2006 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

27-9 NATURAL, POLITICAL, AND UNIVERSALRIGHTSRoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Fri 3:45 pmLeonard R. Sorenson, Assumption CollegeRejecting Rights: Looking to the Democratic State's Reasonfor ActingSonu Bedi, Yale UniversityOverview: In this essay, I seek to purge political theory of thetraditional locution of rights.Universal Human Rights: The Philosophical and HistoricalRootsCharles J. Helm, Western Illinois UniversityOverview: Can claims of entitlement to a universal human rightbe legitimized in terms of reason and nature and not just at thelevel of an historical tale of the development of institutions andthe public acceptance of covenants since WWII?The Independence of the Declaration and the Constitution?James R. Zink, University of California, DavisOverview: I trace the conflicting interpretations andcorresponding uses of the Declaration and Constitution throughseveral key political debates leading up to the Civil War.Natural Rights and the ConstitutionPaul R. DeHart, Lee UniversityOverview: The Constitution may presuppose any of thefollowing about natural rights: (1) There are no natural rights;(2) there are natural rights, and these are rights enjoyed in theHobbesian state of nature that are prior to natural law; (3)there are natural rights, and these are derived from natural dutiesprescribed by the natural law.Leonard R. Sorenson, Assumption CollegeDavid L. Williams, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point27-12 NEW PROBLEMS, NEW PARADIGMS?RoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Fri 3:45 pmPeter Stone, Stanford UniversityArea Studies, Case Studies, and History Versus TheoreticalSocial ScienceFred Eidlin, University of GuelphOverview: Develops a framework for integration of thegeneralizing spirit of science with the concern for theuniqueness of case studies, history and area studies.Strategy, Structure and SubversionRichard W. Goldin, University of California, Los AngelesOverview: I argue that constructivist thought inadequatelyanalyzes the processes through which identity is constructed. Idevelop an alternative model I call "empirical constructivism" inwhich identity functions as a dialectic of strategy and structure.Conceptual Analysis in Political Science: A HermeneuticCritique of Qualitative MethodologyAsaf Kedar, University of California, BerkeleyMark Bevir, University of California, BerkeleyOverview: The paper launches a hermeneutic critique ofqualitative conceptual analysis in view of its naturalistontological and epistemological assumptions. The critique willbe followed by the adumbration of a hermeneutic model forconceptual inquiry.A Public Philosophy for SkepticsSteven J. Wulf, Lawrence UniversityOverview: America’s debates about slavery and gay marriagedemonstrate that a philosophically skeptical form of politicaldiscourse derived from British conservatism is more compellingthan Rawls and Walzer’s conceptions of social criticism.Peter Stone, Stanford UniversityLeonard Williams, Manchester College28-9 LAW, SOVEREIGNTY, AND NATIONALITYRoomChairPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Fri 3:45 pmJames Glass, University of MarylandA Play in an Act in Search of an Identity: A HermeneuticInquiry of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001Rupa G. Thadhani, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityOverview: A hermeneutic study of the USA PATRIOT Act of2001.Ideology in Foucault's Critique of SovereigntyMarcelo I. Hoffman, University of DenverOverview: Throughout the 1970s, Michel Foucault developed acritique of the theory of sovereignty. We explore the variousunderpinnings of this critique, especially its curious reliance onthe notion of ideology.Knowing Nationalism: The Epistemology of NationalIdentityJohn M. French, University of Illinois, ChicagoOverview: Most studies of nationalism explain it at the level ofpopulations. I provide an epistemological explanation ofnationalism focused on individuals.Jeremiah John, University of Notre Dame28-19 THE MORAL FOUNDATIONS OFAMERICAN POLITICS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURYRoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Fri 3:45 pmBrad J. Reno, College of the Holy CrossClassical and Christian Ideals: John Adams and the Virtueof MagnanimityJohn C. Evans, University of Wisconsin, MadisonOverview: In this paper, I analyse how John Adams' politicalthought synthesizes classical and Judeo-Christian ideals ofvirtue through his conception of the virtue of magnanimityunderstood as emulation.Locke and the Protection of Property: A Moral PerspectiveBrad J. Reno, College of the Holy CrossOverview: Private property has a direct relationship to selfinterest.Properly understood, it can serve as a useful tool inbringing about broad, long term, and mutual self-interest.However, when poorly managed, it can have the opposite effect.Liberalism and the Color Line: Hume's Concern, Madison'sFrivolityDaniel P. Klinghard, College of the Holy CrossOverview: This essay considers the implications of Madison'somission of color in light of Hume's concern with it.Locke's Appeal to Heaven and Jefferson's ImpeachmentPowerJeremy D. Bailey, Duquesne UniversityOverview: A reconsideration of the contemporary inpeachmentdebate in light of Jefferson's interpretation of Locke'sphilosophy.Jeffrey H. Anderson, U.S. Air Force Academy29-4 ANCIENT THOUGHT ANDCONTEMPORARY ISSUESRoomChairPaperPaperTBA, Fri 3:45 pmNicholas Dungey, California State University, NorthridgeThe Relation Between Education and Political Justice inIsocratesJames R. Muir, University of WinnipegOverview: Isocrates is classified as a democrat, conservative,and aristocrat. If we treat Isocrates' educational and politicalthought as a unified whole, then it seems that Isocrates valuedcompetitive political discourse and debate between variousideologicAgainst Imagined and Reimagined Republics: Machiavelli'sReversal of CiceroAlexander S. Duff, University of Notre DameOverview: Machiavelli and Cicero have justly been regarded asmembers of a long tradition of republican political thought. Thispaper seeks to reevaluate this understanding and to distinguishMachiavelli's use of Cicero from that of the civic humanists.181