2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper Islam, Education, Trust and Ethnic Politics: The Case of
Senegal
Michelle T. Kuenzi, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Overview: This paper examines the relationship between different
types of education, ethnicity and trust in religious leaders and
Muslims orders in Senegal.
Paper The Influence of Political and Economic Opportunism:
Godfrey K. Wachira, Purdue University
Overview: The paper will explore and investigate empirically the
relationship between political allegience and perception towards
extent of corruption, while taking into consideration contextual
factors in sub-Saharan Africa.
Disc. Carolyn Logan, Michigan State University, East Lansing
11-2 THE EVOLUTION OF ISLAMIST MOVEMENTS
Room Parlor H, 6 th Floor, Thur at 4:25 pm
Chair Husam A. Mohamad, University of Central Oklahoma
Paper Hizbollah: A Proletarian Party with an Islamic Manifesto
Imad Salamey, Lebanese American University
Fred Pearson, Wayne State University
Overview: This paper provides a sociopolitical analysis of the
phenomena of Islamist politics while focusing on the experience
of Hizbollah in Lebanon.
Paper Evolving Modern Shi'i Political Movements in Iraq, Lebanon,
and Iran
Christopher Anzalone, Indiana University, Bloomington
Overview: Shi‘i political thought in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon has
evolved following largely nationalist paths and political activists
have challenged the traditional hierarchy of authority bringing in
the question of whether it can adapt in order to survive.
Paper Democratic Islamic Yuppies: Post-Islamism or Another
Islamism?
Ashraf N. El Sherif, Boston University
Overview: This paper will analyze the new democratic profiles of
the Islamic movements in Egypt, Turkey and Morocco discussing
the ideational, contextual and organizational dynamics behind the
democratization of those Islamic movements.
Disc. Gunes Murat Tezcur, Loyola University
Sherry R. Lowrance, University of Georgia
13-4 CORRUPTION: WHAT, WHERE, AND WHY?
Room Sandburg 2, 7 th Floor, Thur at 4:25 pm
Chair Alan R. Cordova, Monterey Institute of International Studies
Paper External Factor in the Settlement of the Transnistria Conflict
Vitalie I. Diaconu, Monterey Institute of International Studies
Overview: The paper will analyze the role of international
community in reaching a peaceful solution for the Transnistria
conflict between the central government of Moldova and the
separatist regime from the left bank of the Dniestr River.
Paper How Does Corruption Vary Across Regions in China?
Jiangnan Zhu, Northwestern University
Overview: China has seen deterioration of corruption in past
years. This paper is interested in examining regional differences of
corruption in China. It searches for proper measurement of
corruption and explanation to the cross-region variations.
Paper Corruption and Internal Party Organization: Bulgaria and
Romania
Sebastian Burca, Northwestern University
Overview: The paper explains the different corruption levels
present in Bulgaria and Romania in the 1996-2001 period, during
the rule of reformist parties. Internal party characteristics are
central to understanding the different outcomes.
Disc. Cristina Corduneanu-Huci, Duke University
15-4 THE DOMESTIC IMPETUS TO INTERNATIONAL
WAR
Room Salon 5, 3 rd Floor, Thur at 4:25 pm
Chair Randall J. Blimes, University of Colorado
Paper Diversionary War and the Sword of Democles: Domestic
Demands in Relation to Conflict Initiation in the Middle East
Ellen Lust-Okar, Yale University
Gaye B. Muderrisoglu, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Overview: This paper presents a re-examination of the
diversionary theory of war, focusing on how the nature and extent
of opposition demands affects the probability of conflict initiation
with other states.
Paper The Threat of Diversionary Force: Testing Strategic Conflict
Avoidance
Jamil Sewell, University of Kentucky
Overview: Examines the assumptions of strategic conflict
avoidance by potential target states in response to incentives by
other states to employ diversionary uses of force, then tests for the
influence of strategic conflict avoidance in crisis behavior.
Paper Utility to Use Force: Regime Type and the Source of Domestic
Instability
Cigdem Sirin, Texas A&M University
Overview: This paper argues that the source of instability in a
country (be it economic downturn, government instability, and/or
socio-political unrest) determines the utility of external use of
force and takes into account the differences across regime types.
Paper Peace at What Price? Domestic Politics, Settlement Costs and
War Termination
Sarah E. Croco, University of Michigan
Overview: This paper examines how different types of settlment
costs factor into a leader's war termination decision.
Disc. Randall J. Blimes, University of Colorado
17-5 DEMOCRATIC PEACE RESEARCH
Room Sandburg 8, 7 th Floor, Thur at 4:25 pm
Chair Benjamin O. Fordham, Binghamton University
Paper Audience Costs: An Empirical Assessment
Mark A. Souva, Florida State University
David J. Lektzian, University of New Orleans
Overview: Accountability theories of the democratic peace
assume that democratic leaders experience higher audience costs
than autocratic leaders for backing down in a dispute. We
investigate this claim by analyzing cases in which a leader has
backed down.
Paper Dynamic Regime Difference and Democratic Peace
Alex Weisiger, Columbia University
Erik Gartzke, Columbia University
Overview: We advance a dynamic theory of the democratic peace:
joint regime type is particularly effective in facilitating peace
when the type of government in question is scarce, implying that
the democratic peace will weaken as democracies spread.
Paper Regime Change in Rivalries as Critical Tests of the
Democratic Peace
Bann-Seng Tan, City University New York
Yu-Sung Su, City University New York
Overview: Does the rivalry between two states end when they are
both democratic? The paper seeks to conduct critical tests of
explanations of the democratic peace using two conceptions of
enduring rivalries and strategic rivalries.
Paper Peace, Power, and Democracy: Identifying the Reversed
Causation of the Democratic Peace
Dongsoo Kim, University of Georgia
Overview: The explaration of the democratic peace is not
complete until the reversed causation is considered. This study
aims to identify the reversed causal relationship of the DP
proposition and to examine the impact of international conflict on
democracy.
Disc. David L. Clark, Binghamton University
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