Whither Intellectual Diversity in American Political Science? The Case of APSA and Organized Sections
Year: 1998
Type: article
Abstract: T o speak of political science as a "discipline" may be inappropriate.Both in origin and continuing development, the study of politics is perhaps more an amalgam of different approaches and perspectives, sometimes in competition for temporary dominance, than a discipline in any unified sense.It has been subject to the ebb and flow of ideas from a variety of disciplines and fashions.Vernon Van Dyke (1960) documented political science's experimentation with methods pioneered in other disciplines including sociology, geography, psychology, and economics.He noted that, since its founding, the discipline had been characterized by changing fashions in the units of analysis chosen for examination, including variables related to institutions, personal characteristics, law, values, power, group behavior, and decision making.This "looseness" in our field of study is probably not unique to political science and may serve practitioners well, since it inhibits fossilization by preventing too strong a reliance upon any particular method or approach.But it has certainly not produced a unified field of study.As David Easton remarked, "If there is one thing that distinguishes Western political science, it is that it has not yet arrived at a consensus on how to describe its subject matter at the most inclusive level" (1993, 291).Perhaps, more to the point, when assessing their study of political sci-Joseph Losco is professor of political science at Ball State University, where he teaches political theory and American government.
Source: PS Political Science & Politics
Author: Joseph Losco
Institution: Ball State University
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1972167458