tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post3832792260397658975..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Keeping Up with Political ScienceJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-8889871817640115382010-01-19T02:45:23.076-06:002010-01-19T02:45:23.076-06:00One of the problems of Pol Sci that I experienced ...One of the problems of Pol Sci that I experienced is that the university teaching itself doesn't believe it to be a science. At the University of Amsterdam, where I got my MA-degree in Pol Sci, post-positivism and "interpretive policy analysis" reigned free, all for the greater good of the social-democrat ideologues who led the faculty. <br /><br />Only outside of my faculty did I learn real poli sci: from political philosophy to good hard statistics, from political history to game theory. And this stuff IS real science.Umibozuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05645338838339355095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-29957622941741049372010-01-14T12:12:58.834-06:002010-01-14T12:12:58.834-06:00Ezra Klein is attacking the wrong target. I imagin...Ezra Klein is attacking the wrong target. I imagine political scientists would love to take comfy perches in think tanks. Can they be blamed that think tanks don't hire them?<br /><br />Some disciplines are marketable outside of academia (hard science, economics, psychology). Others use academia for training while the real work happens outside (engineering, business, accounting, medicine). Some disciplines get their money from universities (literature, political science, history).<br /><br />Publishers do not look for a lit degree before publishing a novel. Parties do not look for a poly sci degree before running a candidate or hiring an adviser. Could poly sci really change that?<br /><br />I don't doubt poly sci could use better outreach, but who pays? Should political scientists pay heavy dues to support their own promotional group in Washington? Would that really give Ezra what he wants?<br /><br />IMHO Jonathan Bernstein, Monkey Cage, Bloggingheads.tv and their like are doing what can be done (with little money) to break political science out of its ghetto. I suspect more people than ever before are becoming aware of political science and its insights. Perhaps this new popularity will open the door to more jobs for political scientists outside of academia.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com