State of the Parties: 2024 and Beyond Conference

7:30 a.m. - Conference Registration

Hilton Garden Inn, 1307 E. Market Street, Akron, OH, 44305

8:30 - 10:15 a.m. - State of the Parties 

Moderator: John Green, The University of Akron

• The Evolution of a Party System: Four Stops on the Road to 2025 | Paper 
  Byron Shafer, University of Oxford and University of Wisconsin, and Regina Wagner, University of Alabama 

• Evaluating American Democracy in 2025 through the Lense of Ranney and Kendall | Paper
  Rick Farmer, Southern Nazarene University, and Christopher H. Owen, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah

• What do Party Elites Think about Election Reform? | Paper
  Robert Boatright, Clark University, Karen Sebold, University of Arkansas, Eric Heberlig, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, Caroline J. Tolbert and Sami DeRagon, University of Iowa

10:15 a.m. - Break

10:45 - 12:15 p.m. - Party Factions

Moderator: Cherie Strachan, The University of Akron

• Factions among Major Party Elites
  Geoff Layman, Notre Dame University, John Green, The University of Akron, and Shay Hafner, University of Notre Dame

• Feeble Gatekeepers: Factional Insurgency and the Toppling of the Grand Old Party | Paper
  Zachary Albert, Brandeis University, and Raymond J. La Raja, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

• Insurgent Faction Response to Democratic Electoral Failure: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty | Paper
  Ronald B. Rapoport, College of William and Mary, and Andrew Engelhardt, SUNY-Stony Brook

• Factions and Parties in a Polarized Era | Paper
  Michael Ensley and Zach Morris, Kent State University

12:15 - 1:15 p.m. - Lunch

1:15 - 3:30 p.m. - State and Local Party Politics

Moderator: David Cohen, The University of Akron

• Coalition Change or Pocketbook Election? Evidence from Nevada in 2024 | Paper
   David F. Damore and Kenneth M. Miller, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• What Happened to the “Blue Wall”? The Partisan Makeup of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, 1992-2024 | Paper
  David A. Dulio, Oakland University, Stephen K. Medvic and Berwood A. Yost, Franklin & Marshall College 

• Did the Democratic Party Abandon Rural America? Evidence from a Survey of Local Party Officials | Paper
  Daniel M. Shea and Nicholas F. Jacobs, Colby College

• Shifting Allegiances: Trump and Muslim Voters in the 2024 Election | Paper
  Daniel Hummel, University of Louisiana at Monroe 

• The Organizational Structure of State Parties | Paper
  Doug Roscoe, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

• State Democratic and Republican Political Party Chairs, 2015-2024 | Paper
  Matthew J. Geras, University of Illinois Springfield 

5:30 p.m. - Reception

6:30 p.m. - Dinner

8:00 p.m. - Keynote Address

• Myth-Busting the Rural Voter: What Data Shows
  Daniel M. Shea, Colby College 

7:30 a.m. - Conference Registration

Hilton Garden Inn, 1307 E. Market Street, Akron, OH, 44305

CONCURRENT PANELS - Please choose one of the following:

8:15 - 10:00 a.m. - Party Resources

Moderator: Daniel Shea, Colby College

• Political Party Contacting in the 2024 Election | Paper
  Brian J. Brox, Tulane University

• Carpetbag Campaigning: How Parties Reshape Democracy by Redirecting Resources to Competitive Districts
  Hans Noel, Georgetown University

• The Trump Donor 2015-2024: Assessing the Geographical Differences Across Different Elections | Paper
  Andrew Dowdle, Joshua Mitchell, and Karen Sebold, University of Arkansas  

• The Impact of Organizational Characteristics on Super PAC Spending in Congressional Elections | Paper
  Jay Goodliffe, Brigham Young University, and Paul Herrnson, University of Connecticut 

8:15 - 10:00 a.m. - Party Constituencies

Moderator: Rick Farmer, Southern Nazarene University

• Diploma Divide, Rural Revolt, or Racial Realignment? Working-Class Partisanship in the Trump Era
  Michael E. Shepherd, University of Michigan

• The Polarized Type: Affective Polarization and Issue Polarization Among the Party-In-The-Electorate
  Jeremiah J. Castle, Metropolitan State University of Denver, J. Cherie Strachan, The University of Akron, and Kyla K. Stepp, Central Michigan University

• House Party? Reimagining Intergenerational Party Transmission | Paper
  Daniel A. Smith and Yugo Wang, University of Florida 

10:00 - 10:30 a.m. - Break

CONCURRENT PANELS - Please choose one of the following:

10:30 - 12:00 p.m. - Party Nominations

Moderator: John Green, The University of Akron

• Party Asymmetry in Competition in Presidential Nominations: Contestation, Closeness, Duration, and Participation | Paper
  Caitlin E. Jewitt, Virginia Tech, and Gregory Shufeldt, University of Indianapolis 

• Rent-Seeking Political Parties, Competition, and Information | Paper
  Wayne Steger, DePaul University 

• Differing Voter Criteria and Primary Polarization | Paper
  Barry C. Burden and Matthew Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Democratic Party Members Abroad Respond to Electoral Losses: Withdrawal without Retreat | Paper
  James A. McCann, Purdue University, and Ronald B. Rapoport, College of William & Mary

10:30 - 12:00 p.m. - Major Party Alternatives

Moderator: Kenneth Miller, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• American Third Parties in 2024: Why Third Parties Fail Even in the Best Circumstances | Paper
  Bernard Tamas, Valdosta State University

• Does Partisanship Matter? Adoption and Implementation of RCV in Red and Blue Jurisdictions | Paper
  

  Jay Wendland, Daemen University

• Parties and Periods: Partisanship and Menstrual Product Policies in U.S. State Legislatures | Paper
  Sara Chatfield, University of Denver 

• Legislative Supermajorities and Direct Democracy: What is the Relationship Between Supermajority Legislatures and Citizen-Led Initiatives?
  Reynold F. Nesiba, Augustana University

12:00 - 2:00 p.m. - Lunch Speaker

• The Future of American Political Parties
  Elaine Kamarck, Center for Effective Public Management, Brookings