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Prepared by the Indiana University High School Curriculum Center in Government, this paper presents a brief but comprehensive introduction to the main characteristics of a behavioral approach to American politics. The first of four parts sets forth assumptions and requirements implicit in a behavioral approach and elucidates the relationship between science, political science, and political behavior. The second part explains one formulation of a behavioral perspective--the "field approach"--which conceives of the individual as a biological and human entity existing within social and cultural environments. The third part suggests how the field approach can make the political behavior of the American citizen more intelligible by emphasizing the relevance of four factors: political culture, sociology, psychology, and socialization. The fourth part applies the same four categories of the field approach to the behavior of political leaders, both formal and informal. (See TE 499 926 for a description of the Center's experimental course in American political behavior.) (LH)

The first part of this publication is given over to three major papers that emphasize the present and urge consideration of the problems and challenges of man's future. In "Education for Genuine Community," Samuel D. Proctor emphasizes the need to strive for a new momentum toward community as a possible solution to societal problems. Theodore Roszak, in "Educating Contra Naturam," argues for the conception and implementation of new understandings of the realities of the institution of organized education. Alexander Frazier reviews the quest of a generation of school people for an instructional program that might be conceived as adequate for "the grand curriculum" that is life itself, in "Here and Now: Points of Decision in the Quest for a New Curriculum." The second part of the publication consists of two papers adopted for study and action at the 1969 and 1970 ASCD conferences and which represent official statements of that organization -- "The Generation of New Understandings: a Program of Study and Action" and "The Quality of Life and Society in the United States." (Author/EA)

The goal of this paper was to evaluate four alternative explanations to account for low feelings of political effectiveness and political trust among black school children. A discussion of research findings related to political efficacy and trust and a review of other pertinent research are followed by definitions of the basic concepts in the paper. The normative implications of the findings seem to point out that political attitudes of childhood do persist to adulthood; thus to teach adult blacks to be politically effective, the political attitudes of young blacks must be changed. The alternatives that explain why racial differences may result are: 1) differences in political education within American schools; 2) social-structural conditions that contribute to low feelings of self-competence among blacks; 3) differences in intelligence; and 4) differences in the political environment in which blacks and whites live. The assumptions and empirical consequences of each explanation are discussed. An evaluation of the alternatives concluded that social condition and political environment explanations have the greatest scope and therefore are the best explanations, especially if not considered as being mutually exclusive explanations. (Author/KSM)

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role played by the media in the 1972 U.S. Senate election in Virginia during the Scott and Spong campaigns. Its primary interest is the use of television, particularly the intense blitz by the Scott organization, which is viewed as a significant variable in the Scott victory. The case study seeks to provide insight into the uses and effects of media saturation in a state-wide election. It is accompanied by a presentation of the television materials utilized in the respective campaigns. The conclusions concerning the role of the media in the campaign are: the media were a significant variable in the outcome of the Scott-Spong election contest; the mass media, especially television, served as a catalyst that activated the potential of other campaign factors, such as the political shift in the state and the public displeasure over forced busing; the use of strategy, placement, and exposure of materials is more determinative of election success than production quality; and as a result of the campaign, the extensive use of the mass media, especially television, has become a prominent aspect of political activity in Virginia. (LL)

This report on youth and politics was one of a series of working papers on the activities, and behavior of young people between 15 and 21 years of age. It was intended to provide background information while the Massachusetts Committee on Children and Youth prepared a comprehensive report on the status of children and youth in the Commonwealth for the 1970 White House Conference on Children and Youth. Specifically, this paper explores some of the varieties of political activities among young people and discusses the reasons which prompt their discontent. In order, the paper covers: (1) Types of political behavior among young people; (2) Psychological characteristics of participants; (3) Recent history of political behavior; (4) goals of various organizations; (5) Tactics of different political groups; (6) Accomplishments of youth in politics; and (7) The future of youth in politics. (RK)

