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Jonathan Winburn

Department of Political Science, University of Mississippi



State Politics and Policy Section Newsletter
Fall 2008


Prepared by Shannon Jenkins
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
sjenkins@umassd.edu


New Folks Involved

The State Politics and Policy (SPP) section has undergone some personnel transitions and additions over the past few months, and we’d like to take some time to make you aware of them. First of all, you have all probably noticed that the section newsletter is no longer coming from Tom Carsey. Tom has been wearing many hats over the past few years and has done a great job. However, given that he has taken on the task of organizing the SPP Conference this year as well, we decided to give Tom a bit of a break and off load some of his former responsibilities. Thus, I will be taking over Tom’s duties as section newsletter editor. The plan is to publish two section newsletters a year (one in the fall/winter and one in the spring/summer) in addition to shorter updates that will come out on an as needed basis. Hopefully, by the time the next newsletter is due out, I will have some time to "pretty it up" and make it more user friendly, but for now, plain text will have to do. In the future, if you would like to send out an announcement to the section or have something to add to the newsletter, please send it to me at sjenkins@umassd.edu. Next, Jon Winburn of Ole Miss has volunteered to take over as webmaster for the section. The new website is up and running at: http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/political_science/state_politics/index.htm. Please take a moment to check it out as Jon has done a nice job. If you notice any obvious errors or you have information for posting on the website (aside from announcements to the membership), please contact Jon at jwinburn@olemiss.edu.



Editor Updates at SPPQ

Finally, as you may recall from the section business meeting at APSA this year, there have been a few changes in the leadership at SPPQ. Thad Kousser of UCSD has agreed to join the editorial team; he will work with current editors Dick Winters, Ronald Weber and David Lowery. Nancy Martorano of the University of Dayton has taken over as the editor of the Practical Researcher. Nancy is always looking for articles for the Practical Researcher, so please think about SPPQ and the Practical Researcher for your state politics and policy manuscripts.

With these changes in the section personnel, we hope to keep section membership up to date on section issues and business. If you have ideas or suggestions about the newsletter, please feel free to contact me directly (my contact information follows at the end of this e-mail). Additionally, pass along any job postings, conference news or general section information that you would like to send out to the membership. I will try not to clutter your inboxes with numerous messages, but I will also try to keep you up to date on the latest news. Now, here are a few of announcements that might be of interest to section members.


ANNOUNCEMENTS

1) NSF Temporary Program Officer The National Science Foundation is looking to fill a temporary program officer position in the Political Science program. The current temporary program officer, Dr. Brian Schaffner, will be returning to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst at the beginning of August 2009. The NSF is currently looking for his replacement. He holds a rotating position, which is a two to three year temporary position. Approximately half the program officers at the National Science Foundation hold such positions. Traditionally, the Political Science program has had two program officers, one permanent and one temporary. The position entails helping to manage the program. Activities include selecting reviewers and panelists, deciding which proposals to recommend for funding after taking into consideration the recommendations of reviewers and panelists, answering questions about the proposal process, doing outreach, and conducting your own research. Program officers are allotted ample time to do their own research and are given a travel budget that can be used to aid in this process. Candidates should hold a Ph.D. in Political Science or related field, have at least six years of post graduate research experience, and have a solid research record. There are no restrictions on the field of study, theoretical approach, or methodological approach. Past experience with the National Science Foundation as a panelist or awardee is helpful but not required. The advertisement can be found at the following url: http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/getjob.asp?JobId=70196142&AVSDM=2008%2D09%2D10+11%3A17%3A44 Any questions that you have about the position or applying for it should be addressed to Brian Humes (bhumes@nsf.gov).

2) Best Paper Awards The SPP Section's Best Paper Awards Committee is soliciting nominations for two awards. Susan Webb Yackee is chair of the committee. Please send your nominations for "Best Paper on State Politics and Policy" and "Best Paper on State Politics and Policy written by a graduate student," presented at the 2008 APSA Annual Meeting to Susan Webb Yackee.

