Chicago, IL - April 13, 2015 - The Midwest Political Science Association will honor the following papers and projects presented at the 2014 conference at the annual MPSA Business Meeting, April 18, 2015 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.
Awards committees select the winners from among nominations made by chairs, discussants and section heads at the previous year's conference.
AJPS Best Article Award - Awarding the best article appearing in the volume of the American Journal of Political Science preceding the conference.
Title: Group Segregation and Urban Violence (Volume 58, Issue 1, pages 226-245)
Authors: Ravi Bhavnani, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Karsten Donnay, ETH Zürich, Dan Miodownik, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Maayan Mor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dirk Helbing, ETH Zürich
Award Committee: David Darmofal, University of South Carolina (chair); Matthew Golder, Penn State; Tracy Osborn, University of Iowa
Best Paper in Comparative Policy Award - Sponsored by the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice (JCPA) and International Comparative Policy Analysis Forum for the best paper in comparative policy. The winner(s) may submit their paper to JCPA for an expedited triple blind-fold review process.
Title: Ripples from the First Wave: The Monarchical Origins of the Welfare State
Author: Eileen McDonagh, Northeastern University
Award Committee: Charles Blake, James Madison University (Chair), Christoffer Green-Pedersen, Aarhus University, Denmark, Klaus Schubert, University of Muenster
Best Paper by an Emerging Scholar Award - Awarding the best paper, regardless of field of topic, authored by a scholar or scholars who have received their terminal degree(s) no sooner than six years prior to the year in which the paper was delivered.
Title: Social Norms and the Presentation of Partisanship
Authors: Samara Klar, University of Arizona, Yanna Krupnikov, Northwestern University
Award Committee: Leonie Huddy, SUNY Stony Brook (chair); Michael Berkman, Penn State; Raymond Duch, University of Oxford
Best Paper in International Relations - Awarding the best paper on the topic of international relations.
Title: Modern Day Merchant Guilds: Supply Chains and Informal Property Rights Enforcement
Authors: Leslie Johns, University of California at Los Angeles, Rachel Wellhausen, University of Texas at Austin
Award Committee: Zaryab Iqbal, Penn State (chair); Philip Arena, SUNY Buffalo; Jonathan Renshon, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Best Paper Presented in a Poster Format Award - Awarding the best poster presentation.
Title: Natural Resources and Recurring Civil War
Author: Vita Thormann, German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)
Award Committee: Heather Evans, Sam Houston State University (chair); Gwen Arnold, University of California, Davis; Nick Clark, Susquehenna University
Best Undergraduate Poster Award - Awarding the best poster presented by an undergraduate.
Title: Learning in Harm's Way: The Effects of Neighborhood Violence on School Performance
Author: Elizabeth Froom Pelletier, The College of William and Mary
Award Committee: Jennifer Hayes Clark, University of Houston (chair); Victor Asal, SUNY Albany; John Hulsey, James Madison University
Kellogg/Notre Dame Award - Awarding the best paper in comparative politics.
Title: Reverse Engineering Chinese Censorship through Randomized Experimentation and Participant Observation
Authors: Gary King, Harvard University, Jennifer Pan, Harvard University, Margaret E. Roberts, Harvard University
Award Committee: Robert Rohrschneider, University of Kansas (chair); Chris Blattman, Columbia University; Georgia Kernell, Northwestern University
Lucius Barker Award - Awarding the best paper presented at the annual meeting on a topic investigating race or ethnicity and politics honoring the spirit and work of Professor Barker.
Title: Assessing the Causal Impact of Race-Based Districting on Voter Turnout
Author: Bernard L. Fraga, Indiana University
Award Committee: Ismail White, (chair) Ohio State University; Marisa Abrajano, University of California, San Diego; D. Stephen Voss,University of Kentucky
Patrick J. Fett Award - Awarding the best paper on the scientific study of Congress and the presidency.
Title: Legislative Style
Authors: William Bernhard, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Tracy Sulkin, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Daniel Sewell,University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Award Committee: George Edwards, Texas A&M (chair); David Canon, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Michael Ensley, Kent State University
Pi Sigma Alpha Award - Awarding the best paper presented at the MPSA Annual National Conference. Sponsored by Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society.
Title: Messages, Messengers, and Diffusion of Support for Gay Equality: Results from Two Longitudinal Field Experiments
Authors: Michael J. LaCour, University of California at Los Angeles, Donald P. Green, Columbia University
Award Committee: Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, University of Nebraska, Lincoln (chair); Jeanette Mendez, Oklahoma State University; Erik Wibbels, Duke University
Review of Politics Award - Awarding the best paper in normative political theory.
Title: Corruption and the Problem of Patronage in Machiavelli's Florentine Histories
Author: Amanda Maher, University of Chicago
Award Committee: Joan Tronto, University of Minnesota (chair); Patrick Deneen, Notre Dame University; Peter Lindsay, Georgia State University
Robert H. Durr Award - Awarding the best paper applying quantitative methods to a substantive problem.
Title: Encouraging Small Donor Contributions: Field Experiments Testing the Effects of Nonpartisan Messages
Authors: Donald P. Green, Columbia University, Jonathan S. Krasno, Binghamton University
Costas Panagopoulos, Harvard University, Benjamin Farrer, Hobart and William Smith College, Michael Schwam-Baird, Columbia University
Award Committee: Janet Box-Steffensmeier, Ohio State University (chair); Andrew Gelman, Columbia University; Gabriel Lenz,University of California, Berkeley
Sophonisba Breckinridge Award - Awarding the best paper delivered on women and politics.
Title: Women and Men from Different sides of the Wall: Gender Attitudes, Institutions, and Political Participation in Unified Germany
Authors: Sarah Glatte, Oxford University, Catherine E. de Vries, Oxford University
Award Committee: Kim Fridkin, Arizona State University (chair); Alice Kang, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Christina Wolbrecht, Universityof Notre Dame
Westview Press Award - Sponsored by Westview Press, Awarding the best paper by delivered by a graduate student.
Title: Can Inclusive Institutional Reform Reduce Political Violence? Field Evidence on Village Governance and Conflict in India
Author: Benjamin Pasquale, New York University
Award Committee: Shaun Bowler, University of California, Riverside (chair); Adam Seth-Levine, Cornell University; Wendy Pearlman,Northwestern University
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The Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) is an international organization with a membership of approximately 6,100 political science faculty, researchers and graduate students representing more than 90 countries. Founded in 1939, the MPSA is dedicated to the advancement of scholarship in all areas of political science. MPSA publishes the American Journal of Political Science, one of the top research journals in the discipline.