2008 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Friday, April 4-10:00 am
Paper
Paper
Paper
Disc.
Are Ideologically Extreme Legislators Really Less Accountable
Do elected officials who vote in a manner inconsistent with their
constituents’ preferences pay a price on election day A number of
studies suggest they do. We adopt a different approach to determine
if citizens hold elected officials accountable.
John D. Griffin, University of Notre Dame
John.Griffin@nd.edu
Brian Newman, Pepperdine University
Brian.Newman@pepperdine.edu
The Electoral Impact of Pork-Barrel Projects
This analysis seeks to address the electoral impact of the
distribution of pork barrel projects.
Eric M. Wilk, University at Buffalo SUNY
emwilk@buffalo.edu
Gender and the Electoral Consequences of District Fit
Based on gender stereotypes about the relationship between
legislators and constituents, we argue that the electoral fortunes
of women elected officials are more closely tied to their
responsiveness to constituents.
Janna L. Deitz, Western Illinois University
JL-Deitz@wiu.edu
Sarah Poggione, Florida International University
poggione@fiu.edu
Justin Buchler, Case Western Reserve University
justin.buchler@case.edu
42-16 HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW
Room PDR 4 on the 3rd Floor, Fri at 10:00 am
Chair Jinney S. Smith, Lycoming College
smithj@lycoming.edu
Paper The Problem Solving Court as a Coordinating Idea
This paper draws on Feeley and Rubin's theory of judicial policymaking
to explain the success of the problem solving court model
in terms of its operation as a coordinating idea — an idea that
coordinates judges' responses to common dilemmas.
Kony Kim, University of California, Berkeley
kony@berkeley.edu
Paper Limitations to the Ideological Estimation of Supreme Court
Behavior
This paper assesses limitations of the Martin-Quinn scores
of judicial ideology, which assume that ideological voting is
unidimensional. This approach poses problems for courts that are
more ideologically nuanced than the U.S. Supreme Court.
Matthew E. Wetstein, Delta College
mwetstein@deltacollege.edu
Cynthia L. Ostberg, University of the Pacific
costberg@pacific.edu
Paper Normative Implications Of Constraint and Non-Constraint in
Legal Behavior
Scholars have done a great job investigating various influences on
judicial behavior over the past 60 years. But we have not adequately
addressed the normative implications of our findings for democratic
theory. This paper begins to fill that gap.
Eileen Braman, Indiana University
ebraman@indiana.edu
Paper Beyond Attitudinalism and Ideology: Let’s Make Judicial
Studies Scientific
Science creates a reductionist vocabulary that rigidly designates
external phenomena (e.g., water is H2O). “Attitudinalism” and
“ideology” are not scientific terms. They function as rhetoric in a
language game. This paper exposes and corrects this.
Sean Wilson, Pennsylvania State University
whoooo26505@yahoo.com
Disc. Jinney S. Smith, Lycoming College
smithj@lycoming.edu
42-26 INSTITUTIONS AND CONSTRAINTS
Room Salon 1 on the 3rd Floor, Fri at 10:00 am
Chair Ellen R. Baik, University of Texas, Pan American
ebaik@utpa.edu
Paper An Independent Judiciary Separation of Powers and Recess
Appointments
Do judicial recess appointees vote differently during the recess
appointment than they do as fully independent judges In this
paper, we examine the influence of recess appointments and judicial
independence on judicial voting.
Scott E. Graves, Georgia State University
polseg@langate.gsu.edu
Robert M. Howard, Georgia State University
polrhh@langate.gsu.edu
Pamela C. Corley, Vanderbilt University
pamela.corley@vanderbilt.edu
Paper The Solicitor General as a Strategic Gatekeeper on the Supreme
Court
I examine the solicitor general as a strategic gatekeeper in allowing
federal bureaucratic access to the Supreme Court. I argue that the
office advances policy positions consistent with Court preferences
as a means to ensure success on the merits.
Patrick C. Wohlfarth, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
pcwohlf@email.unc.edu
Paper State Judicial Culture and Legislative Efforts to Limit the
Federal Judiciary
Using an empirical analysis of congressional voting on “courtstripping”
legislation from 2000-2006, this project examines
whether systematic differences in state judicial culture can help
explain legislators' decision-making.
Rachel Paine Caufield, Drake University
rachel.caufield@drake.edu
Paper Judging Under Constraint: Institutions and State Supreme
Court Decision-making
In this paper, we utilize the newly released, NSF-funded Individual-
Level State Supreme Court Database to answer fundamental
questions about the effects of institutions on individual-level justice
behavior.
Kevin T. Arceneaux, Temple University
kevin.arceneaux@temple.edu
Christopher W. Bonneau, University of Pittsburgh
cwb7@pitt.edu
Paul Brace, Rice University
pbrace@rice.edu
Disc. Richard L. Pacelle, Georgia Southern University
rpacelle@georgiasouthern.edu
44-2 SUPRA-NATIONAL LAW AND DOMESTIC
POLITICS
Room UEH 406 on the 4th Floor, Fri at 10:00 am
Chair Kathy Purnell, DePaul University
kpurnell@zerobooks.net
Paper Cultivating Political Rights: Women’s Political Status,
1980-2000
Examination of women’s share of national legislative and
ministerial positions from 1980-2000 shows that the influence of
norms is more limited than believed.
Feryal Cherif, University of California, Riverside
cherif@ucr.edu
Paper What Does the Politics of International Law Mean for
Practitioners
'Law without Politics' or rather 'Politics of Law'; but what in
practice does it mean for those that everyday make or apply rules
of international law and have to deal with international politics, can
they simply separate one from another
Natalia Szablewska, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
nns05@aber.ac.uk
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