Volume 26, Number 2, July 2003

 


Congress to Campus Program
The United States Association of Former Members of Congress

The Congress to Campus Program is designed to address several aspects of the civic learning and engagement deficit among the country’s college-age young people, combining traditional educational content with a strong message about public service. The Program sends bipartisan pairs of former Members of Congress - one Democrat and one Republican - to visit college, university and community college campuses around the country. Over the course of each visit, the Members conduct classes, hold community forums, meet informally with students and faculty, visit high schools and civic organizations, and do interviews and talk show appearances with local press and media.

In the summer of 2002, the Board of Directors of the U. S. Association of Former Members of Congress (USAFMC) engaged the Center for Democracy & Citizenship (CDC) at the Council for Excellence in Government to help manage the Congress to Campus Program in partnership with the Stennis Center for Public Service (Stennis). CDC and Stennis, with the blessing of the USAFMC, agreed to undertake a number of initiatives to greatly increase the number of campuses hosting program visits each year, expand the pool of former Members of Congress available for campus visits, develop new sources of funding, raise the profile of the program and its message in the public and academic community, and devise methods of measuring the impact of the program at host institutions.

[To access full report on Congress to Campus, click here.]

Dirksen Center Invites Applications for Grants

The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. The Center, named for the late Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen, is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to the study of Congress and its leaders. Since 1978, the Congressional Research Awards (formerly the Congressional Research Grants) program has paid out $585,000 to support 315 projects. Applications are accepted at any time, but the deadline is February 1 for the annual selections, which are announced in March. A total of up to $35,000 will be available in 2004.

According to Center staff member Frank Mackaman, political scientists will use the grants to study such topics as congressional intervention in defense budgeting, congressional oversight of the executive branch, and campaigns for the U.S. House. Historians will explore the culture of violence in Congress in the antebellum years and the influence of incumbents in selecting congressional candidates at the turn of the 20th century. A complete list of this year’s Congressional Research Award recipients is posted at http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantcongresearchaward.htm.

The Dirksen Congressional Center is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization in Pekin, Illinois, that seeks to improve civic engagement by promoting a better understanding of Congress and its leaders through archival, research, and educational programs.

European Consortium for Political Research

ECPR has a new standing group on Parliaments, coordinated by Shane Martin, University of California, San Diego) and Matti Wiberg (University of Turku).

For a number of years the study of legislatures has concentrated on the US Congress. Parliaments in Europe have not been a subject of investigation to any comparable extent. Nevertheless, the body of knowledge is ever expanding on both the long-standing parliaments in Europe and the new institutions of the European Union and Central and Eastern Europe.

The Standing Group's aim is to promote comparative research and theory-building on the institutionalisation, capacity, operation, and performance of legislatures and the dissemination of such research.

For more information, and to register for membership (which is free) please see their web site at: http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/standinggroups/parliaments/index.htm



A Prolegomenon on the National People's Congress of China:
Legislating Consensus and Learning Democratic Participation

By Jiang Jinsong and Jack R. Van Der Slik

“After the train wreck of China's Cultural Revolution and Mao's passing, the Chinese leadership had to shape on the consensus for both its governing system and its economy. A piece of that consensus was to establish an authentic rule of law. The patriarchy and personal arbitrariness experienced under Mao convinced the next generation of the Communist Party leaders that one-man rule had brought disastrous consequences and that a more deliberative and broadly based set of institutions were needed. To have a rule of a law implied that no longer would the Communist Party operate by decrees and party papers. Increasingly the party would propose and rationalize its policies through people's congresses that would enact laws and statutes. Moreover, at the pinnacle of the state power would be the National People's Congress, actually fulfilling the rhetorical place assigned to it by the Chinese Constitution: ‘the highest organ of state power’ (Article 57).”

To access the full article on the National People‘s Congress of China, click here.

