Newsletter of the APSA Organized Section on
Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior

April 2006: Midwest Meeting Edition

1. Call for Nominations for Section Officers:
   
   Please feel free to contact the current officers if you would like to know more about the office in question. Many of us will be at the Midwest meeting and can entertain inquiries. Emails of section officers are available at http://www.apsanet.org/~elections/officers.html
   
   The EPOVB Nominations Committee is seeking nominations (including self-nominations) and inquiries for all offices:

   President (2-year term). Past presidents include Sapiro, Schlozman, Rabinowitz, Beck, Flanigan, Weisberg.

   Vice President (2-year term). Past Vice Presidents include Huckfeldt, Mutz, Jacoby, Stimson, Sniderman, Knight

   Treasurer (3-year term). Past Treasurers: McGraw, Rabinowitz

   Communication (and Web) Director (3-year term). Past Directors: Gronke, Dolan, Jacoby

   Executive Council (3 people for 2-year terms). Continuing members are Blais, Jacoby, Semetko.

   Please send nominations and self-nominations (please include a cv if possible) or address inquiries to the Nominations Committee: Larry Dodd, Chair (ldodd@polisci.ufl.edu), Janet Box-Steffensmeier (steffensmeier.2@osu.edu), Clyde Wilcox (wilcoxc@georgetown.edu) by 1 March 2006.

2. Help honor your fellow Political Scientists by nominating section awards.
   

   The following committees are seeking nominations (including self-nominations) for the following EPOVB Awards:
   
   Best Paper Award, awarded annually for best paper delivered at one of the Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior section’s panels at APSA. The committee is Peter Miller, Chair (p-miller@northwestern.edu), Vince Hutchings (vincenth@umich.edu ), Adam Berinsky (berinsky@mit.edu).
   
   Emerging Scholar Award, awarded at least biennially to a top scholar within 10 years of her/his PhD in the Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior field. Past recipients include Skip Lupia, Jeff Mondak, Don Green, Wendy Rahn, Christopher J. Anderson, Janet Box-Steffensmeier, Michael Alvarez, Darren Davis, Mark Hetherington, and Jamie Druckman. The committee is Paul Sniderman, Chair (paulms@stanford.edu), Ada Finifter (finifter@msu.edu).
   
   Warren E. Miller Prize, awarded every two or three years for an outstanding career of intellectual accomplishment and service to the profession in the Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior field. Past recipients include Warren Miller, Phil Converse, Sidney Verba, David Sears, and M. Kent Jennings. The committee is Diana Mutz, Chair (mutz@sas.upenn.edu ), Khalilah L. Brown-Dean (khalilah.brown-dean@yale.edu), David O. Sears (sears@psych.ucla.edu ).
   
   Philip E. Converse Book Award, awarded annually to the authors of an outstanding book that was published at least 5 years ago. The past recipients are Campbell, Converse, Miller, & Stokes, The American Voter; Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy; Zaller, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion; Stimson, Public Opinion in America; Fiorina, Retrospective Voting in American National Elections; Page and Shapiro, The Rational Public; Iyengar and Kinder, News that Matters; Schuman and Presser, Questions and Answers in Attitude Surveys. The committee is John Aldrich, Chair (aldrich@duke.edu), Jamie Druckman (druckman@northwestern.edu ), Jacques Thomassen (j.j.a.thomassen@utwente.nl).
   
   The closing date for all awards nominations is March 1, 2006.

3. PollyPrize Competition for best forecasting model
   
   Alfred G. Cuzan (acuzan@uwf.edu) sends along this announcement:
   
   Polly is happy to announce that on behalf of the International Institute of Forecasters, it will make a $1,000 award to the designer(s) of the best model for forecasting the results of this year’s U.S. House of Representatives elections.
   
   More information can be obtained at http://www.politicalforecasting.com.
   
   
   
4. ANES Board solicits input on the 2006 Pilot Study, announces new online forum
   
   Have ideas for the upcoming 2006 ANES Pilot Study? Submit your proposal to, and read other proposals at, the new ANES Online Commons:
   
   http://www.electionstudies.org/onlinecommons.htm
   
   
5. Virtual Summer Institute in Social Psychology, Stanford University
   
   APPLICATIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED FOR THE 2006 VIRTUAL SUMMER INSTITUTE IN POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY at Stanford University, July 10 - 21, 2006
   
   APPLY TODAY http://acomptesterg4.stanford.edu/phpsurveyor/index.php?sid=1
   
   Stanford University is very pleased to announce that it will host the first Virtual Summer Institute in Political Psychology. Continuing the SIPP tradition created by Margaret Hermann at Ohio State University in 1991, Virtual SIPP will provide participants with an opportunity to receive specialized training in political psychology by world-renowned faculty over the course of the two-week Institute. VSIPP 2006 is sponsored by Stanford's Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRiSS).
   
