Textbooks, Technologies, and Tocqueville: Alternatives for Introductory American

Government
Author(s): Reid Cushman
Source: PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Jun., 1993), pp. 223-227
Published by: American Political Science Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/419834 .
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Textbooks, Technologies, and Tocqueville:
Alternatives for IntroductoryAmerican Government
Reid Cushman,University
of Virginia
parallelbetween
... [TJhe theoccupa-
tionsofgraveyardattendant
and
custodian
oflearningwasonewhich
oftensuggested
itself
to others
besides
thestudents.
-KingsleyAmis,LuckyJim
In a typicalyearof thisdecade,
some 14 millionstudentswill occupy
space in Americancollegesand uni-
versities.Theywill "produce" nearly
2 milliondegrees,three-quarters of
themassociatesand bachelors.' Only
a small fractionof thelatterout-
put-well under50,000-will be
politicalsciencedegreesper se. Yet
whenit comestimeto schedulethe
introductory courses,particularly the
Americangovernment survey,it
sometimesseemsthewholeworld
dothcontemplatea major in poli sci.
Drawingon some combinationof
interest (arguablyhealthyin a demo-
craticcitizenry) and distributional
requirements (as an ever-popularpart
of the curricular"core"), poli sci
surveyofferings are oftenfilledto
bursting.A glanceat theAPSA
"want ads" showsthatanyonewho
wantsan academicslot mustcon-
templatesuch teaching.Anyonewho
is remotelyan Americanist(and
manywho are not) mustcontemplate
teaching"Intro AG" in particular.
Based on publishers'estimates,in
a typicalyearas manyas 500,000
studentsmay be exposedto funda-
mentalsof theAmericansystemin a
highereducationsetting.2Students'
expectationsforthisexposureare
oftennot veryhigh,sincetheirpreju-
dice is thatthecourseonlyrevisits
whattheylearnedin highschool
civicsa yearor two before.(Usually
true;of course,mostof themhave
forgotten mostof whattheylearned
then.)It doesn'ttendto be an inspir-
June1993
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The Teacher
ing prospectforinstructors either,
who face teachingthe same basic
material,withminorvariations,year
afteryear.The onlyconsistentexcite-
mentmay come to department
heads, who betterstandto justify
budgetand positionrequestswiththe
volumeof credithoursso generated.
(Not to mentionthat,undercertain
capitatedreimbursement schemes,
departments can make a fortuneon
theseclassesin theirown right.)
Worthwhile or not, inspiringor
not, themass demandforsurveys
like IntroAG remains.Undercur-
rentproductiontechnologies,thatde-
mand is mostlikelyto be metin the
largelectureclass, typicallyin con-
junctionwithlarge,fact-filled text-
books. New tools, like computer-
based interactive media,may well
pointto a betterway of learningfor
the future;fornow, though,their
priceis well beyondmostbudgets.
Lesserrevitalization,withinthe con-
straintsof the lecturehall, may also
be providedon the cheap: using
now-mundanetechnologieslike over-
heads, slides,and videotapes.Even
cheaper,but rathermoreperilous,is
occasionallyto removetheexpensive
textbookitselfas thecenterpiece of
the class, and supplantit witha
"real" book or two. Textbookpub-
lisherrepresentatives,as well as a
fewseniorcolleagues,mayin fitsof
candorsay thatonlynew,naive pro-
fessorswillconsiderthisseriously--
attempting graduate-school teaching
methodsentirely inappropriate to
youngerand blankerminds.But
aftera yearand a halfof experimen-
tationwithAlexisde Tocqueville's
Democracyin Americaas mymain
textforIntroAG, I am not yetcon-
vincedsuch venturesare mistakes.
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Tocqueville'sPerspective
Most personsput in theposition
of teachingpoliticalscienceclasses
have been exposedto Tocqueville's
classic at some pointin theireduca-
tion. Like manyclassics,whether
read, skimmed,or learnedvia
anthologyor borrowednotes,the
memoryof it is oftena mixedone.
Even thosewillingto grantits
deservedfameprobablyrememberit
as ratherlong, at timestedious,and,
althoughit is unscholarlyto say so,
borderingon boring.Moreover,hav-
ing been writtenby a Dead Western
WhiteMale, it is exactlythe kindof
politicallyincorrectselectionthat
nowadayscan cause dust-upsat fac-
ultygatherings.Who needsthe ag-
gravation?But Tocquevillecan be
worththerisks,and in partprecisely
because it seemssuch an unlikely
candidate:Democracyhas thepoten-
tial to demonstrate to students(not
to mentioninstructors) the claimsto
enduringrelevanceoftenmade
casuallyfor"great books," but rare-
ly testedby actual prominencein
syllabi.
