"All major issues are crossing the formal borders of political science; the breakdown of democracy, anarchy, war and peace, generational change, the nexus of freedom-quality, individualism in advanced societies, fundamentalism in traditional societies, ruling class, public opinion. There is no communication between two political scientists analyzing the crisis of the social security system, one by abstract modeling and the other by vernacular language. The first is in contact with modelers in economics, and the second cites scholars from other disciplines."
According to a 1999 national assessment, "one-third of the country's high school seniors do not understand the fundamentals of American Government. ... Only 9 percent of the kids were able to give two reasons why it is important for citizens to be involved in a democratic society."
"Democracy is running the circus from the monkey cage" -- H.L. Mencken
"Political science had no necessary logic to its separate existence, that is, it had no distinctive methodology. It had no clearly defined subject matter that could not be encompassed within one or more of its sister disciplines. Its various parts could have survived simply as political history, political sociology, political geography, political philosophy and political psychology - sub fields in other disciplines.... Each of the other social science disciplines claims a piece of political science." ~ William Andrews
"Political science is an inveterate borrower. It may, in fact, be the great eclectic among the social sciences. The history of its growth and development is a history of selecting skills and ideas from other disciplines." ~ Sarouf
"At the heart of the latest uprising is a decades-old split in the field over the best way to study politics. On one side are quantitative researchers who favor rigorous mathematical techniques and on the other are more traditional qualitative researchers who look at history and culture, using case studies, written documents and firsthand observations. For shorthand, you can think of the feud as the pro number versus the no number folks (terminology that could no doubt spur a protest of its own). And what's at stake are jobs, power and prestige." ~ Emily Eakin
"...Political scientists have, in recent years, put too much effort into trying to make the discipline more of a science, hence putatively superior to other sources of political knowledge, and not enough effort into making it a source of distinctive insights into substantive political questions." ~ Rogers M. Smith
"Taking one grand idea and trying to stuff as much into it as you can -- the reigning way of doing political science -- bears an uncomfortable resemblance to developing a political ideology and interpreting everything in the world through it -- the dominant way of doing politics." ~ Alan WolfeThere is little consensus on scope and boundaries. The literature suggests that there is not one science of politics, but several. Political science studies politics. Everyone seems to know what politics are--who gets what? Politics is about power. Note that sociology also studies power. It is the science part that is difficult for most adults to understand.
Political science is the study of the origin, development, and operation of political systems. Political science is the study of government (the state) and the structure and activities of the state. Perhaps, political science is also the study of how to govern well.
Political science is the study of power and allocation of power (order and decision-making). "Administration is the lifeblood of power" so that public administration is also at the heart of things. Political science is the resolution of conflict--the study of the nature, locus and use of power. This means that political scientists may study "the parameters, processes, and products of power ... wherever human beings organize power."
More recently, political science has focused on the study of political behavior, processes, and institutions. Political behavior happens in many environments, including at work (office politics) and in academe.
Political economy is that branch of the science of a statesman concerned with "preserving the system of natural liberty by artfully studying the linkages between the economy and the state." This is a moral science concerned with the greater good.
Micro politics looks at the individual's political behavior. Macro politics looks at the political system and those factors that influence it.
American government and politics is the most popular and visible part of political science in the U.S. Besides considering the organization and operation of government, this topic considers the nature of the political process within the U.S including voting behavior. This topic may include constitutional law as well as fields devoted to the study of government at the state, county, or city level. The study of public policy might appear here if primarily U.S. in its orientation or might appear separately if more comparative.
In some situations, the organization, processes, and behavior of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of the government are seen as separate fields of study. Similarly, foreign policy might be a separate if comparative or part of the executive, or part of American government.
Budget and fiscal management might be part of American government or of public administration.
International politics or relations is concerned with how governments and some non-governmental organizations react to and influence each other. Sometimes, conflict resolution is included here. The study of iinternational law, international organizations, and multinational corporations may be sub-disciplines. National security policy, which has received considerable attention lately, might also be considered.