   This year, the Summer Institute will offer 2 weeks of online training in political psychology to up to 60 participants including graduate students, faculty, professionals, and advanced undergraduates. The VSIPP 2006 training will include streaming audio lectures drawn from a unique world class collection of faculty lecturers and accompanying slideshow materials, an extensive reading list and materials to accompany the lectures, online discussion groups, and personal space online to post your own research interests, ideas and projects and to network with fellow participants.
   
   Contingent on participant interest, Stanford University will host an informal two-day conference at the end of Virtual SIPP (July 22-24) where participants will continue their conversations with fellow participants and faculty, connecting with each other at Stanford. http://www.stanford.edu/group/sipp for more details about the Institute and the closing conference.
   
   
   
6. Electronic Voting Technology Conference
   
   Section member Walter Mebane (wm1@macht.arts.cornell.edu) sends along this announcement:
   
   2006 USENIX/ACCURATE Electronic Voting Technology Workshop (EVT '06), August 1, 2006, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
   
   EVT seeks to bring together researchers from a variety of disciplines, ranging from computer science and human factors experts through political scientists, legal experts, election administrators, and voting
   equipment vendors. The workshop will include short paper presentations as well as vibrant panel discussions with substantial time devoted to questions and answers. Attendance at the workshop will be open to the public, although speakers and presentations will be by invitation only.
   
   Interested in participating? Check out the Call for Papers at http://www.usenix.org/events/evt06/
   
   EVT '06 will be co-located with the 15th USENIX Security Symposium (Security '06), July 31--August 4, 2006.
   
   The organizers are especially interested in political scientists' contributions regarding the extent to which data support conclusions relevant to whether electronic voting technology is accurate or is
   inadequately deployed, etc. If you have questions, please get in touch with Dan Wallach <dwallach@cs.rice.edu>
   
   
7. State Level Campaign Finance Data Source
   
   Section member Michael Malbin (mmalbin@cfinst.org) lets us know about a data resource:
   
   After presenting the Institute on Money in State Politics' data and analyses to the Southern Political Science Association conference in Atlanta earlier this month, I was urged by Michael Malbin of the Campaign Finance Institute to alert members of the national association of our information.
   
   Many professors and doctoral students have discovered the Institute's comprehensive state-level campaign-finance data and use it extensively. More should. If you think members of your Organized Section would benefit from knowing about the Institute, please let those on your list-servs know about us.
   
   By way of background, the Institute has been compiling detailed contributor information -- every check written to candidates for legislative, gubernatorial and other constitutional offices, political parties and now ballot measure committees, since the 2000 election cycle. We collect reports for all candidates, primary and general elections, winners as well as losers. And, in its infancy, the Institute worked as the Money in Western Politics Project, which compiled the same data, but only in the eight Northwest states. That comprehensive data dates to the 1990 election cycle.
   
   The website is http://www.followthemoney.org
   
   
8. Postdoctoral Opportunity in Statistics and Methodology
   
   Section member Jan Box-Steffensmeier sends along this notice:
   
   The Program in Statistics and Methodology (PRISM) in the Department of Political Science at The Ohio State University is offering a one-year postdoctoral fellowship for scholars with Ph.Ds whose strengths lie in statistical methodology, whose substantive interests lie in any substantive field, and whose training may go beyond political science. The fellow will teach, provide consultation on advanced methods for faculty and graduate students, present their current research, and collaborate with faculty members on projects as desired. Teaching responsibilities are negotiable. The appointment begins September 2006 and can be a 9 or 12 month appointment.
   
   Applicants should send a curriculum vita, three letters of recommendation, a writing sample, syllabi and teaching evaluations, and a personal statement their training and research in quantitative methods, teaching interests, and computer skills to Jan Box-Steffensmeier, Department of Political Science, 2140 Derby Hall, 154 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43201. Applications will be reviewed immediately with a deadline of April 24th for consideration.
   
   http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu/prism/
   
   
9. Midwest Meeting, Chicago, IL April 20-23, 2006
   
   Among the many panels at the Midwest meeting, section members may find the following of interest. As always, there are sections and hundreds of panels that I did not have space to list. To see the full program, go the Midwest website: http://www.kiva.net/~mpsa/2006ProgramOverview.pdf
   
