Although today's undergraduates may not have considered the implications of class struggle, they are generally well-versed in the intricacies of vampire lore. This article outlines how the vampire metaphor can serve as a valuable pedagogical tool for introducing students to fundamental concepts in Marxist thought. As opposed to the supernatural vampires featured in Stoker's Dracula or Meyer's Twilight saga, this approach treats capitalism as a form of economic vampirism—with the capitalist taking on the role of the vampire and the worker relegated to its prey. The article further extends the vampire metaphor and demonstrates how it can be used to teach the Marxist perspectives on class conflict, alienation, and false consciousness.

I share Gary King and Maya Sen's view that applying the knowledge, approaches, and tools of the social and policy sciences might help us be more intelligent about shaping the future of the American system of higher education and its component parts. I have even been surprised, in turning from the scholarly field of my training and academic field to a professional preoccupation with higher education, to search in vain for sessions at APSA meetings in which my fellow political scientists might focus their analytical eyes on our own sector and institutions. Taking more systematic analytical approaches might certainly be a good alternative to riding the most recent serious source of anxiety—and there have been many in recent decades—or mining a particular strand of data in search of indicators that might serve as tea leaves or life rafts, also known in the trade as “benchmarks.”

One of the first, and most frequent, questions asked of congressional fellows is: What do you want to get out of your fellowship? Fellowship Director Jeff Biggs, former fellows, professors, chiefs of staff, legislative directors, and members will, at one point or another, raise this topic. At an abstract level I had an answer: I sought a better understanding of the legislative process. But, at times, it felt like a trick question. At a practical level I had almost no idea what I was getting into. I had few expectations or preconceived notions about the lessons that would come over the next year. Without legislative experience to fall back on, setting out to accomplish a prearranged set of goals seemed impossible. So I took a different tact. Rather than search for expertise in a particular policy area or with a specific goal in mind, I sought a placement that would treat me unexceptionally. I set out to find an office assignment that would offer complete emersion as a congressional staffer. I fashioned myself as a miniature Clifford Geertz. I needed to get as close as possible to living the life of a full-time staffer, complete with long hours and a significant portfolio. After I came up for air at the end of my fellowship, I figured I will have learned lessons I did not necessary start out to find, but would nonetheless enhance my understanding of the institution and how those within it practice and perceive politics.

The political science program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) announces its awards for basic research support and dissertation improvement grants for fiscal year 2012. The program funded 68 new projects and 30 doctoral dissertation improvement awards. Additional program funds were spent on continuing grant increments, which result from awards that were made in previous fiscal years, but for which funds are being disbursed on a yearly basis instead of upfront. The program holds two grant competitions annually—Regular Research, August and January 15; and Dissertation Improvement September and January 15—and constitutes a major source of political science research funding as part of fulfilling NSF's mission to encourage theoretically focused empirical investigations aimed at improving the explanation of fundamental social and political processes and structures.

The university occupies a peculiar space in democratic societies with market economies. Higher education serves the cause of democracy by fostering a more able and enlightened citizenry and the needs of the economy by producing a more skilled and creative workforce. The university likewise depends on the state and the market for its resources, for the tuitions, the grants, the contracts, the licenses, the royalties, and the gifts that are the lifeblood of every institution of higher learning.

Congressional Fellows in the class of 2012–13 Amir Fairdosi and Joshua Huder made contributions to this issue of PS; in the July issue of PS, Anthony Madonna, also class of 2012–13, contributed to PS. Here they are, with the entire class of Congressional Fellows.

In February 2013, APSA celebrated the 10th anniversary of the annual APSA Teaching and Learning Conference. The conference was held in Long Beach, CA, February 8–10, 2013. This year's theme was “Teaching Political Science: Preparing Students for Success” and featured a special 10th anniversary roundtable moderated by John Ishiyama and Pi Sigma Alpha Keynote speaker APSA executive director, Michael Brintnall.

