2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper The Rise of the Conservative Woman in the 109th Congress
Brian P. Frederick, Northern Illinois University
Overview: This paper looks at the rise of conservative women in
the U.S. House over the past decade. This paper shows that in the
two most recent Congresses Republican women are almost as
Conservative as their male Republican colleagues.
Paper Effectiveness of Female Legislators:106th-108th Congress
Michelle L. Wade, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Kami Whitehurst, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Overview: We extend Jeydel and Taylor's (2003) examination of
the differences of legislative effectiveness between male and
female legislators by adding recent data from the 106th-108th
Congress.
Paper Solidarity? Race and Female State Legislators' Policy
Preferences
Natasha L. Bingham, Louisiana State University
Overview: This paper analyzes the interaction of race and gender
by examining the bill initiation and sponsorship of female
legislators in the lower chambers of 15 state legislators.
Disc. Tracy L. Osborn, Bridgewater State College
Jilda Aliotta, University of Hartford
28-8 PERSPECTIVES ON FEMINIST THEORY (Cosponsored
with Political Philosophy: Approaches and
Themes, see 33-30)
Room Clark 7, 7 th Floor, Thur at 8:00 am
Chair Michaele Ferguson, University of Colorado, Boulder
Paper Sexual Politics Revisited: Darwinian Feminists and Feminist
Evolutionists
Rebecca J. Hannagan, Northern Illinois University
Overview: Unlike previous biological accounts of gendered
behavior, the observations of Darwinian feminists suggest that the
evolved female political strategy exerts a formidable check on
male power.
Paper What is 'Revolutionary' in the 1848 Declaration of
Sentiments?
Penny A. Weiss, Purdue University
Overview: 300 people met in 1848 "to discuss the social, civil, and
religious conditions and rights of women." The document they
passed is misread as a minor corrective to the 1776 Declaration of
Independence. It has a more revolutionary character.
Paper The Extraordinary Woman: Engendering Max Weber's
Theory of Charisma
Karen L. Mitchell, Ottawa University
Overview: Political systems determine the role of gender on
access to power but authority rests on gendered-cultural norms.
Weber's typology does not compensate for this. Only though
charisma can women in traditional systems exercise legitimate
authority.
Paper Mary Wollstonecraft and the Iconography of First-Wave
Women's Rights Movements in Germany, Britain, and the
United States
Eileen Hunt Botting, University of Notre Dame
Elizabeth Kozlow, University of Notre Dame
Christine Carey, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Overview: This paper is the first to explore how Mary
Wollstonecraft, the Enlightenment protofeminist philosopher, was
used by leading first-wave women's rights activists as a
transnational icon to unite and ignite their women's rights.
Paper Gender Equality in F. Schlegel's Idea of the True State
Murray W. Skees, Morgan State University
Overview: Sexual equality, according to Friedrich Schlegel,
nurtures an environment that promotes love and devotion, two
characteristics that are essential for a true state.
Disc. Michaele Ferguson, University of Colorado, Boulder
Shauna Shames, Harvard University
29-1 IDENTITY, RACE AND POLITICS
Room PDR 5, 3 rd Floor, Thur at 8:00 am
Chair Jan E. Leighley, University of Arizona
Paper Black Ethnic Participation in NYC: Race, Identity, and
Engagement
Christina M. Greer, Columbia University
Overview: This study unfolds the attitudinal similarities and
differences between the three black ethnic groups, as well as
observes the comparability of ethnicities when observing
traditional and non-tradidtional forms of participation and civic
engagement.
Paper American Blackness: Competing Identities Or A Common
Script ?
Ronald E. Brown, Wayne State University
Wassim H. Tarraf, Wayne State University
James S. Jackson, University of Michigan
Overview: This paper attempts to contribute to the emerging
scholarship that focuses on the relative saliency of a “shared racial
group identity” between American born blacks and black
immigrants from the Caribbean.
Disc. Randall D. Swain, Morehead State University
Jan E. Leighley, University of Arizona
29-17 MINORITY PUBLIC OPINION AND AMERICAN
RACIAL POLITICS
Room Suite 9-128, 9 th Floor, Thur at 8:00 am
Chair David Leal, University of Texas, Austin
Paper Race, Class, and Trust in Public Institutions
Terrell L. Strayhorn, University of Tennessee
Overview: Recent data suggest that trust in public institutions has
declined. Using data from the National Study of Civic Education,
results suggest that race and class exert significant influence on
the level of one's trust in institutions.
Paper Putting It Out There: How Black Institutions Affect Black
Group ID
Harwood K. McClerking, Ohio State University
Overview: Extant work suggests that Black indigenous institutions
(Black media, etc.) work to maintain group identity. This research
work moves to another important question: How do these
institutions actually make a difference in Black group
identification?
Paper Gender, Ethnicity, and Support for Bilingual Education
Robert D. Wrinkle, University of Texas, Pan American
Overview: We examine whether the ability of Latinos to translate
descriptive representation into substantive representation in
contingent upon gender. We find that Latinas are more effective at
substantively representing Latino/as than their male counterparts.
Paper Latino Preferences and Policy Outcomes
Sylvia Manzano, Texas A&M University
Barbara Norrander, University of Arizona
Overview: Using Senate Exit Polls and agency specific data, this
paper examines the relationship between Latino public opinion
and policy outcomes in the fifty states. We consider the impact of
Latino preferences on a range of public policy areas.
Disc. David Leal, University of Texas, Austin
30-8 SOCRATIC EDUCATION
Room Dearborn 1, 7 th Floor, Thur at 8:00 am
Chair Elliot Bartky, Indiana University Purdue University, Ft. Wayne
Paper Fear, Friendship and Failure in Plato’s Protagoras
Martin J. Plax, Cleveland State University
Overview: Socrates’ narrative of his rebuttal of Protagoras, out of
concern with the political impact of Prtagoras’ hubris, aims at
dissuading his comrade from pursuing Protagoras as a teacher.
Paper Utilitarian Reason and the Teaching of Protagoras
Andrew S. Hertzoff, California State University, Sacramento
Overview: The adoption of a utilitarian calculus by Socrates at the
end of the Protagors is shown to demonstrate not Socrates' own
views, but the inevitable position that Protagoras himself will be
forced to adopt by his interest in presenting himself as acceptable.
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