Political geography examines geopolitics, electoral geography, the spatial organization of society, urban - rural differences, and the impact of demographic change on places and politics.
Political history was, until recently, the major part of political science. While less popular now, it still has considerable appeal. Some critics allege that most of history, at least as revealed in text books, is "political history." Constitutional history and the history of political institutions are important.
Political philosophy might also appear as part of political theory. As is true of some other fields mentioned here, it might also be found in another discipline, here philosophy in the humanities. Sometimes, political theory is combined with political philosophy.
Political psychology, on the edge between political science and psychology, examines political socialization, alienation, political attitudes and beliefs, national character, and political dissatisfaction among other things. It is a relatively new and small field, but is likely to become more popular over time.
Political socialization/big> is similar. Sociologists such as Parsons, Lazarfeld, Adorno, and Dahrendorf have had substantial impact on political science.
Political theory is the analytical study of the ideas and doctrines central to political thought. Traditionally, there has been a focus on major thinkers and a cannon of classic texts. Theory has also been concerned with ethical or normative considerations (goodness). Sometimes, this field is combined with political philosophy.
Politics and political parties have been a popular topic for some time and may be examined at the national, state and local level. Comparative politics looks at similarities and differences in government by state or country. For example, the legislature in France might be compared with that in Germany.
Public administration, may be scientific as an academic discipline or as a profession similar to business administration. As a discipline, there is a focus on administrative organization, processes, policy, and behavior. As a profession, there is an emphasis on "how to do it good." Typically, it tends to be practical and of immediate utility. Administrative law may be part of this field. Since it is often a separate department or school, public administration has its own sub-disciplines such as personnel administration.
Public opinion might be considered separate from political science since it may deal with a wide variety of concerns and issues. To the degree that public opinion research focuses on political issues, it is clearly an important part of contemporary political science. In fact, polls and polling have been an integral part of modern politics.
Since political science studies power and order, the practice of politics is as old as human kind. The study of order, rulers, and ruling has a long tradition with students as diverse as Aristotle and Machiavelli. For most of the history of human kind, political events were seen as unique. The "science" of politics did not emerge until the period between 1740 and 1790. Hume introduced the experimental method into moral subjects at this time when the study of politics was part of moral philosophy. In the beginning of higher education in the U.S., most colleges represented a religious congregation. For these colleges, higher education "was directly connected to public life" and it was assumed that graduates would play a role in government and the community as a leader. When secular education emerged, we saw the "civic university." Here, students represented a broader section of society and higher education was to solve practical problems in society while also instilling "a common set of democratic values." Today, colleges and universities continue to graduate people who will be leaders, but these are now "understood as primarily experts and professionals, rather than moral leaders or active citizens. We have gone from the amateur political scientist to the academic expert. The focus of political science is no longer on "preparing young men for public life."
In 1857, Francis Lieber, Columbia College, became the first named professor of political science in the U.S. During the 1870s, there was considerable interest in civil service reform and the municipal reform movement created a visible need for experts and objective research related to best practice. In 1880, John Burgess, Columbia University, established the first school of political science. The American Political Science Association was established in 1903. In the beginning, most political scientists were thoughtful amateurs rather than full-time academics. Political scientists focused on "political realism"--facts relating to the state, its laws and legal structures. Research examined historical evidence from books and manuscripts, usually related to legal, constitutional, and structural issues. Political behavior outside of government received little attention. Often, scholars examined what they thought was the unique U.S. context or environment. For quite a long time, political science was a junior partner in history departments. In some cases, until the 1940s and 1950s. History was mostly political history and political science was seen as simply contemporary history. "Political science must be studied historically and history must be studied politically" said John W. Burgess. One critic compared political science research of this period to "political anatomy."
