Search

The conference paper on use of signing statements by the U.S. Presidents which are official statements issued at the time of a law's enactment is discussed. It refers to the usage of constitutional signing statements as an effective unilateral tool which can be use to combat a hostile Congress functioning in the nation. An overview of the controversies behind amount of scholarship devoted to the rationale behind signing statements is also included.

A conference paper about bad U.S. Presidents with reference to the core responsibilities of American chief executives is presented. It mentions that the presidential rating has started in 1948 by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger who asked respondents to assign presidents to categories from great to failure. It also discusses the attributes that determines Presidents' ranking.

A conference paper discussing the ideological connection between members of the U.S. Congress and their constituents is presented. It examines the effect of partisan political polarization on several benefits that result from or coincide with seniority but are independent of ideology. It also discusses data from the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1990s and 2000s and found that partisan political polarization may not factor into members' electoral calculations.

A conference paper about political satire and candidate evaluations in the 2008 U.S. election is presented. It examines general models of candidate evaluation formation and discusses the role of added element of political satire into these existing models. It mentions that this model would explain the failure of American voters to remember specific details about candidates and their campaigns.

A conference paper about the adoption of school interventions for youth obesity prevention in the U.S. is presented. It utilizes cross-sectional probit analysis and fifty state data through 2007 to analyze the adoption in different categorical school interventions. The findings reveal that the state government is more likely to adopt the school intervention of setting competitive food nutritional standards.

This paper will examine how extreme partisanship in the United States Senate has prevented any significant collaborative efforts between the President Obama and Congress. I argue that the United States Senate is undergoing a modern era of disunion. The conditions in the Senate can be directly traced to the concerted efforts of Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to maintain ideological purity among his caucus members for the purposes ensuring that President Obama's has a failed presidency by asserting a Republican agenda that is aimed at undermining the legitimacy of Democratic initiatives. The Constitutional responsibility for shared governance has been severely compromised by conservative factions of the Republican Party. Subsequently, members of Congress who wish to find compromises across party lines are shut out of the political process. I propose that the restoration and continued health of the American democracy is dependent on the members' ability to reassert their influence collectively into the political process through engaging their colleagues and constituencies in the process of deliberative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the failure of the U.S. government in achieving good foreign intelligence that has led to the events of September 11, 2001. It informs that from the starting of the U.S. Republic, the need for good intelligence in wartime has been critical. The U.S. President George Bush mentioned that foreign intelligence forms the basic part of the constitutional authority.

