2006 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

54-1 SOCIAL ACTIVISM AND CIVICENGAGEMENTRoomChairPaperPaperPaperPaperPaperDisc.TBA, Fri 10:30 amJames R. Simmons, University of Wisconsin, OshkoshEcumenical Organizing and Social Justice in SuburbiaHugh Bartling, DePaul UniversityOverview: This paper focuses on the various ways in whichgroups with significant religious components are leveragingsocial networks to address problems of sustainability and socialjustice in suburban communities. By looking at particular casesof activismShock Wave: Global New Left Revolts March – October1968Christian W. Erickson, Roosevelt UniversityOverview: 1968 heralded the apex of a transnational Universitybased revolt, represented by the rise of New Left student andcounter-cultural youth movements throughout the capitalist-blocof nation-states. In this paper I will explore what theseUniversity-centered revolts had in common and how theirtemporal coordination represented a truly transnationalmovement which resonated throughout the world.Political Disengagement on CampusJames R. Simmons, University of Wisconsin, OshkoshOverview: This paper will examine trends in politicalengagement for both the student body and faculty oncontemporary U.S. campuses. It will report on attitudes andinvolvement at American universitiesGay Marriage in Massachusetts: The Evolution of an IssueJohn C. Berg, Suffolk UniversityOverview: The past, present, and future of the gay marriageissue in Massachusetts, from the court decision in 2003 to thepossible popular vote on a constitutional amendment in 2008,including the development of public opinion on the issue.Pateman’s Participatory Democratic Theory and PreferenceFormation ReconsideredKarl E. Johnson, University of Wisconsin, MadisonOverview: Drawing on Lindlbom's 1981 address to the APSA,and several disciplinary perspectives, this paper reexaminesPateman's (1970) subsidiary hypothesis in order to speculateabout what and how employee-citizens may come to learn about"economic reality."James R. Simmons, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh156