Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Empirical research on multiraciality and the development of richer theoretical models reflective of the multidimensionality of racial identity have increased tremendously in the last decade. Scholarly and popular attention to such phenomena has lead to the “check all that apply” modification to the racial classification scheme used in the 2000 Census – an official recognition of an historical reality not before reflected on the United States’ Census. Using Place-level data from Census 2000 as well as data from the Survey of Biracial Experience (Rockquemore and Brunsma 2001) while focusing on the black-white biracial population in the United States, this paper will empirically reveal the contemporary geographic distribution of black-white biracial individuals according to Census data and compare these results to the geographic distribution in how biracial individuals understand themselves racially from survey methods. The results reveal important micro-level processural differences in identity formation and maintenance that are embedded in macro-contextual differences. The findings illuminate the multifaceted relationship between public categorization and private racial identification. Finally, the implications for utilizing the new Census data for studying black-white and other mixed populations are considered.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper assesses six skeptical arguments about democratic reform, six forms of distortion applying to representations of the public voice and eight possible institutional designs for public consultation. Particular attention is paid to Deliberative Polling and Deliberation Day as forms of public consultation that offer prospects of responding to the six skeptical arguments and avoiding the six forms of distortion.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In each election, the experience levels of the candidates are scrutinized by voters and punditry. Do different types of experience matter more than others? Does experience matter at all? The conventional wisdom is that more experience will result in a more successful presidency. However, this claim is not without historical exceptions. Lincoln, considered one of the greatest American presidents, had very little political exposure, while his highly experienced predecessor's administration was ill-fated. This paper seeks to empirically demonstrate experience’s importance (or lack thereof) to a successful presidency. We employ fuzzy set methodology comparing various observed combinations of experience, including legislative, executive, business, and military, testing against academic rankings of greatest presidencies to determine which individual factors and combinations are most important. Use of fuzzy set analysis allows us flexibility in determining the necessary and sufficient conditions to a successful presidency, if any such conditions exist. Additionally, the method enables a determination of whether such conditions are relevant when compared to important contextual variables such as the presence of war and temporal setting.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Research on voter behavior in the fields of political science, psychology, and neuroscience documents partisan biases in the way individuals respond to political information. Voters more readily believe their preferred candidate, which (1) leads to the polarization of the electorate’s issue opinions and (2) has little effect on and an individual’s vote choice. This paper, in contrast, explores situations in which voters alter their candidate evaluations away from partisan biases because of new information about the candidates’ issue stances. A Bayesian learning model identifies the crucial difference between the situations of polarization and preference change: the stability of an individual’s prior issue opinion. A nationwide, two-wave survey experiment tests the model. Respondents report issue opinions and rate hypothetical candidates in both waves, with the candidates signaling an issue position in between evaluations. Those respondents who have experience with the issues (e.g., veterans and Iraq) change their candidate evaluations more dramatically than other respondents, even when the change in evaluation runs counter to partisan biases. Experienced respondents also are less prone to cue-taking on their issue stances.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The current study explores domestic violence by examining the body as it is felt and lived by batterers. Given the primacy of the body in domestic violence – abusers use their bodies to control their victims who are, in turn, controlled through the violence inflicted upon their bodies – exploration of the physiological, sensory, and perceptual aspects of domestic violence yields vital information about the lived experiences of batterers. Denzin (1984) argues that we need to examine those social structures and processes that influence domestic violence from the viewpoint of interactive individuals who enact and embody those structures and processes. Through in-depth interviews with 20 batterers and 15 battered women, the current study explores men’s physiological and sensory experiences before, during, and in the aftermath of violent incidents to reveal a continuum of men’s physiological and sensory experiences. On one end of the continuum, we find heightened physiological feelings and sensory perception. On the other end, are dulled physiological feeling and senses. As batterers’ move along the continuum, we discover that their physio-sensory experiences reflect and maintain the power inequalities between batterers and battered women.