Click on a section below to read a full description.
Section 1. Program Co-Chairs
Section 2. Comparative Politics: Industrialized Countries
Section 3. Comparative Politics: Developing Countries
Section 4. Comparative Politics: Transitions Toward Democracy
Section 5. Comparative Politics: Political Institutions
Section 6. Comparative Politics: Political Behavior
Section 7. European Politics
Section 8. Latin American and Caribbean Politics
Section 9. Asian Politics
Section 10. African Politics
Section 11. Politics of the Middle East
Section 12. Canadian Politics
Section 13. Politics of Communist and Former Communist Countries
Section 14. International Political Economy
Section 15. International Relations and Domestic Politics
Section 16. International Security
Section 17. Conflict Processes
Section 18. Foreign Policy
Section 19. International Cooperation and Organization
Section 20. Ethnicity and Nationalism
Section 21. Political Psychology
Section 22. Voting Behavior
Section 23. Electoral Campaigns
Section 24. Representation and Electoral Systems
Section 25. Public Opinion
Section 26. Political Participation and Turnout
Section 27. Mass Media and Political Communication
Section 28. Gender and Politics
Section 29. Race, Class, and Ethnicity
Section 30. Foundations of Political Theory: Ancient
Section 31. Foundations of Political Theory: Pre- and Early Modern
Section 32. Liberalism and Democratic Theory
Section 33. Contemporary Political Theory
Section 34. Political Philosophy: Approaches and Themes
Section 35. Formal Modeling
Section 36. Methodology
Section 37. Information Technology and Politics
Section 38. Political Parties and Interest Groups
Section 39. Presidency and Executive Politics
Section 40. Legislative Politics: Institutions
Section 41. Legislative Politics: Campaigns and Elections
Section 42. Judicial Politics
Section 43. Law and Jurisprudence
Section 44. International and Comparative Law
Section 45. State and Intergovernmental Politics
Section 46. Urban and Local Politics
Section 47. Public Policy
Section 48. Economic Policy
Section 49. Environmental Politics and Policy
Section 50. Public Administration
Section 51. Politics and History
Section 52. Political Geography
Section 53. Political Sociology and Culture
Section 54. Politics and Religion
Section 55. Political Anthropology
Section 56. Teaching Political Science
Section 57: Undergraduate Research
Section 58. Midwest Women's Caucus
Section 59. Society for Greek Political Thought
Section 60. Caucus for LGBT Political Science
Section 61. Leadership and Politics
Section 62. Caucus for New Political Science
Section 63. Midwest Latino Caucus
Section 64. Midwest Caucus for Public Administration
Section 65. Politics, Literature, and Film
Section 1. Program Co-Chairs
Maria Escobar-Lemmon, Texas A&M University
Stephen Nicholson, University of California, Merced
Section 2. Comparative Politics: Industrialized Countries
The section invites proposals on a variety of topics related to industrialized polities such as electoral politics, political economy, political culture, individual behavior, and political institutions. Theoretically driven studies of substantive topics, and studies involving comparisons are particularly welcome. Proposals employing any methodological approach are welcome.
Section Head: Jonathan Rodden, Stanford University
Section 3. Comparative Politics: Developing Countries
This section welcomes papers and panels on a broad range of topics, including the study of institutions (institutional effects, endogenous institutions, and institutional weakness), processes of democratic transition and consolidation, political behavior (participation, voting, and social movements), and political economy.
Section Head: Steve Wuhs, University of Redlands
Section 4. Comparative Politics: Transitions Toward Democracy
This section welcomes roundtables, panels, and paper proposals on democratic transitions in all geographical regions. I am particularly interested in research that focuses on successful transitions to democracy and democratic consolidation as well as failed democratic transitions, democratic backsliding, and authoritarian consolidation. While I am open to the method used in the research, I have a preference for proposals that use either theoretical models or empirical testing.
Section Head: Gretchen Casper, Penn State University
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Section 5. Comparative Politics: Political Institutions
This section welcomes papers and panels dealing with all aspects of the role of institutions in structuring politics, policy making, and policy outcomes. We are particularly interested in research that 1) examines how institutions channel preferences, or 2) focuses on the politics of and constraints on institutional change. We also strongly encourage proposals that subject theoretical models to empirical testing.
Section Head: Erika Moreno, Creighton University
Section 6. Comparative Politics: Political Behavior
The field of comparative political behavior seeks to explain how and why people become involved in politics by examining evidence across different political systems, countries, and groups. This section welcomes papers on comparative political behavior understood in the broadest possible sense, including, but not limited to, public opinion, voting behavior, and political mobilization and protest. Papers that feature African, Latin American, South Asian, and Southeast Asian political behavior are particularly encouraged.
Section Heads: Liz Zechmeister, Vanderbilt University
Section 7. European Politics
This section welcomes panel, roundtable, and paper proposals on various aspects of European politics. Papers with a comparative focus are encouraged, both across countries and across the "old" and "new" Europe. Themes of interest include such topics as institutional development, welfare state policies, party competition, public opinion, European integration, and responses to economic crisis.
Section Head: Tim Hellwig, Indiana University
Section 8. Latin American and Caribbean Politics
Latin American and Caribbean Politics This section welcomes papers, panels, and roundtable proposals focused on Latin American and Caribbean Politics. Broadly speaking, papers on institutions (both formal and informal); political economy; mass political behavior; democratization and consolidation of democracy; or other salient topics using data from one or more of the countries of the region are appropriate for this section. Papers with a comparative focus as well as those utilizing new or original data are especially welcome.
Section Head: Greg Johnson, SUNY, Buffalo
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Section 9. Asian Politics
This section welcomes panels and papers on political issues relevant to East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. Possible topics include political institutions and informal institutions, economic development and reform, democratization, the politics of national identity formation, and larger regional issues. The section also invites proposals for special roundtables on the methodological and theoretical complexities in the comparative study of Asian states.
Section Head: Ethan Scheiner, University of California, Davis
Section 10. African Politics
This section welcomes both panel and paper proposals on all Africa-related topics. Of particular interest are contributions on political economy, basic service provision (primary education and health), and political institutions. Particular interest also will be given to submissions using newly collected data (whether quantitative or qualitative) and to submissions using innovative theoretical methods.
Section Head: Jennifer Seely, Earlham College
Section 11. Politics of the Middle East
The Middle East Politics section welcomes panels, papers, and roundtables on all aspects of Middle East politics. The section encourages submissions from those who specialize in comparative politics and/or international relations. Possible comparative paper topics include, but are not limited to, political economy, Islam, political Islam, democratization, authoritarian persistence, resource curse, civil society, and civil wars. Possible IR topics include war and peace, security, terrorism, democracy promotion, deterrence, nuclear proliferation, human rights, Iraq, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The section encourages submissions that address cross-regional themes and concerns as well as region-specific issues. All theoretical and methodological approaches are welcome.
Section Head: Mike Herb, Georgia State University
Section 12. Canadian Politics
The Canadian Politics Section welcomes papers and panels on a broad set of topics related to Canada. We are particularly interested in studies examining the results of recent federal elections and the impact of these elections on areas of Canadian politics such as political parties, parliamentary government and its reform, and federal-provincial relations.
Section Head: Laura Stephenson, University of Western Ontario
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Section 13. Politics of Communist and Former Communist Countries
This section welcomes panels, papers, and roundtables on political issues relevant to all post-communist countries ranging from those already in the European Union through Russia to Central Asia, as well as countries that remain communist in name or in practice. Work engaging broader theoretical debates in the discipline is especially encouraged, and both papers and panels involving comparisons between communist and post-communist politics and politics in other regions of the world are welcome. Topics can include but are not limited to: democratization, democratic consolidation, authoritarian consolidation, electoral revolutions, state building and state capacity, political economy, poverty and inequality, elections and voting, parties and partisanship, legislatures, courts and judicial independence, social movements, public opinion formation, and methodological considerations in studying communist and post-communist politics.