   Sect. 19 Voting Behavior
   Stephen P. Nicholson, Georgia State University
   
   19-1 CANDIDATE ATTRIBUTES AND VOTE CHOICE Thursday, April 20 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   19-2 CASTING BALLOTS Thursday, April 20 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   19-3 CLASS VOTING Friday, April 21 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   19-4 COMPETITION AND TURNOUT Saturday, April 22 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   19-5 CONTEXT AND TURNOUT Friday, April 21 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   19-6 ECONOMIC VOTING MODELS Saturday, April 22 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   19-7 ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS Saturday, April 22 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   19-8 GETTING OUT THE VOTE Thursday, April 20 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   19-9 INFORMED VOTING? Sunday, April 23 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   19-10 ISSUES AND IDEOLOGY IN VOTE CHOICE Sunday, April 23 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   19-11 RACE AND TURNOUT Friday, April 21 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   19-12 RACE AND VOTING Thursday, April 20 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   19-13 REVISITING THE AMERICAN VOTER Thursday, April 20 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   19-14 STRATEGIC VOTING Friday, April 21 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   19-15 VOTING IN RED AND BLUE STATES Friday, April 21 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   19-16 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS Saturday, April 22 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   19-17 THE ORIGINS AND EFFECTS OF PARTISAN IDENTIFICATION Saturday, April 22 – 1:45 pm – 3:30 pm
   19-18 THE DYNAMICS OF VOTER TURNOUT Friday, April 21 – 1:45 pm – 3:30 pm
   19-19 PARTY POLARIZATION Friday, April 21 - 8:30 pm – 10:15 am
   19-20 ADVANCED MODELS OF VOTING Friday, April 21 – 1:45 pm – 3:30 pm
   19-21 DIRECT DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL BEHAVIOR Saturday, April 22 – 8:30 am – 10: 15 am
   19-201 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: ELITES AND MASS PARTISAN CHANGE
   Thursday, April 20 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   19-202 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: YOUNG AND OLD VOTERS IN COMPARATIVE
   PERSPECTIVE Thursday, April 20 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   19-301 POSTER SESSION: VOTING BEHAVIOR Friday, April 21 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   
   Sect. 20 Electoral Campaigns
   David Damore, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
   
   20-1 THE POLITICS OF CANDIDATE EMERGENCE Thursday, April 20 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   20-2 THE POLITICS OF PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION CAMPAIGNS Friday, April 21 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   20-3 CAMPAIGN PROCESSES ACROSS LEVELS OF ANALYSIS Thursday, April 20 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   20-4 MONEY AND ELECTIONS Friday, April 21 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   20-5 CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING DYNAMICS Saturday, April 22 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   20-6 THE DYNAMICS OF VOTER TURNOUT Friday, April 21 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   20-7 CAMPAIGN STRATEGY: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES Saturday, April 22 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   20-8 THE INFLUENCE OF CANDIDATES AND CAMPAIGNS ON PUBLIC OPINION
   Thursday, April 20 – 10:30 am – 12:15 pm
   
   Sect. 21 Representation and Electoral Systems
   Jeff Karp, Texas Tech University
   
   21-1 ELECTORAL REFORM Thursday, April 20 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   21-2 ELECTORAL RULES AND PARTY DISCIPLINE Thursday, April 20 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   21-3 HOW ELECTORAL RULES SHAPE REPRESENTATION AND RESPONSIVENESS
   Friday, April 21 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   21-4 IMPACT OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS Friday, April 21 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   21-5 MIXED ELECTORAL SYSTEMS Saturday, April 22 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   21-6 PARTIES AND ELECTORAL SYSTEMS Saturday, April 22 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   21-7 POLITICS OF MAJORITY-MINORITY DISTRICTS Sunday, April 23 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   21-8 THE CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURE PROJECT Thursday, April 20 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   21-9 VOTING AND ELECTORAL SYSTEMS Saturday, April 22 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   21-301 POSTER SESSION: REPRESENTATION AND ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
   Friday, April 21 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   
   Sect. 22 Public Opinion
   Matt Streb, Northern Illinois University
   