This paper, prepared for the Center for Research and Education in American Liberties Conference in 1968, argues that education is the foundation upon which democratic politics stands because of the transmittal by schools of the skills and values necessary for our political system to operate. The objective of the paper is to show the relationship between the political system, the public school, and the political socialization process, and, moreover, to show how they can be studied. Concern is given to the development of political values as they relate to civil liberties. By adapting Easton's model of a system to the educational sub-system for explanation purposes, the authors analyze the way in which the political system influences the political values taught in schools. Schools, the most important institution for the furnishing of political values and knowledge, do not have the same impact on children of different socio-economic classes. Most schools are middle-class institutions governed by middleclass individuals and in the service of a middle-class value system. Lower class pupils, authority oriented, derive a civil education that differs from the process-oriented middleclass child. (Author/SJM)

This paper identifies certain methodological shortcomings that seem to be inherent in much of the comparative generational research and also presents the results of a generational differences study in which these methodological deficiencies have been minimized. People of different ages who had served as VISTA volunteers were asked the same questions during the same period of time. Relationship between the VISTA experience and select social and political attitudes was determined. Analysis of the data show generally greater disenchantment and alienation of the younger volunteer. More specifically, when a comparison is made between those under and over age 30, issues that revolve around the integrity, morality, intent, and procedures of our government and social institutions point up significant generational differences. These differences are interpreted in several ways: (1) the younger volunteers' pre-disposition toward alienation; (2) the youths' relative lack of experience as individuals working within a bureaucratic system; and (3) the fact that the older volunteers have been integral parts of the very same social institutions which the young attack. (Author/SES)

There has been increasing pressure in recent years for a more realistic portrayal of societal complexities and problems in elementary and secondary social studies materials--especially textbooks. The author discusses in this paper a research project in which a large sample of social studies texts in wide use in grades three, five, and seven are evaluated. Emphasis is placed on description and evaluation of the ways in which social conflict associated with racial, economic, political, and ecological policies are presented to the young reader. Evaluative assertion analysis, a content analysis research technique, is used to extract from a message the evaluations being made of significant concepts. This technique is briefly described and the author illustrates the assumptions involved in the application of evaluative assertation analysis. (Author/SHM)

I intend to identify some of the important propositions which issue from fourteen empirical studies on political socialization, and to point to implications for schools and especially civic education programs. I define political socialization as the process of acquiring and changing the culture of one's own political environment. Among the propositions are: 1) statements of goals on citizenship objectives for schools are not consistent with social and political realities; 2) the major influence that the school has is to reinforce notions of allegiance and responsibility to the government; 3) schools do not provide political skills needed to participate effectively in political life; 4) the impact of the civics curriculum on political socialization is appreciable when social issues are focal and when they are discussed in the spirit of inquiry. (The paper discusses additional propositions.) Several needed changes emerge: 1) participation in decision making by faculty and students needs to be promoted at the levels of school governance and in formal instruction; 2) pressing social issues need to be dealt with explicitly and honestly; 3) programs in civics and history need to be drastically revamped to stress the skills of inquiry. (Author/JLB)

This paper illustrates three different, but interrelated approaches to investigating the role of formal schooling in the political learning process from survey data. The assumption is made that the formation of students' political beliefs are affected by factors which are both internal and external to the school setting. Data from which illustrations in this paper are derived were collected in two of the West German states from a sample of pre-university students across the entire range of pre-collegiate educational institutions, both general and vocational. Measurements of dissent toleration are used to illustrate various approaches to identifying the role of school-related factors in the formation of such political attitudes. The study includes data on attitudinal correlates of enrollment in different types of schools, on the relationship between the frequency with which controversial issues are discussed in class and the level of dissent toleration, and on student activism as a socializing influence. (Author/SHM)

