Yang Wei, professor of political science at the Shih Hsin University, president of the Vanguard Institute for Policy Studies, Taipei, Taiwan, and president of the Sino-American Cultural and Economic Association of the Republic of China, passed away on March 3, 2004, after a valiant battle with cancer. A political scientist of international standing, Dr. Wei's career encompassed many different fields that included professorships in political science teaching and research, along with presidencies of academic and professional associations, and service in the Republic of China (ROC) cabinet and parliament.

For a generation of political scientists witnessing dramatic declines in social and political participation and rising distrust in government at all levels, APSA President Margaret Levi's research program addresses fundamental issues concerning the bases for and effects of legitimacy, compliance, and consent in democratic regimes. Levi's scholarship has made pioneering contributions to understanding enduring questions about the conditions for and consequences of trust and distrust, compliance and resistance, and individual versus collective action. Animating this research agenda are Levi's commitment to greater authentic democratic participation, enhancing trust between the governed and those who govern, and the quest for social justice.

The executive director's report each year represents APSA's annual report and provides an opportunity to comment on current issues facing the Association and the discipline. This year's report touches on activities in all of our major program areas. In this preface, I'd like to mention several priority areas in which the Association took new steps in the last year. This should be acknowledged in the context of our substantial on-going agenda to meet the basic responsibilities of the Association by advancing the discipline of political science through our highly pro ductive Annual Meeting, three strong journals, broad com munity building activities through or ganized sections, status committees, special projects, and much more.

The APSA Nominating Committee welcomes your suggestions for candidates for 2005–2006 Council seats and offices. This year, eight Council seats, three vice-presidencies, and the offices of president-elect, treasurer and secretary are open. Please note, the office of treasurer “should be from among members of the Association who, at the time of nomination, are serving as members of the Council or have completed service during the preceding year” (APSA Constitution, Art. V Sec. 5). Council members and the treasurer serve staggered two-year terms. The president-elect, vice presidents, and secretary all serve one-year terms.

DeWayne Lucas, assistant professor, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

The 2003–2004 Congressional Fellows concluded their fellowships on July 22nd with an elegant reception in the U.S. Capitol. It was only fitting to celebrate the year's end in the Mansfield Room. As noted by Advisory Committee Chair Norm Ornstein, the former Senate Majority Leader benefited from the fellowship perhaps more than anyone during his 34 years in office. The quip was especially appreciated by older alumni who remembered Senator Michael Joseph Mansfield's service.

The APSA Congressional Fellowship is quite a new program in the Middle East. Thanks to a recent partnership between the American Political Science Association and the Fulbright Commission researchers and journalists from different parts of the world have the chance to participate in the distinguished program. Given the fact that such programs are not well known outside the academic field, the Fulbright Commission in Cairo took the initiative to invite more people from different fields. As a journalist working for a leading newspaper in the Arab World, Al-Ahram, the experience of a 10-month focus on the U.S. Congress has thrilled me because the basic knowledge of the U.S. legislative body in the Arab world has been either inaccurate or insufficient.

The 100th APSA Annual Meeting in Chicago marked a momentous century of scholarship and teaching in political science. Program Co-Chairs Atul Kohli of Princeton University and Anne Norton of the University of Pennsylvania organized the meeting, working with a 53-person Program Committee named by President Susanne Hoeber Rudolph and also drawn from all of APSA's 35 organized sections. The 2004 conference drew 6,345 registered attendees and exhibitors who traveled from near and far to discuss the meeting's featured topic, Global Inequalities.

M. Margaret Conway has for over four decades dedicated her time and knowledge to the study of American politics, women in politics, and political behavior. As a leader in the field of women and politics, she has supported a new generation of women in the profession with sage advice and guidance. She has contributed her knowledge to several institutions, and has been honored for her exceptional teaching with the University of Florida's Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, as well as its Teaching Improvement Award.

Margaret Levi, the Jere L. Bacharach Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle, became the Association's 101st president on September 4th at the Association's Annual Business Meeting. Outgoing APSA President Susanne Rudolph of the University of Chicago presented Levi with the Association gavel, marking the second time in the Association's history that a standing woman president has passed the gavel to an incoming woman president. Joining Levi in guiding the Association are five new officers. Eight new members of the council will be elected in an all member electronic election during the month of October. Details on the results of the election will be available on the web and in the January issue of PS.

