Reflections on Political Internships

Reflections on Political InternshipsAuthor(s): Ronald D. HedlundSource: PS, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Winter, 1973), pp. 19-25Published by: American Political Science AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/418102 .

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A Brief Look at Internships

Reflections on Political Internships

Despite widespread and growing interest among students and faculty in using practical political involvement as an adjunct to formal classroom teaching, professional academic literature offers little guidance regarding such programs. As Professors Hirschfield and Adler point out, political science literature has largely ignored questions regarding the scope, structure and strategies of internship programs. Anyone concerned with how students respond in these settings or with what can be done to maximize student learning during internships would find little assistance in the journals, books and monographs of political science.' Indeed, no central source even has access to the number of national, state and local political internship programs sponsored by institutions of higher education, public or private agencies, and professional organizations.2 Consequently, communication regarding internships is fragmented and haphazard. Interested persons must rely on informal channels of communication (e.g., correspondence, mimeographed evaluations and reports circulated among program directors), infrequent conferences (e.g., the 1971 Kentucky Conference on Students in Govern- ment and the 1972 APSA Conference on Political Science and State and Local Government), and prior experience with other internship programs (45 per cent of the past academic participants in the APSA Congressional Fellowship Program reported some type of subsequent involvement in other internships, with 91 per cent of these indicating that this later involvement was

1 Notable exceptions would include Bernard C. Hennessy, Political Internships: Theory, Practice, Evaluation, Penn. State Studies, Vol. 23 (University Park, Penn.: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1970); James A. Robinson, "Participant Observation, Political Internships, and Research," in Political Science Annual: Volume Two, 1969-1970, James A. Robinson, ed. (Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1970), pp. 71-110; and R. J. Snow, "Participant Observer Analysis," in An Introduction to the Science of Politics, Donald M. Freeman, ed. (New York: The Free Press, forthcoming). 2 Information regarding the exact number of political internship programs affiliated with colleges, universities, governmental agencies and professional associations is not available; however, Alan H. Magazine, Executive Director of the National Center for Public Service Internship Programs, estimates that as many as 1000 such programs may exist. A nation-wide survey to provide basic information about such programs is being planned by the National Center.

Ronald D. Hedlund University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

administrative or advisory'). Such a commun- ications network is hardly an adequate substitute for systematic exchange and rigorous analysis. The anomaly in this state of affairs is that any exchange of information and sharing of experiences has taken place.4 Hopefully, these two reports in PS, the scheduled publication of a book, Government Management Internships and Executive Development,5 and a new journal, Teaching Political Science, plus the formation of a center for disseminating internship information, the National Center for Public Service Internship Programs with their "Public Service Internship Newsletter," 6 Indicate a new stage in the evolution of political science concern with internships.

The major difficulty, given this absence of communication, information and evaluation, is establishing the validity of any propositions or general observations regarding political internships. The variety of program sponsors (colleges, universities, consortiums of educational institutions, public agencies, elected officials, private organizations and professional associations), work assignments (offices of indivdual elected officials, public agencies, political parties or campaign organizations), intern accessibility (intimate involvement in office operations, passive tolerance or mutual hostilty), and practical arrangements (involvement of intern director, work duties, academic component of program and duration of the internship) make generalizing precarious. This seems especially the case given the absence of systematic and comparable data for more than a handful of

3 Ronald D. Hedlund, "Participant Observation in Studying Congress: The Congressional Fellowship Program," a report submitted to the Congressional Fellowship Program Advisory Committee (Washington, D.C.: The American Political Science Association, 1971), p. 37. 4 A great deal of the credit for introducing internships to many colleges and universities and for fostering communication regarding their structure must go to the Citizenship Clearing House and its successor, the National Center for Education in Politics. 5 Thomas A. Murphy, ed. Government Management Internships and Executive Development (Boston: D. C. Heath and Co., 1973). 6 For more information, contact Mr. Alan H. Magazine, Executive Director, National Center for Public Service Internship Programs, 1140 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 201, Washington, D.C. 20036.