Even prior to its publication in 1787, Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia" had an impact on the ratification debates surrounding the new Constitution. The view of constitutionalism promulgated in the "Notes", a theme which has often eluded scholars due to the difficulty of understanding the work as a whole, reveals Jefferson to be a critic and influential opponent of the argument for reverence put forward by Madison in his contribution to the second volume of the "Federalist Papers". We argue that the underlying structure of Madison's "Papers" (37-51) took shape as a theoretical and practical engagement with Jeffersonian theories being employed (with and without Jefferson's permission) by opponents of ratification, especially regarding the nature of republican constitutions. This argument points to significant disagreement between Jefferson and Madison, who otherwise were life-long political allies, at a crucial juncture in the American founding period. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do justices strategically think about the consequences of their decision on Cert? In this paper I analyze this question in light of material taken from Justices' private papers. The major source of information used here is documents produced by clerks for their justices and the general correspondence between justices and clerks. Several aspects of strategic behavior during Cert are demonstrated. First are strategic considerations that go way beyond One First Street N.E. At least when considering whether to review what they expect to be cases with weighty political ramifications, justices may think about the politics of appointment, the results of upcoming presidential elections, and the role of the Court in protecting certain groups in American society (e.g. women). The second facet of strategic behavior is in cases where justices would refrain from hearing a case for fear of the influence of the opinion written. Next, issues justices would like to see included in the opinion affect the choice of cases. This leads to the fourth facet of strategic conduct demonstrated here, in which justices' strategy is not limited to a single case. The result of their consecutive decisions to review a string of cases is the attrition of an objectionable precedent, which may even lead to the overturning of that precedent. Finally, when registering opinion dissenting from denial, it is not infrequent for Justices to lay out their view on the merits (both in terms of disposition and in terms of the doctrine that should result). Of particular interest are relisted cases, in which a dissent from denial had been registered following the first Cert vote, but the dissenter had an opportunity to actually influence the opinion when the case was granted full review in a second vote on Cert. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the function of gender in print political advertisements distributed during two 2002 US Senate races involving women candidates. In addition to examining the ads produced by the candidates, this paper also analyzes gender messages in the ads distributed by political parties and interest groups involved in the races. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a pooled cross-sectional time series regression to determine if the juvenile death penalty has a deterrent effect on either juvenile murderers or juvenile violent criminals. Though there is much writing on the utility of capital punishment in general, there is a void in policy studies literature concerning the juvenile death penalty. This is an important policy topic due to the historically unique nature of the juvenile justice system in the United States. Traditionally, state justice systems have dealt with youth offenders in a different manner than adults, but in a political climate fostering get tough on crime policies, the original purposes of the juvenile justice system are going by the wayside. Further, it is especially timely given that the Supreme Court is now deliberating on the legality of the juvenile death penalty with Simmons v. Roper. Data gathered from 1974-2001 from all 50 states demonstrates that there is no statistically significant deterrent effect to the punishment, though there is also no discernible evidence of an increase in juvenile violence; the so-called brutalization theory. However, control variables based on sound criminal justice theory point to state economic conditions, population density, and prison population as having a noticeable effect on either juvenile murder rates or juvenile violent crime rates. This paper is an extension of the existing literature on criminal deterrence theory and the death penalty, as well as a first state-level aggregate study of the juvenile death penalty in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and subsequent actions by the Bush administration, remind us that the federal courts often are required to resolve questions of individual rights in lieu of foreign policy concerns. This paper explores judicial influences in foreign policy litigation across all three levels of the federal judiciary to determine whether judges systematically rule in favor of foreign affairs when confronted with civil liberties challenges. Using an original dataset of federal cases from 1946-2000, the paper provides evidence that the federal judiciary is extremely deferential to governmental authority in the conduct of foreign relations. While the federal judiciary is prone to support foreign policy interests, it is important to understand the conditions under which these judges will rule in favor of civil liberties claims. An important influence is the ideological preferences of judges. The empirical results indicate that more liberal judges -- as measured by partisan affiliations of the appointing president -- are more likely to render decisions in favor of civil liberties. This result holds for each level of the federal judiciary, although the results are more pronounced in the Supreme Court, less so for the Appeals Courts, and the weakest for District Courts. A second important influence involves the presence of a national security defense. The empirical data suggest that lower court judges are significantly affected by these situations; systematically ruling in favor of foreign affairs. However, Supreme Court justices do not respond in a similar fashion; the presence of a specific national security defense is not significantly related to judicial decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

