http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/public Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:45:48 -0400 Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:45:48 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1960/against-eco-camp-analyzing-the-flaws-of-the-modern-climate-movement By Matthew Quintos - This interdisciplinary paper investigates the shortfalls and obstacles to success currently facing the climate movement, examining issues represented by the disconnect between policy and electoral politics, the hypocrisy and blatant indifference of nations and leaders, and the repeated exclusion of indigenous communities. These challenges are explored through the lens of camp, as defined by Susan Sontag in her seminal essay “Notes on Camp.” Susan Sontag’s descriptions in her essay were designed to more clearly articulate the behaviors, practices, ideas, and sentiments associated... Mon, 19 Sep 2022 03:11 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1960/against-eco-camp-analyzing-the-flaws-of-the-modern-climate-movement http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1954/guns-and-suicidal-thoughts-in-adolescence-an-understudied-relationship By Max Gonzalez Saez-Diez - The prevalent school of thought states that suicidal ideation and suicide planning are not associated with living in households with firearms. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) in the years 1994 and 1995, I use multiple logistic regression models to estimate the effect of the availability of guns on the odds of adolescents in those households experiencing suicidal thoughts. By matching across several key demographic and psychosocial variables, I approximate a randomized treatment assignment. I find evidence that contradicts the prevalent... Fri, 06 May 2022 10:23 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1954/guns-and-suicidal-thoughts-in-adolescence-an-understudied-relationship http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1947/architectural-beauty-as-a-public-good-through-the-lens-of-ritzer-and-kohn By Olivia Sun - After World War II, America’s baby boom and rapid migration into cities sparked a damaging housing crisis. This marked a turning point in architectural style: the rise of modernism. Modernism prioritizes function above all else and believes in the existence of a most efficient, most cost-effective housing blueprint. Hence, America rolled out planned housing developments by the masses with each community constructed in a near-identical fashion. This essay points to the consequential neglect of architectural beauty which is defined as a perfect reflection of the identity of a shared imaginative... Fri, 25 Mar 2022 02:16 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1947/architectural-beauty-as-a-public-good-through-the-lens-of-ritzer-and-kohn http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1946/an-assessment-of-the-origins-and-culpability-of-the-opioid-crisis-in-the-united-states By Connor D. Catalani - The use of synthetic opioids in the United States in the past 30 years has created an epidemic the likes of which our healthcare and law enforcement systems have never before encountered. Although some opioid analogs, like fentanyl, were developed with the intention of managing chronic pain, these potent drugs have, through their addictive qualities, trapped millions of Americans in a deadly cycle of dependency. This review addresses the major routes by which synthetic opioids are illegally shipped into the United States, where they are then sold to theAmerican public. By examining the origins... Fri, 11 Mar 2022 03:02 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1946/an-assessment-of-the-origins-and-culpability-of-the-opioid-crisis-in-the-united-states http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1939/funding-for-creative-education-and-its-socioeconomic-benefits-a-literature-review By Grady Klein - The United States spends more on public education per student than all but three countries in the world based on 2016 findings from the National Center for Education Statistics, and yet a similar study by the same agency three years later demonstrates that, by comparison, the literacy of those students is faring much worse than countries of lesser FTE (Full-time equivalent) funding - where approximately twenty-one percent of adults read under a 12th-grade reading level. Empirical data suggests that an increase in creative arts involvement among students leads to an increase in overall student... Fri, 11 Feb 2022 09:55 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1939/funding-for-creative-education-and-its-socioeconomic-benefits-a-literature-review http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1931/federalism-and-the-value-of-institutional-experience-during-a-national-disaster-identifying-determinants-of-rapid-emergency-medicaid-waiver-adoption-during-the-covid-19-pandemic By Jason Semprini - Section 1135 emergency waivers were designed as tools for policy-makers to rapidly increase health system capacity during a disaster. Granting regulatory, administrative, or payment-model flexibilities during the covid-19 pandemic, states may be better equipped for an influx of hospitalizations. One month passed before every state adopted a covid-19 waiver and no research investigated why states adopted waivers sooner than others. This study utilizes a Parametric (Gamma) Time-to-Event design to construct a Contextual, Institutional, Political, External, and a combined Integrated model to identify... Thu, 06 Jan 2022 01:24 