Date of Award

1-1-2015

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Political Science

Content Description

1 online resource (xi, 481 pages) : color illustrations, color maps

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Bruce Miroff

Committee Members

Patricia Strach, Jose Cruz

Keywords

Congress, empire, territories, Central-local government relations, Legislative power, United States territories and possessions

Subject Categories

Political Science | Public Policy | United States History

Abstract

The United States has always administered territorial governments and the primary entity entrusted with this authority is the United States Congress. This dissertation, using an American Political Development framework, seeks to uncover the variety of ways in which Congressional decision-making over territorial policy has shifted. The goal is to understand how the United States Congress worked toward establishing and maintaining an American Empire via the use of territorial policy. A variety of causal mechanisms causing are investigated, including the demographic targets of policy, partisan conflicts, changing norms and rules of Congress, pressures from other branches or the states, national security challenges, emerging technology, and the tensions in protecting minority rights.

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