  We present a study of the polarizing power of the dust in cold dense regions
(dark clouds) compared to that of dust in the general interstellar medium
(ISM). Our study uses new polarimetric, optical, and spectral classification
data for 36 stars to carefully study the relation between polarization
percentage (p) and extinction (A_V) in the Taurus dark cloud complex. We find
two trends in our p-A_V study: (1) stars background to the warm ISM show an
increase in p with A_V; and (2) the percentage of polarization of stars
background to cold dark clouds does not increase with extinction. We detect a
break in the p-A_V relation at an extinction 1.3 +/- 0.2 mag, which we expect
corresponds to a set of conditions where the polarizing power of the dust
associated with the Taurus dark clouds drops precipitously. This breakpoint
places important restrictions on the use of polarimetry in studying
interstellar magnetic fields.
