The Relevance of Political Science

The Relevance of Political Science
Author: Gerry Stoker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2015-03-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1137506601

What does political science tell us about important real-world problems and issues? And to what extent does and can political analysis contribute to solutions? Debates about the funding, impact and relevance of political science in contemporary democracies have made this a vital and hotly contested topic of discussion, and in this original text authors from around the world respond to the challenge. A robust defence is offered of the achievements of political science research, but the book is not overly sanguine given its sustained recognition of the need for improvement in the way that political science is done. New insights are provided into the general issues raised by relevance, into blockages to relevance, and into the contributions that the different subfields of political science can and do make. The book concludes with a new manifesto for relevance that seeks to combine a commitment to rigour with a commitment to engagement.

The Politics of Political Science

The Politics of Political Science
Author: Paulo Ravecca
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2019-02-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351110535

In this thought-provoking book, Paulo Ravecca presents a series of interlocking studies on the politics of political science in the Americas. Focusing mainly on the cases of Chile and Uruguay, Ravecca employs different strands of critical theory to challenge the mainstream narrative about the development of the discipline in the region, emphasizing its ideological aspects and demonstrating how the discipline itself has been shaped by power relations. Ravecca metaphorically charts the (non-linear) transit from “cold” to “warm” to “hot” intellectual temperatures to illustrate his—alternative—narrative. Beginning with a detailed quantitative study of three regional academic journals, moving to the analysis of the role of subjectivity (and political trauma) in academia and its discourse in relation to the dictatorships in Chile and Uruguay, and arriving finally at an intimate meditation on the experience of being a queer scholar in the Latin American academy of the 21st century, Ravecca guides his readers through differing explorations, languages, and methods. The Politics of Political Science: Re-Writing Latin American Experiences offers an essential reflection on both the relationship between knowledges and politics and the political and ethical role of the scholar today, demonstrating how the study of the politics of knowledge deepens our understanding of the politics of our times.

Ambiguities of Domination

Ambiguities of Domination
Author: Lisa Wedeen
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2015-09-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 022634553X

Treating rhetoric and symbols as central rather than peripheral to politics, Lisa Wedeen’s groundbreaking book offers a compelling counterargument to those who insist that politics is primarily about material interests and the groups advocating for them. During the thirty-year rule of President Hafiz al-Asad’s regime, his image was everywhere. In newspapers, on television, and during orchestrated spectacles. Asad was praised as the “father,” the “gallant knight,” even the country’s “premier pharmacist.” Yet most Syrians, including those who create the official rhetoric, did not believe its claims. Why would a regime spend scarce resources on a personality cult whose content is patently spurious? Wedeen shows how such flagrantly fictitious claims were able to produce a politics of public dissimulation in which citizens acted as if they revered the leader. By inundating daily life with tired symbolism, the regime exercised a subtle, yet effective form of power. The cult worked to enforce obedience, induce complicity, isolate Syrians from one another, and set guidelines for public speech and behavior. Wedeen‘s ethnographic research demonstrates how Syrians recognized the disciplinary aspects of the cult and sought to undermine them. In a new preface, Wedeen discusses the uprising against the Syrian regime that began in 2011 and questions the usefulness of the concept of legitimacy in trying to analyze and understand authoritarian regimes.

Political Science

Political Science
Author: Herbert F. Weisberg
Publisher: Algora Publishing
Total Pages: 642
Release: 2007
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0875862748

If at one time we thought that the movement to science would yield unification of the discipline, it is now apparent that there are many roads to science. Still it is important for us to consider yet again what the appropriate goals are for our scientific enterprise. What works in theory building; induction and deduction; prediction and control; the search for useful principles to guide us OCo examining these questions, we can build a better science. Political science has come so far as a discipline that different schools and scholars have different interpretations of science in the study of politics, and that diversity is important to maintain. Advances made in the study of political institutions and behavior are described in twelve essays from the 1983 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association . Addressing they do not employ any single approach to the study of the science of politics. Taken as a whole, they illustrate the multiplicity of interpretations that are presently given to the common enterprise."

Writing a Research Paper in Political Science

Writing a Research Paper in Political Science
Author: Lisa A. Baglione
Publisher: CQ Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2018-12-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1506367437

Even students capable of writing excellent essays still find their first major political science research paper an intimidating experience. Crafting the right research question, finding good sources, properly summarizing them, operationalizing concepts and designing good tests for their hypotheses, presenting and analyzing quantitative as well as qualitative data are all tough-going without a great deal of guidance and encouragement. Writing a Research Paper in Political Science breaks down the research paper into its constituent parts and shows students what they need to do at each stage to successfully complete each component until the paper is finished. Practical summaries, recipes for success, worksheets, exercises, and a series of handy checklists make this a must-have supplement for any writing-intensive political science course.

The Tragedy of Political Science

The Tragedy of Political Science
Author: David M. Ricci
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 360
Release: 1984-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780300037609

"This book is both a comprehensive review and a thoughtful critique of the development of political science as an academic discipline in this century. David Ricci eloquently describes the tragic dilemma of political science in America: when political scholars deal with politics in a scientific fashion, they reveal facts that contradict democratic expectations; when the same scholars seek to justify those expectations, their moral arguments carry little professional weight."--Jacket.

The American Political Economy

The American Political Economy
Author: Jacob S. Hacker
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 487
Release: 2021-11-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1316516369

Drawing together leading scholars, the book provides a revealing new map of the US political economy in cross-national perspective.

Political Science Research in Practice

Political Science Research in Practice
Author: Akan Malici
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2018-09-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351401890

Nothing rings truer to those teaching political science research methods: students hate taking this course. Tackle the challenge and turn the standard research methods teaching model on its head with Political Science Research in Practice. Akan Malici and Elizabeth S. Smith engage students first with pressing political questions and then demonstrate how a researcher has gone about answering them, walking them through real political science research that contributors have conducted. Through the exemplary use of a comparative case study, field research, interviews, textual and interpretive research, statistical research, survey research, public policy and program evaluation, content analysis, and field experiments, each chapter introduces students to a method of empirical inquiry through a specific topic that will spark their interest and curiosity. Each chapter shows the process of developing a research question, how and why a particular method was used, and the rewards and challenges discovered along the way. Students can better appreciate why we need a science of politics—why methods matter—with these first-hand, issue-based discussions. The second edition now includes: Two completely new chapters on field experiments and a chapter on the textual/interpretative method. New topics, ranging from the Arab Spring to political torture to politically sensitive research in China to social networking and voter turnout. Revised and updated "Exercises and Discussion Questions" sections. Revised and updated "Interested to Know More" and "Recommended Resources" sections.

Anthropology and Political Science

Anthropology and Political Science
Author: Myron J. Aronoff
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2013
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 085745725X

What can anthropology and political science learn from each other? The authors argue that collaboration, particularly in the area of concepts and methodologies, is tremendously beneficial for both disciplines, though they also deal with some troubling aspects of the relationship. Focusing on the influence of anthropology on political science, the book examines the basic assumptions the practitioners of each discipline make about the nature of social and political reality, compares some of the key concepts each field employs, and provides an extensive review of the basic methods of research that "bridge" both disciplines: ethnography and case study. Through ethnography (participant observation), reliance on extended case studies, and the use of "anthropological" concepts and sensibilities, a greater understanding of some of the most challenging issues of the day can be gained. For example, political anthropology challenges the illusion of the "autonomy of the political" assumed by political science to characterize so-called modern societies. Several chapters include a cross-disciplinary analysis of key concepts and issues: political culture, political ritual, the politics of collective identity, democratization in divided societies, conflict resolution, civil society, and the politics of post-Communist transformations.