Military service in World War II produced a generation of Democrats. This finding results from an examination of Gallup polls (1945–1953) that probed both party identification and wartime service. The 1944 election afforded soldiers an opportunity to vote for their commander in chief, and they did so by a large margin for Franklin D. Roosevelt—a Democrat. A vote under these circumstances is bound to leave lifelong marks on a cohort in its impressionable years, which was the life stage of many World War II soldiers. Further tests rule out the possibility that the Democratic tendency of soldiers was simply the result of their youthful age, lower socioeconomic status, urban background, union membership, race, or Southern region—all of which predict partisanship. Neither did the return to civilian life erode the Democratic edge of veterans. GI Joe is an unsung hero of what is widely known as the New Deal realignment.

Accusations of conspiracy are nothing new in American politics, but examples in which the government—usually cast as a key player in conspiracy theories—goes on record to corroborate that a conspiracy occurred are rare. I leveraged an experiment that randomly exposes both college-student and general-public subject pools to information about the 1979 House Select Committee on Assassination report of a probable conspiracy in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I find that those exposed to government corroboration of a conspiracy (1) are more prone to anger in response to the government report; (2) engage in an increased search of available media information about the assassination; and (3) are more likely to agree with the conclusion of a conspiracy in Kennedy’s murder. Implications for additional research about government pronouncements on controversial issues and follow-on public reaction also are discussed.

Academics and politicians alike decry the deterioration of trust in American political institutions and in political participation. One oft-cited culprit for this deterioration is the conduct of campaigns for elective office, with especial ire focused upon political consultants and the consulting industry. The lack of a civil campaign ethic, it is said, means that the largely unregulated nature of political combat and speech generates campaigns rife with ad hominem attacks and “negative” ads that disgust, discourage, and alienate prospective voters. In response, some parts of the consulting industry have attempted to inculcate a higher level of campaign conduct through candidate and professional campaign codes. Another response is based in the several university programs that offer graduate degrees in political or campaign management, which include varying degrees of training regarding ethical considerations in campaigns.

2004 was a busy and rewarding year on the international front. Existing programs continued to thrive, while new initiatives were formulated and are in the process of being refined. At the end of 2004, APSA records showed 1,839 members residing overseas, approximately 12.2% of the overall membership. A detailed breakdown of this number is available later in this section.

The balance of national and state powers has undergone continuous readjustment since 1790, without a constitutional amendment by means of numerous congressional preemption statutes superseding completely or partially certain regulatory powers of the states and thereby effectuating a major transformation in the federal system. Congress since 1978 has increased its regulation of subnational governments as polities by enacting preemption statutes containing mandates and restraints (Zimmerman 1994) while simultaneously enacting other statutes providing for extensive deregulation of the banking and communications industries and complete economic deregulation of the air, bus, and rail transportation companies.

The Democratic party's quadrennial exercises in reform of the delegate selection process have caused political scientists and journalists to focus their attention on the Democratic party and to ignore the character and impact of the Republican rules. While the Democrats have been going through major revisions of their rules every four years since the disastrous 1968 convention, the Republicans have followed a quite different strategy. They have sought to maintain the basic procedures and party structure which had evolved prior to the era of the McGovern-Fraser Commission, and they have directed their efforts toward supporting federal, state, and local candidates and party organizations.

Teachers of international relations and comparative politics spend a considerable amount of time looking for ways to bring the politics of the world outside of the United States into their classroom to enhance student learning experiences through increased relevance or “reality.” Simulations are one method to make world politics seem more relevant (e.g., Dougherty 2003; Kille 2002; Shellman 2001; McIntosh 2001; Newmann and Twigg 2000; Kaarbo and Lantis 1997; Smith and Boyer 1996). The use of film is another popular method that enhances the drama and emotion of foreign cultures and politics (e.g., Waalkes 2003; Weber 2001; Kuzma and Haney 2001). Finally, the Internet and web-based technologies (e.g., Cogburn and Levinson 2003; Hauss et al. 2002; Bonham and Seifert 2000) and foreign newspapers (e.g., Schattle 2003) are also employed to connect textbook knowledge to the real world of foreign affairs.