While many political scientists have been concerned about teaching methods, teaching materials, and modes of teacher evaluation, relatively few have considered the more general question of the undergraduate political science curriculum itself. Specifically, what kinds of courses should we be teaching, what role should such courses play in a liberal arts education, and what factors should determine the overall structure of the political science curriculum at the undergraduate level?

These questions relate further to the practical question of staffing a small department of political science. When vacancies arise, or when there's an opportunity to expand in a modest way, one is confronted with certain basic choices. In most circumstances, we confront these choices by thinking in terms of fields within our discipline.