#MPSA16
Policy Implementation, Representation, and Democratic Governance
At last year’s MPSA conference, Pamela McCann of USC Sol Price School of Public Policy was kind enough to ask me to participate in a roundtable discussion with other prominent scholars. The focus of the panel was “Why Do We Have No Theory of Policy Implementation?”. I agreed to participate and…
Bias and Women’s Under-Representation in Politics
Even if Hillary Clinton shatters the “highest” glass ceiling this November, for many years to come women are likely to remain under-represented in elected offices in the United States and throughout most of the world’s democracies. If bias on the part of party leaders or voters explains some of…
How Do Experiences with Government Programs Shape Political and Civic Engagement? Looking Beyond the American Case
A key insight of policy feedback theories is that government offices are sites of adult political learning. As Joe Soss explains: “…public bureaucracies provide relatively immediate experiences with government. Legislatures may host more dramatic political activities, but the police station, the…
The Company You Keep: How Voters Infer Party Positions on European Integration from Governing Coalition Arrangements
The following is the first in a series of posts written by 2016 MPSA award recipients highlighting outstanding research presented at previous MPSA annual conferences. Democratic accountability requires citizens to be reasonably well-informed about political parties’ issue positions. Citizens may…
Trendspotting Through the Gradventurist’s Lens
Now that it has been two weeks since MPSA 2016 ended, there are a few trends I observed during the conference that I feel need revisiting especially from a graduate student perspective. The conference weekend was hectic for everyone and there was a lot going on simultaneously, so it is useful to…
If Political Science Ruled the World (and We Were on Our Best Behavior)
Once, as a graduate student at the University of Missouri, I wisecracked, "the entire world should be turned over to political scientists for experimental purposes." I was joking and everyone knew it... but I never lived down that moment. The world should not be turned over to political scientists…
A Grad Life Recap of the 2016 MPSA Conference
As the MPSA 2016 conference wraps up, I wanted to share a few thoughts as a first time attendee. This has been a phenomenal experience for me and my colleagues (most of whom are also first time attendees) and has made me fall in love with this profession all over again. Creative Research and…
Your To Do List: One Week until MPSA 2016
We are one week away from the MPSA 2016 conference and a lot of us are still scrambling to get everything in order. Those of us making it to the MPSA for the very first time are especially equal parts excited and nervous to be presenting at such a big forum. So to help out my fellow first timers, I…
Incorporating Family in Your MPSA Conference Experience
So having done it recently myself, I understand how challenging it can be to have family join you during a conference. Out of necessity, I recently had my two little ones (both under the age of five) accompany me to an out-of-state conference. Crazy, yes, I know. I worried constantly about how I…
Presenting At Conferences – A Grad Student’s Guide
Presenting at a conference is a daunting task for any academic. Be it a big name academic who has spent a career presenting at conferences around the world or a graduate student who is just starting out; conference anxiety still kicks in. To help presenters, especially grad students, I came up with…