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1931/federalism-and-the-value-of-institutional-experience-during-a-national-disaster-identifying-determinants-of-rapid-emergency-medicaid-waiver-adoption-during-the-covid-19-pandemic http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1930/mobutu-and-the-collective-congolese-memory-reconstructing-the-past-as-a-survival-tool By John M. Mulunda - Despite the focus of scholars on the repressive elements of Mobutu’s Reign, “The rumble in the Jungle,” abacost jackets and the return to “authenticité” instead form the core of the 32-year reign of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in the collective Congolese memory. In the nearly 24 years since his removal from office, Mobutu’s memory has been collectively reconstructed by the Congolese people, complicating our scholarly understanding of Mobutu’s reign and its place in contemporary imagination. The once despised dictator is now often admired as a symbol... Thu, 06 Jan 2022 12:41 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1930/mobutu-and-the-collective-congolese-memory-reconstructing-the-past-as-a-survival-tool http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1929/understanding-the-2016-republican-primary-substantive-versus-strategic-voting-behavior By Max Gonzalez Saez-Diez - Was the selection of Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican Primary a strategic or a substantive choice? Donald Trump defied many predictions when he won the GOP’s presidential nomination despite his initial ‘underdog’ standing and controversial record. However, there is a limited understanding of the interplay between assessments on Trump’s electoral power versus policy and ideological preferences in voters’ decision-making. Scholars have long argued that “viability” considerations strongly affect voters’ choice in primary elections, where substantive... Mon, 03 Jan 2022 11:44 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1929/understanding-the-2016-republican-primary-substantive-versus-strategic-voting-behavior http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1918/euthanasia-and-consensual-harm-evaluating-the-moral-and-legal-asymmetry-of-self-and-other-regarding-acts By Anna L. Peters - Suicide is legal in almost every country, but places where euthanasia is permitted remain in the minority (Mishara and Weisstub 2016). In many legislatures, suicide is not a criminal act. It is, however, a criminal act for you to assist me in this, either indirectly by providing the means (assisted suicide), or directly by performing the fatal act (euthanasia), even if I ask for your assistance. This dichotomy is emblematic of a pattern that can be found in many legal systems: person B – the agent, throughout – is prohibited from doing to person A – the principal, throughout &... Mon, 25 Oct 2021 08:48 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1918/euthanasia-and-consensual-harm-evaluating-the-moral-and-legal-asymmetry-of-self-and-other-regarding-acts http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1899/longevity-blue-zone-centenarians-an-expository-paper By Christopher M. Green - Areas of the world found to harbor the people with exceptional lifespans are known as a Longevity Blue Zone (LBZ). LBZ’s are areas around the world that have an unusual concentration of centenarians. This paper investigates the link between lifestyle wellness and the lack of institutional long-term care among centenarians living in LBZ’s. There is limited information on the relationship between health and structured health care in these zones of the world. The ability to assess if there is a requirement for institutional services in these zones has the power to resolve current gaps... Tue, 11 May 2021 02:19 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1899/longevity-blue-zone-centenarians-an-expository-paper http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1894/the-growing-popularity-of-the-radical-right-comparing-institutional-societal-and-historical-explanations-in-the-united-states-and-france By Zak Schneider - Following the enlightenment era, a new incarnation of politics created a uniquely democratic, liberal, egalitarian structure of government in Western democracies. In recent years, there has been an erosion of these qualities in favor of alternate ideologies such as Right-Wing Populism. Fundamentally, what is the appeal of these ideologies that are diametrically opposed to liberal democracy? I argue that multiple factors are catalyzing the growth of this Right-Wing Populism worldwide. Firstly, the structural weaknesses in democratic governance itself. Secondly, contemporary societal conditions... Mon, 05 Apr 2021 03:10 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1894/the-growing-popularity-of-the-radical-right-comparing-institutional-societal-and-historical-explanations-in-the-united-states-and-france http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1889/single-payer-reform-and-rural-health-in-the-united-states-lessons-from-our-northern-neighbor By Jared M. Hirschfield - Single-payer health reform has secured its place in the mainstream American health policy debate, yet its implications for particular subpopulations or sectors of care remain understudied. Amidst many unanswered questions from policymakers and political pundits, rural health has emerged as one such area. This article explores rural Canada’s five-decade-long experience with a national publicly funded health insurance program as a valuable opportunity for cross-national learning. During March 2020, I conducted 13 semi-structured, elite stakeholder interviews with government