Name: Harry Blain
Section: History and Politics
Professional Email: hblain@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Professional Status: Graduate Student
Institution: City University of New York
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Paper Title:  Learning from the Last War (Within): World War II and the Centralization of American Law Enforcement
Abstract:
Why do policing strategies change? Scholars of social movements and contentious politics have generally identified a slow, evolutionary process, shaped by shifting economic conditions and long-term interactions between state authorities and their opponents. In this article, I explore the possibility of a swifter dynamic: law enforcers drawing on their interpretations of recent history to reshape their policing strategies during moments of crisis. Incorporating theories of historical learning from international relations, I analyze the internal deliberations of the United States Justice Department during the Second World War. I argue that the Department’s crucial wartime decision to centralize coercive power in the Federal Bureau of Investigation was motivated by the perceived lessons of the First World War. This process tracing of wartime internal security policy calls attention to the under-theorizing of elite learning in studies of contentious politics, while suggesting pathways for the incorporation of such learning into future research agendas.

Name: Hugo Bonin
Section: History and Politics
Professional Email: bonin.hugo@courrier.uqam.ca
Professional Status: Graduate Student
Institution: Université du Québec à Montréal
Scheduling Preference: Saturday Morning
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Paper Title:  British Readings of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America in the 19th Century
Abstract:
Alexis de Tocqueville’s two volume Democracy in America (1835, 1840) has been the subject of countless analyses. Widely considered to have popularized the understanding of “democracy” as a type of society with “an almost complete equality of condition”, the reception of Tocqueville’s ideas had been studied in a variety of contexts (notably in France and the United-States, but also recently as far as China and Japan). Few, however, have looked at its impact on British politics. While from 1835 onwards John Stuart Mill and numerous Radicals famously praised the work as showcasing the strength of popular government, it was also hailed by Conservatives as proof of the dangers of “democracy”, an ominous word in Britain at the time. This twofold interpretation of the Frenchman continued for much of the 19th century. As late as the 1890s, adversaries such as Fabian Sidney Webb and Whig William Lecky could both claim Tocqueville in support of their respective arguments on the future of democracy. As part of an ongoing research on the history of the word “democracy” in 19th century Britain, this communication explores the reception and the impact of Democracy in America’s first seventy years. More precisely, through a study of parliamentary debates, of the periodical press and of political treatises, the dual nature of the British response to Tocqueville’s work is assessed. Both ends of the political spectrum claimed Tocqueville as one of their own for much of the period understudy – although he eventually entered the Liberal pantheon at the end of the century. This raises issues of translations of the book itself, but also of how political actors reinterpret concepts to fit their own frameworks and agendas. Besides, this ambiguous reception of Tocqueville underlines the ambivalence of the British political class regarding “democracy” for much of the 19th century.

Name: Arturo Enamorado
Section: History and Politics
Professional Email: enamoraa@stjohns.edu
Professional Status: Adjunct Professor
Institution: St. John's University
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
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Paper Title: Castro's Cult: How Historical memory and Politics created modern Cuba
Abstract:
The moment the airplane was carrying Batista and his family to the Dominican Republic, a new day dawned. For Castro, the war on the ground was over. However, the initial success of the national liberation soon became a communist uprising that created a cult of personality that held Cuba together in the face of adversity but also a permanent revolution. This revolution can be similarly related to the development of a revolutionary identity that began in the dense hinterland of the Sierra Maestra. Even with the death of Castro and the transition of power, Cuba has maintained itself in the same capacity that Castro left it in. Through his speeches and use of historical memory, Castro ensured Cuba could survive in the face of crisis. The success of the Cuban revolution even positioned the young communist nation to spearhead a national liberation effort in Africa, playing on the world powers fears. Even with the public knowledge limited human rights, Cuba today acts and breathes in a revolutionary way, found in its art and control of historical narratives and memory of the revolution.

