ERIC Number: EJ1007027
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Jun
Pages: 9
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0895-4852
EISSN: N/A
The Ideology of Political Science
Heiden, Bruce
Academic Questions, v26 n2 p199-207 Jun 2013
In a recent article in "Academic Questions" political scientists Robert Maranto and Matthew C. Woessner have suggested a program to reform their discipline and enhance its social utility. They encourage researchers to engage with consequential social issues and educate the public, while admonishing political scientists to resist partisan advocacy and promote diversity of viewpoints. At first glance these suggestions in "Seeking Relevance: American Political Science and America" may seem harmless and unobjectionable. But if the need were really as great and the suggested remedies as uncontroversial as Maranto and Woessner make them appear, the discipline of political science would have reformed itself long ago without awaiting their prompting. There is reason to suspect that the problems Maranto and Woessner seek to ameliorate are actually endemic to their discipline; in fact, some of the authors' own proposals might contribute to the very problems they are intended to reform. Perhaps the practitioners of an academic discipline are not in the best position to diagnose its pathologies. The response to Maranto and Woessner presented herein offers the perspective of an academic in a humanities field. (Contains 4 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Intellectual Disciplines, Political Science, Educational Research, Ideology, Humanistic Education, Change Strategies, Educational Change, Reader Response, Educational Philosophy, Educational Practices, Educational Principles, Educational Development
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A