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programs. Professors Hirschfield and Adler compare their experiences in the CUNY program with Professor Sidney Wise's "hard earned propositions" based upon the Pennsylvania Center for Education in Politics and draw conclusions regarding the "essential ingredients" of internships. There is no reason to question the validity of their observations as far as they go; however, program features other than organizational structure are likely to have significant impact upon the success of the internship. Failure to consider factors such as office qualities and intern attributes overlooks important program characteristics. Thus, in order for persons planning or already involved in internships to evaluate program strategies, personal and situational factors as well as organizational and administrative features must be included. This report will briefly review the goals of internships and will consider observations of program directors and participants not discussed by Hirschfield and Adler. The purpose in doing this is to supplement rather than to criticize or challenge.

Goals of Political Internships

In their analysis of political intern programs, James A. Robinson' and Bernard C. Hennessy' note that internships generally have two primary goals - education and research, and one secondary goal - public service. While additional purposes may be served by some programs, most internships are oriented to some combination of these three goals.

Education - The universally cited reason for establishing internships is the education of students - education in a broad sense, not limited to the classroom. The type of learning thought to take place through internships is seen as a complement to formal, abstract concepts and knowledge usually used in texts and class lectures. The jargon calls this "feel." Robinson's conceptualization of feel makes clear its relationship with more formal, academic material." 'Having a feel for a

7 Robinson, loc. cit. 8 Hennessy, /oc. cit.

situation' may be likened to the state of being comfortable in it, of believing that one has the salient facts of the event, of knowing some- thing of what to expect next, of taking many things for granted, of predicting without being surprised by the future."9 Thus, the educational component of internships includes acquiring facts, gaining insights into how political institutions and personages actually behave, and perceiving the interrelationships of individuals and structures. Recent comments by A. J. Wann about the experiences of the Utah program testify to the growth in understanding likely to be observed. "The evidence seems clear that the internships have matured and broadened the training of the graduate students who have participated in them and have given them a depth of understanding and a degree of expertness in state and local government which simply is unmatched by other graduate students."" These learning experiences are useful not only in the context of a broad education but also in the narrow sense of preparing persons for public and policy-oriented positions as attested to by the trend for many interns to remain in government after their internships."

Research - Internships also serve to foster academic research. Interns may make direct use of their experiences to collect systematic data for future use, especially more mature, academically-oriented interns. The Columbia experience with graduate level interns seems typical. ". .. we at Columbia also have scholarship to show for our efforts - much of it, however, in the pipeline between disserta- tion completion and publication. A wide range of policy studies have been undertaken by our interns based on their experiences."'" In

9 Robinson, op. cit., p. 77. 10 A. J. Wann, "State and Local Government Internships: Some Observations and Conclusions," a paper read at the American Political Science Association Conference on Political Science and State and Local Government (Biloxi, Miss., October 26-29, 1972), p. 4. 11 In Utah, Wann, ibid., p. 3, reports that five of fourteen interns entered public service; among academic Congressional Fellows, about 16% remained in Washington after their fel- lowships in non-academic positions, Hedlund, op. cit., p. 26. 12 Donald H. Haider, "The Columbia University Experience with the APSA State and Local Government Intership Program," a paper read at the American Political Science Association Conference on Political Science and State and Local Government (Biloxi, Miss., October 26-29, 1972), p. 5.

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addition, such programs frequently stimulate academic attention to a governmental structure or problem. Two good examples of programs which have done this are the APSA Congressional Fellowship Program (CFP) and the APSA State and Local Government Internship Program. Finally, having interns in an organization can assist other scholars in gaining access for research purposes as Nelson W. Polsby and Robert L. Peabody note regarding the CFP.13

Public Service - One important byproduct of internships is the degree to which the host office and the political system in general profit from interns. Interns provide additional manpower for the hostng office and, indeed, many intern programs have been the first step in upgrading the staff assistance for an agency;" but of greater significance has been the degree to which such programs link academic knowledge to political action, a two-way sharing between academia and the public sector. A recent study on public utilization of the social sciences notes that "... the nation is missing crucial opportun- ities to utilize fully the best of social science knowledge and skills in the formation, evaluation and execution of policies for achieving desired social goals."'" To the extent that interns possess such knowledge and skills and apply them during their internships, these programs provide the ongoing interaction and exchange whch are prerequisites for convert- ing social science knowledge into action. Evaluations from Utah public officials indicate how graduate student interns were able to bring social science knowledge and skills into their office duties.