Section Head: Kelly McMann, Case Western Reserve
Section 14. International Political Economy
This section invites papers and organized panels on any subject directly related to the international political dimensions of economic policymaking. Consistent with the traditions of MPSA, papers that make both a theoretical and empirical contribution will be particularly welcome.
Section Head: Daniel Kono, University of California, Davis
Section 15. International Relations and Domestic Politics
This section welcomes papers that address the internal-external linkages of international relations. Papers may focus on any subfield of international relations, including (but not limited to) international organizations, international security, foreign policy, and international political economy. A broad mix of papers is encouraged, including those informed by any of the major theoretical approaches in international relations as well as papers using a variety of methodologies to approach important questions.
Section Head: Ross Miller, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
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Section 16. International Security
The section is soliciting papers addressing any aspect of the control and use of force in the context of international politics. I encourage "author meets critics" or other roundtable submissions. All methodological and theoretical approaches are welcome.
Section Head: Chris Sprecher, Texas A&M University
Section 17. Conflict Processes
We live in interesting times, with some regions experiencing perpetual peace, while nations in other parts of the globe endure seemingly perpetual turmoil. The Conflict Processes section welcomes proposals on topics related to peace and conflict, including, but not limited to, war, contentious politics, protest, ethnic politics, collective action, domestic conflict, secession, international conflict, terrorism, and the study of methods and mechanisms designed to remedy or reduce any (or all) of the above.
Section Head: Renatto Corbetta, University of Alabama, Birmingham
Section 18. Foreign Policy
The section welcomes papers, panels, and roundtables on the broad range of topics related to the study of foreign policy, including foreign policy decision making and the role of leadership and beliefs; domestic versus international sources of foreign policy; and paradigmatic approaches to the study of foreign policy. Of special interest are papers and panels that are comparative, either within-region or cross-regional. The section also invites proposals that seek to advance or extend foreign policy as a field of study, and those that are cross-disciplinary in nature (e.g., those that consider the intersection of foreign policy with religion, gender, law, economics, or demographics).
Section Head: Nehemia Geva, Texas A&M University
Section 19. International Cooperation and Organization
This section welcomes panel and paper proposals on all aspects of international cooperation. Particularly welcome are proposals that examine why states would delegate authority to international organizations and how international organizations, once created, may or may not use their agency to expand that authority. Other relevant topics include, but are not limited to, compliance with international agreements, institutional design, institutional effects, politics inside IOs, regional integration, norm development, public-private relationships, peacekeeping and peace building, and the role of multilateralism in dealing with US preponderance in power.
Section Head: Mark Mullenbach, University of Central Arkansas
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Section 20. Ethnicity and Nationalism
The section invites papers on all issues related to ethnicity and nationalism. Major substantive issues include the relationship between these variables and democracy, violence, state failure, and economic development. Of special interest are papers on improving our conceptualization and our methodology for the social scientific study of ethnicity and nationalism.
Section Head: Hanna Birnir, University of Maryland
Section 21. Political Psychology
This section seeks proposals that use a psychological lens to examine political decision-making and behavior. Additionally, this section seeks proposals that examine political phenomena in the service of developing and enhancing psychological theory. Proposals that focus on information-processing, identity formation and its consequences, the role of emotion and affect, personality at the elite or mass level, socialization, media
and campaign effects, intergroup relations, and leadership are welcome. Empirical tests can be grounded in American politics, comparative politics, or international relations. Proposals that adopt newer approaches to studying political psychology – e.g., from a biological or evolutionary perspective – or that employ methodological innovations are especially welcome. Finally, I encourage both junior and senior scholars to consider volunteering as panel chairs and/or discussants.
Section Head: Kevin Arceneaux, Temple University
Section 22. Voting Behavior
The section welcomes panels and papers on topics related to important theoretical, substantive, and/or methodological issues dealing with electoral behavior in the United States and in comparative perspective. Among others, topics could include campaign effects, election forecasting, campaign finance reforms, alternative voting technologies, voter registration, mobilization, and turnout.
