2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

cooperation. Various hypotheses are tested using data from PRIO
and original coding of terrorist group alliances.
Paper Alliances and Colonial History: An Extension of Dependency
Theory
Nawojka K. Lesinski, University of Illinois, Chicago
Overview: Alliance literature tends to overlook the pervasive
effects of colonialism on state relations. I wish to build on existing
research by extending the theory of dependency to explain dyadic
alliance choices, for those states with a colonial past.
Paper Making Friends in Latin America: Acceptance and Rejection
of American Power in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela
Mark E. Schaefer, Marietta College
John G. Poffenbarger, Wheeling Jesuit University
Overview: We contend that preponderant powers need policies
that seek to encourage acceptance of their asymmetrical power in
the international system. Using the United States as the current
preponderant state, we will study Brazil, Colombia , and
Venezuala.
Disc. Sarah E. Croco, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
16-8 RHETORIC, RELIGION, AND WAR
Room Salon 6, 3 rd Floor, Fri at 9:50 am
Chair Christopher D. Van Aller, Winthrop University
Paper Defining Unacceptable: The U.S., Israel, and the Iranian
Nuclear Crisis
Andrew C. Richter, University of Windsor
Overview: With the crisis over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons
program building, the possibility of pre-emptive military action
grows. This paper will examine U.S. and Israeli attitudes towards
Iran's program, and the military options available to both states.
Paper Does Religion Matter? The Impact of Religious Belief on
Warfare
Michael Horowitz, Harvard University
Overview: This paper quantitatively examines the impact of
religious belief on warfare, testing whether or not strong religious
beliefs really influence the initiation, conduct, and termination of
wars.
Paper Of Roguery: How the United States’ Rhetoric Influences
North Korea
Virginie Grzelczyk, Lafayette College
Overview: This paper looks at whether or not the United States’
usage of the term rogue state, axis of evil, tyrant as well as more
positive attributes have triggered specific behaviors in North
Korea since Kim Jong Il’s accession to power in 1994.
Disc. Min-hyung Kim, University of Washington, Seattle
17-7 THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT
Room Sandburg 8, 7 th Floor, Fri at 9:50 am
Chair Marc Kilgour, Wilfrid Laurier University
Paper Stabilizing Power Sharing
Steven J. Brams, New York University
D. Marc Kilgour, Wilfrid Laurier University
Overview: Power-sharing is modeled as a duel between two
parties, each of which may attempt to eliminate the other.
Conditions under which power-sharing is an equilibrium outcome
include sharing power equally and being able to anticipate an
attack.
Paper Playing to Win: Explaining Initial Levels of Military Force
Brooke M. Rogers, Charleston Southern University
Overview: This paper examines the idea that when determining to
initiate a militarized dispute, states are using foreign policy
substitution rather than escalation given that the initial levels of
military force are generally the highest used in the dispute.
Paper Uncertainty and War: Distribution of Power vs. Distribution
of Goods
Jonathan E. Berohn, University of Colorado
Randall Blimes, University of Colorado
Overview: One of the few things that international relations
scholars can agree on is that the distribution of power between
adversaries affects those nations’ decisions to go to war.
Paper Victory Without Peace: Conquest, Insurgency, and War
Termination
Alex Weisiger, Columbia University
Overview: I explore the conquest/settlement distinction that arises
from the bargaining model of war from both theoretical and
empirical perspectives.
Disc. Stephen Long, Kansas State University
17-19 GENOCIDE AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES (Cosponsored
with Ethnicity and Nationalism, see 20-8)
Room Salon 12, 3 rd Floor, Fri at 9:50 am
Chair Bethany A. Lacina, Stanford University
Paper A Hybrid-Structuralist Theory of Genocide
Ernesto Verdeja, Wesleyan University
Overview: This paper presents a hybrid-structuralist theory of
genocide. I outline six key factors for genocide to occur, and draw
on Armenia, Germany, Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia as
illustrations.
Paper Terrorism and Human Rights Abuse
Denese McArthur, Binghamton University
Overview: Using decision making model based on rational choice
theory, this paper analyzes the impact of terrorist activities on the
abuse of human rights, and includes an examination of the degree
to which the relationship may be reciprocal.
Paper Party Systems, Intra-Party Organization, and the Rise of
Ethnic Extremist Groups
Florence G. So, University of California, Los Angeles
Overview: Using a formal model, this paper explains how ethnic
extremist groups arise by showing the following: conditioned on
the ability to meet the resource requirement to do so, in regimes
where the probabilities of forming competitive parties and
advancing within a party are low, excluded politicians have
incentives to form ethnic extremist groups so as to remain
politically viable.
Disc. Mary Frances R. Lebamoff, Loyola University, Chicago
19-5 PRINCIPAL-AGENT PROBLEMS
Room Clark 10, 7 th Floor, Fri at 9:50 am
Chair Susan D. Hyde, Yale University
Paper Guilt by Association? Anti-Americanism and Distrust for
IGOs
Tana Johnson, University of Chicago
Overview: Using large-N statistical methods and newly released
data, I find that unfavorable assessments of U.S. influence are
robust predictors of distrust toward the UN, WTO, IMF, and
World Bank. This link is troubling amidst prevalent anti-
Americanism.
Paper Stop Blaming the Agent: How State Principals Undermine
International Organizations
Alexander Thompson, Ohio State University
Overview: While principal-agent theory helps us understand state
delegation to international organizations, most models
overemphasize problems on the agent side of the equation. In IR,
it is more often state principals who undermine the delegation
contract.
Paper Judicial Bias, Authority, and the International Court of
Justice
Leslie Johns, New York University
Overview: I construct a formal model that examines the effect of
judicial bias on the willingness of states to (1) submit disputes to
the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and (2) comply with the
court's decisions.
Paper The Impartiality of International Judges: Evidence from the
European Court of Human Rights
Erik Voeten, George Washington University
Overview: This paper tests the observable implications of
alternative theoretical threats to judicial impartiality using a new
dataset on judicial dissents in the European Court of Human
Rights.
Disc. Nicole M. Simonelli, Duke University
Susan D. Hyde, Yale University
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