Maintains that ineffective and ungrammatical writing by college students is unacceptable and suggests how political science teachers on the college level can help students improve their writing skills in conjunction with the substantive purposes of a political science course. (Author/DB)

Describes a simulation game designed to aid students in understanding the United States political pattern through a mock presidential nominating convention. Includes purpose, setting, time allotment, roles, game plan, and several speeches. (CK)

In 1973, a major effort to assess teacher preparedness for civic education was launched in a series of surveys of elementary teachers conducted in several sections of the nation by The Elementary School Political Science Curriculum Project of The American Political Science Association. Surveys elementary teachers in Atlanta, Georgia, to determine…

"Television's only effect on the American voter is to cheapen his conception of the campaign process and to stuff his head full of nonsense and trivia", Thomas E. Patterson and Robert D. McClure, two Syracuse University political scientists, have concluded in a major study of television's role in the 1972 presidential campaign. (Editor)

Data about a modified contract grading system in an introductory American politics course at the University of Wyoming are discussed. Three grade options are described from which students choose one and complete its requirements. (ND)

Analysis of voter turnout reveals rural areas to have much higher turnout than urban. Furthermore, these rural areas have lower levels of education, income, and industrialization. Several theoretical arguments are examined. Available from: the Wayne State University Press, 5980 Cass Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48202, $4.00 single copy. (Author/MLF)

Surveys the debate over how the United States Constitution is to be regarded for purposes of judicial interpretation in federal court cases. Focuses on the views of U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, Ronald Dworkin, and Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Discusses the underlying values of original intent and its opposite, judicial activism.…

Explores the founding of the United States in terms of its theoretical and political perspectives. Identifies and discusses leading characteristics of thought that focus on the framing and ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Examines the meaning of "liberty under law." (LS)

Surveys members of the Sierra Club to examine the link between two theories of public relations: a situational theory of publics; and an organizational theory of the relationship between environments and the public relations behavior of organizations. Reports that findings support the situational theory of publics. (MM)

Draws distinctions between classical and modern concepts of democracy. Contrasts Pythagoras' dislike of factions with Madison's support for economic differentiation and religious toleration. Discusses Aristotle's and Noah Webster's ideas on addressing class tensions. Examines early U.S. theorists' suspicions of direct democracy and support for…

Examined the effects of concept maps on the task-related variance components of Political Science performance assessments for 187 college students. Task variance components were unchanged across groups using or not using concept maps. But the person main effect components increased and the task-by-person interaction components decreased for those…

Describes how a group of approximately 200 African Americans around the U.S. are serving simultaneously as elected officials and as professors or administrators at institutions of higher education. Some of these double-duty officers teach political science. This trend reflects both the rise of black scholars and the evolution of black political…

This article investigates teaching the application of technical ideas by non-technical means, especially by using puzzles to engage students. After discussing the need to teach students to evaluate contexts in which decisions about computer security must be made, we suggest questions and scenarios drawn from political science, history, as well as…

I examine fundamental elements of the cultural and relational environments of the organizations that produce electoral forecasts in the Spanish parliamentary elections. The analysis reveals how these elements shape the interests and decisions in a collectivity of organizations that share a common technology. I investigate the reasons for the…

In this article, the author presents an appraisal of the two contending perspectives on political scientists' approach to citizenship education in social studies: John Dewey's critique of political scientists' vision of citizenship education and a consideration of the educational implications of the APSA's activities in precollegiate citizenship…