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e-Research: A Journal of Undergraduate Work

Vol 1, No 3 (2010)

Introduction

Welcome to the third issue of e-Research: A Journal of Undergraduate Work!

This third issue of e-Research focuses the reader's attention on arguably the most watched aspect of the 2008 national election outside of the presidential race; namely, California's hotly contested and highly debated ballot initiative Proposition 8, dealing with same-sex marriage which the California State Supreme Court had declared legal on May 15, 2008.

These five undergraduate essays are studies in political theory, ethnography, psychology, and political science, and they touch on religion and sociology. In all, these essays look into community organizing against Prop 8; the effects of elite signaling on public opinion on Prop 8; whether empathy and open-mindedness correlate to ideological voting behavior; whether religious views constitute an accurate predictor of voting behavior; and, finally, the fit between prop 8, understood as reflecting at its core a religious preference, and traditional American political values and principles such as the separation of church and state.

Executive Editor: Gordon A. Babst, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Political Science, Chapman University.