Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Gerald P. Regier

Abstract

Researchers from different social science backgrounds have studied the various practices of state repression but seldom acknowledge that state repression is a rival system between the government regimes and their dissidents. However, rival systems can lead to competing forces that will serve either the interest of the regime or their dissidents. Researchers also have not often used the perspectives of opposition groups in the diaspora to study state repression. Focusing on the rise and entrenchment of the Assad regime in Syria (from 2000-2011), this study aimed to discover and explore the various perspectives of Syrians in the United States about the state repression of the Assad regime. Using the systems theoretical framework, this qualitative study contains three levels of examination: the individual, the domestic, and the external. The study contained 15 participants. The data were collected through in-depth interviews via purposeful sampling and analyzed with the modified van Kaam method. The results of the study suggest the Syrian state repression has become a legacy of the continuation of the rival system between the regime and dissidents. The regime successfully invested in the national resources to oversight public loyalty, generate popular support, violate human rights, and rely on external support for power survival. The Syrians in the U.S. diaspora may benefit from the results of this study by engaging with various forms of American civic engagement to generate regime reforms and prevent potential practices of state repression in Syria leading to positive social change.

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