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Neoliberalism is one of the most pervasive and contested concepts of our contemporary era. Thus, it is essential for students to gain an understanding of its history, meaning, assumptions, and policy prescriptions. In addition to recognizing the importance of neoliberalism in the current political discourse, I argue that the polarized responses to the concept provide opportunities for teaching about critical topics in political science. This article provides suggestions for teaching about six such topics through the lens of neoliberal policies such as free trade, structural adjustment, and privatization.

The authors apply event history analysis to records on 90 countries from 1950-1975 to test hypotheses consistent with world systems and modernization hypotheses. The hypotheses predict factors associated with political change from/to one-party and multi-party governments. Modernization hypotheses predict that changes making a society more modern (that is, more like European societies) increase the chances for multi-party democratic governments. World systems hypotheses predict that governments are more affected by a country's place in the world economic system than by internal changes. Results here show small effects of modernizing on government form, and event history methods show a complex relationship between GNP per capita and form of government.

The purpose of this article is to point to a number of methodological and theoretical problems connected with a theory of institutional change. Nine philosophical‐methodological questions are asked dealing with a wide range of problems rarely raised in neo‐institutional political theory. The questions concern the concept of the state, of institutions, and of language and discourse, and deal with the dialectic between individuals and institutions, choice and rationality, formal organizations and institutions as well as prescriptive versus normative analysis. A critical theory of meaning is sought in order to develop neo‐institutionalism from a research program into an actual set of descriptive and interpretative theories.

Experiments are taking on greater significance in political science. However, academic courses on methods at German higher education institutions rarely focus on experimental political science. This article presents a methodological course on experiments in political science at the University of Muenster based on the conveyed contents of the course. It analyses the course from the students' and lecturers' perspective. The article aims to provide an incentive for future courses on experimental political science. Adapted from the source document.

A commentary on the political science career of Leicester Chisholm Webb & his contribution to Australian political science. A discussion of his life & career is accompanied with the broader issues of the development of his department at the Australian National U & the role of the department in the study of Australian politics. Webb's staff appointments, research programs, publications, postgraduate students, & involvement in public policy development are also examined. Webb was a distinguished researcher with varied interests & a broad agenda. Although his contributions are largely forgotten, he was a public intellectual of high order. 71 Appendixes. L. A. Hoffman