IN THIS ISSUE
The April issue includes two symposia, one on teaching about the Middle East since the Arab Uprising and one on politics and "Big Data." Other articles examine the effects of Superstorm Sandy on the 2012 election, validity of robo-polls, job satisfaction in academia, political scientist as bloggers, and publishing as a graduate student, as well as teaching simulations. Preview the contents here.

SYMPOSIA

As the Arab uprisings have led to another spike in demand for knowledge on the region, the symposium, “Teaching the Middle East Since the Arab Uprising” makes concrete suggestions for how Middle East politics may be brought into a wide range of thematic courses.  The eight authors introduce frameworks for understanding the less obvious dynamics of the Arab uprisings and suggest concrete ways of integrating these events into undergraduate and graduate courses in political science.  The authors address the dominant frameworks in circulation and introduce primary and secondary materials for classroom use.  The contributors also suggest fruitful avenues for scholarly research to both engage and move beyond the most common analytic frameworks. Guest editors are Bassam Haddad and Jillian Schwedler.

The symposium “Technology, Data, and Politics” addresses the global growth of the Internet and information and communication technologies (ICTs), and examines its impact on the study of politics. In recent years, real world events like the Arab uprisings have sparked debate over the role of technology in political life, and interest in “Big Data” has increased.  The symposium introduces major new sources of data, demonstrates innovative methods of analysis, and identifies questions and next steps for research.  Contributions ranging from American and comparative politics to theory and methodology discuss how political scientists can and should think about using ICT data in their work. Guest editors are Sheena Chestnut Greitens and Gabriel Koehler-Derrick.

FEATURES

In "Sandy the Rainmaker: The Electoral Impact of a Superstorm," Yamil Velez and David Martin show how Sandy likely gave Obama a boost on Election Day 2012. They show how the storm could have flipped state elections in North Carolina and .

In 2012, Karine Van der Straeten, Jean-François Laslier, and André Blais conducted an Internet-based experiment during the French presidential election. They designed a website (www.voteaupluriel.org) where voters could vote under different voting rules. They report their results in “Vote Au Pluriel: How People Vote When Offered to Vote under Different Rules.”

In “Robo-Polls: Taking Cues for Traditional Sources?” Joshua D. Clinton and Steven Rogers share findings that provide suggestive, but not conclusive, evidence that pollsters may take cues from one another given the stakes involved.  If so, reported polls should not be assumed to be independent of one another and so-called poll-of-polls, therefore, will be misleadingly precise.

In “Should More Polls Be Interpreted as Too Close to Call?” Walter W. Hill shows that the margin of error reported in public opinion surveys on elections is often incorrectly interpreted. Winners are declared in contests too close to call.

THE PROFESSION

According to a survey of political science faculty, job satisfaction varies with institutional type, working environment, academic rank, number of publications, and demographic characteristics. Vicki L. Hesli and Jae Mook Lee sharing findings in “Job Satisfaction in Academia: Why Are Some Faculty Members Happier Than Others?”

In "Women Don’t Ask? Women Don’t Say No? Bargaining and Service in the Political Science Profession” Sara McLaughliln Mitchell and Vicki L. Hesli consider whether female faculty bargain more or less frequently than male faculty and whether women do more academic service than their male peers.

Do expectant or nursing mothers ask for accommodations on interviews? How do departments respond? Based on the results, Angela K. Lewis offers a list of recommendations in “Expectant and Nursing Academics: The Interview Experience of Moms in Political Science.”

Many scholars discount the value of edited volumes and book chapters to the social science enterprise. Nevertheless, as David Leal shows in “Chapters, Volumes, Editors! Oh My! Reassessing the Role of Edited Volumes in the Social Sciences,” these unique formats advance scholarship, help faculty and graduate students achieve their goals, and enhance teaching and learning.

Graduate students should plan to publish early in their graduate career. In “Publishing as a Graduate Student: A Quick and (Hopefully) Painless Guide to Establishing Yourself as a Scholar,” Timothy S. Rich provides suggestions for beginning the publishing process.

When political science and the blogosphere collide, will we let blogging change political science, or will we let political science ruin blogging? Robert Farley addresses this question in “Complicating the Political Scientists as Blogger.”

THE TEACHER

Robert  Boatright, Nicholas M. Giner, and James R. Gomes recount their recent experience at Clark University in teaching congressional redistricting to undergraduate political science students, including the use of a realistic mapping simulation.

Can international relations be real and meaningful for undergraduates? Elizabeth Frombgen, and her six coauthors, says  Yes—by having students create and conduct a simulation to teach other students.

In “Midshipmen Form a Coalition Government in Belgium: Lessons from a Role-Playing Simulations” Nikolair Biziouras shows that students changed their views on whether institutional rules affect the chances for government formation in deeply divided societies.

View contents here

AND MORE...

See the PEOPLE section for news of colleagues and NSF Awards, and ASSOCIATION NEWS for current news about the association and member activities.

Editorial Staff

Editorial Board

Submission Guidelines

Copyright Agreement

Permissions 

Advertising in PS

People in Political Science: publicize activities, articles, appointments, awards, honors, retirements, our items in the news in PS. Submit an item »