Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In Afghanistan, the NATO-led ISAF operation provides an almost natural experiment for looking at the effect of military force in counterinsurgency operations. Contributing members to ISAF have varied in their aggressiveness toward the Taliban and other i

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Is ethnic mobilization simply a consequence of elite strategies to foment and exploit populist sentiment for private agenda? Or do ?followers? have their own individual agenda that instead drive or give birth to leaders who organize and agitate for their interests? Put succinctly where does the impetus for mobilization originate? The literature is divided here between mostly theory-driven work favoring top-down, that is elite-centric explanations that assume malleability and homogeneity of ?the masses?, and work that perhaps has less currency and instead examines the individual agency and heterogeneity of those at the bottom. This project, based on extensive fieldwork in Rwanda, steers a course through this debate by instead identifying some of the mechanisms that were at play in the years leading up to and during the genocide in 1994. As an instance of ethnic mobilization the genocide is remarkable for its scale ? nation-wide - and its speed ? one hundred days in which the bulk of the estimated 800,000 deaths occurred. Through a research design that compared two regions of Rwanda, I show that mobilization followed different trajectories in these two regions but that there were common mechanisms underlying both processes. In this paper I examine one mechanism - the strategic use of framed messages to construct a security dilemma. I look at the nature of the threat as it was understood by both ordinary farmers and the ethnic and political entrepreneurs who led them as well as the extent to which it was or was not internalized by them all. I also probe the collective memory against which these messages resonated to define the threat in historical, ethnic, and adversarial terms. Finally I construct socio-demographic profiles of both the ?mobilized? and the ?mobilizers? to show that there was considerable diversity within both groups and that one cannot generalize that the genocide was the result of self-interested elites cynically manipulating unquestioning peasants.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: An established line of research demonstrates that context is an important influence on civilian death
tolls. Variance in observed body counts thus presents a puzzle. Why do noncombatant body counts
vary even when states face similar conditions and incentives to kill? I argue that the relationships
between governments and the perpetrators receiving the killing order are central to understanding
this puzzle. The decision to kill is a function of the conditions and incentives governments face,
and of the government’s beliefs about what will happen once it decides to kill. Once the decision
is made, it must be implemented: somebody needs to pull the trigger. Perpetrators who obey
the order may face punishment for killing by international actors. At the same time, perpetrators
who disobey the killing order risk punishment by the government. Using a game-theoretic model, I
identify circumstances under which death tolls may vary even when states faces similar conditions
and incentives to kill. I also find ample support for the claim that observed killing is the outcome
of a strategic interaction between government and perpetrator.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Morality politics are often simplified and framed in elementary and non-technical language by active participants. But what happens when the morality issue does not lend itself to simplified frames for public and political debate? Stem cell research poses this problem for elites who oppose this type of research on moralistic grounds and liken it to the abortion debate where an “innocent” life is being “killed.” Yet, stem cell research is complicated and the potential benefits are far reaching, making it a more difficult issue to frame in “black and white” terms. What arguments do supporters and opponents use to frame the embryonic stem cell research debate? Does the public view stem cell research as a morality issue? What is the public’s support for stem cell research, and what factors shape an individual’s support for or opposition to stem cell research? Namely, do religious and political factors play similar roles in shaping opinions about stem cell research as they do in other morality issues? This research uses a unique public opinion survey of Georgian voters conducted in September 2006 to investigate public opinion in the stem cell research controversy.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In light of recent interest in the changing organization of work, there is some evidence that work time may be related to health. However, whether some health effects can be attributed to time at work has not been fully disentangled. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we analyze the effect of work time on six individual level health outcomes. Our findings indicate that, with the exception of obesity, work time does not have an independent effect on health. Until we control for a host of other variables, we find that working part time has a negative effect on health, suggesting that part time jobs have other characteristics that associate them with worse health. Working a shift with variable hours also has a negative effect on health, until we control for whether the respondent reported that health limits the amount or type of work they can do, indicating that people with health problems may select jobs with irregular hours in order to accommodate their limitations. However, even with such controls held constant, workers with variable hours, as well as full-time and overtime workers, are more likely to be obese, suggesting health risks in years to come.