2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper The Public and School Board Agenda Setting: A New
Interpretative Model
Bryce J. Dietrich, University of Kansas
Overview: By examining school board presentations this essay
will advance a cyclical theory of influence in which peaks of
participatory influence will be outlined and compared with
competing governance models, filling a current analytic gap.
Disc. Kyle A. Scott, Miami University
Peter Haas, San Jose State University
46-7 ASSESSING HIGHER EDUCATION POLICIES
Room PDR 6, 3 rd Floor, Fri at 2:35 pm
Chair Dorothy Daley, University of Kansas
Paper Does Commercialization Matter in the Ivory Tower?
Yixin Dai, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
Overview: This empirical research checks whether university
commercialization process shift university's mission on
contributing to the public knowledge pool by publishing or not, by
checking faculty’s dissemination decision between publication and
patent.
Paper Race, Gender, and Representative Bureaucracy in Higher
Education
Alisa Hicklin, University of Oklahoma
Vicky Wilkins, University of Georgia
Overview: We investigate the determinants of minority retention
rates by turning to theories of representative bureaucracy, to
explore whether the composition of the faculty, in terms of race
and gender, affect participation and retention rates for each group.
Paper Do Networks Effect the Composition of Science and
Engineeering Research Laboratories?
Zeynep E. Tanyildiz, Georgia State University
Overview: This study investigates the determinants of location
selection of foreign doctoral students in the U.S., specifically
investigating the effects of networks.
Paper Market and State in Higher Education: A New Nation at Risk
David C. Paris, Hamilton College
Overview: The Spellings Commission report, like A Nation at
Risk, emphasizes the economic threat of educational failures and
offers policy responses to them. This paper examines the claims
of "market" and "state" on higher education.
Paper The Impact of Hurricane Rita on an Academic Institution,
Lessons Learned
Dominic M. Beggan, Lamar University
Overview: This research sought to examine the impact of
hurricanes at a micro-level; in particular it sought to examine how
academic institutions may be impacted by such an occurrence.
Disc. Michele M. Hoyman, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Dorothy Daley, University of Kansas
46-301 POSTER SESSION: POLICY I (Co-sponsored with
Social Policy, see 47-301)
Room Exhibit Hall, 4 th Floor, Fri at 2:35 pm
Presenter Professional Standards as Public Policy: A Case Study
(Board 1)
Michelle R. Ranville, George Mason University
Overview: The standards set by professional organizations are
often the sole authority in a specific policy area. How do these
private standards gain broad legitimacy? A case study suggests
that one avenue of legitimacy is the avoidance of legal issues.
Presenter The Fatal Consequences of Issue Framing in General Aviation
Safety Policy
(Board 2)
Shane A. Nordyke, Indiana University
Overview: An analysis of general aviation fatalities for the last
decade reveals that the way in which issues are defined and
framed in safety policies blurs a clear understanding of the causes
of fatalities in this sector.
Presenter Obesity: A Hidden Political Issue
(Board 3)
Robert J. Thompson, East Carolina University
Overview: This paper argues that policy and healthcare
professionals must acquire a better understanding of each other’s
expertise in order to deal with the consequences of obesity.
Obesity may be as complex a political issue as it is a healthcare
issue.
Presenter Producing Poverty: Medical Debt Policies at the State and
National Levels
(Board 4)
Serena Laws, University of Minnesota
Overview: This paper examines the role of U.S. federal and state
governments in producing medical debt. A comparison of laws
and regulations regarding hospital billing and collection practices
suggests that such policies contribute to debt among the uninsured.
Presenter Institutional Design for Pension Insurance Program
(Board 5)
Il Hwan Chung, University of Georgia
Yu Jin Choi, University of Georgia
Overview: This paper examines moral hazard problems and
incentive systems for pension insurance program across different
countries. It shows the proper structure and governance of
organization for institutional design in government insurance
program.
Presenter Public Utility Franchising in East Asia: The Case of Electricity
(Board 6)
Yu Jin Choi, University of Georgia
Il Hwan Chung, University of Georgia
Overview: This article explores public utility franchising in the
electricity sector of East Asia, specifically China, Japan, and
South Korea.
Presenter American Foreign Policy: Domestic Politics and the
Palestinian Question
(Board 7)
Joseph N. Patten, Monmouth University
Overview: This article highlights the influence of domestic
politics on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
46-302 POSTER SESSION: POLICY II (Co-sponsored with
Social Policy, see 47-302)
Room Exhibit Hall, 4 th Floor, Fri at 2:35 pm
Presenter Regulating PracticeThrough Information: Promoting Drug
Safety at the FDA
(Board 8)
Susan L. Moffitt, Harvard University
Overview: When does the FDA use information to regulate firm,
physician and patient practice? This paper develops and tests a
reputation and learning model of regulation to explain FDA
decisions to use information-based regulatory tools to promote
drug safety.
Presenter Political Empowerment of Self-Help Groups in Hong Kong
and Shanghai
(Board 9)
Bong-ho Mok, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Terry T. F. Leung, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Overview: Findings from two empirical studies of self-help groups
conducted in capitalist Hong Kong and socialist Shanghai
indicated that political empowerment is a distant reality and that
social change has never been a common objective.
Presenter How Do Federal Dollars Impact Civic Engagement?
(Board 10)
Zahra G. Ahmed, University of California, Irvine
Overview: Through an in-depth policy and discourse analysis, this
paper seeks to examine how organizational and federal policy
interact within the larger discourse of civic and political
engagement.
Presenter Public Participation and the Power of Information
(Board 11)
Juita-Elena Yusuf, University of Kentucky
Jacob T. Fowles, Martin School of Public Policy and Public
Administration
Lenahan O'Connell, University of Kentucky
Overview: This paper demonstrates that exposure to information
can lead to public acceptance of otherwise contentious policy
solutions. These findings are discussed from a policy process
perspective, with emphasis on the importance of public
participation.
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