study. Germany, France and the UK show results which indicate that an increase in asylum applications potentially influence far-right voting habits. Greece does not show this type of result, but does show correlation with control variables. Hungarian experiments however do not produce correlation with any variables tested, but has the strongest presence of far-right activity which may indicate that Hungarian far-right success is attributed to their long history of far-right activity.
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Date Issued
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2019
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Identifier
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CFH2000539, ucf:45652
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000539
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Title
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Reexamining the Relationship Between Divided Government and Voter Turnout.
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Creator
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Beck, Heidi, Knuckey, Jonathan, Jewett, Aubrey, Lanier, Drew, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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This thesis reexamines the effect of divided government on voter turnout originally posited byFranklin and Hirczy de Mi(&)#241;o (1998), which suggested that each year of exposure to dividedgovernment resulted in a cumulative negative effect on voters leading to alienation and lowerturnout. It reconsiders this argument using more recent data, given that voter turnout in U.S.presidential elections (as measured by the Voting Eligible Population) has increased since 2000,even though divided...
Show moreThis thesis reexamines the effect of divided government on voter turnout originally posited byFranklin and Hirczy de Mi(&)#241;o (1998), which suggested that each year of exposure to dividedgovernment resulted in a cumulative negative effect on voters leading to alienation and lowerturnout. It reconsiders this argument using more recent data, given that voter turnout in U.S.presidential elections (as measured by the Voting Eligible Population) has increased since 2000,even though divided government has occurred during this period.This thesis also uses new data and methods to address concerns about the original aggregatelevelresearch design. The research question is tested at the individual-level of analysis todetermine if divided government does interact with political trust to lower turnout. Previousresearch assumed this relationship since there is no aggregate-level proxy for political trust. Byusing survey data from the American National Election Studies it is now possible to test the fulltheory.The aggregate-level models show that misspecifications in the research design of Franklinand Hirczy de Mi(&)#241;o resulting in multicollinearity, and in two instances autocorrelation, whichresulted in a failure to reject the null hypothesis. The individual-level models show that dividedgovernment interacts with low levels of political trust to increase voter turnout, falsifying theargument about the effect of divided government on turnout. Overall, the thesis suggests that theimplications of an aspect of the American political system that renders it distinguishable frommost other advanced-industrial democracies(-)divided party control of the executive andlegislative branches(-)should be reassessed. More generally, the thesis demonstrates theimportance of reevaluating hypotheses in political science with the most recent data and morerobust methods in order to establish whether those original hypotheses are still supported
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Date Issued
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2019
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Identifier
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CFE0007783, ucf:52363
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007783
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Title
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UNDERSTANDING THE SPLIT-TICKET VOTER.
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Creator
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Middents, Janelle, Knuckey, Jonathan, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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This thesis will focus on split ticket voting. Split ticket voting refers to an aspect of voting behavior where the individual will cast votes for different political parties for different offices. Through the development of countless theories and utilizing data, political scientists have managed to shed some light as to why an individual may engage in split-ticket voting. However, many of these studies have been too narrow in their focus, for instance, relying on a specific election without...
Show moreThis thesis will focus on split ticket voting. Split ticket voting refers to an aspect of voting behavior where the individual will cast votes for different political parties for different offices. Through the development of countless theories and utilizing data, political scientists have managed to shed some light as to why an individual may engage in split-ticket voting. However, many of these studies have been too narrow in their focus, for instance, relying on a specific election without taking into account some major variables that provide the foundation for voting behavior. The purpose of this study is to provide scholars with an idea of what characteristics exist most commonly among split-ticket voters compared with straight-ticket voters. What variables work together to cause an individual to engage in split ticket voting? Specifically, this thesis will examine the contribution of variables in explaining ticket splitting. Despite studies of the causes of split-ticket voting, the field is still unclear as to what causes an individual to engage in split-ticket voting. What individual variables cause an individual to engage in ticket splitting?
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Date Issued
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2010
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Identifier
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CFE0003069, ucf:48311
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003069
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Title
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THE SOUND OF POLITICS: AN EXAMINATION OF POLITICAL ORIENTATIONS AND MUSICAL PREFERENCES AMONG COLLEGE AGED ADULTS.
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Creator
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Stringer, Omari, Wright, Chrysalis, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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Music fits in a larger media culture that can influence the thoughts and beliefs of many people. Specifically, there is an interest in the relationship between music and any influences it may have on political views or orientations. Based on the existing literature, it is hypothesized that there will be a significant correlation between political orientations and involvement in music and political orientations with music genre preferences. It is also hypothesized that there will be a...
Show moreMusic fits in a larger media culture that can influence the thoughts and beliefs of many people. Specifically, there is an interest in the relationship between music and any influences it may have on political views or orientations. Based on the existing literature, it is hypothesized that there will be a significant correlation between political orientations and involvement in music and political orientations with music genre preferences. It is also hypothesized that there will be a relationship between socioeconomic status and music preferences. Furthermore, it is expected that participants will report a high level of music involvement, considering how accessible music is to many students (Agbo-Quaye & Robertson, 2010; RIAA, 2016). Results indicate that there is a correlation between political orientation and several genres, in addition to demographic variables. Participants reported a high level of music involvement and high usage of music streaming services. Additional analysis indicates that two of the top five genres participants listened to (alternative and religious music) can be a significant predictor of political orientation.
