The history of the United States Constitution is outlined in this account of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. The document is grouped according to 12 topical headings, which follow a brief account of the participation of George Washington and James Madison. Section 1 deals with the conceptualization and development of the Articles of…

All governments or ruling parties contain competing agencies, powerful individuals or small groups that are able to commit government resources to their viewpoint on foreign policy. These configurations make up the ultimate decision unit, whose properties modify the precise character of its government's actions. The first part of this paper…

We are, for the second time in a hundred years, experiencing a revolution in the politics of education. In the 1890s municipal reform wrested control of urban school systems from city political machines and their neighborhood subunits. Since then the structure of school government has rested on two types of legitimacy. These are a belief in…

An effective advisory process moves to a workable system from organizational failures to new positions to maintain accord through the people serviced by the school. Such a system contains the elements of participation, effective involvement, communication, and regular review. (Author)

During the 1960s and extending through the present decade, universities have been undergoing a crisis with respect to the role of students in decisionmaking. This crisis has involved a fundamental reconsideration of the nature of university government, and the relationships of faculty to students. Presented in this paper is a case study of one of…

A more effective approach to strategic planning and management must be based on an understanding of the political dynamics through which policies are made. (Available from Subscriptions Manager, Pergamon Press Ltd., Headington Hill Hall, Oxford OX3 OBW, England; $60.00 annually.) (Author)

A field study of Canadian Government bureaucracy illustrates two perspectives on strategic decision processes. Processes follow a structured progression or are anarchic, wherein decisions are inferred from outcomes of fortuitous combinations of events. Both perspectives facilitate processual understanding but fail to specify the influence of…

A case study approach is used to extensively examine the process by which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has regulated cable television. A chronological accounting of cable regulation suggests the constraints under which regulation has taken place. An examination of extra-agency groups which constrain the commission's regulatory…

This report discusses various differences of opinion about the interrelationship that exists between governmental structure and the substantive policy outcomes of governmental decisionmaking. The views of political scientists and educators regarding the ideal structural relationship between education and government are presented. Some aspects of…

The "consociational" political system of Belgium responds to the needs of the country's three major ethnic communities: Dutch, French, and German. All decision-making power has been transferred to regional and local governments. In order to find policy decisions acceptable to all groups, most decisions are based on accommodations and…

Professional educators have gained an upper hand in policy making while at the same time enjoying substantial insulation from public opinion and accountability. (MM)

French public affairs at the local level are managed by a complex, stable system of groups and institutions. Interorganizational relations are regulated by a complex, and more or less organized, system rather than by an interorganizational network. (Author/IRT)

This guide helps people understand where and how decisions on nuclear warfare are made in the United States government. The guide is organized into five main sections. "The Nature of the American Political System" covers the development of a republican form of democracy governed by checks and balances and designed so that power is shared…

Two sets of issues are discussed in this volume of the survey. These issues are related to the provision and adequacy of schools for the Indian child and adult, and to leadership, organization and direction of reserves. Although mindful of the wider setting of culture and community in which these issues find their definition, they are abstracted…

The setting for this school-community study is Effingham, Illinois. Chosen as a prototype of rural America, Effingham is emerging as a rapidly-growing center of economic, political, and social activity. Through structured interviews and personal interactions, the evaluator has obtained information to describe the community in terms of its…