Pi Sigma Alpha Best Paper Awards

Best Undergraduate Student Papers: (1st, 2nd and 3d places - tie for third)

Karen Emmerson, The Tipping Point: When Do Motivated Reasoners Become Affectively Intelligent?

Morgan Weiland, Tacit Consent: the American News Media and Minority Tyranny

Kyle Groenewold, U.S.A. PATRIOT Act of 2001: We Deserve Less

Ali Wyne, Questioning the Theory of Hegemonic Continuum

Best Graduate Student Papers:
(1st, 2nd and 3d places)

Evan McKay, Governance and Legitimacy in China : The Globalization Dilemma

Dana Van De Walker, Infiltrating the Adult's Table: A Realistic Look at Women's Participation in National Security

Megan Kerr, The Necessity of Preserving Aristocratic Relics in Democratic Nations

14th Annual Illinois Conference for Students of Political Science - April 7, 2006

Session 1: 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Panel 1A: Social Inequality and Political Exclusion

Chair: Vanda Rajcan, Illinois State University

• Discussant: Sue Nahm, Columbia University
• Jennifer Vagle, Lawrence University - Race, Class, and Representation: Exploring the Relationship between Shared Traits and Shared Interests
• Dana Van De Walker, Illinois State University - Infiltrating the Adult's Table: A Realistic Look at Women's Participation in National Security
• Megan Leigh, John Carroll University - Factors Affecting Female Representation in State Legislatures
• Yolanda Gibson, Illinois State University - The Role of State Government during Natural Disasters

Panel 1B: Globalization and Hegemony

Chair: Megan Randall, Illinois State University

• Discussant: David Fernandes, Illinois State University
• Evan McKay, DePaul University - Governance and Legitimacy in China : The Globalization Dilemma
• Jody-Ann Jones, University of Tampa - The Perpetual Poverty Trap within African Nations as a Result of the Isomorphic Effects of New Imperialism and Globalization
• Ali Wyne, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Questioning the Theory of Hegemonic Continuum
• Aldo Zilli , California State University - Southern Cone Liberalization: A Skeptical Refutation of the Hyperglobalist Thesis
  

Session 2: 10:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Panel 2A: Class and Citizenship: Action, Participation, and Representation

Chair: Steve Kapfer, Brigham Young University

• Discussant: Rebecca Roberds, Illinois State University
• Carla M. DAnna Gorriti, Northeastern Illinois University - The Piqueteros: Analysis Of The Emergence Of An Argentinean Social Movement
• Gia Barboza , Michigan State University - Latino Immigrant Political Incorporation: pros and cons of the Segmented, Ethnic Disadvantage and Straight-line Models of Assimilation
• Krista Spaeth, University of Iowa - On the Historically Underestimated Power of the Russian Citizen

Panel 2B: Ethics, Security, and the Environment

Chair: Matt Hindman, Illinois State University

• Discussant: Jeffrey L. Gower, University of Akron
• Layla Johnston , Illinois State University - The Limits on Privatizing the Commons
• Paolo Mastrangelo, The New College of Florida - On Rationality and the Purposive-Design of International Institutions
• Sue Nahm, Columbia University - The Militarization of Refugee Camps and its Implications for the Delivery of Humanitarian Assistance in Times of War

Panel 2C: Voting and Elections

Chair: Beau Underwood, Eureka College

Discussant: Tanya Austin, Illinois State University

• Cristina Vasile, Providence College - Character Assessment as an Indicator of Vote Choice
• Karen Emmerson, University or Iowa - The Tipping Point: When Do Motivated Reasoners Become Affectively Intelligent?
• Drew Kurlowski, University of Missouri - Simulation of Increased Youth Turnout on the Presidential Election of 2004
• Jonathan Kandel, University of Florida - The Myth of the Red / Blue State Divide: The Paradigm that Defined and Divided the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Presidential Elections
  

Luncheon and Keynote Speaker

W. Robert Schultz, III, J.D. -   Amnesty International -- Midwest Regional Office Membership Field Organizer
"Telling the Truth About Torture: Amnesty International's Response to the War on Terror"

Session 3: 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Panel 3A: Ideology, Party Politics, and Law

Chair: Darryl O. Freeman, California State University

• Discussant: Anthony Bolton, Illinois State University
• Beau Underwood, Eureka College - Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Battle to Protect Religious Liberty
• Matt Hindman, Illinois State University - Ideology and the Two-Party System: From Neutral to Critical Assessments
• Michael Daniels, University of Kansas - Considering Plessy v . Ferguson in a Libertarian Perspective
• Katherine McNitt, University of Illinois - The Liberal Democrats: Past, Present, and Future
  

Panel 3B: Resurrecting Tocqueville

Chair: Zach Gephardt, Illinois State University

• Discussant: Jonathan Kandel, University of Florida
• Briana McGinnis, University of Wisconsin Madison - Every Woman Helps It Along: Tocqueville and Women's Associations 1820-1840
• Morgan Weiland, Carleton College - Tacit Consent: the American News Media and Minority Tyranny
• Megan Kerr, Northern Illinois University - The Necessity of Preserving Aristocratic Relics in Democratic Nations

Panel 3C: Security, Conflict, and U.S. Reactions: Past and Present

Chair: Ali Wyne, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Discussant: Emin Nabiyev, Eastern Illinois University
• Nathaniel Rose, Southern Illinois University - What's Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander : A Study of the United States Atomic Bomb Project Relative to the Charter of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East
• Kyle Groenewold, Eureka College - U.S.A. PATRIOT Act of 2001: We Deserve Less

Session 4: 3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.

Panel 4A: Instability and the International Economy

Chair: JodyAnn Jones, University of Tampa

• Discussant: Evan McKay, DePaul University
• Isaac Kamola, University of Minnesota - The International Coffee Economy and Genocide in Rwanda
• Juan Pablo Garcia, University of San Francisco - Dependency: A Modern Theory of IPE?
  

Panel 4B: The Power of External Actors

Chair: Morgan Weiland, Carleton College

• Discussant: Dana Van De Walker, Illinois State University
• Tanya Austin, Illinois State University - An Analysis of the Power of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
• Jeffrey L. Gower, University of Akron - Major Newspaper Coverage of Emerging Pandemic Diseases: A Comparison Between AIDS and 'Bird Flu'
• Emin Nabiyev , Eastern Illinois University - NATO Expansion and Azerbaijan: Evaluating the Potential of the Caucasus State
• Steve Kapfer, Brigham Young University - Multinational Corporations and the Erosion of State Sovereignty

Panel 4C: The Clinton Presidency and Domestic Reform

Chair: Emily Shallberg, Illinois State

• Discussant: Ryan Meister, Illinois State
• Cory Hutcheson, Southeast Missouri State University - Welfare Reform: Searching for a Pattern of Efficiency
• Samuel J. Sarver, Knox College - Effects of the Impeachment on Bill Clinton's Staff, Cabinet, Agenda, and Legacy
• Erica Jaffe, Knox College - Clinton health care reform: The Squandering of Public Support
• Darryl O. Freeman, California State University - Chief Executive, Commander-in-Chief and Chief Legislator: Clinton Supervention of Congressional Constitutional Authority in Fast Tracking NAFTA .

Reception: 4:45 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
(Founders Suite)