Politicalphilosophers,whoseread-
ing selectionshave long emphasized
the long dead (althoughnow more
femaleand less Westernif possible),
mayhave fewerproblemswiththis
proposal. Theyassign"real books"
as a matterof course. But other
typesof politicalscientists,however
politeabout it, are likelyto be as
skepticalas theirstudentsabout the
pertinenceof 150-year-old observa-
tionsto currentAmericaninstitutions
and practices.Many, if not most,
social scientists
seem to have adopted
some variantof a "currency"para-
digmpopularwitheconomists:things
223
TheTeacher
writtenmorethana fewdecades past
get relegatedto therealmof interest-
ing anecdote.Yet a Tocqueville,no
less thana Smith,Ricardo,or
Keynes,3stillhas muchto offer.
Indeed, whatis so striking about
readingDemocracy is the dead-on
accuracyof theobservations.For all
thesurfacedifferences, neitherthe
contentof theAmericancharacter,
nor thecore problemsof American
democraticgovernance,seemto have
changed.Perhapsthisis whythe
book is stillendlesslyquoted,4
whetherread or not.
Tocquevilleis at his best articulat-
ing thecentralconflictsof demo-
craticpoliticaltheory:the funda-
mentaltensionsbetweenlibertyand
equality,thepull of individualism
againstthe needsof community, the
difficultyof bringingwisdomto a
systemwherethemassesare em-
powered.Preoccupiedwithequality,
and unequivocallyconvincedof its
inevitability,Tocquevillenonetheless
orientshis observationsfromthe
then-respectable (but to modernstu-
dentswhollyforeign)perspective of
aristocracy. It is this perceptualdis-
tancethatgivesDemocracyits
"bite," and setsits analysisof
Americaninstitutions above thedry
of
renderings many modern text-
books. In Democracy,studentscan
findpassagesthatstillresonateas
descriptions of thesocietythey
inhabit.Thereare assertionsthey
findcomplimentary and comforting;
and thereare some thattheyfind
deeplydisturbing, such as Tocque-
ville'scontentionthatdemocracies
are everreadyto sacrificelibertyin
pursuitof greaterequality,and that
citizensin themare proneto mind-
numbingconformity.
Democracydoes covertheinstitu-
tionalbasics, fromthe detailsof the
nationalgovernment down to the
operationof thelowliesttownship.
But Tocqueville'sgreaterpreoccupa-
tionis withthe cultureand moresof
thepeople who functionwithinthose
structures. (Thus, forexample,the
chapteron the "Futureof the Three
Races"-viz, Indian,Black, and
White-is longerthantheone on the
"Federal Constitution.")Students,
accustomedto believein the almost
magicalaspectsof the American
structure,are challengedby the
notionthatmaybethe "habits of the
224
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heart" morethanthe shape of the
organizationchartsare whatreally
count. (These "values" issueshave
become a preoccupationof late, and
Tocqueville'sdiscussionsprovidea
neat tie to currentpoliticaldis-
course.) Insofaras Democracyends
up makingtheFederalistinstitutional
case, it does so fromthemoredis-
tinctivelyanti-Federalistgroundof
character.It thusmakesa perfect
counterpoint to an institutionally
pre-
occupiedtextbook,or to one which
Tocquevilleis at hisbest
articulatingthecentral
conflictsof democratic
politicaltheory:the
fundamental tensions
betweenliberty and
equality,thepull of
individualism againstthe
needsof community, the
difficultyof bringing
wisdomto a systemwhere
themassesare
empowered.
givestheseriousargumentsof the
system'scriticsonlylimitedplay."
