2008 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Thursday, April 3-4:45 pm
Paper
Paper
Paper
Disc.
Why is Seniority Beneficial to Legislators The Case of the U.S.
House
I test competing explanations for the power of senior House
members: (1) seniority is excludable and senior members trade
information for influence, (2) seniority is a non-excludable positive
externality with associational benefits for others.
Andrew J. Taylor, North Carolina State University
andrew_taylor@ncsu.edu
Deciding to Quit: A Duration Model of Retirement in Congress
This paper examines existing theories on the correlates of
Congressional retirement, specifically Theriault's theory of career
ceilings, from both the House and Senate using an original dataset
and a Cox Proportional model of duration.
Joseph Sempolinski, Yale University
joseph.sempolinski@yale.edu
Ambition and Party Loyalty in the U.S. Senate
This paper analyzes the effect ambition for higher office has on
party loyalty and party cohesion in the U.S. Senate. Findings
indicate that ambition and a need to appeal to primary voters
influences party loyalty in the upper chamber.
Sarah Ann Treul, University of Minnesota
streul@umn.edu
Antoine Yoshinaka, University of California, Riverside
antoine@ucr.edu
Andrew J. Taylor, North Carolina State University
andrew_taylor@ncsu.edu
Juan Pablo Micozzi, Rice University
jmicozzi@rice.edu
41-101 ROUNDTABLE ON POLITICAL AMBITION: THE
CITIZEN POLITICAL AMBITION STUDY , WAVE 2
Room Crystal on the 3rd Floor, Thur at 4:45 pm
Chair Jennifer L. Lawless, Brown University
jennifer_lawless@brown.edu
We will present key results from the second wave of the Citizen
Political Ambition Study. Panelists will then comment on our
findings and discuss more broadly the study of political ambition as
it relates to their particular areas of interest.
Panelist Richard L. Fox, Loyola Marymount University
richard.fox@lmu.edu
David W. Brady, Stanford University
dbrady@stanford.edu
Jack Citrin, University of California, Berkeley
gojack@berkeley.edu
Kathleen Dolan, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
kdolan@uwm.edu
Sue Tolleson-Rinehart, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
suetr@unc.edu
42-6 SEPARATION OF POWERS
Room Salon 12 on the 3rd Floor, Thur at 4:45 pm
Chair Brett Curry, Georgia Southern University
bcurry@georgiasouthern.edu
Paper Impeachment: Leash or Euthanizer
This paper will examine whether the impeachment process requires
that officials be removed from office upon conviction or whether
lesser penalties may be imposed as well.
Peter Schultz, Assumption College
pschultz@assumption.edu
Paper Using Adjudication to Achieve Administrative Goals of the
Federal Judiciary
Did a hidden agenda undergird the celebrated federalism revolution
wrought by the Rehnquist Court Did the Court through its
adjudication achieve administrative goals of the federal judiciary set
by the Judicial Conference of the United States
John W. Winkle, University of Mississippi
jww@olemiss.edu
Paper Pigford and the Power of Joint Judicial, Congressional and
Executive Action
This paper examines how the three branches of government interact
with each other and respond to their respective spheres of power in
addressing a civil rights violation by a governmental entity through
an in-depth analysis of Pigford vs. Glickman.
Demelza Anne Baer, Tulane University
demelzabaer@hotmail.com
Paper The Origins of an Independent Judiciary in Virginia, 1606-1776
Virginia was the only state to have an independent judiciary in the
federal conception of the institution prior to the U.S. Constitution
of 1787. My paper traces the origins of the judicial institution in
Virginia.
Scott D. Gerber, Ohio Northern University
s-gerber@onu.edu
Disc. Brett Curry, Georgia Southern University
bcurry@georgiasouthern.edu
42-25 THE STRATEGIC DYNAMICS OF CONSENSUS AND
STRUGGLE
Room PDR 4 on the 3rd Floor, Thur at 4:45 pm
Chair Brandon L. Bartels, Stony Brook University
brandon.bartels@stonybrook.edu
Paper On Contingents, Pivots and Fluidity: Macro Level Analyses of
Certiorari
To win on the merits at least five of the justices need to join hands.
To select a case at least four of them are necessary. In this piece I
study the macro-level patterns that determine upshots as well as
configure the decision-making environment.
Udi Sommer, University at Albany, SUNY
esommer@albany.edu
Paper The Acclimation Effect Revisited
This paper improves upon existing research by building a theory
for why we expect acclimation effects, models acclimation as an
ongoing process, and employs a heteroskedastic probit model to
evaluate the consistency of judicial choice.
Raymond V. Carman, Jr., Binghamton University
raymond.carman@binghamton.edu
Paper Dissent and Legal Development in Collegial Courts
This paper presents a formal model of dissenting behavior in
collegial courts. I argue that dissents are written to influence future
development of the law. Future legal change becomes more likely
through the authorship of "high quality" dissents.
Susan Navarro Smelcer, Emory University
sknavar@emory.edu
Paper Are Court Opinions Really at the Median of the Majority
Coalition
A claim has been made that majority opinions on the Supreme Court
are located at the median of the majority coalition (the MMC). The
claim has major logical problems; in fact, an opinion at the MMC
may not even be able to attract majority support.
Thomas H. Hammond, Michigan State University
thammond@msu.edu
Disc. Brandon L. Bartels, Stony Brook University
brandon.bartels@stonybrook.edu
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