In a recent issue of NEWS, Professor G. Alan Tarr reminded us of how the feature film Nashville (1975) could be used as a springboard for thoughtful classroom discussion of American politics. While that film is ostensibly about country-music and its performers, Tarr makes a strong case that the Robert Altman film is “above all a commentary on political life.” Nashville can be seen as an insight into a view of the voters and their indifference, indeed hostility to politics. The advance man of a presidential candidate is seeking to enlist big name performers for a rally but the candidate is never seen and the sound truck that advertises his campaign blares out the vague populist homilies which reminded many viewers of the then flowering Jimmy Carter speeches.

Law-related education is experiencing a growing emphasis in school curriculum throughout the American school system. Educators see the need for it though most are not trained specifically in the law. Therefore, they need as much guidance as possible to help them create a curriculum that is relevant for their students.

An excellent way to provide this help is through the development of a well-designed curriculum guide. There have been a few guides developed in law-related education in the last few years such as the one produced by the James Madison Institute on Law-Related Education at James Madison University (Curriculum Guide for Law-Related Education in the Secondary Schools of Virginia, copyright Virginia State Bar).

The Legislative Decision Making Process is an educational role play for graduate or undergraduate students concerning the political and pressure relationships involved in the political decision-making process. The role play reviews the implications of the decision-making processes upon the provision of services by governmental agencies.

The role play engages from twenty to sixty students in a simulated budget-making and lobbying experience and utilizes this experience to teach students:

1. 1. The values and pressures considered by bureaucracies and the Legislature in decision-making;

2. 2. The relationships which exist between clients, community groups, administrators and politicians;

3. 3. The various techniques of Community Organization for lobbying and Legislative influence.

The role play consists of various groups of students in roles which include legislators, administrators of three major state departments, two minor state departments, parent groups, Concerned Citizen groups, American Indians disabled individuals and ex-clients.

Interest in the arms race has been growing in recent years as shown by coverage in the media and in political campaigns. Many students coming to class are already preconditioned either for or against increased defense spending. This participatory exercise allows them to test their ideas, and it helps make their minds more receptive to new concepts being explored in the class, such as: Is detente in the best interests of the Unted States? Should a new SALT Treaty be negotiated? What is the best ratio of expenditures for domestic programs and national defense?

SDB stands for Secret Defense Budgets. In the SDB exercise, or game as it is called, the class is divided into groups of two students sitting next to each other.

In the summer of 1979 the Division of Education Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities sponsored an institute on “War and Morality” at the University of Massachusetts/ Amherst. The institute was attended by 20 college teachers, including nine political scientists, all of whom have since developed courses on “War and Morality” or added material relating to this subject to existing courses on their own campuses. The following essay is a report on the 1979 summer institute and its local follow-up.

When in 1949 the United Nations International Law Commission was asked to codify the law dealing with the methods and means of warfare it declined the task for the reason that “war having been outlawed, the regulation of its conduct has ceased to be relevant”.

Political scientists can be of practical assistance to important segments of the adult population who need training to develop lobbying skills. This is an area in which the subjectmatter expertise and teaching experience of political scientists have direct application outside the traditional classroom setting.

A great many citizens’ groups, professional associations, public officials, business organizations and private citizens have occasion to contact their representatives on legislative business. Yet many, if not most, of these groups and individuals have little understanding of the process in which they are engaged. In consequence, they may approach lobbying with great trepidation, they may be unable to maximize their influence and they may hold unrealistic expectations of the ability of individual legislators to shape policy.

The study of Illinois government and politics is made immensely more enjoyable and possible by a rich and long-standing body of written material. Most aspects of the state's past and present governance and political processes have been documented and researched.

Before discussing Illinois documents, it is well to consider the broad characteristics of the state. Illinois is a large industrial and agricultural state in the Midwest. The population is now eleven million, the state has been described as a microcosm of the nation both on an economic and political basis. For this reason alone, Illinois is well worth studying. It has played an important role in several recent federal elections, and at the state level its politics continue to fascinate researchers on political behavior. As for the economic sphere, it should be noted that Illinois exports more products than any other state in the Union.

With the first direct election to the European Parliament in the fall of 1979, there has been a renewed interest in the study of the European Community. While very few American universities offer courses on the European Community, more college and universities are including some coverage of the Community through course offerings on European politics or the study of international organizations.

There are several reasons why the European Community is today receiving more attention by scholars and researchers. With the addition of three states in 1973, the nine member organization has become a significant economic force in the world. And because of the Community's economic importance, its decisions also have social and political implications.

As part of efforts to assist political science instructors, the American Political Science Association is currently using a grant from the National Science Foundation to develop and field test Supplementary Analytical Units for political science classes. Developed during the past three years, eight units are now being field tested: Hayard R. Alker, Jr. and Roger Hurwitz, Prisoner's Dilemma; John M. Boyle, Public Service Delivery; Phillip T. Gay, Minority-Majority Group Conflict; Stephen R. Lefevre, Technology Politics; Brian Loveman, The Beer Bottle Crisis; Mark Sproule-Jones, Natural Resources Management; Barbara Ann Stolz, Juvenile Delinquency; and Arnold B. Urken, Markets for Votes.

This paper reports on the field test of Stephen Lefevre's Technology Politics unit at Saint Mary's College.

Political scientists are increasingly interested in understanding policymaking in civilian, defense and space technologies. The answer to the question why this is, is found partly in the emergence of the policy field itself, and partly in the enormously expanded role that government stimulus of technological innovation is playing in the public and private sectors. A listing of some recent programs — breeder and fusion reactor R&D, the space shuttle, windmill farm demonstration programs, synthetic fuels programs, and dial-a-ride transportation systems — gives some indication of the scope of federal involvement, and points up some of the implications that this enlarged role has for the student of public policy. Why, for instance, has government elected to stimulate innovations in certain technologies and not others? Who are the key actors shaping the policymaking process in R&D? Are their gaps in federal efforts? Is the policy system responding effectively to needs for renewable energy sources, alternative home building materials, gasoline-efficient automobile engines, etc?