This consultant paper for a war/peace curriculum development project is concerned with the challenge of preparing members of our society for a more rational approach to problems of inter-nation conflict. The nature of conflict and conflict solution in relation to the experience of learning are emphasized. Topics discussed include: 1) effect of physical environment upon evolution of man; 2) aggression, and human behavior; 3) psychological processes and values; and, 4) war as a social institution. The characteristics of human reaction to this fear are explored, such as dehumanization, alienation, and social involvement. Also discussed are: 1) unconscious defense mechanisms; 2) intra- and inter-group conflict; 3) socio-economic and political forces; 4) ethnocentrism; and, 5) communication problems. Guidelines suggest teaching these concepts: 1) idea of a world in which conflict, but not inevitably war, will continue to exist; 2) alternatives to violence are available as outcomes of conflict situations; 3) conflict can function as a creative force; and, 4) there is a need for new institutions for the conduct of conflict and the control of violence. A bibliography of 24 books and articles is appended as well as a list of 9 additional reference sources. Other consultant papers in this Inquiry session are SO 001 262 through SO 001 265. Related documents in this curriculum development project are SO 001 259 through SO 001 267. (Author/JSB)

This consultant paper for a curriculum development project in the war/peace field is concerned with the concept of self, and the seeming conflict between demands of the individual self and demands of the political order, or the sense of community. Both classical and modern political philosophy are explored in discussing the difficulties of definition. Main interpretations investigated include: 1) the idea of the soul as a substitute for self, historical works of Socrates and Plato; 2) the unique individual, or the autonomous self, derived through Nietzschean philosophy; 3) the notion of the self as role player, a viewpoint of Kariel; and, 4) the inter-connection of self and order, called the social self, or the genuine self as envisioned by Etzioni. Additional factors in understanding the meaning of self are investigated such as, basic human needs, autonomy, freedom, social values, socialization, equality, responsibility, social stability, and a counter culture philosophy. Appended to the paper are critical comments and analysis by David Marvin and Stanley Coppersmith. Other consultant papers from this Inquiry session are SO 001 262 through SO 001 265. Related documents from the Diablo Valley Education Project are SO 001 259 through SO 001 267. (Author/JSB)

This document contains several papers that were prepared for the 65th annual meeting of the Carnegie Foundation in November 1970. The first paper, "European Universities as Partisans" by Fritz Machlup, traces the slow development of the principle of the nonpartisan and doctrinally uncommitted university as a proper shield of individual academic freedom. This is followed by a statement expressing Machlup's opposition to collective partisanship on the part of university faculty. In "Institutional Neutrality: An Appraisal," Walter P. Metzger reviews the academic rationale for neutrality in American colleges and universities set forth in 1915 by Arthur Lovejoy. He also identifies some of the forces that are creating pressures on American institutions to modify this rationale. The last article, "The Socially Uninvolved University" by Richard H. Sullivan, organizes and extends some of the ideas that were expressed at the 1970 meeting. (AF)

The papers presented in this volume were prepared for the ninth national conference of the Australian Association of Adult Education. The Conference was mainly a gathering of professional adult educators from Australian departments and institutions created for the purposes of adult education. The education of adults on a voluntary basis and without provision of qualifications is as yet a very minor social institution within Australian society. It is an institution which responds to a wide range of other more dominant social institutions, such as the political system. It is particularly in the political sense that all the papers which are included have relevance for teachers in whatever setting they work. (Author/CK)

This paper discusses life in East Germany as observed by the author during a three-week program of summer courses in Erfurt. Background information includes a description of Erfurt, a brief review of its history, and analysis of the daily life of East Germans--their attitudes towards the state, physical appearance, salary structure, and recreational activities. Of main concern is the state of education. The restructuring of the national school system is described, as well as the nature of several courses of instruction, including handicrafts in the first six school years, apprenticeships and factory work in the regular high schools, and training and competition in specialized schools. State educational policy and the inculcation of work-oriented attitudes are evaluated, as are youth clubs and their summer camps. A political education class is reconstructed in dialogue, and visits to a neighboring village and church, a factory, and farm center are recounted. The paper concludes with an analysis of East German political attitudes and their international significance. (RS)

