2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper External and Domestic Issues in Sarawak State Elections of
2001 and 2006
Ghazali Bin Mayudin, Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia
Mohamad Zain Bin Musa, Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia
Overview: My paper examines the external and domestic issues
raised by Chinese-based parties, Sarawak United People's Party
(SUPP) and Democratic Action Party (DAP), in Sarawak State
Election of 2001 and 2006 and its effect on election reesults.
Paper Electoral Behaviour in the Portuguese Legislative Elections
Paula Espírito Santo, ISCSP-Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
Overview: This paper focuses the Portuguese legislative elections
that occurred in 2002 and 2005, having as a basis two postelectoral
pools. The results enhance the importance of a set of
socio-political explanatory voting motives.
Paper The Impact of Party Strategies on the Formation of Voting
Choices
Romain Lachat, University of Zurich
Overview: This paper proposes a model of voting choice where
different parties may be evaluated by different criteria (or vote
functions). The model is used to test some implications of the
issue ownership model in national elections in Western Europe.
Disc. James W. Endersby, University of Missouri, Columbia
22-16 ISSUES OF BALLOTING AND TURNOUT
Room Sandburg 1, 7 th Floor, Sat at 8:00 am
Chair Richard W. Boyd, Wesleyan University
Paper Who Votes and Who Makes Excuses: Understanding Turnout
with a Better Question
Brian Duff, University of New England
Michael J. Hanmer, Georgetown University
Won-ho Park, University of Florida
Ismail K. White, University of Texas, Austin
Diana Watral, Georgetown University
Overview: Using the 2002 and 2004 NES we examine the effects
of a new voting question on turnout reports, showing that the new
question significantly reduces over-reporting. Additionally, we
find evidence of panel and interview mode effects.
Paper Out of Line: Forensic Comparison of Election Returns from
Multiple Contests
Mark Lindeman, Bard College
Overview: Election forensics often entail comparing returns across
two or more contests – but what should the null be? Using
precinct-level election returns and simulated miscounts, I explore
the forensic value of simple models of vote choice across contests.
Paper Voter Choice and Turnout of America's Youth: The 2004
Presidential Elections
Joseph W. Boesch, University Texas, Austin
Overview: A unified model of voter turnout and choice to test six
theories of youth participation and candidate selection in the U.S.
2004 presidential election.
Paper Strategic Voting under Two Ballots: Cross-National
Experiments
Jill N. Wittrock, University of Iowa
Overview: This paper examines the impact of a second ballot in
parliamentary elections for voter decision-making. Under
experimental settings, it asks whether the voter behaves more or
less strategically when offered a second opportunity to vote.
Disc. Richard W. Boyd, Wesleyan University
24-1 METHODOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN THE
STUDY OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
Room Suite 9-128, 9 th Floor, Sat at 8:00 am
Chair Karen L. Jusko, University of Michigan
Paper What do Voters Learn about the Economy
Raymond M. Duch, University of Oxford
Overview: Empirical tests of a selection model of context and vote
choice employing a multi-mode cross-national research design.
Paper Voters, Members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, and
the President: A Map of the American Electorate in 2005-2006
Michael Herron, Dartmouth College
Joseph Bafumi, Dartmouth College
Overview: We seek to place voters, members of the 109th
Congress, the president. and current Supreme Court justices in a
single policy space. To do this we scale Congressional roll call
votes, positions taken on these votes by the president, Supreme
Court decisions.
Paper Understanding Congressional District Heterogeneity
Phillip J. Ardoin, Appalachian State University
Jason Windett, Appalachian State University
Overview: Building on the work of Koetzle, we develop a
measure of district heterogeneity which produces a more reliable
and valid measure of political diversity. We then employ this
measure to examine variation in heterogeneity over the last half
century.
Paper When Experts Can't Agree: Making Sense of Variance in
Expert Surveys on Party Positions
Achim Kemmerling, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin
Overview: Most analyses of electoral competition that are based
on expert surveys use measures of central tendency such as the
mean or the median. There are many theoretical cases, however,
that imply the use of measures of dispersion.
Disc. Kenneth R. Benoit, Trinity College, Dublin
25-10 PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL (Co-sponsored with
Presidency and Executive Politics, see 38-15)
Room Salon 9, 3 rd Floor, Sat at 8:00 am
Chair Sara Margaret Gubala, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Paper The Role of Partisan Assessments on Presidential
Performance
Laura K. Frey, University of California, Santa Barbara
Overview: This project addresses the role of partisanship and its
effect on presidential approval from January 1977 through
December 2005.
Paper Bankers are Bankers; Peasants are Peasants
Delia N. Goolsby, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Joseph D. Ura, Louisiana State University
Overview: We revisit two important questions: Does the public
employ retrospective or prospective evaluations of the economy
when asked whether it approves or disapproves of the president?
And are these economic evaluations myopic or sociotropic in
nature?
Paper Is It Still the Economy, Stupid? W and the Dynamics of
Presidential Approval
Chris Rodgers, University of Texas, Dallas
Overview: Does Bush II represent a departure from long-term
political economy relationships? Time series analysis evaluates
rival models while controlling for party id, class, education, and
gender heterogeneity to assess attenuating economic effects on
PA.
Paper The Impact of Political Capital on Symbolic Representation
Heather A. Larsen-Price, University of Memphis
Mary R. Anderson, University of Memphis
Overview: How does presidential approval affect the likelihood
that presidents will spend more time addressing issues of high
public concern in their annual State of the Union addresses?
Paper Do Presidents Affect Their Own Public Approval Through
Rhetoric?
B. Dan Wood, Texas A&M University
Han Soo Lee, Texas A&M University
Overview: Past research by presidency scholars has produced
mixed results on whether the president’s permanent campaign
alters public approval of the president’s job performance.
Disc. Matthew G. Jarvis, California State University, Fullerton
Sara Margaret Gubala, Michigan State University, East Lansing
26-10 VOTING LAWS AND THE COSTS OF VOTING
Room Clark 9, 7 th Floor, Sat at 8:00 am
Chair Jon Dalager, Georgetown College
Paper The Cost of Voting and Turnout -- Evidence from a Poll
Consolidation
John E. McNulty, SUNY, Binghamton
Carrie B. Gerber, SUNY, Binghamton
Overview: Tioga County, New York is consolidating polling
places in 2006, changing the location of the polling place and
commute distance for some voters. We shall determine how much
Page | 201