Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7902-4125
Graduation Year
2021
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Politics
Reader 1
Dr. Erica Dobbs
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2021 Michaela D Shelton
Abstract
In the field of political science, there is an ongoing debate about the factors that determine political outcomes for disadvantaged groups. State governments in the United States have actively passed legislation to curb hair discrimination even though people of African descent are a minority. However, in South Africa, where people of African descent are a majority, neither the national government nor the provincial governments have passed legislation to curb hair discrimination cases. Why are the cultural rights of Black people being protected by legislation in the United States where Black people are a minority but not in South Africa where Black people are a majority?
The literature on institutions posits that state capacity can be hindered by government design or due to divergent actions from existing protocol. The literature on social movements argues that group size, resource mobilization, issue framing, political opportunity structures, and collective identity influence collective action outcomes. The literature on cultural hegemony hypothesizes that outcomes are rooted in the construction of social norms in society. I conduct a comparative case study which employs a qualitative and quantitative research design. I use data from interviews, government reports, media coverage, press releases, and secondary studies to compare policy outcomes in liberal democracies. Overall, my findings indicate that the critical conditions attributed to the CROWN Act’s success in New York involve a combination of influential leaders, interested actors, and high performing institutions with the capacity to enforce legal protections against hair discrimination.
Recommended Citation
Shelton, Michaela, "Regulating Cultural Expressions: A Comparative Case Study on Hair and Race in New York and South Africa" (2021). Pomona Senior Theses. 323.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_theses/323
