2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper Contagion as an Omitted Variable: Explaining the Spread of
Sub-National Movements in Western Europe
Seth K. Jolly, University of Chicago
Overview: In previous quantitative and qualitative work on subnational
movements, in the form of political parties or social
movements, scholars use a variety of factors to explain the growth
and success of sub-national political movements.
Disc. Sara B. Wallace, Georgetown University
8-2 MEASURING IDEOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS AND
PARTISAN PREF
Room Sandburg 6, 7 th Floor, Thur at 9:50 am
Chair Scott Morgenstern, University of Pittsburgh
Paper Ideology or What? Ideal Point Estimation in the Brazilian
Legislature
Cesar Zucco, University of California, Los Angeles
Overview: This paper uses survey data to estimate ideological
positions of Brazilian legislators, as well as their "affinity"
towards the president, and compares these measures with roll call
voting patterns.
Paper Dimensions of Conflict in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies,
1904-1955
Sebastian M. Saiegh, University of California, San Diego
Overview: I examine 1,712 roll call votes taken in the Argentine
Chamber of Deputies between 1904 and 1955 and reveal the main
dimensions of conflict and whether legislators voted in
unchanging blocs at all times.
Paper Estimating Policy Dimensions and Partisan Positions: A
Multi-Method Approach
Eduardo Aleman, University of Houston
Ernesto Calvo, University of Houston
Mark P. Jones, Rice University
Overview: This study utilizes several distinct methodologies and
sources of data to assess the nature and extent of the issue
dimensions that structure parliamentary politics in Argentina.
Disc. Scott Morgenstern, University of Pittsburgh
9-2 ELECTORAL POLITICS AND INSTITUTIONS IN
THE ASIAN CONTEXT
Room Sandburg 5, 7 th Floor, Thur at 9:50 am
Chair Shyam K. Sriram, Georgia State University
Paper Towards Free and Fair: India’s Election Commission in a
Comparative Context
Samrat Sinha, University of Delaware
Overview: The paper examines the political processes arising of
electoral governance by examining the case of India’s National
Election Commission and the causes of its increased activism in
South Asian politics.
Paper Testing the Selectorate Theory: Economic Policymaking in
Post-War East Asia
Jonathan K. Hanson, University of Michigan
Mary Gallagher, University of Michigan
Overview: This paper tests the selectorate theory (Bueno de
Mesquita et al., 2003) using comparative analysis of economic
policymaking in East Asian countries, with particular attention to
the measurement of key concepts.
Disc. TBA
11-301 POSTER SESSION: POLITICS OF THE MIDDLE
EAST I
Room Exhibit Hall, 4 th Floor, Thur at 9:50 am
Presenter The "Institutionalization" of the Lebanese Republic, 1920-
1946
(Board 5)
Talal S. Hattar, University of Washington, Seattle
Overview: This paper argues that "institutionalization" is not a
process whereby institutions gain legitimacy and stability. Rather,
it is the process by which organizational procedures become path
dependent and lead neither to legitimacy nor stability.
11-302 POSTER SESSION: POLITICS OF THE MIDDLE
EAST II
Room Exhibit Hall, 4 th Floor, Thur at 9:50 am
Presenter How Does the Arab and the U.S. Media Depict the Clash of
Civilizations?
(Board 6)
Gregory N. Schroeder, Central Michigan University
Overview: This longitudinal study utilizes content analysis to
determine how the most influential media of the Arab Middle East
and the United States convey the clash of civilations theory to
their audiences.
13-2 POST-COMMUNIST ELECTION AND PARTIES
Room Sandburg 4, 7 th Floor, Thur at 9:50 am
Chair Carol S. Leff, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Paper The Serbian Radical Party and the 2004 Local Elections
Andrew Konitzer, Austin College
Overview: Drawing upon a quantitative analyses of Serbia's 160+
municipalities, interviews and media publications, this study
examines the factors which contributed to the success of the
Serbian Radical Party (SRS) during Serbia’s 2004 local elections.
Paper Structuring Cooptation: 'Parties of Power' in Comparative
Perspective
Ora John E. Reuter, Emory University
Overview: Why have some leaders in the former Soviet Union
sought to build a relatively strong state party while others have
opted to rule through charisma and bureacracy alone.
Paper The Party is Dead, Long Live the Party! Hegemonic Parties in
Transition
Tatiana P. Rizova, University of California, Los Angeles
Overview: How do parties that sustained single party dictatorships
reorganize after surviving democratization? I argue that
organizational changes were one of the keys to these parties’
survival and electoral success in competitive multi-party elections.
Paper Voting Determinants in Young Democracies: Party
Identification and Leader Effects in the 2005 Albanian
Election
Altin Ilirjani, University of North Carolina
Overview: This paper analyzes and compares the importance of
party identification and leader effects in voting behavior in
Albania, using data from the first national election study ever
conducted in Albania.
Paper Post-Soviet Development of Political Parties and Electoral
Behavior in Republic of Moldova
Petru Culeac, University of Wyoming
Overview: Moldovan politics are lately dominated by a “leftright”
hybrid government. The paper analyzes the causes of this
phenomenon through the perspective of the post-Soviet Moldovan
electorate’s characteristics and political parties’ development.
Disc. David O. Rossbach, Texas A&M University
Paul E. Sum, University of North Dakota
14-301 POSTER SESSION: INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL
ECONOMY
Room Exhibit Hall, 4 th Floor, Thur at 9:50 am
Presenter From Empire Back to the Nation-Empires?
(Board 7)
Mehmet A. Okur, Gazi University
Burcu Bostanoglu, Gazi University
Overview: Based on the premise that security is not a neutral or
rational term but is dependent on the particular context in which it
is adopted and accepted and that economic and political certainties
of the recent history have been replaced.
Presenter Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Revitalizing a Mining
Town in Mexico: The Case of Cerro de San Pedro
(Board 8)
Josè G. Vargas-Hernandez, Instituto Tecnologico de cd. Guzman
Overview: The aim is to analyze the importance it has to rescue,
defend and promote the historic and cultural heritage of Cerro de
San Pedro. and in revitalizing a mining town in San Luis Potosì,
México.
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