Democracy, Res Publica, and Reforming 21st Century Classrooms

Abstract

The authors outline a new approach to introductory political science courses limited exclusively to political science majors that focuses on democratic development and its intersection with conceptions of “res publica.” The course is innovative in that it is for political science majors only, is team-taught, eschews traditional introductory texts, and focuses heavily on the writing process. The desire to arrange a majors-only introductory course this way speaks to the issue of legitimacy and best practices at a number of different levels. At the subject level, the course addresses the ongoing issue of democracy and the different mechanisms and traditions attempted throughout history to limit leaders acting solely in their own self-interest. The multiple-method approach resulting from team-teaching addresses the issue of political science as a widely searching science and a more robust means of understanding and explaining social behavior. The course also situates itself in the ongoing debate over how best to prepare students for the world of the 21st century. We believe that improving our students analytical and writing skills, through an early, intense, majors-only intervention, best prepares them for the type of engaged life skills needed upon graduation. Our data, collected over the past five years, suggests that our goals of improved writing and critical thinking skills are being met, in part, by utilizing our majors-only introductory political science course.