29. State Politics and Policy

Chris Bonneau, University of Pittsburgh, cwb7@pitt.edu

This year’s conference theme “Categories and the Politics of Global Inequalities” invites scholars to consider how the categorization of groups and people contributes to inequality of treatment. Both at the state and sub-state level, there is considerable variation in how government units deal with several issues related to inequality, such as economic development, welfare policies, the treatment of minority groups, and government capacity, to name a few. The State Politics and Policy section welcomes proposals that utilize the diverse institutional and social settings of the American states to address issues of categorization and inequality, broadly defined. As always, the section also encourages theoretically grounded and methodologically rigorous proposals on all aspects of state politics and policy. Proposals that make use of new and innovative data sources or methodological techniques are particularly welcome.  In sum, the section invites all proposals that contribute to our knowledge of politics in the states, and the program will fully represent the richness and diversity of the State Politics and Policy field.