Speakers Series - Center on Democratic Performance

Political Science-CDP Seminars

Past Events

"The Costs of Coalition"
- Carol Mershon, Department of Government and Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia

Friday, May 2, 2003
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Reinhardt Conference Room

Carol Mershon received her Ph.D. from Yale University in 1986. She has taught at the University of Virginia since 1993. She is a specialist in comparative and European politics. Her current research centers on coalition governments in parliamentary democracies. While many of her publications focus on Italy, her new book compares politics in ten countries. Her interests extend to the formation of opinion coalitions on the U.S. Supreme Court as well.

"Nash Equilibrium Strategies in Spatial Models of Electoral Competition"
- Samuel Merrill III, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Wilkes University

Friday, March 7, 2003. 12 noon.
Place: TBA

Traditional spatial models of electoral competition are deterministic and take no account of non-policy factors. We study spatial models that are probabilistic, incorporate non-policy factors such as partisanship and abstention due to alienation or indifference, and may include the policy-seeking as well as office-seeking motivations of candidates. Under traditional models, equilibria -- if they exist at all -- tend to be at or near the median voter. Under the models we study, the configuration of party positions for Nash equilibria are typically dispersed and correlated with the actual positions parties take in historical elections. Using these models, Nash equilibria are computed for presidential elections in the U.S. and France.

"Should I Stay or Should I Go: Presidents and the Decision to End the Use of Force"
- Prof. Michael Koch, Department of Political Science, Penn State University

Thursday, March 20, 2003. 10:30 am - 12 noon
Reinhardt Conference Room

"Russian Perspectives on the Current International Climate"
- Dr. Boris Shiriaev, Professor and Chair, Department of North-American Studies, School of International Relations, St. Petersburg State University

Wednesday, March 5, 2003 Time: 12:00 - 1:30 pm
Reinhardt Conference Room (corridor opposite Public Service Programs Center Room E/F, Library Building South Basement)

Dr. Shiriaev will discuss Russia’s views on the crises with Iraq and North Korea, and the prospects for multilateral diplomacy. Dr. Shiriaev has a Ph.D. in History from Leningrad (St. Petersburg) University and has taught there since 1965. He also taught as a visiting lecturer at several universities in the U.S., and served as Adviser in the Soviet Embassy in Afghanistan, 1985-1988.

"Publication Practices in the Courts of Appeals: Yes, Virginia, There Are Unpublished Opinions."
- Prof. Stephen L. Wasby, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University at Albany (SUNY)

Tuesday, December 10, 2002 from 3:30 - 5:00 pm
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

Brown Bag Lunch Presentation - "Social Capital and Political Action "
- Elena Sandovici, Department of Political Science, Binghamton University

Wednesday, December 4, 2002 at 2:00 pm
Bank's ConferenceRoom, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

"The Impact of Unionization on Establishment Closure: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis of Representation Elections "
- John DiNardo, Professor of Economics & Public Policy, University of Michigan

Friday, November 8, 2002 at 1:00 pm
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

This talk is sponsored by Harpur College, and is a part of the College's Dean's Workshop Series.

"Robust Estimation and Outlier Detection for Overdispersed Multinomial Models of Count Data"
- Walter Mebane, Associate Professor of Government, Cornell University

Friday, November 1, 2002 at 3:00 pm
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

Professor Mebane's research focuses on American politics (elections, fiscal policy, federalism) and methodology. This talk is sponsored by Harpur College, and is a part of the College's Dean's Workshop Series.

Brown Bag Lunch Presentation - "Democratic Development in South Africa"
- Judith February, Manager of the Governance Unit
Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa (Idasa)

Tuesday, October 29, 2002 at 12 pm
Room E/F, Public Service Programs Center, Binghamton University

"Cabinet Turnover in Parliamentary Democracies"
- John Huber, Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
- Visiting Fellow at Center for the Study of Democratic Politics, Princeton University

Friday, October 18, 2002 at 3:00 pm
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

Professor Huber's research focuses on comparative politics, formal modeling, and Western European politics. This talk is sponsored by the George L. Hinman Fund for Public Policy, Binghamton University Foundation.

Comparative Politics Brown Bag Workshop
"Mainstream Politics and Political discussion in Contemporary Democracies"
- Christopher Anderson, Professor of Political Science, Binghamton University
- Aida Paskeviciute, Political Science Graduate Student, Binghamton University

Wednesday, October 2, 2002 at 1:00 pm
Banks Conference Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

Comparative Politics Brown Bag Workshop
"The Politics of Active Labor Market Policies in the OECD"
- F. David Rueda, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Binghamton University

Wednesday, September 4, 2002 at 12:00 pm
Banks Conference Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

"Repeated Events Modeling in Duration Analysis"
- Janet Box-Steffensmeier, Associate Professor of Political Science, Ohio State University

Monday, May 6, 2002 at 10:00 am
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

"Economic Insecurity and the Globalization of Production"
- Ken Scheve, Yale University

Friday, April 19, 2002 at 3:00 pm
Banks Conference Room, Dept of Political Science, Binghamton University

Ken Scheve is a political scientist whose research focuses on comparative political economy, political behavior, and quantitative methods. This talk is sponsored by the Hinman Fund and the Center on Democratic Performance, and it is part of the Center's Citizens and Markets Project (CAMP) speaker series.

"Weak Links, Best Shots, and Substitutability: Some Thoughts on Aggregate Indicator Construction"
- William Dixon, University of Arizona

Friday, April 12, 2002 at 10:00 am
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

This talk is sponsored by Harpur College, and is a part of the College's Dean's Workshop Series.

"Endogenous Demands, Bargaining, and Conflict Onset"
- William Reed, Michigan State University

Friday, April 5, 2002 at 3:00 pm
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

This talk is sponsored by Harpur College, and is a part of the College's Dean's Workshop Series.

"Preferences, Policy, and Strategy: The Decision to Join the Majority Opinion on the U.S. Supreme Court"
- Forrest Maltzman, George Washington University

Thursday, March 7, 2002, 11:45 am - 1:30 pm
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

This talk is sponsored by Harpur College, and is a part of the College's Dean's Workshop Series.

"Building Parties in the European Parliament: Defections, Demotions, and the Committee System"
- Gail McElroy, University of Rochester

Friday, January 25, 2002 at 10:00 am
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

"Dealing in Discipline: Party Switching and Legislative Voting in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, 1996-2000"
- William Heller, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Thursday, January 24, 2002 at 10:00 am
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

"Predicting Momentum in the Presidential Primaries"
- Philip Paolino, University of Texas-Austin

Friday, January 18, 2002 at 10:00 am
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

"McDonald's, Martin van Buren, and the American Mass Party"
- Jeff Grynaviski, Duke University

Wednesday, January 16, 2002 at 1:30 pm
Reinhardt Room, Library Building North Basement, Binghamton University

"Regions of War and Peace"
- Douglas Lemke, University of Michigan

Friday, November 30, 2001

"Split-Population Duration Models in Political Research"
- Chris Zorn, Emory University

Friday, October 12, 2001