officials, academic... Mon, 15 Mar 2021 02:29 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1889/single-payer-reform-and-rural-health-in-the-united-states-lessons-from-our-northern-neighbor http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1821/poor-cultural-communication-as-an-obstacle-to-adequate-medical-care-a-case-study-of-the-manchurian-plague-epidemics By Jingkai Hou - Communication between doctors or health authorities and the population is important to the implementation of public health policies. Even when the government and the people have no cultural conflicts, violent riots may happen due to the distrust of authority, typified by the Italian cholera riots of 1910-11. In cases where the public health authorities and the population do not share a common culture, it is harder for effective communication to form between them. Linguistic, cultural, and ideological differences all pose difficulty for the population to understand the authorities. Poor cultural... Wed, 21 Oct 2020 07:51 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1821/poor-cultural-communication-as-an-obstacle-to-adequate-medical-care-a-case-study-of-the-manchurian-plague-epidemics http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1807/the-keto-diet-and-long-term-weight-loss-is-it-a-safe-option By Natalya F. Giroux - The ketogenic diet, or keto diet for short, is a fad diet that has gained significant attention in recent years as a popular weight loss approach. The diet is characterized by a depletion of carbohydrates which in turn place the body in a state called ketosis. In this metabolic state, the body breaks down fat stores directly and produces ketones to be used as fuel, which correlates directly with the ability of the diet to induce rapid weight loss. Fierce debate surrounding the diet originates from mixed opinions of the diet’s safety and efficacy, especially in the long term, based on the... Thu, 01 Oct 2020 02:07 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1807/the-keto-diet-and-long-term-weight-loss-is-it-a-safe-option http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1800/intergenerational-intimate-partner-violence-pathways-of-genetic-and-environmental-interactions By Clare Choi - Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health issue that results in social, psychological, emotional, and physical consequences. Although interventions may be continuously designed to combat this problem, IPV must first be understood in an intergenerational perspective before effective programs can be put into place. Intimate partner violence is historically viewed as a social and private phenomenon, tinged with shame and stigma. Existing literature on this issue predominantly focuses on the social environment, leaning towards theories that put blame on the social environment the... Tue, 22 Sep 2020 05:31 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1800/intergenerational-intimate-partner-violence-pathways-of-genetic-and-environmental-interactions http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1797/cobalt-computation-and-the-congo-making-corporations-pay-for-their-transnational-terrors By Isabel G. Padalecki - Though electronic products are ubiquitous in the modern Western world, most people are not aware of the origins of the batteries that power devices such as laptop computers and mobile phones. Lithium-ion batteries, though used primarily in wealthy and affluent nations like the United States, include the element cobalt, a mineral mined primarily out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Lenntech). Despite the fact that the technologies supported by cobalt have greatly enhanced the lives of affluent Western technological consumers, the mining of cobalt has wreaked havoc on many Congolese communities... Tue, 15 Sep 2020 07:33 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1797/cobalt-computation-and-the-congo-making-corporations-pay-for-their-transnational-terrors http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1777/why-are-south-asian-immigrant-women-vulnerable-to-domestic-violence By Humza Husain - South Asian women in particular are not only vulnerable to domestic violence, but exceptionally vulnerable to underreporting of domestic violence. The problem compounds itself by making it difficult not only to quantify the issue, but also harder to understand its roots. This paper studies this phenomenon by analyzing the potential causes for both domestic violence as well as underreporting, through understanding what systemic, legislative, and cultural issues specifically plague South Asian women in the United States. Stark cultural differences between eastern and western values and culture,... Fri, 20 Dec 2019 09:25 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1777/why-are-south-asian-immigrant-women-vulnerable-to-domestic-violence http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1774/the-aftermath-of-agent-orange-combating-slow-violence-necropolitics-and-stigma-in-vietnamese-communities By Dan N. Dinh - Although the Vietnam War officially ended in 1975, the long-term effects of the toxic contaminant, dioxin, found in Agent Orange continues to be a large public health issue. Throughout this paper, the theoretical framework of slow violence will be utilized to highlight the effects of the temporality of toxins within bodies and how toxins act as agents to affect human bodies transgenerationally. Moreover, the theoretical framework of necropolitics will be utilized to analyze how marginalized communities are deemed expendable by large power structures that keep bodies in a constant