2008 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Friday, April 4-10:00 am
Paper
Paper
Paper
Disc.
Deep, Not Wide: William Howard Taft, Champion of
Presidential Power
As Chief Justice, Taft was expected to pare down the stewardship
presidency of TR. Yet Taft, the seeming epitome of passive
presidentialism, in fact becomes a vigorous and aggressive defender
of executive power.
Griffin C. Hathaway, Illinois Central College
gchathaway@aol.com
George Washington: Setting the Precedent for the Public
Presidency
George Washington's presidency set important precedents for the
new executive. Public support was important for Washington's
strategy during the Whiskey Rebellion, and demonstrates the
structural nature of the public presidency.
Kareb S. Hoffman, Wheeling Jesuit University
khoffman@wju.edu
Jimmy Carter and the Legislative Veto: Fighting Federal
Comity Encroachment
Carter’s implementation of report-and-wait interpretations, coupled
with his formal message to Congress and the respectful defiance by
his staff constituted a turning point in the legislative veto history
and the legacy of the imperial presidency.
Jason Friedman, Michigan State University
jason.friedman@matrix.msu.edu
Julia Azari, Marquette University
julia.azari@marquette.edu
Peter Schultz, Assumption College
pschultz@assumption.edu
40-4 DISTRIBUTIVE POLITICS I: PORK AND DISTRICT
CHARACTERISTICS
Room UEH 403 on the 4th Floor, Fri at 10:00 am
Chair Rene Lindstaedt, SUNY, Stony Brook
rene.lindstaedt@stonybrook.edu
Paper The Puzzling Geography of Federal Spending
Standard theories of distributive politics do not explain why
congressional districts receive different levels of federal government
benefits. We examine the geography of federal spending to test old
and new theories of distributive politics.
Christopher R. Berry, University of Chicago
crberry@uchicago.edu
Barry C. Burden, University of Wisconsin
bcburden@wisc.edu
William G. Howell, University of Chicago
whowell@uchicago.edu
Paper The Effect of Electoral Geography on Pork Spending in
Bicameral Legislatures
We show, both formally and empirically, that bicameralism’s
effect on the size of government is conditional on the geographical
fragmentation of upper and lower chamber electoral districts.
Jowei Chen, Stanford University
jowei@stanford.edu
Paper Pork Revealed: Distributive Politics in the Empire State
In 2006 a New York State Court ordered the State Legislature to
reveal names of legislators requesting add-ons to the budget. This
presents a golden opportunity to re-examine pork barrel politics.
This paper takes advantage of the opportunity.
Kevin R. Hardwick, Canisius College
hardwick@canisius.edu
Paper The Distribution of Pork in the U.S. Senate
We examine pork distribution in the U.S. Senate, investigating,
among other issues, whether committee members procure more
spending; whether procurements are related to seniority; and
whether procurements are related to electoral vulnerability.
Jeffrey Lazarus, Georgia State University
jlazarus@gsu.edu
Amy Steigerwalt, Georgia State University
polals@langate.gsu.edu
Disc.
Rene Lindstaedt, SUNY, Stony Brook
rene.lindstaedt@stonybrook.edu
Richard Skinner, Allegheny College
rskinner@allegheny.edu
40-8 STRATEGIC CAREER CHOICES IN
LEGISLATURES I
Room Suite 11-150 on the 11th Floor, Fri at 10:00 am
Chair Jesse T. Richman, Old Dominion University
jrichman@odu.edu
Paper Retirements and the Partisan Balance: MA House of
Representatives, 1850-2005
The paper examines the impact of disparate partisan retirement
rates on the balance of power in the Massachusetts House of
Representatives from 1850 to 2005.
Adrian Ang, University of Missouri, Columbia
auack5@mizzou.edu
L. Marvin Overby, University of Missouri, Columbia
overby@missouri.edu
Paper Institutional Advancement in the U.S. House of Representatives
We develop a measure of position value to test how parties evaluate
members' commitment to the parties collective good and delegate
power to those members.
Eric Scott Heberlig, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
esheberl@uncc.edu
Bruce A. Larson, Gettysburg College
blarson@gettysburg.edu
Paper The Impact of Voluntary Retirement on the Institution of the
Senate
This paper will focus on how members retirement decisions have
affected the U.S. Senate as an institution specifically including
increase in partisan rancor, low public approval, roll call voting,
committee work, and even the filibuster.
Mary McHugh, Merrimack College
mary.mchugh@merrimack.edu
Paper Progressive Ambition, Constituency Serving and Legislative
Performance in Argentina
Federal systems involve multiple levels in political careers. Even
though electoral institutions may not foster personal reputations,
the structure of political careers can force legislators to use minor
legislation to improve their political capital.
Juan Pablo Micozzi, Rice University
jmicozzi@rice.edu
Disc. Jesse T. Richman, Old Dominion University
jrichman@odu.edu
Gregory Robinson, Binghamton University (SUNY)
grobinso@binghamton.edu
41-3 DISTRICT BEHAVIOR
Room PDR 5 on the 3rd Floor, Fri at 10:00 am
Chair Neil Malhotra, Stanford University
neilm@stanford.edu
Paper Promise and Performance in the U.S. Senate: Campaign Pledges
and Accountability in Elections
This paper proposes to examine the promises made by thirty-five
successful Senate candidates across four elections (1998, 2000,
2002, 2004) in an effort to understand why politicians fulfill some
promises and not others.
Kristin L. Campbell, University of Buffalo, SUNY
kcampbel@buffalo.edu
183