This experience taught me how to get things done, and also gave me credibility with career operatives. A Ph.D. is good, but they take you more seriously if you have walked precincts. Academic writing is to political writing as figure skating. At this writing, I am on my third leave. Claremont McKenna College granted me this opportunity because it believes that scholars ought to play a part in public affairs and because such service enriches their academic careers.
Anecdotes prove nothing by themselves, but they can help students understand abstract material.
Experience not only makes you a more effective political operator, it can make you a better teacher, too. References Andres, Gary J., and Janice A. Beecher. Fenno, Richard. 1978. Readers may redistribute this article to other individuals for noncommercial use, provided the text and this notice remain intact and unaltered in any way. This article may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior permission from the American Political Science Association.