3) State Politics Search at University of Illinois at Chicago. Department of Political Science at UIC Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor in State Politics Search, Fall 2009 The Department of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago in conjunction with the Institute of Government and Public Affairs invites applications for the position of Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor in state politics beginning Fall 2009, subject to budgetary approval. The position or field is open with regard to theoretical and methodological approach. We seek candidates with a strong research agenda and a commitment to teaching and service. Faculty members are expected to maintain an active research presence and to teach two courses per year at the undergraduate and graduate levels and, as part of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs appointment, they are expected to do research, make public presentations, and do policy presentations on state politics and government. UIC is located in the heart of Chicago and provides excellent research support. Applications should the candidate’s research, public policy, and teaching interests, curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation, and copies of publications and papers. The University of Illinois at Chicago is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Women and members of minority groups are especially encouraged to apply. For full consideration, materials should be sent by November 15, 2008 to Professor Dick Simpson, Head, Department of Political Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, MC 276, Chicago IL 60607-7137. For more information, see http//www/uic.edu/depts./pols.

4) 2007 Best SPPQ Paper Winner The committee to select the 2007 SPPQ Best Paper Award, chaired by Ben Highton,and joined by Barbara Norrander and Ron Hedlund, selected "Diversity and the Breakdown of Deference" written by Gerald Gamm and Thad Kousser as the 2007 winner. A copy of this paper, as well as that of the other nine nominated papers are available at ,http://psfaculty.ucdavis.edu/bhighton/sppq.htm . We urge you to take a look at the entire set as models of first-rate research in politics and policy in the states.

5) 2008 Best SPPQ Paper Award The State Politics and Policy Quarterly and the State Politics and Policy organized section of the American Political Science Association are pleased to co-sponsor the SPPQ Best Paper Award. Richard Niemi, chair of the Section, and the SPPQ co-editors, Thad Kousser, David Lowery, Ronald Weber, and Richard Winters call for nominations for this award of papers presented in 2008. The SPPQ Best Paper Award is awarded to the best paper on the U.S. states presented at any political science conference during the calendar year. The goal of the SPPQ Best Paper Award is to recognize and encourage high quality scholarship on U.S. state politics and policy. Any paper presented at a professional conference during the 2008 calendar year that explores issues of U.S. state politics and policy and/or uses data drawn largely from the U.S. states is eligible for nomination. Please send nominations to the award selection committee or to one of the editors of State Politics and Policy Quarterly. Nominations should include the name of the author(s), the title of the paper, and the name of the conference at which the paper was presented. If possible, nominations should include a copy of the original paper (preferably in electronic form), as presented at the conference. The 2008 SPPQ Best Paper Award selection committee members are: Barbara Norrander (chair), University of Arizona (norrande@email.arizona.edu); Eric Plutzer, Pennsylvania State University ( exp12@psu.edu); and Thad Kousser, University of California, San Diego (tkousser@ucsd.edu ). Nominations can also be made to the editors of SPPQ at sppq@dartmouth.edu.

6) Comparative Sociology Comparative Sociology (www.brill.nl/coso) is a quarterly international scholarly journal published by Brill of Leiden, Netherlands dedicated to advancing sociological analyses of societies and cultures, institutions and organizations, groups and collectivities, networks and interactions. In addition, book-length manuscripts may also be submitted to the related book series, International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology (www.brill.nl/issa). Two issues of the journal each year are devoted to "special topics," and six topics currently open for submissions (through July 2009) are: Democratic Quality and Social Democracy Constitutional Courts Cross-Nationally Institutional Design Bourdieu on Professions Public Realm Ascent v. Field Autonomy Ascent Enlightened Localism (edited by Benjamin Gregg) Consult the Website for descriptions of each. Editor-in-Chief is David Sciulli, Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M University, and Columbia University Ph.D. in Political Science (compsoc@tamu.edu). Submissions are welcome not only from sociologists but also political scientists, legal scholars, economists, anthropologists and others. Indeed, the journal and book series are particularly keen to receive works of comparative political sociology and comparative legal sociology. All submissions are peer-reviewed and (initial) decisions are typically made within less than three months.


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