Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 May 2005
Over the last 10 years in the discipline of political science, there has been a flourishing discussion about the role of departmental assessment. Clearly, one fear has been that these external mandates are infringements on academic freedom at worst, and make extra work for faculty at best. In an early article published in PS: Political Science and Politics, a survey of political science departments discovered that frequently the response to assessment was one of ignorance and often animosity.