Association News contributors to the international scientific DBASSE can be accessed at http://sites. community. Nearly 500 members of the nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/index. Coming NAS have won Nobel Prizes” (See http:// htm. Presiding over DBASSE presently nasonline.org/about-nas/mission). is political scientist Kenneth Prewitt. in the For the past century and a half, mem- Scholars who are not NAS members also NEXT bers have investigated and responded to regularly participate as members of NAS questions posed by our national leaders committees, and we urge all political sci- ISSUE as a form of service to the nation without entists to give serious consideration to financial recompense. As Ralph Cicerone, these requests. A preview of some of the articles in the president of the NAS, never fails to relate The discussion at this year’s meeting April 2014 issue: to new members at the annual installation of NAS-member political scientists at ceremony, while our advice is often solic- the APSA convention centered on how to SYMPOSIUM ited—its first report to the Lincoln admin- effectively transmit the best social science US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION istration addressed whether our country knowledge to the government through FORECASTING should adopt the metric system, and sent the NRC. One issue facing the NRC in Michael Lewis-Beck and back a consensus “yes” answer—this ad- general and the DBASSE in particular Mary Stegmaier, guest editors vice is not always followed. Scientific is that by charter the NAS is not permit- FEATURES objectivity is the goal of the Academy, not ted to solicit contracts from government political advocacy. agencies, but merely to respond to their Twitter Style: An Analysis of How The NAS has its own research infra- queries. In fact, after a query is posed, House Candidates Used Twitter in structure, with political scientist members NRC staff can discuss how the proposal their 2012 Campaigns performing three roles.2 First, political sci- can be massaged in a way that will allow Heather K. Evans, Victoria Cordova, entist members of the NAS serve as article the scientific community to focus its and Savannah Sipole editors for submissions to the NAS jour- attention on a specific problem. However, Republicans in Name Only: nal Proceedings of the National Academy of NRC staff are appropriately constrained Onomastic Political Identity Signals Sciences (PNAS), which has a vast reader- on how much soliciting they can do, and Robert Urbatsch ship across all scientific disciplines with therefore some excellent ideas for policy an impressive citation count for its pub- relevant research coming from both staff Reframing Polarization: Social lications. The NAS also oversees a large and from members do not always get Groups and “Culture Wars” staff of salaried professional researchers funded. There are no easy answers here, Christopher Muste (usually not members of the NAS) who but our discussion at this year’s meeting constitute the National Research Council sustained a conversation on how we can THE PROFESSION (NRC). In the context of the NRC, political provide better research to relevant gov- Encountering Resistance: Qualitative scientists in the NAS perform two further ernment agencies.  Insights from the Quantitative roles. First, they are often asked to serve Sampling of Ex-Combatants as members or reviewers of committees NOTES Kate Christopher Roll that oversee research reports both in the 1. The political scientists elected to membership in The Communication of Ideas across natural sciences (where political scientists the NAS include Robert Axelrod, Larry Bartels, are asked to address questions of how Philip Converse, Gary Cox, Robert Dahl, James Subfields in Political Science Fearon, Richard Fenno, John Ferejohn, Morris Erin R. Graham, Charles R. Shipan, scientific recommendations can be imple- Fiorina, Robert Keohane, Gary King, David Laitin, mented effectively) and in the social sci- James March, David Mayhew, Johan Olsen, Robert and Craig Volden ences. Second, NAS members play a role Putnam, Kenneth Shepsle, Beth Simmons, Theda Skocpol, Sidney Verba, and Barry Weingast. Lin THE TEACHER in a branch of the NRC called DBASSE Ostrom played an active role in our activities until (the Division of Behavioral and Social her recent death. Teaching Political Theory at a Prison Sciences and Education) that approves 2. Beyond research, under the leadership of a com- in South Texas mittee chaired by Sidney Verba, the NAS is active William W. Sokoloff and oversees contracts with government in protecting human rights of scientists through- agencies. The many arenas of research of out the world. A Sea of Riches: Teaching an Interdisciplinary Environmental Justice Course through Political Theory On-Campus and Online Teena Gabrielson and Kaitlyn Watts

The Strategy Project: Teaching Strategic Thinking through Crisis Simulation Michael Allen Hunzeker

ASSOCIATION NEWS Completed Dissertations

238 PS • January 2014 © American Political Science Association, 2014