Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: To remain an ongoing concern a terrorist organization not only needs to retain a base of support, it also must withstand pressure from government policies that actively seek to erode that base and to forcibly eliminate the threat that the group poses to the government. In addition, a terrorist leader must balance their private interests with that of maintaining a sufficient level of militant activity. Given the disadvantages that such terrorist organizations face, one possible advantage that remains is the ability of such organizations to choose when to move and when to strike. However as the paper demonstrates, if the players are given the choice of when to move, a terrorist organization will tend to exert lower levels of militant activity when compared to that in the simultaneous-move game. This occurs irrespective of when they choose to move. The result provides the theoretical rationale for the role of outside support of terrorist and militant organizations.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Group Identity and Legislative Interaction: The Effects of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity on Legislative Cosponsorship

Scholars exploring elite-level political behavior have concentrated more on political boundaries, such as those created by partisanship, and less on social boundaries, such as those created by race, gender, and ethnicity. Our research suggests that race, gender, and ethnicity influence not only the individual decisions that legislators make, but also the manner in which legislators interact, and social boundaries also have consequences for the passage of legislation. However, all social boundaries are not equal. Racial boundaries are much less permeable than the boundary of gender, and the strength of social boundaries also varies by context. Using tools such as network analysis allows us to move beyond simply positing the existence of a social boundary and actually quantify the relative strength of that barrier to interaction. Lawmakers whose cosponsorship activity crosses relatively strong social boundaries will send correspondingly strong signals about the content of the legislation they cosponsor.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This experiment examines the role of sponsorhip in negative political advertising. Specifically, this study compares the effectiveness of negative political ads sponsored by candidates with effects of third-party sponsored ads.

Publication Type: Paper Proposal
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The principal purpose of this research is to explain and to analyze the policy preferences of black and white state legislators in the Ohio General Assembly. In particular, the study seeks to understand whether or not black state legislators advocate a distinctive policy agenda through an analysis of their policy preferences and bill sponsorship patterns. Essentially, one of the central objectives of the study is to determine the extent to which legislators’ perceptions of their policy preferences actually correspond with their legislative behavior (i.e., bill sponsorship patterns). In addition to understanding the impact of race upon legislative preferences, I also analyze additional factors (e.g., institutional features, district characteristics, etc.) which potentially influence legislators’ policy preferences and legislative behavior.

The data for this inquiry derive from personal interviews with members of the Ohio legislature conducted in the late 1990’s and legislative bills introduced in the 1999-2000 session.