Section Head: Ben Highton, University of California, Davis
Section 23. Electoral Campaigns
This section welcomes panels and papers on topics related to campaigns and electioneering in the United States and in comparative perspective with particular attention to whether and how the behavior of candidates affects outcomes. Topics include campaign effects writ large, advertising, mobilization and get-out-the-vote efforts, strategy, primary election campaigns, and media coverage of campaigns. Proposals examining the role of fundamentals in relation to campaign efforts are especially welcome, along with proposals that highlight the use of new or novel data, observational or other, that are well-suited to study campaign efforts.
Section Head: Lynn Vavreck, University of California, Los Angeles
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Section 24. Representation and Electoral Systems
Papers are invited that fall into the "usual suspects" categories of representation and electoral systems. This year the section especially welcomes papers that draw on comparative (i.e. non-US) experience, as well as those examining the origins of electoral systems and electoral system change and the politics of mixed electoral systems.
Section Head: Jeffrey Karp, University of Exeter
Section 25. Public Opinion
The section welcomes proposals that are related to political perspectives and preferences among members of the public. This includes but is not restricted to investigations of the sources of public opinion, processes of opinion formation, the relationship between social context and public opinion, and the relationship between public opinion and elite behavior and decision making. Proposals for roundtables on public-opinion-related topics also are welcome.
Section Head: Jon Hurwitz, University of Pittsburgh
Section 26. Political Participation and Turnout
The section welcomes paper and panel proposals that examine electoral and non-electoral forms of participation. Among other topics, proposals might examine the effects of elite-mass interactions on citizen participation, participation in comparative or historical perspectives, conventional and unconventional forms of participation, and biases in participation. Proposals that apply innovative theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of political participation and turnout are particularly welcome.
Section Head: Brad Gomez, Florida State University
Section 27. Mass Media and Political Communication
The section invites proposals to present innovative and original research or to encourage intellectual exchange on any aspect of the origin, transmission, and influence of political messages. The organization of panels will reflect the interests of those whose proposals can be accommodated. Preference will be given to proposals that connect research with fundamental questions about politics.
Section Head: Jason Barabas, Florida State University
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Section 28. Gender and Politics
The section welcomes papers and panels that examine the interaction of gender and power both inside political institutions and in society. We are particularly interested in papers that explore the impact and experience of women as political leaders and candidates in the United States and in comparative perspective, historical analyses of gender-related trends in public opinion, the evolving role of women’s groups and the women’s movement in society, and the development of public policies related to women.
Section Head: Leslie Schwindt-Bayer, University of Missouri, and Misha Taylor-Robinson, Texas A&M University
Section 29. Race, Class, and Ethnicity
The section invites panels and papers that focus on the critical role that race, ethnicity, and class -- or the intersection of these categories -- play in U.S. politics or in comparative perspective. Especially welcome are papers that emphasize new theoretical insights and those that represent innovative methodological approaches to the topic of race, class, ethnicity, and politics.
Section Head: Ismail White, The Ohio State University
Section 30. Foundations of Political Theory: Ancient
Ancient political thought provides extraordinary critical and imaginative resources for theorists grappling with the persistent conflicts and opportunities of political life. We understand “ancient political thought” in a geographically and generically inclusive way, as a category that ranges from Greece and Rome to the Near and Far East, and that includes oral poetry and ancient history as well as Platonic dialogues and Ciceronian speeches. We particularly welcome proposals that bring the ancient thinkers into dialogue with later traditions of thought. How do the ancient thinkers provide an education in politics as such? Do the ancients have the capacity to unsettle modern certainties or to expose the limitations of later thinkers? How do the ancients’ typically alien perspectives – on ethics, religion, economy, culture, gender, warfare, and technology, among other things – offer critical resources to modern theorists and citizens? With these as our guiding questions, we invite individual papers and panel proposals from scholars of all methodological and disciplinary commitments, with a view to stimulating awareness of the theoretical promise which ancient political theory holds.