?The advantages of decentralization are realizable, however, only if there are good reasons for the players to believe that others will generally abide by the terms of the federation. That is, all must believe?that the center will not try to usurp power from the regions.? - Bednar, Eskridge, and Ferejohn (2001) As Bednar et al. assert in the quote above, federalism only works if there is trust among the players within the decentralized political structure. In particular, the political actors at the sub-national level must feel confident that the actors at the national level will not ?usurp (their) power? (223). Unfortunately trust is not a feeling currently being held by the sub-national actors in the higher education systems of both the United States and Europe. The American and European academic communities are feeling threatened by the recent policy proposals made by their national governments. These similar concerns voiced by the American and European higher education communities raise the question ? will any of the higher education systems be able to withstand this threat to their autonomy by their national government? I will attempt to answer this crucial question by using Jenna Bednar, William Eskridge, and John Ferejohn?s ?a political theory of federalism? (it will be referred to as the Bednar theory for the rest of the paper), which declares that federalism can only succeed if there are ?structural restraints? that force the national and sub-national units to respect each other?s authority (226). I will apply the theory to five higher education systems (France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, and the United States) and examine each one to see if it has the necessary ?structural restraints? to withstand the threats from the national government as prescribed by Bednar et al. My hypothesis is that the Bednar theory will prove accurate and only those higher education systems with strong structural restraints will have the capacity to protect their independence. To test my hypothesis, the paper will be divided into five main sections. The first section will be a brief explanation of the debate between President Bush and the American academic community, highlighting the positions of both sides. The second section will be a description of the Bologna Declaration, the problems that the Education Ministers believe it will address, and the response to the Declaration by the European University community. The third part of the paper will be a summary of the Bednar theory and an explanation on how it will be applied in this paper. The fourth section will be an examination of the six case studies. Particular attention will be on the relationship between the universities and their national government, and specifically how financial assistance is allocated to the institutions. The last section will look at the preliminary results of the Bologna Declaration and the Bush proposal. A brief overview at how successful (or unsuccessful in some cases) the national government has been in implementing its policies, and observing if my hypothesis has been proven accurate at this early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 20th century the proportion of professional legislators, those who view politics as a career, grew in Congress. Between 1798 and 1901 the average number of terms served by House members was 2.18 compared to 4.86 terms for House members serving between 1901 and 2002 (Huckabee 2002), and since 1947 the average number of terms for a House member has increased to 5.84 terms. This growth of the professional legislator has not been without it critics. It has been blamed for corruption, stagnation, lack of representation of women, increased influence of special interest groups and a general decline of representation. Consequently, during the early 1990s there was a concerted push to encourage House members to voluntarily limit their term in office.1 The underlying assumption for supporting term limits and electing inexperienced members was the failure of entrenched legislators to be responsive to constituents. In addition, there was an increase in the number of members elected who lacked previous political experience. This paper examines the more narrow question of effectiveness. To be a good representative, after all, requires that a member is effective. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives elected between 1994 and 1998 are this paper?s subjects. This period was chosen because it corresponds to a period when there was the greatest push for citizen legislators ? at the state level2 and federal level. Unfortunately, there is not one accepted definition of citizen legislator. But based on the arguments espoused by term limits advocates, we use two operational definitions of citizen legislator. First, citizen legislators have been characterized as individuals going into office planning to stay a short period of time. A strong assumption of the term limits movement is that limiting terms results in a new type of legislatorwhich will increase the quality of representation. The new legislator will be motivated for public service by policy interests, not career goals. Additionally, long public service is seen to lead to corruption, close ties to special interest groups instead of constituents, and generally creates a ruling class that is distant from everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has become fashionable in recent years for party scholars to complain how the Supreme Court has treated political parties. Party scholars have especially complained that the Supreme Court has ignored important political science literature in their decision in Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party (1997) (banning fusion candidacies) and the two political party-related campaign finance cases, Colorado I (1996) and Colorado II (2001). Yet rarely is this criticism coupled with any analysis of whether political science has been reaching the Court in the form of party and amicus briefs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to take a step back from this popular criticism to describe the role that political science materials have played in the Supreme Court?s jurisprudence relating to political parties. I examine twenty cases, stretching over four issue areas ? ballot access, internal party governance, party patronage, and campaign finance ? to see what role, if any, political science materials played in the party and amicus briefs presented to the Court. Since the Supreme Court relies primarily on the litigants and interested parties for information, it is imperative that before we criticize the Court for not using political science, we must first determine if political science is reaching the Court and, if not, what can be done to improve the situation. This paper is divided into four parts. Part I examines the literature from political scientists on the Supreme Court?s political party jurisprudence. Part II is devoted to explaining case selection and the methodology behind determining the role that political science played in the briefs. The longest section of the paper, Part III, dissects the twenty cases to determine the role political science played in the cases. Part IV serves as the conclusion, with words on where political science