The Role of PSO
Policy making and scholarship should go together, but much of the time they don't. Decisions are often made with limited knowledge and understanding of the full issue. A classic case is the war in Vietnam, which American leadership became entangled in partly for lack of knowledge about Vietnamese nationalism. An aim of the Policy Studies Organization is to close the gap between academia and decision making, an ongoing issue.
Good ideas and good policy can go hand in hand. Our events bring together teachers and activists, professors and politicians. Our journals reach both legislators and researchers. We are determinedly nonpartisan. Some of us have to make rapid decisions and depend on well researched literature, while others spend years on a topic, building on decades of past PSO work. Unlike many think tanks, we do not have any axe to grind, unless it is one of accuracy and thoroughness.
We have made a difference. Not long ago a study we published regarding the opinion pages of the Washington Post and New York Times was noted became the subject of articles in both papers, and led to a reconsideration of who participates. Our interest in online education has contributed to the acceptance of online instruction as an important part of education. Very long ago our oldest journal, World Affairs, was a major force in abolishing slavery.
President of the Policy Studies Organization, Dr. Paul J. Rich on the Role of the PSO, Academia, and the InfraGard as presented at the Infragard Session as part of the Dupont Summit, at the Carnegie Institute of Science.
Our editorial board members and panels of peer reviewers are constantly popping up on talk shows and op- eds, and we like to think their activities to an extent draw on the PSO journals and books. We believe that they play a part in responsible discussion of the major issues of our day and that PSO is part of the way they participate.