Section Head: John Zumbrunnen, University of Wisconsin
Section 31. Foundations of Political Theory: Pre- and Early Modern
This section welcomes proposals from scholars who consider how medieval, renaissance, and early modern thinkers formulate and respond to political problems. Proposed papers and panels may involve the reappraisal of canonical figures, the reassessment of lesser known texts, problems, and thinkers, the elucidation of cross-cultural, cross-national, or inter-religious influences in political theories, or the re-examination of the relationship between works of this period and either classical, modern, or contemporary theories. Papers may include studies in the history of ideas, comparative studies, genealogical analyses, or meditations upon particular themes or issues. They may also approach political theoretical questions from any among a variety of philosophical, chronological, geographic, cultural, or religious perspectives. Papers sensitive to the complicated terrains of gender/sexuality/biology/theology, race/nation/empire, or social class/caste in this broad historical period are also encouraged.
Section Head: Daniel Brunstetter, University of California, Irvine
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Section 32. Liberalism and Democratic Theory
This section invites paper and panel proposals that explore the current controversies in the theory and practice of liberal democracy. We welcome critical treatments of particular theorists of democracy in the history of ideas, but we are especially interested in papers that tackle problems of liberalism in the contemporary context. Thus we solicit investigations of the tensions between liberal ideas, capitalist economics, and democratic politics; explorations of liberalism's theoretical and actual relation to nationalism, neo-imperialism, or cosmopolitanism; studies of the limits to classical theories of popular sovereignty, and conceptions of new forms of political agency, in an age of mass migration, environmental degradation, and other border-crossing aspects of globalization. We also welcome critical accounts of particular conceptions of democracy — minimal, aggregative, deliberative, participatory, or some other; and reflections on the possibilities for democratic governance in ethnonational, multicultural, transnational, or authoritarian settings.
Section Head: Teena Gabrielson, University of Wyoming
Section 33. Contemporary Political Theory
This section welcomes submissions in contemporary theory, broadly defined. Possibilities include essays that: 1) treat works by 20th and 21st-century political thinkers (who may or may not identify themselves as political theorists or political scientists); 2) bring works of political theory from any period to bear on contemporary political questions and problems; 3) employ a contemporary approach to textual analysis (such as feminist, rhetorical, or hermeneutic analysis—to name just a few) to interpret a political theory text from any period. Single paper proposals are welcome. If you choose to propose an entire panel, I encourage those that bring participants together from more than one institution and/or include both graduate students and faculty members.
Section Head: Robert Taylor, University of California, Davis
Section 34. Political Philosophy: Approaches and Themes
Political theory, while sometimes treated as a discrete field of inquiry, is deeply indebted to and in conversation with scholars from a variety of disciplines. Panels and papers that explore questions, concepts, and approaches that cross disciplinary boundaries (i.e., boundaries drawn between subfields of political science or between the study of politics and, say, the study of literature or biology) will be given special consideration. I particularly encourage panels that bring together scholars and scholarship situated in different academic disciplines as well as panels that bring together self-identified political theorists who draw on very different traditions (e.g., liberal democrats, postmodernists, and Straussians). Also of interest are papers that explore disciplinarity, boundaries, and border-crossings.
Section Head: Fonna Forman-Barzilai, University of California, San Diego
Section 35. Formal Modeling
The section welcomes submissions covering the entire range of political science scholarship, distinguished by approach rather than topic. Theoretical and empirical analyses of substantive political science questions based on game theory, social choice theory, decision theory, behavioral decision theory, laboratory experimentation, agent-based or other computational techniques, and other formal methods -- or papers advancing the frontiers or critiquing the use of these approaches -- are especially appropriate.
Section Head: Kris Kanthak, University of Pittsburgh
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Section 36. Methodology
This year we are especially interested in methodological papers that highlight areas where political science has made distinctive contributions rather than just imported techniques. A central focus is on political methodology as a well-developed and productive field in its own right. Papers that feature contributions in statistical and mathematical computing are highly encouraged. We particularly welcome full panel proposals around these or any other relevant themes that fit into the sub-discipline.
