The members of the Constitutional Revision Committee of the APSA were predominantly in agreement over the proposed text, though their reasons for supporting the text of the draft may have varied in particular instances. The authors of this article, in presenting their views in support of the draft, obviously claim to speak only for themselves. Hopefully, sufficient time and agenda space will be available at the business meeting during the 1971 Convention so that all the members of the Constitutional Revision Committee will feel encouraged to develop their particular arguments in behalf of the document in full detail.

In many respects the proposed new Constitution speaks for itself and needs no explanation. It seemed pointless and wasteful to us, for example, to specify the cost of annual dues as was done in the original Constitution. A Constitutional amendment was necessary, pursuant to the original document, each time the dues structure had to be altered. It is more consonant with the nature of a Constitution as a general framework of governance to leave such detailed items for careful deliberation by the assembly rather than to freeze them into the Constitution.

Since this paper in substantially its present form was delivered at the APSA annual meeting in Los Angeles in September, 1970 it has been seen and commented on by several of my friends who are intimate enough to be frank. Views ranged all the way from “don't spoil it by changing it,” to “bury it.” Clearly this is not the stuff of which neutral principles are made. In deciding to go forward, therefore, a plea of confession and avoidance is in order. This is an evocative paper, not a scholarly article. It suggests but does not prove a hypothesis, the real question being how much of it is true and what if anything should political science do about it. Because of the panel format there is intentional hyperbole in my characterization of certain aspects of the behavioral movement, and suggestion that for some researchers it may be almost a “cop-out” on current political and social problems. I trust that those I venture to chide a bit will receive it in the spirit of Marilyn Monroe, who used to say, better to be photographed nude than not at all.

The Cambodian invasion and the tragedies at Jackson and Kent State this spring led to explosions on college campuses all across the country. There was a great deal of talk of massive student intervention in the fall congressional elections and universities adopted various measures in response to the crisis. Some abandoned institutional neutrality by taking positions condemning the President's actions, others scheduled fall courses on elections and “practical politics”, while others opted for some variant of the two week “Princeton Plan” pre-election recess.

Most observers assumed that student political interest would remain high and that the student impact would be significant. By early summer university-based groups had been set up to lobby congressmen to support “end the war amendments”, to raise money for anti-war candidates, and to supply student volunteers to work actively for such candidates.

The number of political scientists registered in the National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel increased 25% from 1968 to 1970, from 5,176 to 6,493. This reflects a “natural” growth of perhaps 15–20%, over the two years while the remaining increase can be attributed to the greater scope of the American Political Science Association survey of political scientists in 1970. This growth in the political science section of the Register occurred despite a more restrictive definition of “professional political scientist” than had been used in 1968. Insofar as the APSA membership list can be used to gauge the completeness of the response, it would suggest that the Register is substantially complete for political science, allowing for the non-professional members of the Association and a probable residue of non-respondents. Political scientists comprise 2% of the total number of United States scientists (313,000 in 1970) in both years. More than half of National Register scientists are in three disciplines, chemistry, biology and physics.