2008 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Saturday, April 5-8:00 am
Paper
Paper
Paper
Disc.
The Political Is Interpersonal: Spaces of Freedom in Rawls and
Arendt
This paper uses interpersonal psychology to investigate two
differing conceptions of freedom in the work of John Rawls and
Hannah Arendt.
Emily Howden Hoechst, Georgetown University
ehoechst@mac.com
A Theoretical Outline of the Subject
This paper draws on the Adornian non-identical and the Lacanian
Real, to propose a “theoretical outline of the subject.” Although we
cannot completely grasp the subject, it argues we need a subject to
advance changes in the socio-political sphere.
Claudia Leeb, Harvard University
cleeb@fas.harvard.edu
The Concept of Trauma in Kierkegaard and Freud: The
Experience of God as Nervous Breakdown
This paper argues that the experience of god in Kierkegaard's
theological universe is synonomous with the type of nervous
breakdown, that for Freudian psychoanalysis, precedes the
rectification of traumatic experiences.
Jamie Ray Aroosi, Graduate Center, CUNY
jaroosi@gc.cuny.edu
Andrew Poe, University of California, San Diego
apoe@ucsd.edu
33-102 ROUNDTABLE: TECHNOLOGY AND CHARACTER
IN FACT, FICTION AND PHILOSOPHY
Room Crystal on the 3rd Floor, Sat at 8:00 am
Chair Charles T. Rubin, Duquesne University
ctrubin@verizon.net
The impact on modern technology on human character will be
examined through the lenses of literature, film, philosophy and
public policy.
Panelist Tobin Craig, Michigan State University
craigt@msu.edu
Wayne Ambler, University of Colorado
wayne.ambler@colorado.edu
Martin Plax, Cleveland State University
plaxim@sbcglobal.net
Michele Mekel, Drake University
michele.mekel@DRAKE.EDU
Matthew B. Crawford, University of Virginia
mbc2n@virginia.edu
34-11 POLITICAL IMAGINATION AND THE ARTS
Room Salon 9 on the 3rd Floor, Sat at 8:00 am
Chair April Wilson Susky, University of Alaska, Anchorage
april.susky@gmail.com
Paper Political Morality and the Absurd: Ambivalence, Resistance,
and Absolutes
This paper applies philosophical, literary, and psychological
approaches to the concept of the absurd, interprets it as ambivalence
and resistance, and attempts to build upon this interpretation a
theory of moral and political experience and action.
Matthew Hamilton Bowker, Medaille College
mhb34@medaille.edu
Paper Negative Resistance: Adorno, Natural Beauty, and the Promise
of a Non-instrumental World
This paper examines the configuration of natural beauty as a
category of alterity in Adorno's "Äesthetische Theorie," and the
implications of such a configuration for political practice.
Leila Mohsen Ibrahim, Cornell University
lmi2@cornell.edu
Paper
Paper
Disc.
Political Imagination: Fostering Conversations Between
Literary Theorists, Political Sciencists and Cognitive Scientists
Paper emphasizes need to increase communication and dialogue
among diverse types of political theorists
Joanna Vechiarelli Scott, Eastern Michigan University
jscott@emich.edu
Irving Babbitt and Sigmund Freud on the Inward Dynamic of
Political Life
Using theories from comparative literature, psychoanalysis, this
paper challenges traditional scholarship on Babbitt and considers
the central importance of self-direction for modern democratic life.
April Wilson Susky, University of Alaska, Anchorage
april.susky@gmail.com
April Wilson Susky, University of Alaska, Anchorage
april.susky@gmail.com
35-11 DETERMINING POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Room PDR 18 on the 5th Floor, Sat at 8:00 am
Chair Kenneth W. Shotts, Stanford University
kshotts@stanford.edu
Paper Incentives, Solidarity, and the Division of Labor
In this paper, we use a version of the Holmstrom-Milgrom linear
principal-agent model to formalize the idea, due to Smith and
Marx, that a division of labor leads to exchange (markets) and to a
deterioration in social relations.
Michael Thomas Rauh, Indiana University
mtrauh@indiana.edu
Paper Constitutional Design: The Pareto Optimality of Unanimity
Rule
We compare unanimity rule and majority rule in their relative
ability to produce Pareto-optimal alternatives in fixed rounds of
voting using a two-dimensional spatial voting model with random
proposals, sincere proposals, and strategic proposals.
Keith L Dougherty, University of Georgia
dougherk@uga.edu
Julian Edward, Florida International University
edwardj@fiu.edu
Paper Federalism and Democratic Forms
I model direct and representative democracies in a federation.
Yardstick competition and policy learning create externalities
between the different forms. A mix of both forms may be best, but
may be unreachable if states their choose constitutions.
David Hugh-Jones, Essex University
dhughj@essex.ac.uk
Paper A Formal Model of Coalition Management in Multiparty
Presidential Systems
We develop a formal model of executive-legislative exchange in a
multiparty presidential regime that considers the offering of both
political goods (e.g., coalition benefits) and monetary goods (e.g.,
pork) in exchange for legislative support.
Carlos Pereira, Michigan State University
pereir12@msu.edu
Luis Araujo, Michigan State University
araujolu@msu.edu
Eric Raile, Michigan State University
raileeri@msu.edu
Disc. Kenneth W. Shotts, Stanford University
kshotts@stanford.edu
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