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ERIC Number: EJ1327661
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1551-2169
EISSN: N/A
How Do We Introduce Political Science? A Study of Introductory Requirements at National Colleges and Universities
Hierman, Brent
Journal of Political Science Education, v17 suppl 1 p703-716 2021
Despite the essential position of introductory courses within most political science departments' curricula, comprehensive comparisons of introductory requirements for majors have been somewhat rare. In this manuscript, I report on the state of introductory requirements through analyses of data from 381 national liberal arts colleges and universities (164 colleges and 217 universities, respectively) that offer a major or its equivalent in political science. These data show that a great deal of curricula diversity exists across departments: While nearly 30% of departments require at least three distinct introductory subfield courses, another near 30% do not require any specific introductory courses. Despite this diversity, an introductory course in American politics represents the de facto standard introductory course within the discipline. In comparison, a general, cross-subfield introductory course in political science is required in a minority of the departments sampled. My analyses reveal that structural and curriculum-based variables, including the total number of courses required, whether or not a department grants PhDs, and faculty size, are correlated with a general introductory requirement.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A