stands with the Supreme Court on cases involving political parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent spate of scholarship has shown that it is taking longer for judicial nominees to be confirmed, at all levels of the federal judicial system. A number of these studies have also asked why some nominations move faster than others, finding that there are a number of personal and political factors that have an effect on how long it takes for a nominee to be confirmed. These studies obfuscate the question, however, of how these nominations are being delayed (or stopped completely) and for what reasons. In order to address these questions, we must turn our attention to the Senate and the actions of key senators. This paper therefore focuses its attention on two parliamentary maneuvers, senatorial courtesy and ?holds,? that individual senators may use to delay or kill particular judicial nominations. Examining all Court of Appeals nominations between 1987-2002 (the 100th-107th Congresses), this paper will begin by assessing the use of senatorial courtesy during this time period. It then concentrates the majority of its attention on analyzing the use of ?holds? as applied to Circuit Court nominations. It first discusses the history and application of holds and then address competing hypotheses for why holds might be used. This paper then examines the application of holds to Court of Appeals nominations between 1987-2002. Overall, this paper argues that the majority of nominees blocked by these procedural tactics are not stopped due to ideological objections but rather because of issues and disputes unrelated to their nominations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to examine the Constitution of the Confederate States of America critically to assess its merits and demerits. The purpose of this paper is not to evaluate the C.S.A. Constitution or its framers in regard to slavery. Clearly, by refusing to recognize the injustice of slavery and the Declaration's assertion that "all men are created equal," the C.S.A. Constitution cannot be admired. However, in its changes to the basic structure of the federal government, the C.S.A. Constitution might provide actual and perhaps even preferable alternatives to the form of government established by U.S. Constitution. Jefferson Davis asserted that the C.S.A. Constitution was a light which revealed the "true meaning" of the founding fathers.1 This paper will assess Davis's claim. It will do so primarily by comparing the preambles of each Constitution and the supporting documents which help to explain the essential purposes of government therein stated (e.g., the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist papers, Alexander Stephens's "Corner-Stone" speech). Such analysis will indicate that Davis is incorrect; the C.S.A. Constitution does not represent what the founding fathers intended in the original U.S. Constitution; the preambles establish different visions of the federal government. Even though the C.S.A. Constitution does not appear to embody the "true meaning" of the founding fathers, nevertheless the ways in which it diverges from the U.S. Constitution deserve attention. These changes will be evaluated to discern whether they either improve upon or adulterate the U.S. Constitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do potentially transformative U.S. reforms often prove incoherent and incremental? In the U.S., the cultural and institutional barriers to enacting major reforms are high. After reforms are enacted, their opponents retain many institutional pathways to challenge reforms. This paper focuses on presidents in emergent partisan regimes as uniquely-positioned actors who broker design compromises throughout the reform process. During presidential campaigns, opposition candidates have incentives to promise transformative reforms which offer a decisive break from the past. Upon entering the legislative arena, however, presidents' incentives shift toward supporting moderating design compromises. Finally, as reforms are implemented, presidents face intense demands to make administrative decisions which appease the business community. Through the layering of design compromises, reforms are watered down and made less coherent. This paper explores this dynamic by analyzing the design and implementation of the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. Existing scholarship explains the Federal Reserve System's design through reference to discrete critical junctures: a clandestine retreat at a Georgia resort; a broad congressional compromise; or a partisan-controlled implementation process. These explanations each describe the emergence of a more coherent "Fed" than the fragmented organization which began operations in 1914. To understand why potentially transformative reforms often disappoint, one must account for the shifting pressures presidents encounter when guiding reforms to fruition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the relationship between theology and political theory? Specifically, how can theology inform members of a religious tradition about the purposes of politics and government in democracies? To answer these questions, this paper focuses on one aspect of this topic, the relationship between eschatology and expected political purposes among theological schools of contemporary Evangelical Protestant Christians in the United States. This paper examines the eschatological expectations derived from Dispensationalism in comparison with older Amillennial, Postmillennial, and Historic Premillennial theologies common to Christian denominations, and explores how these theologies inform its adherents about political purposes of civil society. The author concludes that adherents of Dispensational theology face an inherent contradiction between an expected dystopian future and the success of political initiatives and government to solve public problems, whereas Amillennial, Postmillennial, and Historic Premillennial theologies offer the possibility of a more positive outlook for the role of government in solving problems in society. As a result, a conservative, anti-government political view emerges from Dispensational theology that limits political activism to constrain evil rather than a positive approach to solve public problems. This paper takes a theoretical approach to examine the relationship between theology and political purposes. Furthermore, this topic is significant, because the relationship between theological expectations and political ends should be examined to better understand how certain members of society view the expected performance of democratic institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) stands as the signature policy achievement of the Obama Administration. It signifies the adoption of omnibus legislation and the creation of new market and regulatory structures in healthcare that rival those established by Medicaid and Medicare fifty years ago. Like the development and implementation of those policies, the ACA has not been without controversy. Indeed the level of enduring criticism and controversy surrounding the ACA is perhaps its most distinguishing characteristic in political terms. As a political artifact, it may well serve future historians and