Colleges and universities are increasingly intentional about meeting well-articulated and consistent general education goals and documenting substantive learning outcomes. Institutional imperatives to document the successful teaching of essential knowledge and skill sets frequently fall to faculty and departments, posing new challenges in an environment of time and resource constraints. A capstone course is an increasingly common method to measure student learning and assess programmatic and institutional success. We provide concrete suggestions to design a capstone course and assess student learning outcomes. After describing the structure of the course and four innovative assignments, we present the results of assessment conducted through the capstone. We further the conversation on the development of best practices and how political science departments can align institutional and programmatic goals and lead the way in university assessment.

Government policymakers rarely consult with academic experts before formulating policy positions. When policymakers do seek out academics, they are often attempting to justify a position they already hold, not searching for objective analysis. Academics could add much to the policy debate if they were more meaningfully engaged in the discussion.

The problem of plagiarism by political scientists has not received much attention. The incidence of plagiarism, however, may be greater than one would think. In this article, I offer a humorous look at what happened when a manuscript of mine was plagiarized. Based on my experience, I offer some suggestions on how scholars might detect and prevent plagiarism.

Civic engagement is increasingly recognized as a significant function of public universities. The university provides a variety of opportunities for civic engagement, including co-curricular activities, service learning opportunities, and specific majors and minors. This article reviews the attempt to embed civic engagement and civic education about the national debt and budget deficit issues in a university core curriculum course at Stephen F. Austin State University. We focus on specific issues of curriculum instruction and assessment of student learning of knowledge regarding the debt and deficit issues.

Rick Farmer's article focuses on ways in which academic political scientists can influence policymakers. At the Toronto meeting of the Working Group on Practicing Politics, government political scientists also recognized that academics often are frustrated by the process of getting information from the government and cooperation from officials.

As a political scientist with expertise in human rights and the Balkans, I was invited to provide critical commentary and analysis of Kosovo's declaration of independence in February 2008 for CNN International. I offered an analysis rooted in the understanding and interpretation of international law, foreign policy, and domestic politics of Serbia and Kosovo. While I was not surprised that my analysis was not popular in Serbia—after all, I did argue that the independence of Kosovo was legitimate—I was surprised at the level of ethnic intensity and the broad-based hostile reaction to my CNN appearance in Serbia. This article first documents the harassment campaign I experienced. I then conduct textual analysis of the hate mail and online postings to offer insights about ethnicity's relation to identity, gender, and political analysis in the public sphere. I conclude by discussing how identities of researchers—as crafted by themselves and others—help define analytical tools we use in scholarly inquiry.

How can philosophical instruction inform practical analysis and decision making among college students in a way that demonstrably benefits them as individual members of our polity and economy? I pose this question because each year, I introduce classic political theory to first- and second-year college students who simultaneously confront a fiscal crisis in the American state and profound financial challenges as individuals, and I want to ensure that the concepts and analytical strategies we study as theory can meet their most pressing practical needs during the first decade that they are out of college.

We investigate differences in what students learn about survey methodology in a class on public opinion presented in two critically different ways: with the inclusion or exclusion of an original research project using a random-digit-dial telephone survey. Using a quasi-experimental design and data obtained from pretests and posttests in two public opinion courses, we test the hypothesis that students who participate in an original survey research project will have a stronger understanding of survey research methods than students who do not. To better assess the effect of the active learning element of the course, we estimate average treatment effects on the students who participated in the original survey project using nearest neighbor matching (Abadie et al. 2004) with student scores on a pretest. We find evidence of modest improvement in learning of survey methods in the course featuring the original survey research project; however, the major finding here is that a course featuring this kind of opportunity appeals to a different kind of student than a course that allows participants to stay closer to the classroom and library instead of the social science research laboratory. This discovery may have important implications for our understanding of the effects of active learning opportunities in other types of elective courses.