Textbooksvs. Tocqueville
GrantingthattheseTocquevillean
issuesare important(and maybeeven
couldn'tmostof it wait
interesting),
until,say, theAmericanPolitical
Theoryclass? Shouldn'tit waituntil
we are surethatstudentshave a
properfoundationforit? Indeed,
surveycoursesas usuallyconceived
are preeminently concernedwithcon-
veyinga core of "basic facts," on
whichfoundationupper-levelcourses
may laterbuild. Detail-filled,
ought-
to-be-sold-by-the-pound textbooks
are certainlywrittento thisnorm,
and typicallyperformthejob quite
adequately.But howeverimpressive
therangeand qualityof current
offerings,6thereis unfortunately
littleevidencethata largefractionof
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
particularsremainin studentbrains
any longerin collegethantheydid in
highschool. Upper-levelcoursesstill
mustspenda lot of timerecapitulat-
ing whatstudentssuccessfully regur-
gitatedas recentlyas theprevious
semester.One may arguethatat least
the priorfactexposureprepared
neutralpathwaysforsubsequent
resurfacing. But one mightalso
assertthatstudentswould be as well
servedif morecomplexthemescould
be addressed,even at the expenseof
some minutiae.Particularly if those
themesare such as to generatea little
passion.
Instructors sometimesseem to
forgetthatanotherfunctionof the
introductory surveyis to build
enoughinterestto make students
wantto getthegreaterdetailthe
upper-levelcoursesprovide.Granting
textbooksmanyvirtues,fewwould
say theyare proneto igniteinterest
in the subject.Too oftentheyseem
designedto stop it dead in its tracks.
This is a virtueonlyif introductory
classes are viewedas "weeders,"
servingto eliminateall but the
talentedand thetruebelievers.Fur-
thermore, unlessa watereddown ver-
sion (a sortof "AmericanGovern-
mentforPoets") is to be offered,
the introduction muststillserve
studentsforwhomthesubjectmatter
is onlyan academicsidelight,rather
than a way of life. Criticswillsay it
is thesesojournerswho especially
need a textbook.As one colleague
put it: "You've got onlyone semes-
terto straighten themout forthe rest
of theirlives." But if thatbe true,is
it betterto spend moretimeon the
greatissuesof libertyand equality,
as theyare playedout withinthe
Americansystem,or moreon how
the House Rules Committeeworks?
To be sure,it is not thatmosttext-
books fail to addressimportant
themes,but ratherthatthe themes
oftenlose visibilityin the forestof
detailaccompanyingthem.More-
over,studentsand instructors alike
understandit is easierto testforthe
memorization of concretefactsand
factoidson exams,particularly if the
scale of theclass (or the instructor's
disposition,shouldgradersbe un-
available)precludesa lengthyessay
test.Both sides accordinglyturnto
the boldfacetermsand chaptersum-
marybulletscome multiple-guess
PS: PoliticalScience& Politics

examinationtime.Granted,instruc-
torsare freeto addressthegrander
themesin lecture.Indeed, adding
coherenceand an overallstructure to
thejumble of information is a prin-
cipal functionof thesegatherings.
But lecturesin largeclassesrarely
can strayfarfromthe structural
foundationaffordedby the central
readings.Each mustreinforcethe
otherpreciselybecause thereis so lit-
tle intimatestudent-instructor contact
to help clarifyideas. Thus the text's
structure moreoftenthannot defines
the course.
The additionof a non-textbook
book, such as theclassicFederalist
Papers (e.g., Rossiter1988),is
alreadya standardresponseto this
difficulty.Notablyambitiousinstruc-
torswilleven counterpoint Madison
et al. witha collectionof anti-
Federalistwritings.But, unfortunate-
ly, such readingsusuallytake a sec-
ond seat to thetextbook-which
alreadyprovidesmorethanenough
bulk readingto filla semester-and
as a consequenceare oftenread in a
sporadicand limitedfashionthat
attenuatesthearguments.Textbooks
generallyrendereverything as bland-
ly and evenhandedly as possible,to
be sureno one is offended.Good for
sales, perhaps,but lousyforpro-
motingreaderengagement.The Fed-
eralistand anti-Federalist cases incite
interestpreciselybecause each side
stakesa real position,and only
lengthyassignments givestudentsan
impressionof theirforceand the
continuingimportanceof theissues
raised.
Onlyif the "supplemental"textis
made as importantas thetextbook
itselfcan the former'sthemesexert
as muchinfluenceon the flowof the
course.The Federalistis stillcertain-
ly a possibilityforthislargerrole,
whencomplimented by anti-Federal-
ist writings(e.g., Ketcham1988;
Storing1981). Anotherpossible
"backbone" is JamesMadison's
wonderfulNotes ofDebates in the
Federal Conventionof 1787 (Madi-
son 1987),withits day-by-day, blow-
by-blowaccountingprovidingelo-
quentcounterpoint to the usual pre-
sentationof the Americansystemas
somehowsprungfullyformedfrom
the heads of theborderlinedivine.7
Complimentedby a decenttextbook,
eitherof theseoptionswillprovide
June1993
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studentswiththeinstitutionalsweep.