political scientists as the embodiment of the hyper-partisan and divisive politics of the early 21st century. Subject to legal and constitutional challenges, permeating election cycles, and used by some as proof of the problems of the administrative state and regulatory power, the ACA serves as both an expressive and explanatory vehicle for those both in politics and those who study politics. While taking into account the broad-sweep of ACA's policy changes, this paper concentrates on the role that "navigators," "assisters" and others involved in outreach, enrollment, and retention activities associated with individual health insurance marketplaces and, by extension, Medicaid outreach and enrollment. While the ACA both mandates and supports these intermediaries, the law was not entirely clear on their role or function nor could it anticipate the realities of implementation that are only revealed through experience. What has emerged have been differing approaches to consumer assistance. This paper focuses on two general approaches that while not necessarily contradictory, have different assumptions and functions in consumer assistance. These are the: 1) the social services approach, and 2) the marketing approach. Based on a review of ten state experiences, it is argued that the former approach prevailed in the initial roll-out of the individual health insurance exchanges and Medicaid expansion. It is also suggested that the latter approach might be more effective as new market arrangements mature and a greater emphasis is placed on informed policy coverage choices and consumer retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse weather events such as earthquakes, tornados and floods affect thousands of people around the globe every year. The responses to such adverse events by national governments differ from country to country. While some states protect their populations relatively well, in others people suffer tremendously. The goal of this paper is to explore the political sources of this variation. Political factors have been acknowledged to play a core role in determining the degree of damage to people's lives and personal properties caused by natural disasters. Surprisingly, however, there is a lack of empirical research on the role of political institutions in disaster prevention and mitigation. This paper addresses this research gap and tests the effect of democracy and institutional quality on the degree of natural disaster damage using time series cross section data from the International Disaster Risk database, Varieties of Democracy Project and the Quality of Government dataset. Democracy with its freedom of speech, participation and representation and quality of government, which improves provision of public goods and policy implementation, are believed to minimize the number of people affected by natural disasters. We posit that democratic principles and high institutional quality are both crucial for building resilience and neither of the conditions is sufficient for disaster prevention and mitigation. The results support our expectations and show that higher institutional quality is associated with fewer people suffering the consequences of natural disasters only when egalitarian democracy is high. Additionally, if institutional quality is low, more democracy is associated with more human suffering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the period of Southern politics when black-white Democratic coalitions dominated the political landscape. Our questions boil down to to testing three possible realignment outcomes associated with these black-white coalitions. Did they represent a separate and distinct party alignment, comparable to the New Deal and New Right alignments? Or alternatively, were they a symptom of the dealignment of New Deal party system? Or alternatively did they represent a failed party alignment? Using a vote-shares county level data for presidential and gubernatorial contests, this paper re-evaluates contested presidential and gubernatorial elections in all eleven former Confederate states between 1952 and 2012. We find that there was a failed black-white party realignment in Alabama and Mississippi, a successful black-white party realignment in Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and a long period of dealignment starting in 1964 or 1968 and ending during the Reagan presidency in Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a systematic definition for wave elections, a concept which has been used frequently in discussions of congressional elections throughout history, but which has previously lacked a precise definition. Tracing the usage of the term "wave election" (and similar variations) since the mid-1800s, this paper details the frequency and manner in which this concept has been used in considerations of congressional elections over time. Subsequently, this paper offers a definition for wave elections that is based on the seat gain and seat-level for parties following an election. This definition can be used to classify House and Senate elections throughout American history, and can also be applied to state legislative elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congress established the Patent Cases Pilot Program in 2011 "to encourage enhancement of expertise in patent cases." Essentially, the program allows judges in 14 U.S. District Courts to specialize in patent litigation if they wish to do so. As such, it represents an ongoing natural experiment of sorts on specialization's possible implications for judicial policymaking. In this paper we offer an initial, primarily descriptive account of this ten year pilot program. In that account, we consider the characteristics of those judges who have opted into the program, assess factors that may help explain their self-selection into it, and discuss the program's possible implications for judicial efficiency and policymaking. Once sufficient case data has been accumulated, we plan to supplement the present paper with more refined quantitative analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tradition of prayer to open a legislative session extends to the English tradition that influenced so many aspects of colonial and American government. For Congress, prayer has been an integral part of daily opening rituals since the time of the Continental Congress. This paper begins an examination of opening prayers by guest chaplains in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2000. The paper begins with an overview of legislative prayers and the guest chaplain program. Then, an analysis of the demographic characteristics of guest chaplains and their sponsors is conducted. Finally, the paper concludes with a preliminary examination of the rhetoric of guest chaplains and their message to Congress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper on relationship between the mass media and the political participation of young adults in the U.S., which will be presented at Southern Political Science Association Conference in Orlando, Florida from January 3-4, 2013, is presented. Topics discussed include the importance of electoral participation in democratic system, political engagement in the U.S. and the role of mass media on youth's participation in electoral system.