Anniversaries, for good or ill, are often hard to ignore. The finiteness and roundness of a century proves almost too irresistible for us to not stop and try to derive some sense of accomplishment and meaning from our individual and collective efforts. The recent 100th anniversary of the American Political Science Review in 2006, for example, proved too much to ignore and, as a result, provided us with just such a reckoning (see, e.g., Sigelman 2006). As alluring as the end of a century is for such reminiscing, this impulse is even more forceful at the end of a millennium. Such a closing represents a chance for letting go of the past, gaining some sense of forgiveness, and with the hope of constructing a new future, taking a chance to begin again. This notion of renewal and change was very much on the mind of the individual behind the original “Perestroika” e-mail, circulated in the fall of 2000. In the e-mail, Mr. Perestroika called into question the relevance of the APSA and the American Political Science Review (APSR), questioned the narrowness of our methods, and bemoaned the whiteness and maleness of most of the leadership positions within the discipline. The new millennium seemingly called for a new approach to the study and practice of political science that would move us away from the “coterie” of “East Coast Brahmins” who dominated the APSA and APSR. The tenth anniversary of Mr. Perestroika's e-mail offers us a chance to reflect on and revisit the millennial promise of the Perestroika movement, examine its impact upon the discipline, and assess the nature of its future.

Unlike other disciplines in the social sciences, there has been relatively little attention paid to the structure of the undergraduate political science curriculum. This article reports the results of a representative survey of 200 political science programs in the United States, examining requirements for quantitative methods, research methods, and research projects. The article then compares the results for the United States with a survey of all political science programs in Australia, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The results suggest (1) that the state of undergraduate methods instruction is much weaker in the United States than indicated in previous research, (2) this pattern is repeated in other countries that emphasize broad and flexible liberal arts degrees, and finally (3) this pattern of weak methods requirements is not found in more centralized, European higher education system that emphasize depth over breadth. These countries demonstrate a consistent commitment to undergraduate training in research methods that is followed up with requirements for students to practice hands-on research. The model of weak methods requirements in the discipline is not the norm internationally, but differs depending upon the type of higher education system.

Both service learning and simulations have been shown to positively impact student outcomes, but they are not often used together. This article examines how to effectively combine these active learning styles to reap the benefits of both. After examining a case in which the two were combined and the impact this approach had on student evaluations and learning outcomes, I discuss how such projects can be successfully executed in a variety of other classes.

Lyndon State College's (LSC) participation in the America's Future Initiative on the U.S. national debt, in association with Public Agenda, began with a grant application for funding to participate. After being awarded funding, as the sole political scientist, I was selected with approval by the administration to attend the September 11 to 13, 2008, opening conference in Washington, DC. Flying into Washington, DC, on September 11 surely was a sign of commitment. At the conference, participants were schooled on the initiative by George Mehaffy of the American Democracy Project, Andrew Yarrow of Public Agenda, the Concord Coalition's Diane Rogers, and Stuart Butler from the Heritage Foundation. As a political scientist, I was well-aware of much of what was presented, but to hear differing perspectives and review the data and presentation materials was an excellent experience.

This study employs the Solomon Four-Group Design to measure student knowledge of the United States government and student knowledge of current events at the beginning of a U.S. government course and at the end. In both areas, knowledge improves significantly. Regarding knowledge of the U.S. government, both males and females improve at similar rates, those with higher and lower GPAs improve at similar rates, and political science majors improve at similar rates to non-majors. Regarding current events, males and females improve at similar rates. However, those with higher GPAs and political science majors improve more than others.

Ten years ago this October, the members of the political science community might have heard a short, but quite fascinating, cri de coeur about the prevailing practices of the discipline in the United States at the turn of the century. Circulating as an e-mail message shortly after the 2000 APSA Annual Meeting, it popped up in the inboxes of a few political scientists and graduate students throughout the academy, who then quickly redirected its message to hundreds and then thousands of their colleagues. Signed “Mr. Perestroika,” the e-mail's short passages bemoaned the profession of political science as it was unfolding under the allegedly misguided aegis of an “Orwellian system” of methodological formalism. Portraying the discipline as trapped in this intellectual cul de sac, Mr. Perestroika depicted an essentially degraded social science discipline that favored the political views of a “coterie” of “East Coast Brahmins” by ratifying their narrow methodological practices (cited in Monroe 2005, 9–11). Such practices, based mostly on “statistics or game theory,” wrongly promoted a simplistic and, for far too many students of the state and society, discredited economic understanding of politics. This unenviable methodological parochialism in turn favored a style of “professional correctness” that froze out other political perspectives and analytical approaches (Luke 1999, 345–63) in the discipline's key journals, major organizations, and scholarly practices. For Mr. Perestroika, these distorted academic norms were also compromising the relevance, utility, and validity of political science as an applied social science.

