CAS: Political Science: Scholarly Papers

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/2144/1259

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 77

Age is measured with systematic measurement error in developing country surveys: a diagnosis and analysis of consequences
(SAGE Publications, 2021-07) Rosenzweig, Steven C.
Research in political science and other social sciences often relies on survey data to study a range of questions about politics in the developing world. This study identifies systematic measurement error in some of the most frequently used datasets with respect to one commonly employed variable: respondent’s age. It shows evidence of substantial measurement error that is correlated with observable characteristics, and discusses and illustrates the implications for empirical analysis with an example from a recently published study. In doing so, it demonstrates tools for identifying and diagnosing systematic measurement error in survey data, as well as for investigating the robustness of one’s findings when the problem arises.
Land of the freeholder: how property rights make local voting rights
(Now Publishers, 2021) Einstein, Katherine Levine; Palmer, Maxwell
A large body of research documents the dominance of homeowners in local politics. There has been little scholarship, however, on the role that voting institutions have played in empowering homeowners from the inception of the United States; indeed, most accounts describe property qualifications for voting and officeholding as largely fading from view by the mid-1800s. Combining a novel analysis of state constitutions and constitutional conventions with data on state statutes, this article explores the emergence of property qualifications for voting, with a particular emphasis on their role in local politics. We find that, counter most historical narratives, property requirements persisted well into the 20th century, with almost 90 percent of property requirements restricting voting and officeholding at the local level. Most centered on local bond referenda, school districts, and land use — suggesting that homeowner citizens were granted particular political control over local taxation and public services. These requirements were largely clustered in the American South and West — emerging alongside Jim Crow laws and mass availability of federal public lands — and were not eliminated until the Supreme Court took action in 1969 and 1970. This article illuminates the important role that voting institutions played in linking homeownership with American democratic citizenship, especially at the local level.
What goes up, must come down? The asymmetric effects of economic growth and international threat on military spending
(SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD, 2017-11-01) Cappella Zielinski, Rosella; Fordham, Benjamin O.; Schilde, Kaija E.
US wars abroad increase inequality at home: who foots the bill for American hegemony?
(Council on Foreign Relations) Cappella Zielinski, Rosella
Twenty years after leave none to tell the story, what do we now know about the genocide of the Tutsi In Rwanda?
(Manchester University Press, 2020-05-01) Longman, Timothy
In 1999, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) published an extensive account of genocide in Rwanda, Leave None to Tell the Story. Based on interviews and archival work conducted by a team of researchers and written primarily by Alison Des Forges, Leave None to Tell was quickly recognized as the definitive account of the 1994 genocide. In the ensuing two decades, however, much additional research has added to our understanding of the 1994 violence. In this paper, I assess Leave None to Tell the Story in light of the research conducted since its publication, focusing in particular on three major challenges to the analysis. First, research into the organization of the genocide disputes the degree to which it was planned in advance. Second, micro-level research into the motivations of those who participated disputes the influence of ideology on the genocide. Third, research has provided increasing evidence and details of violence perpetrated by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). I contend that despite these correctives, much of the analysis continues to hold up, such as the role of national figures in promoting genocide at the local level, the impact of the dynamics of local power struggles on the violence, and the patterns of violence, including the effort after the initial massacres to implicate a wide portion of the population. Finally, as a member of the team that researched and helped write Leave None to Tell, I reflect on the value of this rare sort of research project that engages human rights organizations in an academic research project.
Employment impacts of conservation spending
(Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, 2020-05) Peltier, Heidi
The growth of the “Camo Economy” and the commercialization of the post-9/11 wars
(Costs of War Project, 2020-06-30) Peltier, Heidi
The cost of debt-financed war: public debt and rising interest for Post-9/11 war spending
(Costs of War Project, Brown University, 2020-01-06) Peltier, Heidi
'Descended from immigrants and revolutionists': how family immigration history shapes representation in Congress
(2019-09-20) Feigenbaum, James; Palmer, Maxwell; Schneer, Benjamin
