2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Paper The Problem of Democratic Erosion in Belarus and Slovakia
Ludmila Krytynskaia, Princeton University
Overview: The paper addresses the survival of new democracies
threatened by democratically elected chief executives by focusing
on the role of opposition elites in the prevention of complete
democratic breakdown and reinstallation of authoritarianism.
Disc. Mikhail G. Myagkov, University of Oregon
5-4 ELECTIONS AND PARTY SYSTEMS
Room Salon 4, 3 rd Floor, Fri at 12:45 pm
Chair Myunghee Kim, Southern Illinois University
Paper Executive Constraint and Economic Growth in Latin America
Andrea L. Morrison, University of California, Davis
Overview: I use level of executive constraint to explain changes in
economic growth. Contrary to the hypothesis, I find that low
levels of constraint lead to positive economic change.
Paper Political Parties' Role in Democratic Consolidation
Maria Ilcheva, Florida International University
Amanda Gorski, Florida International University
Overview: The paper explores the role of political parties in the
consolidation of democracy in Latin America and Southeastern
Europe arguing that parties are shaped by the political context in
which they operate.
Paper Electoral Institutions and Equilibrium Forces on Party System
Size
Robin E. Best, Syracuse University
Overview: This paper examines the extent to which legislative
seat rewards function as an equilibrium force on party system size
over time. The results suggest this equilibrium force has
diminished in recent decades across Western democracies.
Paper The Quantity versus the Quality of Party Systems: Party
System Polarization and Its Consequences
Russell J. Dalton, University of California, Irvine
Overview: Instead of counting the number of parties, it is more
important to measure the degree of polarization within a party
system. This analysis of the CSES I & II demonstrates the
variation in party polarization and its impact on vote turnout and
party choices.
Paper Electoral Reform
Brian F. Crisp, Washington University, St. Louis
Yael Shomer, Washington University, St. Louis
Overview: Are electoral systems which are "extreme" in intraparty
and/or interparty terms more likely to be reformed and do the
specific reforms undertaken moderate the system?
Disc. Rachel K. Cremona, Flagler College
Gregory Robinson, Michigan State University, East Lansing
6-9 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Room Sandburg 7, 7 th Floor, Fri at 12:45 pm
Chair Naomi Levy, University of California, Berkeley
Paper Recovering the Street: Political Strategies in Peru's 2000
Mobilizations
Carmen Ilizarbe, New School for Social Research
Overview: The paper analyzes political strategies in the massive
popular street protests that launched Peru's democratic transition
in 2000 and reflects on its significance to recover the street as a
public space for political expression.
Paper Exploring Protest Participation in South Korea
Young C. Kim, University of Evansville
Overview: This study focuses on individual level explanations of
political protest in South Korea in the process of democratization.
Paper Mechanisms of Aggregation and Disintegration in Contentious
Movements
Michael Malecki, Washington University, St. Louis
Overview: Using data on groups involved in strikes, protest, and
violence in Argentina 1955-74, the paper shows that certain actors
repeatedly herald the beginning of the end of a wave of protest,
and investigates waves' diminuendo as well as their crescendo.
Paper The Process of Donor Funding as the Cause of Social
Movement Decline
Kristin A. McKie, Cornell University
Overview: Employing the case of the Barabaig land rights
movement in Tanzania, this paper argues that the mechanisms of
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cooptation and leader alienation, which are inherent in the donor
funding process, can yield a causal explanation of social
movement decline
Disc. Young C. Kim, University of Evansville
7-8 DOMESTIC POLICY RESPONSES TO THE
EUROPEAN UNION
Room Sandburg 6, 7 th Floor, Fri at 12:45 pm
Chair W. Rand Smith, Lake Forest College
Paper EU Patterns of Governance: Social and Immigration Policies
Sonal R. Desai, University of California, San Diego
Overview: While the members of the EU have surrendered
increasing authority over immigration policy to the organization,
they have proven hesitant to shift authority over social policy.
This project examines determinants of levels of governance in the
EU.
Paper How Bureaucratic Elites Imagine the European Union
Claudio M. Radaelli, University of Exeter
Fabrizio De Francesco, University of Exeter
Overview: This paper provides a systematic comparison of how
expertise and politics interact in the European Union. In our
project, called INTUNE, we chart and explain the mode of
interaction of bureaucratic elites in the EU by considering three
variables.
Paper European Police Cooperation: The Politics of EUROPOL
Development, 1992+
Magdalena Krajewska, Brandeis University
Overview: The paper examines the political aspects of the origins
and development of the European Police Office (Europol).
Europol’s powers have been consistently expanded since 1992, yet
it remains one of the lesser-known institutions of the European
Union.
Paper Devolution, the EU and Environmental Policy: The Case of
Great Britain
Debra J. Holzhauer, Southeast Missouri State University
Overview: While the British devolution process has created new
opportunities for both Scotland and Wales to address the
development of environmental policy at the European level, the
regional governments have not taken advantage of these
opportunities.
Paper The Europeanization of Italy’s Budget Institutions, 1990-2001:
A Bottom-Up Approach
Francesco Stolfi, Allegheny College
Overview: This paper assesses the impact of European factors on
the reforms of Italy’s budget institutions in the 1990s. By
integrating European and domestic factors in a single explanatory
framework it concludes that the timing of the reforms is largely
explained.
Disc. Yuliya Yurchenko, University of Sussex
8-8 ELECTORAL BEHAVIOR IN LATIN AMERICA
Room Sandburg 5, 7 th Floor, Fri at 12:45 pm
Chair Carole J. Wilson, University of Texas, Dallas
Paper Violent Contexts and Electoral Behavior in Colombia
Miguel Garcia-Sanchez, University of Pittsburgh
Overview: I analyze the impact of violent contexts on the
individuals’ decision to vote, their vote choices and ideological
preferences. I show that persons embedded in violent contexts
have a different political behavior than those living in peaceful
areas.
Paper Voter Turnout in Latin America: Institutions, Economy,
Political Process, and Public Opinion
Gregg B. Johnson, SUNY, Buffalo
Sooh-Rhee Ryu, SUNY, Buffalo
Overview: Building upon the extant literature, this paper examines
the effects of public opinion and the interaction of traditional
institutional, socioeconomic, and political process explanations of
electoral turnout in Latin America.
Paper Causes of Split-Ticket Voting: Strategic Voting vs. Cognitive
Madisonianism
Juan A. Rodriguez Zepeda, University of Pittsburgh
Overview: This paper is about the sources of split-ticket voting.
Using survey data from the 2006 Mexican presidential elections,