Between 1880 and 1920, political science became more visible in U.S. colleges and universities. It was still largely focused on governmental institutions, constitutional law, political thought, and international relations. The difficulty in separating from history, since so much of political science was really political history and so much of history was political, continued to be a problem. After 1901, there was more emphasis on administration of government agencies and services (public administration).
At the beginning of World War I, only 38 US universities had separate political science departments. The War caused some turmoil in the discipline since many felt that existing theory had failed. Activism and reform focused attention on a variety of difficult issues such as rapid social transformation related to industrialization, urbanization, and massive immigration. Old political institutions no longer seemed to work. Machine politics was corrupt and often ineffective. Public service was inadequate. The Progressive Movement led to increased interest in reform and best practice. Some argued that political science should be the "science of democracy" and the "science of the [efficient/effective] state." Government could be reformed via scientifically competent, trained experts. Political scientists needed to study best practice, how to measure effectiveness and efficiency. Taylor's [1923] scientific management studies had considerable impact on what would become public administration. With proper education, governmental managers might become scientists or engineers. Government research bureaus and legislative reference libraries were established. Civil service reform, including city manager government, as well as the initiative and referendum movement made notable strides.
Public administration had begun as a field within political science, but gradually separate departments were developed to "train the civil servants who were charged with implementing the policies decreed by the legislatures." Much intellectual content was borrowed from the growing field of management science (in business colleges) beginning in the 1920s.
The New Deal administration was the high point of social scientist participation in scientific planning for government. Many political leaders and governmental managers had distrusted political science involvement in government as too theoretical and too ideological (left-wing). In the 1920s and 1930s, Charles E. Merriam developed the behavioral approach which replaced legalism and traditional descriptions of political institutions with the study of measurable, observable political behavior. There was a substantial emphasis on the hypothesis-testing method. There was strong linkage to New Deal initiatives. Political scientists should study "who gets what, when, and how." Harold Lasswell and Walter Lippmann were associated with this approach. Much was borrowed from psychology. Today, behavioral research is the mainstream of political science in the U.S. The Bureau of Applied Social Research was established at Columbia University in 1940. It was the first political science survey research center and with a research agenda strongly oriented toward the study of consumer choice behavior. Michigan established a well-known Survey Research Center in the 1950s which evolved into a national center for survey research in political science and related social sciences.
In the 1950s and 1960s, political science became a behavioral science attempting to describe and model a political system with actors and roles. There is more borrowing from psychology re: political behavior and from sociology re: political culture and socialization. The more traditional study of institutions, constitutions, and the like becomes a relatively small part of the discipline. Borrowing from history, law, and philosophy declined. The discipline became more number-based.
By now, Public Administration had become a separate department or school in most research universities. In the 1960s, the discipline became more quantitative and interest in mathematics and statistics increased notably. Public opinion research was now a major area for political science research, especially as large data sets become available. The availability of large data sets for voting encourages the study of elections and voting behavior.
By the 1980s, economics and sociology became more prominent participants in political research along with psychology and mathematics. Political science was becoming much more behavioral.
In retrospect, many of the advances seen in contemporary political science have come from other disciplines or professions. Sociology contributed social indicators. Psychology contributed attitude surveys and economics contributed ways to study consumer choice. Political science has become much more firmly integrated into the social sciences, especially sociology. The long-standing linkage with history has become less important.
The increasing emphasis on model-building and quantitative methods has not been universally welcomed. Some argue that too often "method comes first, and subject matter is chosen to conform to it." Too little attention is paid how politics and power relationships work in the real world.
About 32 percent of political scientists are female and about 80 percent are employed in academe. The remainder work in government research bureaus (though fewer than before), civic and trade associations, and a few are in business and industry.
Political science is a popular discipline with more than 1000 BA programs, 300 MA programs, and 100 PH.D. programs. The leading PH.D. programs [these vary from year to year according to ISI impact ratings, include:
The employment outlook is somewhat gloomy and is largely limited to replacement positions (although there may be more of those within the next five years). The number of job candidates continues to rise while the placement rate remains constant. U.S. government and comparative politics are probably the most popular teaching areas. Ninety percent of all political scientists in the world are in the U.S. Two-thirds of all political ever scientists are alive today.