Given the general recognition that what we do is influenced as much or more by our value commitments as by our factual knowledge, it is ironic that social studies, the area of the curriculum supposedly focused on citizenship education, has paid so little attention to values. There are many reasons for this, but one of them, the author believes, is the teachers' lack of a model for making values an integral part of instruction. This paper is both a theoretical and practical effort to answer this need. The author points out that since most important issues facing society are not factual questions but ethical ones, an adequate model for citizenship education must take into account that rational citizenship behavior includes justifying ethical decisions in terms of one's values. Because the school has little role in determining what these values are, its role becomes one of helping the student to develop a clearer conception of what his commitments are, and to relate these commitments to the basic social values and facts, personal preferences and basic social values, values and public issues, and gives attention to the more practical aspects of examining values in the classroom. Throughout, there is emphasis on the need for a clear rationale, and classroom behavior based on that rationale. (JLB)

This paper reports the author's research on the relative impact of various communication structures, particularly the mass media, on the formation of attitudes regarding war and peace, and the relationship of these source ratings to age and sex. The sample consisted of 611 randomly selected public school students from grades 5, 7, 10, and 12 in Vancouver, Canada. Methodology involved the administration of a series of open-ended questions measuring the individual's orientations to several different war-peace concepts, and the amount of influence each of a variety of potential sources had on each orientation. Six-point scales were utilized to examine the influence of: family members, friends, home TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, movies, teachers, textbooks, school movies, school TV, minister, and content of religion. Among other findings reported were: 1) ratings of the utility of various sources tend to differ mainly between the concepts of the word war and the causes of war, on the one hand, and the remaining concepts on the other; 2) TV at home has the highest utility for all concepts; and, 3) in the upper grades, TV at home is only of secondary importance for several concepts, magazines and newspapers assuming greater influence. The author states that there is a need for further research on why certain sources are of more utility than others for certain orientations. (JLB)

The purpose of this paper is to develop a rationale for the conscious integration of a political component into professional practice. The rationale involves a re-definition of professional roles in the human services as a powerful means of political struggle. The aim of the political strategy is to eliminate the sources of social, economic and political inequalities, the underlying causes of social problems with which the human services profess to be concerned. A model for the study of social problems and policies is illustrated by a chart of the forces which interact with key processes of social policies. The poverty syndrome is used as an example in investigating the sources of inequalities within capitalism. A strategy to eliminate such sources is to replace the economic and political system with an alternative, achieved through a fundamental change of consciousness of social reality and the perceptions of self-interest by much of the population. Consequently, professional practice in the human services would become an important factor in effecting this comprehensive cultural and institutional change. This paper is based on the author's book, "Unravelling Social Policy: Theory, Analysis and Political Action Toward Social Equality." (Author/KSM)

The paper identified some of the major elements of political learning and suggests some of the conceptual links among these. The basic assumption of this paper is that the several existing approaches to learning and development can account for a significant portion of political learning. A selective picture of concepts and empirical knowledge about the four processes that jointly and simultaneously account for learning in the natural situations in which human individuals grow and develop are presented: 1) classical conditioning; 2) reinforcement; 3) modeling; and 4) cognitive assimilation and accommodation. The four processes are explained separately and linked to the aspects of political learning each serves to explain, while trying to keep salient the fundamental premise of the conception that the four processes are not separate but completely intertwined. Finally, the paper offers the concept of progressive differentiation as a fruitful way of viewing the process of political development, that is, political learning across the life-span. (Author)

