The Role of Special Interests in American Politics

Day 1: Friday, May 8

8:00: Continental Breakfast (Great Hall)

8:30: Welcome and Opening Remarks

8:45:  Panel 1 - Paradoxes of Power

• Mark S. Mizruchi, "Individual Power, Collective Weakness: A Reconsideration of Dahl's Thesis"
• Matt Grossman, Lee Drutman, and Timothy LaPira, "The Interest Group Top Tier: Why 'More Groups' Does Not Mean 'Less Clout'"
• Discussant: Frank Baumgartner

10:00: Break

10:15: Panel 2 - Lobbying Congress

• Beth Leech, "Subsidizing Agendas"
  Discussant: James Strickland
• Lee Drutman, "How Lobbyists Perpetuate Lobbying"
  Discussant: Jesse Crosson
• Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier, Dino P. Christenson, and Alison W. Craig, "Cue-Taking in Congress: Interest Group Signals from Dear Colleague Letters"
  Discussant: Geoff Lorenz

12:15: Lunch (Great Hall)

1:15: Panel 3 - Lobbying Beyond Congress

• Charles M. Cameron and John M. de Figueiredo, "Information and Lobbying in the American States: Theory and Evidence"
  Discussant: Jake Haselswerdt
• Simon Haeder and Susan Webb Yackee, "Lobbying the U.S. President's Office of Management and Budget"
  Discussant: Richard Anderson

2:30: Break

2:45: Panel 4 - Strategies of Effective Advocacy

• Robert Van Houweling, "Political Pledges as Credible Committments"
  Discussant: Dan Carpenter
• Edward Walker, "Social Media, Documentary Films, and Grassroots Advocacy: 'Gasland' and Anti-Fracking Campaigns, 2010-2013"
  Discussant: Zander Furnas
• Adam Fremeth, Brian Kelleher Richter, and Brandon Schaufele, "Missing Money in Politics"
  Discussant: Rob Van Houweling

4:45: Conclusion of Day 1

Day 2: Saturday, May 9th

8:00: Continental Breakfast (Great Hall)

8:45: Panel 5 - Grass Roots Movements in Historical Perspective

• Corrine M. McConnaughy, "Layers of Activism -- Women's Movements and Women in Movements Approaching the Twentieth Century"
• Daniel Carpenter, "Recruitment by Petition: American Antislavery, French Protestantism, English Suppression"
  Discussant: Rob Mickey

10:00: Break

10:15: Panel 6 - Citizen Politics?

• Michael T. Heaney and Fabio Rojas, "Social Movements in a Polarized America"
  Discussant: Corrine McConnaughey
• Rachel Best, "Disease Identity Politics and American Health Policy"
  Discussant: Denise Lillvis
• Kay Lehman Schlozman, Philip Edward Jones, Hye Young You, Traci Burch, Sidney Verba, and Henry E. Brady, "Organizations and the Democratic Representation of Interests: What Does it Mean When Those Organizations Have No Members?"
  Discussant: Rick Hall

12:15: Concluding Remarks

Organizer Contact Information:

Ashley Broas: broasa@umich.edu 

Rick Hall: rlhall@umich.edu (734) 730-5404

Michael Heaney: mheaney@umich.edu

Geoff Lorenz: gmlorenz@umich.edu