2008 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Thursday, April 3-2:45 pm
Paper
Paper
Disc.
Transnational Civic Activism: A Social Network Analysis
This paper analyzes an emerging social network among
transnational civic activists. It hopes to disclose the ways in which
innovative civic practices are diffused across national boundaries.
Roudy W. Hildreth, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
roudy@siu.edu
Selin Ece Guner, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
selinece_guner@yahoo.com
Recruitment by Violent Political Organizations: The Case of
Sierra Leone
This paper presents a theory of recruitment by organizations that
engage in political violence and presents an analysis of the Sierra
Leonean civil war as an illustrative case study of the theoretical
framework.
Odysseas Christou, University of Texas, Austin
ochristou@mail.utexas.edu
Christopher James Haid, University of Chicago
haid@uchicago.edu
18-2 MILITARISM AND CIVIL MILITARY RELATIONS
Room Salon 7 on the 3rd Floor, Thur at 2:45 pm
Paper Blackwater: The Role of Private Security Firms in U.S. Foreign
Policy
Examines the role of Blackwater USA and other private security
contractors in providing protection for US diplomats in Iraq and
other combat zones. Explores the diplomatic and political issues
raised by the ill-defined legal status of these firms.
David Weldon Thornton, Campbell University
thornton@campbell.edu
Paper Turkish Military and Foreign Policy: A Cultural Approach
This paper argues that the main reason behind Turkish military's
intervention in politics lies in the organizational culture of the
military which defines both seperatism and Islamic radicalism as the
main threats to the Turkish State.
Yucel Bozdaglioglu, Adnan Menderes University, Turkey
yucelboz@hotmail.com
Paper The Fetishism of the Nuclear and Its Secret
What makes nuclear weapons different from conventional weapons
Nuclear weapons exist as a distinct category because of their status
as fetish objects. In this paper I argue that deterrence theory is an
expression of nuclear fetishism.
Anne I. Harrington, University of Chicago
aih@uchicago.edu
Paper Civil-Military Relations and War Aims: A Principal-Agent
Explanation
From a P-A understanding of civil-military relations, selecting
war aims is a strategic decision. Civilian leaders do not want to
jeopardize the larger goal of security, but they must consider reelectability.
How do they balance these concerns
Susan Hannah Allen, Texas Tech University
susan.allen@ttu.edu
Paper Issues Concerning the Evaluation of Economic Sanctions
Studies of economic sanctions exhibit significant disagreement
which policies should count as economic sanctions. This paper
identifies and seeks to resolve three issues underlying such
disagreements. It tests this definition on a sample of cases.
R. Michael Smith, Glenville State College
mike.smith@glenville.edu
20-2 MICROLEVEL DYNAMICS OF ETHNICITY AND
VIOLENCE (Co-sponsored with Conflict Processes, see
17-27)
Room Suite 8-254 on the 8th Floor, Thur at 2:45 pm
Chair Scott Straus, University of Wisconsin, Madison
sstraus@wisc.edu
Paper Deadly Theatre: Ethnicity as a Script for Violence
This paper views ethnicity not as an outside causal force that acts
on people, such as gravity, but as a dramatic script for violence.
Data from the Rwandan genocide and Serb-run concentration camps
illustrate the argument.
Lee Ann Fujii, George Washington University
lafujii@gwu.edu
Paper
Paper
Paper
Disc.
Political Violence and Ethnicity in Eastern Democratic Republic
of Congo: Civilians’ Beliefs and Interactions in Rural and
Urban Conflict Zones
This paper uses original data from 940 civilians in North and South
Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, to examine how ethnicity and
violence influences attitudes and interethnic behavior of individuals
in rural and urban conflict zones.
Elizabeth Levy Paluck, Harvard University
epaluck@wcfia.harvard.edu
Ethnicity, Civil War, and Genocide
This paper investigates the discrepancy between quantitative and
qualitative findings on how ethnicity shapes mass violence. The
paper uses microlevel cases and a new dataset of 89 post-1960 cases
of civil wars in sub-Saharan Africa.
Scott Straus, University of Wisconsin, Madison
sstraus@wisc.edu
How Ethnicity Shapes Insurgent Violence: A Matched Analysis
of "Sweep" Operations in Chechnya
This paper uses a difference-in-difference estimation design and
matched sampling to compare the impact of sweep operations
by Russian soldiers and Chechen militia on levels of subsequent
insurgent violence in Chechnya.
Jason Lyall, Princeton University
jlyall@princeton.edu
Steven Wilkinson, University of Chicago
swilkinson@uchicago.edu
21-7 IDENTITY AND XENOPHOBIA
Room Suite 12-150 on the 12th Floor, Thur at 2:45 pm
Paper Dangerous Values! Predicting Xenophobic Behavior and
Assessing the Postmaterialist Index
This paper proposes to study value change and xenophobia and
asks by assessing the postmaterialist index whether the saturation of
material values reduces fear of foreigners.
Marc Helbling, University of Zurich
helbling@ipz.uzh.ch
Paper National Identity, National Context, and Xenophobia
Why does love of nation fail to explain disdain for outsiders among
citizens in developed democracies The answer to this puzzle about
xenophobia lies in the relationships between conceptions of national
identity and social and economic context.
Laura N. Potter, University of Michigan
lnpotter@umich.edu
Paper Social Identity, Cognitive Complexity and Political Ideologies:
Assessing the Relationship Between Complexity and
Fundamentalism Through Discordant Imagery
The authors seek to examine social identity and fundamentalism
through a multilevel survey which presents respondents with
otherwise discordant images and subsequently uses their responses
to those images to gauge their levels of social identity.
Andrew R. Thomas, Washington State University
marmmot2001@yahoo.com
David S. Pearl, Washington State University
davidpearl@wsu.edu
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