Among the purposes of this paper is the goal of describing, further developing, and clarifying the influence structure and decision-making process variables of K-12 political systems at the state level. (Author/IRT)

Reviews the multiple-state case study literature, highlights some findings, discusses several methodological issues, and concludes with suggestions for possible research agendas. Urges students and researchers to be more actively critical of the assumptions and findings of these studies. (Author/IRT)

Carter's proposed cabinet-level Department of Education would consolidate the grant programs, job training, early childhood education, literacy training, and other functions scattered throughout the government. This former assistant secretary of HEW supports the plan and offers suggestions for its effectiveness. (LBH)

Analyzes events surrounding the 1993 withdrawal of Zoe Baird as nominee for U.S. Attorney General. Indicates that, under certain conditions, when deliberation by surrogates (professional communicators) becomes unrepresentative of the general public's values, direct popular intervention may occur through alternative communication channels,…

Chelimsky's five-part continuum--a model for the practice of evaluation in a political context--is reviewed. The model's conceptual framework and a question for education are discussed. By focusing on interactions between evaluators and policy actors, this model should prompt debates about unsettled issues in education policy making. (SLD)

Discusses liberal and conservative foreign policy contributions to the end of the Cold War, as marked by the rapid liberalization of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Emphasizes that the collapse of the Soviet empire occurred at the end of a decade of sustained conservative government in every major country of the Western world. (FMW)

Surveys the interrelationship between language and politics. Touches on the context of political discourse, or political culture and ideology in new and old democracies and the reemerging manifestations of totalitarianism, censorship, and linguistic imperialism; then examines selected linguistic features of political discourse and their…

Analyzes the higher education lobby conceptual framework (based on constituent interests) and political framework (based on lobby resources and interorganizational relationships) concluding that while the interest groups have unique characteristics, the associations reflect the decentralized, fragmented, and nonideological character of the…

Is is the function of the planner to prepare reports, position papers, and plans, not to juggle the politics of implementation. (Author/WM)

The structure of U.S. congressional support for college student financial aid during the 96th and 97th Congresses was assessed. Senators' roll call votes on student aid legislation were analyzed, using factor and discriminant analysis. Using a content-free classification scheme, attention was directed to whether voting patterns were…

In partial replication of an analysis of the 1976 presidential campaign debates, two researchers analyzed the debate between Republican presidential candidates Ronald Reagan and George Bush (Houston, April 23, 1980) for its visual features, (amount and type of camera shots). The visual categories by which camera shots were coded included…

Some of the similarities and differences in the news media coverage of the United States presidential campaign of 1980 are discussed in this paper. Among the differences related are the loss of the symbolic power of tbe primary elections, which forced the media to look for significant trends elsewhere; the mixture of politics with the…

The method of campaigning politically on television has changed markedly between 1952, when speeches by candidates were the prevalent mode of television campaigning, and 1972, when 60-second and 30-second spot announcements had almost replaced broadcast addresses. However, studies show that spots do not constitute an important source of political…

The movement toward school decentralization in Chicago is best described as a strategy of incrementalism. It has proceeded along separate fronts--administrative decentralization, district and school advisory councils, and a special experimental district. This paper describes the extent to which these developments have progressed. It also seeks to…

Past research into the effects of "exposure" in political advertising indicates that massive "exposure" campaigns alone can show good, and sometimes dramatic, results in elections. This research is partially confirmed by a study of several mass media public relation efforts designed specifically to increase citizen recognition…