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A Call for Papers

Third Annual Conference on State Politics and Policy:
Causes and Consequences of American State Institutions on Political Behavior

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

On March 14-15, 2003, the Department of Political Science at the University of Arizona and State Politics and Policy Quarterly will co-sponsor the 3rd Annual Conference on State Politics and Policy.  The conference, to be held at the Westward Look Resort near the University of Arizona in Tucson, welcomes participation by all social scientists interested in studying American state institutions or sub-national politics.  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 portion of their expenses for the conference. 

The focus of this conference will be on the causes and consequences of American state institutions.  Thus, any research question relating to the impact of institutional rules or norms on political behavior or public policy would be appropriate for a paper proposal.  Research inquiries on adoption or creation of institutional rules governing state politics also would be appropriate.  Topics on inter-branch and intra-branch relations also would be welcome. 

Political scientists studying American state institutions can best address such questions as:  Do institutional rules shape access to governmental branches by the public, organized groups, or other government actors? Does access to governmental branches translate into influence? How are political actors influenced by and able to shape institutional rules and structures? How do institutional structures and powers shape intergovernmental relations between branches of government?  The answers to these questions can advance our understanding of American state institutions and the important roles played by sub-national units of government.  Moreover, such inquiries can make important theoretical contributions to the field of political science. Comparative studies of American state institutions offer tremendous opportunity to develop and test more general theories about government and political phenomenon. 

Proposals should address the questions posed above or other essential issues concerning American state institutions. However, proposals that deal with sub-national units of government in other countries also would be given serious consideration. The sponsors would be especially interested in proposals that have a comparative and longitudinal perspective. Strong theoretical foundations and rigorous hypothesis testing will be the most important ingredients for successful proposals. 

Interested participants should submit a one-page proposal that identifies the research question (or questions) to be addressed in the paper.  Proposals also should summarize the theoretical foundation from which the questions are derived, outline the significance of these questions, and discuss the methodology to be employed.
All proposals must be received by OCTOBER 18, 2002

Send proposals and inquires to:

Laura Langer
Department of Political Science
University of Arizona
315C Social Sciences Building
Tucson, Arizona 85721
Phone: (520) 621-8983
Fax: (520) 621-5051
Email: llanger@u.arizona.edu

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

For careful consideration of proposals, please include the following information for each author:  full name, rank, institutional affiliation, address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address.