This article highlights the contribution of randomized, quantitative sampling techniques to answering qualitative questions posed by the study. In short it asks: what qualitative insights do we derive from quantitative sampling processes? Rather than simply being a means to an end, I argue the sampling process itself generated data. More specifically, seeking out more than 220 geographically dispersed individuals, selected though a randomized cluster sample, resulted in the identification of relationship patterns, highlighted extant resistance-era hierarchies and patronage networks, as well as necessitated deeper, critical engagement with the sampling framework. While this discussion is focused on the study of former resistance members in Timor-Leste, these methodological insights are broadly relevant to researchers using mixed methods to study former combatants or other networked social movements.

The APSA Committee on Publications offers the following recommendations on the Political Science Research e-journal, originally proposed as the “APSR-Prime” journal by Arthur (“Skip”) Lupia, Adam Berinsky, and others. The APSA Council remanded the proposal to the publications committee in October 2012 for further consideration and resolution of specific issues identified by the publications committee, council and others.

We describe a hands-on teaching module on the redistricting process for use in undergraduate classes. Students engage in the process of strategically drawing district lines, which allows them to inductively understand gerrymandering and its consequences. The module also encourages students to consider the many factors that complicate efforts to identify a “fair” approach to redistricting, focusing on communities of interest. We also discuss a number of extensions to the activity and provide examples of controversial districts that may be used to illustrate various redistricting concepts.

Political science departments often require a senior-capstone course as part of the major. The Wahlke Report (1991) recommended including such a course more than 20 years ago, and the Association of American Colleges and Universities considers it a high-impact practice. Colleges and universities are also advocating broad efforts of civic engagement—an approach to academic work for which political science majors are uniquely qualified. This article describes the successes and failures of partnering a senior-capstone course with seven public agencies in a small city. By developing a multistage process for interacting with agencies, city officials, and the public, this “State of the Community” project provides students with a real-world opportunity to serve as political consultants. By emphasizing the importance of timeliness, teamwork, presentation skills, and professionalism, this project can be a turning point for political science students who must soon transition from students in the undergraduate world to citizens in the community.

Publications are one of the most valuable and extensive services that professional associations provide to their members. APSA is no exception; among other things, its publications present research findings, help scholars find jobs, encourage innovative teaching, inform members of the association's actions and individuals' promotions, and help people to publish. This rich and vibrant array of materials has grown incrementally over time and has evolved to satisfy new needs, instantiate new visions, or respond to new contingencies. It works extremely well for many purposes, but perhaps not for all. Furthermore, the existing array may not be well suited to transformations now occurring in the technology of conveying information and ideas, teaching and learning, research methods and collection of evidence, public outreach, or political scientists' professional needs. It is time for APSA to stand back and take a broader view of its publications portfolio; hence, this committee.

Perhaps the most underappreciated dimension in public response to the post-Bush v. Gore controversies involving state election administration and Supreme Court jurisprudence involving the right to vote has been the central role of Congress in enforcing the Fifteenth Amendment.

During the six weeks before the 2012 elections, we conducted a contest for the 54 students enrolled in an upper-division political science course on campaigns and elections. We modified and improved on a similar contest conducted by the first-named author (Abramson 2010) during the 2008 election campaign. Using contract prices posted by Intrade.com, an electronic gaming market in Dublin, we asked students to choose among 10 political outcomes. The contest was designed to help students learn about campaign strategies, understand how electoral rules affect political outcomes, and encourage them to talk about the campaign. We discuss ways we improved on Abramson’s 2008 contest and show that student participation increased substantially.

APSA is pleased to announce Béranger Avohouémè as the first recipient of an Africa Workshops Alumni Networking Grants program. Avohouémè, an alumus of the 2013 Africa Workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, received a $2,000 Professional Development grant in October 2013 to support a two-month residency at the Laboratory for Studies and Research on Social Dynamics and Local Development (LASDEL) in Niamey, Niger. While at LASDEL, Avohouémè plans to participate in a series of research and presentation seminars aiding the completion of his doctoral dissertation on Local Politics and Governance of Rural Land in Western Benin.

This article reflects on two specific sets of questions—both of which were prominent in conversations regarding the future of teaching in higher education—that emerged as we developed a pedagogy designed to advance the primary substantive goals of environmental justice. The first set of questions asks how to enhance interdisciplinary thinking and communication in a single course; the second asks how best to teach critical thinking online. We identify key challenges in both areas in a discussion of our experience in teaching two contemporaneous venues—one on-campus and one online—of an environmental justice course grounded in the subfield of political theory.

The regular meeting of the APSA Council on Saturday, April 13, 2013, was called to order at 8:30 a.m. by President Mansbridge.

In an effort to teach strategic thinking, the Center for International Security Studies at Princeton University designed an adaptable model for crisis simulation that could be used in a variety of institutional contexts and with diverse content matter. Moreover, the simulation helped students to develop an understanding of several other important abstract concepts in political science: notably, information uncertainty, friction or “the fog of war,” and bureaucratic stove piping. This article describes the design, content, and implementation of our original simulation. It is based on a “loose-nukes” scenario resulting from the hypothetical collapse of the Pakistani state. We conclude by evaluating the benefits and limitations of the simulation and by suggesting ways in which it could be implemented in other institutional contexts.

Taking students to a prison for a field trip creates an opportunity to engage students on issues central to democratic citizenship including democracy, power, and punishment. Although some students opt out of the prison visit, a field trip to a prison creates a vibrant learning environment where students can share their experience with other classmates as well as reflect on their experiences with authority figures. It also disrupts power relationships between students and instructors because all prison field trip participants are virtual inmates for a day.

This list celebrates the generous contributions of our members in giving to one or more of the following programs from 1996 through 2012: APSA Awards, programs, the Congressional Fellowship Program, and the Centennial Campaign. APSA thanks these donors For ensuring that the benefits of membership and the influence of The profession will extend far into the future. APSA will update and print this list annually in the January issue of PS.