In this article, I discuss an alternative way of conceptualizing and structuring essay assignments in political science courses. Generally, political science teachers have tried to encourage critical thinking about political issues by assigning essays that ask for argumentative writing. An argumentative essay format asks students to present several positions or concepts covered in a course, analyze them, and argue for their own position on the issues at hand. A better format, I suggest, is to ask students to engage in reflective writing. Reflective writing has four basic stages. First, students are asked to explain course materials. Next, they are challenged to reflect explicitly on how this material calls into question their preconceptions about the topic. Third, they analyze the conflicts, confusions, or questions that arise from engaging their preconceptions. And finally, they formulate plans to use the knowledge gained by the reflective process. In short, reflective writing invites students to search for the truth rather than develop rhetorical skills. My case for reflective writing is made here in the form of a reflective essay, so readers can take from this essay both a demonstration of the reflective process as well as an explanation. Thus, I will explore my pedagogical preconceptions and experiences with student writing, explain my initial understanding of reflective writing and my first attempt at using reflective writing in an introduction to American government course, and, finally, refine my pedagogy by analyzing the success of the assignment in light of a deeper reading of John Dewey and other theorists of reflective reasoning.

After spending six years as a tenure-track faculty member and ultimately gaining tenure and promotion at my home institution of California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM), I was set to begin my first sabbatical in fall, 2002. As is no doubt true of many sabbaticals, one of the great successes of my semester-long break from teaching was a renewed interest in the classroom. “Renewal” is frequently identified as one of the primary purposes of a sabbatical; Good (1992, B3), after all, wrote that he became “surprisingly nostalgic for the company of students once the initial shock of being on leave ha[d] worn off.” But my renewed excitement for teaching came largely from once again entering the classroom as a student. Given my own experiences in returning to student life, I enthusiastically encourage faculty colleagues to take occasional opportunities to step away from the instructor's podium and enjoy a class as a member of the student body: not only did I have the opportunity to expand my perspective on interesting subject matter, but re-experiencing life from the student point of view reminded me of why I began teaching in the first place and reinforced important aspects of good teaching practices.[Editor's note: This manuscript was accepted for publication by PS: Political Science and Politics in September, 2004.]

The last vote was counted in the 2004 presidential election and old debates began anew about the causes of low turnout of those between the ages of 18 and 24. Despite an unprecedented amount of time and effort spent on turning out the youth vote, the data suggest that only about half of the eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 24 cast a vote for president. The good news is that, indeed, this year's figures reverse a downward trend in voter turnout amongst the youth; the bad news is that every age bracket increased in voting and youth voting still lagged behind other age groups by significant margins. Scholars have once again cited evidence of political apathy and alienation among young people; they have referred to studies that reveal widespread ignorance of American politics and history in our nation's high schools and colleges. Dire predictions will continue about the bleak future of American democracy due to the ostensible lack of knowledge and interest in the American political system among our newest voters. Despite studies showing increases in volunteerism, service, and civic engagement, the low voter turnout will dominate the debate about civic education.The authors would like to thank David A. Caputo, president of Pace University, for funding PC2004.

Political scientists commonly use their courses to emphasize the pervasive nature of collective action problems, whereby group interests are undermined by individual incentives to “defect” or “free ride.” In a graduate seminar a faculty member may have students read classics in this area, such as Mancur Olson's The Logic of Collective Action (1965). Graduate students are often expected to model a collective action problem as a prisoner's dilemma and be able to understand the implications in such areas as establishment of interest groups, voting turnout, budgeting, and military relationships among nations. Even in lower division undergraduate courses political science instructors may integrate concepts from collective action theory. This orientation is also evident in some textbooks. Thus in their introduction to American politics, Samuel Kernell and Gary C. Jacobson (2003) offer an extensive discussion of collective action problems and the role of government, and return repeatedly to this topic throughout their book. Similarly, a focus on collective action problems is at the heart of Walter Stone's introductory American politics text, Republic at Risk (1990).

People in Political Science.

In Memoriam: Bruce R. Andrews, Fred G. Burke, Andre Gunder Frank, Ralph M. Goldman, Judy Emily Gruber, Fred Holborn, and Wallace Mendelson

Over a career that spans the late 1960s to the present, APSA President Ira Katznelson has mounted a long and fruitful interrogation of political liberalism in the United States and Europe—asking for definition of its many forms, their origins, their strengths and weaknesses, and what kinds there can be. In doing such work, Katznelson has reframed several consequential phenomena and issues. They include African-American political incorporation over the course of the 20th century and the role of partisan strategy and policy design (as opposed to racial attitudes among Whites) in structuring such incorporation, the roots of American exceptionalism in the lived experience of “class,” and, most recently, the surprising extent to which rational choice and historical institutionalism conceptually overlap.

