2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

50-8 POLITICAL INFLUENCE AND ADMINISTRATION
Room PDR 7, 3 rd Floor, Sat at 9:50 am
Chair E L. Bernick, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Paper Legislative Responsibility for State Budget Problems
Carolyn Bourdeaux, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
Overview: This paper examines whether legislative bodies with
more institutional responsibility for budgetary decision-making
make more fiscally responsible choices and whether they are then
held accountable by the public for their choices.
Paper Conditions of Political Control: Management, Context, and
Policy Outcomes
Daniel P. Hawes, Texas A&M University
Overview: I examine organizational, managerial, and
environmental factors that condition the relationship between
political institutional preferences and policy outcomes and
examine what variables act as constraints or catalysts for political
control.
Paper Dimensionality of IRC Voting: A Dynamic Model of the FCC
Eric D. Hurst, Georgia State University
Overview: This paper examines the dimensionality of Independent
Regulatory Commissions by estimating a dynamic model of FCC
commissioner voting.
Paper Controlling Federal Agencies: Do External Controls Aid or
Impede Worker Productivity?
Laura Langbein, American University
Overview: My paper uses data from a recent federal survey, and
other information, to examine whether attempts to control federal
agencies make employees within the agency better able to support
the agency mission.
Paper Divided Government and Federal Agency Policymaking
Susan W. Yackee, University of Southern California
Jason W. Yackee, University of Southern California
Overview: Regulatory “ossification” has become one of the most
cited theories in agency rulemaking. Using a duration analysis,
we test this thesis against a dataset covering all federal rulemaking
from 1983 to 2006.
Disc. E L. Bernick, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Stephen A. Sargent, Texas A&M University
51-9 HISTORICAL CONCEPTIONS OF THE PUBLIC
Room PDR 8, 3 rd Floor, Sat at 9:50 am
Chair Erik S. Root, Claremont Graduate School, Raleigh
Paper Secrecy, Security, and Sex: Congress and 1960's Martin-
Mitchell Defection
David M. Barrett, Villanova University
Overview: In 1960, two National Security Agency cryptologists
defected to the USSR. This was NSA's first scandal, raising issues
of secrecy, security, and sexual orientation. Using de-classified
documents, I examine three congressional committees's responses.
Paper Amos, Andy ’n the APSA: Political Scientists, the Public, and
Early Radio
Matthew S. Hindman, Arizona State University
Overview: The paper examines the APSA's 1932-1937 national
radio program. While "You and Your Government" gave political
scientists unprecedented notice, it attracted few listeners, and left
many scholars deeply pessimistic about the public.
Paper The Paradox of Retrenchment: Post-WWI Politics and the
Triumph of the Modern Fiscal State
Ajay K. Mehrotra, Indiana University, Bloomington
Overview: Investigation of how the progressive tax structure of
the First World War was maintained in the face of post-war
political retrenchment.
Paper The Reparations Movement for Chinese Forced Labor in
Wartime Japan
William Underwood, Kurume Institute of Technology
Overview: The origins, development and future direction of the
redress movement for Chinese forced labor in wartime Japan are
described. The movement is located within leading models of the
reparations process.
Disc. Jessica Blatt, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Michael A. Kwas, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Page | 220
53-3 POLITICAL THEORY, CIVIC RELIGION, AND
SECULARISM
Room Parlor F, 6 th Floor, Sat at 9:50 am
Chair James E. F. Mastrangelo, Rutgers University
Paper Communicative Action and Catholicism: Bringing in the
'Superstitious Other'
Phillip W. Gray, Texas A&M University
Sara R. Jordan, Texas A&M University
Overview: Communicative action theory meets Catholicism.
Paper America's God: An Examination of Civic Religion in Theory
and Practice
Troy A. Kozma, University of Wisconsin, Barron County
Overview: The American experience is that of a liberal nation
deeply entwined within a religious culture. From within a
Rawlsian framework, I critique one facet of this – the creation and
existence of America’s civic religion.
Paper Rescuing the Secular and Re-Introducing It to Liberal-
Democracy
Gordon A. Babst, Chapman University
Gregory D. King, Chapman University
Overview: This paper retrieves the concept of the secular from
fundamentalist misappropriations, and deploys it as a vital asset to
liberal-democratic practice.
Paper An Evolved Social Consciousness: Religion, Science and Social
Darwinism
James E. F. Mastrangelo, Rutgers University
Overview: An investigation of the mix of religion and science in
early 20th century debates over evolution demonstrates how
beliefs about how truth is best known influences the plausibility of
political possibilities and influences political and social goals.
Disc. Matthew Holland, Brigham Young University
Carl M. Dibble, University of Michigan , Dearborn
56-301 POSTER SESSION: UNDERGRADUATE
RESEARCH I
Room Exhibit Hall, 4 th Floor, Sat at 9:50 am
Presenter United States Role on Globalization and Envionmental Effects
(Board 1)
Jessica L Magnuson, Dickinson State University
Overview: Technology is allowing trade to expand at
unprecidented rates that before have been unseen in human
history. As a major player in the world's markets, the United
States has had many effects and reprocussions from stretching
towards a globalized economy. This research examines America
in a post NAFTA period, explores arguements for and against, as
well as examining the malthusian and cornacopian views on it's
effect on the environment.
Presenter Trans-Atlantic Rivalries: Boeing vs. Airbus
(Board 2)
Timothy P. Gallagher, Georgia Insitute of Technology
Overview: The Boeing-Airbus rift has deep implications for the
aerospace industry, domestic politics and US-EU relations. This
paper argues that current theoretical frameworks do not capture
the complexities of the dispute and offers new analytical
frameworks.
Presenter Enforcement of the Land Act, 1998: Implementation of the
Consent Clause
(Board 3)
Abbi G. Martin, Wheaton College
Overview: The Ugandan Land Act awarded women the right to be
consulted concerning all property transactions but due to the lack
of implementation of certain institutions as proscribed by the Land
Act; women still remain vulnerable.
Presenter Love of God and God of Love: Europe’s Quest for Identity
(Board 4)
Alexandra Sindrestean, University of Bucharest
Overview: Indubitably, an enlarged, united Europe calls for a
renegotiation of contract between citizens and the political entity.
Hence, the reconsideration of both religion and Eros might yet
again play a prominent role in enlightening the path.