Name: Michael Armato
Section: State and Local Politics
Professional Email: marmato@albright.edu
Professional Status: Assistant Professor
Institution: Albright College
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
Proposal Type: Paper
Panel Title: TEST
Panel Description: TEST
Co-author info: Daria Newfeld, Ph.D., Albright College, dnewfeld@albright.edu
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Paper Title: The Electoral Impact of Progressive Political Activists in New York's Hudson Valley
Abstract:
This paper will highlight the electoral impact of progressive political activists in New York's Hudson Valley. It will show how they work as candidates and with candidates and voters to win elections. In doing so, it will also account for the intricacies of New York's electoral system, as it is an important force fashioning the behaviors of these progressive activists. The data for this work comes from 64 interviews conducted with progressive activists in the Hudson Valley since June 2018. This is a part of a larger project that will contribute a constitutive analysis of progressives in the Hudson Valley of New York to the literature.

Name: Eunice Erhagbe
Section: State and Local Politics
Professional Email: euniceerhagbe12@gmail.com
Professional Status: Associate Professor
Institution: UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, EDO STATE NIGERIA
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
Proposal Type: Paper
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Paper Title:  COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE IN NIGERIA: RENEWABLE ENERGY AS AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF ENERGY, AND A CRITIQUE OF CURRENT POLICY/ ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR ENERGY IN NIGERIA
Abstract:
COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE IN NIGERIA: RENEWABLE ENERGY AS AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF ENERGY, AND A CRITIQUE OF CURRENT POLICY/ ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR ENERGY IN NIGERIA BY DR. EUNICE ODUFA ERHAGBE* ABSTRACT The use of fossil fuels in Nigeria is a major contributor to climate change that has several devastating effect on the environment. This paper appraised the effects of climate change on the Nigerian environment, and the efforts made by Nigeria, and the international community to combat climate change. This paper found, that the excessive use of non-renewable energy sources, industrialisation and the non- implementation of planning laws are responsible for climate change. Secondly, it found that climate change has negatively impacted the Nigerian environment in terms of flooding, desertification, and the destruction of the ecosystem. It also found that although there are laws at the national level aimed at combating climate change, they are not effectively enforced, while those at the international level are not legally binding. This paper will argue that the negative consequences of climate change are inimical to Nigeria’s sustainable development. The paper will advocate renewable energy as an alternative source of energy. Further, the paper will critique the current policy/Administrative Framework for energy in Nigeria, it will fault the sincerity of the policy, and assert that the leadership of the country owes a duty to both the present and future generations to fight the climate change menace. *Eunice Odufa Erhagbe, Ph.D., B.L., Lecturer, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. Email: euniceerhagbe12@gmail.com. Tel: 08023506796.

Name: Jeffrey Kraus
Section: Public Policy & Public Administration
Professional Email: jkraus@wagner.edu
Professional Status: Administrator
Institution: Wagner College
Scheduling Preference: Saturday Morning
Proposal Type: Paper
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Paper Title:  Health Policy in the Empire State: Is the Affordable Care Act affordable?, *Jeffrey Fred Kraus
Abstract:
The paper will examine the evolution of health policy in New York state since the establishment of Medicaid/Medicare in 1965. The paper will focus on simultaneous efforts to expand access while containing costs, and will emphasize how the Affordable Care Act has impacted on health care/costs in New York. The major question is whether the present policies are sustainable in the long term.