The simplistic, but still influential, idea of a clear-cut boundary between science and politics does not capture the complexities of the ongoing “dialogue between science and politics.” Neither do political scientists live in an ivory tower, nor do they breathe the air of a separate world. However, the relation between political science practitioners and the rest of the world remains knotty. In this contribution we outline the value of a focus on “practical reflexivity” to assist in the dialogue with political practice. Based on proposals from social theory we evaluate six strategies of coping with the dilemmas of engaging with practice. The strategies provide a menu of choice for political scientists, as well as systematization of furthering the discussion on practical reflexivity.

It is with great sadness that the department of political science at the University of Guelph announces the passing of O.P. Dwivedi (January 20, 1937–January 29, 2013) after a courageous battle with cancer. Dr. Dwivedi was a much loved and respected professor in the department of political science, having served as chair of the department from 1979 to 1990. He was known internationally for his research and scholarship in the areas of public administration and environmental politics. Dr. Dwivedi retired from the university in 2003, but remained an active member of the department, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses until this year when his illness precluded it.

Founded in 1953, the APSA Congressional Fellows Program is the nation's oldest and most prestigious congressional fellowship. The program remains devoted to its original objective of expanding knowledge and awareness of Congress. For nine months, select political scientists, journalists, doctors, federal executives, and international scholars gain “hands on” understanding of the legislative process by serving on congressional staffs. Through this opportunity, the association enhances public understanding of policymaking and improves the quality of scholarship, teaching, and reporting on American national politics. For more information, please visit http://www.apsanet.org/content_3031.cfm. Individuals selected for the program for 2013–14 are listed below.

Peer review is central to political science. In this article we collect the ideas of journal editors in political science and several recent PhDs, who met as a panel at the 2011 American Political Science Association Annual Meeting to discuss the principles of the review process. This includes why reviewing is important to the development of one's own scholarship but also offers some nuts and bolts on reviewing.

On the 10th anniversary of the APSA Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs, it seems appropriate to go back to the genesis—to the decisions made by the 1998 APSA Council—to remind ourselves of their expectations.

The American Political Science Association is returning to Chicago, Illinois, for the 2013 APSA Annual Meeting and Exhibition. Join APSA in this exciting and beautiful city to share and discuss the latest scholarship in political science and address issues related to the theme “Power and Persuasion.” The 2013 APSA Annual Meeting and Exhibition will have something for scholars in every stage of their careers, including an exhibition of publishers, eJobs placement service, plenary sessions, and networking receptions. More than 6,000 political scientists, publishers, and other scholars are expected to travel to Chicago to take part in this largest annual gathering of political scientists.

The sixth annual APSA Africa Workshop was conducted in partnership with the Institute for Governance and Development (IGD) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from July 1 to 12. The event is part of a multiyear initiative to support political science research and teaching in Sub-Saharan Africa through a series of residential political science workshops at African universities and research institutions. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Africa Workshops program is a major component of APSA's efforts to engage with political science communities outside the United States and support research networks linking US scholars with their colleagues overseas.

Efforts to systematize our knowledge of international relations (IR) have tended to focus on journal articles while ignoring books. In contrast, we argue that to know IR we must know IR books. To this end, this article presents the first systematic analysis of such books based on coding 500 IR texts published by leading presses against variables covering methodology, theoretical paradigm, and policy application. We compare the results with those of the Teaching, Research, and International Policy (TRIP) project's coding of 2,800 journal articles against the same variables, and the 2008 and 2011 TRIP surveys of more than 3,000 IR scholars. The main findings are that books are much less quantitative than articles published in leading journals, are somewhat more representative of the field according to paradigm, and are more engaged with policy concerns.

We report here the journal's operations during the year from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012, (when the Review was headed by the UCLA editorial team) and the period July 1, 2012 to January 1, 2013, or the first six months when the University of North Texas team has been at the helm. In this report, we also summarize the transition process from UCLA to the University of North Texas (UNT).