The Association honored 23 scholars for their career achieve ments and outstanding research at the Awards Ceremony and Luncheon, held as part of the Annual Meeting in Chicago. Hosted by 2004 Program Co-Chairs Atul Kohli and Anne Norton, the event began with a lun cheon for the winners, their guests, and committee members, and was followed by a ceremony pre sent ing 18 prizes. Complete citations on each award can be found in the Gazette section of this issue of PS.

Ten outstanding students from the 2004 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI) participated at this year's Annual Meeting in Chicago. The students presented their research at the American Politics II Poster Session, with topics ranging from the effect of the mainstream media to post-September 11th anxiety. Students were accompanied at the meeting by former RBSI student Tehama Lopez, RBSI class of 2000 and now a doctoral student at the University of Chicago. This year's class of RBSI students and the research they presented at this year's meeting:

In an effort to assist graduate students to participate in the Annual Meeting, the Association awarded 58 Advanced Graduate Student Travel Grants for the 2004 meeting in Chicago, twice as many as last year. The names and institutional affiliations of the 2004 winners follow.

Nominations for 2005 APSA Dissertation, Book, and Career Awards are now being accepted. Awards will be presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, is pleased to announce the following award winners for 2004.

At their respective meetings during APSA's 2004 Annual Meeting in Chicago, Organized Sections distributed over 75 awards rec og niz ing dissertations, books, papers, and careers. Many of these awards are presented annually and nom i na tions are sought at this time for next year's award. For further in for ma tion be sure to visit www.apsanet.org/about/sections.

Dear Colleague:

This letter provides information about a recompetition of the American National Election Studies (ANES).

My interest in the world of politics began when I was a high school student. However, in the authoritarian structure of Soviet society political science as an independent scientific discipline, was, for a long period, considered to be a “capitalist” science. When I was in Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University there was no major in political science so I chose history as my major because it was the closest.

Mobilizing Democracy Democracy holds out great promise. Theorists have posited that people who live in democracies are freer to express their preferences and that officeholders are more likely to respond to these preferences; that in democracy there is more room for meaningful debate and deliberation; and that under the proper conditions democratic decision-making will produce fair and just social outcomes. Researchers have demonstrated that people who live in democracies, on average, earn higher wages, are freer to form organizations, enjoy a broader range of public services, are less likely to go to war and to suffer from famines, and enjoy more responsive governments than do people who live under non-democratic regimes. Yet it is clearer today than it has been for decades that the struggle for democracy is ongoing: the struggle to defend its basic institutions from encroachment and decline in established democracies, and the struggle to achieve it at all in still-numerous countries and regions around the world.

The theme of the 2005 APSA meeting is Mobilizing Democracy. With this theme the Program Committee encourages panels and papers on a range of topics that shed light on the following sorts of questions. What kinds of reforms are likely to allow elections to accurately and legitimately express pubic preferences, in established and new democracies alike, and what political coalitions are likely to bring about such reforms? How do the mechanics of voting influence electoral outcomes, and what produces changes in these mechanics? What methods for establishing electoral districts avoid extremes of mal-apportionment and encourage competition, and how ought competing notions of representation inform these systems? When cross-border conflicts are played out less between states and more between states and non-state forces with some capacity to threaten states' security, how can democracies respond without lowering standards of civil liberties and international norms of human rights? How do fledgling democracies balance pressures to participate in international coalitions, reduce barriers to trade, and conform to the criteria of international financial institutions while also responding to the aspirations of their citizens? What is the role, empirically or normatively, of collective actors and organizations such as labor unions, social movements and corporations in democratic politics? Can democratic institutions be introduced from abroad and flourish in deeply divided societies? Finally, can democratic institutions flourish in societies with few democratic traditions? In the following pages, the 2005 Division Chairs clarify their calls for proposals which seek papers addressing these themes and compelling questions from the perspective of their areas of specialization.

Investigations by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) of the administrations of the institutions listed below show that, as evidenced by a past violation, they are not observing the generally recognized principles of academic freedom and tenure endorsed by the AAUP, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and more than 180 other professional and educational organizations. The 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure may be found at <www.aaup.org>.