Section Head: David Peterson, Iowa State University
Section 37. Information Technology and Politics
Information technology continues to have a widespread influence on politics, but we have yet to achieve a general consensus on even the meanings of such terms as "e-voting," "e-government," and "e-democracy." How has information technology most influenced political actors and institutions? How has information technology changed the ability of actors to influence politics? How does such technology affect the status quo? What theories and methods are most useful for the study of information technology and elections? The Information Technology and Politics (ITP) section welcomes paper, panel, roundtable, and poster session proposals that contribute to our understanding of the impact of IT on politics and policy (and vice-versa). We also welcome proposals that apply or evaluate IT in innovative ways as an instrument for teaching, data collection and dissemination, and statistical/information visualization and analysis.
Section Head: Caroline Tolbert, University of Iowa
Section 38. Political Parties and Interest Groups
Proposals that examine the impact of parties and interest groups on the democratic process and the ways in which they affect equality and participation are particularly welcome. Especially important would be proposals that focus on a comparative perspective between parties and interest groups or cross-national studies.
Section Head: David Damore, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Section 39. Presidency and Executive Politics
The section welcomes papers dealing with intra-executive politics and/or the balance of power between the branches of government. Proposals for papers or panels addressing the scope, scale, and techniques of executive authority are of particular interest. These could include, but are not limited to, analyses of executive staffing and appointments, relations with legislative bodies, war and emergency powers, and control of policy implementation
Section Head: David Lewis, Vanderbilt University
Section 40. Legislative Politics: Institutions
The section welcomes papers on any related topic. Among others, topics might include congressional parties, committees, representation, leadership, rules, procedure, reform, policy making, budgeting, floor behavior, and historical development. The section encourages papers analyzing the influence of lobbyists and the executive branch. Both American and comparative politics scholars are welcome to submit proposals. Although both panel and individual paper proposals are welcome, individual paper proposals are generally easier to accommodate.
Section Head: Nate Monroe, University of California, Merced
Section 41. Legislative Politics: Campaigns and Elections
The section welcomes proposals from scholars in American and comparative politics on any topic related to legislative campaigns and elections. The section particularly encourages proposals that focus on the role of campaigns and elections in fostering representation. Proposals that highlight the effects of electoral institutions on candidates and their campaigns, as well as proposals that link electoral institutions and campaigns to legislative behavior, would be especially welcome.
Section Head: Jamie Carson, University of Georgia
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Section 42. Judicial Politics
The section welcomes papers or panels investigating the role of legal actors and legal institutions in either the United States or comparative contexts. Although papers on litigation and decision making in the U.S. Supreme Court are always welcome, I encourage proposals for research on issues such as 1) litigation and decision making in other courts or institutions that resolve disputes, 2) the concrete and symbolic impact of court decisions, 3) judicial interactions with other political and legal actors, institutions, and movements, and 4) novel methodological and epistemological approaches for studying significant questions about law and courts. I encourage proposers of full panels to organize their panels to encompass diverse approaches for researching particular questions and topics.
Section Head: Tom Hansford, University of California, Merced
Section 43. Law and Jurisprudence
The section welcomes proposals for papers, roundtables, and panels (including author-meets-critics) exploring how politics, institutions, ideas, and arguments shape and constrain the law’s development. Papers may tackle philosophical and jurisprudential questions, offer doctrinal analysis or historical perspectives, focus on institutional design, apply cross-national or cross-disciplinary perspectives, or employ normative or empirical approaches. Innovations to traditional approaches to the study of law and jurisprudence are especially welcome.
Section Head: Terri Peretti, Santa Clara University
Section 44. International and Comparative Law
The section invites panel, paper, and roundtable proposals on all aspects of international law. Proposals are encouraged that connect international law with international relations research and, thus, might be sponsored jointly by more than one MPSA section. Particularly welcome are proposals that examine why various aspects of international law have evolved the way they have and proposals that specify when and how international law may generate behavioral effects.
Section Head: Alexandra Huneeus, University of Wisconsin Law School
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Section 45. State and Intergovernmental Politics
The section welcomes panels and papers that focus on issues of American federalism and state politics. Of special interest are papers that develop and/or test general theories of political behavior, institutions, or policy making using the methodological advantages arising from the substantial variance found across the U.S.
