"When Harvard first contacted me in 1981, thestory was that American politics was thedepartment's poor cousin, and it was supposed tochange," Fiorina says. "Nothing really changed."
Part of the problem, he says, is thatGovernment at Harvard is a "treadmill department,"where the junior Faculty significantly outnumbersenior Faculty.
Because of this, there is constant turnover,and the department's time is taken up conductingmore and more junior searches.
More fundamentally, for all the glamour of theHarvard name, the department--and indeed the wholeUniversity--poses numerous drawbacks to anypotential hires.
Certainly Stimson's case illustrates thecomplications posed by the two-worker marriage.
"It's hard to offer pairs of people jobs,"Muirhead says. `That's put a kink in the oldHarvard formula."
Plus, other schools can sometimes offer more inthe way of research support and salary andteaching and committee responsibilities are oftenhigher at Harvard than at other schools.
Unlike a growing number of schools willing topay out higher salaries to their top professors inwhat has been termed a "star system," Harvard haspledged itself to a policy of equal salaries.
"From here on out, it could be more difficultfor Harvard if it won't offer star salaries,"Muirhead says.
At the moment, Harvard can attract scholars bymeans other than salaries, stressing itsoutstanding students, extensive libraries andresearch facilities.
"It's an open question whether down the roadthose will be sufficient," Muirhead says.
But Fiorina says salaries are not what pulltalented scholars away from Harvard.
"I don't make a dollar more, when you considerhousing costs," he says.
The real cost of teaching at Harvard may bejust that: the teaching, as well as the otheradministrative obligations the University imposes.
"Harvard faculty are required to teach andparticipate in the University, which is notrequired at other schools--Harvard's leavepolicies are less generous," Skocpol says.
"People leave because of better workingconditions and better research support,"