A conference paper is presented on topic related to the influence of personal attitudes on income redistribution, which was p[resented at the annual conference of the Southern Political Science Association held in Orlando, Florida on January 4, 2013, is presented. Topics discussed include the impact of democracy on living standards of the public, the effects of democratic redistribution and implementation of social programs that do not favor poor people.

A conference paper on political litigation challenging the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, Orlando, Florida from January 3-5, 2013, is presented. Topics discussed include challenges imposed on the constitutionality of the ACA, the 2012 Supreme Court case Sebelius v. The National Federation of Independent Business and lawsuits on Medicaid expansion.

Collaboration ranks among the most significant buzzwords in US higher education. Faculty are encouraged to create courses delivered in team-teaching formats. Universities tout their collaborations with neighborhoods, non-profit organizations, and businesses in delivering powerful learning experiences. This paper documents the way in which one partnership among the authors (who are siblings) and a small agricultural community in North Central Iowa produced an ag policy course during a Furman University May term. Agricultural policy is not exempt from the polarization of contemporary American politics. By marshaling a broad array of community resources, the authors exposed students to many viewpoints on agricultural policy. The high level of trust among the siblings and the community provided students with unparalleled access to numerous farms and ag-related organizations. As a result, students were provided with a rich, finely textured portrait of ag policy, rather than the more typical one-sided view. The paper discusses the logistical and administrative challenges (from transportation and housing to food preparation and inclement weather) involved with this unusual type of collaboration. While creating this kind of partnership is labor intensive, it has enormous payoffs for students both in learning the impact of a complex array of policies on those being regulated and in seeing why individuals and organizations may take very different positions. The benefits do not solely accrue to the students. This kind of collaboration also has had the impact of recharging a professional career and spawning a more multi-faceted dialogue on ag policy among community partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper hopes to examine the way that US counter-drug policy affects nationalism in Trinidad and Tobago. The illegal drug trade has created a dangerous backdrop in everyday life. Recent publications have labeled Trinidad and Tobago not only as the newest narco-state, but have also claimed that it has become the "murder capital of the Caribbean." Arguably, US policies surrounding what has been called the most glaring threat to Caribbean security have an effect on individual Caribbean nations in regards to their self perception, perception of the other and self-projection. These three components which are adopted as the components of nationalism can either be strengthened, weakened or remain unchanged in response to the strong policy influence of the hemispheric hegemon. The pressure from the US coupled with domestic pressures to cohere with national ideals, can create dissonance between effective drug policies and national autonomy. Since it is accepted that the illegal drug trade cannot be resolved in a singular manner, developing nations must navigate this trade-off. As such, this paper will explore this policy relationship between the US and Trinidad and Tobago with the objective of determining whether or not US drug policies have shaped nationalism for the developing country, and why. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper about variations in punitiveness across the U.S., which was prepared for the 84th Annual South Political Science Association Conference held in Orlando, Florida on January 4, 2013, is presented. It discusses increase in mass imprisonment in the U.S., linkage between punitiveness and conservative political ideology, and relationship between crime policy and public response. Also mentions about theoretical linkage between incarceration rates and surplus labor.