Section Head: Stacy Gordon, University of Nevada, Reno
Section 46. Urban and Local Politics
The section welcomes papers and panels with a strong theoretical motivation focusing on various aspects of public policy and politics in local governments, metropolitan areas, and regions. This year we are especially interested in papers that provide insight into general political phenomena by studying institutions, behavior, processes, and outcomes at the local level.
Section Head: Jessica Trounstine, Princeton University
Section 47. Public Policy
The section invites paper proposals in any area of public policy, especially policy-relevant empirical research that examines the impact of government actions on conditions in society. Traditional studies of the policy process are welcome, as are studies outside of the American context.
Section Head: Alisa Hicklin, University of Oklahoma
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Section 48. Economic Policy
The section invites papers or panels that explore the causes or consequences of economic policy in domestic, comparative or international contexts. Economic policy is to be interepreted broadly to include topics such as financial regulation, corporate oversight, monetary policy, industrial or development policy, production regimes, redistributive policy, and stimulus packages, among others. Of particular interest are proposals that provide insight into the sources or consequences of the current global economic crisis.
Section Head: Michelle Dion, Georgia Tech
Section 49. Environmental Politics and Policy
The section invites papers that focus on the politics of environmental problems and/or the processes by which they are addressed. Proposed papers and panels that emphasize comparative environmental politics are encouraged, as are papers that emphasize theory building and empirical testing with cutting-edge political methodology. Of particular interest are papers that use environmental policy as a critical research setting to address core questions in political science and public policy.
Section Head: Carol Silva, University of Oklahoma
Section 50. Public Administration
The section welcomes papers on a variety of topics related to the administration of public policy within a political environment. Of special interest for this conference are proposals in the areas of public administration as "governance," the New Economics of Organization, performance management, networks in administration, information technology, and civil service reform. Papers with strong analytic and empirical foundations are especially welcome.
Section Head: David Nixon, University of Hawaii
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Section 51. Politics and History
The section welcomes proposals for papers or panels covering the broad scope of the study of politics and institutions using historical perspectives to address issue areas of contemporary concern. In particular, the section encourages submissions from scholars whose work focuses on developmental themes related to major political processes and concepts, such as democratization, citizenship, political representation, and political parties. We especially encourage research that locates American political development in comparative and historical frameworks and that addresses the intersection of major group identities, such as race, class, gender, and religion.
Section Head: Robert Mickey, University of Michigan
Section 52. Political Geography
The section welcomes paper, panel, and roundtable proposals on topics related to geography and politics from all subfields in political science using diverse methodological approaches. Topics may include, but are not limited too, the impact of geographic context on political behavior, institutions, and policy making.
Section Head: David Darmofal, University of South Carolina
Section 53. Political Sociology and Culture
The section welcomes panels and papers that address the social bases of politics. Suggested topics include but are not limited to worldviews and how they relate to political mobilizations, as well as organizations and movements. Papers from a variety of methodological approaches are welcome.
Section Head: Florence Faucher-King, Vanderbilt University
Section 54. Politics and Religion
The section welcomes papers that address the interaction between religion and politics from all subfields in political science using diverse methodological approaches, especially submissions that use religion to address broader theoretical questions in political science that would be of interest to non-specialists.
Section Head: David Campbell, University of Notre Dame
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Section 55. Political Anthropology
The section invites papers that rely on anthropological approaches and ethnographic methods in the analysis of political problems. Papers that explicitly examine the utility of anthropological approaches in comparison with other approaches are particularly welcome as are papers that discuss differences between anthropological and political scientific approaches to the relationship between culture and politics.
Section Head: Larry Nespar, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Section 56. Teaching Political Science
The section welcomes paper, panel, and roundtable proposals on all topics related to educating both undergraduate and graduate students. Proposals could explore such topics as: advising, assessment, civic engagement, curriculum development, diversity within the classroom, educational goals, experiential learning, internships, pedagogic responsibilities, service learning, simulations, teaching strategies, and technology. The focus may be on pedagogic practice or the scholarship of teaching and learning. Qualitative, interpretive, quantitative, theoretical, or philosophical approaches will all be considered.
