2006 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

PaperDisc.We examine current campaign practices, the role of the media,and the behavior of the electorate.The Evolution of Ideal Speech in the Thought of JurgenHabermasDavid V. Schwab, Indiana University, BloomingtonOverview: This paper examines the evolution of the idealspeech situation in Habermas' thought. It is argued that asHabermas' concerns have changed, ideal speech has evolvedfrom a pure sociological construct to one displayingtranscendental elements.Charles T. Rubin, Duquesne UniversityStephen P. Chilton, University of Minnesota, Duluth29-5 DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACYRoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Thur 3:45 pmRobert Mayer, Loyola University, ChicagoAmerican Political Polarization as Disagreement FailurePhil Neisser, SUNY, PotsdamOverview: Key moments in American political history aredefined as "disagreement failures," leading to the conclusionthat deliberative democracy requires both the celebration ofdisagreement and the crossing of multiple borders throughdialogueAlternative Theories of Rationality in DeliberativeDemocracyZsuzsanna Chappell, London School of EconomicsOverview: Deliberative democracy is founded on theunderspecified notion of communicative rationality. Idemonstrate that strategic rationality is a more realisticunderlying assumption on which to develop democratic theory.Deliberation: From Immediate to Mediated CommunicationMolly A. Patterson, Aquinas CollegeOverview: This paper explores the relationship between face-tofacecommunication and mediated deliberation in HabermasÆwork. How, and how well, Habermas manages this transitionhas implications for how we conceive of and institutionalizedeliberation.The Individual Benefits of Deliberative Democracy - AnExperimentEdmond D. Hally, University of IowaOverview: This paper tests whether or not the individual-levelbenefits typically associated with theories of deliberativedemocracy are plausible in an experimental setting.Robert Mayer, Loyola University, ChicagoWilliam A. Gorton, Alma College29-9 MARGINALITY AND PERSPECTIVE INPOLITICAL THOUGHTRoomChairPaperPaperPaperTBA, Thur 3:45 pmIris M. Young, University of ChicagoTheorizing from the Margins with Situated TheoristsEleanor B. Fleming, Vanderbilt UniversityOverview: Scholars doing problem-based inquiry cannot answercompletely their questions, if they overlook people mostaffected by those political problems. Scholars should listen tosituated theorists to engage their ideas and their political praxis.Representing the BorderlandsYvonne A. Gastelum, Harvard UniversityOverview: Borderlands represent political space in transition.They articulate a significant perspective for theorizing aboutjustice in an interdependent world bound by transnational labormobility and migration.Liberalism and Civic Assimilation: A New Look at MinorityNationsTroy A. Kozma, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityOverview: Why do minority nationals resist membership inliberal states? I argue that liberalism demands their civicassimilation. I propose a new social contract between majorityand minority - a Federation of Peoples - modeled upon Rawls'Society of Peoples.PaperDisc.Theorizing Lived Experience: Existence, Suffering and theNormative CycleGiunia Gatta, University of Minnesota/The Ohio StateUniversityOverview: Suffering is a powerful political reality, whichlargely falls beyond the scope of contemporary political science.In this paper I draw a phenomenology of suffering and theorizeits implication for political thought and political action.Brooke A. Ackerly, Vanderbilt UniversityIris M. Young, University of Chicago29-203 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: PERSONHOODAND THE SOVEREIGN STATERoom TBA, Thur 3:45 pmPresenter State Sovereignty and the Idea of a Universal PersonMargaret Jenkins, University of TorontoOverview: This paper examines the idea of a universal person intheoretical approaches to international justice and offers aconceptualization of the individual and the state that specifiesthe scope of human rights and the conditions for statesovereignty.29-204 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: THECOSMOPOLITAN SUBJECTRoom TBA, Thur 3:45 pmPresenter The Cosmopolitan Subject: Cosmopolitanism asResponsibility to the SelfJennie S. Han, University of ChicagoOverview: I argue cosmopolitanism is best conceptualized notas a set of principles, but as a form of moral subjectivity. Thethen is to articulate the cosmopolitan consciousness andconscience as processes of thinking and making judgmentsabout the world.30-5 FORMAL THEORIES OF COMPARATIVEINSTITUTIONSRoomChairPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Thur 3:45 pmSeok-ju Cho, Yale UniversityModels of Government Formation Process in Semi-Presidential SystemsShin-Goo Kang, University of RochesterOverview: This paper presents two models of governmentformation process in Semi-Presidential systems, in which theselection of formateur is endogenously determined by thepresident who has the power to choose a formateur amongparties.Logrolling in Intergovernmental NegotiationsFrank Arndt, Universität MannheimOverview: I investigate the impact of political exchange duringthe Amsterdam Intergovernmental Conference 1996-97. Anagent-based simulation is applied to model preferenceaggregation under unanimity rule with a special focus onlogrolling processes.Evolution of Party Systems Inside the Electoral CycleSorin-Gabriel M. Sebe, Bucharest UniversityOverview: Using basic concepts as volatility, polarisation,fractionalization in a multilevel structure, we treat the dynamicsof the party system evolution inside the electoral cycle. The caseof the present Romanian electoral cycle is used as an illustrationSeok-ju Cho, Yale University30-18 FORMAL THEORIES OF POLITICALPARTIESRoomChairPaperTBA, Thur 3:45 pmSean Gailmard, Northwestern UniversityIdentity, Partisanship and Party GovernmentElizabeth M. Penn, Harvard UniversityJohn W. Patty, Harvard UniversityOverview: We examine the implications of identity within amodel of legislative policymaking. Applying our theory to theU.S. House of Representatives, we provide an alternative view121