Monday, May 18^th, Jamie Druckman will present at the Americans Politics Workshop. His talk is titled “Do Politics Hinder Scientific Communication?” Please find the abstract below:

Science can play a critical role in the making of public policy. Yet, it only does so if it can be effectively communicated to citizens and policy-makers. In this presentation, I demonstrate how three features of the current political environment – media saturation, partisan polarization, and the politicization of science – generate preference formation process that are often deemed undesirable. I then discuss ways in which one can counteract these dynamics; however, I conclude by asking a larger question: what are the criteria for assessing whether the processing of scientific information generates “better” or “worse” preferences?

WHO: Jamie Druckman, Political Science – Northwestern University
WHEN: May 18th at Noon (Lunch provided)
WHERE: Pick Lounge (1^st Floor)

We look forward to seeing everyone this Monday May 18^th for Jamie Druckman!
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Papers will be circulated in advance through our email list. To join the workshop email list visit: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/subscribe/americanpolitics

Additional information about the American Politics Workshop can be found on our website: http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/americanpol/

If you have any questions, please contact the workshop coordinators Allen L. Linton II (alinton@uchicago.edu) and Roberto Carlos (robertfcarlos@uchicago.edu).
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Monday May 11, Alex Theodoridis (University of California, Merced) will present at the American Politics Workshop. His talk is titled “It’s My Party: Partisan Intensity through the Lens of Implicit Identity.” Please find the paper here: Theodoridis – It’s My Party (Workshop Paper).

WHO: Alex Theodoridis, Asst. Professor of Political Science – University of California, Merced
WHEN: May 11th at Noon (Lunch provided)
WHERE: Pick Lounge (1^st Floor)

We look forward to seeing everyone this Monday May 11^th for Alex Theodoridis.

American Politics Workshop Coordinators
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Papers will be circulated in advance through our email list. To join the workshop email list visit: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/subscribe/americanpolitics

Additional information about the American Politics Workshop can be found on our website: http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/americanpol/

If you have any questions, please contact the workshop coordinators Allen L. Linton II (alinton@uchicago.edu) and Roberto Carlos (robertfcarlos@uchicago.edu).
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Monday, April 27, Richard Hall (University of Michigan) will present at the American Politics Workshop. His talk is titled “Revolving Door Lobbyists and the Affordable Care Act.” A link to the paper is presented here: Revolving Door Lobbyists and the ACA – Chicago Workshop – April 2015

Abstract

Students of democratic institutions have long criticized the “revolving door” that moves government officials into lucrative positions as lobbyists, presumably giving the interest groups that hire them an advantage in the competition for access. The migration is especially common among congressional staff. Critics allege that revolvers gain access by exploiting personal relationships with former employers and co-workers. We argue that their advantage is more general than that. Positioned at the intersection of two policy-relevant networks, revolvers enjoy a comparative advantage in generating political information, but the value of that information to the member, we hypothesize, will be conditional on partisan alignment between member and group.   Employer-based relationships and policy knowledge vary too little to explain much of the revolver’s advantage. Analyzing data on access from interviews with lobbyists on the Affordable Care Act, we provide the first direct evidence of a revolver-access relationship.

WHO: Richard Hall, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy – University of Michigan
WHEN: April 27th at Noon
WHERE: Pick Lounge (1^st Floor)
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Papers will be circulated in advance through our email list. To join the workshop email list visit: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/subscribe/americanpolitics

If you have any questions, please contact the workshop coordinators Allen L. Linton II (alinton@uchicago.edu) and Roberto Carlos (robertfcarlos@uchicago.edu).
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All workshops held on Mondays from Noon to 1:30pm (Food Provided) Pick Hall, 5828 S. University Avenue, 1^st Floor Lounge

April 13^th: Judith Torney-Purta, Professor Emerita of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park

April 27^th: Richard L. Hall, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy – University of Michigan

May 11^th: Alex Theodoridis, Professor of Political Science, University of California – Merced

May 18^th: Jamie Druckman, Department of Political Science, Northwestern University

June 1^st: Richard Flores, PhD Student – Political Science, University of Chicago

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Papers will be circulated in advance through our email list. To join the workshop email list visit: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/subscribe/americanpolitics

Additional information about the American Politics Workshop can be found on our website: http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/americanpol/

If you have any questions, please contact the workshop coordinators Allen Linton II (alinton@uchicago.edu) and Roberto Carlos (robertfcarlos@uchicago.edu).

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Monday, March 9th, George Krause (University of Pittsburgh) will present at the American Politics Workshop. His talk is titled “Can Bureaucratic Leadership Mitigate Common Agency Problems? Institutional Policy Conflict and the Political Calculus of Budgetary Support for U.S. Federal Agencies.” A link to the paper is here: Common Agency.Krause & O’Connell.UChicago American Politics Workshop Version.03-05-2015

Abstract

Political principals confront the dual coordination problem involving a competing political principal, as well as a government agency.  This study advances a theoretical logic to understand the specific conditions that enable agency leaders to obtain political (budgetary) support for their agencies. Empirical predictions generated from this theory are tested using both presidential and congressional budgetary data from 31 U.S. federal government agencies from FY 1978 to FY 2009.  The statistical evidence provides strong support for the theory by demonstrating that during times of unified party government, ‘conflictual’ agencies (i.e., agencies whose core policy mission is at ideological odds with a given political principal) can obtain greater budgetary support from political principals based as an agency leader’s loyalty to the president rises.  Moreover, such agencies will also obtain comparatively greater budgetary resources under divided party government vis-à-vis unified party government when the agency leader exhibits weak loyalty to the president.  That is, when common agency problems occur between political principals, agency leadership cannot effectively resolve vertical conflicts between politicians and agencies.

