2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

4-9 DEMOCRATIC TRANSITIONS - PERSPECTIVES
FROM EAST ASIA
Room PDR 4, 3 rd Floor, Fri at 4:25 pm
Chair Youngtae Shin, University of Central Oklahoma
Paper A Recount of Illiberal Democracy: Misrepresenting Pacific
Asia Ten Years On
Eric H. Honda, Independent Researcher
Overview: This paper will argue that the supposed rise of illiberal
democracy in Pacific Asia defies such criteria. Based on Freedom
House Rankings (between 1996-2006), the subsequent
foundations do not support frameworks of illiberal democracy.
Paper A Comparative Analysis of Democratization in South Korea
and Taiwan
Chen Pao Chou, Hamline University
John A. Grummel, University of South Carolina, Upstate
Overview: This research applies a multidimensional utilizing both
macro- and micro-level approaches as well as historical and
contextual factors to examine democratization in South Korea and
Taiwan.
Paper Democratization or Other? Factors of the Democratic
Evaluation in East Asia
Fu-Yi Yang, University of Oregon
Overview: Five East Asian countries experienced the democratic
transition in 1990s. Is democracy consolidated in the region? This
paper distinguishes factors relevant to democratization and
examines what factors impact on the evaluation of democracy the
most.
Disc. Jeeyang Baum, University of California, San Diego
5-5 THE FOUNDATIONS OF LEADERSHIP SURVIVAL
Room Salon 5, 3 rd Floor, Fri at 4:25 pm
Chair Brian F. Crisp, Washington University, St. Louis
Paper Electoral Uncertainty and the Stability of Coalition
Governments
Daniela Iorio, University of Pennsylvania
Overview: I develop a strategic model of government formation
and termination, and structurally estimate it. The counterfactual
experiments evaluate the effects of electoral uncertainty and
institutional features on the stability of coalition governments.
Paper Interrupted Presidencies in Third Wave Democracies
Young Hun Kim, Pennsylvania State University
Donna L. Bahry, Pennsylvania State University
Overview: 40 percent of countries with popularly elected
presidents in Third Wave democracies have resigned or been
removed from office before their terms ended. We examine the
roots of presidential vulnerability in Third Wave democracies,
1974 through 2003.
Paper Semi-Presidential Systems: Separating Myth from Reality
Svitlana Chernykh, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Overview: Research on semi-presidential systems argues that
these systems are inherently unstable. This paper offers a new
measure of cabinet duration and shows that semi-presidential
cabinet life spans are not different from parliamentary ones.
Paper Tying the Dictator's Hands: Leadership Survival in
Authoritarian Regimes
Erica Frantz, University of California, Los Angeles
Overview: I look at how the institutional structures of
dictatorships affect leadership tenure rates. I analyze how
differences in the nature of the elite coalition in single party,
military, and personalist regimes affect the survival of the dictator.
Paper Political Institutions and Executive Survival: Empirical
Weaknesses and Theoretical Revisions of Selectorate Theory
in the Non-Democratic Context
Ryan Kennedy, Ohio State University
Andrew McKenna,
Overview: Building on foundations of "selectorate theory"
developed by De Mesquita, Morrow, Silverstein and Smith, this
paper suggests both empirical weaknesses and theoretical
revisions that are necessary in non-democratic contexts.
Disc. Christopher Kam, University of British Columbia
Brian F. Crisp, Washington University, St. Louis
7-10 TIME AND INSTITUTIONS IN EUROPE
Room Sandburg 7, 7 th Floor, Fri at 4:25 pm
Chair Tobias Hofmann, Princeton University
Paper The Strategic Use of EU-Referendums in Great Britain and
Denmark
Rasmus L. Nielsen, University of Southern Denmark
Overview: The paper presents a game-theoretical framework to
EU-referendums, a most-different-system-design comparative
case study, and an analytical account as to why Britain and
Denmark render similar observable elite-strategies of electoral
vote-seeking.
Paper Strategically Timing the Announcement of Referendums: The
Case of the EU Constitution
Tobias Schulz, University of Zurich
Overview: The underlying motivation of a referendum on the EU
constitution is revealed by an examination of the timing of the
referendum announcements. The results suggest that the timing is
merely determined by strategic considerations.
Disc. Gabriele Birnberg, London School of Economics
8-9 EXECUTIVE-LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS IN
LATIN AMERICA
Room Sandburg 6, 7 th Floor, Fri at 4:25 pm
Chair Felipe Botero, Universidad de los Andes
Paper “Unite and Reign.” When do Presidents Ask for Delegated
Decree Authority?
Ana Carolina Garriga, University of Pittsburgh
Juan J. Negri-Malbran, University of Pittsburgh
Overview: Why do Presidents ask for delegated decree authority
(DDA) when they already have a majority in Congress that will
allow their legislation to pass? This paper analyzes the presidents’
incentives for asking DDA using data from Latin American
countries
Paper Presidentialism and Democratic Breakdown in Latin America:
Too Many or Too Few Legislative Checks?
Mona M. Lyne, University of South Carolina
Scott Morgenstern, University of Pittsburgh
Overview: We review evidence for divided government and
gridlock as cause of democratic breakdown and find it wanting.
We suggest that the problem in fact is the legislatures inability to
check presidents that leads to breakdown.
Paper Colombian Presidents: Fated to Repeat the Past? Studying
Uribe's Re-election
Patricia H. Micolta, Florida International University
Overview: Colombian executive-legislative relations are a
dynamic between reformist executives and obtrusive legislatures.
Alvaro Uribe averted this trend by reforming the presidential
reelection. How did he avoid being a lame-duck?
Paper Legislative Delegation and Presidential Power: Constitutional
Limits and Judicial Response in Chile and Argentina
Druscilla L. Scribner, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
Overview: Comparative analysis of legislative delegation in Chile
and Argentina over last century based on landmark decisions
focused on understanding historical differences and current
similarities in how the courts define the boundaries of power.
Paper Incentives and Consequences of Presidents’ Spoils
Distribution Strategies
Cesar Zucco, University of California, Los Angeles
Overview: In this paper I present a formal model of presidentiallegislative
relations in multiparty systems, discuss its results, and
test some of its implications using data from Brazil and Uruguay.
Disc. Patricio Navia, New York University
9-8 REFORMING ASIAN EDUCATION
Room Sandburg 5, 7 th Floor, Fri at 4:25 pm
Chair Eric C. Browne, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Paper Academic Achievement, Government Spending and Inequality
in Japan
Tomoaki Nomi, Southeast Missouri State University
Overview: This study tries to discover the impacts of education
spending by the government on the performance level of
secondary school students in Japan.
Page | 185