2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

44-13 THE POLITICS OF STATE POLICYMAKING (Cosponsored
with Public Policy, see 46-19)
Room Parlor C, 6 th Floor, Fri at 4:25 pm
Chair Lilliard E. Richardson, University of Missouri
Paper Scandals, Symbols, and Substance: The Politics of Child
Welfare Policy
Juliet F. Gainsborough, Bentley College
Overview: Analyzes the effect of scandals and lawsuits on child
welfare policy making in the states and considers the way in
which state context may mediate the effect.
Paper Tar and Taxes: Investigating State Allocations of Tobacco
Settlement Funds
Rumman Chowdhury, Columbia University
Overview: This study examines various partisan, institutional, and
economic variables and their impact on tobacco settlement
allocations towards anti-smoking programs. The study provides
some insight into the influences on state budgeting.
Paper Sexual Segregation in the U.S. and the Attainment of Full
Liberal Democracy
Richard Ledet, University of Notre Dame
Overview: I address the role the state plays in helping minority
groups achieve equal treatment through the legal recognition of
rights by placing same-sex marriages within the literature on
federalism and political tolerance.
Paper Decisions to Adopt: The Case of the States and Minimum
Wage Laws
Eric A. Whitaker, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Mitchel Herian, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Overview: In this paper, we use event history analysis to consider
the broader political environment within states in an effort to
uncover the relationship between politics and economics in the
context of minimum wage debates.
Paper HIV/AIDS Policy in American States: The Case of Syringe
Exchange Programs
Juhem Navarro, University of Connecticut
Overview: Syringe Exchange Programs (SEPs) have been a
controversial policy in many American cities and metropolitan
areas. This paper attempts to fill a gap in the SEP literature by
analyzing SEP policy in state legislatures.
Disc. Lilliard E. Richardson, University of Missouri
James A. Newman, Idaho State University
45-14 ISSUES IN URBAN ADMINISTRATION
Room Burnham 4, 7 th Floor, Fri at 4:25 pm
Chair Theresa L. Johnson, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
Paper Yucca Mountain’s Bottom Line: The Cost of Increased Public
Safety Services
Sheila Conway, Urban Environmental Research
Irene Navis, Clark County Comprehensive Planning: Nuclear
Waste Division
Amanda Dean, Urban Environmental Research
Alvin Mushkatel, Urban Environmental Research
Overview: This paper presents a thorough study of the costs of the
transportation of nuclear waste shipments to Yucca Mountain to
local public safety and first responding agencies to prepare for a
potential radiological incident or accident.
Paper An Urban Ecology of Nonprofit Movement
Sue E. Crawford, Creighton University
Joshua Potter, Creighton University
Heather Bloom, University of Nebraska, Omaha
Overview: This study examines the movement of nonprofit
organizations in Omaha, Nebraska in light of urban ecology
theories.
Paper Increasing School Choice: Value and Implications
Sinan Sarpca, Koc University
Kuzey Yilmaz, Koc University
Overview: An analysis of the combined "residential decision
making and educational choice" problem of a city's residents when
education is also provided privately.
Paper Devolution in Ohio's Welfare System
Barry L. Tadlock, Ohio University
Overview: Ohio Works First promised county flexibility in
welfare. Now evidence exists that can be used to assess
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devolution. This paper reports on county-level differences with
respect to urban influence, county government modernization, and
population loss.
Disc. Theresa L. Johnson, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
46-13 TAXING AND SPENDING DYNAMICS
Room PDR 6, 3 rd Floor, Fri at 4:25 pm
Chair Donna T. McCarthy, National Institute of Governmental
Purchasing, Inc.
Paper Federal Spending in Rich and Poor Counties
Barry S. Rundquist, University of Illinois, Chicago
Greg Holyk, University of Illinois, Chicago
Overview: Recent research suggests that aggregate federal
spending, although mildly redistributive among American states,
tends to favor wealthier counties within states. This paper
examines several explanations of this paradox of federal spending.
Paper Agenda Setting and Government Growth
Samuel G. Workman, University of Washington
Overview: I argue that government growth is a response to
uncertainty in the policy environment. I use time series techniques
to demonstrate that the size of the government adjusts to the
amount of uncertainty facing Congress and the President over
time.
Paper Socially Responsible Expenditure of Public Funds at State and
Local Levels
Donna T. McCarthy, National Institute of Governmental
Purchasing, Inc.
Overview: As government increasingly is called on to be "run like
a business", can the public sector be judged for its socially
responsible activities in the same manner we expect of the private
sector with regard to leveraging the power of the purse?
Disc. Kevin Corder, Western Michigan University
Michael J. New, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
48-4 POLITICAL ECONOMY OF REGULATION
Room Montrose 7, 7 th Floor, Fri at 4:25 pm
Chair Andrew B. Whitford, University of Georgia
Paper Geography and Policy: How the Changing Location of
Interests Altered IP
Jesse T. Richman, Old Dominion University
William Keech, Carnegie Mellon University
Overview: To understand the transformation of U.S. patent policy
that took place in the 1980s and 1990s, we explore the geographic
distribution of patenting activity, and the consequent distribution
of members with pro-patent district interests in Congress.
Paper The Common Law and the Reduction of Regulatory
Uncertainty
Andrew B. Whitford, University of Georgia
Karen Wong, University of Georgia
Overview: This essay quantitatively investigates the reduction of
regulatory uncertainty in the case of international tax regimes.
Paper Electoral Accountability and Consumer Monopsonists
Dino Falaschetti, Montana State University
Overview: Consumers can pressure regulators in a manner that
diminishes economic performance. Evidence of this effect from
the U.S. telecommunications sector is difficult to rationalize with
alternative explanations or as an artifact of endogeneity bias.
Disc. Sebastian M. Saiegh, University of California, San Diego
49-4 UNANTICIPATED EFFECTS IN
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Room Suite 9-128, 9 th Floor, Fri at 4:25 pm
Chair John T. Scholz, Florida State University
Paper Underexamined Impacts of the Watershed Environmental
Laws of the 1970s
Frank T. Manheim, George Mason University
Gregory Fuhs, George Mason University
Overview: The 1970s environmental laws created revolutionary
changes in federal legislative practice as well as in regulatory
policy. We review the circumstances leading up to the 1970s
developments, the nature of the changes in policy, and their
consequences.