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Date Issued
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2017
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Identifier
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CFH2000159, ucf:53149
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000159
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Title
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Environmentalism and Environmental Constitutional Ballot Initiatives in Florida: The Elements of Support for Amendment One in 2014 in the Context of Current Environmental Attitudes.
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Creator
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Jones, Michael, Jacques, Peter, Knuckey, Jonathan, Jewett, Aubrey, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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Americans express support for (")the environment(") with environmental support cutting across political and demographic differences and cleavages. In the past 15 years, however, period effects, political sorting, and the emergence of a powerful anti-environmental movement have lessened the generalized levels of environmental support. Using the 2012 CCES survey, the expressed attitudes regarding multiple environmental issues found significant differences in levels of environmental support...
Show moreAmericans express support for (")the environment(") with environmental support cutting across political and demographic differences and cleavages. In the past 15 years, however, period effects, political sorting, and the emergence of a powerful anti-environmental movement have lessened the generalized levels of environmental support. Using the 2012 CCES survey, the expressed attitudes regarding multiple environmental issues found significant differences in levels of environmental support nationally by party, Tea Party attitudes, ideology, and certain demographic characteristics. For Floridians, the differences between the most pro-environmental respondents and the most anti-environmental are narrower; partisan identification itself is not significant in environmental attitudes; but ideology, Tea party support, and to a lesser degree, gender and race are associated in explaining variances in environmental attitudes. Voting decision behavior previously observed only for certain environmental issues appears to be influenced by multiple environmental positions. The significance of age on environmental attitudes remains perplexing with evidence for both younger and older respondents' support for environmentalism, as compared to the support expressed by persons aged 40-59. Support and opposition for a specific Florida constitutional ballot proposition on environmental land conservative acquisition reflect partisan and gender divides, and the impact of attitudes regarding an unpopular elected national official. Environmentalism appears to be further evidence of the (")Big Sort(") in American politics, increasingly likely to be used as an interparty wedge issue and for intraparty base mobilizations. The need for further research and the implications for environmental activists conclude this thesis.
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Date Issued
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2015
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Identifier
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CFE0005960, ucf:50795
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005960
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Title
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Tea Time: A Comparative Analysis of the Tea Party Caucus and House Republican Conference in the One Hundred Twelfth Congress.
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Creator
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Phillips, Stephen, Pollock, Philip, Ilderton, Nathan, Schafer, Mark, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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Following the historic election of Barack Obama, the largest overhaul of the nation's health care system since the Great Society, and with the country still reeling from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, a group of disenchanted conservative Republicans and elected leaders wary of government policy gave rise to a new political movement (-) the Tea Party. Since taking the American political system by storm in 2010, considerable research has focused on the electoral...
Show moreFollowing the historic election of Barack Obama, the largest overhaul of the nation's health care system since the Great Society, and with the country still reeling from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, a group of disenchanted conservative Republicans and elected leaders wary of government policy gave rise to a new political movement (-) the Tea Party. Since taking the American political system by storm in 2010, considerable research has focused on the electoral consequences of the Tea Party. Using an original dataset and the American National Election Study, I study the Tea Party Caucus at the elite level by analyzing roll call votes, incumbency, and endorsements, and at the mass level through an examination of congressional districts and constituencies. Findings show that members of the Tea Party Caucus and their Republican House colleagues are largely homogeneous. Exceptions to this include economic final passage votes, legislation receiving presidential support, district lean, census region, and presidential vote in congressional districts. Furthermore, evidence is seen that economic factors in members' districts affected the election of freshmen representatives in 2010, and that district variables strongly influence legislative voting behavior. Finally, discontinuity is discovered between the Tea Party movement at the mass level and the Tea Party Caucus at the elite level.
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Date Issued
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2014
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Identifier
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CFE0005229, ucf:50574
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005229
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Title
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BLURRED (COUNTY) LINES: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF VOTING PATTERNS IN FLORIDA AT THE COUNTY AND REGIONAL LEVELS FROM 1950 TO 2012.
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Creator
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Yeargain, Tyler, Pollock, Philip, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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Over the last sixty years, voting patterns in the United States have changed dramatically, and this is especially true in the state of Florida. Though there is some literature in the field of political science that outlines the voting and election history of Florida and identifies some trends, this literature is extremely limited and is not comprehensive of the data that is available up to the present day. This study seeks to find Florida's voting patterns and to explain how they can be...
Show moreOver the last sixty years, voting patterns in the United States have changed dramatically, and this is especially true in the state of Florida. Though there is some literature in the field of political science that outlines the voting and election history of Florida and identifies some trends, this literature is extremely limited and is not comprehensive of the data that is available up to the present day. This study seeks to find Florida's voting patterns and to explain how they can be understood by both the casual observer and the political scientist. To do so, unique methodology was applied that used the "relative margin" of both a county and a region in a particular election to give the Democratic nominee's performance context both in the election in question and in history, by comparing the actual margin of victory or defeat of the Democratic nominee to the statewide margin of victory or defeat. This was an illuminating process that ultimately revealed some truths about the election history of Florida: the counties and regions most likely to vote for Democratic nominees in the 1950s and early 1960 are now among the least likely to do so, and the counties and regions most likely to vote for Republican nominees in the 1950s and early 1960s are now considered to be "swing" or "tossup" areas that are regularly and alternatively won by Democratic and Republican nominees. Additionally, the pattern of each region in how it voted in presidential elections was compared to forty seven other states in the country to provide further context as to how the election patterns can be understood in context.
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Date Issued
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2015
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Identifier
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CFH0004735, ucf:45344
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004735