Very little research has been conducted on the contribution of political education to learning progress in Germany. Hence, there is a need for intervention studies measuring performance against the theoretical background of a political competence model. This model comprises three constructs: subject knowledge, motivation and attitudes. According…

The availability of political information throughout society made possible by the evolution of contemporary information communication technology has precipitated conflicting debate regarding the effects of technology use on real life political participation. Proponents of technology argue that the use of new information technology stimulates…

Presents a dramaturgical dialog used by the authors to introduce two competing paradigms in the politics of national development, modernity theory, and dependency theory. The imaginary participants are Alex Inkeles and Immanuel Wallerstein. The dialogs have advantages as teaching strategies. (SR)

Most institutional approaches to the understanding of government and politics describe all the variables of a particular case. The systems model, however, attempts greater generality in its consideration of four variables: the system, the environment, response, and feedback. Examples of the model's applicability to recent political events are…

The author describes the manner in which political science has become a value-laden discipline and identifies the values that are built into the study of politics. Discussion is based on David Easton's descriptive definition of politics. Available from: 107 Peabody Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611. (Author/AV)

To allow student writing to reach a broader audience, in 1999 political science educators and students at California State University Chico (CSUC) began a student journal in which exemplary student writing on political themes could be published. The resulting journal, "Studium: The California State University, Chico Student Journal of…

This chapter discusses the importance of political power in educational decision-making and examines in turn methods of gathering data for political analyses and types of conceptual models that are useful in studying the politics of education. Five methods for gathering political data are reviewed, including survey analysis, reputational analysis,…

An explanation of the move from using a single continuum to a circle and finally to a quadrangle as a tool for explaining political positions which clarifies their complexity rather than oversimplifying and distorting them. (ND)

This document includes three units on applications of first-order difference equations to American politics. The first module is designed to help the user: 1) develop flexibility in analyzing difference equations in quadratic format; 2) understand how Choundy and Phillips' Theorem can be used to provide information about the time path of a…

The introductory statement to the plenary session of the Ninth World Congress of the International Political Science Association announces the first of two major themes, politics between economy and culture. This theme is described as investigating the culture-economy dialectic at all levels of politics -- global, territorial, national, community,…

In a team-taught course that uses political novels and films, the concept of politics becomes more understandable to the students. Three different instructors representing political science, English, and film bring expertise to the course that is not usually possible for a single instructor. (Author/MLW)

This paper reviews and discusses political models that bear on policy-making processes. The first part of the report deals with the merits of the "elitist" versus the "pluralistic" frameworks used to analyze the exercise of power in local communities. This review of the theories serves as a basis for a subsequent discussion of…

The understanding of the political behavior of school boards can be advanced by conducting factor analysis of the voting records of trustees. While the application of these methods is generally appropriate, differences in subject matter highlight the problem of inferring political theory from numerical data. In this paper, several different…

This essay examines the ways in which political science, as a discipline, has been influenced by feminist scholarship in the field. It explains that gender politics theory and research have grown tremendously since the late 1960s, focusing not only on including women in research on political behavior and policy, but also reevaluating the theories,…

The systems analysis of political life might be used as a basis for teaching about the political process in all grades, including elementary school. A political system is part of an intra-societal environment including ecological, biological, personality, economic, cultural, and other systems, all operating in society and bound by an…