Discusses membership and development in three international studies subcultures, the Council on Foreign Relations, the quantitative international politics (QIP), and comparative foreign policy (CFP) groups, noting that scientific progress occurs when a subculture transmits research findings into the larger community of scholars. Specifies…

Explores the history of social studies instruction. Reports findings of an analysis of 1,217 lessons contained in 5 social studies textbooks. Concludes that geography, history, and anthropology receive the greatest coverage in the books, whereas sociology and political science are stressed least. Identifies differences among the five books.…

An activity-based curriculum enables intermediate-grade children to pretend to be explorers who have discovered land. Students create a country by constructing a land map, formulating a constitution, determining an appropriate form of rule, and so on. Students learn how each aspect, from terrain to climate, creates ramifications leading to a…

Describes how social studies teachers can explore students' knowledge of communism and the Soviet Union. Explains how to help students make sense of communism's fall. Encourages teachers to ask students what happened, why, and what it means for the future. Explores course evaluation and the topic's meaning for all U.S. citizens. (SG)

Describes the evolution of feminist critical theory from a study of individuals' roles to the study of the interplay between gender relations and the institutional contexts within which they take shape. Surveys the writing of feminist theorists covering institutions, decision-making processes, cultural symbols, and everyday practices. (DK)

Defines war as symptom rather than cause. Identifies the root cause of the Middle East crisis as destruction of the regional balance of power through foreign augmentation of Iraqi power. Criticizes the tendency to see world problems as a fight between good and evil. Defines realism as the ability to see political realities as a balance of power.…

Discusses the fall of communism in eastern Europe. Applies Latin America models to eastern Europe. Suggests that revolutions are shaped by the systems against which they are directed. Concludes that the problems of eastern Europe are not caused by the system so much as by geography. Argues that poor capitalism may lie in the future for eastern…

Reviews the results of the October 26, 1992, national referendum on the Canadian constitution. Describes the impact of the results on the provinces of western Canada. Concludes that a new national election should be called to resolve further the constitutional issues. (CFR)

Suggests activities for teaching students about the law. Asks students to identify situations where they think laws are needed, reach consensus about the 10 most important national laws, and consider the problems of writing laws that everyone can understand. Presents results of law education. Includes a bibliography about promoting citizenship.…

Asserts that increasing numbers of significant historical archives are being opened. Relates the story of historian Patricia Kennedy Grimsted who spent 30 years identifying the existence and history of national archives in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European nations. Maintains that her efforts have helped historians take advantage of…

Asserts that majority rule in a democratic society follows a cyclical pattern. Discusses the paradox between the concept of majority rule and protection of the rights of voting minorities. Compares the difficulty of achieving democracy to that of achieving justice through jury trials. (CFR)

Examines the silence of women authors within the canonical political-theory conversation. Discusses the experience of teaching Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman." Stresses the ongoing importance of the feminist project to reclaim women's writing and suggests ways that feminist theory can transform the teaching of…

Presents an annotated selection of recent scholarly and general reference works under the subject headings of religion and mythology, literature, architecture, dance, film and television, women's studies, political science, and history, as well as new editions and supplements. (LRW)

Illustrates the importance of "passionate detachment" (passionate about being detached from one's position on a topic) when addressing advocacy in the classroom by describing "Introduction to Social Policy," a course on poverty. Explains that the course aims at developing an understanding of poverty, not just a list of proposed solutions. (CMK)

Examines the ways in which political scientists use and misuse the terms "nation" and "nationalism." Misuse occurs primarily in works such as introductory textbooks, that use the terms in passing, despite a growing convergence of expert opinion around standardized definitions. Proposes a definition for each term. (DSK)