2008 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Saturday, April 5-8:00 am
Saturday, April 5-8:00 am
3-11 MANIFESTATIONS OF MILITARISM
Room PDR 8 on the 3rd Floor, Sat at 8:00 am
Chair J. Andreas Hipple, Johns Hopkins University
andreas.hipple@jhu.edu
Paper The Persistence of the Military Rule: The Case of Myanmar and
Thailand
The state institutions have played a critical role in strengthening the
authoritarian regime in Myanmar and Thailand. These institutions
have prevented the democratization albeit the external pressure from
the international community.
Aticha Suebsawangkul, University of Missouri, St. Louis
aticha69@yahoo.com
Paper Democratization in Thailand: Military Coups and Institutional
Design
The analysis of democratic transformation process, on the type of
electoral rules and institutional changes that are being made will
have implication to what degree a country will be classified as
democratic or “semidemocratic.”
Sirivalaya Kachathan, Texas Tech University
sirivalaya.kachathan@ttu.edu
Paper Soldiers Against Governments: Predicting Coups d'état
This paper analyzes the factors that raise the risks for coups d'état.
Taeko Hiroi, University of Texas, El Paso
thiroi@utep.edu
Sawa Omori, University of Tokyo
sawaomori@gmail.com
Paper Rationalist Explanation of Civil War: Civil War in Algeria and
Palestine
This study argues that perfect information about capability and
resolve explains the civil peace in Palestine (1996-2006) while
private information explains Algerian's civil war (1992-1998) and
the eventual Palestinian semi-civil war (2007).
Wael J. Haboub, University of Illinois, Chicago
whabou2@uic.edu
Paper Transitions from Resistance Movements to Political Parties in
Africa and Latin America
This study investigates transitions from liberation/resistance
movements to political parties in Latin America and Africa.
Chris Lee, Niagara University
clee@niagara.edu
Disc. Diqing Lou, Texas A&M University
stella@polisci.tamu.edu
4-8 EXPLAINING SURVIVAL OF NEW DEMOCRACIES
Room Suite 13-250 on the 13th Floor, Sat at 8:00 am
Chair Maya Jessica Tudor, Princeton University
mtudor@princeton.edu
Paper A Duration Analysis of Democratic Transitions and
Authoritarian Backslides
What explains transitions to and away from democracy Using
global data from 1950 to 1999, we estimate Cox proportional hazard
models of democratic and autocratic transitions.
Jose A. Aleman, Fordham University
aleman@fordham.edu
David Yang, Stanford University
dyang@princeton.edu
Paper Opening up the Black Box of Democratic Breakdown
I open up the black box of democratic breakdown and demonstrate
that covariates such as military legacy and ethnolinguistic
fractionalization have unique effects on specific types of democratic
breakdown.
Andrea Lynn Morrison, University of California, Davis
almorrison@ucdavis.edu
Paper
Paper
Disc.
Inequality and Democracy
I demonstrate that inequality does not systematically affect the
probability that non-democracies transit toward democracy, but that,
once established, equal democracies are unlikely to collapse.
Christian Houle, University of Rochester
choule@mail.rochester.edu
Post-Civil War Democratization
How does the experience of civil conflict effect the prospects
for post-conflict democratization This paper attempts to discern
whether or not particular attributes of civil war, such as levels of
hostility have an effect on post-war regime changes.
Christine Marie Stoliecki, Michigan State University
hypnarch@msu.edu
Maya Jessica Tudor, Princeton University
mtudor@princeton.edu
4-11 DEMOCRATIC TRANSITIONS IN THE SHADOW OF
RELIGION
Room Suite 11-150 on the 11th Floor, Sat at 8:00 am
Chair Christina V. Xydias, Ohio State University
xydias.1@osu.edu
Paper Friendly Democracy: A Model of Religious–Democratic
Transitions From Italy
Using a two–stage model of religious–democratic change from Italy,
this paper argues that friendly religion-state arrangements might be
useful for democratic transitions in countries who host a religion
that is seemingly hostile towards democracy.
Michael D. Driessen, University of Notre Dame
mdriesse@nd.edu
Paper The Variance of Democratic Transitions in the Muslim World:
How does Islam Promote Democracy
Paper seeks to explain the variance of democratic transitions in
23 Muslim states by utilizing dual methodology. Findings attest
that the structure and cohesiveness of Islamic institutions matter in
explaining the variance of democratic transitions.
Dilshad Achilou, University of Arizona
nozadil@gmail.com
Paper A Network Approach for Understanding Democratization
Efforts in the Muslim World: The Case of Mauritania
This paper suggests a network approach for analyzing the elected
leadership and its ties with the former regime.
Shaul M. Gabbay, University of Denver
sgababy@du.edu
Paper Turkey: Beyond Secularism and Islam
This paper provides a critical analysis of the recent developments
in Turkish politics, the rise of a political party with Islamist roots in
a secular country and offers an alternative reading of the Islam vs.
secularism debate.
Evren Hosgor, Lancaster University
a.hosgor@lancaster.ac.uk
Paper Transition to Nowhere: The Reform Movement in Khatami Era
Iran
This research applies O'Donnell and Schmitter's discussion of
"transitions" to the case of Khatami Era Iran. It is argued that Iran
did not go through a transition, but instead the emergence of a
mercantile bourgeoisie halted the push for reform.
Cyrus Ali Contractor, University of Oklahoma
cyrus@ou.edu
Disc. Michael Reese, Ohio State University
reese.150@osu.edu
Christina V. Xydias, Ohio State University
xydias.1@osu.edu
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