But sincetextbooksusuallyalready
deliverinstitutional
emphasis,some-
thingwithan alternative focus--
moresociological,psychological,
anthropological-maybe a better
bet. Hence, Tocqueville'sDemocracy
in America.8
TeachingTocqueville
It is axiomaticthatone of the
mostimportantvariablesin any class
-an absolutelycriticalone fora
largelectureclass-is the enthusiasm
the instructor
bringsto the material.
accustomed
Students, to
believein thealmost
magicalaspectsof the
Americanstructure,are
challenged bythenotion
thatmaybethe "habitsof
theheart"morethanthe
shapeof theorganization
chartsare whatreally
count.
Rekindlingthatenthusiasm,almost
inevitably worndown in the context
of teachingthe same materialagain
and again, is one of the principal
reasonsforconsidering Tocqueville
at all. Clearly,then,the firststepis
to (re)readDemocracyto see if the
claimsmade hereinabout its quality
and currencyhold up. If it seemsas
enervating now as it did before,there
is no sensegoingany further;
besides,you'll neversell it to stu-
dentsif you can't sell it to yourself.
Althoughseveraleditionsare un-
doubtedlycollectingdustin a nearby
library,such an explorationis per-
haps bestconductedwiththeeditions
thatstudentscan purchase.Two
paperbackversionsare currently
available. The Lawrence-Mayer
translation(Tocqueville1988) is con-
sideredto be somewhatmoreaccessi-
ble to modernreaders,givenits idio-
maticstyle.It is also a bit cheaper
thanits rival,the two-volumeReeve-
Bowen-Bradley translation(Tocque-
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Textbooks, andTocqueville
Technologies,
ville 1990).
Selectinga textbookto pair with
eitherof theseis a littletougher,
sincethereare quite a fewgood
choices.It is probablypreferableto
avoid thelargermodels,sincestu-
dentswillalreadybe devotinga
considerablenumberof pages to
Tocqueville.Amongthe betterof the
shorterare thecondensedLowi and
Ginsberg(1992) and Wasserman
(1991). (Both are also veryreason-
ably pricedin paperback.)The latter
is themorelow-level,simplywritten
text.Some would say too simple,
but thatmay be an appropriate
"reward" forstudentsgiventhe dif-
ficultyof the assignments in Democ-
racy.Stickingwitha familiar,if
larger,textbookis also fine;but one
mustbe willingto sharplycut back
readings,and not everytextlends
itselfto easy abridgement. (Big texts
also tendto be expensiveones.) Not
everypage of Democracyneed be
read either,of course. Indeed, sub-
stantialomissions,particularly from
volumetwo, are recommended.But
coveringenoughof thebook to con-
veythe essentialargumentswillstill
translateintoseveralhundredtough
pages.9
ThoughDemocracy'sbrilliance
maybe striking to at least some
instructors, it is surelyless so to most
students.Only a fractionare likelyto
have thematurity and backgroundto
handlelargechunksof Tocqueville
unassisted.Pacing thereadingson a
weeklybasis, and goingover a small
segmenteach class, can encourage
studentsto keep up. Besidesnoting
the importantpointsand mostquot-
able quotes,theserecapitulations are
opportunities to tie thematerialto
the "current"eventsof Tocqueville's
time,as well as to whatis current
fromthe student'sperspective-i.e.,
thingsthathave happenedin the last
threeyears.Such linkagesare impor-
tantto any teaching,but especially
criticalas partof sellingthe rele-
vance of "some old book by some
dead Frenchguy" (as one of mystu-
dentsdescribedit to his colleague).
Backgroundassistancein thisregard
probablyrequiresaccess to a good
Americanhistorytextor two. The
particularcontextof Tocquevilleand
his book is also quite useful,and
painlesslyofferedby Jardin'ssuper-
lativebiography(1988).