13 Their comments regarding access were contained in "Letters to the Editor," PS, (Summer, 1970), pp. 451 and 453. 14 At least two states, California and Wisconsin, used internship programs as the initial means for providing significant staff support to legislatures; such positions subsequently became full-time ones. Also the Utah experience, an APSA State and Local Internship Program, seems to indicate that based upon successful interns, state agencies established full-time positions, some of which were filled by former interns; i.e., certain positions once held by interns became permanent positions with the termination of that program. Wann, op. cit., p. 5. 15 Special Commission on the Social Sciences of the National Science Board, Knowledge into Action: Improving the Nation's Use of the Social Sciences (Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation, 1969), p. xi.

And those for whom they worked have been quick to acknowledge that the interns have often brought new knowledge, special skills, and fresh insights into the offices where they have served, and that their contribu- tions significantly enhanced the research capability and the quality of policy analysis involved in a number of decisions in which they participated.16

However, many intern programs make no systematic effort to have their interns use this expertise as a means for applying social science theories, knowledge and skills in the practice of politics.

With these three goals in mind - education, research and knowledge into action - one can consider how alternative program features affect internships.

Evaluating Internships

Every person, whether intern or director, who has been involved in a program has taken time to reflect upon his experience and to evaluate his success. Because most such evaluations are required either to obtain additional funding or to receive a grade, they tend to be highly impressionistic and to focus on specific features of special interest to the author." Since the intention of the present report is to provide a more general scheme for evaluating internships, we will concentrate on developing a list of more abstract evalua- tive observations regarding political intern programs. These observations are divided according to those relating to program organization, qualities of the office, qualities of the intern and educational structuring. Each

16 Wann, /oc. cit. 17 At least three exceptions exist to this generalization: Hennessy, /oc. cit.; Everett Cataldo, "An Appraisal of the Congressional Fellowship Program," a paper delivered for the American Political Science Association Conference on Political Internships. (Las Croabas, Puerto Rico: April, 1965); and Hedlund, op. cit.

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area should prove useful in planning and assessing political intern programs."

Program Organization - The first concern of most intern administrators is the program structure. While no single organizational scheme seems to characterize all programs, one common observation is that the intern director must have time, motivation and political access in order to administer a program. In his discussion of the Pennsylvania Center for Education in Politics program, Sidney Wise points out that any large scale program will require a director who has a teaching load and other responsibilities that will permit him to travel, make contacts and assist interns. Directors must also have the political contacts necessary to arrange significant internships with all types of political offices."1 In elaborating on these points, Hennessy argues that the internship manager must have detailed knowledge of the political situation in advance of the time when the intern enters that setting; he must have a definite understanding with the intern and political principal regarding expectations and responsibilities; he must have periodic interaction with the intern during his assignment; and, he must remain in ultimate control of all internship operations.'" All this requires time and political skill.

Also related to program organization is the funding for the internships. Directors face the constant pressure for obtaining stipend and administrative funds for each program period. Unfortunately, past experiences of the National Center for Education in Politics (NCEP), the CFP, State and Local Internship Programs and many individual programs indicate that while national foundations are willing to provide "seed" money, they are reluctant to

18 This list of observations relies heavily on four prior studies: Sidney Wise, "The Administration of an Internship Program," a paper read for the American Political Science Association conference on Political Internship (Las Croabas, Puerto Rico, April, 1965); Robinson, loc. cit.; Hennessy, loc. cit.; and Ronald D. Hedlund, "The Congressional Fellowship Program: Maximizing Participant Observation in Studying Politics," in Murphy, /oc. cit.; however, the list included here differs somewhat from any previous list. 19 Wise, op. cit., pp. 14-16. 20 Hennessy, op. cit., pp. 20-21.

provide ongoing stipend funds. Once these external funds have been terminated, many programs have collapsed. Attempts to secure alternate funding often fail. As Professor Donald H. Haider notes regarding the Columbia University experience, "The decision by the Ford Foundation to discon- tinue support for this intern program and several others comes at a particularly bad time.... rising educational costs and budgetary deficits have forced Columbia like so many other institutions to slash new and innovative programs."21 The option of securing funds from governmental units poses potential problems of program viability and integrity. When the governmental units provide the funds, academic advisors may lose control over many features of the program. Most important, however, is the reorientation of goals and program content; the educational and academic components are likely to be replaced by a strict work and political reward orientation. Such a reorientation is likely to mean that the internship becomes an apprenticeship preparing one only to assume a particular position.