Classroom simulations can make a significant contribution to learning outcomes in political science courses, provided that they are firmly linked to course content and learning objectives. This article offers a step-by-step decision framework for instructors seeking to use simulations as a core component of their courses, including selection of an exercise, pre-simulation preparation, instructor role during a simulation, and techniques for debriefing after the exercise. Options such as online and face-to-face, synchronous and asynchronous, distributed and single classroom, and individual and team formats are compared, with a focus on their associated learning outcomes.

“I don't think I am good enough” was more than one student's response when invited to participate in civic engagement activities or to articulate their own original scholarly ideas. The insecurities underlying comments like this one are probably much more complex when put into the context of a student's academic life and its normal expectations. Students may have heard about previous civic engagement ventures from classmates who preceded them, and admittedly, many of those students had similar reservations in previous American Democracy Project (ADP) ventures; however, the America's Future Initiative was different. This initiative aspires to engage students' critical and analytical thinking on issues related to deficits and debt, especially in the public sector; furthermore, America's Future is a call to action without a prepared script.

Despite being responsible for a large percentage of undergraduate instruction, graduate students often receive little preparation for their first solo teaching assignments (J. D. Nyquist et al., Change 31 (3): 18, 1999). Furthermore, the existing literature on pedagogy fails to address the unique challenges faced by graduate students who are asked to serve as course instructors rather than teaching assistants. This article presents seven pieces of advice intended to better prepare the predoctoral graduate student to assume the role of the professor before assuming the title. By understanding the attitudes of undergraduate students toward graduate instructors, preparing in advance to handle the mistakes that novice teachers often make, and recognizing the correlation between outward confidence and student perceptions of instructor quality, graduate students can derive the most benefit from a stressful and time-consuming assignment. Most important, graduate instructors can learn to effectively manage the time spent on teaching duties to ensure that other responsibilities such as coursework, qualifying exams, and dissertation research do not suffer.

Teachers of political science have increasingly recognized the utility of classroom simulations to provide students with an active-learning experience to enhance learning outcomes. Our article builds on this growing trend by proposing a congressional simulation to help students understand the complexities and nuances of the lawmaking process. Specifically, the simulation aids students in identifying the deliberative aspects of congressional policymaking, appreciating the complicated process involved in a bill becoming a law, understanding the multifaceted ways in which self-interest guides the decisions of congressional actors, and challenging student cynicism about Congress as an institution.

Institutions of higher learning reflect the philosophies, environments, and resources of their location. Fort Lewis College sits in the San Juan Mountains, a part of the Rocky Mountain chain in southwest Colorado. Throughout its history, the College has successfully transformed itself to suit the needs of its students. Flexibility is demonstrated in frequent changes in focus, curriculum, student population, and programming. Founded as an agricultural high school in 1911, the College transitioned to a two-year college in 1927, implemented an agricultural and mechanic two-year degree program in 1933, assumed junior college status in 1948, and finally, in 1962, became a baccalaureate degree–granting institution that centered its educational objectives around a liberal arts philosophy. Additionally, the College's diverse faculty and student population impact the curriculum and programs. Students of differing classes, ethnicities, regions, and faith traditions share intellectual and physical space. Presently, the student population is just under four thousand, and there are approximately two hundred tenure or tenure-track faculty. Eighteen percent of the student population is native, representing over 125 different nations, but principally the Navajo nation. These statistics require the College to adjust its curricular objectives to suit the intellectual levels and goals of its students.

It is fitting to measure Perestroika's impact through the contents of the leading political science association journals. The original Perestroika manifesto railed at the American Political Science Review (APSR), and many subsequent Perestroika protests condemned the skewed contents of the APSR, the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS), and the Journal of Politics. Large national and regional associations publish and pay for these journals. The position of Perestroika has been that their contents should represent the many types of research that political scientists are doing, which was not the case when the movement began.