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In his most recent books, Liberal Democracy and Political Science (1990) & Reconstructing America: The Symbol of America in Modern Thought (1997), James Ceaser argues that the US, as a nation, has true political science as its basis. This political science, which supports the regime's independence, allows individuals to make decisions about their own destiny. Ceaser's views directly conflict with the popular thinking of postmodern philosophers & literary critics who have turned the US into a symbolic abstraction. Though Ceaser's view of "traditional political science" perhaps has its flaws, this in no way detracts from the important fact that Ceaser remains a true political thinker in an age dominated by the abstract. K. A. Larsen

The terms "politics" and "the political" have been conceptualised, used, and understood differently in modern Polish political science and theory over the past 50 years, having been featured in a long list of books and scholarly articles. In addition to an overview of major initiatives, conferences, and discussions around these terms, the article includes a discourse analysis prepared with qualitative research tools. The purpose of the discourse analysis is multifold. First, it aims to map the presence of these terms in the discourse of modern Polish political science and theory. Second, it aims to identify to what extent the Polish discourse has been influenced by authors such as Carl Schmitt or Chantal Mouffe, and to what extent the two terms were conceptualised in an original way, proper to the Polish social science discourse. Third, how often scientists have used the words that were associated with the conflict.

This article describes evidence suggesting that science curiosity counteracts politically biased information processing. This finding is in tension with two bodies of research. The first casts doubt on the existence of "curiosity" as a measurable disposition. The other suggests that individual differences in cognition related to science comprehension—of which science curiosity, if it exists, would presumably be one—do not mitigate politically biased information processing but instead aggravate it. The article describes the scale‐development strategy employed to overcome the problems associated with measuring science curiosity. It also reports data, observational and experimental, showing that science curiosity promotes open‐minded engagement with information that is contrary to individuals' political predispositions. We conclude by identifying a series of concrete research questions posed by these results.

THE AUTHOR SUGGESTS THAT UNDUE FIXATION ON SCIENCE HAS OBSCURED THE IMPORTANCE FOR HIS POLITICAL THEORY OF WHAT THOMAS HOBBES CALLS PRUDENCE. HE TRYS TO SHOW THAT THE SCOPE OF SCIENCE FOR HOBBES IS ACTUALLY NARROW AND LIMITED, AND THAT THIS HOLDS FOR CIVIL SCIENCE AS WELL AS FOR NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. HE ARGUES THAT A MOST IMPORTANT PART OF HOBBE'S ACCOUNT OF POLITICAL LIFE IS HIS VIEW THAT THE FAULT LIES IN THE MISGUIDED BELIEFS OF THE PRIVILEGED. ALSO, THAT THE COMBINATION OF THE LIMITATIONS OF CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE, THE PROPENSITY TO EMBRACE ILL-CONCEIVED IF NOT UTTERLY FANTASTIC BELIEFS, AND THE ALL TOO EASY ABUSE OF THE COMMON PEOPLE ACCOUNT FOR THE CHARACTER OF THE SELF-UNDERSTANDING AND THE POLITICAL ORDER THAT HOBBES INSISTS WE WOULD HAVE TO EMBRACE TO ENSURE THE AVOIDANCE OF ANARCHY.

Describes the Political Science Department's Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) assessment activities for the academic year 2013-2014. ; The Political Science (B.A.) annual assessment report to the College for the Office of Academic Assessment. The department directly assessed SLOs 1 and 3 (communication and active citizenship) through a random cross-sectional sampling of 15 student essays from five courses over the year, evaluated by a committee of five faculty members. The department also undertook to ???close the loop??? on prior assessment findings by drafting a proposal to update its undergraduate program through the restructuring of its course sequencing and the addition of a new Introduction to Political Science offering, which would serve as a gateway course. Assessment of SLO 1 reveals improvement in written communication between non-capstone and capstone (proseminar) courses; but assessment of SLO 3 (active citizenship: a content knowledge category) shows no improvement in the capstone courses???a finding that is consistent with past assessment results revealing similar weakness in other SLO content areas, and which supports the decision to modify the structure of the program. Lower scores in content knowledge in the senior capstone courses, when compared to student performance in the non-senior seminars, are especially noted, along with a plan to complete the undergraduate program revision in AY 2014-15.

In this article I discuss the views of contemporary Polish political scientists concerning the subject of political agency. I stress the diversity of research perspectives adopted in the Polish literature on the subject and no less diverse conceptions of agency. I also emphasise differences in the understanding of the qualities of agency, especially the capacity for political action and participation in political processes. The analysis demonstrates the pluralism of the accepted concepts of political ontology. I also argue that it is important for Polish political scientists to preserve the autonomy and specificity of the political science research on agency, in particular the independence of this discipline from philosophical perspectives.