Provides a historical overview of the activities designed to standardize and/or improve civics education. Briefly reviews reform movements, guidelines, and educational studies contributed by private institutions or the government. Lists the eight objectives for political science developed by the Committee on Pre-Collegiate Education in 1971. (MJP)

Uses the careers of President John F. Kennedy and the legendary Greek hero Achilles to explore the intersections among mythological status, public perception, and leadership. Observes fascinating parallels between both men and their roles as soldiers, generational representatives, and martyred heroes. (MJP)

Presents a learning activity encouraging students to obtain a greater understanding of the relationship between symbols and the apparent dimensions of political phenomena. Students design symbols to represent objects, activities, issues, or meanings. Includes a list of student symbolic representations of law and justice issues. (MJP)

Constructs a model that explains a large fraction of the variance in political science departmental rankings. Divides the objective predictors into two sets: one reflecting faculty quality ratings of department members, the other the effects of circumstances beyond a department's control. This model works well with most social science disciplines.…

Presents brief excerpts from the presidential papers of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The excerpts address such matters as voting rights, limited government, political appointments, national security, and the balance of power. (MJP)

Argues forcefully for increasing and improving citizenship education and civics in the public schools. Maintains that many individuals' disparaging of the political process rises from a lack of experience with assessing an argument on behalf of a political position. Fully documents young people's lack of political participation. (MJP)

Describes a course on the problems of cultural pluralism in a democratic, constitutional society. Analyzes the rule of law in the United States. Examines the topic through an analysis of Supreme Court cases on questions pertaining to race, religion, gender, and community. Discusses course format and includes a class exercise of a mock trial. (RW)

Investigates the extent to which adolescents are willing to extend basic human rights to their least-liked sociopolitical groups. Suggests that it is critical that teachers refer to specific groups especially those that are viewed negatively in discussing political tolerance. (KO)

Discusses the lack of emphasis upon international law in undergraduate programs. Reports the content analysis of four introductory textbooks in international relations courses. Concludes that learning is dependent upon supplementary reading and lecture methods which were not addressed in this survey. Makes comments concerning textbook selection.…

Asserts that public choice theory, a perspective most closely associated with economics and political science, could be used in social studies education to provide new insights into the behavior of students and teachers. Includes a table applying public choice theory to two curriculum and instruction problems. (CFR)

Maintains that constitutional law is the cornerstone of an undergraduate public law curriculum. Asserts that there is a welcome trend toward teaching the subject over a two-semester sequence, instead of only one. Describes course content and teaching strategies used in a college constitutional law course. (CFR)

Asserts that commercial online computer services provide a wealth of features that can be helpful in teaching political science. Discusses four commercial services and recommends the use of Prodigy because of its ability to link one article to other articles of related content. (CFR)

The full data set on which the "U.S. News and World Report" rankings of doctoral programs were based is presented and discussed. Rankings are for economics, English, history, political science, psychology, and sociology programs. Discussion addresses the methodology used and makes comparisons with National Academy of Sciences 1982…

Ten higher education professionals and one college senior comment on the "U.S. News and World Report" rankings of doctoral programs in six liberal arts disciplines. The authors' response to one set of comments and the comments of an executive editor from the magazine are also included. (MSE)

Five articles describe specific Internet resources, including geoscience and science databases; economic and statistical information; the JANET (Joint Academic Network) Bulletin Board for Librarians; and White House communications. A sixth article describes how practical applications of Internet information create new roles for reference…