Journal of Political Science

Student Reading the Journal of Political Science at Clemson University

Only one year after the Political Science Department was established at Clemson University, in the Fall of 1973, The Journal of Political Science began publishing under its official editor, Dr. Martin Slann. Dr. Slann, otherwise known as Marty to friends, family, and colleagues, served as a professor of Political Science, later becoming chair of the department. Slann served as the executive editor of the Journal for over twenty years. The first issue offered five different articles by colleagues representing four colleges and universities including Winthrop College, University of Missouri-Columbia and Central State University, alongside Clemson University.

Dr. Charles Dunn of Clemson University wrote the final article titled: “The Occupational Status of State Legislators: A Research Note”.¹In the next three years, this publication produced three volumes with four regular fall/spring semester editions and one summer semester special edition. The research of Clemson University scholars was showcased several times. Dr. Slann’s editorial notes and introductions gave the volumes cohesion and focus. Clemson faculty included in the first three volumes of publication were Dr. Horace Flemming Jr, Dr. Joseph L. Albena, Hewitt D Adams, and Dr. Alan Grubb.

Cover of Volume 10 Number 2 of The Journal of Political Science

One of the most interesting early editions of the Journal of Political Science is the Summer Special Edition of Volume III, published in 1976. Its his editor’s note, Dr. Slann explains the importance of the edition, which solely focused on “exploring the opportunities and responsibilities of Home Rule in South Carolina”, highlighting local changes in local government throughout the state where there was no legal precedent set for these changes.²

Dr. Horace Flemming Jr took the reins in this special edition during his time at Clemson, as he organized five symposia (located in “Florence; Point South; Greenville; Greenwood; and Columbia”)³to gather Political Scientists and political leaders of the time to discuss South Carolina’s Home Rule in regards to a plethora of topics (“Constitutional changes; Legal Ramifications; Fiscal aspects; and Political Considerations”).⁴Those who wrote in this special edition included politicians , as well as political scientists. Authors included two State Senators (Richard Piley and Anthony Harris), six State Representatives (David Keeler, Peden McCleod, Henry Floyd, Robert McFadden, Jean Toal and James Moss), two County Attorneys (Joseph Earle and G.P. Callison), two city managers (Douglas J Watson and Ronald Windham), two county executives (Raymond M. Urquhart and Gene Klugh) and one county manager (Robert G. Mauney). The South Carolina counties represented by this group included Greenville, Greenwood, Florence, Colleton, Pickens, York, Chesterfield, Richland, Beaufort, and Aiken. After these articles by political leaders, Horace Flemming wrapped up the special edition with “The Politics of Revised Article VIII: Who Will Govern – And How?” The article provided a cogent before and after snapshot for South Carolina’s government with the appropriate explanation and political theory regarding Home Rule.

Pages from Volume 15 of The Journal of Political Science

The 14th volume (Spring 1986) of the Journal of Political Science launched the focus on thematic publication, rather than producing a general Political Science collection of essays. The success of the Summer Edition of 1976, offered inspiration for this approach. In his editor’s note, Slann explains that the new format may include scholars of multiple disciplines, and that history and speech scholars may be represented in order to thoroughly represent a theme.

This first thematic volume focused on “terrorism” as a broad topic, including works about the general concepts of terrorism and specified case studies.⁵This thematic-type organization continued on with multiple issues, some issues highlighted guest editors whose work complemented the theme. The two subsequent volumes featured Clemson faculty as guest editors. In Volume 15, Clemson’s William Lasser, alongside Washington-Lee University's William F Connely, ask the question “Does the United States Constitution Govern?” and organizes 7 essays addressing various aspects of this question.⁶ Clemson’s Charles Dunn, as guest editor for Volume XVI, focused broadly on religion in American Politics.⁷

Table of Contents from Volume 16 of The Journal of Political Science

The last volume that Dr. Slann was the sole editor for Volume 19 after a four volume stretch of guest editors, including those above. Despite this change in the main editor, Clemson continued to be featured within the publication for years to come. After the publication was no longer directly associated and sponsored by Clemson it moved to University of South Carolina Spartanburg in 1994 starting in Volume 22. By 2009, the publication was officially moved directly to the South Carolina Political Science Association and is fully hosted on Coastal Carolina University’s Digital Common’s page as an open source journal where its articles for each Volume are available via PDF since Volume I. All three current editors of the Journal are Coastal Carolina Political Science faculty or staff.

The Journal of Political Science, Volume 1, No. 1, Fall, 59-64. https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol1/iss1/ ↩
The Journal of Political Science, Volume 3, No. 3, Summer, i. https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol3/iss3/ ↩
The Journal of Political Science, Volume 3, No. 3, Summer, iii. https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol3/iss3/ ↩
The Journal of Political Science, Volume 3, No. 3, Summer, iii. https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol3/iss3/ ↩
The Journal of Political Science, Volume 14, Fall and Spring, ii. https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol14/iss1/ ↩
The Journal of Political Science, Volume 15, Fall and Spring, ii. https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol15/iss1/ ↩
The Journal of Political Science, Volume 16, Fall and Spring, i. https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol16/iss1/ ↩