state of injury... Mon, 02 Dec 2019 09:28 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1774/the-aftermath-of-agent-orange-combating-slow-violence-necropolitics-and-stigma-in-vietnamese-communities http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1760/discourse-public-space-and-the-politics-of-korean-comfort-women-implications-for-east-asian-relations By Ann W. Kim - The issue of “comfort women,” sex slaves utilized by the Japanese army during World War II, is treated in this paper as a collective memory in the consciousness of South Koreans. Differing narratives of this historical event, and the emphasis placed on it, serves as the underlying basis for increased present tensions between the governments of South Korea and Japan. To understand the complexity of these painful experiences as a collective memory requires a discussion on the impact of colonization as well as contemporary problems regarding a whitewashing of history and the utilization... Wed, 20 Feb 2019 08:23 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1760/discourse-public-space-and-the-politics-of-korean-comfort-women-implications-for-east-asian-relations http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1746/is-medical-debt-a-social-determinant-of-health By Vikrant Bhatnagar - Medical Debt has largely been viewed as a financial burden. While studies have linked Medical Debt to decreased savings, reduced health access, foreclosure of homes, and loss of income, there has been little to no research exploring Medical Debt’s effect as a social determinant of health. While Medicaid expansion via the Affordable Care Act has decreased overall Medical Debt, data on this phenomenon fails to adequately address the broader issue: the need to isolate statistically Medical Debt’s association with patient access to care. A sensible first step to explore this phenomenon... Tue, 30 Oct 2018 09:51 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1746/is-medical-debt-a-social-determinant-of-health http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1743/can-the-value-proposition-work-in-health-care By Frederick J. White - The value proposition in the commercial setting is the functional relationship of quality and price. It is held to be a utility maximizing function of the relationship between buyer and seller. Its proponents assert that translation of the value proposition into the health care system of the United States is a necessary and perhaps indispensable solution to the current structural difficulties of health services delivery in our nation. But the application of the value proposition to health care delivery in the United States will meet with difficulty for a myriad of reasons. Some of these are inherent... Wed, 24 Oct 2018 08:24 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1743/can-the-value-proposition-work-in-health-care http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1738/wind-energy-legislation-strategies-for-the-lone-star-state By Elizabeth A. Weis - Texas introduced Senate Bill 277 as its first wind energy siting law during the 2017 Legislature. The bill combats radar interference between wind and military equipment by exempting any wind farm within thirty nautical miles of a military base from tax deductions. This rule does not make sense for several reasons: it defies the economic logic grounding Texas’ decision to pursue wind energy, it addresses an issue traditionally handled by the federal government, and employs inefficient tactics the Department of Defense no longer uses. The inadequacies of this legislation point out that lawmakers... Fri, 11 May 2018 09:31 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1738/wind-energy-legislation-strategies-for-the-lone-star-state http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1705/theoretical-utilisation-of-biological-warfare-from-aquatic-invasive-species By Richard J. Neale - The Peruvian population became infected from eating shellfish that had ingested plankton, and from drinking or bathing in water supplies drawn directly out of the rivers which at best had only minimal processing. It worked its way inland, and was spread faster due to massive overcrowding, whilst the waters themselves spread along the coastline. The lack of water purification, chlorination protocols, insufficient infrastructure with regards to medical facilities and waste disposal, coupled with minimal international support lead to 4,000 deaths within a matter of weeks, with a further 393,000 contracting... Thu, 16 Nov 2017 11:42 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1705/theoretical-utilisation-of-biological-warfare-from-aquatic-invasive-species http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1665/pederasty-and-power-in-platos-mythological-dialogues By Paul Regan - As a topic of philosophical interest the Socratic dialogues play a pivotal role in many of Plato’s works of more than thirty authentic dialogues. This paper discusses pederasty and power through myth and story-telling to teach Ancient Greek communities about the soul, morality and character through three of Plato’s mythological dialogues on Socrates: Symposium, Phaedrus and the Republic. Each work falls within several categories of investigation, speculation and argumentation. The re-telling of a story suggests that myth offers an economical framework from which to balance the soul... Thu, 26 Oct 2017 05:18 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1665/pederasty-and-power-in-platos-mythological-dialogues http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1659/tracing-the-success-of-soft-power-in-the-us-state-departments-future-leaders-exchange-program By Leyla R. Latypova - The United States government started exploring the soft power potential of student and scholar exchange programs as early as 1908, with the establishment of the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program.