Call for Papers on Social Networks and American Politics

American Politics Research invites scholars to submit innovative research using social network theories and methods to study American politics.  In 2009, APR will publish a special issue devoted to this topic.  Although priority will be given to selected papers from a conference on Networks in Political Science to be held at Harvard University, June 13-14, 2008, other submissions are also welcome.

Social networks research is defined principally by its focus on observable relationships between humans, institutions, and organizations.  By combining individual and aggregate units of analysis, it is especially well-positioned to study the gap between institutional outcomes and individual decision-making.  Though most commonly applied to the study of political behavior and elite decision-making, the theories and tools employed in social network analyses can apply to a wide range of topics relevant in American politics.

The APR readership is most interested in papers that using network theories and tools to study substantive topics relevant to American politics.  Papers that focus on network dyads or entire networks are welcome, as are those that examine the development and evolution of politically-relevant social networks.  Papers bringing cutting edge statistical and visualization tools to their subjects are particularly welcome.

Promising paper topics might address:

1)      Whether social networks have truly causal effects on political behavior;

2)      The role of social networks in facilitating or inhibiting collective action, particularly on policy problems;

 3)     Examinations of how to measure network concepts validly, such as disagreement, information flow, opinion leadership, or tie strength;

4)      Comparisons of social network processes across different racial and ethnic groups;

5)      In-depth studies of network evolution, particularly within different social and institutional contexts;

6)      Re-examination of Congressional voting coalitions through the lens of social network concepts;

7)      Investigation of how interest group, bureaucratic, and legislative relationships affect policy-making processes;

8)      Analyses of interest group coalitions and party networks.

The deadline for submitting proposals to the conference is March 1, 2008.  Proposals should include a title and a one-paragraph abstract.  Send them to networked_governance@ksg.harvard.edu . The final program will be available at
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/netgov/ .

The deadline for submission of full papers for consideration by APR is August 1, 2008, although articles will be accepted and reviewed before then on a rolling basis.  All papers should be approximately 22-28 pages in length, double-spaced, including a 150 word abstract.  Papers should conform with the APR Guidelines as outlined in the submission instructions for the journal at http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/apr/ .

Michael T. Heaney (University of Florida) and Scott McClurg (Southern Illinois University) will serve as guest editors for the special issue.

Questions, as well as electronic submissions should be directed to Jim Gimpel, Editor, at apr@gvpt.umd.edu .