A conference paper about the impact of the U.S. mixed-member electoral system on eligible voter attendance to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association on January 4, 2013 is presented. Topics discussed include increase in the usage of mixed-systems, benefits of using mixed-systems versus other electoral systems and the relationship between voter turnout and a country's electoral system.

A conference paper about racial and ethnic categories in Presidential election year in the U.S. from 1964-2004 to be presented at the 2013 meeting of the Southern Political Science Association in Orlando, Florida from January 3-5, 2013 is presented. Topics discussed include the impact of racial and ethnic groups on the vote cast by Americans, avoidance of discussions on specific groups by U.S. Presidents and formation of language influence identity.

This paper seeks to build upon the current literature examining whether federal funding of R&D projects at U.S. universities acts as a complement or a substitute to private investment. The analysis begins by building upon the framework set forth by Payne (2001), which suggests that public funding acts as signal of institutional quality to private investors. This paper utilizes panel data on virtually every research university in the country from 1975 - 1999 to determine if investors receive signals stemming from the distribution of university resources. This paper also looks at whether the source of government funds matters in terms of the strength of the signals broadcast to private investors. Results from an OLS regression using institutional fixed effects support both hypotheses. Finally, possible issues resulting from non-stationarity and cointegration are explored using a Single Equation Error Correction Model. The results from this estimation suggest that federal and private funding may interact in a long-run equilibrium, but only when changes in federal funding are treated as the dependent variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the link between religion and politics in the U.S. has been heavily researched, the idea of religion as a voting cue in congressional elections warrants attention. This paper expands on the idea that religion can act as a voting cue signaling voters to cast their ballot for a candidate who shares their religious affiliation. Specifically, this paper answers the question of whether individuals vote for a congressional candidate who shares their religion. Data from the American National Election Studies (ANES) 2008 post-election survey, as well as data on candidate religion from Project Vote Smart's candidate biography dataset and the 2008 Almanac of American Politics, are used to gauge the extent to which religion acts as a voting cue in U.S. House elections. This paper finds that there is indeed a relationship between the major religious group of voters and the major religious group of House candidates. In other words, this paper suggests that there is a link between voter religion and vote choice, which gives insight into both voter behavior and the link between religion and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper about individual decision making behavior in the context of reservation wages in the U.S. is presented. It address the question that why individual legislators decide whether to remain in their elected position or voluntarily retire. It further discusses additional tenure, pensions, and public office employee benefits given to public service officers, and benefits of professionalization.

A conference paper about investigating the effects of political science education on the feelings of the students for the U.S. and its political system is presented. It discusses impact of political scientists' curricular practices and pedagogical approaches on students. It examines the political courses introduced by political sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset, and explores how learning about American politics in comparative perspective affected students' attitudes towards the U.S.

A conference paper about the process and conduct of the design, delivery, and assessment of a legislative simulation for an upper division undergraduate level for the learning about the U.S. Congress in political science in the U.S. presented. It mentions that simulation included committee hearings, markup sessions, floor debates and final votes along with a debriefing session. It examines the use of simulations in the political science classroom by many educators.

A conference paper about monetary policies of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), a committee within the Federal Reserve System (the Fed), is presented. It discusses dispute over the degree of politicization of the Fed's monetary policy, and board members of the Committee including the Board of Governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and four other Reserve Bank presidents. It examines the effects of global financial crisis on the Fed.

A conference paper about the impact of polarization on the relationship between macroeconomic fundamentals and outcomes of the U.S. presidential elections is presented. It discusses economic model of presidential election outcomes including gross domestic product (GDP) growth, inflation and measure of the expansiveness of monetary policy. The study concludes that one type of polarization effects relationship between economic context and presidential election results.

