2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper Legislative Rhetoric and Heresthetics
Burt L. Monroe, Pennsylvania State University
Kevin Quinn, Harvard University
Michael Colaresi, Michigan State University
Overview: We evaluate heresthetical maneuvers by political
oppositions using new data on legislative speech and new
techniques for the statistical analysis of such speech.
Disc. Will E. M. Lowe, Nottingham University
38-2 THE PRESIDENT, THE LAW, AND THE
CONSTITUTION
Room LaSalle 2, 7 th Floor, Thur at 2:35 pm
Chair Nancy Kassop, SUNY, New Paltz
Paper Incapacitation in the Oval Office: Presidential Disabiltity
Kevin G. McQueeney, Rutgers University
Overview: Incapacitation has affected 28 of 43 presidents. Yet,
only twice has power properly been transferred to the vice
president. This paper examines when and why this has happened
and why conditions now make it likely for transfer to take place.
Paper Presidents as Agents of Constitutional Change: Article V and
Presidential Leadership
Helen A. Erler, Kenyon College
Overview: This paper examines the president’s involvement in the
constitutional amendment process. It seeks to explain how the
president has come to assume this Congressional function and the
consequences of this for legislative-executive relations.
Paper Chaining the Dog of War: The Constitution and the War
Powers
Peter Schultz, Assumption College
Overview: This paper will investigate how the Founding Fathers
attempted to "chain the dog of war" with a focus on the
Constitution and on Alexander Hamilton's interpretation of
presidential responsibility as that is found in his Pacificus essays.
Paper George Bush and the Imperial Presidency: The Constitution
Adrift
David G. Adler, Idaho State University
Overview: This paper examines George Bush's perpetuation of the
Imperial Presidency, which has laid waste to constitutional
principles and republican values, and means for recovering
constitutional government.
Disc. Nancy Kassop, SUNY, New Paltz
39-3 CONGRESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY
MAKING FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Room Suite 9-142, 9 th Floor, Thur at 2:35 pm
Chair Gerald Gamm, University of Rochester
Paper Squatters and the Development of the American Welfare State
Ilia Murtazashvili, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Overview: Antebellum land policy benefiting squatters represents
the initial welfare program in the US. I develop a theory of
squatter organizational capacity in order to analyze contentious
votes on land policy in the House between 1840 and 1860.
Paper Chinese Exclusion in the Gilded Age: Strategic Position
Changes in Congress
Jungkun Seo, University of Texas, Austin
Overview: I examine why and how radical Republicans came to
support Chinese exclusion in the 1880s. I argue that the desire to
retain the presidency, a valuable party source in the Gilded Age,
led the party of Lincoln to forgo their support of civil rights.
Paper Voting at the Constitutional Convention: A Re-examination of
Sixteen Votes
Keith L. Dougherty, University of Georgia
Jac C. Heckelman, Wake Forest University
Overview: This paper re-examines sixteen votes on delegate
voting at the Constitutional Convention, originally inferred by
McDonald (1958) and later analyzed by McGuire (1988, 2003)
and McGuire and Ohsfeldt (1984, 1986).
Page | 114
Paper Historical Evidence on the Origins of the House Committee
System, 1789-1828
Thomas H. Hammond, Michigan State University
Nathan W. Monroe, Michigan State University
Overview: This paper qualitatively tests various theories --
informational, partisan, social-choice, workload, and multiinstitutional
-- advanced to explain the origins of the standing
committee system of the House of Representatives from 1789 to
1828.
Disc. Timothy P. Nokken, University of Houston
Gerald Gamm, University of Rochester
39-21 LOBBYING CONGRESS (Co-sponsored with Political
Parties and Interest Groups, see 37-14)
Room Montrose 1, 7 th Floor, Thur at 2:35 pm
Chair Kevin M. Esterling, University of California, Riverside
Paper Does Grassroots Lobbying Work?: Results from a Field
Experiment
Daniel E. Bergan, Yale University
Overview: The analysis in this paper circumvents methodological
problems that plague existing studies on the effects of lobbying by
randomly assigning legislators to be contacted by a grassroots
email lobbying campaign.
Paper Hearing from the Usual Suspects: Public Advocacy in
Congressional Testimony
Matt J. Grossmann, University of California, Berkeley
Overview: I explain how and why some advocacy organizations
are invited to testify in Congressional hearings. Using interview
materials and new data on 1,600 organizations, I demonstrate that
structure, rather than ideology or strategy, determines
involvement.
Paper Policy Changes, Industry Characteristics, and U.S. Business
Lobbying, 1981-2004
Henry E. Brady, University of California, Berkeley
Lee Drutman, University of California, Berkeley
Kay L. Schlozman, Boston College
Sidney Verba, Harvard University
Overview: Using a new database on Washington lobbying by all
1100 firms in Standard & Poor's 500 list from 1981 to 2004, we
examine the impacts of firm characteristics and the changing
political environment on lobbying efforts.
Disc. Kristina Miler, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Kevin M. Esterling, University of California, Riverside
40-6 CANDIDATE POSITIONING IN CONGRESSIONAL
ELECTIONS
Room LaSalle 3, 7 th Floor, Thur at 2:35 pm
Chair Tracy Sulkin, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Paper Moderation and the Electoral Connection in the U.S. House
Jeremiah J. Garretson, Vanderbilt University
Overview: Using Bayesian ideal-point estimates, I show that
legislators in the U.S. House moderate strategically when in
electoral danger. Unfortunately for the legislator, the more they
moderate, the fewer votes they receive on Election Day.
Paper Out of Step Is Different from Stepping Out
George Rabinowitz, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Stuart E. Macdonald, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Overview: To what extent does extremity from Congress members
lead to reduced electoral success? Assuming valence advantage
for incumbents and applying the directional theory of voting, a set
of paradoxical predictions are made and then empirically tested.
Paper Candidate Divergence from a Threat of Third Party Entry
Daniel Lee, Duke University
Overview: This paper analyzes spatial competition between two
major parties under the threat of third party entry. Major party
divergence increases as the threat of entry increases. This result is
supported in an analysis of the 1996 U.S. House elections.