Name: Oluwasolape Onafowora
Section: State and Local Politics
Professional Email: oluwasolape.onafowora@fuoye.edu.ng
Professional Status: Assistant Professor
Institution: Federal University Oye-Ekiti
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
Proposal Type: Paper
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Co-author info: ONAFOWORA OLUWASOLAPE 2348033655364 DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OYE-EKITI, NIGERIA P.O.BOX 1774, ADO-EKITI. NIGERIA oluwasolape.onafowora@fuoye.edu.ng solape.onafowora@gmail.com
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Paper Title:  FARMER-HERDER RELATIONS AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN EKITI STATE
Abstract:
On the 18th of January 2018, some suspected Bororo Herdsmen attacked Orin Farm Settlement in Ekiti State and killed a pregnant woman with scores of others wounded. But this was not the first incidence of herdsmen attack on farmers in Ekiti State. The relations between farmers and herders have been violent long before the ascension of the incumbent Governor Ayo Fayose who, in 2016, passed the Ekiti State Anti-Grazing Law. The grazing law criminalises illegal grazing in some parts of the State; prohibit herders from grazing with weapons; and gave a maximum time limit of 7 a.m to 6 p.m for open grazing. This has had resounding impact on farmer-herder relations since 2016. This paper adopts historical research method to investigate the relationship between farmers and herders in Ekiti State and the impact of the Anti-Grazing Law approaches of conflict management between the two groups. Oral interview, newspaper reports and government records formed the primary sources of information generation. Also, journal articles and books were explored as secondary sources so as to complement the primary sources. Content analysis was used to analyse the data derived on farmer-herder relations in Ekiti State. The findings indicate that the relations between farmers and herder in Ekiti State are connected to environmental, religious, political and ethnic issues. The paper also established that the implementation of Anti-Grazing Law in Ekiti State has effectively mitigated against Fulani herdsmen attacks in the State even though there were reported incidences of herdsmen attacks on farmers.

Name: Mishella Romo Rivas
Section: Comparative Politics
Professional Email: mrr538@nyu.edu
Professional Status: Graduate Student
Institution: New York University
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
Proposal Type: Paper
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Panel Description: Decentralization and Reform Panel chaired by Dr. Tony Spanakos
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Paper Title: The Puzzle of Public Trust and Judicial Power in Latin American Democracies: Evidence from Brazil and Mexico
Abstract:
The Politics of Horizontal Accountability: A view from Brazil Mishella Romo Rivas In relatively stable democracies, constitutional courts typically enjoy a considerable amount of judicial legitimacy and independence. And yet, during times of rising polarization, the intervention of constitutional courts in matters of horizontal accountability seems to have a negative impact on its public confidence. An evaluation of the recent shift in public attitudes vis a vis the Brazilian STF, one of the most powerful constitutional courts in Latin America will make this evident. Recent public opinion data has shown that public trust for the Court among voters within both the left and the right of the political spectrum has declined following a series of rulings involving horizontal accountability from 2014-2019 (LAPOP 2019). While theories of diffuse support and strategic interaction in judicial politics would subsequently prompt us to expect the STF to exercise self-restraint to avoid attacks on its power, the Court has continued to assume its protagonistic role in national politics. What accounts for these developments and to what extent does diffuse support concretely affect judicial independence? These inquiries warrant further examination on the effect polarization has on both public attitudes and judicial behavior. This is particularly so considering that the literature has described public or "diffuse" support as one of the sources of de facto power that enables judicial independence, a key factor preventing "democratic backsliding." First discussed by Easton (1965) and later by Gibson and Caldeira (1998), diffuse support is what creates incentives for executives and legislatures to engage in compliance of judicial decisions (Staton 2010) that may constrain overreaches by populist/illiberal leadership in contemporary democratic regimes

Name: Dan Ziebarth
Section: State and Local Politics
Professional Email: dziebarth@gwmail.gwu.edu
Professional Status: Graduate Student
Institution: George Washington University
Scheduling Preference: No Preference
Proposal Type: Paper
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Paper Title: Public-Private Partnerships and Democratic Participation
Abstract:
A significant amount of literature has inspected the relationship between public-private partnerships (PPPs) and state and local government. This literature has focused primarily on how these agreements shape financing, economic development, and public policy measures. There has been no research thus far, however, on how these PPPs may affect civic engagement and democratic participation at the state and local level. There are many reasons to believe that PPPs may raise levels of civic engagement and democratic participation, as they deeply affect state and local politics and shape the socioeconomic development of local communities. This paper fills this gap in the literature by exploring the relationship between the establishment of business improvement districts (BIDs), a form of public-private partnership, and voter participation rates. An original data set is constructed from 18 state assembly districts and 22 BIDs in New York City across nine elections between 2002 and 2018. This paper shows that, even after controlling for differences in income, education, and race across the 18 assembly districts, there is a significant relationship between the establishment of a BID in a community and an increase in electoral participation rates. These findings are compelling, providing insight into the role that PPPs play in the political development of communities and opening a new path in the existing literature that can continue to be built upon.