Office Qualities - A number of general and specific qualities of the office to which the intern is assigned affect the quality of the experience. The Pennsylvania and CUNY experiences seem to suggest that the most significant internships are those on the local level. As Hirschfield and Adler and Wise point out, local level internships are more convenient to arrange, offer a wide range of possible experiences and lend themselves to better director control." Wise also notes that the generalization of the most significant internships occurring on the local level possibly results because he is "... positing the ideal of the local experience against the reality of Washington when it might be equally logical to reverse the formulation."'2 Further, he points out that the Pennsylvania Center had its greatest success with

21 Haider, loc. cit. 22 Robert S. Hirschfield and Norman M. Adler, "Internships in Politics: The CUNY Experience," PS, (Winter), 1973, pp. 13-18; and Wise, op. cit., pp. 13-14. 23 Wise, op. cit., p. 14.

22 PS Winter 1973



congressional assignments." Other programs, notably the CFP, the State and Local Intern- ships Program and some state affiliates of the NCEP, would probably abstain from concluding that the most significant internships may be the ones on the local level. More important in determining the significance of an internship than the level of government in which the intern serves are factors like the access and responsibilities given the intern and his personal skills and goals. What does appear to be the case regarding higher level internships is that different kinds of work duties are likely to be assigned. For example, Hennessy found that work assignments in a higher level office were more likely to be specialized and to involve research," and the recent evaluation of the CFP reports that "Fellows in leadership or committee offices were more frequently isolated both physically and psychologically from the member of Congress and other staff; they tended to do different kinds of work, and generally seemed lower in their development of 'feel' for Congress." 26 Thus, while significant internship experiences seem to have been developed in state and national level offices as well as in local, different work duties and access may be given to interns; more critical, however, seems to be the nature of the office its'elf. Offices of "greater importance" and respon- sibility (e.g., chief executive, presiding officer), floor leader or committee chairman), regardless of governmental level seem likely to assign interns research work, expose them to a more narrow range of experiences and isolate them from the political principal and his office.

Also of importance is the size and specializa- tion of the office where the assignment is made. The larger and more organizationally specialized offices are likely to assign an intern to do research and to expose him to a more narrow range of office experiences. The more an intern is willing to learn by listening and reading, the greater the likelihood he will

24 Ibid., p. 13. 25 Hennessy, op. cit., p. 111. 26 Hedlund, "Participant Observation," p. 50.

profit from an assignment in a large and specialized office."

One of the continuing problems of internships is the tendency for interns to lose their objectivity and to "go native." Although such a change is not necessarily bad, program directors and participants must be aware of such a possibility. Hennessy found that internships in political campaigns and probably with interest groups are most likely to result in the intern's "loss of perspective" and to make them into "true believers."2' Participant observation would seem to be maximized in an office setting where 1) the intern is able to establish a warm, personal and trusting relationship with significant others; 2) the role orientation assumed by the intern is compatible with the expectations set by significant others; 3) the work duties carried out by the intern provide him with significant insights that aid his learning; and, 4) the intern has sufficient opportunity to observe significant and representative organizational activity. Participants in the CFP program

... were fairly successful in optimizing each of these four characteristics ... Fellows reported perceiving a high level of personal confidence in their relationships with significant others.... no participant reported a complete lack of success in assuming the role judged most appropriate - that of staff; Fellows generally seemed to be performing office duties likely to be representative of overall office activity; and, ... most were not completely isolated from face to face contact.29

Intern Qualities - A number of program directors have observed that "the intern makes the program." One such statement was made by David G. Temple, Director of the West Virginia State and Local Internship Program.

27 Hennessy, op. cit., pp. 111-112. 28 Ibid., p. 112. 29 Hedlund, "The Congressional Fellowship Program," (manuscript copy of book chapter), p. 24.

