2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

38-3 NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
Room LaSalle 3, 7 th Floor, Fri at 8:00 am
Chair Larry Butler, Rowan University
Paper Delivering the People's Message: Presidential Mandate
Claims, 1929-2005
Julia R. Azari, Yale University
Overview: Under what conditions do presidents claim mandates?
This project is an inquiry into the use of mandate claims as a
presidential communication strategy. By coding communications
beginning with Herbert Hoover through the early second term of
George W. Bush.
Paper A Theory of Aspirant Opportunism: Presidential Elections,
1796-2004
Lara M. Brown, California State University, Channel Islands
Overview: This paper offers a theory of aspirant opportunism and
examines presidents when they were aspirants.
Paper The President as Moral Leader?
Adam Kradel, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Overview: This paper compares the images of moral character in
campaign ads of Democratic presidential candidates during the
Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary for the 2004
presidential election to coverage of candidates by local print
media.
Paper Does Presidential Primary Order Affect Policy?
Andrew J. Taylor, North Carolina State University
Overview: Anecdotal evidence has many thinking that presidents
enact policy that favors states that hold their nomination contests
early. I test a derived hypothesis on federal procurement spending
data and show this notion to be conditionally true.
Paper Explaining Leadership Patterns in United States Presidential
Elections
Chris H. Untiet, Iowa State University
Overview: Stephen Skowronek argues for patterned leadership in
the United States Presidency. Systematic description and public
opinion data further explain such patterns and allow prediction for
what type of president will be elected in 2008.
Disc. Larry Butler, Rowan University
Andy Rudalevige, Dickinson College
40-7 PARTIES AND MONEY IN LEGISLATIVE
ELECTIONS
Room Montrose 1, 7 th Floor, Fri at 8:00 am
Chair Jean-Francois Godbout, Northwestern University
Paper The Signaling Effect of Political Party Contributions in U.S.
House Races
Garrett Glasgow, University of California, Santa Barbara
Sean Cain, University of California, San Diego
Overview: Using FEC data from all House races from 2000-2006,
we demonstrate that political party contributions to House
candidates are used to signal other potential contributors that the
race is close.
Paper The Misunderstood and Much Maligned Leadership PAC:
Serving the Party’s Collective Interest
Eric S. Heberlig, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Bruce A. Larson, Gettysburg College
Overview: It is a false dichotomy to understand LPAC
contributions as either advancing personal goals or the party’s
goals. LPACs, more than reelection committees, increasingly
employ electorally-driven strategies with majority status at stake.
Paper Does Party Electoral Help Produce More Party Loyalty in
Congress?
Casey B. K. Dominguez, University of San Diego
Overview: Based on a unique dataset of pre-primary party support
for successful 2002 House candidates, this paper asks whether,
controlling for district partisanship, those candidates who received
more party support are more party loyal once in Congress.
Paper The “Dean Dozens” and the Role of the Internet in the 2004
House Elections
Phillip S. Edmunds, Wayne State University
Overview: This paper examines whether online campaign
strategies by a group of innovative candidates translated into
higher than expected levels of campaign contributions and votes in
the 2004 election for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Paper Parties, Campaign Contributions, and Gender Diversity in the
U.S. House
Kristin Kanthak, University of Pittsburgh
George Krause, University of Pittsburgh
Amanda Driscoll, Washington University, St. Louis
Overview: We offer a theory of how legislators decide which of
their colleagues are most valuable, based on preferences for
gender diversity and ideological cohesion within parties. We test
our theory using member-to-member campaign contributions in
the House.
Disc. Jeffrey M. Stonecash, Syracuse University
41-5 SEX AND JUDGING (Co-sponsored with Gender and
Politics, see 28-17)
Room Parlor E, 6 th Floor, Fri at 8:00 am
Chair Sarah Fischer, American University
Paper Investigating the Influence of Attorney Gender in Supreme
Court Litigation
John J. Szmer, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Tammy A. Sarver, Benedictine University
Erin B. Kaheny, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Overview: In this paper, we investigate the important role of
attorneys in Supreme Court litigation with a focus on the influence
of attorney gender on the nature of counsel participation and on
the likelihood of litigant success.
Paper Competing Explanations for Federal Judicial Selection
Margaret S. Williams, Goucher College
Overview: By considering aggregate level influences on
presidential appointments to the federal bench, from Carter
through Bush, this article seeks to build a better understanding of
how the federal bench is diversified.
Paper Evaluating Race and Gender on the Federal Appellate Bench
Laura Moyer, University of Georgia
Todd A. Collins, University of Georgia
Overview: This project examines federal circuit-judge cohorts in
terms of race and gender. The results suggest that minority female
judges are more likely to support a defendant’s claims when
compared to their colleagues on the bench.
Paper Untangling the Causal Effects of Sex on Judging
Andrew D. Martin, Washington University
Christina L. Boyd, Washington University
Lee Epstein, Northwestern University
Overview: We study the causal effects of sex on decision making
in the U.S. Courts of Appeals using a new, comprehensive
database of all decisions in a number of issue areas. We argue that
traditional regression methods are insufficient.
Paper Gender Differences in the U.S. and Canadian Supreme Courts
Cynthia L. Ostberg, University of the Pacific
Matthew E. Wetstein, Delta College
Overview: This paper uses time series and logistic regression to
examine gender differences within the high courts of Canada and
the United States over a 30-year time frame (1973-2003).
Disc. Sarah Fischer, American University
Kenneth L. Manning, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
41-18 THE SUPREME COURT AND THE EXECUTIVE
BRANCH (Co-sponsored with Presidency and
Executive Politics, see 38-16)
Room Burnham 1, 7 th Floor, Fri at 8:00 am
Chair Steven Puro, St. Louis University
Paper The Adjudication of Presidential Power in the U.S. Supreme
Court
Todd A. Curry, Western Michigan University
Overview: This paper attempts to predict, through the use of
attitudinal, extra-attitudinal, and legal factors, the individual level
decision-making of U.S. Supreme Court justices in cases of
presidential power.
Paper Selecting Influence? The Solicitor General and the Supreme
Court
Chris Nicholson, University of Houston
Paul M. Collins, University of Houston
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