Before the end of their fourth semester of study at Columbia, all students qualifying for the M.Phil. degree must present a completed research paper in an open departmental forum. The forum, which has come to be known as "Mini-APSA," takes place at the end of each spring semester. The 2009 Mini-APSA is scheduled for Friday, May 1.

Papers will be published here in Adobe Acrobat format as they become available.  To view a paper, click on the title.
 

Mini-APSA

Friday, May 1, 2009

 

Session One, 9:00 am - 11:-00 am

 

Panel One:  Political Networks

Room 711 IAB

Chair: Professor Alfred Stepan

Discussants:  Professors Macartan Humphreys and Alfred Stepan

Emily Bech: "From Blowback to Incorporation: The Muslim Boomerang as a Catalyst for European Domestic Engagement"

Neelanjan Sircar:  "Characterizing Networks"

 

Panel Two: Political Economy

Room 707 IAB

Chair:  Professor Timothy Frye

Discussants:  Professors Timothy Frye and Kay Shimizu

Martin Ardanaz: "Preferences for Redistribution in the Land of Inequalities"

Israel Marques:  "Who Wants to Level the Field?  Autocracy, Democracy and Redistribution"

Peter Van der Windt:  "Price Fluctuations of Oil and the Onset of Civil War"

Leanne Tyler:  "Regime Change in Authoritarian States: Assessing the Impact of Economic Crises on Political Liberalization"

 

Session Two, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

 

Panel One:  Aliances, War and Trade

Room 711 IAB

Chair:  Professor Richard Betts

Discussants:  Professors Richard Betts and Massimo Morelli

Simon Collard-Wexler:  "Strength in Numbers?  Testing the Effects of Alliance Size on Alliance Duration"

Pierce O'Reilly:  "War, Trade and Economic Resources"

Stefanie Pleschinger:  "Transboundary Resources, Sharing Negotiations and Dispute Resolution: A Role for International Organizations?"

Lunch Break

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Lindsay Rogers Common Room

Session Three, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

 

Panel One:  Political Theory

Room 711 IAB

Chair:  Professor Jean Cohen

Discussants:  Professors Jean Cohen and Nadia Urbinati

Felix Gerlsbeck: "The Epistemological Analysis of Normative Principles"

Yao Lin:  "The Heterogeneity of Domination: A Critique of Philip Pettit's Republican Conception of Freedom"

 

Panel Two:  American Politics

Room 1302 IAB

Chair:  Professor Robert Erikson

Discussants:  Professors Robert Erikson and Robert Lieberman

Lauren Ernst:  "Within Reach: The Story of How New York Nearly Instituted Compulsory Health Insurance from 1916-1920"

Yair Ghitza:  "Partisan Electoral Outcomes and Validated Voter Turnout: A Surprisingly Balanced Electorate"

Amy Semet:  "Exploring the Role of Sectionalism in Congressional Roll Call Votes, 1880-1920"