ABSTRACT
Walter Lippmann was fond of saying that "The news and the truth are not the same thing". This is at the core of political periodicals–of somehow squaring this dichotomy. Perhaps the most elementary, yet easily overlooked aspect of the editorial direction of each of these special publications is the raw intelligence and dedication of the editorial cadre. Political periodicals which survive over a long time frame, offer testimony to the existence of an informed public interested in politics as a vocation. Whether such publications lead to better public policy is another matter. A number of larger, well-established periodicals have added a distinctive social science and social policy dimension. Bringing together this special group of opinion-makers and idea generators into a single conference center in and of itself made for an interesting dialogue, one of worth and possibly of interest to a broader community of scholars and public opinion-formers.
