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“Political science is the study of governments, public policies and political processes, systems, and political behavior.” - American Political Science Association

Political science (like all fields of study) is at once a body of knowledge, the development of that body of knowledge, and the practice of applying that knowledge to problems of the human experience. The fields of political science are built on certain core concepts (the building blocks of understanding). These include the concepts of authority, power, rationality, and the state, and are taught in the introductory sequence (e.g., American Political System, World Politics, Public Administration).

Fluency in core concepts is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for an education in political science. Training in political science—i.e., engaging and contributing to the body of knowledge and its practice—requires ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs to gain proficiency in its threshold concepts: the connective tissue of a field that, once understood, produces a shift in the learner’s depth of understanding of the phenomena of interest (Meyer & Land, 2003). Threshold concepts can only be understood through dedicated and repeated practice and create a fundamentally different view of the subject matter that is essential for masterful application.

While each subfield has its own set of threshold concepts, all political science ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs should expect to grapple with the following throughout their coursework:

Threshold Concept 1: Critical analysis of power, institutions, and argumentation

• • Quantitative and qualitative evidence
  • Multiple levels of abstraction
  • Deductive, inductive, and abductive reasoning
  • Quantitative (e.g., regression analysis), qualitative (e.g., content analysis), and computational (e.g., network analysis) methods

Where and how we teach this threshold concept: We teach this threshold concept through a scaffolded curriculum that leads ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs through critical reading, writing, speaking, and data analysis to produce an integrated understanding of collective action that acknowledges, reflects on, and critiques multiple positions, compositions, and dynamics of power.

Threshold Concept 2: Institutions are both material and discursive structures

“So you’re taking a political science course”: A Description of Writing Characteristics Valued in Political Science

Political scientists use behavioral, institutional, and cultural models to conduct critical analyses of power. We value systematic (rather than partisan) argumentation, and this value is reflected in what and how we write.

We tend to write in genres such as policy analyses, research articles, response memos, and monographs. We rarely write genres such as ethnography or laboratory reports. The writing genres of political science tend to require both substantive knowledge of a collective action problem and application of a rigorous design and analytic method. Students can expect to be exposed to these general forms, as well as more specific genres and expectations within their major (i.e., political science, public administration, diplomacy and global politics).

Professional writers in our field are understood to be credible when they situate their arguments within existing literature and provide evidence for their claims. We understand evidence to include administrative data, field research, case studies, and coded datasets. We generally do not expect or accept opinion, anecdote, or personal experience as evidence. Effective writing is grounded in methodical use of evidence, minimizes jargon, and advances a logically sound argument.

We tend to use APSA, APA, or Chicago citation styles in our formal writing. These citation practices reflect our values; as a field, we prioritize honoring scholarly lineages and contributions, while also positioning ourselves within a conversation with those scholars. Political scientists rarely quote directly or at length. Instead, we tend to paraphrase ideas and contributions with attributions to the original authors. We do this because we value synthesis and novel use of existing ideas as features of scholarship.

Expectations for Writing in Political Science Courses

Not every ºÚÁÏÉçÇø in our classes needs to be able to write the way professional writers in political science do, nor will all ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs make it through the uncomfortable process of mastering threshold concepts. However, all ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs learning to write in our field will benefit from practice, feedback, and revision. Depending on why you are taking our courses, you should expect writing that focuses on different objectives.

• Undergraduates taking Miami Plan or introductory courses in political science should learn to recognize the argumentative style of our writing and practice systematic, evidence (not just value) -based persuasion. Evidence-based persuasion is relevant to multiple fields and occupations and is thus a useful practice to develop among all ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs in our courses.
  
  
• Undergraduates majoring in political science (as well as PA and DGP) should recognize the centrality of the connection between theory and method in our writing and practice critical, systematic inquiry across all political science genres (e.g., policy memos, research papers). Over time they will need to become skilled at a range of both qualitative and quantitative methods (e.g., comparative case studies, regression analysis) and theoretical frameworks (e.g., political economy, organizational theory) in order to meet different objectives and speak to different audiences both inside and outside the discipline.
  
  
• Graduate ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs in political science, in addition to mastering the skills required of undergraduate majors, should recognize the need to situate their arguments in scholarly debates about our writing. By graduation, they need to be able to contribute to an existing scholarly debate by providing new insights through argumentation and evidence because one demonstrates mastery through participation in knowledge production.