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We were also lucky in several ways - most notably in the selection of interns. Our students universally displayed maturity and good judgement, and more than anyone else they were responsible for the on-going success of the internship program. We received a number of unsoliciated letters from state officials who had interns, and these letters were nothing but complimen- tary. As a result, public officials did involve our interns in meaningful experiences relative to policy formulation and execution which was our primary goal.30

This conclusion is consistent with the tenets of modern social science, but no single set of personal attributes and experiences seems to assure success as an intern. Typically, intern screening committees look for prior political involvement, the ability to get along well with others, at least a modest intellectual ability and self-assurance. Based on ten years of association with the NCEP, Hennessy plays down the importance of involvement and intellect.

The success of the intern, as an intern, will depend generally on his emotional stability and security more than on his intelligence as measured by I.Q. or academic achieve- ment tests; it will depend more on his energy, tact, and sense of political curiosity, than on his prior experience in political activity."

The type of person who seems to function well as an intern is one who is self-confident, tactful, mature and open and responsive to his situation; he is not necessarily an outstanding student nor has he had prior practical political involvement.

A second set of issues frequently raised concerns the prior social science experience

30 David G. Temple, "The APSA State and Local Government Internship Program and the State Legislative Services Project - The West Virginia Experience," a paper read at the American Political Science Association Conference on Political Science and State and Local Government (Biloxi, Miss., October 26-29, 1972), p. 5. 31 Hennessy, op. cit., pp. 21-22.

of interns. Many program sponsors have required applicants to be political science or social science majors. Recently, however, the emphasis on cross-disciplinary studies and the call for socially relevant engineers and physical scientists have resulted in a more diverse set of applicants. Failure to select qualified interns regardless of their back- ground may prove embarrassing and dysfunctional to a program, especially since many political principals find the skills and knowledge of engineers and physical scientists very useful. If the backgrounds of interns are diverse and especially if some have had little or no exposure to the social sciences, a required pre-intern orientation program may prove beneficial to all interns. An introduction to the skills of participant observation, to social science theories of governing, and to the realities of practical politics should be a useful introduction or review and should socialize all interns to each other and to the expectations they will encounter during their internships." Such orientation programs are probably useful regardless of whether or not the participants have diverse backgrounds.

Educational Structuring - Since internships are intended to foster learning, program sponsors are continually concerned with the educational features of the experience. Whether the program is on a part-time or full-time basis, or oriented to undergraduates, graduates or young faculty, or offered on the local, state or national level, virtually every director seeks to provide on-going, educational content throughout the internship. This effort usually involves some intern commit- ment in addition to his office duties -

typically a seminar and/or paper. Frequently, students are able to combine this project with the work they are doing for their internships. An assignment such as this forces students to maintain an academic perspective and

32 One program that makes use of such pre-program orientation sessions is the CFP. Given that participants are drawn from three distinct backgrounds - academia, journalism and public service - a great potential for conflict exists. The orientation sessions are used by the program sponsors to minimize such differences.

24 PS Winter 1973



provides them an opportunity to share their experiences with a broader audience.33

A second prospect for providing educational experience with part-time internships comes through the courses for which the intern registers. Hennessy recommends that "General courses and readings in American politics should precede internships, and relevant specialized courses should be taken concurrently with the internships."34 While this formulation need not be rigidly followed, certainly a student should be encouraged to enroll in courses that will complement and support his internship experiences.

In order to be certain that the internship is working as planned and that both intern and principal are benefiting from the experience,

33 Wise, op. cit., p. 15, and Hennessy, op. cit., pp. 31-33 and 116, describe typical features of these assignments. 34 Hennessy, op. cit., p. 115.

the program director should visit regularly the intern in his assignment setting. Not only is this likely to reduce the possibility of misunderstandings but periodic visits also give the intern a chance to reflect on the learning experiences offered by his internship.

This review of political internships has focused on the major goals served by such programs and on observations about program organization, qualities of the office, qualities of the intern and educational structuring. The purpose is to share the experiences of persons involved in many different internships with students and faculty contemplating or already involved in such programs and to refine further a general scheme for evaluating intern programs. Only after program sup- porters, interns and directors undertake systematic reflection and analysis regarding internship goals and methods are internships likely to maximize their learning potential.

If You Go... ... to the 1973 Annual Meeting of the American Political

Science Association, it will be held in New Orleans at the Hotel

Jung from September 4 to 8. The preliminary program for the

meeting, as well as hotel reservation information and forms, will be printed in the spring issue of PS.

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Documents

Reflections on Political Internships