2008 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Saturday, April 5-10:00 am
Paper
Paper
Paper
Disc.
The Founding of Conservatism: The Anti-Federalists and
Conservative Thought
A nuanced understanding of modern conservatism requires a deeper
appreciation of their historical roots, particularly the writings
of the Anti-Federalists. Our paper details the Anti-Federalist’s
contributions to modern conservative thought.
Steve G. Hartlaub, Frostburg State University
shartlaub@frostburg.edu
R. J. Caster, Frostburg State University
rj@pacorporation.com
Leo Strauss, Lionel Trilling, and the Neoconservatives
This paper is a chapter out of a dissertation being written on
neoconservative political thought and its intellectual origins.
Adam L. Fuller, Claremont Graduate University
adam.fuller@cgu.edu
The Problem of Sex and Marriage in the New Natural Law
Theory
New natural law theory has posited a good of marriage that denies
same-sex marriage as a moral possibility. This paper explores the
internal coherence of the exclusive link between sex and marriage
that theoretically underpins this exclusion.
Joshua D. Goldstein, University of Calgary
joshua.goldstein@ucalgary.ca
Steven Gerencser, Indiana University, South Bend
sgerencs@iusb.edu
34-12 ANCIENT TEXTS, MODERN POLITICS
Room UEH 408 on the 4th Floor, Sat at 10:00 am
Chair Kenneth Caldwell Blanchard, Northern State University
blanchak@northern.edu
Paper Tocqueville, Political Science and Statesmanship
This paper explores the intersection between political theory,
statesmanship and liberty in the thought of Tocqueville.
Understanding this relationship is crucial to Tocqueville’s project of
preserving freedom in the age of equality.
Brian Anthony Bearry, University of Texas, Dallas
brian.bearry@utdallas.edu
Paper The Political Philosophy of Gulliver's Travels: Mediating the
Battle Between Ancients and Moderns
I argue that Books I and II of Gulliver's Travels provide a rich
source for philosophical analysis, and point to Jonathan Swift's
attempt to rescue his contemporaries in the battle between Ancients
and Moderns.
Gail Marie Pivetti, University of California, Davis
gmpivetti@ucdavis.edu
Paper The Aristotelian Federalist
Aristotle, in his "Politics," explores many of the themes and ideas
presented in the Federalist Papers. This paper explores those
similarities and assesses the direct and indirect impact of Aristotle
on the founders.
Michael J. Faber, Millersville University
mfaber@indiana.edu
Paper Tocqueville’s Political Vocabulary
The essay analyzes Democracy in America in order to develop
an understanding of Tocqueville’s aristocratic form as a practiced
disposition, or anthropological form, seemingly congruent with
existing democratic practices.
Matthew deTar, Northwestern University
m-detar@northwestern.edu
Disc. Kenneth Caldwell Blanchard, Northern State University
blanchak@northern.edu
35-12 INFORMATION AND LEGISLATION
Room Salon 5 on the 3rd Floor, Sat at 10:00 am
Chair Scott Ashworth, Princeton University
sashwort@princeton.edu
Paper Non-Expropriable Information in Politics
We propose a model of information in legislatures explicitly
accommodating policy-specific, "nonexpropriable" information.
Our model applied to a committee specialization game generates
results which dramatically differ from the existing literature.
Alexander Victor Hirsch, Stanford University
ahirsch@stanford.edu
Kenneth W. Shotts, Stanford University
kshotts@stanford.edu
Paper Information Aggregation in Committee Decisions: Experimental
Evidence
Experimental results show the committee process aggregates
information regarding a state dependent variable and institutions
which promote reputations among informed parties improve the
accuracy of the committee decision relative to the equilibrium.
Charlie Plott, California Institute of Technology
cplott@hss.caltech.edu
Paper The Paradox of Unbiased Public Information
This paper tests the game-theoretic assumption that jurors vote on
the basis of being pivotal. In theory, large juries remain relatively
unaffected by misleading public signals, but that may not be so in
practice. Public policy implications follow.
Krishna K. Ladha, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
krish.ladha@gmail.com
Gary J. Miller, Washington University in St. Louis
gjmiller@artsci.wustl.edu
Disc. Scott Ashworth, Princeton University
sashwort@princeton.edu
36-12 ADVANCES IN STUDYING ELECTIONS
Room Salon 1 on the 3rd Floor, Sat at 10:00 am
Chair Jeff Gill, Washington University, St. Louis
jgill@wustl.edu
Paper How Similar Are They New Measures of Electoral Congruence
Pearson's r is a poor measure of the similarity between electoral
outcomes. This paper proposes new measures of electoral continuity
and discontinuity.
Jason Wittenberg, University of California, Berkeley
witty@berkeley.edu
Paper Estimating Spatial Models of Two Candidate Competition
We develop a method for estimating the utility functions of voters
and candidates in two candidate elections. We apply our method to
U.S. Senate elections. Our results indicate that a "revised" spatial
model fits the data well.
Michael Peress, University of Rochester
mperess@mail.rochester.edu
Paper Choosing Between Multinomial Logit and Multinomial Probit
Models
This paper uses computer simulations to compare the accuracy of
MNL and MNP models when IIA is violated with varying degrees
of severity. I find that MNL is (almost) always a more accurate
model to use than MNP for researchers in the field.
Jonathan Kropko, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
kropko@email.unc.edu
Paper Cleavages, Ideology and Retrospective Voting: A Multiparty
Model of Votin in Chile's 2005 Presidential Election
A Bayesian multinomial probit analysis of voter choice in Chile's
2005 Presidential election.
R. Michael Alvarez, California Institute of Technology
alvarez.research@gmail.com
264