Members Present:
President Lyn Ragsdale; Program Chair Rodney Hero; Council Members David Adler, R. Michael Alvarez, Christine DiStefano, Bill Dixon, Luis Fraga, Michael Haas, Charles Lockhart, Susan Olson, Ron Schmidt, Peri Schwartz-Shea, Joe Stewart, and Dvora Yanow; and Executive Director Elizabeth Moulds.

Members Absent:
Ann Crigler, Mark Kann, and Victor Wolfenstein.

Guests Present:
Dick Brody, Stanford University; Betsy Carroll, San Jose State University; Elsa Favila, California State University, Sacramento; Bill Haltom, University of Puget Sound; Ted Jelen, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Mike McCann University of Washington; David Olson, University of Washington.

Call to Order:
President Lyn Ragsdale called the meeting to order at 8:47 a.m.

Approval of the Minutes:
Minutes of the September 4, 1998, meeting of the WPSA Executive Council were modified in two small respects (correcting the spelling of Bill Haltom's name in the penultimate paragraph on p. 1 and changing IPSA to ISA in the final paragraph of p. 1) and approved.

Reports:

Membership. Elizabeth Moulds explained that domestic individual membership was up significantly, largely due to new California (the state hosting the 1998 meeting) members; domestic institutional membership was down slightly; international individual membership was up slightly; while international institutional membership was down slightly. Overall, membership was up nearly 100.

Local Arrangements. Bill Haltom and, later, Mike McCann related that arrangements have gone well overall. There were roughly 600 pre-registrations; but there are as well nearly 200 persons on panels who have not pre-registered. The situation appears to be similar to that of other years.

Financial Report. Elizabeth Moulds offered the good news that, due largely to an increase in dues, income was up sharply. The Association had higher up-front expenses associated with the 1999 meeting. Additionally, insurance and secretarial expenses had increased. But, overall, the association experienced a nearly 50% increase in its net assets in 1998. Net assets were reported as $73,433.52.

Political Research Quarterly. Susan Olson reiterated that the recent dues increase had prompted no decline in subscriptions. PRQ has successfully overcome recent typesetting problems and found a solution to a recent inaccuracy in the labeling of an issue. New procedures are required to assure that the version of articles printed is the version accepted by the editors. PRQ will soon be available on the internet via JSTOR on a basis similar to the APSR.

Bill Dixon reported that the backlog of PRQ-accepted articles was declining. PRQ would like to receive more submissions in comparative and international politics.

Nominating Committee. David Olson reported on the committee's recommendations for officers and executive council members:

Vice-President (1999-2000) and President-elect (2000-2001):
Ann N. Crigler, University of Southern California.
Recording Secretary: Janie Steckenrider, Loyola Marymount University
(Charles Lockhart was particularly elated at this news.).
Treasurer: Gil St. Clair, The College of Santa Fe at Albuquerque.
Executive Council:
Region A (California): Diana Dwyre, Chico State University (1999-
2002), and Michael Haas (shifting from region C-1999-2002).
Region B (Southwest): Barbara Norrander, University of Arizona (1999-
2002).
Region C (Northwest): Michael McCann, University of Washington (1999-2002) and Stephanie Witt, Boise State University (1999-
2001)-to fill the remaining two years of the vacancy created by
Michael Haas' shift to Region A.

Acceptance of the nominating committee's report was moved, seconded and carried.

Old Business:

San Jose Site for Northern California Meeting in 2000. Mary E. (Betsy) Carroll reported on the arrangements for the 2000 meeting, March 24-26. On a one-time basis, the meeting with run Friday through Sunday noon (rather than Thursday through Saturday). This change arises from the sharply reduced hotel rates available for these nights. The local arrangements staff is apt to experiment with some innovations that seem appropriate for a Silicon Valley location: on-line registration (including payment) and some form of limited on-line availability of conference papers (e.g., papers for some sections or perhaps abstracts of all papers). The suggestion that the Association approach advertisers (e.g., publishers) about purchasing space on the Association's website met a generally favorably response. Betsy Carroll emphasized that both San Jose and Oakland airports represented good alternatives to the San Francisco airport.

Las Vegas Site for Southwest Meeting in 2001. Lyn Ragsdale and Ted Jelen discussed early arrangements for the 2001 meeting in Las Vegas. Pending more information on relative costs, there was support either for having the meeting in a non-gaming hotel (possibly the Alexis Park) or at least making rooms in such a hotel available at favorable rates to Association members. Lyn Ragsdale suggested examining whether utilizing Convention Center facilities might give the Association more flexibility with respect to hotels.