Executive Director's Report, News and Notes, PS Political Science & Politics January issue preview, Washington Insider, and Perspectives on Politics December issue preview.

The final chapter on the 2004 presidential election may not yet be written, but it is not too soon to look ahead to the 2008 contest. Public pollsters have been assessing opinions about the 2008 campaign for months already. Given the importance of frontrunner status in an increasingly frontloaded presidential primary system (Mayer 2004), the 2008 race has already begun for many prospective candidates, parties, and voters. In this article I analyze early public opinion polling data available from the Roper Center's IPOLL database about the 2008 race to determine the frontrunning candidates (at least through June 2005) and to reflect on the preliminary dynamics of the next presidential race.

CFP announces 2005–2006 Fellows, AAUP issues statement on academic boycott (with APSA response), APSA Nominations 2006 (including nomination form), Center PAGE, In the News, and In Profile: Jennifer Nou.

In 1997, lobbyists for the Independent Insurance Agents of America, under pressure from then Senate Banking Committee Chair Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY), threw in the towel and agreed to negotiate with their long time enemies, the banking and Wall Street investment industries, on new laws structuring the financial industry for the 21st century. Their compromise removed a major legislative barrier to facilitating the emergence of large, one-stop shopping financial corporations. More surprisingly, the Consumer Federation of America and other public interest groups also started bargaining over the shape of the consumer protection laws governing these new institutions. Getting something through bargaining, they believed, was better than letting the financial industry write these laws themselves. Not all consumer groups participated in these negotiations or gave support to the final bill; there were just not enough consumer protection provisions included to please their ideologically motivated members. Nor did every banking and insurance agent organization support the final deal, largely because their members felt threatened by the prospect of an industry dominated by a few financial behemoths. Yet the final interest group coalition that drove the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 across President Bill Clinton's desk was truly surprising in its ideological breadth.

Nominations for 2006 APSA Dissertation, Book, and Career Awards are now being accepted. Awards will be presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

For more information on award committee members or further details, visit www.apsanet.org or contact awards@apsanet.org.

The 101st APSA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., celebrated the start of a second century of scholarship and teaching in political science. Program Co-Chairs Susan Stokes of the University of Chicago, Jack Knight of Washington University, St. Louis, and James Johnson of the University of Rochester organized the meeting, working with a 53-person Program Committee named by APSA President Margaret Levi and also drawn from all of APSA's 34 organized sections. The 2005 conference drew 7,469 registered attendees and exhibitors who traveled from near and far to discuss the Meeting's featured topic, Mobilizing Democracy.

Botswana is frequently depicted as a major success story on a continent where political and economic success stories are unfortunately few and far between (Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson 2001; Leith 2005; Samatar 1999; Sarraf and Jiwanji 2001). In many ways, it is. In contrast to many resource-dependent countries, Botswana has avoided civil war, held regular elections, and produced some of the fastest sustained economic growth in the world. Yet, on February 18, 2005, President Festus Mogae declared the country's most famous political scientist, Kenneth Good, a Prohibited Immigrant and gave him 48 hours to leave the country. On May 31, 2005, after losing a legal appeal against this order, Good was held in a police cell for two hours, given 30 minutes to pack, and put on a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa (see timeline below). This article explores the background to Good's deportation and addresses some of the fundamental questions it raises about academic freedom.

Upcoming international events and APSA international membership.

The 2006 APSA Annual Meeting will convene in Philadelphia, PA on August 31 – Sept 3, 2006. What better place than the birthplace of our nation to discuss this 2006 theme, “Power Reconsidered.” 2006 Program Chairs Judy Goldstein and Rick Valelly are inviting participants to address the fundamental question of whether and how the concept of power informs political science. Hosted by the Philadelphia Marriott, the Loews Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the 2006 Annual Meeting will feature compelling discussions of this theme as well as current issues in political science and the public sphere.

Southwestern Political Science Association presents annual awards and coming events in other regional associations.

Editor's Note: The following is reprinted from AAUP's July 2005 issue of Academe with the permission of the AAUP. A more detailed history of the censure list can be found on the AAUP web site, 〈www.aaup.org〉.

APSA Council meeting final minutes.