Name: Eudora Ohazurike
Section: Public Policy & Public Administration
Professional Email: udohazurike@gmail.com
Professional Status: Assistant Professor
Institution: Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
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Paper Title:  Administrative Practices in Africa: A Study of Nigerian Public Service
Abstract:
The creation of public services in Africa is presumably the desire to attain some broad developmental goals and a range of economic objectives. Over the past decades, the numbers and varieties of public services in Africa generally and Nigeria in particular have greatly expanded, but their (public service) overall performance has been rather very disappointing. Hence, this study examined administrative practices in Africa: a study of Nigerian public service. The broad aim of this paper is to look at the various administrative practices in Nigerian public service. The study also tried to interrogate the level of effectiveness in discharging administrative roles in the Nigerian public service. To achieve the aim of this study, facts and judgments were drawn from the structural functionalism theory. The study is a descriptive type which anchored its analysis on the library source of data collection. The paper observed that the administrative practices in the Nigerian public service are supervision, recruitment, training, remuneration, fringe benefits, communication, leadership, retirement among others. It was also discovered that favouritism, partisanship, corruption, tribalism, nepotism and other primordial considerations are factors that pose as threat to the realization of administrative practices in Nigerian public service. The study concluded that for Nigerian public service to perform effectively, its operations ought to be under some core values such as integrity, meritocracy, discipline, professionalism, patriotism, impartiality and secrecy of government information, except where the information divulged conforms to the Freedom of Information Act. Based on the results of the study, it was suggested that there should be a constitutional review of the federal character principle with a view of giving merit, competence and qualification, a huge opportunity in the selection, recruitment and promotion of workers in the Nigerian public service. Hence, rationality and not political consideration should be the basis of recruitment and advancement of employees in the public service. Keywords: Administrative Practices, Employees, Federal Character Principle, and Public Service.

Name: david ricci
Section: History and Politics
Professional Email: msricci@mscc.huji.ac.il
Professional Status: Full Professor
Institution: hebrewuniversity
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
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Paper Title: Political Science for the Age of Trump 
Abstract:
NYSPSA Abstract “Political Science for the Age of Populism” by David Ricci Donald Trump epitomizes recent changes in the way Americans communicate and work together. That being so, some political scientists should investigate and teach about the ecology of capitalism -- that is, creative destruction -- which (1) produced this president and which (2) is straining democratic principles and practices, individuals and communities. Economists promote economic (a) creativity, presuming that it leads to growth which generates social welfare. However, no academic discipline focuses on economic (b) destruction. Yet such destruction imposes great costs on individuals and society, from government by social media to downsizing and outsourcing, from environmental deterioration to climate change, from personal anxiety to international trade wars. Consequently, some political scientists (but not all) should adopt a special mission of highlighting instances of damage as they arise and publicizing what we learn so as to help government officials and citizens mitigate the damage caused by creative destruction in our times. Unmitigated, those damages cause (i) resentment, which fuels (ii) populism, and therefore endangers (iii) democracy. Using terms fashioned by Judith Shklar (opposing tyranny) and Ian Shapiro (favoring problem-oriented research), such a project should especially target neoliberalism, which since the Reagan presidency has promoted and fostered indiscriminate economic growth and its consequences. Additional arguments along these lines will appear in David Ricci, A Political Manifesto for the Age of Populism: Challenging Growth, Markets, Inequality, and Resentment (Cambridge University Press, 2020).

Name: Sofia Sedergren
Section: History and Politics
Professional Email: ssedergren@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Professional Status: Practitioner
Institution: The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Scheduling Preference: Saturday Afternoon
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Paper Title:  Swedish Migration Politics: Have the Sweden Democrats Taken Over the Political Agenda
Abstract:
The Sweden Democrats’ anti-immigration rhetoric has gained increased influence over Swedish politics in recent years as mainstream parties have adopted an increasingly restrictive attitude towards immigration. Despite this rapprochement to the Sweden Democrats, mainstream parties continue to articulate their opposition to the party. My research examines if and how the Sweden Democrats have impacted mainstream parties’ immigration rhetoric in their election manifestos, and if changes on immigration postures have impacted political issues related to immigration, such as foreign policy and welfare; I also assess if the Sweden Democrats have introduced new policy issues and views to the political discourse. I examine 18 election manifestos published by the three largest parties in Sweden: the Moderates (Moderaterna, mainstream right party), the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterna, mainstream left party), and the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna, right-wing party) between 1998-2018. The analysis consists of two components. First, I conduct an analysis of the frequency of immigration rhetoric in the parties’ election manifestos, followed by a qualitative content analysis of the election manifestos. I discover that, while the Sweden Democrats have successfully impacted the debate on immigration and directly related issues, by making mainstream parties more restrictive towards immigration, the party has been unable to introduce new political issues or influence mainstream parties’ positions on topics which do not relate to immigration. I further conclude that the convergence between the Sweden Democrats and mainstream parties occurs in both directions; while mainstream parties are moving closer to the Sweden Democrats’ immigration posture, the Sweden Democrats are also becoming more mainstream by developing policy positions on issues other than immigration.