 

Research Fellowship Grant
Central Valley Political Archive, California State University, Fresno

The Research Fellowship
The Central Valley Political Archive at California State University, Fresno, is pleased to announce the availability of a research fellowship grant. Generously supported by the Kenneth L. Maddy Institute of Public Affairs, the purpose of the research fellowship is to support the individual research of graduate students, university professors, and independent scholars for an extended period at the Central Valley Political Archive. Fellows will have the opportunity not only to conduct intensive research but also give a lecture on their research to the campus community. The availability of the fellowship runs from July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005.

The Resources
The CVPA currently houses the papers of Kenneth L. Maddy (CA State Assemblyman, 1971-1978, CA State Senator, 1979-1998), Jim Costa (CA State Assemblyman, 1979-1994, CA State Senator, 1995-2002), Bernie F. Sisk (U.S. Representative 1955-1979), and Charles Pashayan, Jr. (U.S. Representative 1979-1991). Major topics include water, agriculture, reclamation and other legislative issues. For more information, please visit the CVPA’s web site at: http://www.cvparchive.org

The Grant
This grant will provide up to $2,000 to fund transportation, lodging and related research costs such as photocopying and photographic reproduction. One grant is available in each fiscal year.
CVPA staff will assist the chosen fellow in obtaining housing. Free borrowing privileges within the Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno during the fellow’s stay will also be offered.

Application
To apply, please send your curriculum vitae and a research proposal of no more than 4 pages, including the dates of your visit, a proposed budget and a description of the ultimate end result of your research. Letters of recommendation may be requested during the review process. We encourage you to contact us prior to applying in order to ascertain the viability of your proposal. You may call the Central Valley Political Archive at (559) 278-8573. Please send all materials by March 31, 2004 to: Glenn R. Gray, Archivist, Central Valley Political Archive, 5200 N. Barton Avenue M/S ML34, California State University, Fresno, CA 93740-8014

All applicants will be notified by April 30, 2004.



Visiting Scholars Program

The Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma seeks applicants for its Visiting Scholars Program, which provides financial assistance to researchers working at the Center's archives. Awards of $500 - $1000 are normally grantedas reimbursement for travel and lodging.

The Center's holdings include the papers of many former members of Congress, such as Robert S. Kerr, Fred Harris, and Speaker Carl Albert of Oklahoma; Helen Gahagan Douglas and Jeffery Cohelan of California; and Neil Gallagher of New Jersey. Besides the history of Congress, congressional leadership, national and Oklahoma politics, and election campaigns, the collections also document government policy affecting agriculture, Native Americans, energy, foreign affairs, the environment, the economy, and other areas.

Topics that can be studied include the Great Depression, flood control, soil conservation, and tribal affairs. At least one collection provides insight on women in American politics. Most materials date from the 1920s to the 1970s, although there is one nineteenth century collection.

The Center's archives are described on their website at http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/archives/ and in the publication titled A Guide to the Carl Albert Center Congressional Archives by Judy Day et.al. (Norman, Okla.: The Carl Albert Center, 1995), available at many U.S. academic libraries. Additional information can be obtained from the Center.

The Visiting Scholars Program is open to any applicant. Emphasis is given to those pursuing postdoctoral research in history, political science, and other fields. Graduate students involved in research for publication, thesis, or dissertation are encouraged to apply. Interested undergraduates and lay researchers are also invited to apply. The Center evaluates each research proposal based upon its merits, and funding for a variety of topics is expected.

No standardized form is needed for application. Instead, a series of documents should be sent to the Center, including:
(1) a description of the research proposal in fewer than 1000 words;
(2) a personal vita;
(3) an explanation of how the Center's resources will assist the researcher;
(4) a budget proposal; and
(5) a letter of reference from an established scholar in the discipline attesting to the significance of the research.
Applications are accepted at any time.

For more information, please contact Archivist, Carl Albert Center, 630 Parrington Oval, Room 101, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019.  Telephone: (405) 325-5401.  FAX: (405) 325-6419.  Email: kosmerick@ou.edu

 

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