What Good Can Political Science Do? From Pluralism to Partnerships

Abstract

At a time when authoritarian regimes are on the rise around the world, higher education in general and political science in particular are facing declining support and sharper political pressures in many places. Political scientists have long promised that their discipline can add to knowledge about politics and educate citizens. However, doubts have grown about whether our increasingly pluralistic discipline collectively generates useful knowledge and communicates it effectively in teaching and in broader public communications. Political scientists need to do more to place their particular studies within big pictures of how politics and the world work, and to synthesize their results. They must focus more on the politics of identity formation that has generated resurgent nationalisms and deep social divisions. They must strengthen their understanding and their community contributions through civically engaged research. They must also place greater emphasis on improving teaching. In these ways, modern scholars can show there is much good that political science can do.

Engaged Pluralism: The Importance of Commitment

“…Parallel to this charge, Smith emphasized improved teaching through his leadership of APSA, which reinforced Robert Putnam’s call for real world civic engagement (2005). Smith’s address highlighted the need for political science to focus more on the politics of identity formation that has generated resurgent nationalism and deep social division as well as placing studies in the big-picture context of how politics and the world functions (2020). That harkens us back to the core concerns of democracy and inequality for our discipline.…”

Teaching political theory: a pluralistic approach

“…Nevertheless, an insistence on methodological rigor discourages certain kinds of research that shed light on political affairs in ways that elude reproducible, quantitative social science. According to American Political Science Association president Rogers M. Smith in his 2020 Presidential Address, political science was slow to recognize big developments like the civil rights movements in the 1950s and 1960s, the rise of religious fundamentalists in the 1970s and 1980s, and the distrust of the political establishment in the late twentieth century (Smith 2020). Kristen Renwick Monroe, a comparativist, notes that standardizing research data and transparency has a "chilling effect" on certain kinds of research approaches, including interviewing people in vulnerable situations (Monroe 2018).…”

Preface

“…As a central aim, the task force and the civic engagement subcommittee quickly focused attention on promoting the value and visibility of civic engagement and CER. Its work initially was organized around a broad understanding of CER as "research that is done through significant immersion in, and ideally in respectful partnerships with social groups, organizations, and governmental bodies, in ways that both shape our research questions and our investigations of answers" (Smith 2020).…”