Progress and Poverty in Political Science

In: PS: political science & politics, Band 36, Heft 3, S. 395-396

Abstract

A comment on Andrew Bennett, Ahron Barth, & Kenneth R. Rutherford's & Peregrine Schwartz-Shea's articles on methodological trends in political science instruction & scholarship (both, 2003) is concerned that the former excludes most political theory & the latter may have overstated the diversity of methodological training, although taken together, their findings ring true. It is argued, however, that the idea that quantitative methods are the only way to do political science, as signaled in their essays, is misleading. Their findings suggest that students must be offered many methodological choices. It is contended that students learn method best by doing & courses ought to require research projects utilizing qualitative methods rather than the easier to employ quantitative methods. The persistent structure of political science subfields (eg, American politics, comparative politics, international relations) is discussed in terms of how the discipline trains to hire & vice versa, perpetuating a division of labor in the discipline that lacks intellectual sense. Although conceding that this structure is organically generated rather than imposed from the top down, it is seen as time to consider pursuing a new structure. 2 References. J. Zendejas