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The article highlights the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Political Science Association on April 2 to 4, 1923. At the morning session which was devoted to Public Law, Professor D. Y. Thomas, third-vice-president of the Association, presided in the absence of G. B. Dealey, first vice-president, who was unable to attend. Informal discussion of the morning program was continued at the luncheon conference which was held at the Rotunda Tea Room. International Relations was the general topic taken up at the afternoon session presided over by Professor J. P. Comer of Southern Methodist University. An interesting session on nominating systems presided over by Professor F. F. Blachly of the University of Oklahoma was held on Tuesday evening at which a paper on The Direct Primary vs The Convention was presented by Tom Finty, Jr., editor of The Dallas Journal. A joint session of the Sociology Section and the Council of Statewide Social Agencies Wednesday afternoon was the concluding session of the program presided over by Professor S. L. Hornbeak of Trinity University in the absence of Dr. Jerome Dowd of the University of Oklahoma. A meeting of the Committees to consider the relation of the History group to the Association was held after the adjournment of the business meeting with all members present.

The article presents information on ethical notions in relation to social life. Philosophy, political sciences, psychiatry, etc. use a great many theoretical notions without careful evaluation of their empirical meaning. Concepts like power, alienation, progressiveness, conservatism, tolerance, suppression, context, idealism, dominance, cruelty, opportunism, libido, submission, etc. abound in the dissertations which belong to social sciences. Vast intuitive differences connected with these terms, multiplied by vague definitions attached to them, almost always exclude the possibility of generally accepted professional understanding. Therefore, the need to propose some new concepts, capable of being operationalized in an empirical way and designed to analyze the complexity of current events, seems to be quite pressing. Traditionally people have a tendency to extend the norms of private life, and the private ethics, into the sphere of public life. But modem life shows quite shockingly that the old ethics, structured in this way, fail. Socially oriented ethics emerge as a relatively new device to cover and regulate those areas of human behavior which are primarily connected with the new, large, somewhat artificial entities in which the life of a modem citizen is submerged, institutions, organizations, agencies, factories, etc.

This section introduces the articles featured in the 1971 issue of the Public Opinion Quarterly. The three articles which follow were presented in somewhat different form at the 1970 American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Conference. The session was requested by the Executive Council of AAPOR to illuminate issues arising from four cases reported to and investigated by the Standards Committee. The four complaints charged an assortment of ethical infractions, from biased questionnaires to connivance in government propaganda. In each instance the Committee requested explanation from the accused. No judgments were made and no conclusions reached, but the issues cannot be avoided. as made clear in the articles, as well as in day-to-day events, polls are now an integral part of the political process. All three writers perform variations on the theme that increased use of and reliance on polls demands greater responsibility. Meyer, the journalist, calls for better communication; Congressman Nedzi explores the legislative route, hoping thereby to stimulate other approaches; Field, the poller, says that every member of AAPOR must recognize it is his problem and advocates steps toward further professional responsibility.

The article focuses on the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) as a political organization. APGA needs to develop an effective political arm on behalf of the professional interests of its 27,000 members and the hundreds of thousands of school children and other clients and institutions whom they serve. Poorly defined or hasty action is all too often counterproductive. The concern is that APGA take the care to work out a vehicle for influencing legislative results and executive office action that will advance the educational and scientific interests of APGA members and their clientele. Some attempt at political action was made by the APGA Senate at last year's Atlantic City convention. The Senate passed a motion that not only indicated that APGA would not go back to Atlantic City until social conditions changed, but instructed the executive staff to encourage other associations, to do the same. Actively working to persuade others to act is clearly political. It may be argued that the Senate went beyond its mandate on a number of grounds in undertaking the instruction to the executive staff. The Senate membership was presumably elected on their educational and scientific merits; not on the basis of any expressed political beliefs.

The article presents information about international conferences on social sciences to be held between years 1970 and 1972, published in the May 1, 1970 issue of the journal "International Social Science Journal." Some of the conferences that are scheduled during the period are "Unesco: Sixth international seminar on the use of mathematics in the social sciences," to be held between July 5 and 31, 1970 in Israel. "International Association of Workers for Maladjusted Children: Seventh Congress (Theme: The social role of the specialized 'educateur' for maladjusted children)," to be held between July 6 and 10, 1970 at Versailles, France. "International Political Science Association: Eighth World Congress," to be held between August 31 and September 5, 1970 in Munich, Germany.

