How the American Political Science Association Can Save Political Science

• In Event: Poster Session: Class and Inequality & Political Science Education
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Political Science Education

Abstract

Political science in the United States is under threat as departments struggle to maintain enrollment numbers and compete with other fields for funding. This article integrates scholarship from education studies, particularly student leadership research, to propose a way that the American Political Science Association (APSA) can actively advance the cause of political science education by expanding supports for students and providing the space for a national political science student association. This vision for a reformed APSA is one where the goal is not merely increasing enrollment and funding but is primarily pulling out every stop to maximize political science students’ academic and professional development so they can find sustainable careers in their field. Successful practices of student governments outside of the US to increase and retain members are applied to an APSA context and expanded upon to develop an enrollment to retirement membership support strategy that will also substantially increase APSA’s revenue and allow it to expand its capabilities. With this new model, political science students would not only be better equipped for academic and professional job markets but would be better able to apply their knowledge and skills to become a vanguard for good education governance.

Author

• Justin Charles Michael Patrick, University of Toronto