A systematic and longitudinal analysis of all of the education-related articles published in two of political science's oldest journals reveals that political science has aided our knowledge of education by focusing on the distribution of power in the decision-making process, the organization and governance of public school systems, and the…

It remains to be seen how a task force from the American Political Science Association will contrive an equality of voice for the politically apathetic, but that goal, they say, is crucial to the continued workings of American democracy. Robert Weissberg wonders how muffling the appeals of those actively engaged in the political process will sit…

It has often been said that the Inuit have many words to describe snow because one would be wholly inadequate to capture accurately the variety of frozen precipitation. Like snow, patriotism is a more nuanced idea than is immediately apparent. Political scientists, sociologists, and educators would do well to expand the roster of words used to…

In addition to exposing students to basic concepts, theories, and ideas, teachers of comparative politics often claim to foster and promote values of tolerance and cultural sensitivity through exposure to the histories, cultures, and societies of cases from around the world. This claim, however, has been largely speculative and unsupported by any…

Simulations, particularly human-to-human interactions, offer social science students the opportunity to learn from firsthand experience, and can be an important and useful addition to an educator's teaching repertoire. However, it can be difficult for an instructor to know how to structure a simulation environment to meet specific educational…

The article draws on an analysis exploring how the content and aims of secondary school political education have been framed in official Croatian policy documents following the country's war for independence, with particular focus on the underlying conception of citizenship promoted in such a post-conflict setting. The article also addresses how…

Moral text processing was used as an ecologically valid method for assessing implicit and explicit moral understanding and development. The authors tested undergraduates, seminarians, and graduate students in political science and philosophy for recall of moral narratives and moral expository texts. Multivariate analyses of covariance using…

Small programs can make a big difference on college campuses. At Duke University, a few dedicated people, with the support of college administrators, exploited the all-too-evident liabilities of curriculum fragmentation, political correctness, and the lack of direction felt by undergraduate students to create intellectually valuable and…

Because of recent legislation, many students with mild disabilities enroll in high school social studies courses in general education rather than special education settings. Therefore, teachers may have students with learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, communication disorders, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in their history,…

This book defends the role of public education against its critics and throws light on such current issues as privatization, voucher systems, the role of public intellectuals, critical literacy, and educational reform. The volume offers a renewed vision of public schools as the locus of public knowledge and political democracy. Chapters include:…

This paper examines the U.S. educational system foundations, with particular emphasis on the state of Florida and contrasts that system with the Hungarian system, long under the communist control of the Soviet Union. Funding, educational initiative, and curriculum control are discussed. The paper concludes with accounts of personal experiences in…

This Program of Studies (POS) outlines the Fairfax County (Virginia) instructional program for the subject area of Virginia/United States government. Noting that it has long been recognized since the founding of the nation that the general education of society has, at its core, a "civic mission," the POS aims to educate students about…

Academics spend most of their intellectual lives engaged in theoretically complex and sometimes arcane debates, and it is sometimes easy for them to forget that their students are being introduced for the first time to many of the concepts they as educators take for granted. In political science courses, a variety of group activities can serve the…

When social science students try to solve statistics problems, the two major problems that they often face are how to get "the machine" to give them results they want and problem identification. The goal of this project at Michigan State University was to provide a supplementary educational tool for political science classes through the…

The 17 essays included in this book are designed to provide educators and other interested readers with contemporary perspectives on a broad range of themes and topics concerning the U.S. Constitution. The authors are a distinguished group of historians, political scientists, legal scholars, and jurists. The essays include: "The Achievement…