This article considers the introduction of an Audience Response System (ARS), with a first year politics class at the University of Ulster, to encourage student interactivity and participation via innovative teaching and learning technologies. Four key student-centred benefits are identified: increased student engagement, increased motivation and attendance, a progressive learning experience, and opportunities for self-reflection. Amid the concerns about students' political apathy and/or deficiencies in political literacy, the paper suggests that political science and the ARS might be natural bedfellows.

This article uses the method devised by Simon Hix to rank the research performance of political science departments on the basis of publications in high-quality journals. We replicate Hix's methodology to assess the performance of politics departments in Ireland from 2003 to 2007. We are very aware that the Hix method provides only a partial measure of research performance and an even more incomplete measure of academic performance generally. However, by examining publications in Hix's list of journals for the period 2003–2007 and by comparing the findings with his 1998–2002 report, we are able to draw some tentative conclusions about the research trajectory of Irish politics departments.

This article is part of a research project aimed at analysing the degree of (in)equality between men and women in Spanish universities. Located within this general framework, this paper discusses a series of indicators which refer to the discipline of political science and public administration. Thus, the research includes figures referring to the presence of women and men among undergraduates, postgraduates and university lecturers in the political science and public administration departments and members of both the professional and the academic associations.

The aim of this paper is to explore the complex situation regarding the state of the international relations (IR) discipline in France. The paper analyses the development of IR within French academe, reviews the scholarly output of IR teaching and research institutions and makes proposals that could contribute to improving the situation.

If elections are the hallmark of democracy, political science teachers should not forgo the opportunity to do something with them when they are taking place around the corner. This article therefore seeks to encourage teachers to engage students in doing exit polls within the framework of introductory courses in comparative politics. Exit polls are a perfect way to implement a problem-based type of learning within the political science curriculum and connect theory to practice, as well as bringing together academia and the local community. Below we outline the organisation of two exit polls that were conducted at a Dutch liberal arts college in 2006 and 2007 within the framework of a national and a provincial election. We discuss the logistics of organising the poll both outside and inside the classroom and propose a strategy and timetable to involve the class in drafting the survey. On the basis of student evaluations of the polling experience, we conclude that students are fairly positive about being engaged in such polls and notice that the learning effect is greatest for students early on in their academic career.

Docents often claim to face problems in teaching exchange students. This article focuses on tackling such problems in a comparable course concerning ‘politics and public space’. The concept of public space allows discussions concerning subjects of political science as power, democracy, segregation, privatisation and citizenship. On the other hand, the contributions from different academic fields (sociology, social history, arts) and the use of multiple teachings methods make the course attractive for students of other disciplines. The assignments show that students' eyes were opened not only to Dutch and Finnish spaces but also to those in their home countries.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that, contrary to a commonly held view, it is possible to teach the European Union (EU) in a way that makes students enthusiastic about the subject. The paper is informed by my experience of leading a EU simulation module, based on a modified problem-based learning (PBL) approach. The idea is to share my experience and prompt a debate on (1) how the EU can be taught in exciting ways for students, and (2) how an adapted PBL approach in the form of a simulation can significantly help to deepen students’ interest in the EU as a subject.