WHO: George Krause, Professor, Department of Political Science – University of Pittsburgh
WHEN: March 9th at Noon
WHERE: Pick Lounge (1^st Floor)
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Papers will be circulated in advance through our email list. To join the workshop email list visit: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/subscribe/americanpolitics

If you have any questions, please contact the workshop coordinators Allen L. Linton II (alinton@uchicago.edu) and Roberto Carlos (robertfcarlos@uchicago.edu).
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Monday, February 23rd, Ashleigh Campi will present at the American Politics Workshop. Her talk is titled “Renegotiating Norms, Reforming Social Power: The Mobilization of Everyday Attachments in Evangelical Pro-Family Discourse.” Please find the paper here and the abstract below.

Abstract

The strength of the American family is at the center of a new ideological constellation of US conservative politics that emerged in the late 1970s and remains in force today. The growth of evangelical Christianity, and the re-entry of US evangelicals to the forefront of the political scene during this period propelled the mobilization of concerns over the family. This chapter focuses on the discourses of the networks of non-profits through which the evangelical subculture enters into politics, focusing on the subculture’s most enduring and influential group, Focus on the Family. Analyzing radio broadcasts, online organizational literature, and newsletters from Focus and its sister organizations, I attempt to show how everyday norms of gender, work, and caregiving are mobilized politically. Foregrounding subcultural processes of political consciousness formation, I challenge Judith Butler’s influential theorization of the relationship between normativity and social power as ‘passionate attachment.’ This paper develops an alternative, psychoanalytically informed account of social norms through a reading of evangelical family discourses. Interpreting quotidian self-help and inspirational programming, phone-line counseling services, and multi-media guides for mentoring and family support provided by Focus ministries, I show that that norms can be reproduced through relational strategies and self-reflective practices. The picture of normative attachment derived from this reading informs my account of political consciousness formation.

WHO: Ashleigh Campi, PhD Candidate, Political Science – University of Chicago
WHEN: February 23rd at Noon
WHERE: Pick Lounge (1^st Floor)

We look forward to seeing everyone this Monday Feb. 23^rd for Ashleigh Campi!
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Papers will be circulated in advance through our email list. To join the workshop email list visit: https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/subscribe/americanpolitics

If you have any questions, please contact the workshop coordinators Allen L. Linton II (alinton@uchicago.edu) and Roberto Carlos (robertfcarlos@uchicago.edu).
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Monday, February 2nd, Jamie Druckman will present at the American Politics Workshop. His talk is titled “Do Politics Hinder Scientific Communication?.”

Abstract:
Science can play a critical role in the making of public policy. Yet, it only does so if it can be effectively communicated to citizens and policy-makers. In this presentation, I demonstrate how three features of the current political environment – media saturation, partisan polarization, and the politicization of science – generate preference formation process that are often deemed undesirable. I then discuss ways in which one can counteract these dynamics; however, I conclude by asking a larger question: what are the criteria for assessing whether the processing of scientific information generates “better” or “worse” preferences?

WHO: Jamie Druckman,Professor in Political Science, Northwestern University
WHEN: February 2nd at Noon
WHERE: Pick Lounge (1^st Floor)

We look forward to seeing everyone this Monday February 2nd for Jamie Druckman!

On Monday, January 12th at Noon, David Leal, Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas – Austin, will present at the American Politics Workshop. His talk is titled “Disappearing Latinos: Non-Ethnic Identification and the Implications for Latino Political Participation in the United States.”  You can find the paper here: Leal Lee Wakao Chicago 2015

WHO: David Leal, Professor, Department of Government, University of Texas – Austin
WHEN: January 12th at Noon
WHERE: Pick Lounge (1^st Floor)

All workshops held on Mondays from Noon to 1:30pm* (Food Provided)
Pick Hall, 5828 S. University Avenue, 1^st Floor Lounge

Jan 12^th: David L. Leal, Professor, Department of Government – University of Texas – Austin

Feb 2nd: Jamie Druckman, Professor, Department of Political Science – Northwestern University

Feb 23^rd: Ashleigh Campi, PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science – University of Chicago
“Renegotiating Norms, Reforming Social Power: The Mobilization of Everyday Attachments in US Evangelical Pro-Family Discourse”

Mar 2^nd: Rebba Moore, PhD Student, Department of Political Science – University of Chicago

Mar 9^th: George Krause, Professor, Department of Political Science – University of Pittsburgh

Questions and comments should be directed to the workshop coordinators via email:
Allen L. Linton II: alinton@uchicago.edu
Roberto Carlos: robertfcarlos@uchicago.edu

Papers are available ahead of the workshops on the American Politics website:
http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/americanpol/

On Monday, November 17th at Noon, Dilara Uskup, PhD student in the Department of Political Science, will present at the American Politics Workshop. Her talk is titled “Blue Bible, Red Bible: Sin or Right? Examining the Impact of Theology on Morality Based Opinions Among Faith Centered African Americans.”

WHO: Dilara Uskup, PhD student in Political Science, University of Chicago
WHEN: November 17th at Noon
WHERE: Pick Lounge (1st Floor)
Food will be provided.

The paper being presented can be found here:  D. Uskup American Workshop Paper