Name: Abdulaziz Almuslem
Section: Comparative Politics
Professional Email: aalmusle@buffalo.edu
Professional Status: Graduate Student
Institution: State University of New York at Buffalo
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
Proposal Type: Paper
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Paper Title:  How Democracy Improves the Investment Climate in Postcolonial and Other States
Abstract:
This research shows that the distinction between different conceptualizations of democracy is important if democracy aims to create a low-risk image of the postcolonial state that can help attract investment. Specifically, this research shows that the mere election process, without the normative component of protecting civil liberties in the postcolonial states, actually increases risk perception for investors thereby having an adverse effect on FDI and domestic capital. The implication of this research on the chances of civil conflict is important since wealthier states have a reduced chance of experiencing civil conflict, and attracting investment can help promote wealth.

Name: Ikenna Alumona
Section: Comparative Politics
Professional Email: ikennaalumona@yahoo.com
Professional Status: Assistant Professor
Institution: Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University , Igbariam Campus
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
Proposal Type: Paper
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Co-author info: Prof. Lere Amusan. Professor and Head, Department of Political Science and International Relations, North - West University, South Africa, lereamusan@gmail.com
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Paper Title:  Youth Cultism, Crime and Lethal Violence in Nigerian Cities
Abstract:
In many parts of the world, cult groups create an atmosphere of negative peace as a result of their footprints in the security market which facilitates arms proliferation. Youth cultism is one of the sources of violence in most Nigerian cities. Several studies on cultism have focused on the evolution of cult related activities in Nigeria from non-violence to the proliferation of splinter secret cults in tertiary institutions and communities. This paper examines the socio-economic and security implications of cultism in Nigerian cities. The paper answers the following questions: Why are Nigerian cities prone to cult related activities? How does cultism affect people in cities? Analysis in this paper is anchored on social control theory which offers more insight into the spatial spread and ways of containing the organised criminal behaviour in the country. Recent confrontations between security forces and cult groups explain why the threat is more pronounced in some cities than others. This qualitative study stresses that the abatement of cultism so far has not yielded expected results as some innocent people are murdered by cult groups with dangerous weapons. The assurances of safety, protection, success in the society and influence by members when they join do not always materialise as desired. The paper suggests that informal peace education and security collaboration by all stakeholders remain crucial to the management of cult violence in Nigerian cities. Timely identification of notorious groups/members through early warning system will go a long way to discouraging the spatial spread and recruitment of new members. Keywords: Youth cultism, crime, Nigerian cities, cult groups, weapons.

Name: Monday Dickson
Section: Comparative Politics
Professional Email: mondaydickson@aksu.edu.ng
Professional Status: Assistant Professor
Institution: Akwa Ibom State University, P.M.B 1167, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
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Paper Title:  Global Economic Crisis and Recession in Nigeria: The Linkages and Consequences
Abstract:
In 2008, the global economy experienced the most severe crash since the 1930s. The economic downturn took a heavy toll on the economy of both rich and poor countries creating joblessness, wage stagnation and widespread economic insecurity. Soon after the world economy came out of the morass of the decline, recession engulfed the Nigeria State that had for the previous decades experienced sustained growth at unprecedented levels. This article examines the relationship between many of the key issues prevalent during the global economic crisis and recession in Nigeria. The study adopts the descriptive/qualitative research technique and relied essentially on relevant secondary data. Using the Marxian approach to economic crisis as the framework of analysis, the paper probes important questions including: What were the major causes of global economic crisis vis-a-vis recession in Nigeria? What is the relationship between the global economic crisis and recession Nigeria? The study argues that the sharp collapse in global economy left no country on the globe immune to recession owing to deep contradictions inherent in world capitalist system. Findings reveal that recession in Nigeria was a reaction from the global economic crisis which emerged from the basic working of capitalism. Consequently, Nigeria and other developing countries have been increasingly affected by the recession in advanced economies through the consequences of unbalanced trade and financial market channels. While the nation must adjust to the challenges of global capitalism, there is the need to refashion every aspect of the domestic economy towards diversification for self-sufficiency.

