LSS Newsletter, January 2009, Front

Volume 32, Number 2, July 2009

Legislative Studies Section Newsletter is published at the Carl Albert Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, under the authority of the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association. The LSS and APSA are non-profit educational associations. The Newsletter is uploaded to this Web site twice yearly: in January and in July.

Membership in LSS includes a subscription to Legislative Studies Quarterly.

Editor:

Ronald M. Peters, Jr.

Editor, "Extension of Remarks":

Valerie Heitshusen

Congressional Research Service

Co-Editor:

Cindy Simon Rosenthal

Managing Editor:

LaDonna Sullivan

Editorial Assistant:

Laurie McReynolds

Web Master:

Robert Kelly, Jr.

From the Chair

Lawrence C. Dodd

University of Florida

As my term comes to an end, let me express my great appreciation to everyone who has served on LSS committees over the past two years. Thanks to Pat Sellers for serving as 2009 Program Chair, to Secretary-Treasurer Tracy Sulkin, and to the Council members for all of their work and guidance. My appreciation as well to Ron Peters, LaDonna Sullivan, and the Carl Albert Center at the University of Oklahoma for the excellent job they do with the LSS newsletter and web site, and to Val Heitschusen for her fine work as editor of Extension of Remarks.

I urge each of you to set aside time in Toronto to attend the outstanding panels that Pat has prepared for us. Our panel allotment has declined this year by five, owing to a lag in our attendance relative to other sections, so it is vitally important that we all take the time to participate in the panels this year. The LSS Council will have an extended meeting in Toronto to discuss this and related issues.

We have set aside the planned survey of members so that current and incoming Council members and officers will have an opportunity to meet and discuss more fully the circumstances and options facing the LSS. I note that our membership is holding relatively constant (currently at 599) while the APSA membership and conference attendance has been increasing in recent years.

The Annual Business Meeting for LSS will begin at 6:15 p.m. in room 206D of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. A reception in room 206C will follow at 7:30.

The primary agenda for the LSS Business Meeting at this point will be the presentation of awards for best book, article, and dissertation in legislative studies.