2008 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Friday, April 4-4:45 pm
Paper
Paper
Paper
Disc.
Human Rights in Islam: The Case of Mazlum-Der
How is human rights defined in Islam Going through this way,
how Islamic groups understand human right discourses and reacts to
the human rights violations as the case of Mazlum-Der, an Islamic
oriented human right organization in Turkey
Fatih Balci, University of Utah
f.balci@utah.edu
Mehmet Kul, Ankara Universitesi
mehmetkul1997@yahoo.com
The Eternal Dichotomy: Does Democracy Work In Islamic
Atmosphere
Democracy and Islam are incompatible, consequently, any attempt
to establish democracy among Moslems will produce instability and
threaten international peace and security. The paper will examine
specific case studies; Algeria, Jordan, and Malaysia.
Waleed Mahmoud Abusrour, University of Nevda, Reno
goody2markets@yahoo.com
Max Weber and Islam: The Paradox of Economic Development
in Islamic Societies
The aim of this paper is not to support or refute Weber’s study of
Islam, but to utilize his general thesis in an attempt to reconsider the
historically controversial relationship between Islam and economic
development.
Ayman Reda, Grand Valley State University
redaa@gvsu.edu
Ellen Lust-Okar, Yale University
ellen.lust-okar@yale.edu
12-4 GOVERNMENTAL PROCESSES
Room UEH 409 on the 4th Floor, Fri at 4:45 pm
Chair Jean Crete, Universite Laval
Jean.Crete@pol.ulaval.ca
Paper Canadian Legislative Committees: Towards a Model of Best
Practices
This paper argues that a lack of resources and strong party discipline
prevents Canadian legislative committees from being effective
in their scrutiny and legislative roles and instead further cements
authority in the hands of party leaders.
Daivd Campbell Docherty, Wilfrid Laurier University
ddocherty@wlu.ca
Paper Ethnonationalism, Cultural Protection and Economic
Development
Examines the nature of trade-offs that may because necessary
as indigenous groups in Alaska and Arctic Canada seek to
simultaneously gain political autonomy, promote economic
development, and protect their cultural heritage.
Walter Schnee, Colorado State University
wschnee1@juno.com
Paper Uncertainty, Conflict and Public Policy : The Governmental
Discourse
This paper examines government’s discourse to identify degree of
utilization of expressions revealing uncertainty and conflict (using
the Lasswell and the Coffey dictionaries). Style of the leader and
state of the economy are among the predictors.
Jean Crete, Universite Laval
Jean.Crete@pol.ulaval.ca
Paper Whistleblowing in Canada: One Step Forward or Two Steps
Back
This paper examines whistleblowing in Canada. It traces the
growing body of whistleblower legislation in Canada over the past
several years, assesses some of the shortcomings of these efforts,
and compares them to American approaches.
Kelly Lynne Saunders, Brandon University
saundersk@brandonu.ca
Paper
Bounded Rationality or Strategically Bound: Canadian Election
Platforms
An examination of Canadian election platforms reveals that the
strategic choices of parties have limited the scope of electoral
debate on economic and social welfare issues while expanding the
range of options on social and cultural policies.
Greg Flynn, McMaster University
gregflynn@rogers.com
13-9 WHAT ARE THEY THINKING PUBLIC OPINION
IN FORMERLY COMMUNIST COUNTRIES
Room Suite 12-150 on the 12th Floor, Fri at 4:45 pm
Chair Andrew Roberts, Northwestern University
aroberts@northwestern.edu
Paper Public Attitudes About Health Care in 2007 Croatian
Parliamentary Elections
This paper analyzes the public attitudes about corruption,
health care, and other socio economic issues during the 2007
Parliamentary elections campaign.
Dagmar Radin, Mississippi State University
dradin@ps.msstate.edu
Aleksandar Dzakula, Andrija Stampar School of Public Health
adzakula@snz.hr
Paper Attitudes Towards Legislatures in Eastern Europe: The
Characteristics of Support
We investigate the characteristics of Eastern European citizens
who have shown support for the legislatures that emerged after the
collapse of the USSR.
Howard Sanborn, University of Iowa
howard-sanborn@uiowa.edu
Holley Hansen, University of Iowa
holley-hansen@uiowa.edu
Paper Does Education Make Voters More Leftist or More Rightist A
West vs. East Cross-Regional Analysis
Education increases the vote for the left in advanced industrial
democracies, but decreases it in post-Communist states. We explain
this paradox by parties’ relative positions on social vs. economic
issues and issue salience, using survey data.
Florin Fesnic, University of Bucharest
fesnic@uiuc.edu
Oana I. Armeanu, University of Southern Indiana
oiarmeanu@usi.edu
Paper Dissatisfied with Decentralization: Explaining Citizens’
Evaluations of Poland’s 1998 Health Care Reform
We examine whether decentralization of health policy in Poland
led to greater public satisfaction with policy outcomes. We find
that citizens are dissatisfied with decentralization, and that party
identification frames their policy evaluations.
Meg E. Rincker, Illinois Wesleyan University
mrincker@iwu.edu
Martin F. Battle, Murray State University
martin.battle@murraystate.edu
Disc. Andrew Roberts, Northwestern University
aroberts@northwestern.edu
14-10 CORRUPTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Room Suite 10-250 on the 10th Floor, Fri at 4:45 pm
Chair Jamus Jerome Lim, World Bank
jlim@worldbank.org
Paper Can Bribes Buy Protection Against International Competition
Paper looks at the relation between corruption and non-tariff
barriers.
Christian Bjørnskov, Aarhus University
chbj@asb.dk
225