Name: Mirza Sadaqat Huda
Section:
Professional Email: mirzahuda@ntu.edu.sg
Professional Status: Practitioner
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Scheduling Preference: Saturday Afternoon
Proposal Type: Paper
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Co-author info: Prof. Saleem Ali, University of Delaware
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Paper Title: Energy diplomacy in South Asia: Beyond the security paradigm in accessing the TAPI pipeline project
Abstract:
On the 13th of December 2015, the leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India officially inaugurated the TAPI pipeline, which is set to be the largest cross-country energy infrastructure project undertaken in South Asia with an expected completion date of 2019. The limited literature on TAPI has almost exclusively focused on security impediments to the pipeline from the perspective of the member countries of the project. This paper argues that the solution to these impediments is greatly constrained by a reductionist rather than a multistakeholder approach. Using a broader understanding of the concept of energy diplomacy, this paper argues that energy infrastructure such as the TAPI can be used to encourage interdependency by expanding the number of stakeholders beyond the member countries of the project. While including the interests of external countries and institutions may build consensus on political issues, identifying ways by which the interests of communities can be addressed may reduce the explicit emphasis on the physical security of the pipeline by including human security concerns within the project’s blueprint. The cumulative impact of such an approach may create a shift in the perception of energy projects from the purview of security, to one of inclusive cooperation.

Name: Esra Issever-Ekinci
Section: Comparative Politics
Professional Email: eissever@syr.edu
Professional Status: Graduate Student
Institution: Syracuse University
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
Proposal Type: Paper
Panel Title:  Responsiveness of Turkish Governments
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Co-author info: Berk Esen, Bilkent University, berk.esen@bilkent.edu.tr Eda Bektas, Bilken University, eda.bektas@bilkent.edu.tr
Co-presenter info: Berk Esen, Bilkent University, berk.esen@bilkent.edu.tr Eda Bektas, Bilken University, eda.bektas@bilkent.edu.tr
Paper Title:  Electoral Reform Initiations in Parliamentary Democracies
Abstract:
In democratic systems, parties are expected to respond to the policy preferences of the electorate and fulfill their electoral promises should they come to power. This principle of responsiveness lies at the root of representative democracies. This paper examines to what extent this assumption holds true and what factors affect government responsiveness. This question has been studied in consolidated democracies, yet we have a limited understanding of government responsiveness in cases with weak democratic institutions. Since the level of public accountability is low in hybrid regimes, we may expect voters to not have strong tools at their disposal to monitor and punish political parties that do not deliver on their campaign promises. To address this general question, this paper examines the responsiveness of Turkish governments between 1983 and 2015. The longitudinal analysis of the Turkish case also provides a considerable variation in potential explanatory factors such as government type and ideology, number of parties in parliament, and economic conditions. Conceptualizing government responsiveness as the fit between ruling parties’ campaign promises and government policy outcomes, the paper estimates government’s responsiveness by analyzing the congruence between elections promises and (i) executive program, (ii) acts, (iii) statutory decrees and (iv) public expenditure of 18 Turkish governments.

Name: Wisdom Iyekekpolo
Section: Comparative Politics
Professional Email: w.iyekekpolo@auckland.ac.nz
Professional Status: Graduate Student
Institution: University of Auckland
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
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Paper Title:  Insurgency Onset in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: A Political Relevance Model
Abstract:
Over the past 15 years, Nigeria has experienced two insurgencies of extremely violent proportion. In the north-east zone, Boko Haram has waged a guerrilla war along primarily religious lines while in the south-south zone, the Niger Delta militants have waged a violent campaign driven by resource and class-based concerns. However, such insurgency did not erupt with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the south-east zone. What explains the eruption of these insurgencies in some regions and not others in Nigeria’s fourth republic? The theoretical literature on insurgency has not sufficiently accounted for the emergence of these insurgencies because of its focus on either motivation or opportunity for insurgency onset at the expense of a more holistic approach. Building on the political process approach to collective movements, this paper presents the ‘Political Relevance’ model which incorporates the roles of motivation, opportunity, and the relationship among political agents in the emergence an insurgency. I contend that these insurgencies emerged in the north-east and south-south regions after mutually beneficial relationships between local political elites and politically relevant groups turned sour. The absence of such a process in the south-east explains why a violent insurgency failed to emerge with IPOB.

Name: Mehmet Arif Kosk
Section: Comparative Politics
Professional Email: mehmet.kosk@pepi.ie.ufrj.br
Professional Status: Graduate Student
Institution: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
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Paper Title:  Challenging the International Order: an unusual approach between Turkey and Iran
Abstract:
During the administration of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), between the years 2010 and 2018, Turkey established a somewhat unusual rapprochement with the Iranian government, building a more expressive relationship than the previous approaches. This paper proposes an analysis of the reasons of this recent process of approximation in Turkish-Iranian relation after 2010, which coincides with the Tehran Declaration. In addition, this paper will seek to understand the perception of both countries on the International System, as well as their self-perceptions evaluating them as middle powers. Given this, how can such a process of approximation be defined in respect of bilateral relations? Is it a paradigmatic change in the relations between these two States or is it actually a conjunctural approximation? The dynamics of approximation of middle powers can be considered as demonstrations that there are sensible changes in the International Order or can be read as maintenance of the status quo by the inclusion of power. In this respect, we will understand this approximation between Turkey and Iran in its context and insertion in the International System, and not in an isolated environment and immune to external forces, because the anarchy in the International System is perceived by the excess of forces in its maximum variety of vectors , and not as the absence of forces. By considering the fact that there is little publication in english in this respect, it will be utilized the literature in Turkish by making sure that everything is translated into English in the scope of the research, in order to facilitate the reading of the text.

