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This paper examines community conflict over a proposal by the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomie Indians to build a $100 million casino in a rural, culturally conservative county in southwestern Michigan. Conflict over the casino escalated in both scope and intensity over time until it involved local, state, and national governments. The paper examines the roles of various interests and actors in the conflict, focusing in particular on the activities of clergy and churches. Both ‘economic’ and ‘morality’ politics perspectives prove useful in helping us understand the complex dynamics of the casino struggle. The paper provides useful insights concerning (1) the role of people of faith in community conflict (2) the escalation of community conflict and (3) the impact of federalism on community conflict. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research related to the role of religious interests in community conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the "Michigan model" of partisanship and the attack on it mounted in the 1970s. Using the Nie, et al. volume "The Changing American Voter" as a reference point, it asks whether the decline of partisanship, so starkly obvious in 1972 data, has continued, leveled off, or whether there has been a resurgence of partisanship in voter psychology. Findings, of course, are mixed. Affect toward partisans and partisans has continued to become more negative, but also has become a bit more polarized -- reversing the 1956-1972 trend. The "sorting out" of the parties in terms of issue preferences has continued. Panel data are used to determine whether issues have influenced partisanship (as the rational choice model supposes) or whether partisanship influences issues (as per the Michigan model). Proper estimation via 2SLS shows neither effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to explore the indirect effect of state legislative term limits on races for local office. Specifically, the research question of interest is: Are members of the State House of Representatives more likely to run for local office after the passage of term limits? Researchers have demonstrated that most term-limited legislators are still interested in remaining in public life. However, ambitious legislators in a state with limited opportunities for upward mobility such as Michigan may choose to return to local office rather than the traditional progression up the ?political ladder.? In order to address the question of interest, data were collected on the activities of legislators immediately after their last year in office in the Michigan House of Representatives between the years of 1982-2000. In all, 212 legislators were included in the analysis. The activities of a pre-term limit set of legislators (1982-1992) were compared to that of a post-term limit group of legislators (1993-2000). Overall, a multivariate probit model demonstrates that term limits do have a significant impact on a legislator’s decision to run for local office. Overall, legislators are 14.3% more likely to run for local government in the post term limit period. Other variables such as the presence of a senate election year, the Senate incumbent’s percent of the previous vote, and county population were also found to be significant at at least the .10 level with varying degrees of influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]