The 73rd annual MPSA Conference was held April 16-19, 2015 in Chicago’s grand Palmer House Hotel. Built more than 140 years ago as a wedding gift from Potter Palmer to his fiancée, Bertha Honore, it is America’s longest continually operating hotel.
In keeping with her French heritage and romance-filled marriage, it is believed that Bertha Palmer wanted all Palmer House guests to pass a significant symbol of romance upon arriving at the hotel. As such, a bronze sculpture of Romeo and Juliet, the two most significant romantic figures in literature, was installed in 1924 and greets all hotel guests to this day.
The guests that the sculpture greeted April 16-19 were those drawn to Chicago for the purpose of attending the Midwest Political Science Association Conference, which is traditionally held at the Palmer House. The MPSA Conference is one of the biggest in the discipline and attracts thousands of political science professors, students, and public administrators.
Features of the conference include the Pi Sigma Alpha Lecture, Empire Lecture Series, panels in which papers are presented, poster presentations, and exhibitors.
This year’s Pi Sigma Alpha Lecture speaker was Lee H. Hamilton. Hamilton, who served in the U.S. House of Representative for 34 years, is one of the nation’s foremost experts on Congress and representative democracy. Hamilton, who celebrated his 84th birthday only days after presenting the lecture, offered his insights on a number of issues. Hamilton advocated having a strong president and a strong Congress saying that the “creative tension” can produce goods results. But, that is not the current state of affairs. He expressed frustration with gridlock resulting from the lack of compromise and willingness to find common ground. Hamilton took issue with Members of Congress who boast about not passing bills, and noted that lawmaking is the essence of their job.
Arthur Lupia, Hal R. Varian Collegiate Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and Immediate Past President of the MPSA, kicked-off the Empire Lecture Series, which was held in the historic Empire Room of the Palmer House. In his presentation, Responding to Ignorance: Why People Appear to Know so Little about Politics and What We Can Do about It, Lupia began by noting that “people who lack information can make bad decisions” and then discussed how to respond to people who lack information about politics.
The MPSA Conference is not only a place for eminent scholars and distinguished practitioners, it is also a forum for budding scholars to present their research. For example, Elin Bergman, a Ph.D. student at the University of Gothenburg, presented her research on “Universal welfare states in young democracies” in a poster session.
In the large Exhibit Hall, with nearly 14,000 square feet, more than 30 exhibitors, including book publishers and professional associations, took part in the 2015 MPSA Conference.
Even during their free time, those having a love affair with political science and numerous subfields, such as public policy and international relations, gathered in the lobby of the Palmer House to discuss politics, research, publishing, and the profession.
The 74th Annual MPSA Conference will be held April 7-10, 2016 at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel and you can be sure that those with a passion for politics from across the world will once again gather together in Chicago.
