Publication Type: Proceeding
Abstract: For vote-maximizing candidates in two-party contests, basic Downsian theory argues for candidate convergence away from their own party’s supporters and toward the views of the median voter in the district, and it also leads us to expect these centripetal pressures to be strongest when elections are expected to be close. Yet, the available evidence from the U.S. Congress – both the work we report here using DW-NOMINATE scores over the 1952-2000 period and that of many other scholars using closely related methodologies – challenges these predictions. Drawing on and extending recent work of Adams, Merrill, and Grofman (2005), we propose a neo-Downsian model to explain non-convergence re-sults. Our model allows us to understand the complex interactions of political competi-tion, partisan loyalties, and incentives for voter turnout that can lead vote-maximizing candidates, even candidates in close elections, to seek to mobilize their voter base in terms of turnout by adopting positions attractive to the party faithful, rather than courting the median voter by moving towards the center. Furthermore, in our model, the winners from the party whose supporters are more ideologically concentrated (in the U.S., the Re-publicans) can be expected to display even less relationship between their ideological lo-cations and election competitiveness in their districts than is true for the representatives from the party whose voters are more ideologically dispersed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study focuses on women of color and their paths to elected office. A central question we pose in this paper is whether there may be distinctive paths to political office for black, Latina and Asian women in comparison to their male counterparts. We explore the paths to political office for women of color elected officials using new data from the Gender and Multicultural Leadership (GMCL) Survey of elected officials of color. The GMCL Survey is a national telephone survey of black, Latino, Asian American female and male officials who serve as state legislators, county commissioners/ supervisors, mayors, members of local governing councils (i.e., city/town councils, boards of selectmen/aldermen), and local school boards.
Drawing from the literature, we identify four dimensions for analysis of trajectories to public office: political socialization, political capital, social capital, and political structure/opportunity. Under each of our analytical dimensions, we find evidence of commonality among women of color, most especially with black and Latina women. Still, we have identified areas where men of color may differ significantly from women of color, such as on political ambition. Nevertheless, racial differences appeared more pronounced on a number of factors, suggesting that there is more evidence that race trumps gender than the other way around. Finally, there is also evidence that race and gender interact in important ways for these groups.
We conclude that the dominant paradigms in political science for understanding path to political office are male-centered, white-centered, and individually centered, and, hence, do not adequately capture the experience of people of color—women or men.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: While the literature on regional integration and cooperation is extensive, there is little agreement on a general theory of integration. This paper considers the relevance of current theories of regional integration, which emphasize the European experience for other regions of the world. The empirical evaluations include assessments of government capabilities, political stability, institutional robustness, and resource reallocation. I examine 12 cases of regional integration over time, to flesh out the conditions favorable (or unfavorable) to regional integration.