In this article, the authors talk about the relevance of American political science and America. Political science has enormous strengths in its highly talented practitioners and sophisticated methods. However, its disconnection from its host society, while not so severe as for fields like English and sociology, nonetheless poses an existential threat over the long term. This threat can be exploited by certain politicians and perhaps rival disciplines (e.g., economics) if not addressed. The authors suggest that there are ways to overcome this and exploit new opportunities to make the field more interesting and relevant without detracting from its methodological rigor. Key to this is fostering ideological diversity within political science. (Contains 38 footnotes.)