2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper Challenger Opportunity Costs and Incumbent Electoral
Performance
Sanford C. Gordon, New York University
Gregory A. Huber, Yale University
Dimitri Landa, New York University
Overview: By comparing challenges to U.S. House members by
state legislators who have and have not been term limited, we
estimate the effect of challenger opportunity costs on election
outcomes while holding constant traditional measures of candidate
quality.
Paper Considering Congressional Candidates and Incumbency
Advantage
Jeff R. DeWitt, Kennesaw State University
Overview: Electoral research has long demonstrated how
incumbency advantage is largely fueled by the voters’ greater
familiarity with the sitting officeholder. Candidate name recall or
recognition represents a rudimentary level of political information.
Paper Impact of Hurricanes on 2004 National Election: The
Campaign Effect?
Vanessa Perez, Columbia University
Overview: This study examines the impact of the 2004 hurricanes
on the National election, examining the impact of incumbent
response on the candidate's vote share.
Disc. Gary C. Jacobson, University of California, San Diego
23-102 ROUNDTABLE: MEASURING CAMPAIGNS
Room Parlor F, 6 th Floor, Sat at 12:45 pm
Chair Sunshine Hillygus, Harvard University
Panelist Daron Shaw, University of Texas, Austin
John Sides, George Washington University
Sunshine Hillygus, Harvard University
Donald Green, Yale University
Overview: Roundtable panelists consider what we have learned
from recent studies of campaigns, and where the future of this
research lies.
24-7 ELECTORAL SYSTEMS AND PARTY SYSTEMS
Room Salon 6, 3 rd Floor, Sat at 12:45 pm
Chair Patrick J. Egan, Princeton University
Paper Interaction Effects of Electoral Systems, Ethnic Heterogeneity
and Time
Patrick Vander Weyden, Catholic University of Brussels
Overview: We test empirically the interaction effect of ethnic
heterogeneity with electoral systems as well as a third order
interaction effect by the introduction of a third variable 'time'.
Paper A Study of the Determinants of African Party System
Fragmentation.
Matthew Wall, Trinity College, Dublin
Shane Mac Giollabhui, Dublin City University
Overview: A study of the influence of sociological and
institutional factors in determining variations in the extent of
fragmentation observed in African party systems. Comprises both
a case study (Namibia) and a comparative statistical analysis.
Paper The Rise in Party-Centered Elections in Japan
Ko Maeda, University of North Texas
Overview: Using the election data of pre- and post-reform Japan, I
assess the extent to which the nature of elections has changed
from candidate-centered to party-centered. This issue has
important implications for the future of party competition in
Japan.
Paper Assimilation and Contrast Effects in Small and Large Party
Systems
Andrew J. Drummond, University of Arkansas, Little Rock
Overview: This paper addresses whether party system crowding
reduces the space for assimilation and contrast effects to manifest.
Disc. Erik S. Herron, University of Kansas
25-12 POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE AND
SOPHISTICATION
Room Salon 9, 3 rd Floor, Sat at 12:45 pm
Chair Christopher N. Lawrence, Saint Louis University
Paper The Widening Political Knowledge Gap Between Adults
Under 30 and Older Generations
Justin D. Martin, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Scott W. Dunn, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Overview: This study uses data from the Pew Research Center for
the People and the Press to test the hypothesis that the political
knowledge gap between young adults and older generations is
widening.
Paper Motivated Learning and Mass Beliefs
Evan Parker-Stephen, University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill
Overview: A motivation-context learning model is used to study
micro-macro opinion dynamics. Historical data confirm that these
components jointly shape perceptions of economics, parties, and
war. A simulation study connects aggregation and representation.
Paper Do Partisans Know their Perceptual Biases?
Markus Prior, Princeton University
Arthur Lupia, University of Michigan
Overview: Many partisans respond incorrectly to knowledge
questions. We use an experiment to examine if they perceive
reality in a biased way and believe their biased answers to be true,
or if they respond incorrectly, but know that their answers are
biased.
Paper The Effects of the Naturalization Process on Political
Knowledge
Cole D. Taratoot, Georgia State University
Overview: This study seeks to determine if naturalized citizens are
more politically knowledgeable than their native born counterparts
as a result of the naturalization process and the requirement to take
a civics exam in order to become a U.S. citizen.
Paper Is the U.S. Capable of Maintaining Public Support for any
Asymmetrical War?
Bobbie L. Ragsdale, United States Military Academy
Joseph Scrocca, United States Military Academy
Overview: Given the U.S. political culture and system, is America
capable of maintaining sufficient public support for a long-term,
costly counterinsurgency? Given two equally successful wars, the
more symmetrical war tends to receive greater public support.
Disc. Christopher N. Lawrence, Saint Louis University
Robert C. Luskin, University of Texas, Austin
26-13 POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN COMPARATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
Room Clark 9, 7 th Floor, Sat at 12:45 pm
Chair John S. Matthews, Queen's University
Paper No Exit: A Game-Theoretic Analyisis
Walter T. Casey, University of Texas, Dallas
Overview: Hirschman's Exit, Voice, and Loyalty examined using
game-theory to test Exit and Voice.
Paper Prada for Peace: Activism Gone Shopping
Maria Elena Sandovici, Lamar University
Terri B. Davis, Lamar University
Overview: We study purchasing political shopping (purchasing
products for a cause) as a new form of political participation. We
conduct an individual-level analysis of people who engage in this
type of activity in 25 Western democracies.
Paper Electoral Observation
Alberto Simpser, University of Chicago
Overview: I study the strategic aspects of decisions to send and
accept election monitors. One unexpected finding is that election
monitoring can sometimes make things worse, e.g. by encouraging
forms of fraud that are less detectable and reduce welfare.
Paper Political Participation in China: Growth of Citizen Power and
Obstacles
Xijin Jia, Tsinghua University
Overview: Political participation arises in China in three levels:
voting and representative system, policy advocacy and
participatory governance. The growth of citizen power still faces
obstacles based in a lack of power-shared political ideology.
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