Sites for Subsequent Meetings. Lyn Ragsdale has initiated discussion of San Diego as a possible site for the Southern California meeting in 2002. Long Beach and Riverside represent alternatives, although there was little enthusiasm expressed for the Riverside possibility. Denver or Salt Lake City appear as likely possibilities for 2003, although interest exists in Santa Fe if arrangements can be worked out.

New Business:

1999-2000 Budget. Elizabeth Moulds presented and explained a proposed 1999-2000 Association budget of $24,730. After brief discussion focusing on increased amounts for various Association paper awards and the PRQ editor search, this budget proposal was moved, seconded and carried.

Resolution Honoring The Reverend Betty Dalgliesh. Susan Olson explained that Betty Dalgliesh was retiring-at 95--from 51 years of service as the copy editor for WPQ/PRQ. She is the only copy editor the journal has ever had. The following resolution was read:
Be it resolved that the Western Political Science Association recognizes
The Reverend Betty Dagliesh on the occasion of her retirement for her
fifty-one years of service as copy editor of the Western Political Quarterly
and the Political Research Quarterly. Since its beginnings, the Western
Political Science Association has sponsored the Quarterly, which was
started in 1948 by Professor Franz Schick of the University of Utah
Political Science Department. Reverend Betty Dalgliesh began as copy
editor for the first issue. She has served continuously under subsequent
editors Ray Peel, Elsworth Weaver, Donald Hanson, Dean Mann, Walter
Stone, and Bill Dixon and Lyn Ragsdale. Reverend Betty Dalgliesh has
contributed immeasurably to the high professional standards of timeliness and quality writing that the journal has maintained. The Association thanks her for her remarkable record of service and wishes her well in her retirement.
Acceptance of this resolution was moved, seconded and carried. Discussion ensued about the Association presenting The Reverend Dalgliesh with a gift. It was agreed that, in conjunction with Susan Olson, the Association's officers would acquire an appropriate gift. It was also decided to acknowledge The Reverend Dalgliesh's service in PRQ.

PRQ Editor Selection. Lyn Ragsdale, Dick Brody and others discussed the forthcoming vacancy in the PRQ editor position. (Lyn Ragsdale and Bill Dixon, the current co-editors, will be passing the position along to someone else at the end of their four year term.) Association members will be informed of the vacancy soon by mail, and Council members were asked to help locate potential candidates. Viable candidates should be members of departments with large, active graduate programs and be able to bring institutional resources (release time, graduate assistants, and roughly $8,000/year) to the position. The Association seeks three to five serious candidates. Applications will be due by mid-summer 1999. The search committee will interview in Atlanta during the September 1999 APSA meetings. Updates from the search committee will be included on the agenda of the Council meeting held in conjunction with the APSA meeting in Atlanta. The Council will make its decision at the March 2000 WPSA meeting in San Jose. The new editor will begin in July 2000.

Texas as Part of the WPSA Region? A suggestion was made that Texas be included in the listing of states in the WPSA region given the consistent participation in the WPSA by political scientists resident in Texas. Elizabeth Moulds will review the WPSA Bylaws on this subject and place the item on the agenda for the September, 1999, meeting in Atlanta.

Changing the Timing of the Association's Annual Meeting. In response to a query by R. Michael Alvarez, the Council discussed whether the Association should shift the timing of its annual meeting. Currently the meetings of ISA, SWSSA, MWPSA and Public Choice occur proximately in time to the Association's. After some discussion, there appeared to be little hope of finding a time generally superior to the current one of mid- to late-March. The view was expressed that the Association's officers might encourage APSA to help in coordination of various meetings-minimally in the sense of keeping each association aware of the others' meeting dates. Direct coordination among the program chairs of various associations was also suggested as a means of ameliorating current difficulties, but no specific suggestions were made in this regard.

Change to "WPSA Policies and Procedures". Dvora Yanow brought to the Council's attention that in the current (September 4, 1998) "WPSA Policies and Procedures"--section 1.a.3)--the words Betty Nesvold had been left out of the title of the Association's award for the best paper on women and politics. Adding Betty Nesvold's name to this award's title in the document was moved, seconded and carried.

Adjournment: Lyn Ragsdale adjourned the meeting at 12:10 p.m.

Submitted by Charles Lockhart