Periodical rankings also change from year to year according to ISI impact factor, but these are usually in the top ten:
Recall that political science began as >moral philosophy or social ethics with a notable emphasis on the moral obligations of the citizen to the state. Some see political science as citizen training or indoctrination. Political science becomes civics which is designed to teach students to be good citizens and participate appropriately in the political process.
Historically, there has been little interest in criticism of the status quo, especially government policies and procedures. The important question here is the degree to which political science can be objective and dispassionate. To what degree should political scientists take a stand? Should they prescribe? Should they leave the academy and attempt to influence government via a variety of reform initiatives? Conservatives, and many governmental leaders, are not happy with publicly funded academics vigorously attacking the status quo. Tenure and promotion require research and not participation in the political process.
Relatively inexpensive, powerful desktop computers have had a dramatic impact on political science by making data based "scientific" research possible. Available computer resources have made the large data sets and their analysis/interpretation possible. Political science has become more like economics, especially in the study of voting behavior. This also means that political research is less understandable to the lay person. "In the old days when political scientists wished to be obscure they quoted Greek, now they use differential calculus." The computer has also accelerated the need for statistical/mathematical research training in political science graduate programs.
The American Political Science Review is the leading periodical in the field and the membership periodical of the American Political Science Association. Most recently published articles have a substantial quantitative element. It is clear that this "scientific" focus does not reflect the breadth of the discipline and qualitative researchers are often unhappy because they feel that their research is ignored.
As research as become increasingly specialized and quantitative, political science research has become distant from ordinary people. While there is considerable popular interest in politics and government, political science research has had little impact on popular attitudes and beliefs. There is a substantial need for accurate, popular treatments.
Many key terms, such as freedom, democracy, and security, are difficult to know and understand. Politicians and political advocacy groups may select their evidence to match their views and values. In some case, they may issue and promote falsehoods/disinformation so that there is a tendency by many lay people to doubt everyone and stick to previously held beliefs and values. There is also considerable confusion between is and what ought to be.
Political science deals with phenomena already familiar to lay people. Often, research seems to support the status quo. Few Americans identify with the discipline. Politics is often seen as something dishonest or corrupting. Government is distrusted for its intervention in daily life or its failure to intervene in daily life. Many believe that participation in the political process is foolish or corrupt. Powerful special interests usually win. There may be little that an individual can do and that is not likely to make much of a difference.
As mentioned above, K12 education has not done a good job with political science [here civics, government]. Again, there has been too much emphasis on structure and political history and not enough attention on political behavior. As is true with history, government/civics instruction has often been more of an opportunity to celebrate the goodness of the "American way" than an objective inquiry. Memorizing institutional details and the names of cabinet members, for example, makes political science dull.
Political science has had variable success as a policy science. Originally, political science had two goals: (1) to scientifically study political behavior and (2) to support and improve U.S. democracy. These may not be compatible. Public administration has made a visible, continuing difference in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the practice of government, especially at the state and local level. Many of the past practice ideas adopted by governmental agencies have come from some public administration research initiative.
For political science, however, there is no clear linkage between research and better government or an improved political process. Political science research is rarely tested in the field and often arrives at common place conclusions. Research has produced much descriptive work, but little theory and few laws. Political science graduates, however, have been successful in providing decision-makers with useful ideas. Consider all of the think tanks and their research/publication programs.
Information needs vary widely depending on the research topic and methodology used. Data files are much in demand, especially those with detailed election information, but also those that capture government activity.
There are at least 500 scholarly periodicals with a political science focus and few cover the discipline as a whole. About 80 percent are in English.
Several universities and some colleges have research centers devoted to some political or policy issues. In addition, many non profit organizations have research centers which study issues with political implications. Research center newsletters, working papers, policy briefs, statistical reports, data sets, and reports should be in research collections along with the appropriate bookmarked URLs.