Does recent immigrant lineage influence the legislative behavior of members of Congress on immigration policy? We examine the relationship between the immigrant background of legislators (i.e., their generational distance from immigration) and legislative behavior, focusing on roll-call votes for landmark immigration legislation and congressional speech on the floor. Legislators more proximate to the immigrant experience tend to support more permissive immigration legislation. Legislators with recent immigration backgrounds also speak more often about immigration in Congress, though the size of immigrant constituencies in their districts accounts for a larger share of this effect. A regression discontinuity design on close elections, which addresses selection bias concerns and holds district composition constant, confirms that legislators with recent immigrant backgrounds tend to support pro-immigration legislation. Finally, we demonstrate how a common immigrant identity can break down along narrower ethnic lines in cases where restrictive legislation targets specific places of origin. Our findings illustrate the important role of immigrant identity in legislative behavior and help illuminate the legislative dynamics of present-day immigration policy.
Politics in forgotten governments: the partisan composition of county legislatures and county fiscal policies
(University of Chicago Press, 2020-01-09) Warshaw, Christopher; De Benedictis-Kessner, Justin
County governments are a crucial component of the fabric of American democracy. Yet there has been almost no previous research on the policy effects of the partisan composition of county governments. Most counties in the United States have small legislatures, usually called commissions or councils, that set their budgets and other policies. In this study, we examine whether counties with Democratic legislators spend more than counties with Republican ones. We assemble an original data set of 10,708 elections in approximately 298 medium and large counties over the past 25 years. Based on a regression discontinuity design, we find that electing a Democratic legislator rather than a Republican one leads the average county to increase spending by about 5%. Overall, our findings contribute to a growing literature on the policy consequences of partisan control of state and local government. They show that the partisan selection of county legislators has important policy effects in county governments.
Study and discussion questions on Hume's Essays Moral, Political, and Literary
(2019-12-31) Swanson, Judith
Persuading the enemy: estimating the persuasive effects of partisan media with the preference-incorporating choice and assignment design
(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2019-11-01) De Benedictis-Kessner, Justin; Berinsky, Adam J.; Baum, Matthew A.; Yamamoto, Teppei
Does media choice cause polarization, or merely reflect it? We investigate a critical aspect of this puzzle: how partisan media contribute to attitude polarization among different groups of media consumers. We implement a new experimental design, called the Preference-Incorporating Choice and Assignment (PICA) design, that incorporates both free choice and forced exposure. We estimate jointly the degree of polarization caused by selective exposure and the persuasive effect of partisan media. Our design also enables us to conduct sensitivity analyses accounting for discrepancies between stated preferences and actual choice, a potential source of bias ignored in previous studies using similar designs. We find that partisan media can polarize both its regular consumers and inadvertent audiences who would otherwise not consume it, but ideologically-opposing media potentially also can ameliorate existing polarization between consumers. Taken together, these results deepen our understanding of when and how media polarize individuals.
Concentrated burdens: how self-interest and partisanship shape opinion on opioid treatment policy
(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2019-11) De Benedictis-Kessner, Justin; Hankinson, Michael
When does self-interest influence public opinion on contentious public policies? The bulk of theory in political science suggests that self-interest is only a minor force in public opinion. Using nationally representative survey data, we show how financial and spatial self-interest and partisanship all shape public opinion on opioid treatment policy. We find that a majority of respondents support a redistributive funding model for treatment programs, while treatment funded by taxation based on a community’s overdose rate is less popular. Moreover, financial self-interest cross-pressures lower-income Republicans, closing the partisan gap in support by more than half. We also experimentally test how the spatial burden of siting treatment clinics alters policy preferences. People across the political spectrum are less supportive when construction of a clinic is proposed closer to their home. These results highlight how partisanship and self-interest interact in shaping preferences on public policy with concentrated burdens.
Export or perish: can internal devaluation create enough good jobs in southern Europe?
(Informa UK Limited, 2019-04-03) Perez, Sofia A.; Matsaganis, Manos
A Europe of creditor and debtor states: explaining the north/south divide in the Eurozone
(Taylor and Franis, 2019-04-29) Pérez, Sofía A.
