2006 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

40-18 UNDERSTANDING POLICY INNOVATIONSRoomChairPaperPaperTBA, Thur 3:45 pmAndrew Karch, University of Texas, AustinWhat Drives Diffusion? Non-Incremental Patterns of PolicyDiffusion in AmericaGraeme T. Boushey, University of WashingtonOverview: This paper draws upon research in agenda setting toexplain non-incremental patterns of policy diffusion. It modelspolicy adoption as a function of the number of state legislativeinstitutions and the density of interest groups within states.Regulatory Discretion and Policy Innovation: ImprovingPolicy Implementation Through Flexible ApproachesLada K. Dunbar, University of Michigan, DearbornOverview: This paper demonstrates that discretion, whichembraces the goal to improve policy implementation throughformal procedure and rule-specific innovation, offers a way tomore effective achievement of substantive policy and regulatorygoals.Paper Macro Policy in the United States (1789-2002)Nathan J. Kelly, University of TennesseeJ. Tobin Grant, Southern Illinois University, CarbondaleOverview: We measure legislative production over the entirehistory of the U.S. Congress, finding that institutional reform,societal change, and preference distributions are the mostimportant determinants of policy production.PaperDisc.Public Opinion, Saliency, and Public PolicyPeter B. Mortensen, Aarhus University, DenmarkOverview: This paper presents a new model of the relationshipbetween public opinion, saliency, and public policy. The modelis tested by the use of panel- and time-series regression on 8policy issues from 1980-2003.Thom Yantek, Kent State UniversityAndrew Karch, University of Texas, Austin41-1 SOCIAL WELFARE POLICYRoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Thur 3:45 pmNicole Kazee, Yale UniversitySocial Trailblazing or Abdication of Responsibility: AComparative Analysis of Social Devolution in Chile and inthe United StatesAdriela Fernandez, Governors State UniversityDonald Culverson, Governors State UniversityOverview: Since the 1980s social devolution has taken place inthe US and in Chile. This study seeks to answer: Whatmotivated this movement? What are the key issues surroundingthe privatized social services and what are the implications ofthis devolution.Analyzing Early Childcare Regulation in StatesJoohyun Kang, Florida State UniversityOverview: The purpose of research is to examine the policyprocessof childcare regulation in states and its impact on thesupply of childcare centers.Wal-Mart Welfare: Low-Wage Firms and AmericanAntipoverty PolicyNicole Kazee, Yale UniversityOverview: This paper explores the extent to which firms withlow-wage employees benefit from public, means-testedantipoverty programs, and suggests that we rethink ourexpectations of business influence in contemporary welfare statedevelopment.Social Policy and the Working Poor in the United States andCanadaDan M. Zuberi, University of British ColumbiaOverview: This paper explores how interactions between socialpolicy differences between the United States and Canada -specifically in the social welfare, employment, and health caredomains - affect working poverty in each country.TBA42-10 INTERESTS, INSTITUTIONS, ANDMONETARY POLICY (Co-Sponsored withInternational Political Economy, see 12-21)RoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Thur 3:45 pmChristopher R. Way, Cornell UniversityPolitical Business Cycle and Asset ConstructionJeffrey W. Ladewig, University of ConnecticutChris Andrews, University of ConnecticutJames Bourbeau, University of ConnecticutOverview: A re-examination of the monetary political businesscycle using new housing construction starts as a proxy formonetary policy.Partisan Politics and Federal Policy Choices: A Taylor RuleApproachJ. Kevin Corder, Western Michigan UniversityOverview: How do the President and the Congress affect thepolicy choices of the Federal Reserve System? The paper relieson vintage data and the Taylor rule to estimate the influence ofelected officials on Federal responses to output and inflationshocks.Exit, Promotion, or Loyalty? Comparative Evidence onCentral Bankers' Duration in OfficeChristopher Adolph, University of WashingtonOverview: Examines the effects of central bankers' careerbackgrounds, partisan governments, and economic conditionson the duration of central bankers' tenure in office using eventhistory analysis of comparative data.Dual Strategy: Central Banks, Risk Insurance and GrowthMaria Reyero, University of Michigan, Ann ArborOverview: In the context of the economic liberalization, centralbanks can act as an institutional ex-ante risk managementmechanism by sending positive signals for investment throughpolicy announcements (an informal instrument).Interests, Institutions, and Inflation in OECD: EmpiricalStudiesJulia H. Kim, University of California, Los AngelesOverview: In this paper, I answer the puzzle why partisangovernments do not produce expected partisan inflationarypolicy and outcome by looking at special interest groups andtheir interactions.Christopher R. Way, Cornell University43-5 RESPONSIVENESS ACROSS SECTORS:ROOTS, STRATEGIES, AND MEASURESRoomChairPaperPaperPaperTBA, Thur 3:45 pmKaifeng Yang, Florida State UniversityExploring Networks of Responsiveness Across Stages ofCollaborationThomas A. Bryer, University of Southern CaliforniaTerry L. Cooper, University of Southern CaliforniaOverview: This paper will present data from an action researchprogram that facilitates collaboration between a City of LosAngeles agency and four neighborhood councils. It will explorechanging network relations, perceptions and responsiveness ofthe agency.Stakeholder Orientation in Community Foundations' Use ofWeb TechnologiesChao Guo, Arizona State UniversityGregory Saxton, SUNY, BrockportWilliam Brown, Arizona State UniversityOverview: We examine the content of 120 communityfoundation websites to determine how-and how well-they areresponsive to and inclusive of key community stakeholders'interests in this online environment.Implementing Voluntary Agreements in StakeholderPartnershipsBill Leach, California State University, SacramentoBuzz Wiesenfield, Resolution Arts GroupOverview: We outline a framework for building assurances andenforcement mechanisms into consensus-based agreementsproduced by stakeholder partnerships. We then use theframework to examine implementation of the Sacramento WaterForum Agreement of 2000.125