The objectives of this Conference included an examination of new approaches to citizenship education and an evaluation of the teaching materials produced by the Charles P. Schwartz Citizenship Project (CPSCP), and an examination of the attitudinal studies on citizenship values conducted under the auspices of CPSCP. Major sections of the Report include: 1) an address by the Hon. Paul Simon, Lt. Governor of Illinois, in which he lists and discusses 13 issues and related activities for citizenship education; 2) "Attitudinal Research Studies of Teachers and Students," a paper by Paul F. Kleine, in which are discussed problems of attitudinal research and proposals for two studies; 3) "Politics --the Heart of Citizenship Education," by Mark M. Krug, a paper which criticizes citizenship education as not satisfactorily producing citizens willing and able to work within the American political system; 4) "Attitudes and Values in Citizenship Education," by Irving Morrissett, a paper placing analysis and clarification of values in separate citizenship education courses and in the broad context of the social sciences and humanities; 5) a final section containing an explanation of the citizenship education unit, Slogans and Standard Bearers, The National Party Conventions, by Jean Bernstein, and evaluations of it by several teachers. (DJB)

Examined in this paper are some of the major consequences for rural education of recent Cuban efforts to favor the rural population, to achieve a rural transformation, and to operationalize the revolutionary ideology. Sources used in this case study include Cuban primary and secondary materials and government publications, recent social science research studies by students of the Cuban revolution, and personal observations made by the author during a 3-week visit to Cuba in December 1970. Section 1 of the paper examines the extent and nature of prerevolutionary rural education programs and their functionality in an unevenly developed plantation economy powerfully influenced by the United States. Section 2 describes and evaluates major innovative efforts after 1959 to harness rural education to national goals for ideological, political, and economic development. Section 3 examines current planning efforts to remedy past failures and draw up a new strategy for rural education that will place it at the very center of efforts to create the new socialist society. It is concluded that Cuba's effort to find a way out of poverty, underdevelopment, and dependency can best be realized through the involvement of all youth in work-study programs that are functionally linked with production. (HBC)

The purpose of this paper was to determine the effect of the school's structure upon three aspects of the student's political socialization: community, regime, and authorities. Age level divisions foster a sense of community in and out of school, and pupil-teacher authority relationships establish attitudes toward authorities and norms of behavior expected in a system (regime). Social-psychological consequences are inferred from these structural attributes. From age cohorts, children establish a relationship among their equals and a society of peers which permit empathy. Through the pupil-teacher relationship, children expect nonfamily authority figures to behave universalistically and benevolently. The structure also promotes the child to develop a sense of personal efficacy. The implications for the modern political system are as follows: (1) A sense o f community and ability to empathize with peers are essential. (2) The ability to act in terms of relevant categories and universalism are central to norms in a regime which stresses equality before the law and the rule of the majority. (3) Attitudes toward authorities are important in maintaining stability. (4) Personal efficacy of citizens is basic to a popularly controlled system. Research is conclusive in demonstrating that elementary school age children are not apolitical. (JS)

This paper summarizes a study on how interpersonal communication patterns within the family affect the political socialization of the child specifically, the acquisition of norms for adult citizenship roles. The data was collected in a 1968 survey of 1300 families in five eastern Wisconsin cities. One child from each family completed two self-administered questionnaires, and one parent was interviewed afterward. A wide range of political and socioeconomic groupings were provided for, and the sample was about equally divided between junior high and senior high adolescents. The analysis tests the hypothesis that a family communication environment combining a weak socio-relations orientation with a strong concept-orientation, pluralistic home, will stimulate a greater degree of anticipatory socialization than other types of environment. The other types are: 1) protective families which stress socio-relations or restrictions at the expense of concept-relations; and, 2) consensual families where the child is constrained to develop concepts that are consonant with existing socio-relations. The results show that pluralistic students expect that social norms will involve a greater level of political participation. Students from homes where concept orientation is emphasized tend to think that these obligations will be expected of them; socio-orientation tends to be unrelated to the level of norm learning. Concept and socio-orientation were positively related to the learning intensity measures. (Author/SBE)