[1] The father of the theory of soft power, Joseph Nye, was not even born when Edmund James, then president of the University of Illinois, outlined precisely the soft power benefits of the student exchange in his letter to president Franklin D. Roosevelt. James wrote, “The nation which succeeds in educating the young Chinese of the present generation will be the nation which, for a given expenditure... Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:42 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1659/tracing-the-success-of-soft-power-in-the-us-state-departments-future-leaders-exchange-program http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1654/the-evolution-and-devolution-of-mental-health-services-in-australia By Lila P. Vrklevski - This article provides a brief historical overview of the development of mental health services in Australia. It commences with the establishment of the first public asylum, Bethlem Royal Hospital, London, in 1247, the arrival of the First Fleet on 24 January 1788 at Botany Bay, New South Wales and the establishment and growth of asylums in Australia. The article identifies some of the major social, historical, medical and political developments that have influenced our understanding and treatment of mental illness and the mentally ill. The article then traces the evolution and development of the... Tue, 17 Oct 2017 08:44 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1654/the-evolution-and-devolution-of-mental-health-services-in-australia http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1645/nationalism-identity-and-public-policy-in-sweden-pursuing-an-elusive-national-identity By Gustaf Forsell - Similarly to many European countries, the Swedish population often perceive their history as an epoch of homogeneity: a time when every Swedish citizen was believed to have had the same ethnic phenotype, spoken the same language, believed in the same God, and shared the same basic values (Gardell, 2011, p. 23). It is embedded in the Swedish national identity, as if it is possible to explain lex naturalis. The notion is expressed on the well-recognised Swedish website Nationalencyklopedin (National Encyclopaedia of Sweden) which argues that Sweden has been ‘an immigration country’ (&... Thu, 01 Jun 2017 10:38 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1645/nationalism-identity-and-public-policy-in-sweden-pursuing-an-elusive-national-identity http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1650/alienating-ethnic-kin-assessing-immigration-integration-policies-for-the-brazilian-nikkeijin-in-japan-and-joseonjok-marriage-migrants-in-south-korea By Kenneth Lee - In recent decades, Japan and South Korea have become hosts to ethnic return migrants who have returned to their ancestral homeland after once emigrating overseas. Since the 1980s, the Brazilian nikkeijin, or members of the Japanese diaspora, have returned to Japan as labor migrants. From 1992, joseonjok, or ethnic Korean Chinese, migrant women traveled to South Korea to marry Korean men. Japan and South Korea have targeted these groups for their ethnic affinities – the attraction and kinship between the homeland population and returning migrants – on the presumption that they would... Mon, 22 May 2017 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1650/alienating-ethnic-kin-assessing-immigration-integration-policies-for-the-brazilian-nikkeijin-in-japan-and-joseonjok-marriage-migrants-in-south-korea http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1602/obama-and-the-economic-recovery-keynesian-policies-gridlock-and-the-new-global-economy By Ayodele Aruleba - The Obama presidency will largely be defined by the administration’s ability to respond to the unique and historic challenge facing the country at the time of his inauguration: the Great Recession. This paper evaluates the president’s success throughout both of his terms in enacting an economic policy, which was largely defined by an embrace of Keynesian economics and more stringent regulations on the financial services industry, but simultaneously highlights the institutional limitations facing the president on influencing the economy. By assessing the administration’s efforts... Fri, 31 Mar 2017 11:01 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1602/obama-and-the-economic-recovery-keynesian-policies-gridlock-and-the-new-global-economy http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1526/the-effect-of-dodd-frank-on-the-profitability-of-community-banks-an-econometric-model By Alexandra R. Larch - This study examines the effects of the Dodd-Frank Act on community banks in the Northeastern region of the United States. Using annual financial data from years 2010 to 2014 gathered on 82 banks, a regression equation is estimated using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique described by Arellano and Bover (1995). The dependent variables are return on equity, return on assets, and net interest margin. The independent variables can be placed into the three categories: regulation determinants, profitability variables, and macroeconomic indicators. The results indicate regulations have... Fri, 03 Feb 2017 10:29 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1526/the-effect-of-dodd-frank-on-the-profitability-of-community-banks-an-econometric-model