Name: Mihaela Serban
Section: History and Politics
Professional Email: mserban@ramapo.edu
Professional Status: Associate Professor
Institution: Ramapo College of New Jersey
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
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Paper Title:  Property Rights, Identity and Citizenship in Romania
Abstract:
Property and citizenship are both relationships of power that delineate belonging to a community as well as political, economic, social, and cultural identities. Property and citizenship are mutually constitutive, as well as constitutive of the modern Romanian state. Identity building as a central element of Romanian state building began in the 19th century, had its defining moments between the two world wars, and continued under Romania’s communist regime and after the fall of communism in 1989. This paper explores the construction of identity and citizenship in modern Romania through property rights and the politics of property during and immediately after various political regimes. I focus here in particular on access to property rights, expropriations and other takings, restitutions, and property litigation over the past century, and more specifically on three key turning points: expropriations of the Jewish citizens of Romania during the Holocaust and state policies of Romanianization, the communist takings of the late 1940s-early 1950s that disproportionately impacted ethnic minorities in Romania, and the post-1989 restitution and litigation surrounding the return of property taken under the prior communist regime. Drawing from archival materials, administrative documents and court decisions, I find that in less than a hundred years, the 1918 dream of the Romanian nation state has been both largely achieved and undermined. Despite stark differences in property ideologies and policies, one common thread from fascism to communism to a democratic market economy has been the privileging, directly or covertly, of ethnic property that maps onto ethnic citizenship. This happened despite formal socialist policies of protecting the rights of ethnic minorities, and despite the formal return to liberal, individualist conceptions of subjectivity, property, and citizenship post-1989.

Name: Harvey Strum
Section: History and Politics
Professional Email: strumh@sage.edu
Professional Status: Full Professor
Institution: Sage Colleges (officially we are going back to being called Russell Sage College)
Scheduling Preference: Saturday Morning
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Paper Title:  Warships as Messengers of Charity in 1847
Abstract:
In 1847 a debate developed in Congress and in the public about sending aid to Ireland and Scotland during the Great Famine. A bill proposing $500,000 in direct aid sponsored by Whigs in the House and Senate passed the Senate with bipartisan support. President Polk threatened to veto it because he viewed foreign aid an unconstitutional use of public funds---enough Democrats went along with him to kill it in the House. Public pressure led members of Congress to suggest an alternative loan two warships, Jamestown, and Macedonian, to carry privately raised relief supplies from Boston and New York City, respectively. A proposal by an Assemblyman to grant public funds in New York also lost to the constitutional objections. However, the city of New York followed its own foreign policy and voted $5,000 of public funds to purchase over 1,000 barrels of flour to ship to Ireland. A debate developed in New York City over whether to send relief supplies on privately chartered ships or use the Macedonian. This became a major issue in New York, Albany, Brooklyn, and New Jersey. New York City emerged as the major center for food shipments to Ireland and Scotland in 1847 and more ships left NYC than any other American port and more money was raised in NYC as NY Committee became a national committee that raised relief supplies from as far west as Wisconsin and a diversity of ethnic and religious groups, including the oldest Jewish congregation in the US and the "red brethren" of the Choctaw nation. The paper will discuss some of these issues and the voyages of the Jamestown and Macedonian. By the way, this was the only time in the history of the American Navy it loaned warships to be crewed and commanded by private citizens. The United States emerged in 1847 as the leader in international philanthropy. We would send privately raised relief supplies to Ireland during food shortages in 1862-63 and the Little FAMINE IN 1879-80 when we sent the Constellation with privately raised supplies to Ireland.

Name: Enibokun Uzebu-Imarhiagbe
Section: History and Politics
Professional Email: enibokun.uzebu@uniben.edu
Professional Status: Assistant Professor
Institution: University of Benin, Nigeria
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
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Paper Title:  Judicial Education in Nigeria: Is Gender on the Agenda?
Abstract:
Although the Nigerian Judiciary is over a hundred and fifty years old, it was only in 1991, twenty-eight years ago that the National Judicial Institute (NJI) was established to serve as a focal point of judicial activities in Nigeria. The main objective of the NJI is to promote efficiency, uniformity and quality of judicial services in Nigeria courts. Over the years, the NJI has been at the forefront of providing continuing judicial education for all categories of judicial officers and organises biennial conferences for Nigerian judges of both superior and inferior courts. The NJI also organises courses and trains support staffs of the judiciary and disseminates information about all its activities through publication of books, journals, records and reports. In spite of the huge strides of the NJI in providing continuing judicial education for judges in Nigeria, gaps still remains with regards to training of judicial officers on how issues of gender affect fact finding, decision making, sentencing and courtroom behaviour. The historical method is used to analyse data drawn from in depth analysis of the course content of the curricula for judicial education and themes of the biennial conferences organised by the institute over years. This data will be supplemented with interviews conducted with judges and judicial educators at the institute, to demonstrate the extent to which gender have featured in the programmes, curricula and pedagogy for judicial officers and their support staff.