2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper Voting on Inequality? Inequality and Economic Voting in
Latin America
Matthew M. Singer, Duke University
Guillermo Rosas, Washington University, St. Louis
Overview: Original survey data collected in Argentina, Mexico,
and Peru demonstrate that perceived inequalities have real
political impact on support for incumbents, prospective voting
choices, and democratic institutions.
Paper Some Individual Determinants of Electoral Accountability in
Brazil
Francois Gelineau, Universite Laval
Overview: To what extent do individual-level characteristics
shape the propensity of voters to blame/reward incumbents for
their policy performance? The paper explores the economic
determinants of individual support for incumbent presidents in
Brazil.
Paper Utilitarian Explanations of Support for the European Union
Agnes K. Koos, University of New Orleans
Overview: Attitudes toward the EU hinge on interests, but which
interests are the most salient in shaping them? The impact of
personal and national interests is quasi-equal. But Europeans tend
to place social protection at the top of the national interest list.
Paper Explaining Executive Approval Ratings in France (1959-2006)
Mathieu Turgeon, University of North Texas
Overview: Analyzing the French presidential and prime minister
approval ratings, I found that prime ministers are held more
responsible for the ebbs and flows of the economy than are
presidents and that periods of cohabitation exhibit dynamics of
their own.
Disc. Erik R. Tillman, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Alex Theodoridis, University of California, Berkeley
7-14 TERRORISTS AT THE GATE: EUROPEAN
RESPONSES
Room Sandburg 6, 7 th Floor, Sat at 2:35 pm
Chair Irina M. Busygina, MGIMO
Paper Is European Defence a Public Issue? Media Coverage of the
EDSP in French National Newspapers.
Cyrille Thiebaut, Paris I - La Sorbonne
Overview: European Defence and Security Policy is presented as
the next challenge in the political construction of the European
Union. However, it doesn’t seem to be a public issue. I propose to
study the media coverage of the European Defence and Security
Policy.
Paper Non-alignment of EU and U.S. Foreign Policies
Gabriele Birnberg, London School of Economics
Overview: Is the EU a global foreign policy player in its own right
or do its foreign policies follow the American lead? - A study of
conditions under which the U.S. and EU do not align their foreign
policies.
Paper The European Union and Terrorism Policy: Debating the
Future of the CFSP
Sara M. Moats, West Virginia University
Overview: Intergovernmentalism implies that self interest takes
precedent over cooperation therefore; I theorize that the European
Security and Defense policy will remain largely symbolic and the
member states will be reluctant to turn control over to the EU.
Paper How Vanquished Nazis Could Help Us Fight the War on
Terror
Nicholas J. Steneck, Ohio State University
Overview: This paper suggests that the current struggle against
international terrorism is very similar in nature, if not detail, to the
one West Germans confronted in Cold War's opening decades.
Paper Long-Term Terrorism and Its Influence on Spain’s Public
Opinion
Valentina A. Bali, Michigan State University
Overview: This paper examines between 1979 and 2006 who
among Spaniards considers terrorism, in particular from the
separatists ETA, a main national problem and how assessments of
terrorism affect in turn political evaluations.
Disc. Irina M. Busygina, MGIMO
Page | 238
8-14 THE LEFT IN LATIN AMERICA
Room Sandburg 5, 7 th Floor, Sat at 2:35 pm
Chair Roseanna Heath, Texas A&M University
Paper The Emerging Latin American Left: Inequality, Foreign
Leftist Support, and Political Discontent
Claudia Nancy Avellaneda, Texas A&M University
Roseanna Michelle Heath, Texas A&M University
Overview: This paper investigates the political and socioeconomic
variables contributing to the emergence of left
movements to the executive branch of government in Latin
America recently.
Paper What’s Left of the Brazilian Left?
Daniela Campello, University of California, Los Angeles
Overview: In this paper, I conduct a content analysis using TV
campaign material from the five Brazilian elections in which Lula
ran for presidency. My goal is to examine the evolution of the
candidate’s discourse regarding economic policies.
Paper Trading Arms for Ballots: The Left in Post-Conflict Central
America
Annabella Espana Najera, University of Notre Dame
Overview: The paper examines leftist parties in post-conflict
Central America, analyzing how these parties have done in
democratic elections. It argues that to explain their success or
failure in the electoral arena we need to examine the transition
process.
Paper Challenging the Notion of a Leftist Turn in Latin America
Gustavo Flores, Georgetown University
Overview: Contrary to the common perception that Latin America
is turning left, an analysis of economic indicators shows that
governments that originated from left-of-center parties have
preserved the neoliberal policies that characterized their
antecessors.
Paper The 'love-hate' Relationship Between Neopopulist Leaders
and the Mass Media in South America
Diane E. Johnson, Lebanon Valley College
Overview: Following Waisman and Ducatenzeiler (2006), this
paper hypothesizes variation in the contemporary media-state
relationship based on regime type, and compares this with
relationships between media and 'classical' populists such as Juan
Per≤n.
Disc. Hector Perla, Ohio University
11-4 DETERMINANTS OF CONFLICT AND
COOPERATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Room Sandburg 4, 7 th Floor, Sat at 2:35 pm
Chair Sanford R. Silverburg, Catawba College
Paper Turkey: A Regional Power in the Middle East
Selin E. Guner, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Overview: This research will present Turkey's geopolitical
significance, its military capacity and its economy which are the
three basic factors contributing to her status as a 'regional power'.
Paper Deals in Damascus: Syrian Foreign Policy in the U.S.-Led
Wars Against Iraq
Debra L. Shulman, Yale University
Overview: This paper discerns the dominant drivers behind Syrian
foreign policy decisions during the 1990-91 and 2003 Gulf Wars,
focusing on the role played by domestic conditions, including
economic factors and public opinion.
Paper Realism, Constructivism, and Collective Security in the Arab
League
Ahmed A. Salem, Zayed University
Overview: I developed a set of realist and non-state-centric
constructivist hypotheses as applied to international organizations
and tested them in collective security actions of the League of
Arab States in response to the Iraq-Kuwait crises in 1961 and
1990.