225
TheTeacher
This alone adds up to a fairly
ambitioussurvey'ofAmericanhistory
and politics-morethanenough
materialto filla course. But excep-
tionallydetermined instructors can
also delvea bit intopoliticalphiloso-
phy,settingTocquevilleanthemes
againsttheMadisonianmodel's
assumptions,contrasting Federalist
and anti-Federalist positions,com-
paringPlatonic-Rousseaueanvisions
to the liberaltraditionsout of
Hobbes, Locke, et al., or evenmov-
ingto moderncollisionslike that
betweenRawls and Nozick.10The
beautyof Democracyis thatit lends
itselfto somethingthisexpansive,or
to "simply" exploringbasic themes
like libertyand equalitywithinthe
Americanpolitical-historical context.
To be sure,weavingtheseelements
togetherintosome sortof coherent
themajor
progressionconstitutes
"
challengeof thecourse. Indeed,it
is theprincipalpenaltybornof
rejectingtheready-madesuperstruc-
tureof a textbook.But evenif the fit
is not alwaysperfect,studentsseem
to be tolerantif theysensethe in-
structor'scommitment
themsomethingof lasting
to teaching
importance.
Assignments can help suggestthe
fitamongotherwisedisparatepieces,
and reinforce the relevanceof the
issuesraised. In shortpapers,stu-
dentscan be asked to compareand
contrasta Tocquevilleanquote with
an excerptfroma recentnewspaper
or magazinepiece. Longerpapers
can take a themeaddressedat length
in Democracy(e.g., race, gender
relations)and contrastthebook's
rendering withcurrentissuesand per-
ceptions.12Studentsare thusforced
to examinewhich,if any,of the
book's insightsintothe 1830's
UnitedStatestranscendthatpar-
ticularera. Tocquevilleplaced great
emphasison America'sdecentralized
governmental system,and theoppor-
tunityit offeredforrelatingtheindi-
vidualto his community. Student
reportson politicalactivitiesback in
theirhome statesand localitiesare
thusparticularly appropriate(and
particularly complimentary to text-
books thatstressnationalinstitu-
tions).Participationas a volunteerin
some formof community service
(and reporting on it forcredit),
affordsa concreteway forstudents
226
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to explorethe moreprivate,non-
governmental aspectsof the relation-
shipbetweenindividualand com-
munity.This too was a Tocque-
villeanobsession.(Aside fromits
relevance,thisthousand-points-of-
lightassignment turnsout to be one
thatstudentsalmostalwaysfind
extremely fulfilling.)"3
Any teachingexperiment such as
thisrequiresthoroughassessmentsof
studentlearning.Performanceon
quizzes is an obvioussourceof such
information;frequentquizzes allow
thisfeedbackto be gottenearlyand
often.(Happily,learningtheorysug-
geststhatmultiple,smalltestsare
preferableanyway.)Most grading
softwarenow allows thoroughanaly-
To be sure,it is notthat
mosttextbooks fail to
addressimportant themes,
butratherthatthethemes
oftenlose visibility
in
theforestof detail
accompanying them.
sis of the patternsof responseson
tests,identifyingareas thatneed
greaterclarificationor emphasis.
Surveyquestionsabout the course
can also be piggy-backed onto the
quizzes (withsome extracreditgiven
forresponses),ratherthan waiting
forstandardend-of-semester evalua-
tions.Aside fromidentifying prob-
lem areas, such assessmentsseemto
enhancestudentperformance simply
by demonstrating thattheinstructor
trulycares if theyare "gettingit."
(A speciesof Hawthorneeffect,per-
haps.) Assessmentdata can also be
quite usefulforrespondingto the
concernsof facultycolleagueswho
are dubiousabout thisteaching
approach.
Technologyvs. Tocqueville
Almostanyonewho has taughtan
subjectis aware
amphitheatre-filling
of thecommercialinterestsuch large
marketsengender:an avalancheof
publishersamples,vyingforselec-
tion,is guaranteedto clog the
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
departmental mailboxforyearsto
come. Mindfulof the workloadmost
professorsface-particularlythe
overextended junior facultyoften
saddled withthe introductory surveys
-both publishernoticesand the
ever-friendly publisherrepresentatives
accompanyingthemincreasingly tout
both qualityand conveniencein these
offerings. Textbooksnow come
matchedto supplementalreaders,
studyguides,instructor manuals,test
blanks(alreadyon diskette),setsof
overheadsand slides,videotapes,and
so forth.Now thatinteractive video
and computermultimediaequipment
are becomingmorecommonon cam-
pus, thesetools are increasingly seen
in the productbundleas well.
