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ABSTRACTIn face of the ongoing discrepancy between the number of political science PhD graduates and the availability of permanent academic positions, in this article we consider attitudes of faculty members towards options to address this issue. Based on a survey of faculty members in PhD-granting political science programs at English-speaking Canadian universities, we find considerable support for both reducing the number of PhD students admitted and reforming curriculum to ensure graduates cultivate skills transferable to non-academic environments. At the same time, faculty members are inclined to believe that PhD students themselves should shoulder the greatest responsibility for career preparation.

Biopolitics should be offered as a separate, independent course in the undergraduate curriculum, and graduate training should be offered within the rubric of political science. The primary reason that biopolitical materials should be covered in the undergraduate, liberal arts curriculum is that there is a need to train students to be vigilant, i.e., to have a critical capacity to confront ideas. Since so much of their lives will be intertwined with the political and so much of the political is better explained by considering biopolitical variables than by not considering them, students need exposure and academic coverage of biopolitical concepts and findings. Biopolitics represents only minor change in the general behavioralistic framework of explaining political phenomena, but represents the introduction into political science of some concepts and variables more widely used in the life sciences. Because biopolitical materials are high in quantity and because they are per se important and increase the explanatory power of traditional behavioralism, a biopolitics course belongs in the political science curriculum. The preparation of qualified teachers and researchers argues for graduate training in biopolitics. Without such graduate training in political science departments, the biopolitical inquiry will primarily be undertaken in disciplines other than political science.

Philosophic politique et obligation politiqueL'auteur examine la thèse selon laquelle la notion d'obligation politique constitue la question centrale de la philosophie politique. Après avoir clarifié l'énoncé de cette thèse, il en fait une triple évaluation : premièrement, en regard de l'histoire de la philosophie politique, deuxièmement en tant que concept logique de la philosophie politique et, troisièmement, en tant qu'énoncé normatif. Il lui apparaît que la thèse ne saurait tenir sur aucun de ces trois plans. Par contre, il soutient que l'on sous-estime l'importance de la notion d'obligation politique en en confinant la pertinence au seul libéralisme, puisque toute philosophie politique d'importance doit en tenir compte.

This article emphasises the nature and possible role of political literacy in the pro cess of democratisation in South Africa. The process of democratisation is analysed and secondly the concept of "political literacy" is elucidated. The need for political literacy is highlighted by focusing on the high level of political apathy especially among white school children. In conclusion it is suggested that political literacy is an essential element of constructive political and social change as incorporated in democratisation.

The Political Science Program at the National Science Foundation provides support for basic empirical and theoretical research on political institutions and processes. The goal of the program is to facilitate the development of scientific theory and knowledge on political behavior, the operation of political systems, and the actions of governments. The program seeks to meet this goal by supporting research on a very wide range of substantive topics falling under the rubric of politics. As part of its long-range planning, the program attempts to identify areas of intellectual growth for program emphases. In making funding decisions, however, the determining factor is the scientific merit of the proposed work rather than topical or methodological closeness to the major emphases in program plans.Support for basic political science research has been growing at a faster rate than overall NSF support for the social sciences. From fiscal 1977 to 1979 the Political Science Program allocation grew 35 percent compared to a 17 percent increase in the overall funding for the Division of Social and Economic Science.

The paper gives an overview of the sections of the professionalization of political didactics as an academic discipline in Germany. The first section describes the development of political education and political didactics in schools showing a process of increasing professionalization as a result of engagements with various political influences. In the next part, the beginnings of political didactics and Politics as a school subject are presented. The following part describes the professionalization phase of political didactics and teacher education, with the designation of chairs of political didactics in institutes of political science. The goals and normative ideas that individual political didactics specialists have developed for teaching politics are also discussed. For reasons of space, the previously mentioned parts and the subsequent synopses only partially cover the initial proposition. The fourth part traces the politicization and depoliticization of didactics and of the teaching of politics while the fifth part discusses practical problems that lead to a variety of new normative questions. The sixth part moves toward educational theory, in which the idea of radical constructivism is gaining ground and educationalists attempt to restructure Politics as a school subject with an emphasis on studying democracy by developing a democratic way of thinking. The seventh part is characterized by a new phenomenon, that is the start of theoretical development. The different theoretical considerations on the subject-specific competencies of teachers and pupils are discussed. In addition, the first systematically collected empirical findings on theoretically postulated dimensions of competency are presented.