Political and issue advocacy organizations produce a considerable variety of publications in print and now in digital form on the web. Much of this ephemeral material is of considerable interest to political, and even cultural, historians. Those in public administration are often interested in policy studies and technical reports from a variety of organizations interested in more efficient and effective government. PAIS is often helpful for material issued from the more notable policy oriented non-profit organizations. While there are some notable archival collections of political material from labor unions, Marxists, civil libertarians, socialists, and the like, much useful material has been lost. There is a need for more comprehensive collecting and preservation. Libraries have an important responsibility to collect political ephemera from their local environment.
Detailed information about the political process (who did what when), especially in the legislative and executive branches (and the judicial branch for those in constitutional law) remains popular.
Congressional Information Service (now part of Lexis-Nexis) is an especially important information provider. Its LexisNexis Congressional is the leading database for legislative research available in many university libraries.
The other major provider of legislative information is Congressional Quarterly. CQ.Com is similar to Congressional Universe, but with more detail and full text. CQ's Electronic Encyclopedia of American Government is a broader and most useful source for most users. CQ Press issues many reference works found on ready reference shelves in reference departments. A growing number of these are also available in digital editions or collections. Examples might include:
Other notable CQ publications include:
The UT Libraries holds the CQ Voting and Elections database. This is an excellent source for the many reference questions about elections.The The Washington Post [note the two free politics and opinion newsletters {RSS} and The New York Times provide reasonably detailed and objective current awareness information. Government documents and publications are also heavily used, especially now that they are widely available on the web. Do become familiar with USA.gov as your access point for federal government web content.
Increasingly, the study of politics involves substantial use of public opinion data. Polls may be initiated by TV and radio networks as well as cable TV news organizations. Most major metropolitan newspapers commission polls on political topics. Polling organizations are particularly valuable:
Note too Public Opinion On-line (Dialog 468) and PPULSE in the Lexis-Nexis News Library. In searching for public opinion results, common search terms are attitude, poll, public opinion, survey, data, and perception.
The degree to which political blogs create public opinion or reflect it is not clear. It is clear that these blogs often have substantial impact and are being studied by political scientists. They may also interest political advocates and some adults preparing for voting, especially in national elections. A thoughtful librarian might provide links to those with greatest impact. Politics Line provides access to daily political comment from "pundits" and bloggers from a variety of perspectives. The major political parties have blogs. Political blogs are found at all levels of government, but national government seems to attract more interest especially if the blog delivers "insider" news. In 2006, the leading liberal blogs were:
The leading conservative blogs were:
Political scientists frequently publish in periodicals.American Political Science Review remains the leading periodical, followed by the Journal of Politics, and the American Journal of Political Science but there is increasing interest in specialist periodicals like World Politics or the American Journal of International Law The American Journal of Sociology is also heavily cited. Recently, periodicals devoted to international relations have been more highly cited than those devoted to comparative politics and political theory.
Directories of those who work for government at its various levels are most useful, especially since names and addresses are needed to make contacts. While much of this information is now on the web, directories remain quite useful. GovSearch by Carroll Publishing is a comprehensive directory [more than 600,000 listings] for all levels of government. Your library should also contain hard copy or digital directories for local and state government.
The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences is an online bibliographic database that includes political science. It has good coverage of material issued abroad, including books, articles, government publications, and some ephemera.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts [CSA], covers 1975 - and is updated monthly. This title combines Political Science Abstracts and ABC POL SCI. Political science here includes international relations, law, and public administration. About 1500 titles are covered. There is a subject-specific thesaurus available online. Updated monthly and about 20,000 new records are added each year. International Political Science Abstracts [Ovid] covers 840 periodicals and yearbooks. It is issued by the International Political Science Association and covers 1989 - . It is updated bimonthly.
