The Proposed Citizenship Clearing House

• Author: John A. Vieg
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100312
• Published date: 01 September 1948
• Date: 01 September 1948
• Subject Matter: Articles

THE PROPOSED CITIZENSHIP CLEARING HOUSE
by
JOHN A. VIEG
Pomona College
It is something of a reflection on the profession of political science that
it remained for Arthur T. Vanderbllt/ lawyer (and now jurist), to propose
to the American Political Science Association, as he did at its annual meet-
ing last year, the establishment of a Citizenship Clearing House for the
purpose of encouraging college and university graduates to take up early in
their careers an active citizenship within the political party of their choice.
Considering the indispensability of effective parties to effective democracy
and the fact that some very large percentage of the membership of our guild
earns a very large portion of its bread and butter teaching courses explicitly
justified on the grounds that they are essential to the development of active
and informed citizens, one of our own number might have been expected
to have come forward with such a proposal years ago. Be that as it may,
the important thing is that a simple plan for inducing students to take that
vital first step is now before the profession and the question is what the
membership will do about it.
I
Here are the essential features of the proposal as this writer has en-
deavored to visualize it in operation. Let some one or several interested
members of the Department of Political Science on every campus invite the
members of every graduating class several weeks before commencement to
&dquo;take up their citizenship along with their profession&dquo; and make an offer
of the services of the Citizenship Clearing House in arranging an early
introduction to some local leader of the political party of their choice in
the community where they expect to begin their careers. Let then as many
seniors as are interested accept the offer and supply the Departmental repre-
sentatives, or in other words the local exchange, with such information as
would be essential for the purpose of the introduction.
If a graduate were to locate...