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A Call for Papers

Fourth Annual Conference on State Politics and Policy

Laboratories of Democracy: Public Policy in the American States

Co-Sponsored by Kent State University, Department of Political Science, and State Politics and Policy Quarterly

The Conference

On April 30 and May 1, 2004, the Department of Political Science at Kent State University and State Politics and Policy Quarterly will co-sponsor the 4th Annual Conference on State Politics and Policy, to be held at Kent State University and Sheraton Suites Akron/Cuyahoga Falls. The conference organizers welcome participation by all social scientists interested in studying policy at the state level or regional/sub-national policy in other countries. Members of the organized section on State Politics and Policy of the American Political Science Association are especially welcome. A stipend will be awarded to paper-givers to cover a substantial portion of their expenses for the conference. See the 2004 Conference Homepage for more details on the conference and activities surrounding it.

Note that the conference will overlap with the University of Akron's annual Joint Project on Term Limits April 29-30, 2004, which includes numerous scholars and members of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some conference panels, meals and speakers are being coordinated between the University of Akron and Kent State. Participants will be able to enjoy both conferences in one exciting weekend.

Call for Papers

The conference organizers are seeking proposals for papers that seek to expand our knowledge of public policy and the policy-making process in the American states and in other sub-national contexts. States are significant actors in American public policy, and recent trends toward block grants and devolution have enhanced their policy role. The traditional adage that states are laboratories of democracy has become even more relevant as states experiment with new approaches in welfare, education, economic development, Medicaid, health, criminal justice, e-government, environmental policy, political reform, and many other areas. Papers that present research on trends or outcomes in specific policy areas are welcome, as well as research on the policy process – diffusion, innovation, learning, policy networks, decision making, policy development and change, governance, intergovernmental relations, federalism and state policy, the role of institutions in policy-making, interest group mobilization and policy, and state policy capacity. Papers that develop and test more general theories about government, political phenomena, and policy-making are especially welcome.

Proposals

Proposals should spell out briefly the research question(s) to be addressed, the theoretical and/or substantive importance of this question, and the methods that will be used to answer it. The sponsors would be especially interested in proposals that have a comparative perspective (comparing across states or across policy areas) and those with implications for governance and democracy. Strong theoretical foundations and rigorous methodology will be the most important ingredients for successful proposals. Both quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches are welcome.

Interested scholars should submit a one-page proposal by November 14, 2003 to:

Caroline Tolbert or Karen Mossberger
Department of Political Science
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242
Phone 330.672.2060
Fax 330.672.3362
Email: ctolber1@kent.edu or kmossber@kent.edu

Electronic submissions are encouraged! Electronic submissions must be saved in PDF format or as a Microsoft Word document. The subject heading for electronic submissions should be as follows: Fourth State Politics Conference Proposal and the last name of the author submitting the proposal (e.g., Fourth State Politics Conference Proposal Tolbert). For proposals with more than one author, please list only the last name of the first author in the file name.

The organizers are happy to field informal inquiries about the conference and proposal process.

For timely consideration of your proposal, please include in it the following information for each author: full name, rank, institutional affiliation, address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address.

Back to 2004 Conference Homepage