This article provides a mathematical presentation of the political parties in Israel. The basic proposition of the author is that five major issues presently surface in Israeli political life. Each one of these issues is identified as distinguishing two or more political parties from others. These five issues are detailed, along with associated party alliances. A comparison is given of 15 logically possible cases and the actual political ideologies found in Israel. Observations, critique of this form of analysis, and conclusions are given.

The article focuses on pressure groups in the government of Great Britain, discussed at the Conference of the British Sociological Association in 1955. Party is an important focus of pressure groups and channel for influence. There is a view of the constitution which assert that influence on decisions ought to be exercised only through parties prepared to submit to the judgment of the electors. There is also similarity between bodies in so far as they have evolved working techniques of influence; there are also differences of internal structure, and these seem to be related to the history and technical character of individual interests, rather than to any grouping by type of interest. The reputation of a pressure group is one of its means of influence, and it would be insane for any group to endanger it for small temporary gains. Pressure through elections may be declining but there is no doubt that organized attempts to alter the climate of opinion are important in British politics. In spite of the implications of the word pressure, there is not much doubt that the most effective of techniques is the appeal to reason. Some social and intellectual prestige is necessary to ensure that your information is what the best people believe to be the best; and there is an element of management in seeing that information is planted in places where it will reach decision-makers. The organized groups are indispensable in the execution of policy as in the making of policy.

Many policy issues are involved in considering the relationship between government and voluntary agencies. Since many voluntary sectarian agencies receive considerable tax funds, one such issue pertains to the principle of church-state separation. In the field of social welfare, the accepted policy seems to be one of co-operation between church and state. The effect that this has on the nation's over-all church-state principle is significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author examines competing claims about the size and significance of shifts in party identification, concluding that the evidence supports neither Burnham's "disaggregation" hypothesis nor those who contend that the time is ripe for a new party of the "liberal left." On the contrary, his analysis suggests that file Republican party is the most likely beneficiary of such changes as are occurring among the electorate, and that in fact an increase in Independents portends a brighter future for a Republican southern strategy than for a left-oriented new party. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the main sources of strength of the two major political parties? In what areas of the country are the battle-lines most sharply drawn? What trends in sectional voting have occurred since the beginning of the New Deal? What are the possibilities of fundamental partisan realignment in the near future? An experienced observer of politics and government discusses these and other vital questions. Arthur N. Holcombe is Professor of Government at Harvard University, and author of such authoritative books as The Middle Classes in American Politics and Political Parties of Today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of the business of government, therefore, depends largely upon the effectiveness of its letters. Each government letter containing irrelevant details and unnecessary repetition may cause a taxpayer to conclude that the government is wasting his money. Each letter that bears incorrect information, or fails to contain all necessary information, adds weight to the familiar charge of inefficiency in government. Each involved, too-detailed, or confusing letter suggests red tape. Each letter written, no matter how unintentionally, with a curt, commanding, or arbitrary tone may convince the reader that the government, which presumably exists for his good and betterment, is in fact high-handed and dictatorial. This article does not represents criticism, for indeed many of the letters which were examined were excellent representatives of the efficient organizations from which they were sent. Surveys which the writers have also made of the correspondence of private business organizations show that government compares favorably with private industry as regards both quality of letters and efforts toward increasing their effectiveness. The examples cited in this article serves to demonstrate how easily correspondents, through ineptness or lack of thought, may damage an agency's reputation and reduce its effectiveness.

The article discusses the role of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) of the U.S. in advocating the independence of the Philippines. The 1920s can be described as the critical period of Philippine independence. The first recorded instance of AFL interest in the Philippines during the period in question was in 1923. According to the Reports of the Proceedings of the American Federation of Labor for 1923, the Executive Council authorized a survey of working and living conditions in the Philippines and publication of a committee report of the findings. At the 1924 conference, the Executive Council decided to petition the U.S. Congress to grant the earnest prayer and petitions of the Filipinos to give them the right to exercise in full liberty, freedom and self-government.

Focuses on speech in government relations in the U.S. Effectiveness of conversations which go on in government; Use of speech to unite or disrupt any organization.