College of Humanities & Social Sciences - Open & Free Materials by Course: Political Science

OpenStax Introduction to Political Science provides a strong foundation in global political systems, exploring how and why political realities unfold. Rich with examples of individual and national social action, this text emphasizes students' role in the political sphere and equips them to be active and informed participants in civil society.

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American Government 2e is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the single-semester American Government course. This title includes innovative features designed to enhance student learning, including Insider Perspective features and a Get Connected module that shows students how they can get engaged in the political process.

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Intended for introductory U.S. government and politics courses. This text has a distinct perspective on American politics: The U.S. political system suffers from endemic design flaws and is notable for the way that a small subset of Americans—whose interests often don’t align with those of the vast majority of the population—wields disproportionate power. Absent organized and persistent action on the part of ordinary Americans, the system tends to serve the already powerful.

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The focus of this book is on using quantitative research methods to test hypotheses and build theory in political science, public policy and public administration. It is designed for advanced undergraduate courses, or introductory and intermediate graduate-level courses. The first part of the book introduces the scientific method, then covers research design, measurement, descriptive statistics, probability, inference, and basic measures of association. The second part of the book covers bivariate and multiple linear regression using the ordinary least squares, the calculus and matrix algebra that are necessary for understanding bivariate and multiple linear regression, the assumptions that underlie these methods, and then provides a short introduction to generalized linear models.

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"Social science research methods are those skills and techniques we use to build knowledge about social phenomena. In this text, we are specifically interested in empirical social science research methods as a way of building knowledge. When using empirical methods, we are building knowledge based on systematic observations."

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"The book encourages further inspection of the ways in which data is collected, interpreted, and analyzed on a variety of social justice issues... It also attempts to reveal how the misuse of data can reinforce inequities... Whether an intended or unintended consequence, irresponsible data use can contribute to racist impressions of people and communities."

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This book is designed to be a ‘Day 0' introduction to International Relations. As a beginner's guide, it has been structured to condense the most important information into the smallest space and present that information in the most accessible way. The chapters offer a broad sweep of the basic components of International Relations and the key contemporary issues that concern the discipline. The chapters are short, with simple paragraphs and clear sentences placing the reader inside crucial issues and debates so they can understand how things work, and where they fit in the world around them.

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