The divide in the Eurozone between a small set of core economies with strong international financial positions (North) and a set of debtor states that show periodic vulnerability in international financial markets (South) remains a core feature of the area. Our understanding of that schism, however, remains incomplete. Comparative political economists have emphasised differences in labour market institutions – in particular wage setting – to explain the split. This article takes issue with that view, suggesting that the case for a wage-driven explanation of creditor and debtor states’ positions in the Eurozone remains weak. Instead, it emphasises the role of capital flows and the uneven impact these had on domestic demand across Eurozone states both before and after 2008. This macro-economically centred explanation – in which financial, rather than labour market, dynamics play the central role – has important implications for our evaluation of Eurozone reforms.
Mayors, partisanship, and redistribution: evidence directly from U.S. mayors
(SAGE, 2016-11-28) Einstein, Katherine L.; Glick, David
Policymakers and scholars are increasingly looking to cities to address challenges including income inequality. No existing research, however, directly and systematically measures local political elites’ preferences for redistribution. We interview and survey 72 American mayors—including many from the nation’s largest cities—and collect public statements and policy programs to measure when and why mayors prioritize redistribution. While many of the mayors’ responses are consistent with being constrained by economic imperatives, a sizable minority prioritize redistributive programs. Moving beyond the question of whether mayors support redistribution, we find that partisanship explains much of the variation in a mayor’s propensity for redistribution. Moreover, the impact of partisanship very rarely varies with institutional and economic contexts. These findings suggest that national political debates may be shaping local priorities in ways contrary to conventional views, and that they may matter even more than other recent findings conclude.
Recruiting large online samples in the United States and India: Facebook, Mechanical Turk and Qualtrics
(Cambridge University Press (CUP)) Boas, Taylor; Christenson, Dino P.; Glick, David
This article examines online recruitment via Facebook, Mechanical Turk (MTurk), and Qualtrics panels in India and the United States. It compares over 7300 respondents—1000 or more from each source and country—to nationally representative benchmarks in terms of demographics, political attitudes and knowledge, cooperation, and experimental replication. In the United States, MTurk offers the cheapest and fastest recruitment, Qualtrics is most demographically and politically representative, and Facebook facilitates targeted sampling. The India samples look much less like the population, though Facebook offers broad geographical coverage. We find online convenience samples often provide valid inferences into how partisanship moderates treatment effects. Yet they are typically unrepresentative on such political variables, which has implications for the external validity of sample average treatment effects.
Does race affect access to government services? An experiment exploring street-level bureaucrats and access to public housing
(WILEY-BLACKWELL, 2017-01-01) Einstein, Katherine Levine; Glick, David M.
While experimental studies of local election officials have found evidence of racial discrimination, we know little about whether these biases manifest in bureaucracies that provide access to valuable government programs and are less tied to politics. We address these issues in the context of affordable housing programs using a randomized field experiment. We explore responsiveness to putative white, black, and Hispanic requests for aid in the housing application process. In contrast to prior findings, public housing officials respond at equal rates to black and white email requests. We do, however, find limited evidence of responsiveness discrimination toward Hispanics. Moreover, we observe substantial differences in email tone. Hispanic housing applicants were 20 percentage points less likely to be greeted by name than were their black and white counterparts. This disparity in tone is somewhat more muted in more diverse locations, but it does not depend on whether a housing official is Hispanic.
City learning: evidence of policy information diffusion from a survey of U.S. mayors
(SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2019-03-01) Einstein, Katherine Levine; Glick, David M.; Palmer, Maxwell
Most studies of policy diffusion attempt to infer the processes through which policies spread by observing outputs (policy adoptions). We approach these issues from the other direction by directly analyzing a key policymaking input—information about others’ policies. Moreover, we do so by investigating policy diffusion in cities rather than states. Using a survey of U.S. mayors, more specifically, mayors’ own lists of cities they look to for ideas, we find evidence that distance, similarity, and capacity all influence the likelihood of a policy maker looking to a particular jurisdiction for policy information. We also consider whether these traits are complements or substitutes and provide some evidence for the latter. Specifically, we find that, at times, mayors eschew similarity and distance to look to highly respected “high capacity” cities but that there is no tradeoff between distance and similarity.
Study and discussion questions on Machiavelli's The Prince
(2018-09-03) Swanson, Judith

Browse

Recent Submissions