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College in the State Capital: Does it Increase the Civic Engagement of Political Science Undergraduate Majors?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2007

Jennifer M. Jensen  and
Lauren L. Hunt
Jennifer M. Jensen
Affiliation:
Binghamton University (SUNY)
Lauren L. Hunt
Affiliation:
Albany Law School
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Extract

A major public university is located in or very near over half of American state capitals, and political science departments at these universities advertise the special advantages that such a location brings to their students. For example, the political science department of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln advertises its internship programs: “As Lincoln is the seat of state government, students have an opportunity to observe government in action. Political Science has a vibrant internship program where students may intern with the state legislature, the governor's office, and other agencies of state government. Internships are also available with local interest groups, non-profit agencies, corporations, and political parties” (University of Nebraska-Lincoln 2005). Such opportunities for students are meaningful, however, only if they have some significant effect on student learning or engagement. It is reasonable that colleges and universities would emphasize the advantages that their location in a state capital might offer; colleges use both their campus and their local community to appeal to students (Choy and Ottinger 1998). Yet there is scant research to confirm any of the effects that colleges advertise.An earlier version of this article was presented at the 2005 meeting of the American Political Science Association. The authors thank Lindsey Lupo, Charles Turner, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.

Type
THE TEACHER
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , July 2007 , pp. 563 - 569
Copyright
© 2007 The American Political Science Association

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