   22-1 GOVERNMENT RESPONSIVENESS TO PUBLIC POLICY PREFERENCES ACROSS POLICY DOMAINS
   Thursday, April 20 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   22-2 PUBLIC OPINION, PUBLIC DISCOURSE, AND WELFARE POLICY Friday, April 21 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   22-3 RACE, GENDER, RELIGION AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY Friday, April 21 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   22-4 AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICAL ATTITUDES Thursday, April 20 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   22-5 OPINIONS ABOUT TERRORISM AND THE WAR ON TERROR Friday, April 21 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   22-6 ATTITUDES ABOUT IMMIGRATION Sunday, April 23 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   22-7 CONFIDENCE AND TRUST IN GOVERNMENT Thursday, April 20 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   22-8 POLITICAL AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE Saturday, April 22 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   22-9 SHORTCUTS TO POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE Sunday, April 23 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   22-10 VALUES AND CULTURAL ISSUES Sunday, April 23 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   22-11 THE INFLUENCE OF PUBLIC OPINION ON POLICYMAKING Friday, April 21 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   22-12 THE INFLUENCE OF CANDIDATES AND CAMPAIGNS ON PUBLIC OPINION
   Thursday, April 20 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   22-13 REPRESENTATION AND POLICY RESPONSIVENESS Friday, April 21 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   22-14 QUESTIONS OF MEASUREMENT Thursday, April 20 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   22-15 PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL Saturday, April 22 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   22-16 INFLUENCES ON PARTISANSHIP AND IDEOLOGY Saturday, April 22 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   22-17 PARTY POLARIZATION Friday, April 21 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   22-18 ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF AMBIVALENCE Thursday, April 20 – 8:30 am – 10:15 am
   22-19 THE ONCE AND FUTURE GENDER GAP Friday, April 21 – 10:30 am – 12:15 pm
   22-20 COURTS, PUBLIC OPINION, AND JUDICIAL LEGITIMACY Thursday, April 20 – 8:30 am – 10:15 am
   22-21 RELIGION AND PUBLIC OPINION IN NORTH AMERICA Saturday, April 22 – 10:30 am – 12:15 pm
   22-101 ROUNDTABLE: INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION AND THE STUDY OF FOREIGN
   POLICY Saturday, April 22 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   22-102 ROUNDTABLE: IS THERE A "CULTURE WAR" IN THE AMERICAN PUBLIC?
   Friday, April 21 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   22-201 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: OPINIONS ABOUT THE WAR IN IRAQ
   Thursday, April 20 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   22-202 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: OPINION CHANGE Thursday, April 20 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   22-203 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION Thursday, April 20 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   22-204 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: ATTITUDES ABOUT HEALTH CARE Thursday, April 20 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   22-205 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: FOREIGN OPINIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
   Saturday, April 22 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   22-206 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: POLITICAL TOLERANCE Saturday, April 22 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   22-207 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: THE POLITICAL GENDER GAP IN AFRICA: SIMILAR ATTITUDES,
   DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS Saturday, April 22 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   22-208 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: THE INFLUENCE OF ELITES ON PUBLIC OPINION
   Saturday, April 22 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   22-209 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: PUBLIC OPINION AND TAX POLICY Friday, April 21 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   22-301 POSTER SESSION: PUBLIC OPINION Saturday, April 22 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   
   Sect. 23 Political Participation
   Bob Jackson, Florida State University
   
   23-1 VOTER TURNOUT, POLITICAL PARTICIPATION, AND REPRESENTATION
   Friday, April 21 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   23-2 CROSS-NATIONAL VOTER TURNOUT AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
   Sunday, April 23 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   23-3 SOCIAL NORMS, MOBILIZATION, AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
   Saturday, April 22 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   23-4 SOCIAL CAPITAL AND THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
   Saturday, April 22 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   23-5 YOUTH SOCIALIZATION AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN THE U.S.
   Thursday, April 20 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   23-6 GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS AND VOTER TURNOUT Saturday, April 22 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   23-7 CAMPAIGN MESSAGES AND CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT Thursday, April 20 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   23-8 CAMPAIGNS AT THE GRASSROOTS: CONTACTING, MOBILIZING, AND
   CONTRIBUTING Friday, April 21 - 8:30 am - 10:15 am
   23-9 CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND LOCAL POLITICAL PARTICIPATION Friday, April 21 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   23-10 COMMUNITY DIVERSITY AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION Thursday, April 20 - 3:45 pm - 5:30 pm
   23-11 RELIGION AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN THE U.S. Friday, April 21 - 1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
   23-201 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: LOCAL DEMOCRACY IN MIDDLE AMERICA
   Saturday, April 22 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   23-202 INFORMAL ROUNDTABLE: THE INTERNET'S INFLUENCE ON AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
   Saturday, April 22 - 10:30 am - 12:15 pm
   
   
   
10. Upcoming conferences and deadlines:
    AAPOR May 18-21, 2006. Montreal, Canada.
    ISPP July 12-15, 2006. Barcelona, Spain.
    IPSA July 9-13, 2006. Fukuoka, Japan.
    APSA Conference Page, Click here
    APSA Grants page: click here
    

Paul Gronke, Communications Director
APSA Section on Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior
Reed College
3203 SE Woodstock Blvd
Portland OR 97202