2006 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Presenter Regulation, Enforcement and Supply of ChildcareJoohyun Kang, Florida State UniversityOverview: The purpose of paper is to offer refinements onprevious works studied the relationship between childcareregulations and the supply of childcare centers by testing thejoint effects of the stringency of regulation and effectiveness ofenforcements43-202 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: INTERESTGROUPS AND BUREAUCRACYRoom TBA, Fri 8:30 amPresenter State Agency Responsiveness to Organized Interests: ThreeDecades of ChangeSusan W. Yackee, University of Southern CaliforniaChristine A. Kelleher, University of Michigan, DearbornOverview: We combine data from the American StateAdministrators Project with information on organized interestsregistered to lobby in the states. We investigate for the first timethe changing patterns of influence by interest groups on stateagencies.Presenter The Strategy of AdvocacyJill D. Nicholson-Crotty, University of Missouri, ColumbiaOverview: This study argues that nonprofit participation inpolitics is a two-stage process best understood through the lenseof strategic management theory rather than throught traditionalinterest group approaches.44-5 MAKING THE HISTORICAL LEGACIES OFRACISM VISIBLERoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Fri 8:30 amMark Q. Sawyer, University of California, Los AngelesKatrina's Political Roots: Race, Class, and Federalism inU.S. PoliticsPaul Frymer, University of California, Santa CruzDara Z. Strolovitch, University of MinnesotaDorian T. Warren, University of ChicagoOverview: This paper examines the role of American politicalinstitutions in structuring and perpetuating the types ofinequities that exacerbated the Katrina disaster.A Review of the 1965 Immigration Act and Its PoliticalRelevance in 2005Christina M. Greer, Columbia UniversityOverview: This preliminary work is an analysis of the 1965Immigration Act and the important racial and ethnicramifications that affect the future of black politics.Making the National Crime Problem: Law, Order, andBlack Civil RightsNaomi Murakawa, University of WashingtonOverview: This paper challenges the conventional wisdom thatrising crime rates created an electoral inventive to be "tough oncrime." National leaders politicized crime in route to opposingblack civil rights nearly a decade before crime escalated.The Shadow of Jim Crow: U.S. Social Policy and the RacialGap in EducationAlvin Bernard Tillery, University of Notre DameOverview: The paper examines the extent to which the racialgap on SAT scores can be linked to racial discrimination in theallotment of funds from New Deal social programs.Paul Frymer, University of California, Santa CruzMark Sawyer, University of California, Los Angeles45-1 PRACTICAL POLITICSRoomChairPaperTBA, Fri 8:30 amThomas F. Schaller, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyCommunity Involvement in Issues: Increasing Dialogue inSchool Board IssuesStephen C. Brooks, University of AkronSusan Vogelsang, Summit County School Board GovernanceProjectOverview: The paper describes a program for increasing citizeninvolvement in education issues by increasing competition inschool board elections. It will be of interest to scholars ofcommunity organization, political participation and citizenpolicy-making.Paper Political Message and Incremental Change in Local PoliticsThomas C. Lewis, No AffiliationOverview: Other than elementary get-out-the-vote techniques,the practice of local politics has become pure message. A resultis incremental change and institutional stalemate.Paper Turning the Tide: Charging a New Direction After 177YearsSandra L. Frankel, Town of BrightonJanet B. Miller,Overview: An urban suburb of 35,000 people in upstate,western New York changed course after 177 years ofdomination by the Republican Party, and elected a Democraticexecutive and council.Paper Situational Characteristics and Patterns Influencing SenateNon-VotesSharon L. Keranen, Wayne State UniversityOverview: Congressional voting participation is at an all timehigh of 95%; little attention is given to the remaining 5% nonvotingoutcomes. This study looks for individual senatorcharacteristics and party situations that may influence Senatenon-votes.Disc. Thomas F. Schaller, University of Maryland, Baltimore County47-5 RELIGION, POLITICS, AND THE COURTSRoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Fri 8:30 amShanna L. Pearson-Merkowitz, University of MarylandIs McCreary a Lemon?: Neutrality and the Lemon Test inMcCreary v. ACLURebecca J. McCumbers, University of Notre DameOverview: This paper will examine the Supreme Court's 2005rulings on Ten Commandments displays in the McCreary andVan Orden cases to see if the Court does indeed have aconsistent standard for judging Establishment Clause cases.The Religious Geography of Religious SpeechJohn C. Blakeman, University of Wisconsin, Stevens PointOverview: This paper investigates federal court litigationconcerning religious expression in the context of the religiouspopulation of communities from which such court cases arise.Contested Sites: Roadside Memorials, 1st Amendment andPopular DebateClay McNearney, Marshall UniversityOverview: Roadside memorials at accident sites are recentlypopular. Their size, nature, placement and even existence hasbecome contested. This paper examines the language of thatpolarizing debate.Citizenship, Religious Beliefs, and Same-Sex MarriageEmily R. Gill, Bradley UniversityOverview: This paper will explore whether recognizing samesexmarriage constitutes endorsement of same-sex relationships,and whether support for same-sex marriage is sectarian innature, just as opposition to it is considered sectarian by some.Mary Segers, Rutgers University47-14 RELIGION AND POLITICALDEVELOPMENTRoomChairPaperPaperTBA, Fri 8:30 amMyunghee Kim, Southern Illinois University, EdwardsvilleUkrainian Evangelicals and Russian Jews in RussianRevolutionary PoliticsSergei I. Zhuk, Ball State UniversityOverview: The spread of the radical evangelical movement inthe Ukrainian countryside by the 1880s coincided with theactivities of the Jewish revolutionary intellectuals, who tried toexploit the anti-state feelings of persecuted dissenters.Three Christian Responses to the Plight of the Poor inBrazilRaimundo C. Barreto, Princeton Theological SeminaryOverview: The decreasing influence of Catholic BaseCommunities demands a search for new responses to thesuffering the poor. I try to contribute to these new explorations140