Section Head: Kerstin Hamann; Bruce Wilson, University of Central Florida
Section 57. Undergraduate ResearchThis section welcomes proposals for papers, panels, and poster sessions on the research, scholarly, and creative experiences of undergraduate students. It provides students with the opportunity to present their projects in a professional environment, and to impress upon them the importance of faculty-mentored projects to their overall education, especially for those considering graduate education. We are open to a wide range of topics and methods.
Section Head: Richard Witmer, Creighton University
Section 58. Midwest Women's Caucus
The caucus promotes professional equity for women in the discipline of political science by sponsoring panels at the MPSA annual meeting, working with the association to promote the interests of women political scientists, encouraging research that acknowledges and investigates the presence and activities of women in political life, and serving as a network for members between annual meetings. The caucus does not sponsor or accept papers for traditional research panels or roundtables.
Section Head: Tracy Osborn, University of Iowa
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Section 59. Society for Greek Political Thought
The society welcomes proposals for papers or panels on the political thought of the classical Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Xenophon, historians such as Thucydides, Herodotus, or Plutarch, or poets such as Homer, Sophocles, or Euripides.
Section Head: Carson Holloway, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Section 60. Caucus for LGBT Political Science
The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Caucus welcomes proposals for papers, panels, and roundtables that examine the interaction of sexuality and politics, defined broadly. We are interested in papers that treat LGBT people as political actors as well as in papers that treat LGBT people (and issues) as sites of political contestation. While papers and panels that discuss LGBT politics in the U.S. context are always welcome, explorations of LGBT politics beyond the American context are especially encouraged.
Section Head: Jason Pierceson, University of Illinois, Springfield
Section 61. Leadership and Politics
This new section welcomes papers, panels, roundtables, and workshops from all subfields that explore issues involving leadership and politics. Submissions might include leadership as it relates to current political problems, structures and institutions, political thought, globalization, community action, dissidence, gender, and student development.
Section Head: Heather McDougall, Global Institute for Leadership and Civic Development
Section 62. Caucus for New Political Science
The section welcomes panels and papers on topics that reflect a commitment to progressive social change. Submissions might include the analysis of social movements, globalism, class structure, race, gender, elitism, the environment, imperialism, critical theory, radical thought, and the foundations of the discipline.
Section Head: James Simmons, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
Section 63. Midwest Latino Caucus
The caucus seeks proposals for papers and panels related to the beliefs and activities of Latinos in the United States. Topics might include the Latino vote, pan-ethnicity and perceptions of shared fate, minority-majority voting districts, Latino political representation, and intersections of race and gender in the Latino political arena. Proposals on other topics within the field of Latino politics also are welcome.
Section Head: Jose D. Villalobos, University of Texas at El Paso
Section 64. Midwest Caucus for Public Administration
The study of literature and film offers political scientists a particularly stimulating mode of inquiry into political institutions and principles, and into the ways of life that sustain them and are, in turn, shaped by them. Literary works, broadly understood to include film and popular culture, must abstract from the richness of the world we inhabit and create a microcosm that is yet complex enough to be a believable whole. This related group explores how the dialectic between imagination and reality can illuminate topics like the normative foundations of political life, or the formation of political culture. Papers and panels that cross disciplinary and sub-disciplinary lines are welcome.
Section Head: Sean Nicholson-Crotty, University of Missouri
Section 65. Politics, Literature, and Film
The study of literature and film offers political scientists a particularly stimulating mode of inquiry into political institutions and principles, and into the ways of life that sustain them and are, in turn, shaped by them. Literary works, broadly understood to include film and popular culture, must abstract from the richness of the world we inhabit and create a microcosm that is yet complex enough to be a believable whole. This related group explores how the dialectic between imagination and reality can illuminate topics like the normative foundations of political life, or the formation of political culture. Papers and panels that cross disciplinary and sub-disciplinary lines are welcome.
Section Head: Charles Rubin, Duquesne University
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