2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper Government Response to Crisis: Risk Propensities and Social
Protection
Irfan Nooruddin, Ohio State University
Joel W. Simmons, University of Michigan
Overview: Exposure to world markets increases developing
country risk. Why do governments choose to accept such risk and
how do they protect citizens from it? Arguments are tested using
cross-national time-series data.
Paper Famine Mortality and Rational Political Inactivity
Thomas Plumper, University of Essex and Max-Planck Institute
of Economics
Eric Neumayer, London School of Economics and Political
Science
Overview: This paper develops a theory of famine mortality,
arguing politically rational governments, democratic or not, will
remain inactive in the face of potential famine mortality if action
would lead to greater loss of political support than inaction.
Disc. Carew Boulding, University of California, San Diego
4-301 POSTER SESSION: TRANSITIONS TO
DEMOCRACY
Room Exhibit Hall, 4 th Floor, Thur at 12:45 pm
Presenter Islam and Politics: Attitudes towards Democracy in Muslim
World
(Board 1)
Dilshod Achilov, University of Arizona
Shakhnoza Kayumova, Daisy Education Corporation
Overview: Does Islam hinder or promote democracy? Is Islam a
deterring factor to a path towards democratization, or to the
contrary, a stimulant to build a free society? Current empirical
study seeks to answer these rather salient questions in world
politics
Presenter The Future of Freedom: Is Tertiary Female Education
Contributing to Liberalization in Arab Countries?
(Board 2)
Bozena C. Welborne, University of Colorado, Boulder
Overview: This paper outlines how the institutionalization of
female education in a subset of Muslim Arab countries may be
contributing to greater equality in the political realm.
Presenter The Media Feeding on the Social Cleavage Discourse
Constructed by the State
(Board 3)
Nazli C. Sahin, Sabanci University
Alper Bilgili, Sabanci University
Overview: Analyzing the data from surveys already performed
across the country, the main aim is to show that the frequently
mentioned social cleavage– and even conflict according to some-
between the secularists and Islamists in Turkey is a constructed
one.
Presenter Symbolic Gestures and Government Evaluations in New
Democracies
(Board 4)
Katsuo A. Nishikawa, Purdue University
Overview: I examine data from an imbedded panel/cross-sectional
survey experiment (N=1921) conducted in Baja California that
measure the effect of symbolic gestures by the state development
office on assessment of government performance
Presenter Party On: Politicians and Opportunists in a Mexican State
(Board 5)
Lynda K. Barrow, Coe College
Overview: While democratization has made electoral choices
more significant, frequently changing party allegiances even
among elected officials renders these choices less meaningful.
Partisan shifts within the state congress of Morelos illustrate this
point.
Presenter Think Globally Act Locally: Comparison of Overseas Federal
Election Voters
(Board 6)
Victoria A. Doyon, Overseas Vote Foundation
Overview: Survey results provide insightful evidence to examine
affects of variation in state-level policies on voter
enfranchisement, categorize and explain comparative differences,
and to recommend methods for democratizing the U.S. federal
election system.
Presenter Legal Aspects of Harmonization of Provare and Public
Interests in Russia
(Board 7)
Marina Victorovna Nemytina, Interregional Public
Organization "Legal Reform Project Center"
Overview: The report deals with tendencies of legal development
of Russia. A concept of harmonization of private and public
interests is suggested. The author singles out stages of this
process.
Presenter Path to Democracy in Central Asia
(Board 8)
Sherzod A. Abdukadirov, George Mason University
Overview: Authoritarianism in the Central Asian states is as much
a result of their clan-based political structure as of presidential
system. A shift to a parliamentary system and electoral rules
promoting strong parties would counter authoritarian tendencies.
Presenter Evaluating Opportunity Structures in Uzbekistan and
Kyrgyzstan Opposition
(Board 9)
Andrew M. Akin, University of Alabama
Overview: This paper evaluates the opportunity structures of
opposition movements in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in light of
their divergent paths in transition following the Tulip Revolution
in Kyrgyzstan and violent crackdown in Uzbekistan.
Presenter Oil, Politics and Justice on Sakhalin Island
(Board 10)
Graeme P. Auton, University of Redlands
Jeremy Tasch, University of Alaska, Anchorage
Overview: Sakhalin Island in Russia's Far East is a case study of
the incompatible demands of democratization and economic
development, with cross-cutting dynamics of globalization, oil
politics, relations with Moscow, and environmental concerns.
Presenter Post-Civil War Democratization: Does Negotiated Settlement
Lead to Institutionalized Democracy?
(Board 11)
Madhav R. Joshi, University of North Texas
Overview: This study questions to what extent the negotiated
settlement of civil war leads to promotion of institutionalized
democracy in post-civil war states.
Presenter Political Democracy, Governance and the Quality of
Democracy
(Board 12)
Krystin Krause, University of Notre Dame
Overview: This paper seeks to add to the discussion of the quality
of democracy by investigating the relationship between political
democracy and governance, arguing that high levels of
governance are a necessary but not sufficient condition for high
levels of the government.
Presenter The Spread of Freedom and Democracy: How and Why
(Board 13)
Robert M. Sanders, University of West Georgia
Overview: Since freedom is the single most important element of
an advanced society, this paper examines the philosophical
grounds for the promulgation of free societies and a course by
which this goal may be accomplished.
Presenter Parallel Political Authorities and Democratization in Ghana
(Board 14)
Jasper Ayelazuno, York University
Overview: Based on the Weberian concept of the state, some
transitologists have made some generalizations on the progress of
democratization in Ghana. But the existence of authoritarian
parallel traditional political institutions belies these prepositions.
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