2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper Accountability at Risk: The Ability to Sanction Bureaucratic
Agencies
Alejandra Rios-Cazares, University of California, San Diego
Overview: Political competition shapes legislators’ incentives to
control bureaucratic agencies and affects the organization and
resources of auditing institutions. Problems legislators face to
enforce sanctions are explained.
Paper The Long Road to Democracy: The Political Logic of
Bureaucratic Reform in Mexico
Jeeyang R. Baum, University of California, San Diego
Alejandra Rios-Cazares, University of California, San Diego
Overview: Why do dominant presidents cede power by opening
up their bureaucracies? Using Mexico as a case study, we argue
that they do so to enhance their control over recalcitrant
bureaucrats.
Paper The Party’s Over: Citizen Disenchantment in Mexico’s
Emerging Democracy
David Crow, University of Texas, Austin
Overview: Some five years after the watershed 2000 Mexican
elections, the "democratic fiesta" has fizzled out. Based on an
original, NSF-funded survey from June, 2006, this paper explores
the causes and consequences of Mexican disenchantment with
democracy.
Disc. Jonathan T. Hiskey, Vanderbilt University
7-7 COMMITTEES AND COUNCILS: POLICYMAKING
IN THE EU
Room Sandburg 7, 7 th Floor, Thur at 4:25 pm
Chair Andreas K. Warntjen, London School of Economics
Paper The EU Comitology System: Intergovernmental Bargaining or
Deliberation?
Jens Blom-Hansen, University of Aarhus
Overview: In the 2-300 comitology committees the EU member
states monitor the EU Commission. Are the committees
characterized by intergovernmental bargaining or supranational
deliberation? Data from a survey of all comitology committees
provides an answer.
Paper Committee Governance in EU Information Society Policy
Alison J. Harcourt, University of Exeter
Overview: The academic debate on EU committee governance is
investigated with specific case study: the EU’s information society
policy. The paper investigates the legitimacy and effectiveness of
committee governance as a "soft" form of regulation.
Paper The Impact of Potential Ratification Failure on
Intergovernmental Negotiation Processes
Hartmut Lenz, Oxford University
Overview: The article analyzes the impact of possible ratification
failure on the intergovernmental negotiation process. I develop a
formal model based on a “Nash variable threat model”, which
allows to account for the consequences of a ratification failure.
Paper The Practice of Consensus in the EU Council of Ministers
Stephanie J. Novak, Harvard University
Overview: In the Council of the EU, most of the decisions which
should be made by qualified majority voting are actually made by
consensus. I will attempt to explain this phenomenon and to show
how consensus differs from unanimity decision.
Paper Divesting Power - EC Comitology and GMO Approvals
Marko Papic, University of Texas, Austin
Overview: This paper seeks to explain why Member States of the
EU abdicate their "control" over the Commission when making
regulatory decisions regarding the approval of Genetically
Modified Organisms.
Disc. Tobias Schulz, University of Zurich
Daniel Finke, German University of Administrative Science
8-5 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN LATIN AMERICA
Room Sandburg 6, 7 th Floor, Thur at 4:25 pm
Chair David H. Richards, Texas Lutheran University
Paper The Cutting Edge of Civility: Civil Society and Rule of Law in
Rural Peru
Luis F. Mantilla, Georgetown University
Overview: This paper uses data regarding social conflicts in rural
Peru to analyze the role played by local, voluntary associations in
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checking governmental authority in an environment characterized
by weak rule of law.
Paper Decentralization, Citizenship and Democracy: The Ley de
Participacion Popular in Bolivia
Françoise Montambeault, McGill University
Overview: The paper develops a theoretical framework for
analyzing the social construction of citizenship at the local level in
Latin America. It argues that decentralization at the city level
provides new formal spaces for the development of civil society.
Paper Countering Hegemony: The Salvadoran Popular Movements’
Resistance Strategies
Hector Perla, Ohio University
Overview: Countering Hegemony: U.S. Foreign Policy & the
Salvadoran Popular Movements’ Contentious Resistance
Strategies.
Paper Cuba in the Post-Soviet Era: Policy Decentralization and
Social Networks
Melissa Scheier, Georgetown College
Overview: This paper explores agricultural policy decentralization
in Cuba as a possible avenue to economic liberalization. Special
focus is placed on the effect of policy decentralization on the
formation of economic (social) networks.
Disc. Eduardo Frajman, Saint Xavier University
9-3 EXPLORATIONS INTO THE ASIAN
DEVELOPMENTAL STATE
Room Sandburg 5, 7 th Floor, Thur at 4:25 pm
Chair Lichao He, University of Georgia
Paper Legacy of Developmental States: Institution, Interests, and
Ideas
Haeran Lim, Seoul National University
Overview: This study is designed to explore the transformative
process of developmental states, by comparing various
transformation processes and explaining causes of path-dependent
characteristics of industrial policy in Korea and Taiwan, even in
IT period.
Paper Chinese Techno-Nationalism and the Three-Note Chord
Evan C. McKay, DePaul University
Overview: This paper examines Chinese techno-nationalism
within three components of the national innovation system:
research and development, technology diffusion, and standards
setting.
Paper Determinants of Policy Perception: The Case of Regulatory
Reform of South Korea
Jin-Wook Choi, Korea University
Jun Koo, Korea University
Tae-eun Kim, Korea University
Overview: Applying the rational choice theory to the regulatory
policymaking and implementation processes, this paper examines
what determines the level of policy perception centering on the
regulatory reform process in Korea since the 1990s.
Disc. Alexander C. Tan, University of Canterbury
10-2 TRUST AND SOCIAL CAPITAL IN AFRICA
Room Sandburg 4, 7 th Floor, Thur at 4:25 pm
Chair Carolyn Logan, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Paper A Vicious Circle of Corruption and Trust in State in sub-
Saharan Africa: A Micro-level Analysis
Wonbin Cho, Michigan State University
Matthew F. Kirwin, Michigan State University
Overview: Using Afrobarometer survey data, this study
investigates how corruption and trust in state are related to each
other. It argues that corruption and mistrust feed each other,
producing vicious circles.
Paper The Trust Gap: Attitudes Toward Ruling and Opposition
Parties in Africa
Carolyn Logan, Michigan State University
Robert Mattes, University of Cape Town
Overview: Using public opinion data collected by the
Afrobarometer in 18 African countries, this papers seeks to
explain variations in the aggregate, country-level “gaps” between
positive attitudes toward ruling and opposition parties.