PAIS [CSA] provides good access to public policy articles and reports [government publications, gray literature pamphlets, Internet materials] from 1972 - and contains the largest number of abstracts. America: History & Life and Historical Abstracts provide reasonable coverage of political history.
There is a tradition, shared with history, for many political scientists to prefer monographic publication. The monograph remains the most important form of publication. However, it is increasingly difficult to find publishers willing to issues these books since the market is very limited. As political science becomes more scientific, the periodical becomes more important. In the near future, it will be more important than the monograph. Most political science monographs are published by university or other non-profit publishers.
Traditionally, political scientists (like historians) have been relatively heavy library users. They use both consumer and scholarly periodicals. They have heavily used government documents and publications. Memoirs, diaries, and other primary source material is important for political historians, especially those involved in biographical research. Newspapers have also often been used as primary source material and for the public opinion data. In earlier days, constitutional law cases and decisions were frequently used. However, the strong link with legal information seems to be weakening over time.
Although use has increased in the past few years, conference proceedings are not heavily used. With the exception of political history, there seems to be little interest in older material. Relatively few items more than 20 years old are used. English is the dominant language. About 90 percent of the items cited in the political science literature is in English. There are continuing problems with the grey literature. Substantial reports and policy papers issued by political institutes, research bureaus, and organizations here and abroad as well as material issued by political parties and organizations are often not collected and made accessible.
In the field of international affairs, Columbia University has developed an interesting collection of working and conference papers, articles from selected periodicals, websites, economic indicators, conference proceedings, and books. This digital archive of scholarly material is available via subscription from the Columbia International Affairs Online [also available at UT via the databases pages]. Reasonably comprehensive, focused collections like this could be a boon to scholars and to libraries with more limited collections.
The documentation of the formulation and administration of public policy has long been one of the major rationales for the creation and preservation of archives. But relatively few political scientists now use these materials. Political scientists often associate archives with historians and the past. Archives are frequently seen as inaccessible, selectively preserved, and occasionally with content even falsified. Increasing emphasis on data sets related to elections, voting behavior, and public opinion research has created substantial interest in data archives. Over time, this reduces interest in the traditional library collections. Dozens of data archives have been established with election and public opinion data bases especially popular. The Roper Public Opinion Research Center and the Inter-University Consortium for Political Research are good examples.
Political science borrows considerable material from other disciplines. An older study found that about 30 percent of the material cited in the political science literature actually comes from political science. About 20 percent comes from law. About 16 percent comes from history. About 7 percent comes from economics. The use of sociological and economic literature has increased over time. The literature of philosophy remains important for political theory. Psychology literature is important for the study of political behavior.
Most social scientists are unhappy with the classification schemes, and political scientists are no exception. The schemes are not contemporary enough and do not place political topics where they should be placed. The Library of Congress recently removed the JX class and replaced it with KZ for the law of nations and JZ for international relations. Publications of international organizations may go in either class. Most libraries did not reclass but accepted the new class for new items. Much political science material, because it contains political history, will be found classed in the D-E-F schedules (History). Legal history is also placed in history where it is not as visible as it might be.
With the exception of those in the college/university setting, most teachers are not interested in the research literature. Rather, they want synthesis in a popular, colorful and well organized treatment. Well-done videos remain very popular. Popular material from political organizations useful as a discussion vehicle will be useful in some environments. The "who did what when and why" fact books are popular for helping students with classroom assignments. Current awareness material to answer questions about current events and provide context--periodicals and web sites, for example--are also popular.
Although not limited to politics and government, online subscription databases provide solid, well-illustrated information on political aspects of states and countries. K12 examples include:
Most of the fee-based social studies databases also include good content on government and politics.
If high school students are active in the National Forensic League and are involved in debate, supporting libraries and media centers will need to collection material on the National High School Debate Topic of the year. The 2007 topic is "public health assistance to sub-saharan Africa." Many of these topics have a substantial political/government element.
