2006 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

PaperDisc.Social Capital and Political ParticipationMaria Elena Sandovici, Lamar UniversityOverview: This paper explores the relationship betweenpolitical participation and social capital. It argues that socialnetworks facilitate participation, and trust shapes the choicebetween conventional and unconventional action.TBA24-16 AGENDA SETTING AND THE MEDIARoomChairPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Sun 10:30 amJohanna L. Dunaway, Rice UniversityWhose Agenda Wins Out? The Effects of Candidate andMedia Issue AttentionDanny Hayes, University of Texas, AustinOverview: I identify the circumstances under which one groupof elites -- candidates or journalists -- is more likely to succeedin setting the public's agenda, as well as the ways individuallevelfactors condition a person's susceptibility to agendasetting.Does the Media Agenda Reflect the Candidates' Agenda?Travis N. Ridout, Washington State UniversityRob B. Mellen, Washington State UniversityOverview: Using coding of local news broadcasts, statewidenewspapers, candidate ads and candidate websites, this paperexamines the degree of congruence between the candidates'issue agenda and the media's issue agenda in the 2002 U.S.Senate campaigns.Entertain Their Brain: Selling Political Agenda UsingEntertainment ValuesMichael D. Todd, Southern Illinois University, CarbondaleOverview: This paper is an analysis of how nightly newsprograms are using entertainment and marketing techniques topresent President Bush's War on Terror to the viewer and withwhat effect.Linda Bennett, University of Southern Indiana25-14 DESCRIPTIVE AND SUBSTANTIVE VIEWSOF WOMEN'S REPRESENTATIONRoomChairPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Sun 10:30 amKatherine Opello, Hollins UniversityWomen's Political Mobilization in Ethnic Conflicts:Theoretical ConsiderationsLinda Racioppi, Michigan State UniversityKatherine O. See, Michigan State UniversityOverview: This paper explores women's political mobilizationunder conditions protracted ethnic conflict. It examines howethnic conflict shapes and constrains activism and politicalparticipation and how such conflict limits movements forwomen's equality.Explaining French Parties' Response to the Parity LawRainbow Murray, Birkbeck College, University of LondonOverview: This paper examines the French parity law from theperspective of political parties. Existing theoretical approachesare used in conjunction with individual party priorities toprovide a fuller explanation of parties’ choice of electoralcandidates.Critical Acts or Critical Mass? Female Deputies' Impact onPolicy in FranceKatherine Opello, Hollins UniversityOverview: This paper examines whether women in the FrenchNational Assembly affect policy. It posits that demands for andpassage of "women friendly" policies are due to the critical acts(rather than a critical mass) of female deputies.Manju Parikh, College of Saint Benedic/Saint John'sUniversity26-7 AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICALPARTICIPATIONRoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Sun 10:30 amDamon Freeman, University of PennsylvaniaConsidering Political Socialization Among AfricanAmerican YouthZahra G. Ahmed, University of California, IrvineOverview: This paper conceptualizes five research dimensionsof the political socialization literature. A critique follows eachdimension in the context of its utility for understanding politicalconsciousness development among African American youth.Black Ethnicity: Political Attitudes, Incorporation, andParticipationChristina M. Greer, Columbia UniversityOverview: An analysis of political attitudes and participation ofblack American, African Immigrant, and Afro-CaribbeanImmigrant members of the Social Services Employees Union -Local 371 in New York City, NY.Uplift Revisited: Barack Obama and Black Progress inAmericaGayle McKeen, University of the South, SewaneeOverview: This paper sets the recent wave of uplift ideologyarticulated by black leaders such as Obama in the context ofAfrican-American political thought and examines the recentshift from civil rights to self-help discourse.Advocacy on Behalf of the Poor: Elite Influence onOrganizational BehaviorCatherine Paden, Northwestern UniversityOverview: I compare the NAACP's and NUL's responses to the1964 Economic Opportunity Act and the 1988 Family SupportAct. I argue that the organizations’ changing relationship withelites affected their advocacy on behalf of the poor during the1980s.Mark Q. Sawyer, University of California, Los Angeles27-16 LIBERALISM, COMMUNITARIANISM,PLURALISMRoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Sun 10:30 amEric MacGilvray, University of Wisconsin, MadisonThe Ideas of Roscoe Pound: Pragmatism, Pluralism andPolylegalismRoger J. Cusick, University at AlbanyOverview: This paper examines the life and writings of RoscoePound (1870-1964). It focuses upon his largely overlookeddecisions as a Nebraska judge (1901-03) his early writings andthe unique way that he merged theory, practice, and educationin law.Conversation, Conversion and Conservation: Oakeshott,Arendt and CavellRichard E. Flathman, Johns Hopkins UniversityOverview: An examination of relationships that produce andsustain conversion and conversation. Critical discussion of thetheories of Oakeshott, Arendt and Cavell all look to what theycall conversation sustaining the continuity of politicalLiberalism and the Limits of PluralismPaul E. Kirkland, Kenyon CollegeOverview: This paper responds to critics of liberal universalismlike John Gray by examining the preferences among goodsinvolved in the foundations of liberalism in thinkers like Lockeand Montesquieu.The Political Significance of CommitmentsMara G. Marin, University of ChicagoOverview: Based on existing relations, commitments arevoluntarily created. In contrast with contractual obligations,however, commitment-based obligations cannot be preciselyspecified. I argue that political obligations should be understoodin this modelEric MacGilvray, University of Wisconsin, MadisonNicolaus Tideman, Virginia Tech University265