2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper Electoral Volatility in U.S. House Elections, 1962-2000
Joshua A. Strayhorn, Emory University
Overview: This paper treats electoral volatility as a district-level
rather than aggregate phenomenon.Using a data set which covers
1962-2000, it examines district returns to determine which factors
influence variations in volatility across districts.
Paper Redistricting and the House: An Analysis Incorporating the
Brookes Method
Tony Hill, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Overview: The Brookes method shows the relevance to electoral
outcomes of redistricting, which can affect different forms of bias
in contradictory ways. An analysis shows an asymmetry as
Democrats more easily convert votes into House seats than
Republicans.
Disc. Phillip J. Ardoin, Appalachian State University
41-1 AGENDA SETTING ON THE U.S. SUPREME
COURT
Room Burnham 1, 7 th Floor, Fri at 2:35 pm
Chair Richard L. Pacelle, Georgia Southern University
Paper Grand Strategies and Agenda Setting on the U.S. Supreme
Court
Scott E. Graves, Georgia State University
Overview: I analyze the influences of various factors on individual
justices' case selection votes to discover the tradeoffs and
consistencies that constitute what Murphy (1964) conceived of as
the "grand strategy."
Paper Certiorari and the Separation of Powers
Ryan J. Owens, Washington University, St. Louis
Overview: This paper anylzes the conditions under which other
institutional actors like Congress and the president can influence
whether justices vote to grant or deny certiorari.
Paper First Amendment Cases and the Grant of Certiorari
Barry Pyle, Eastern Michigan University
Bruce A. Carroll, Eastern Michigan University
Overview: An analysis of certiorari grants for all first amendment
cases filed from a federal court of appeals during the last ten
years. The cases are analyzed using a two stage analysis that
utilizes both quantitative and qualitative measures.
Paper A Network Analysis of Agenda Setting on the U.S. Supreme
Court
Paul J. Wahlbeck, George Washington University
James F. Spriggs, Washington University
Timothy R. Johnson, University of Minnesota
James H. Fowler, University of California, San Diego
Overview: Existing literature on Supreme Court agenda setting
usually focuses on either the decision of the Court to grant
certiorari in specific cases or on the changing nature of the general
issues that comprise its agenda.
Disc. Chris W. Bonneau, University of Pittsburgh
Richard L. Pacelle, Georgia Southern University
41-8 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS: VOTERS, JUDGES, AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
Room Parlor E, 6 th Floor, Fri at 2:35 pm
Chair Bradley C. Canon, University of Kentucky
Paper The Women's Movement's Impact on State Courts: A Time-
Series Analysis
Sarah Fischer, American University
Overview: This analysis seeks to determine the ability of women's
groups to affect the gender make-up of U.S. state supreme courts-does
the presence of a strong women's movement within a state
increase the percentage of the state's highest court that is female?
Paper Money Well Spent? Campaign Finance Regulations and
Spending in State Supreme Court Elections
Meghan E. Leonard, University of Arizona
Overview: This paper examines the role of money in campaigns
for state supreme courts. The main hypotheses ask if campaign
spending influences who wins and by what margins. Further, I
consider the role state campaign finance laws play in these
elections.
Page | 180
Paper Judicial Accountability in Intermediate Appellate Court
Elections
Matthew J. Streb, Northern Illinois University
Brian Frederick, Northern Illinois University
Casey LaFrance, Northern Illinois University
Overview: We test whether intermediate appellate court elections
(nonpartisan, partisan, and retention) promote judicial
accountability by examining contestation rates,
reelection/retention rates, and incumbent vote totals from 2000-
2006.
Paper Creating a Unified Framework for Comparative Judicial
Selection Research thei
Rebecca Wood, Clark University
Overview: This paper creates an expanded framework for
analyzing the judicial selection systems in an attempt to
encompass judiciaries from multiple legal traditions. This
approach allows for researchers to categorize countries based on
the actors involved.
Disc. C. Scott Peters, University of Northern Iowa
Margaret S. Williams, Goucher College
42-6 DIVINING CONSTITUTIONAL MEANING AND
LEGITIMACY
Room Clark 5, 7 th Floor, Fri at 2:35 pm
Chair Michael Comiskey, Pennsylvania State University, Fayette
Paper Dworkin, Scalia, and the Integrity of the Law
Philip J. Benesch, Lebanon Valley College
Overview: This paper examines the intersection of Dworkinian
concern with the improvement of the integrity of law with Scalian
resistance to the encroachment of common-law approaches in
constitutional and statutory interpretation.
Paper Justice Breyer’s Challenge to Originalism and the Fourteenth
Amendment
Kenyon D. Bunch, Fort Lewis College
Overview: An examination of whether the values Justice Breyer
and Justice Scalia ascribe to the Fourteenth Amendment’s Section
1 clauses can be reconciled with their respective approaches to
constitutional interpretation.
Paper Is There Really a Countermajoritarian Problem?
Michael Comiskey, Pennsylvania State University, Fayette
Overview: The paper explains why judicial review poses no
countermajoritarian problem or, to the extent there is
countermajoritarianism, why it is not a problem.
Disc. Leslie F. Goldstein, University of Delaware
Sean Wilson, Pennsylvania State University
44-4 STATE AND LOCAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND
AGENDA-SETTING
Room Parlor C, 6 th Floor, Fri at 2:35 pm
Chair Kim Hill, Texas A&M University
Paper Minority Pathbreakers in State Elected Offices
Susan A. MacManus, University of South Florida
Andrew F. Quecan, University of South Florida
Overview: Biographical, historical, and interview data are used to
gain insights into electoral risk-taking by African American,
Haitian, Hispanic (Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Colombian)
and Asian candidates who were the "first" to be elected to state
executive.
Paper State Governors of Policy Entrepreneurs: An Examination of
Gubernatorial Influence on Charter School Legislation
David A. Goodman, Rice University
Overview: Research on policy entrepreneurs at the state level has
consistently found the political actors to be influential in the
innovation and diffusion of state policy by providing funds,
building coalitions, defining and disseminating ideas.
Paper Setting the Gubernatorial Redistribution Agenda: An
Integrative Approach
Brianne M. Heidbreder, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Overview: This paper examines the impact that state political and
economic contexts have on the gubernatorial redistribution
agenda. Using panel analysis, I study gubernatorial agenda-setting
across time and states.