The Center for Empirical Political Economy (Waseda University Super Global University Initiative) successfully conducted the Waseda-Essex Scientific PoliSci/IR Collaboration and Exchange (commonly known as WE-SPICE) over a five-week period from December 2022 to January 2023. The aim of the WE-SPICE was to stimulate researchers at the University of Essex, one of the UK’s top schools in the field of political science, and Waseda University by bringing together graduate students, young faculty members, and even professors leading large-scale projects to discuss the same theme in each session. The papers covered a wide range of topics, including political behavior, comparative politics, political economy, and international relations, such as an empirical analysis of U.S. lobbying of voting behavior at the UN General Assembly, political science research using geographic information and natural experimental methods, and political analysis of the relationship between economic sanctions and dictatorships.
Dec. 6, 2022: Essex Presentation
“Public Procurement and Electoral Mobilization: The Returns of Backing the Winner”
Mr. Nicolás Idrobo (Doctoral Student, U. Penn), Dr. Miguel R. Rueda (Emory), Dr. Nelson A. Ruiz (UoE), and Dr. Kikuchi Hirokazu (IDE: Institute of Developing Economies) discussed the above theme and talked about recent econometric data analysis on public works and electoral mobilization, etc.
Dec. 13, 2022: Waseda Presentation
“Zombie Interest Groups; Lingering Electoral Performance of Industry Unions Following Plant Closures;Evidence from Japanese House of Councillors Elections”
Dr. Makoto Fukumoto (Waseda University) and Dr. Allyson Benton (University of Essex) discussed the above theme and talked about the new econometric data analysis on interest groups and House of Councillors elections, etc.
Jan. 10, 2023: Essex Presentation
“Combating Authoritarianism: Responding to the new authoritarian threat.”
Dr. Natasha Lindstädt (University of Essex) and Dr. Paul Schuler (University of Arizona/Waseda University) discussed the above theme and talked about how the casual inference research on the Authoritarian Regimes should be and relevant points to take into consideration.
Jan. 17, 2023: Waseda Presentation
“Pressuring the assembly: US-lobbying effect on United Nations”
Dr. Brian Phillips (University of Essex) and Mr. Ukyo Kanetaka (Graduate Student, Waseda University) discussed the above theme and talked about the main methodological issues related to lobbying research in the UN General Assembly.
Jan. 24, 2023: Roundtable on publishing
Dr. Han Dorussen, Dr. Reed Wood, Dr. Kristian Gleditsch, Dr. Carolina Garriga (University of Essex), and Atsushi Tago and Yoshikuni Ono (Waseda University) talked not only about what is actually necessary for preparing and submitting a paper to an international journal, but also how one can successfully overcome the peer review process and get a paper published.
Prof. Han Dorussen, University of Essex
Professor Han Dorussen, the University of Essex’s facilitator, commented that the workshop had been a useful continuation of the previous year’s online workshop, and that it was especially useful to have a roundtable discussion on how to write and publish academic papers with five journal editors and editorial board members in the final session. Based on the success of the workshop, it was decided to continue the workshop series in the future, and a face-to-face workshop is being planned for September in addition to WE-SPICE2023.
Students’ comments
“I was really surprised that some of the presenters were master’s students. It was clear that they had worked hard to prepare for their presentations, and it made me want to follow in their footsteps.”
“Not only did I learn about the ways of putting on a proper presentation, but I also better understood how to bring up comments during these presentations as a participant.”
“What was really novel was learning that though Japan and the UK think from different perspectives, they are both perceiving the same issues.”