Although nearly gone from the American scene, there was once a tradition of libraries and information centers serving government employees. The municipal reference library is a good example of a library, often affiliated with a public library, whose mission was to provide local government employees with the information needed to improve their job performance. A few public libraries still attempt to provide this service.
Typically, those in government are interested in current awareness, especially as it relates to what others in similar situations are doing. This relates to their primary information need which is how to do it better based on what others have done successfully. "How I did it good" articles are popular. Normally, there is little interest in the research literature unless it has been summarized and popularized. In Tennessee, the Municipal Technical Advisory Service provides this service for municipalities. There is a similar service for counties.
Most of those in political or political advocacy organizations will rely on their own information sources or those in national headquarters rather than the local public or academic library. Members of the community interested in starting a political organization or campaign may be interested in how to do it material such as how to properly run a meeting {Robert's Rules of Order?}. This would include information on rules and regulations plus accounts of similar, successful campaigns. These individuals and groups are usually issue driven and will be interested in a particular issue such as charter schools or environmental remediation. Biographical material on successful community activists may also be popular. Current awareness, what others are doing, is also an important information need and these individuals are not likely to have alternative information resources except access to the web. There will be some interest in "who did what when" fact books. Voting records of local, state, and national politicians are also of interest. Literature on fund-raising will be needed at some time.
Sometimes it is difficult for advocates, or just interested citizens, to find alternative sources for news and information. Both the academic and the public library should subscribe to periodicals that present alternatives. For those with WWW access, AlterNet provides a very good alternative news service. Books on controversial political topics by smaller publishers are not likely to be found in most public and academic library collections.
The 2007 Pew political news source survey found that most respondents got their political news from television, about a third from newspapers, and 15 percent from the Internet. However, the Internet percentage is increasing. Convenience and freedom from bias were the most frequently mentioned desired attributes [though one may wonder how often people seek and use news sources that agree with their values and opinions. Fox news come to mind.]
National, state, and local elections will interest many. Biographical information on candidates and their voting record [if they have served before] are frequently in demand, especially when there is a presidential election. Some public libraries, via displays/exhibits, programs, guides, websites ... make a special effort to provide quick, easy access to this information. Many websites as well as fee-based services such as those available from CQ provide solid, objective, and current information. Here are a few for national elections:
It is unclear how often the thoughtful citizen will seek political information. Certainly, a good current periodical collection can provide many, alternative current awareness opportunities. There may be an interest in popular, pro and con discussion of visible issues. Some will want to read and view more about political personalities, including reasonably substantial biographies. A few community members will want to check the voting records of their representatives or will need addresses for letter writing or contacting. Information about local, state, and Federal taxes is always popular during the first two quarters of the year. Information about government services and eligibility requirements will also be popular.
What can and should information professionals do to help citizens to participate in the political process and make informed choices? There is no doubt that a growing number of Americans are indifferent to participation in the political process. Assume that about 10 percent of citizens are politically active. What is our role, if any, in attempting to change that?
The political science collection for the local business community will emphasize regulations and laws likely to impact business. Fees/taxation and permit information or how to obtain that information will be needed. There is always interest in government services such as startup help, economic development opportunities, and export assistance. Intellectual property concerns will create a steady stream of queries about patents, trademarks, and copyright.
While political material is less likely to be a problem than works dealing with sex or diet, politics can be controversial. Hate group publications can be controversial, but these fringe political viewpoints are not usually represented in libraries. These materials are not censored as much as they are simply ignored. Conservative political organizations have argued for years that their views are not represented in public library collections and their is some objective research to support this view. Most public libraries have not done an adequate job of developing a diverse collection of political views.
Discuss the importance of primary source material for the political scientist. What might the information professional do to assist?
Discuss the importance of data archives for the political scientist. What might the information professional do to assist?
What should the information professional do to encourage citizens to participate in the political process and make it easier for those who vote to make informed decisions?
What might the public librarian do to insure that the collection of materials dealing with political issues is reasonably diverse?
To what degree does the web reduce the need for the library to provide consumer information about government and politics?