A conference paper about the relationship between rhetorical style and public responsiveness in several U.S. governors is presented. Topics discussed include political communication skills of governors to promote their policy, their verbal style and gubernatorial style which consists measures of optimism, certainty and realism. It highlights the variability in verbal style within the speeches of an individual and communication with colleagues.

This paper will examine Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan as a civil theological contrivance written as a remedy for the social distress of his time and to compare Hobbes's construction with both Plato's Republic, a work rich in civil theological implications of its own. Moreover, the paper will examine recent trends in the United States that have seen civil theology become a significant factor in contemporary American political thought and practice. This factor can be viewed as an integral part of the conservative political agenda, particularly among a group of conservatives influenced by Leo Strauss, the neoconservatives. A critical question is thus posed: does this religious factor constitute a civil theology in the Hobbesian sense and, if so, to what degree? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is both a political history as well as a methodological model for understanding the relationship between participation of religious actors and the continued existence of blue laws, which restrict alcohol sales on Sundays, in certain states but not in others. In order to do this, the paper will first review the history of the role of religion and politics in the United States with particular interest in regards to Sabbath laws and alcohol policies. Second, the paper will review the literature in regards to religion and political participation in order to demonstrate the role religious actors have had in regards to public policy. Finally, this paper will propose a model and method by which to explore the association between religious participation and the continuing existence of blue laws in some states but not in others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the literature on congressional change has established that both the House and Senate have become increasingly polarized along party lines over time, this conclusion is limited primarily to patterns of voting behavior. An exploration of another legislative practice, bill cosponsorship, reveals that while partisan polarization in the House has increased over time, the same is not necessarily true for the Senate. Using data on bill cosponsorship for the 93rd through 110th Congresses, this paper presents two conclusions. First, over time, House members have become more exclusive in their cosponsorship decisions, associating primarily with members of their own party. Second, and in contrast to this, the cosponsorship ties among senators have become more bipartisan; in recent years, more senators have adopted ?50-50 networks,? or cosponsorship networks composed of equal numbers of members from both parties. These results suggest that the increasing partisan polarization for which this era has become known may not be as prevalent as we have thought. Rather, when we scratch below the surface of roll call behavior and explore the informal relationship-building activities of legislators, we find that differences in the institutional structures of the House and Senate, such as membership size and length of term, may create different behavioral outcomes in each chamber. This paper contributes to our understanding of congressional development by examining the polarization story from a new angle and recognizing that the House and Senate are two unique institutions, each requiring its own theoretical framework to be understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper about the policies of the former U.S. President George W. Bush in the context of prerogative power is presented. It discusses that the President has been vested prerogative powers to act beyond the narrow range of presidential powers vested by the Constitution. It examines the extraconstitutional presidential power in the context of the American constitutional system.

The article provides information on a research paper by Joshua C. Huder of the University of Florida, Florida which evaluates the U.S. Congress developmental history. This paper analyses public reform attempts in uncovering the larger patterns in congressional development. This paper also uses a content analysis of the articles newspaper "Washington Post" to analyze congressional reform in the public sphere.

A conference paper related to the proportion of women in courts of the general jurisdiction and intermediate and the highest appellate courts in the U.S. to be presented at the Southern Political Science Association conference is presented. It discusses about the increase in number of female chief justice in the U.S. Supreme Courts. Information about methods of selection of judges in the U.S. states is also presented.

A conference paper related to the concept of justice in the American foundation submitted at the 2010 Convention of the Southern Political Science Association is presented. It informs about a study conducted to determine the justification of developments in the American government. It mentions about justice in several contexts including the Bible, the political theorists and the common law.

A conference paper about the partisanship and ideological changes to be presented at the 2011 Southern Political Science Association Conference is presented. The Democratic Party in North Carolina has relatively high success across state and local elections and the Republican Party dominates at the national-level elections. This ideology has more pronounced effect on voting behavior than in any other region in the country and it puts pressure on voters to go against their party identification.

A conference paper related to city leaders and economic development prepared for presentation at the 2011 Southern Political Science Association meeting is presented. It discusses that the city leaders in the U.S. can engage in a variety of efforts for promoting the economic growth and vitality of their communities. It also mentions that the economic interests of developers and the political interests of the local leaders to help convergence and promote development efforts.