Professors Decide To Switch Terms of Government I

As an experiment, Government 1b will be switched to the fall term, Government 1a to the spring term next year, the three professors giving the course announced last night.

Charles R. Cherington '35, William Y. Elliott, and Carl J. Friedrich explained the reason for the change, which has been a subject of controversy within the Department since last spring, as an attempt to improve the continuity of the course.

"It ought also to be easier for the students to understand the political theory (1a) against the background of the comparative approach to institutions (1b) as now developed," they said.

Defeated Before

The proposed shift was considered and defeated at a meeting of the Government Department chaired by Elliott last spring, but at a later meeting, chaired by Friedrich, the proposal was approved. The final decision was made at a Department meeting last month.

Elliott (who gives the lectures in Government 1a) said yesterday that he doesn't think there is any real difference in difficulty between the two halves of the course "since the stiffening up of Government 1b last year." He pointed out that now the theoretical approach receives greater emphasis in 1b than formerly.

To avoid confusion, the two halves will retain their original titles, so 1b will start the year. Students may still take either section in different years, according to Elliott.

Both sections of Government 1 are required for concentrators.