OPTICAL POLARIMETRY OF THE SOUTHERN COMPACT RADIO-SOURCE PKS-1934-63

We present B-band polarimetry measurements which show significant opti cal polarization in the nucleus of the galaxy associated with the sout hern compact radio source PKS 1934 - 63. The polarization E-vector is within 10 degrees of the perpendicular to the VLBI radio axis. The obs ervations are consistent with dichroic absorption in a dust band perpe ndicular to the radio axis, with scattered AGN light, or with nontherm al emission associated with the compact double radio structure. In the former two cases, the observations support the idea that the optical emission from compact radio sources is anisotropic, and that the 'unif ied schemes' may apply to compact as well as extended radio sources. S pectropolarimetric observations are required to identify the polarizat ion mechanism.