Is Federalism Still the “Dark Continent” of Political Science Teaching? Yes and No

Abstract

Federalism is a core principle of American government; yet, how much attention is given to federalism beyond introductory courses? A 1969 study described American federalism as the "dark continent" of political science teaching. Based on surveys of chairs of US departments of political science and members of the APSA's section on federalism and intergovernmental relations in 2013, the authors found that these course off erings have increased markedly since 1969, that the courses cover a range of topics, and that many department chairs are interested in off ering these courses in the future. However, the teaching of comparative federalism lags far behind American federalism. Thus, comparative federalism remains a "dark continent" of federalism teaching.

Political parties in federal systems: key players in the federal game

“…Empirically, we do not know much about the actual practice of teaching federalism in political science. As a noteworthy exception, Kincaid and Cole (2014) conducted a survey among U.S. colleges and universities. They found that for the last few decades, there has been a significant increase of undergraduate and graduate courses on federalism and intergovernmental relations.…”

Introduction to Teaching Federalism: Multidimensional Approaches

“…We also know very little about where, by whom, and how often federalism is taught in primary and secondary schools and in universities and colleges worldwide. Some survey information is available for North America (Kincaid and Cole 2014, 2016, 2018 but apparently not for elsewhere. Further, teachers, professors, and students in developing countries, as well as many students in developed countries, often lack funds and adequate libraries to acquire books and other resources for teaching federalism.…”