Volume 27, Number 2, July 2004

Congress to Campus Program
Democracy Fellowships
Dirksen Center Invites Applications for Grants
Election Results Archive
European Consortium for Political Research
Parliamentary Representation in the Internet Age
Visiting Scholars Program, APSA Centennial Center

Visiting Scholars Program, Carl Albert Center, University of Oklahoma

Congress to Campus Program

The United States Association of Former Members of Congress

The Congress to Campus Program arranges for a pair of former Members of Congress - one Democrat and one Republican - to visit college, university and community college campuses around the country. During a typical two-day visit, the former Members teach classes, meet with faculty, hold community forums, visit with student groups and individual students, do interviews with local media, and participate in other activities designed to suit the sponsoring school. In addition, the Members make a concerted effort to interest students in public service and government career options. The Center for Democracy & Citizenshp, in partnership with Stennis Center for Public Service, manages this program for the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress. This is a unique educational resource for the students, community, and faculty to gain a better understanding of Congress, the federal government, and our political system. To obtain additional information about the program, including a downloadable application form, click here.

Democracy Fellowships

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) invites applications to its Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program. Established in 2001 to enable democracy activists, scholars, and journalists from around the world to deepen their understanding of democracy and enhance their ability to promote democratic change, the fellowship program is based at NED's International Forum for Democratic Studies, in Washington, D.C.

The fellowship year begins October 1 and runs through July 31, with major entry dates in October and March. All fellows receive a monthly stipend, health insurance, travel assistance, and research support through the Forum's Democracy Resource Center and Internship Program.

Applications for fellowships in 2005-2006 must be received no later than November 1, 2004. For detailed information on this program, click here or go to the www.ned.org website and follow the link to "Fellowship Programs."

Dirksen Center 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 $620,000 to support more than 325 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 2005.

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. Application guidelines and a complete list of Congressional Research Award recipients are posted at http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.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.

Election Results Archive
Center on Democratic Performance at Binghamton University

The Center on Democratic Performance at Binghamton University is pleased to announce the launch of the Election Results Archive (ERA), a collection of electronic files containing data on election results from around the world. This unique online database with global coverage provides researchers, policy-makers, scholars, and others interested in elections with information on over 900 elections from around the world. It includes information on the following:

Types of Elections: Results for presidential and national legislative elections.
Countries: The Archive currently contains election results from 134 countries that have met a minimum threshold of democratic performance for the year in which the elections took place.
Dates of Elections: The ERA contains results back to 1974, This date was selected because it is frequently cited as a beginning point of the recent phase of democratic expansion (democratic elections in Greece and Portugal).

More election data will be added to this Archive as time and resources permit.

The archive can be searched by country, region, or year and type of election. Please visit the archive at http://cdp.binghamton.edu/era/index.html

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

Parliamentary Representation in the Internet Age

Economic and Social Research Institute, University of Salford, UK

ESRI has announced a new research project that looks into parliamentarians' use of internet based technologies in the UK and Australia. In particular, they are examining the role of new technologies in shaping the work of MPs and the nature of parliamentary representation. The project is wide ranging, looking at a number of complementary issues, and does involve a range of research activities and methodologies:

Regular analyses of parliamentary/MPs websites to assess the function of such sites (over the next two years);
Postal surveys of parliamentarians to gauge the attitude toward, and importance of, Internet communication and online participation;
Interviews with MPs to understand Internet communication strategies, and their associated benefits and problems;
Public opinion survey to evaluate citizen awareness, usage and problems of internet communication with representatives;
Focus group assessment of the design and content of parliamentary websites.

For more information, visit the web site at http://www.ipop.org.uk or contact Wainer Lusoli by email at s.lusoli@salford.ac.uk.

Visiting Scholars Program

APSA Centennial Center for Political Science & Public Affairs

The American Political Science Association recently opened the Centennial Center for Political Science & Public Affairs in its headquarters building in Washington, D.C. As part of its programs, the Centennial Center assists scholars from the United States and abroad whose research and teaching would benefit from a stay in and access to the incomparable resources available in the nation's capital. The Center provides to Visiting Scholars the infrastructure needed to conduct their work, including furnished work space with computer, phone, fax, conference space, and library access.

The Center has space to host 10 scholars for extended periods of time, ranging from weeks to months. Space for shorter "drop-in" stays is also available. Scholars are expected to pursue their own research and teaching projects and contribute to the intellectual life of the residential community by sharing their work with Center colleagues in occasional informal seminars.

Eligibility is limited to APSA members. Senior or junior faculty members, post-doctoral fellows, and advanced graduate students are also strongly encouraged to apply. A short applicationform is required, and submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Positions are awarded based on space availability and relevant Center programming.

The Center also has a limited number of funding opportunities to support scholars working at the Centennial Center or other research locations.

For more information and an application, please visit the Centennial Center web site <www.apsanet.org/centennialcenter> or call Sean Twombly at 202.483.2512.

Visiting Scholars Program

Carl Albert Center

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; Sidney Clarke of Kansas; 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 collections are described on the World Wide Web at http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/archives/ and in the publication titled A Guide to the Carl Albert Center Congressional Archives (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: channeman@ou.edu