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 Volume 27, Number 2, July 2004 Current Section OfficersFrom the Chair |
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Chairperson Diana Evans Department of Political Science Trinity College 300 Summit Street Hartford, CT 06106 Phone: (860) 297-2546 Email:Diana.evans@trincoll.edu Secretary/Treasurer Editor, LSS Newsletter Editor, "Extension of Remarks" Member-At-Large, 2003-2005
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Member-At-Large, 2003-2005 Gary Cox Department of Political Science University of California - San Diego LaJolla, CA 92093-0521 Phone: (619) 534-1428 Email:gcox@ucsd.edu Member-At-Large, 2003-2005 Preceding LSS Chair LSS Program Co-Chair,
2003-2004
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Trinity College |
Proposal to Link LSS
with LSQ
Normally the annual business meeting of the Legislative Studies Section at the APSA convention consists largely of the pleasant ritual of giving out awards to authors of outstanding books and papers. We will do that again this year, of course. Beyond that, this year’s meeting has shaped up as one of unusual opportunity for LSS. On behalf of the LSS Executive Committee I will bring to the business meeting a proposal to link membership in LSS with a subscription to the Legislative Studies Quarterly. LSQ has long been “the medium of scholarly publication for [LSS] members,” according to our bylaws, but there is no formal connection between the two. In June, Gerhard Loewenberg and Michelle Wiegand, Co-Editor and Managing Editor, respectively, of LSQ, proposed to the Executive Committee of LSS that the linkage become formal, with LSS dues rising from $10 to $30 to cover the cost of providing LSQ to all LSS members. A subscription to LSQ alone now costs $40, so this proposal would give our members a subscription of half the normal cost; this much lower price was calculated by LSQ to cover its marginal cost of providing the journal to our members. LSS members would, of course, continue to receive the excellent LSS Newsletter. As required by the LSS Bylaws, this proposal will be presented to LSS members for a vote at our annual meeting, which will be held on Friday, September 3 at 6 p.m. at the APSA convention in Chicago. The Executive Committee of LSS believes this to be an exciting opportunity for LSS to play an even more significant role in the advancement of legislative scholarship. We also consider this offer a generous one and believe that the scholarly value of the journal is so great that it warrants the cost. As most LSS members know, Legislative Studies Quarterly is the leading journal of legislative politics; it is devoted to disseminating “scholarly work on parliaments and legislatures, their relations to other political institutions, their functions in the political system, and the activities of their members both within the institution and outside.” For more information on the Quarterly, go to http://www.uiowa.edu/~polisci/legstudiesquarterly.html, from which this quote is taken. Nevertheless, as we considered this proposal, a primary concern was the potential impact on our membership of tripling LSS dues. There is reason to be optimistic on this score: Two other APSA sections, the Political Methodology Section and the State Politics and Policy Section, have taken a similar step in recent years, and both saw increases in membership. But there might be a transition period in which we see a decline in numbers; thus, the Executive Committee, which consists of myself, Frances Lee as Secretary-Treasurer, Executive Council members Janet Box-Steffensmeier, Gary Cox, and Larry Evans (who, as co-editor of LSQ, removed himself from the discussion) and program co-chairs Sarah Binder and Forrest Maltzman, carefully considered the proposal and devised an agreement with LSQ that would protect LSS from excessive financial damage if membership did decline dramatically. That agreement, to which LSQ has agreed, includes a provision for prorating of our payments to LSQ in the event of large drops in membership and a two-year trial period for the linkage. The change would take effect in January, 2005. The full agreement will be presented at the business meeting. Of course, each member will have to decide for himself or herself whether it is worth it; the members of the Executive Committee strongly believe that it is. I encourage you to come to the business meeting and look forward to a lively discussion and vote on the proposal. |
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