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University of Iowa · Political Science

2% of University of Iowa's Political Science course descriptions are framed from the left. Across all 100 schools' Political Science departments, it is 5.2%.

ShowCompared withDepartments

0%35%

University of Iowa: 2% Political Science at all 100 schools: 5.2% each other school in the comparison

Where Political Science courses fall

17%Far left92–100

0%Left75–91

67%Center-left59–74

0%Center42–58

0%Center-right26–41

17%Right9–25

0%Far right0–8

6 plotted courses (the ones with a political subject). 100 = far left, 50 = the average American, 0 = far right. Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes.

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Framing Subject

Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes. A course on slavery or the Holocaust lands far right and a course on Marx or the Soviet Union lands far left, whether the course praises, criticizes or simply describes it.

Underlined: words the model quoted from the description when we asked it, after scoring, to explain its score.

Furthest-left subjects

POLI 1401 · Introduction to Russian Politics100

Political Science

Political dynamics in postcommunist countries of east-central Europe and Eurasia; imperial legacies, ideology and practice of communist politics, patterns of democracy and authoritarianism. GE: International and Global Issues; Social Sciences.

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POLI 1800 · Introduction to the Politics of Class and Inequality67

Political Science

Introduction to issues of class and economic inequality in the U.S. and other countries; what class and economic inequality are, debates surrounding these definitions, and attempts to measure both of these concepts; research and arguments…

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POLI 3109 · Fixing America's Electoral System67

Political Science

What's wrong with American politics and what can be done to fix it; overview of major problems facing American democracy from polarized political parties and money in politics, to low voter turnout and trust in government, to growing gap…

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Furthest-right subjects

POLI 3423 · The Middle East: Policy and Diplomacy17

Political Science

Nineteen states and entities of North Africa and the Middle East; issues of governance, development strategies, domestic politics, and approach to democracy and national identity; regional politics and important transnational issues; role…

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Why this number, in plain words

Share of courses described from the left. Percent of all courses in the group whose Framing reading is leftward: the description frames its subject one-sidedly to the left.

Counted: all courses in the group, including N and I. No interval is published for this number.

Readings are of catalog description text, not of teaching, syllabi or individual professors.

Details: exact rows, definitions and method

Name	Metric	Value	95% interval	n	scored
University of Iowa · Political Science	bias_left_share	2	—	100	—
Political Science	bias_left_share	5.2	4.8 – 5.6	12,053	—

Formula: 100 * count(bias_cat = 'L') / n
Interval: Wilson score 95% (wilson_interval)
Model / prompt / snapshot: gpt-5.6-sol · r12 (2026-10-16-le49-r12) · 6df50b10
Metric caveats: Right-framed courses are almost absent (33 of 124,290); this run cannot tell catalog reality from model sensitivity. Compare schools with adjusted_ratio, not this raw share, because department mix differs.

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