In the face of all thisprogress,it
mightseemthatonlya Luddite
would advocatesaddlinga visually
orientedgenerationwithsome dusty
tome-a move backwardsin more
waysthanone. But it shouldbe
notedthat,forall theglitzyappeal,
fewexpertsreallyclaim to knowhow
muchimprovement thesenew teach-
ing technologiesactuallypurchase.A
perusalof scholarlyliteratureon the
subjectgenerallyconfirmsa confes-
sion I heardgivenby a panelistat a
recentconferenceon integrating com-
putersinto thecollegeclassroom:
"People ask if my studentslearnbet-
ternow [withcomputers].I don't
know. But I reallydidn'tknowhow
well theywerelearningbefore
either."14 (Statements like thismake
one glad educationreformers have
not yetfocusedpast Americanhigh
schools.) Pendingthearrivalof hard
effectiveness data, low-techexperi-
mentersneed make fewapologies,
particularly in an environment where
the high-tech tools are budgetarily
unavailableanyhow.
Those thatstickwitha "real
book" or two can also make a claim
to advancinga typeof learningwell
describedby Bloom (whateverone
thinksof his politicsor his choice of
pronouns):"He who has read one
book well is in a positionto read any
book, whilehe forwhombooks are
easy currencyis renderedincapable
of livingfullywithone." " One of
the happysurprisesin teaching
Tocquevillewas thereceptiveness of
studentsto theapproach,and the
degreeto whichevenstudentsof
modesttalent(and considerable
PS: PoliticalScience& Politics

initialskepticism)respondedto it.
The unhappysurprisewas thelack of
enthusiasmfromsome colleagues:
Americanists in particularwerecon-
cernedthatan importanttopicwas
beingill-addressed underthisoddball
approach.Such fearsare surelylegit-
imate,and speak again to the need
fora thoroughassessmenteffort
regardlessof the levelof technology
employed.But thatrequiresa con-
sideredeffortto definewhatwe want
to have studentslearn,ratherthan
simplyan assertionthatonlycertain
methodsare correctto teachit. Too
oftenthe definition of some teaching
performance standardis viewedas an
assault.
One mighthope, in moreprivate
moments,thattechnologywillsome-
day help subvertthelectureamphi-
theatreitself:computer-based, self-
paced, teacher-assisted learning
replacingtheinevitably passiveand
all-too-often soporificperformance
art environment of thelargelecture
class.16 Since the inventionof the
printing press,the onlyconsistently
good thingone can say about the lec-
ture,in the handsof mostinstruc-
tors,is thatit is stillcheap. But for
as long as thismethodof teaching
mustremaincommon,we can at
leastbe open to all theapproaches
thatmay make it moreproductive.
Use of betterdisplayson thelecture
hall wall is a finestepif it can be
afforded,and if it trulycompliments
thematerialand theinstructor's
style.But thereshouldalso be room
forlow-techapproaches,forat least
a whilelonger,in the name of mak-
ing learningsomethinga littleless
deadlyfora fewamongthemillions
involved-on both sides of the
lectern.
Notes
1. U.S. Departmentof Education,
National CenterforEducation Statistics,
Digest of Education Statistics(annual) and
Projectionsof Education Statistics(annual).
Statisticsincludejunior or communitycol-
leges, regular"four-year"colleges,and
graduate/professional schools.
2. At least thatis the estimatedsize of the
marketforIntroAG textbooks,readers,etc.;
June1993
This content downloaded from 62.122.76.48 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 00:04:19 AM
informalpublisherestimatesof sales range
from300,000 to 800,000. Such a market,
thoughlarge,is not of the same scale as first-
tiernicheslike introductory economicsor
psychology.
3. In contradistinction to usual practice,
Buchholz(1989) does an excellentjob of sell-
ing the insightsof long-deadeconomists.
4. WitnessformerTexas Representative
Barbara Jordan'suse of Tocquevilleon the
subjectof Americanwomen,in her keynote
addressto the DemocraticNational Conven-
tion on July13, 1992. Jordan'sexcerptsug-
gesteda rathermore enlightenedfeminist
stancethanDemocracyactuallydelivers.
5. See A. J. Eksterowiczand P. C. Cline,
"Ratificationof the Constitution:The Great
Debate as Portrayedin AmericanGovern-
mentTextbooks," PS 24(2): 211-15.
6. At last count,therewereover 20 hard-
back introductory Americangovernment texts
in print,along withalmostas manypaper-
backs.