Name: David Tian
Section: Comparative Politics
Professional Email: dtian5@jhu.edu
Professional Status: Graduate Student
Institution: Johns Hopkins University
Scheduling Preference: Saturday Afternoon
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Paper Title:  Measuring the Size of the State: Primarily a Matter of Territory
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There are few concepts more central to the field of political science than that of the state. Yet, despite its pervasiveness and centrality to the field, there remains no definite consensus on what - or who - constitutes a state. If there is disagreement on what a state is, then there is consequently even less agreement on how to measure state size. Previous scholars have suggested that state size is measured using various variables ranging from population to economic indicators to military capacity. This article agrees with scholars including Gianfranco Poggi and Michael Mann that the state is a territory. As a result, the article adds to the debate surrounding the appropriate measurement of state size by rejecting the notions that the size of a state can be measured using any variable other than territory, and that the only logical way to measure the size of a state is the measure the amount of territory under its control.

Name: Prince Aian Villanueva
Section: Comparative Politics
Professional Email: prince_villanueva@dlsu.edu.ph
Professional Status: Graduate Student
Institution: Doctoral School of Political Science, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
Proposal Type: Paper
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Paper Title:  Multiple pathways to corruption: A qualitative comparative analysis of corruption in Central Eastern Europe
Abstract:
Informed by the literature on democratization and civil society-corruption nexus, the paper is an attempt to describe the conditions through which the civil society (CS) affects control of corruption in Central Eastern Europe. It is argued that through “democratic anchoring” (Morlino, 2011), a process in which the civil society is linked to the new institutions through actions of the intermediate actors, the institutional design and external actors, the anticorruption effects of CS are facilitated. Specifically, the paper argues that the presence/absence of strong and cooperative civil society-political party linkages (parties as intermediate actors), institutionalization of civil society including participation in the anticorruption framework (institutional/constitutional design), and the external actors’ influence (such as the media) condition the CS’s impact on control of corruption in states in CEE. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is used to probe into the above objective.

Name: Matthew Williams
Section: Identity Politics
Professional Email: WilliamsM7@cf.ac.uk
Professional Status: Full Professor
Institution: Cardiff University
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
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Paper Title: Political turbulence as a trigger for hate crime and hate speech
Abstract:
Recent research has shown that the prevalence and severity of offline crimes with a prejudicial component are influenced in the short term by singular or clusters of events. In particular, political votes have been found to function as antecedent ‘trigger’ events that validate prejudicial sentiments and tensions, opening up a space for the spread of hostile beliefs and actions. The referendum on the future of the UK in the EU is used in this paper as an example of an event that motivated both offline and online hate crime and speech. The hypothesis is that the Brexit vote and associated Leave campaigns, represented an exogenous ‘shock’ that legitimised, for a temporary period, race and religious hate crimes towards members of the ‘out-group’ in an attempt to protect economic (e.g. threats to jobs, housing, NHS waiting times) and symbolic (e.g. threats to way of life) resources of the ‘in-group’. Such resources were increasingly portrayed as under threat from EU migrants by the Vote Leave, Leave.EU and UKIP campaigns in the weeks running up to the vote. A study on the press in the weeks leading up to the vote found immigration and the economy were the two most-covered issues in reportage described as acrimonious and divisive, with particular groups (Turkish and Polish) receiving negative treatment. While no empirical work exists on the Leave social media campaigns, evidence shows Facebook posts from German right-wing parties and Twitter posts from Donald Trump correlate with offline hate crime at particular points in time. We present results from a quasi-experimental multivariate interrupted time-series analysis that incorporates traditional and new forms of longitudinal data, to model the ‘intervention’ effect of the Brexit vote and Leave campaigns at the national level. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the results in the context of new modes of political campaigning. In particular, we make reference to the role played by Cambridge Analytica and partners in the Leave campaign and their use artificial intelligence to micro-target vulnerable voters, using unethically obtained social media data.