Thirty years ago, innocent but enthusiastic as a brand-new reporter on a magazine that covered Congress, I wrote a story about the way committee assignments were made in the House of Representatives. The publisher liked it. “That was real political science!” he said, sounding happy but a little bemused, as if he hadn't realized we were capable of such a feat. I drew a lesson from this experience that stayed with me for years: political science is a lofty calling to which journalists can occasionally aspire if they get lucky.In 2000 he won the American Political Science Association's Carey McWilliams Award for contributions to political science by a journalist.