Dispersants have a profound influence on the suspension properties of ceramic slurries. We will illustrate the effect of polymers and polyelectrolytes on the colloidal stability and the rheological properties in both aqueous and non-aqueous media. We have related direct measurements of polymerically induced interparticle forces to the rheological properties of different ceramic systems. Simple estimates of the effective volume fractions of non-aqueous, polymerically stabilized silicon nitride suspensions gave a reasonable correspondence between calculated and measured polymer layer thicknesses. We show that PAA stabilize zirconia by an electrosteric mechanism; also, we found an excellent agreement between the presence of bridging attraction and poor colloidal stability at low surface coverage. In addition, the van der Waals forces have been quantified by theoretical calculations and direct measurements.