In The Profession section of its April 2015 (v48, 02) issue, PS: Political Science & Politics (PS)1 scrutinizes the peer review system, a core value in the research community. Some question whether or not peer review is sustainable given the increased and unequal burdens placed on reviewers. In “Peer Reviewing in Political Science: New Survey Results”, Paul Djupe of Denison University argues that the common perception that reviewers are overburdened with requests has never been tested through reliable data collection. He finds, contrary to the conventional wisdom, that most scholars appreciate peer review, and that most peer review requests by journals are accepted. The only common complaint is that peer review is not considered as part of the tenure and promotion process.
Also in The Profession, the right time for associate professors to go for promotion is considered by Kurt Weyland of the University of Texas in “The Logic of the Promotion Decision: In Dubio Pro Patientia”. Weyland argues that it is in the associate professor’s own interest to establish a convincing case before they bid for the rank of full professor and efforts to ‘force’ a promotion prematurely can leave a bad impression and damage the career. Accumulating a strong record in research and publication is the best way to assure a smooth path to tenure.
In the Profession Symposium, see the articles on “Reinventing the Scholarly Conference: Reflections from the Field.”
In The Teacher , Matthew Woessner of Penn State shows how computer games like SimCity can be used to engage young people to think about politics, governance, and the challenges of managing cities in the real world.
What Have We Learned, Two Decades After the “End of Welfare”? The 20th anniversary of a seminal work on the welfare state, reflecting on then candidate Bill Clinton’s famous promise to “end welfare as we know it” is featured in the new PS: Political Science & Politics (PS).
This edition’s Symposium takes a look back at Paul Pierson’s Dismantling the Welfare State?, a path breaking 1994 volume in which Pierson examined the reasons why the bold efforts of the Reagan and Thatcher administrations to scale back the welfare state were largely rebuffed, and what would likely happen going forward as the United States continued to reconsider the welfare state. Scholars from political science and public policy take an in-depth look at Pierson’s recommendations in 1994 and if and how they have endured.
Despite the intensification in inequality, polarization, and economic insecurity of the past two decades, the scholars conclude that Pierson’s claims mostly held their ground. Eric Patashnik of the University of Virginia guest edits contributions from Suzanne Mettler, Peter Hall, Andrea Campbell, John Stephens, Jane Gringrich, and Pierson himself.
PS: Political Science & Politics is published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association (APSA). The new edition is available on the Cambridge Journals Online platform HERE.
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1 PS: Political Science & Politics is published by Cambridge Journals (Cambridge University Press) for the American Political Science Association. PS is the journal of record for the discipline of political science reporting on research, teaching, and professional development. Started in 1968, it is the only quarterly professional news and commentary journal in the field and is the prime source of information on political scientists’ achievements and professional concerns.
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