7. Since theNotes covera period of
about fourmonths,or approximatelythe
lengthof a semester,theycan be read on a
day-by-daypace.
8. It is possible to teach withoutany text-
book at all, of course,but thisputs a con-
siderableburdenon instructors to develop
coherentsupplementary material.It is also
difficultwherestudents'"civics" preparation
is particularly weak.
9. 1 assign465 of 678 pages in the
two-
Lawrence-Mayeredition;approximately
thirdsof thisis fromvolume 1.
10. Tocqueville's notionof "self interest
rightly understood,"akin to the "enlightened
selfinterest"of Madison et al., can also be
exploredparticularly well usingrational
choice theory.
11. Evidence fromcognitivepsychologists
suggeststhat studentscan focuson one lec-
turetopic forat most 15-20minutesat a
time. Modularizationof lecturesinto sub-
unitsis one responseto thisostensiblelimit
(e.g., spendinga segmenton the day's
Democracyreadings,thenon the material
fromthe textbook,and perhapsa last uniton
whateverpolitical-economic-historical-
cultural-philosophical topic seemspertinent).
12. These largerpapers can be written
individually,or in groups. Group papers are
oftenof higherquality,yieldpracticeon
interpersonal skillsof value in theirown
right,and, of course, reducethe numberof
papers to be graded. However,fairnessin
gradingusuallyrequiressome systemof
anonymousintra-groupassessmentto attenu-
ate free-rider
administrative
problems,whichcan be an
burden.
13. Ideally,instructors will build flexibility
into the systemof assignments-permitting a Center.His currentresearchassignments
rangeof combinationsof quizzes and other
assignmentsto let each studentworkat what
he or she does best. Unfortunately, building
an aggregatescore froma variable(and
variablyweighted)bundleof assignmentsfor
each studentis beyondmostgradingsoft-
ware. It is, however,easilydone witha pro-
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Textbooks, andTocqueville
Technologies,
grammablestatisticalpackage like SPSS.
14. See, e.g., R. B. Kozma and J. John-
ston, "The TechnologicalRevolutionComes
to the Classroom" (Change, January/Febru-
ary 1991: 10-12)foran upbeat portrayalof
the possibilities,whichnonethelessadmitsto
the real dearthof assessmentdata.
15. Quoted in "Revise, Revise," The New
Republic,28 January1991.
16. Alternatively, the technologymay
merelybe used to replicatethe old
approaches: the first"Classroom of the 21st
Century"at a nearbyinstitution is essentially
a wiredversionof the largelecturehall, com-
pletewitha wall-sizeddisplayformulti-
media exposureen masse, and multiple-choice
responsekeypadsat everystudentseat.
References
Buchholz,Todd G. 1989. New Ideas from
Dead Economists.New York: Penguin
Plume.
Jardin,Andre. 1988. Tocqueville:A Biogra-
phy. Trans. Lydia Davis and Robert
Hemenway.New York: Farrar,Straus
and Giroux.
Ketcham,Ralph, ed. 1988. The Anti-
FederalistPapers and the Constitutional
ConventionDebates. New York: Penguin
Mentor.
Lowi, Theodore J., and BenjaminGinsberg.
1992. AmericanGovernment,brief2nd
ed. New York: W. W. Norton.
Madison, James. 1987. Notes of Debates in
theFederal Conventionof 1787, Bicen-
tennialed. New York: W. W. Norton.
Rossiter,Clinton,ed. 1988. The Federalist
Papers. New York: PenguinMentor.
Storing,HerbertJ. 1981. WhattheAnti-
FederalistsWereFor. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
Tocqueville,Alexis. 1988. Democracyin
America. Trans. George Lawrenceand
J. P. Mayer.New York: Harper Perennial.
Tocqueville,Alexis. 1990. Democracyin
America, Vols. 1 and 2. Trans. Henry
Reeve, FrancisBowen, and Phillips
Bradley.New York: VintageClassics.
Wasserman,Gary. 1991. The Basics of
AmericanPolitics,6th ed. New York:
Harper Collins.
About theAuthor
Reid Cushmanis a seniorassociate of the
Universityof VirginiaHealth Policy Research
includethe areas of medicalinformaticsand
outcomes/effectivenessanalysisof medical
protocols.He has taughtintroductory Ameri-
can government, politicaltheory,and
researchmethodsas an assistantprofessorin
the departmentof politicalscienceat nearby
JamesMadison University.
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