The purpose of this course is to introduce a new framework linking the humanities to public policy analysis as pursued in the government and the academy. Current efforts to link the particular contributions from the humanities to problems of public policy choice are often narrow either in terms of their perspective on the humanities or in terms of their selection of the possible means of influencing policy choice. Sometimes a single text from one of the humanities disciplines is selected to apply to a particular issue. At other times, arguments about the ethical dimensions of a single policy issue often are pursued with a single — or sometimes, no — point of access to the policy process in mind.

Courses on political theory customarily start with the writings of Plato and Aristotle, who are rightfully considered the first great political philor sophers in the western tradition. Complementing this theoretical discourse, the wartime politics of ancient Greece, stressing its military history and the beliefs and motives of its leaders, is masterfully rendered by Thucydides.

National surveys of the political knowledge and attitudes of young Americans conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress document broad deficiencies in political education in the schools (NAEP, 1973; 1976). Political science professors who teach introductory college courses can attest to these shortcomings in the political knowledge and skills of many incoming freshmen. The main response of the political science profession has been to attempt to improve the quality of the content of civics, government, or citizenship courses by developing improved curriculum materials. Two major federally-supported, APSA-sponsored curriculum projects in the 1970s produced quality textbooks for high schools and instructional guides for middle schools (See APSA, DEA News Supplement, Spring 1974; and DEA News Supplement, Winter 1976).

In 1975, the American Political Science Association published an innovative computer game called SIMSTATE. The game and accompanying data bank were designed to help undergraduate students understand the dynamics of the budgetary process in American government, particularly at the state level. The game has been used successfully all across the country at all levels of postsecondary education — particularly when students have been given individual policy roles to play in the budgetary process. Still, the present package has two severe limitations. First, except for a brief descriptive booklet, no visual materials (i.e., slides, videotape) have been prepared to describe how the simulation package works and is used to analyze/evaluate the state government decision-making process.

The games people play can often prove to be enjoyable and educational experiences. For this reason political scientists occasionally employ simulation as a productive tool in their pedagogical repertory. The present study reports the empirical results of one such attempt to fuse work and play in international relations learning.

A large body of research has focused on the benefits of personalized systems of instruction (PSI) relative to the traditional lecture format. Most of this research indicates that PSI is superior to the lecture format. Most of this research indicates that PSI is superior to the lecture format. However, there is little research comparing PSI to other modern teaching techniques. The purpose of this article is to evaluate PSI relative to grouppaced modular instruction in the teaching of American National Government.

This paper deals with one of the most difficult and enduring issues in higher education: cheating. Predictably, the mass media emphasizes its more sensational aspects such as cheating scandals at military academies and commercial term paper mills. Available academic studies, however, document that classroom dishonesty is hardly an isolated phenomenon. Yet, public and campus concern shifts rapidly from indignation to inattention, leaving the problem much as it was.

Because many political science instructors come from another region or state; they feel insufficiently informed in teaching about the state and local government wherein they presently reside. Consequently, instructors generalize about these governments. Yet in many public universities and community colleges, students find the politics in their area pertinent and care less for comparative analysis. In truth, the students probably have a valid point, since the majority will reside in the state where they are attending college.