This article examines what makes knowledge political in its derivation and uses, and what potential political functions it may serve. Emphasis is placed upon the idea that the consequences of political knowledge for a democracy are neither uniformly beneficent or malevolent; but depend upon how the knowledge is being used and by whom. (DE)

Drawing upon the large national surveys conducted in 1969 by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, along with data collected more recently, the authors provide a basis for understanding distributions of political attitudes among political scientists. Political science is one of the more left-of-center academic disciplines. (Author/DE)

This article explored one medium through which the element of political literacy in the educational process can be introduced. (Author/RK)

A group of external consultants conducted a review of the political science programs at the institutions within the state university system of Florida and made recommendations based on their findings. Their research focused on three questions: (1) How well does the department integrate itself into the university's mission? (2) How well does the…

The use of an electoral college simulation model by college students is described. At least 16 students should participate to represent four geographical regions: the Northeast, the South, the Midwest, and the West. The electoral college simulation is most relevant in courses on American politics, the United States presidency, and elections.…

A series of five writing assignments that focus on the critical thinking skills needed for the intelligent reading of political articles that appear in newspapers and popular magazines was developed for use in a political science course at Oakton Community College (Illinois). Each of the assignments begins with a lesson that teaches the specific…

This volume pulls together commentaries on Charles E. Lindblom's book entitled "Politics and Markets: The World's Political-Economic Systems" (1977) which expounds the thesis that big business dominates American culture and politics and prevents the introduction of central planning in place of a market-oriented economy. Following an introduction,…

Democracy has always been prone to self-destruction, and it was only after the American Civil War that democracy--or at least constitutional representative government--acquired a respectable reputation. There are two very different types of democracies each with its underlying philosophy, value system, and view of human nature. These are…

Some of the skills, orientations, and awarenesses which are helpful in learning about politics and which can be learned through consideration of political happenings are described. (Author/KM)

A proposed series of seminars would study the local community, its concrete issues and upcoming choices concerning these issues and would get the results into the hands of as many citizens as possible. (Author/KM)

Explores the relevance of some of the methodologies of systems engineering to problems in the social sciences, especially the dynamics of domestic and international conflict. Describes an initial exercise in modeling domestic conflict in terms of State equations. Implications for education. (Author/WM)

Description of a simulation that uses the Tachai system for determining students' grades on their participation and oral reports in a graduate seminar on contemporary China. (ND)

A selected number of education journals of potential interest to political scientists are reviewed in order to facilitate greater cross-disciplinary communication. (Author/DE)

Meta-megapolicy, a concept mix of the policy sciences discipline, is viewed as central to attempts at improving public policy-making. Rooted in the prevailing societal values, public policies are envisioned as the result of a policy-making process in which megapolicy is utilized to determine the needed changes in policy, and metapolicy is utilized…