The APSA Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs continues to assist APSA scholars in both their residential research and nonresidential field work. The following brief descriptions summarize the work of two recent, in-residence scholars in the fall of 2011 as well as grants offered in the late 2011 and early 2012. Combined, we hope this information encourages more applicants for Centennial Center funding. For more information about the Center, visit wwww.apsanet.org/centennialcenter or contact Veronica Jones at 202.483.2512; [email protected].
Dinshaw Mistry
Dinshaw Mistry, associate professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati, was in residence at the Centennial Center in the fall of 2011. He pursued research on US domestic politics and the civilian nuclear agreement with India. While at the Center, he presented “The Bush Administration, Congress, and the Civilian Nuclear Agreement with India” to Centennial Center staff, APSA Congressional Fellows, and an invited audience.” Using Putnam's two-level game framework to explain the case, he discussed how the Bush administration and an India lobby of interest groups pressed Congress to pass legislation authorizing civilian nuclear cooperation with India. However, influenced by nonproliferation groups, and sensitive to undermining the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), Congress imposed more legislative conditions on US-India nuclear cooperation than the administration desired, which in turn made it harder for India to secure domestic approval for the initiative. In short, Congress “took a bite out of” the Bush administration's grand strategy of engaging India through a major civilian nuclear initiative.
Mistry writes that “my stay at the Centennial Center helped me to considerably advance my research. During my time at the Center, I was able to conduct more than two dozen interviews with policymakers in the Washington area; collect valuable empirical data on my project; and refine my theoretical framework through conversations with colleagues within and beyond the Center. The Center provided a very conducive work environment for my research and writing. I would recommend the Center to visiting scholars, postdocs, and advanced graduate students who are pursuing focused short-term research projects in the Washington area.” He followed his Center stay with a return visit to India to further pursue a number of issues which had arisen in Washington.
Anne Pluta
Anne Pluta, PhD candidate in political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and with the support of the Presidency Research Fellowship, Anne conducted dissertation research at the National Archives and the Library of Congress. Her project explores the evolution of popular presidential communication and shows the effects of both technological innovation and institutional changes on presidential rhetoric., Pluta also worked on a paper about nineteenth-century petitions, public opinion, and the presidency at the Legislative Archives.
She presented her dissertation research to the Centennial Center staff, APSA's Congressional Fellows, and an invited audience from various institutions in the Washington area including the Congressional Research Service. She received feedback from important scholars in the field of American politics and presidential communication. She also made a presentation to the staff of the Legislative Archives and others on her work regarding nineteenth century public opinion. Pluta hopes to further her research on petitions and the presidency by applying for a fellowship at the Legislative Archives this year.
She describes her experience at the Centennial Center as critical to both her dissertation and professional growth. The support and academic environment at the Centennial Center were second to none. The opportunity to spend a semester in Washington, DC and interact with scholars and other professionals in the field proved invaluable.
Recent Grants
Recent grants from the Centennial Center to the following individuals include:
Rebecca J. Hannagan, assistant professor at Northern Illinois University, received residential supplemental funding from the Special Fund for the Study of Women in Politics to interview female soldiers and veterans as part of a book project to examine the roles of and psychological impact on women in warfare.
Joseph Fischel, Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women at Brown University, received a grant from the Special Fund for the Study of Women and Politics for field research interviews in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, focused on the political movement to repeal “solicitation of a crimes against nature” from the list of “registerable sex offenses.”
Victoria Anne Shineman, PhD candidate at New York University, received nonresidential supplemental field research support from the Rita Mae Kelly Fund to study the effect of costly and incentivized participation on information and informed voting.
Kerry Frances Crawford, PhD candidate at George Washington University, received residential support from the Rita Mae Kelly Fund to research to examine why some cases of sexual predation in armed conflict evoke strong responses from international actors while other instances do not,
Kimberly E. Moloney, PhD candidate at The American University and lecturer at University of the West Indies (Jamaica), received residential support from the James Bryce Fund to study the rising importance of the World Bank's core policy category of the public sector/governance sector.
