2006 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

PaperDisc.The Despotism of Modern Political Theory:Misunderstanding FreedomJohn Phillips, University of MarylandOverview: Benjamin Constant rejects the melding of freedomwith obedience and authority. Freedom is meaningless unless itis removed from discussions about the nexus of power andauthority and put back where it belongs - independence.James Wiley, St. Norbert CollegePaperDisc.Against Political ObligationThomas M. Hughes, University of California, Santa BarbaraOverview: This paper advances a skeptical tradition against theconcept of political obligation by developing a multiprincipledcritique. The analysis draws upon existing critiques found invirtue theory, liberalism and anarchism.Steve Vanderheiden, University of Minnesota, DuluthThomas C. Ellington, Wesleyan College28-5 USING HISTORICAL AMERICANPOLITICAL THOUGHT TO ILLUMINATECONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POLITICSRoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Sat 1:45 pmVincent J. Strickler, DePauw UniversityAmerica's Cosmopolitan MomentAaron M. Keck, Rutgers UniversityOverview: The framing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 can beunderstood as a practical realization of the cosmopolitan ideal--an ideal that has shaped the development of American politicalthought and national identity in still-unexplored ways.Constitutional Cassandra: Vindicating Brutus, the Anti-FederalistVincent J. Strickler, DePauw UniversityOverview: The dire predictions of “Brutus” have come largelytrue. But, Federalists denied their plausibility. Thus, theyreveal what both sides of the original constitutional debatebelieved that the Constitution was not or should not be.Abraham Lincoln and "Practical Equality"Jason R. Jividen, Northern Illinois UniversityOverview: Lincoln’s thought includes a view of equality thatadmits inherent limitations on its actualization, yet his rhetoricof equality might be flexible enough to often obscure theselimitations.Madison and Lincoln on Majority RuleJeffrey H. Anderson, U.S. Air Force AcademyOverview: Madison and Lincoln do not reject the primacy ofmajority rule; however, neither do they embrace majority rulewithout applying a nuanced understanding that majority rulemust be filtered, moderated, checked.This paper explores theirthoughts.Daniel P. Klinghard, College of the Holy Cross29-6 SOCIAL COHESION, OBLIGATION ANDRESPONSIBILITYRoomChairPaperPaperPaperTBA, Sat 1:45 pmBurke Hendrix, Cornell UniversityBeyond the Rule of Law: Do Direct Action CampaignsMaintain the Human Bond?Stephen P. Chilton, University of Minnesota, DuluthJamison Tessneer, University of Minnesota, DuluthOverview: If law presses people beyond the limit of theirconsciences, they may choose not to obey it. In so doing, theymay sever their bonds with non-dissidents, to the detriment ofall. Is (or how much is) this a problem for the U.S. peaceand justice movement?An Offer We Can't Refuse? How Residence Can GroundPolitical ObligationJohn R. Harris, University of Colorado, BoulderOverview: Grounding the moral duty to obey the law might bestbe done by utilizing consent theory, yet determining how onegives her consent has proven difficult. My paper offers adefense of the claim that we consent to obey the law by residingin a state.Who Killed Socrates? The Plausibility of a BlameworthyCollective AgencyJeffrey B. White, University of Missouri, ColumbiaOverview: The focus of the following paper is the phenomenonof the collective agent; what constitutes the appearance of acollective agent?30-13 FORMAL THEORIES OF INFORMATIONAND COMMUNICATIONRoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Sat 1:45 pmMatias Iaryczower, California Institute of TechnologyA General Model of Lobbying with Implications forDelegationLawrence S. Rothenberg, University of RochesterJaehoon Kim, University of RochesterOverview: We develop a general model of lobbying undermultiple dimensions and show that, if competing lobbyistsspecialize in their expertise, then full information revelation isunlikely.Relying on the Expertise of Interested PartiesSven Feldmann, Northwestern UniversityOverview: I develop a model of communication in which adecision maker seeks to learn from a potentially informed party.The paper endogenizes the emergence of expertise and providesa foundation for learning from information provided byinterested parties.A Servant of Two Masters: Cheap Talk with MultipleReceiversLeslie Johns, New York UniversityOverview: I examine how the presence of multiple audiencesaffects the incentives of informational agents to truthfully revealtheir private information.Modelling the Tragedy of the Commons with VerbalSanctionsDavid V. Schwab, Indiana University, BloomingtonOverview: This paper presents a game-theoretic model of howallowing users of a CPR to verbally sanction one another canresolve the tragedy of the commons.Matias Iaryczower, California Institute of Technology31-9 METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN IPE (Cosponsoredwith International Political Economy,see 12-22)RoomChairPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Sat 1:45 pmJake Bowers, Harvard UniversityInstrumental Variables, Weak Instruments and UncertaintyRobert W. Walker, Texas A&M UniversityOverview: With a specific focus on the quality of instrumentsand parameter uncertainty, we provide practical tests ofrelevance and orthogonality for instrumental variablesestimators in political research.Modeling Spatial Interdependence in Political Economywith Tax-Competition ExamplesRobert J. Franzese, University of Michigan, Ann ArborJude C. Hays, University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignOverview: Theoretical and empirical-modeling issues inglobalization and capital taxation, stressing strategicdependence among countries in fiscal policymaking andresultant spatial interdependence (contemporaneous correlation)of capital tax rates in TSCS data.Popular Sovereignty and the Room to Maneuver: A Searchfor a Causal ChainThomas Sattler, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ZurichJohn Freeman, University of Minnesota, Twin CitiesPatrick Brandt, University of Texas, DallasOverview: We reanalyze the claim that governments retainsubstantial room to maneuver despite globalization. Competingarguments about the causal chains connoting popularsovereignty over the economy are tested using new Bayesian,multiple time series methods.Michael D. Ward, University of Washington227